#not even a huge hp fan - i just really liked the story <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[decisions-at-3am]

And if there comes a point, Where I'm no longer Able to recognise you. I hope that death would be Much more merciful.

[stelladess]

Spoiler ahead for the CN livestream, so chapter 14 stuff and brief IS5 mention (also anime season 3 confirmed now). Do not keep reading to avoid spoilers. Just some of my early thoughts. Stream of conciousness, not having thought things through much kind of thing. Kind of just rambling. But tl;dr is that I am excited and it looks good to me.

So, they keep using Civilight Etherna to describe "Theresa" and even outright ask "is she really Theresa?" in the live stream, so no its not a full on resurrection... so from a certain point of view, I was right. Her kit seems super good, she a bard also the freebie operator. Since I do not have Skalter this is good news for me. Big buffs, can do true damage... is neat. Logos is... outright busted. His S1 is insanely good AFK skill which can just auto kill weaker enemies who enters his range, not even an attack and his S2 seems fine, his S3 is also insane. Depending on the numbers he might outperform Eyja but we´ll see, that is always the test is it not? Amiya gets to be an incantation medic, with an outright busted talent (passive health regen on skill, off and on skill gives max HP boosts, this applies to all operators for both it seems?) and a pretty good looking S1 (attacks two enemies, bonus damage) and an amazing S2 with a big burst of damage at first, then slow and true damage with targeting two enemies and.... once per mission... again. Its... fine, I´m not salty.... Anyway, the big star, is limited (I had hoped she would be freebie since her original was limited but oh well) Walter.... or, W has now picked a name for herself, we will have to learn the context in chapter 14, Wis´adel (she has a different S but my keyboard lacks it, it is pronouched as a "sh" sound though). Wis´adel is a flinger sniper who makes all other flingers irelevant and is absolutely busted. Because I am a big W fan (depending on the day it is either her or Kal´tsit who is my second favorite operator) and flingers were in a really bad spot I am kind of ok with this but I still prefer they do not just blatantly directly power creep operators or go too far on insane damage numbers. Her damage seems... a bit too high in my opinion, but because I love her as a character and am excited for her story going forward and her kit seems fun, just really overtuned, I will be pulling. And I guess Degenbrecher and Mlynar already brought us up to this insane damage level so I should not be surprised. Power creep is something I have kept up in many many games I play and there are times where a later power crept state was my favorite period of the game so I will not go and get too hung up on the power creep. Also, I was right to take notice of the floating black crown parts I think cause it is even more prominent now. Bunch of story related stuff here but I wanna wait with talking about that until I have sorted my thoughts and maybe even read chapter 14. On that note, story for chapter 14 has me INCREDIBLY hyped. 13 was my favorite chapter, dethroning chapter 8. And I really wanna know what they are cooking next! Also IS5 has a Kal´tsit boss... she wields a sword!!!! (There are some interesting stuff about Kal and weapons that comes up occasionally, this is in the past it seems so maybe we find out what the deal is?)

I do think its a kind of bad decision to make IS5 sarkaz themed though, I like the sarkaz stuff but I feel IS is best used for parts of the world not explored in as much depth elsewhere. (I think it works with IS3 doing something explored a lot elsewhere but I kinda do not want them to keep doing that). But back to positive stuff the character designs are great. Wis´adel design has really grown on me, I think its a huge downgrade from what she wore before but it feels like it fits her so I am fine with that. Amiya has improved her fashion sense, at first I was sad at no more big coat/cape but that turned out to just be cause the blurry art... she went for a long coat instead of big coat that was actually a normal coat but just too big for her. So it still is something actually made to fit her but still retains the big coat look to some extent. Civilight Etherna boobs seem bigger then Theresa´s(?) Is it to contain the myriad souls? Deep lore implications about this at least! Logos uniform is good but like, so are all Rhodes uniforms. I do not feel it is exceptionally good for a Rhodes uniform but it suits him. Oh and also we see Wis´adel studying in one of the PVs, Hoederer must be so proud she is finally taking her education seriously~! Lastly on addressing the name situation... I will keep using W until chapter 14 is out on global to avoid spoiling people, after that I will probably switch to using her new name. Names are a very important thing especially when you pick them yourself.

[greenerteacups]

Long ask ahead! Sorry in advance for my rambling!

I’m a huge fan of Lionheart! (Latest update got me furious btw, your Umbridge characterization is amazing; i need. Revenge. the woman is vile)

my long ask today is on the topic of writing fanfics, or beginning to; i’ve been a fan of hp for a longish (?) time (i am currently in my first year of college, so since elementary school) and i want to start dipping my toes in writing fanfics, esp dramione. problem is, i have all these grand plans and ideas but i struggle with motivation and perfectionism — especially perfectionism. this has been a long standing problem on my end, but if every line is not to “my standard, or “perfect”, i feel deeply dissatisfied and i find it impossible to move on. i’m also very flighty — i get distracted easily, and lose momentum. i have so many ideas that i want to try out that i end up having a plethora of projects, none with a resolution. do you deal with this? what are your biggest struggles with writing? how do you move past them?

i also would like to say that i know that you’ve stated that writing is all for fun, but if you were to get published, i would 100% buy! i really hope you’re doing something in the creative industry, because really, your writing is amazing.

Hey, what up! Thanks so much!

If you'll permit a bit of tough love: it sounds like you don't really like writing those projects. There are a lot of reasons someone might leave a project, but when it comes to free hobby writing, if you've abandoned something, Occam's Razor, it's because you don't want to do it anymore.

And BTW: that's fine. You're not legally obligated to finish stuff. You're not under contract. If you're a hobby writer, your sole obligation is to have fun and please yourself. I've written tons of stories without middles or endings; I've got dozens of 3 or 4-chapter would-be longfics sitting on my drive, with absolutely no intention to finish them. I'm totally fine with that. This is something I do for fun. Why would I bully myself about not being sufficiently "productive" in something I'm doing for fun?

But it sounds like maybe you want to finish a fic, and/or see finishing as a prerequisite to publishing, in which case: you need to keep writing a project after you're bored or dissatisfied with it. In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that you should go back through your drive, find the project you like least, and force yourself to write 1-2 pages on it. Because you are never going to be as pleased with what you've written as you are with the fake perfect story in your head. Even the worst, shittiest, misspelled, poorly plotted story that exists is better than the fake perfect story, because it exists, and is real writing, rather than just being the concept of something that is well-written. Abandoning a story because it doesn't live up to the hype is like refusing to eat because what's on the plate isn't as good as the Platonic concept of a chocolate cake. Like, of course it's not, dude! You didn't imagine it as having flaws!

It seems like you know that, which suggests that you need to force yourself to write something that you don't want to. So try shorter stuff! Writing short stories is a great way to learn the tools of the trade while giving yourself less time to burn out. Make it easy on yourself. And like, remember to forgive yourself. There are some things you can bully your brain into doing. Sincere and authentic art is not one of them.

[tom--22--felton]

Here’s something funny (and kinda long, sorry)

The actor Henry Cavill has a GF and some think it’s a complete PR relationship. Like they went public and then her Instagram got a blue check a week or so later. She’s supposedly a Hollywood executive but that’s questionable because she’s been living in the UK for the past 3 years (she from the US and the company she supposedly works for is US based). Someone found her “model page” (model mayhem) but some say the model page is a front for escorts (prostitutes).

Anyway! How this relates to Tom is HC’s GF shared Tom’s Uber commercial on Instagram and then followed him. She’s tried to show herself to be a huge HP fan but a photo she shared a couple of years ago of the Hogwarts model at WB studios was put through Google images and it came back as one found on Pinterest. This even happened to a pic of her old dog as a puppy…turns out it wasn’t her dog at all. She stole the pic from somewhere else and said it was her dog 🤣

Some in the HC fandom have been dying of laughter about this because she’s always trying to hitch her wagon onto someone’s star. Like she just NOW follows Tom? She’s an absolute car wreck and I hate that she’s followed him but it’s also hilarious.

Thank you for sharing the story, it's really funny. Though I'm not HC's fan, even i heard that he's girlfriend is being hated on a lot. Which only proves my point that for some celebs it's easier not to share anything about their private lives to keep their fans happy :)

[the-hype-dragon]

Books I read in June

Good god I got kinda burned out this month, I made the dumb decision to read a bunch of doorstoppers and made the mistake of forcing myself to finish a book I didn't think was that great.

uhhhhhh anyway here:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling - reread, 3/5

Confession time: I've always kinda disliked DH and my opinion has not changed lmao, I thought it wrapped up the series okay but there are a lot of things I just don't like about and never have. On the other hand I'm one of those people who actually likes the epilogue. Had some genuinely great writing for a YA series and certainly was not a bad book, I just never had as good a time reading this as I did the other Potter books.

The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson - 2/5

There were things I liked about this while I was reading it but overall it was not an enjoyable experience and as I sit here typing this I can't even talk myself into saying there were any parts I really enjoyed, although I know I did WHILE I was reading it, or else I wouldn't have finished it. Like I would start to think "hmmm maybe I better DNF" and then something interesting would happen, rinse and repeat for 260 pages. I can't believe people think this is better than LOTR (which I am also not a huge fan of so don't @ me lmao). Yes I understood what Anderson was going for, I just didn't like it. Maybe I would have Gotten It if I was a man, who knows. There are like eighty covers of this book but I was blessed with a copy bearing the above image, which just... idk it's that distinct 70s-era corniness, I can't help but love it.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling - reread, 4/5

I've always liked HBP but it's been a hot minute since I've read the latter half of the HP series and I forgot just how weak HBP's denouement is. That said it's still pretty entertaining and the cave sequence was as harrowing to read now as it was when I first read it back in 2005. Slughorn is my favorite Hogwarts professor, he's just so mundanely unlikable and imo a good example of Rowling's talent for character writing.

The Burning Stone by Kate Elliott - 5/5

For about 90% of the book I was willing to say this was just a solid 4/5, but the last chapter really blew my mind lmao and that's saying something because much of the rest of the book is full of crazy plot twists. I did have some issues with it like an increasingly dragging pace (thanks to the ever-growing cast of characters) but otherwise it's a pretty great book, the good parts are REALLY good and the few parts I had issues with weren't because they were outright bad but because the stuff happening wasn't really my cup of tea. Also this book is pretty poorly-edited (at least the 1999 edition I have) with many noticeable typos but that didn't detract TOO much from the story imo. Still pretty solid and the climax was amazing, ended up really loving it.

The Seventh Son by Reay Tannahill - DNF, 1/5

The War of the Roses was a legitimately interesting period of English history with actual larger-than-life personalities involved and not a single author I've read has been able to truly capture it effectively in fiction. My problem is basically this: in spite of what records exist about the women involved in the conflict very few authors manage to make them anything but man-obsessed nonentities, and most of these books focus (or over-focus, I'd argue) on the military campaigns. Anyway The Seventh Son is just more Richard III apologia and I hate that too. And in spite of a strong beginning focusing on the dumbass laws these idiots made to hoard as much power for themselves as possible (which I genuinely find interesting) it quickly devolved into typical boring historical fiction trying to flaw-scrub the men while also listing off the horrible ways men were legally allowed to treat their wives, and how not even women of high rank were exempt from this treatment. Made me feel physically ill. Overall disappointing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so now that I'm completely fried here are the books I plan to read in July:

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (which I started in the third week of June, but I was also trying to finish The Burning Stone and that took precedence)

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

Child of Flame by Kate Elliott

Nine Layers of Sky by Liz Williams

And there may be others, sometimes I'm just seized by a whim and cannot stop it. But we'll see!!!

[consistantly-changing]

[Image descriptions in order: a twitter thread by @/ajaromano "let Polly do the printing" (verified) which says "A weird thing happened today; I got an email from someone wanting to know why there's a chapter of my most popular HP fic missing from Fic-tion Alley, the HP fanfic archive. And I'd completely forgotten about this. This missing chapter is a relic from a CRAZY BYGONE FANDOM ERA.]

["The reason Chapter 9 of my fic, Love Under Will, is missing from FA is that in 2003 when i was writing it, Warner Brothers contacted @travelingheidi, the site owner, to tell her that they were okay with FA hosting slash (queer fanfic), except for 3 popular fics in particular!

One was a (great) fic called Tower With a View; i'm not sure what the other one was (was it Irresistible Poison? Heidi, do you remember?), and one was mine. BECAUSE THEY WERE JUST A LITTLE TOO SMUTTY. ahaha.

This is hilarious given the state of Harry Potter fanfiction at the time. In the wilds of livejournal, people were writing the most insane, obscene, blasphemous, explicit fic imaginable, but on Fiction Alley, my fic where two teens had sex was too much for Warner Bros. 😂]

["This was actually a milestone moment in the history of fandom as we know it. Warner Brothers also approached another fic archive along with FA, the Restricted Section. Only in their case, the WB sent a C&D to the archive as a whole:" attached is a link to a fanlore page.

"It wasn't uncommon at all for fanfic archives to get cease-and-desist notices; I wrote about Star Wars lawyers doing it in the 80s, again regarding queer slash fic, here:"

Attached is a link to an article on vox.com, titled "What a pansexual Lando Calrissian reveals about the evolution of Star Wars".]

["But this was the "modern" era of fandom and the internet, and J.K. Rowling was supposedly cool with fanfic.

So Fiction Alley and the Restricted Section did something that, to that point, no fanfic archive had really ever done before: they collectively told Warner Brothers no.

"No, you don't have the right to ask us to remove these fics because they are Fair Use under U.S. copyright law, and no, we are not removing them.

This was roughly equivalent to challenging a DMCA takedown notice on YouTube; but this process was unheard of at the time.

"And Warner Brothers was kind of taken aback by this show of resistance from the fans, but the company also did something unprecedented at the time - they backed off, in exchange for a few compromises from FA and the Restricted Section. One of them was that I had to edit my fic.]

["So I wound up ultimately removing the chapter where the sex scene happens assuming that people would just go read it elsewhere. This was actually a hugely formative moment for me: the tacit threat of Warner Brothers policing fanfic archives to make sure they were suitable.

"This moment where the HP fandom resisted the WB's takedown attempt was a huge turning point in the cultural history of fanfiction. It's now pretty much unheard of for a major franchise to target online fanfic, but that hands-off stance developed bc of fans asserting Fair Use.

"Even at the time, in 2003, C&Ds felt like relics from the distant past. It was so strange to have the WB come for anyone's fic, let alone *my* fic. And the result, as happens so often with this type of fandom policing, was censorship: 15+ yrs later the chapter's still missing.]

["The moral of this story: fans, appreciate the Archive of Our Own. Be thankful for this space where the organizational structure is *entirely* dedicated to protecting your right to write fanfiction, and where the entire project is funded, not by outside interests but by you, fans."

/End ID]

Link

A reminder that this is what censorship leads to and that it wasn’t all that long ago when purity culture was going after ships that antis would consider to be “normal” today.

Also I thought Fiction Alley was that one archive that Msscribe got shut down with her shitstirring

[crazyworldofemmamarie]

do you like any other older horror movies? That's a very dumb question but I'm unashamed about such things. I've rewatched some of the movies that really scared me when I was younger, and if anything they're even more scary now. I only watched 3 or 4 of the Saw films, but your blog is making me feel like looking again.

I love the entire genre, please yell at me if I mess up a reblog, or if my extensive experience in the field can help with your endeavors. I'm a John Carpenter fan from Way back; sometimes I don't know who directed what has become my favorite movie of the week and it turns out to be his...some of em aren't horror, like Starman, but it's heavy sci fi, and 80's Jeff Bridges is such a great actor...rambling with the lunatics. I like your blog! Don't fall for any of those HP Lovecraft movies; there's no sex in the books or stories so that Reanimator fool can go...sex was the selling point in the 80's though, guess it couldn't be avoided. I've read a ton; it's gotta be good for something. The way folks are saying manifest; that's made it back around after 24, 25 years. I'm tryna track something, for the good of everyone, but I'm no psychic medium, not even a small. If you think I made even a little bit of sense, I thank you for your time.

Okay! what's One movie you Won't watch, or Can't? I couldn't watch more than probably 10 minutes of High Tension, probably because I have kids, but I think that's the only one that keeps me from looking at it. Tobyn Bell should get a fun, dancing man role huh? He's pleasant to see if you ask me;) my kid's a huge Leatherface fan but they remember his name and everything. I "got" to see all the Faces of Death tapes as a teenager, we're fine, we're fine(just smile and nod)...I'm not sure how much longer I have on this earth, so I'm making it weird, and keeping it positive and spooky is challenging! But this Halloween will be my first single Halloween since lots of years ago and I am not going to let it slip past another year. My parent's were wed on Halloween, they forgot the 31st was already special, and I've always liked that memory of them making out on the couch between the trick or treat visits...anyway, have a great day, forgive me for going off on Every tangent, still looking for my pack y'know? Idk if covens advertise openings and I'm still learning to behave lmao...if intent is truly key, I am so good. My intentions are good. I'm never surprised that we get to know the "bad guys", monsters in the movies and stories that I personally can't really hate, or judge, but those are the fictional ones. Unfortunately the bad guys out here are really bad, and boringly bad. Yell at me any time, but y'know I won't hear it, lmao

Holy Moly, I am so sorry, my dumb ass basically took forever to figure out how to reply but hey I got it now, haha!

And no, don't worry about rambling I totally enjoy your stories and thoughts and I find it amazingly sweet that you even took the time to write to me, really and I am always open to chat! (And in all honesty, I am still learning to behave as it, but there's nothing wrong with having a little fun, wink wink.)

I do wanna ay I think it's super cool you're parents got married on Halloween, that's totally badass! Halloween is my favourite holiday, my Mom was super big on it because she never got to celebrate it when she was young cause she grew up super religious and it was to make up for lost time.

If I ever got married and I could convince my partner on a date, I probably pick October 1st, but in all honesty, as long as I can get married in Autumn I am totally happy. Though that's a rant for another time, haha.

Now to answer both of your questions:

I really like a lot of horror and I usually go from 1920s German Expressionism horror to present day. Though I am not gonna lie to you, I get really stuck with that late 60s/70s horror, especially that Art house horror like The Last House on the Left or I Spit On Your Grave cause I really enjoy realistic, could really happen horror, plus as a film manic, the 60s/70s had a lot of freedom with things like art and film and I just feel we get more out of that and I'm just like you where it's dirty, raw and full of sex, haha.

Though the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974 is my all time favourite horror film of all time, but I do really enjoy Last House, Spit on Your Grave, Black Christmas, The Wicker Man and all that.

80s is a hit miss for me, I'm really not a big fan of those popular slashers like Elm Street, or Child's Play or Friday the 13th, but love those somewhat terrible b movies like Sleepaway Camp or Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2.

B Movies are another big thing for me, anything from Puppet Master to Basket Case to Evil Dead.

Now to you second question, the one film I can't watch and it's one of the very few films I've seen once and it's Cannibal Holocaust. I don't know what it was, I love cannibalistic films like The Hills Have Eyes or Cannibal! The Musical; but for some reason, this film didn't sit right with me, I can't tell you if it was cause it was too realistic, too bloody or the fact that they killed real animals on camera or that in reality you don't really know who the villain's really are (that's another rant for another time, I gotta whole essay on that, yeah, I'm a loser haha). In all honesty, I think it was all of the above for me, either way I can't do it, I look away if I see even clips of it or something, though I am trying to hyper myself up and try to watch again in the future as a future film study since I believe it's on both Tubi and/or Shudder.

Either way, I thank you very much for message and posting ask! Don't be afraid to send more, I am always willing to chat, (now that I figured out how to reply) and I hope you don't mind that i post this if ya do, just shoot a me a message, but either way, thank you so much for your time!

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. The more i think about it, the more parallels i find between lore olympus and another less-known webtoon called "the shadow prophet". No, i don't imply they are in any way similar genre- or plot-wise or that one copies the other but hear me out: the themes

Shadow prophet, like LO, deals with age gap (and does not romanticise it at all), nepotism, utopian society with dubious morals and leaders, privileges and how bad their impact on all of the involved can get if something goes wrong and paints them in a way that they are constant obstacles for everyone involved instead of, yknow, making life easier for every character RS prefers thus diminishing any possible deeper conflict that'd make some actual plot or character progression. Even tho it is a made up futuristic scenery, it blends well with sentimental traditions shown though clothing and rituals and such, so there is a good lore explanation for the mixing of the old and new (where LO is all over the place so it ends up in cherrypicking whichever gets the stans to squeal more).

No, i will not elaborate on the plot bc everything is a spoiler. First season is only 40 episodes yet tells miles and miles more than LO's entire run so far

It also has neurodivergent and disability representation done well, at least in my opinion

It has gorgeous art too (i'm actually gonna go and say it's the most unique and beutiful artstyle i've seen on webtoons). It also utilises music made specificaly for the episode (just like for purple hyacinthus) and even gifs so it is quite a unique experience

The biggest joke? This comic updates on sundays as well🙃

(This is, again, by no means a comparison of these titles, as they are completely different from each other, but it is staggering how some themes are way too similar, but painted differently and send different messages. Anyway, please check out the shadow prophet, the author is gonna be back with season 2 soon)

2. I feel like LO has a bit of HP energy to it, and by that I mean people in power praise it as some groundbreaking work, when really you pick it apart and see its a mean spirited, uninspired story that happily conforms to every regressive status quo bias (gender roles, classism, racism, misogyny, etc) under a cheap veneer of liberal "feminism", and that is why it's marketed as something It's not. It can pretend it's progressive under a female MC + creator while it challenges absolutely nothing.

3. Persephone's AOW wasn't just poorly planned/executed, it's also that RS is too scared to let her darling be "problematic", leading to what seems to have been at least three retcons to it because of a small but loud section of fans being disappointed. A confident writer not only would had seek out help from their editor to plan this out, but they also wouldn't buckle under minor bad faith criticism to flip flop so easily on their own story. It makes it clear she's just making it up as she goes.

4. What’s wild to me is RS created fantasy racism in this story yet seems to have zero awareness that she’s framed the race who is discriminated against (the nymphs specifically) as the bad guys who “deserve” their mistreatment because they’re bad no matter what and they’re in the wrong for daring to stand up to their oppressors. We don’t see any male nymphs or this discrimination play out against satyrs either, so it’s hatred that’s both racist AND misogynistic. Like what the fuck?

5. The retcon of the AOW is also Rachel admitting she doesn't want Persephone (a literal Greek goddess and Dread Queen) cannot be anything but an already perfect, heroic person, which not only makes her an uninteresting character, it makes an uninteresting story. What is there for her to learn from? To grow? To overcome? She's by design supposed to only be static, which is a huge problem considering she's supposed to be the lead character and is supposed to be "growing up".

6. I'm kinda confused by the trial because the punishment is kinda how the myth's ending would go with the half year separation (except now it's a set amount of years that zeus will eventual forgive), but it's not that's not the myth because apparently now the myth is supposed to start (four years in? thats not good writing) so how would the half year punishment even happen then? persephone kills more people with winter and they go on trial AGAIN? like none of this seems planned out at all.

7. this isn't even just about RS but I just hate how many of the WT creators are white women who pretend to care about diversity and yet when they show their cast of some new comic theyre making or some OC they thought up it's just the same brand of skinny white people (bonus if the antagonist is the only one who just happens to be darker skinned). like put your money where your mouth is and give us an ounce of body fat and melanin, i'm begging 😭

8. Just wait till Rachel Smythe and other creator’s of this retelling, realize that the Abduction of Persephone mainly focuses on Persephone and Demeter, not Persephone and Hades. Idk why, but I find that a bit contradicting to Rachel’s “basic knowledge of Greek mythology” statement 😭🤷‍♀️

You’re basically developing an unimportant character in the myth when you should be developing Demeter and Persephone, plus their relationship. Hades is there just to set the plan forward; he has no other need in that myth but to explain the seasons and keep Persephone as his queen. 

9. Yeah actually I don't think we talk enough about how Hera had her own son see photos of a woman in the most terrifying position of her life. I know it was to like, get rid of them but Persephone didn't know who Hephestus was and she still doesn't know how Hera handled it afaik, which again, takes away a lot of her agency because she's only gotten to tell 1 person on her own volition about what happened, everyone else either assumes, finds out through prodding even when she's uncomfortable, or uses their powers. It's just weird that it's very brushed over that Hephestus has seen what Apollo did with his own eyes  because he'd have to see them to get rid of them. 

10. there's some LO fans who are just desperate to make it deeper than it is and how it "deals with serious topics" which like one) no it doesnt but two) you guys can enjoy a shallow romance comic, no one cares. a lot of us like shallow stuff for mindless entertainment. trying to make it deeper than it is only opens it up to bigger scrutiny when it doesnt meet even the bare minimum, and only puts more pressure on RS to work outside her comfort zone to where we end up w/ this degraded mess it is now.

[intothewickedwood]

Starkid Show Ranking

So, for the last few months I’ve watched one Starkid musical a weekend. Best few months ever! Some I hadn’t seen in years and some I regularly see at least 3 times a year. A few I liked even more than I remembered. So here is my new ranking for which I like best! These are just my personal faves. Not saying which ones are best just putting in order which shows I like best. I think they’re all great!

13) Ani: A Parody

A genuinely good show. I love characters like Obi in it but I just don’t know jack about Star Wars.

11) Black Friday

I love a lot of the music. It has some really great moments.

10) Holy Musical B@man!

I did not give this show a chance all those years ago when I first watched. Maybe because I wasn’t big on batman. I am a huge Superman and DC fan in general though and the last rewatches I’ve had I’ve really enjoyed it! Love Superman and Batman’s dynamic. Really fun show with great music.

9) Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier

Love the Wicked vibes. Never really been an Aladdin fan but I really like this show. Jafar and his wife’s story breaks my heart every time.

8) The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals

I love the fact it’s a horror comedy. The music is so good. It makes me laugh and cry. Great introduction to the Hatchetfield series.

7) Firebringer

This show has a very special place in my heart. It was my mum’s first introduction to Starkid and she’s been the one person I’ve got who’s been watching Starkid with me ever since. We make so many references and it’s all thanks to this show! We watched it about 20 times the year it came out. The music is phenomenal, the family aspect of the show makes it feel like home.

6) Trail To Oregon!

So my Nanna forced us to watch Little House and the Prairie with her for many years and this show has strong lhotp vibes. I feel such a warm feeling when watching this chaotic family and the musical is awesome! I cannot express how much I love the mother especially.

5) Starship

This show is freaking hilarious. The characters are great and the story is beautiful. It was one I didn’t give a chance at first, given the space theme but I wish I’d done so earlier on because it’s really awesome.

4) Me and My Dick

I loooove this show. It’s hilarious and heartfelt. It gives me such nostalgia. I love all the characters with all my heart. I love saying lines from this show and confusing people.

3) A Very Potter Senior Year

Another heartfelt musical. I just cry at the end. I just love it so much.

2) A Very Potter Musical

This was my first introduction ever to Harry Potter! And this trilogy was all I knew of Harry Potter for many years after. I now love hp and the starkid version but the starkid version of characters and Hogwarts will always be the real characters and Hogwarts to me. I was so confused when I first watched the movies and then the book. Some stuff I thought starkid had straight up made up. It was one of my first Starkid shows and will always have a special place in my heart. I love the characters so much it makes me emotional. They mean so much to me and a lot of them are my all time favourite characters in anything ever. I just want them to be happy! It’s hilarious and the songs are amazing.

1) A Very Potter Sequel

Love this show so so much. I cry with laughter every time as I do with all the trilogy but especially this one. It’s one of my favourite things in the world and is in the top 4 musicals ever for this musical theatre nerd right here. The music is beyond totally awesome. I can’t express how much I love this show and this musical trilogy.

[stanlunter]

Well, I should say at first, I used to ship them before starting s2a. I watched s1 then I forgot about it and then my friend started sending me his edits with Hunter and his relationship with Luz. I immediately fall in love with their relationship, but here all things which make me love them even more and why I think it would be better as a canon couple:

1. They make amazing parallels with Caleb and Evelyn's story. Not even to mention multipe background's parallels, their whole sorry is exactly the same:

Luz, as a wild witch comes from another world and steals Hunter (Caleb) from Philip. Both Luz and Evelyn show Hunter and Caleb the Wild magic and give them Flapjack. And, again, there actually multipe background's parallels. If you want so, you can read some analysis of it

(https://www.tumblr.com/dreams-are-paper-thin/698385932398804992/its-pretty-obvious-but-hear-me-out-so-caleb

https://www.tumblr.com/platinumgigi/699835989852585984/oh-hey-while-im-talking-about-lunter-heres

https://www.tumblr.com/platinumgigi/699479180818169856/hey-since-in-my-last-post-i-vaguely-mentioned-that

https://www.tumblr.com/theprinceandthewitch/727270269738188800/i-still-do-not-understand-how-sibling-truthers

https://www.tumblr.com/theprinceandthewitch/723113536030720000/i-still-think-toh-is-insane-for-heavily-implying

https://www.tumblr.com/stanlunter/734576972813959168/you-asked-me-to-write-about-lunters-parallels)

2. Luz was literally the first person who was nice to Hunter and who have shown him what normal teens are. She saw him as a friend, not an enemy and it touched him so much that he didn't attack her to take the palismans back, but he let her go, knowing he will be punished for it.

3. They understand each other better than anyone. Even tho they have completely different situations, they have the same issues with chosing their own futures what was shown in HP very well.

4. The HM lead to the fact that they literally could only trust each other. They were afraid of telling the truth to the ones they loved, but it only created the intimate situations between them where they can discuss such important things only with each other, not with their own partners. As someome for who trust in relationship is the main thing, to me this thing makes Lunter a much better a couple.

5. The thing is that around each other Luz and Hunter can act like kids with no issues, which means they can be themselves around each other without trying to look better, cooler or more serious or trying to impress each other, which Imo also makes all relationship better. Luz and Hunter aren't shy around each other, which means they aren't afraid of being rejected by each other and aren't nervous together and, like I said, they can be themselves with each other and act stupid without being afraid of being shamed. But that's basically about trust too.

6. The whole their arc just looks better in the plot. What I mean is that Amity and Lumity don't have any affect on the plot. Amity is just Luz's gf and that's all her role is being a cute gf. While with Hunter, for the plot is basically the second main character. He has everything to do with the story and he and Luz both have the strongest bond to the plot, the backstory and the whole story in general, which just makes this ship thousands times better.

7. They have a very cute and kinda untupical chemistry in general. The way they always tease each other just seems like they're trying to flirt with each other the whole time. As a fan of the ships like Talenny (Inspector gadget), Shadowclaw (Mlb), Caejose (Jojo), Jarose (DC) and a lot of others with the similar dynamics, there were no way for me not to enjoy Lunter as well lol

8. It's enemies to lovers. That's all. People love enemies to lovers, especially when they have dynamic like this.

9. Hunter is just potentiolly much more interesting than Amity. Amity's arc is like super typical and Amity doesn't have anything really interesting or original. While Hunter had a huge potential and was extremly interesting. So that's why I think he would be better as the mc's love interest. Bc, unlike Amity, he would be interesting not only as a love interest, but as a separated character too.

10. Luz and Hunter are actually equal what I mean is that, if in Huntlow and even Lumity there is a power imbalance, bc Amity and Willow are strong witches and Hunter with Luz are basically humans with little magic, which makes them weaker, than their canon partners. Actually, I don't have any problems with this with Lumity, but In Huntlow this issue is very highlighted, bc the screenwriters tries to make Hunter look as weak around Willow as they can (when Hunter is clearly a very Strong person, especially with the fact that he doesn't even have magic). Hunter is Willow's malewife and Willow is his girlboss. Which for me only spoils their relationship, but it's not about them anyways. While with Lunter... Hunter is Strong when he's with Luz and Luz is Strong when she's with Hunter. They don't cover each other. They make each other stronger. Hunter always saves Luz and Luz always saves Hunter. Hunter always supports Luz and Luz always supports Hunter. I like it.

Also, the whole "powerless witch" fits both Luz and Hunter much much better than it fits Hunter and Willow. Yeah, Willow just isn't a half each in any way bc she's strong af. Hunter is just literally a half witch with no powers. And Luz is someome who is technicaly a human, but she becomes a witch who has no power and still stand with it, which also can inspire Hunter.

So at this point they're very similar too and the, again, they really understand each other.

11. Hunter is canonicly Luz's type (the whole Nevarath's arc) and based on things Hunter have found in Willow, Luz would also fit Hunter's type.

That's probably all. If I remember smth else, Ill let you know.

The only thing I can add for now is that for me it's just very personal, bc I see my own perfect relationship in them and that's kinda what I dream of. As a Luz kinnue I have a person I love who's really similar to Hunter and even our whole relationship and extremly similar to me, but yeah, it's just my personal thing tho

Hey Lunter fans,

Talk to me... what made you ship Lunter? Was it a certain episode, or was it a post online? I wanna know your story.

Special thanks to @darkcrowprincess and @thepinceandthewitch (whose account i think no longer exists?) for their posts, which helped me ship lunter :)

[valiantlyweepingdreamer]

B, F, N, R, T, U, and V for the fanfic asks 👀💕

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

Ugh. Ain't Nothing Funny When a Soldier Cries has some personal experiences in it, as does Girl Crush. One was more fun to write than the other.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

You're making me think. Ugh. Let's see... From "You Rescued Me From Reachin' for the Bottom"

'Alex dabbed and wiped with a gentle touch until Reggie’s face was clean. Tossing the dishcloth into the sink, he stepped to the freezer for a bag of peas. When he came back, he gently laid the frozen peas against Reggie’s eye. Using his free hand to grab Reggie’s hand, he squeezed softly, then said, “Tell me who did this to you.”'

It's just...ugh, words are hard. I have a really soft spot for protective friends, and Alex is so often portrayed as the soft, sensible, voice of reason, while the other guys are the "kick the shit out of them" sort. I love the way I characterized Alex in this fic, as the one who will protect Reggie at any cost.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

I would absolutely love to have someone finish my JATP Beauty and the Beast AU! But I have to be honest...they would have to follow at least my idea for it, even if they didn't write it exactly the way I would. It has some....twists planned, and it would definitely be different from anything else I've ever read.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

You! And Faith. <3 I literally wouldn't write at all if it weren't for the two of you, and your writing...gosh, both of you can move me to tears with a sentence. Sometimes even when it isn't supposed to be sad.

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

I think I answered that earlier? But basically, not really. Not a huge fan of major character death, but over all, if it's well-written, I'll try it out.

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Oh, wow. Only three? Well, there's you, obviously. The pictures you paint with your words are just...heart wrenching, in all the best ways. I truly can't remember the last one of your fics that I read where I didn't cry at least once, and usually more.

Lomonaaeren is another. They write in the HP fandom. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cry, they have convinced me to try new ships...I have never read one of their works that I didn't end up loving! I'm subscribed to get notices for absolutely everything they post.

And I can't choose a third, because there are SO. DAMN. MANY talented writers out there!!

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Oh, I was afraid someone would ask this one.

Writing a prequel for The Strength of Gold could be really interesting! Finding out what happened to get the guys to the point they are in that fic....yeah. But that author is WAY out of my league, so I wouldn't even approach them!

[fiftytwotwentytwo]

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Author: J.K. Rowling

Fantasy / Children - Middle Grade

Page Count: 309

How did I come across this book?:

I wanted to see what all the hype was about.

I feel like my age group may have been on the edge of becoming or not becoming Pot/PotterHeads... - but I truly don't recall anyone gushing over HP in school - my nephew did, but not my peers.

I do have one vivid memory tied to the Harry Potter - couple days before the first film was supposed to be released our local priests visited the nightly CCD classes and urged demanded us to boycott the movie - there was sooooo much that made this plea so lasting.

First, I'm not going to name names, but this person's actual last name was an adjective that was synonymous with "fun" - "being hip" and the speech was far from fun or hip.

Also, said priest - not knocking but pointing out - sweated profusely... I don't know why - hot itchy garments? Overactive sweat glands?? But anywhosel- the man looked like he had an SNL prop tucked underneath his hair because his brow was basted in sweat.

Now, juxtapose this with being in a Catholic Elementary classroom where you have a priest whose sprung a leak and is standing in front of a backdrop of student crafted scarecrows, jack-o-lanterns, cornucopias, and the ever so popular framed photo of Jesus teaching a youngster how to hit a fastball baseball. Again, it felt very SNL-elly.

And lastly, there was just one line that stood out - one line I've always remembered - he said buying a ticket or reading the book was like buying a train seat to hell - I found the analogy very appealing as I never ridden a train, but thought "Is a train really the fastest transport to hell"? Don't get me wrong - it definitely sounds scenic, but why not a plane or just simply have the Earth's crust gobble you up.

Anyways... I saw the movie opening weekend.

And I've seen all the movies and... I'm not really a fan - BUT - adhering to the age ol' adage, The Book was Better Than the Movie - I decided to see if the book could change my mind on the Harry Potter franchise.

I ended up purchasing a copy from Amazon because I did not want to possibly damage a friend's beloved copy.

Review:

I personally had a hard time diving into this book, but it did pick up a little steam once Harry got to Hogwarts.

The world building was great. The introduction to the main cast and side characters was also well done, but I am not sure how much the films filled in some gaps.

The book eventually became fast and easy read. But up until the last 40 pages/last two chapters - the book just seemed to have great moments and no rising crescendo - no anticipatory ascent of a roller coaster - it felt more like snapshots.

Once I hit those last two chapters I fell hard - I loved the action - but the last two chapters also had a few moments where I had to remind myself that this initial story was geared towards grade schoolers - moments like solving a logic puzzle (because wizards are not well known for logic - actual statement from the book) or having a huge locked door and leaving a "hidden" key in the room with a means of transport/tools to find the key.

The last chapters were winning me over - but - the last closing pages I felt cheated. A massive break in the action/battle - a fade to black - and our hero just randomly wakes up 3 days later???

I guess Rowling "appeases" the reader by having a 3rd party tell our hero how the fight ended through exposition and info dumps... but Muggle-Oh-Muggle - it was absolute theft.

So, was it a good book?

It was okay.

I bet if I read a copy as a grade schooler - maybe even an illustrated copy - I would have yielded to the fandom.

Will I read further into the series?

Yeah, I think I'd I check it out... I mean what else am I going to read on my Train to Hell?

Personal Rating: 5.5/10

Yearly Book Total: 42

Total Page Count: 15,355 pages

* Achievement Unlocked *

It Weebles... It Wobbles... It Won't Fall Do--

OH, Lordy It's Falling!

It Officially Fell!

Forty-Two Books High

But... We Must Rebuild:

Huzzah!

[radnewworld]

I am a firm believer in fuel points as a game mechanic. Huge fan, can’t get enough of ‘em. Every character in a tabletop RPG should have them.

In RAD New World, they’re called Energy Points, but you might also know them in other systems as mana, spell points, ki, fatigue, power, or something even more esoteric. They’re the points your character can spend to do stuff (activate abilities, react to outside action, reroll dice, empower other abilities, or what-have-you) and that come back after a rest or food or simply elasped time.

What’s so great about them, you might ask if you were feeling particularly cooperative with this ramble’s structure? Aren’t they just another resource to monitor, like money or HP, just on a day-by-day scale? On a surface level analysis, sure, but they represent something much more intrinsic to a game’s fun: they are choice. It’ll certainly vary from system to system, but the very best points are the ones that enable abilities that you’ll want to use at least once or twice per encounter but are also sparse enough that you’ll also not want to spend them all at once for fear of not having them in a critical moment before they restore; that quick mental calculation keeps the points present in your decision making process, and friends, that is fun. Making moment to moment decisions in TTRPGs is fun.

And if you really want to harvest happy developer tears from my eyes, make sure the points can be used for more than one function.

Because I’ve got a big enough ego to think my system really is the best, I’ll put RAD New World’s Energy Points as an example of excellent point design. A typical low-level character will have between three and six Energy Points to spend during an adventuring day, with each point either powering a mutation, activating an ability, or allowing you to reroll a failed skill or attack roll. They’re universal to all player characters, creatures, and NPCs, and many, many powers rely on them for fuel, so very few encounters (whether combat, social, or exploration) will conclude without EP being spent... And there are also a sparse few powers that deplete Energy Points from targets. The absolutely most hate-filled, dirty looks players have fired at me have been in response to their character’s EP being attacked instead of HP. They hate it, because they know that whatever hazard is depleting their Energy Points is taking choice away from them and it forces the aforementioned moment-to-moment calculations to change... But even if they hate it when it happens, it’s the sort of hate that gets reserved for everyone’s favorite villains or RPG stories. It’s a special sort of challenge that has to be used in moderation.

My own horn being sufficiently tooted, here are some of the best designed point systems I’ve encountered. 1. Basically everything you do in Cypher System games is about spending your character’s three different point pools to make tasks easier. 2. DnD 5e has Sorcery Points for sorcerers, the battlemaster’s Superiority Die, and monk’s Ki Points, all of which are multi-use and impactful when spent (unless you whiff), but they only get half a tear since they’re basically limited to combat situations. 3. FATE points have a special place in my heart because they not only allow you to increase your odds of success, but also allow you to add or take away elements from the encounter’s narrative as well!

[sunder-soul]

you make most of it up? That's amazing. Could you maybe share your method/thinking/resources for someone who also wants to write believable class stuff in the hp fandom? Thank u very much

Yayaya sure!

Short answer:

So I'll pull details from the HP wiki, and if I need a random plant name or potion ingredient and can't be fucked making one up (or I don't need it to be something symbolic etc) I often use this random generator and either use those names straight out, or tweak them a bit before using them.

Long answer:

Well I'm a huge fan of soft worldbuilding (where you don't outline all the rules and details and instead have a sort of immersive description that leaves a lot unsaid) because I feel it makes things more realistic, like you're glimpsing little parts of things that are utterly normal and therefore don't need explaining ya kno. So when I write classroom scenes or any kind of 'lore' I try not to explain it and rely instead on characters reacting to things to convey its importance, normalcy, or strangeness.

I do this alllll the time but I did it HEAPS in white dove. When Tom is in trial and he gets a 'tier nine' cell (which I made up) I don't bother writing something like "oh my gosh tier nine is the worst and most intense type of cell you can get and it has these rules and these horrifying conditions" bc I don't need to. The whole room reacts with gasps and horror and even Tom looks freaked out (tho that's mostly bc he was expecting a sentence of a specific amount of years and was confident he could just outlive it bc immortal and that's the moment that he's like oh fuck, but the point still stands).

So the emotions/reactions of the people tell you everything you need to know without me having to outright describe it. You don't need to know what a tier 9 cell is, you get that it's fucking baddddd. In fact, it's sort of even better than explaining it bc our imaginations find the unknown even scarier than something horrifying described in detail.

In the same chap a bit further down, I make reference to a 'peeping charm' which I made up on the spot. Same deal but different context, it makes sense that magic users have a spell that'll act like a peephole in their doors, there's no reason to say 'this spell will let me look through the door without the person on the other side noticing so I can see who it is before opening it' because this would be a totally normal thing. So I just wrote it like it wasn't a big deal bc to this character in this context, this wouldn't be a big deal.

On the other hand you can also totally introduce something new that DOES need some detail/exposition. At the beginning of this same chap I say that Tom's lips and cheeks are flushed, that this a tell-tale sign of veritaserum poisoning, and that they've obviously given him heaps of the stuff. I made this up just bc I wanted there to be something the MC could visually and easily see from across the room that would establish that Tom's been given a SHIT TON of truth potion so that for the rest of the scene, the audience in the room with him AND the audience reading the chapter knows he's being forced to tell the truth. It just added to the tension of the moment and made sense for the context (a trial lol). It also gives the scene some layers - Tom was fairly brief and controlled when he actually speaks in that scene, and I wanted it to be unclear if this is because he's being super self controlled by choice as he's normally prone to being, if he knows that he'll be unable to lie and doesn't want to let on any more of his secrets, or if he knows honesty will destroy the picture perfect tragic image the newspapers have made for him if he's TOO much of a monster.

I'm rambling but the point is, if you're going to introduce details or concepts it's really important to have an understanding of who would know that stuff already, who would find it commonplace and who might be totally unaware of it. Sometimes everyone in the scene would know about it already but the AUDIENCE doesn't, and that's when you can use like casual conversation/questions between characters to give more info whilst also showing that this is all very normal.

Having a character not know something is an easy way to have another character explain something to them but there has to be a solid reason as to WHY one would know it and the other doesn't.

An example of a time I've used this is in Mimicry when the MC knows troll blood will ruin Tom's potion but Tom doesn't. Normally we'd be like 'wait what, why would a nerd-ass know it all like Tom not know this,' but it makes sense to my understanding of the character that he's the sort of person who got a recommendation that 'Zoological Potions Ingredients' was the BEST textbook on ingredients and went off and fucking memorised the whole thing and didn't think that anything could have changed in the 70 years after it was published (Tom strikes me as the sort of person who chases 'the best' and doesn't think much past that is worth considering). Hence why he didn't know that the classification for trolls changed and that further research was done, since he also strikes me as the sort of person who would consider reading up on the social status of trolls to be a little pointless lol, but surprise bitch it wasn't.

So I made up most of that except for the existence of Bundimuns and trolls - I went hunting on the wiki for some obscure substance I could reference in passing for a potions ingredient (and found Bundimuns), and honestly I can't remember how much about them I made up and how much is canon (I think they're mentioned to be used in cleaning products canonically...?)

But the point is more that this scene doesn't just flesh out the world, it tells u stuff about the two characters and how they interact. It tells you that Tom is very studious but doesn't like to revise his opinions, it tells you that the MC knows their shit, it tells you that Tom is suspicious (he instantly challenges them by referencing the textbook not saying what they're telling him), and it tells you that MC is a good bitch who would help out a dick like Tom just bc it's the right thing to do. It also shows Tom's flaws - his disregard of learning about other creatures/beings/people and the way they're treated in society tracks with what we know of his character, and I always think it's important to demonstrate (either directly to him within a scene or to the readers) that this is a stupid thing to do. In this case, his lack of interest in the struggles of others nearly fucked his own potion, he's only saved because MC 1) cares enough to read up about it, 2) sees the importance of revising formally formed opinions/understandings, 3) steps in to help him even though he probably wouldn't have done the same.

So that's soft world building, ya know, using these things to tell you about the characters, using knowledge and lack of knowledge, reactions, etc etc. Most of the details I make up are there to serve a purpose for the plot, but honestly that's just bc I'm writing short super condensed stories that don't have a lot of space for proper world building. In Seven Devils (and Mimicry to a lesser extent) I have a lot more of these details there to create an emotion/sense of the scene just for the sake of setting that scene, but that's for bigger works with more room to breathe.

Hmu if you want to know more but damn I DID write an essay huh 😅

[vlueyellow]

Number 7

(This is @lumosinlove‘s version of the HP characters and definitely just MY personal take on James Potter in Sweater Weather. You can read the original fanfic here)

(Also, Haz, I really hope I don’t offend you with this, I just needed to write it down because it WOULDN’T LEAVE MY DUMBASS HEAD, I’m sorry, if you want me to delete, tell me<3)

James had heard the stories. Heard the rumours and whispers about the Black family. He didn’t know what made the situation itch him the wrong way. If it was the obvious tension and fake family bond. Or the way everyone just kind of knew that something wasn’t right but nobody wanted to acknowledge it. It wasn’t until he actually met Sirius Black that he figured out what made him so uneasy with the whole thing.

Sirius was a fortress at first. The lines between his eyebrows created wrinkles that weren’t supposed to become permanent before he turned 40. The way he pressed his lips together whenever he shot the puck was something James had only ever seen on injured players who had too much pride to admit they were out of the game. His teeth were seen once in a blue moon and the rest of the time they were hidden behind his lips where James could see them clenching together by the state of his jaw. 

Sirius looked like a injured veteran on the egde of retiring when he only just started his career.

What the hell happened to you? James thought as he had watched Sirius for the third time shy away from a celly when Dumo skated over to throw an arm over his shoulder.

It made more sense after the shift. The shift of course being Sirius deciding to hell with his family and finally accepted being a Lion. James could feel the shackles of Sirius’ family shake off him, hitting the ice and freeing his limbs as he lifted his stick and scored with the perfect slapshot and for the first time accepted Dumo’s arms sliding around him, knocking him into the glass with a laugh. It was the match James would privatly refer to as the beginning of the Lions. Because there was no Lions without Sirius Black.

But even as Sirius finally relaxed himself something was off. Even as the lines on his forehead disappeared and his lips stretched into a smile instead of a frown when he easily glided the puck into the net. Even as the whole team got to know Sirius slightly crooked tooth that could only be seen when he smiled the brightest and the pain on his face vanished, James still felt like Sirius was hiding. It was different. Like Sirius had finally accepted them as his team and best friends but the privacy of his feelings were still hiding behind the emtionally injured player James had gotten so used to seeing.

He knew he didn’t know everything there was to know about Sirius’ family, but he knew enough to know that Sirius’ walls wouldn’t come down probably ever. But it was okay because Sirius was happy and James could understand that trauma wasn’t something you wanted to share or even think about. 

But Sirius’ happiness didn’t make the uncomfortable look he had on his face when the team went out for drinks go away. James would still watch from the bar as his best friend curled his hand around another puck bunny’s nape, pulling her into a kiss as the wrinkles between his eyebrows returned. 

He didn’t think much of it because James knew that it was an image thing. A lot of guys in the league made it their ‘thing’ to gain popularity and even though James could tell Sirius’ heart wasn’t in it he wouldn’t interfere because Sirius was an adult and James knew he didn’t need anyone to tell him how to live his life when he had gotten enough of that from his family. 

But then Sirius stopped picking up bunnies. He stopped frowning when Finn suggested to go celebrate at The Three Hockey Sticks after an important win and instead became one of the first to hype up the idea. He came up with new fun cellys for the rookies to pick up on and once Thomas swore he had heard him sing in the showers after practice. It was as if Sirius’ entire being had let out a huge sigh and James couldn’t understand what had changed.

Until he saw the necklace, of course. 

He felt like a genius as he explained his theory to Lily who smiled at him with a shake of her head. 

Sirius Black had gotten himself a girlfriend James thought to himself as he saw Sirius carefully dry his neck with a towel as if he was afraid the necklace would snap in half. James could barely stop himself from smiling.

After reaching the conclusion James started to notice all the little signs he had missed before.

Sirius phone went off literally every time he wasn’t at practice or at a game. James could hardly ever get him to come to movie night anymore and when he finally decided to show up his phone was pinging left and right, and every time Sirius face would relax into a slow smile James was sure he didn’t even know he was making. 

James was so happy for him that he couldn’t even be the tiniest bit mad at Sirius for keeping it a secret. All he wanted for his boy was to be happy and Sirius clearly was so James couldn’t care less. 

But it didn’t stop him from being absolutely annoyingly curious. Remus, who Sirius seemed to had gotten close with, hadn’t noticed anything and James was starting to go out of his mind. All he wanted was for Sirius to bring his girlfriend to family skate and show her off. 

He didn’t understand why he was hiding. It wasn’t anything wild whenever a player in the league got a girlfriend. Of course, because Sirius was captain he might hold the spotlight for a bit longer but it would still blow over fairly quickly. 

It filled James’ head for weeks and when it finally made sense he cursed himself for ever being so blind.

Alarm bells went off in his head as Sirius stopped in his tracks. As always, his phone was in his hands but from behind James saw his shoulders tense up. His first instinct was to ask what was wrong but then Finn spoke up. He was also looking at his phone. James took his own from his back pocket instantly.

The hashtag was already trending in the US, probably close to trending globaly, too. At the top was an article from The Prophet with three photos attached. The headline read: “Lion Captain’s gay love affair: Another miss for the Playoffs?”

James throat tightened as he clicked on the photos attached. It was Sirius’ car and there in the backseat of it was Sirius with Remus in his lap. They were in the middle of an intense kiss. In the next Remus was kissing his neck. 

In panic James looked up at Sirius. He hadn’t moved but as Pascal lifted a hand to his shoulder he flinched back and before James could react his was gone. 

A pain had settled in his stomach as he thought back to all the questions he had asked Remus, all the theories he had shared with Lily, all the times he had thought about just asking Sirius what her name was. He had worried about the wrong thing. God, he was an idiot. 

He wished Lily would’ve stopped him from being such an asshole to assume Sirius was dating a girl but he mentally slapped himself. It wasn’t Lily’s job to make him stop assuming everyone was straight. He had set a trap up for himself and it was time for damage control.

His eyes darted to Remus who was staring at the door Sirius had stormed out of just seconds ago. He was pale and James could see his hands shaking where he was gripping his neck. He slowly made his way over.

He wanted to apologies a million times, to Sirius, to Remus, to every non-straight hockey player who held up a facade. But right now this wasn’t about him.

James placed a hand on Remus’ shoulder.

“Can I drive you home?“ He asked, eyes never leaving his face. 

Remus’ hand seemed to tighten, both around his neck and his grip on his phone. James slowly took it from his hands and placed it in his back pocket next to his own.

“Come on, Re. Let me—let me be here for you.” He tried again. 

He could see the shine in Remus’ eyes and James wasn’t even sure if he was aware of it. 

Remus voice shook as he choked out “He needs you.”

James tightened his grip on Remus’ shoulder, ignoring the urge to pull him into a hug and let the tears in his eyes fall together with his own that were stuck somewhere in his throat.

“I’m going there next. Lily’s going to you. She’ll meet you at your apartment, okay?” He said as calmly as he could.

Forever seemed to go by before Remus agreed, the wetness finally falling from his eyes as James began to walk him out of the airport.

All the little things that James seemed to be the only one to notice began to replay in his head, and the pain in his chest suddenly doubled when he wondered for a brief moment if Sirius had been silent because he was afraid James would be the one to write #NotMyCaptain. 

It was then he knew that he would fight with everything he had to make sure no one touched a hair on Sirius’ and Remus’ head. He would sacrifice his career if he had to. Fuck the NHL, fuck the Prophet, fuck the fans, fuck everyone who ever dared to suggest Sirius was anything but a great captain and player.

He had a feeling a war had started against the entire League and he was ready to pick a side, sacrifices be damned.

(Sorry for grammar, English isn’t my first language and I also wrote this after midnight)

(Hope you didn’t hate it, Haz @lumosinlove, I love your story so much and I’m a big hockey fan so thank you for the masterpiece)

(Also, Go Maple Leafs, number 31)

[chitsangenthusiast]

fic writer review

tagged by @bisexuallsokka thank you 🧡 🧡 putting my tagging here so @maderilien @dickpuncher420 @marriedzukka @zukoscalzones @babydotcom if any of you are interested!!

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 27! only eight of those were written within the past two years tho lol

2. what's your total ao3 word count? 163,360.....which felt fake bc of the long break between writing so i counted only the recent fics and that's. still 91,749 holy shit lmao

3. how many fandoms have you written for and what are they? if i'm remembering correctly, then six! (atla, harry potter, that singular fruits basket fic when i was 14, kpop (shh), marvel, mdzs, and atla again lol)

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos? useless facts (clintbucky - and tbh only bc it's a 5yo fic lol)

hold me like you do, cover me in blue (zukka)

hands, knees, please, tangerine (zukka)

get a glimpse of this candy paint (clintbucky - also a 5yo fic lol)

don't go wasting your emotion (sangcheng)

5. do you respond to comments, why or why not? i actually didn't use to, but i do now. i feel like the 'leave a comment' game has changed significantly on ao3 and i like showing my appreciation back now! (oh man i have so many comments i still need to respond to omg)

6. what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? lmfao none. i'm not a huge fan of writing angst-based stories or endings, BUT i guess technically it's the mallrat in me can be considered for this one since chpt 4 did end with some angst (for now!)

7. do you write crossovers? if so, what's the craziest one you've written? i don't write fandom crossovers but i do like writing ridiculous au's, and i would say that the funniest jobs i've given any character was the clintbucky exterminator/locksmith story that never got finished lol (rip)

8. have you ever received hate on a fic? holy shit poor little 13yo kath used to get OBLITERATED for my characterizations lmfaoooo please know that my attempts at writing good characterizations now come from blood, sweat, and (literal) tears

(still salty i never received hate from the sangcheng troll last year tho. they loved to attack me on twitter but NOT my fics??? i feel slighted smh)

(more below! felt it got long!!)

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? l m f a o

anyway keep me humming, keep me going is now the second fic that has a title from beyonce's song 'blow' bc those lyrics have a chokehold on me when i write nsfw!

10. have you ever had a fic stolen? no but i've had specific passages from some really old stuff that was stolen and very obviously rewritten/paraphrased, which is. harder to prove lol

11. have you ever had a fic translated? nothing recent but a few of my old hp fics on ff.net were translated!

but omg the best time it ever happened was a year ago when i found out that not only had a 15yo fic of mine been translated (and credited!), it had also been converted into a beautiful pdf!!! complete with cover art and border art!!!! wasn't even aware it was done bc whoever did it had only done it within the last few years i think, but it was such a wild experience to find it i have the pdf saved on my laptop lol

12. have you ever co-written a fic before? i have not! i don't think i've ever had a dedicated beta either, which probably explains a lot lol

13. what's your all-time fave ship? ALTAIR/MALIK they're not even my first otp (which draco/ron and zukka still go strong, followed by clintbucky) but THEY are the ones that seize my heart like no other ship has done 🧡🧡

14. what's a fic you want to finish but don't think you ever will? the zukka ba sing se/blue spirit poetry fic 😔 which is unfortunate bc i'm still so excited to write it/there's a lot written of it, but chaptered fics are nerve-wracking lol

15. what are your writing strengths? idk if ppl necessarily like it, but i really like my writing style! sure it's obvious i write for fanfic vs anything publishable, but i enjoy that lol

also ppl tell me i'm really good at banter, characterizations, and immersing them in the story, which is wonderful bc i do work really hard on that!

16. what are your writing weaknesses? finding the right words. in general, it's so extremely hard for me in that i don't have much of a mental dictionary/thesaurus i guess. it can be upsetting at times, especially when i know there's a better word or way to phrase the line but just have to let it go. i am simply not one of those people who can come up with big words (or words that are like. normal ones to use when describing smth lol)

17. what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages on a fic? it can be a good touch to the fic! i don't have very strong feelings on it, i suppose

18. what was the first fandom you ever wrote for? atla, tho harry potter is the one that actually survived the period of fic deletion i once went through on ff.net lol

19. what is your favorite fic ever written? everyone is going to know the answer to this one, but hmlyd hands down my actual baby <333 after a 4yr long break from writing, i knocked out 3 fics but it was hmlyd that really got me excited! writing it was a BLAST, my entire heart went into it, and it's one of my fics that i actually do genuinely go back and read frequently bc it makes me so happy lmao

tbh if i hadn't written hmlyd, i probably would've stopped writing for the fandom after hands, knees, please, tangerine and gone back to lurking lmao

(keep me humming, keep me going is a good contender tho. which goes to show that the fastest way to my heart is just inundating myself with tender competitive lovers lmao)