#not intended to be shippy just intended to be shenanigans

[frick-it-sugar-spice]

Vox trying to fuck with Alastor and doing some EMP shit and knocking both of them out and they just stand there for a bit with radio static/TV snow while the electronic based parts of their existance come back online

Velvette is mad cause it knocked her phone out too so she couldn't get pictures. Angel is also kinda cheesed off for similar reasons, but Vaggie came in clutch with the old ass pictobox style camera Asastor was being a jerk with during the commercial filming bit and it worked just fine

She doesn't tell Alastor about the photos of him or the one of both of them, or the one of both of them posed together while they were blanked out. But she does show/give him several of Vox

Alastor makes little bunting banners and posters of them to pop up around pride ring and to gently vandalize the Vee's tower with.

Vox gets McMad and makes some angry ms paint animations about it. While hiding in his room and being pissed his idea backfired so spectacularly

[risingsouls]

[Okey dokey. Now that I've imploded and have picked up those pieces (maybe), I want to discuss what I plan to do moving forward. I want to preface this by saying I do not blame anyone but myself for getting to this point. I didn't follow my own rules, and it has made me uncomfortable with what I'm doing on this blog.

This is mainly about shipping so, if you ship with me, you'll want to take a gander. Under the cut for obvious reasons and to not annoy people.]

So, this has really been a long time coming but I do think I want to reset pretty much all my ships. Again, this is not anyone else's fault but my own, but I've just sort of become bored with what I've been doing in that realm. I went against my own rule of building up ships and allowed them to be rushed instead of built from the ground up like I like. I want to go through the stages of getting two (or more as the case might rarely be who knows) muses into a relationship. I want to see the messy parts. I want to do more than just having relationships be established from almost the jump after one or two small interactions. It's not fair to my muses who are all pretty damn picky. I don't feel like I'm doing right by them by not building these relationships properly. I do love all the ships that have happened, but I'm just not happy with myself for not sticking to my guns about REALLY building them.

What does this mean? Good question. By default, I think this means that I'm just going to wipe the board clean of all ships, save for a few exceptions. I'm also going to lay some ground rules for shipping in general that are honestly more a reminder for me, but also a sort of "this is what you can expect" thing moving forward for my partners.

First and foremost, I'm going to be pickier. I'm not going to allow people to just come at my muses from the jump with anything that's obviously shippy in an established way. Flirting is fine, but if I get something like "I've always loved you" (within reason on this one because that could be interesting) or "we've been married for sixteen years!" when there was no build up to this or they're basically strangers, I'm going to ignore it. Anyone is welcome to come ask me to ship, but, at the risk of sounding harsh, we're BOTH going to have to work for it.

If characters have a history, either in my canon or regular canon, I'm obviously willing to be a WEENSY bit more lenient. For example, Nabooru and Vegeta, in my AU crossover shenanigans, already have some history. Not necessarily as a romantic relationship (unless it's way down the line and even that's not traditional), but they did build some rapport with each other in that realm to some degree. However, since my Vegeta isn't the same as someone else's, I do still want to do the lifting with getting them off the ground. I want to see how it would differ with someone else's Vegeta than with what I've written/imagined in my AU. And I should also disclaimer that no other Vegeta or any other character needs to know Nabooru or any other one of my characters in the way they do in my AU.

This is where I'm afraid I might hurt feelings or lose RP partners, though I really hope I don't as it's not intended. As mentioned, I am starting ships over. I know I told some people recently that I was okay with continuing what we had, but it's become clear that I'm not happy with what I allowed and how I rushed things. Basically, I am very much still willing to explore the ships I already have again! But I do want to sort of start at some kind of beginning. To build it from the ground or close to it up. If you don't want to deal with that, I understand, but I feel this is necessary for me to feel good about what I'm doing again.

I think that covers everything. If you have questions, don't hesitate to pop in my DMs or hmu on dis.cor.d. Again, I'm not upset with anyone at all! This was definitely a me issue that I didn't get a handle on before I let it get to the point it bothered me.

[kitkatt0430]

💖👨‍👧‍👧🌈🍰👩‍🏭:)

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

I really like the character interactions the most. Sometimes that's just dialog, sometimes it's dialog combined with describing what they're doing at the time. I think specifically I just like finding different ways to convey the emotions of the moment and how it plays between the characters.

👨‍👧‍👧 Do you tell people in real life that you write fic? 

Yes and no. Some of my friends know I write fanfic but they don't read it since they're not really in the same fandoms as me... or as into reading fanfic as I am. My parents know I used to, but to avoid them actually anything I've written since high school I've let them have the impression I only read fanfic these days. Because I definitely do not want them reading my fanfic.

🌈 What inspired you to write [insert fic here]?

Since no fic was specified, I'll pick one. :D How about the recent fic, Electric Connection.

So it started with me re-watching the start of the episode Power Outage because I intended to add Farooq to Timeline Poker (I really need to finish editing and post the next chapter). I really loved Farooq's interactions with his friends, Jake and Daria. (I did have to look up their names on the Arrow wiki.) Since the episode is Farooq's roaring rampage of revenge over Jake and Daria's deaths, it got me thinking shippy thoughts and the next thing I knew, I had a new rare pair.

Gotta stop doing that to myself.

So while they're included in Timeline Poker, I wanted a story that was all theirs and thus Electric Connection was born.

🍰 Name one of your fave comfort fics (doesn’t have to be your all time fave).

I have many comfort fics, so while I already answered this one here, I have more recommendations to give. :D

Atlas ~ by distractedKat

An eventual Kirk/Spock fic set in the Kelvin-verse, only including the 2009 movie in it. It's respectful of all the main characters, re-aligns Kirk's characterization closer to his Original Series counterpart, includes Archer and his dogs, and it's got some great found family vibes going on. I really love the take on Nyota Uhura in this one - though she and Spock break up early on, they remain dear friends through the whole thing. And the friendship she develops with Jim is quite fun too.

👩‍🏭 If one of your fics was going to get you arrested, which one and why?

Maybe Road Trip? I'm setting some not so legal shenanigans in a real hotel in Salt Lake City (that I visited once myself a few years pre-pandemic) though I haven't gotten that part posted yet.

I can't think of anything I've researched for fics that's particularly illegal/would get me side eyed too badly. So Road Trip definitely comes to mind first.

[jesuisserieux]

Ok I don’t know if it’ll ever come up in my fic, but for Home (and it’s connotations) I have a head canon about how Courf and E met, and it’s important that I share it.

So Enjolras enters college an angry and repressed gay kid from his shitty household, and he is determined to be out and proud! Goddamn it he will fight every homophobe on the east coast if he has to! He went to a small conservative private high school along with kids from households just like his, and he comes into college expecting the same and ready to fucking fight!

So Enjolras and Courfeyrac are incidentally in the same freshman req essay class. Enjolras is 100% focused on studying and radiating rage, but Courf takes one look at this VERY hot dude with a pride pin on his back pack and is like 👀

So after class he catches up with him and is like “hey I saw your pin! Are you gay?” And Enjolras turns around, fire in his eyes, and goes off like “so what if I am? Do you have a problem with gay people? It’s not your business what anyone does-” and just goes on full of his righteous repressed gay anger until Courf has to cut him off and be like

“Whoa whoa whoa dude! I’m not homophobic! I was hitting on you! I’m bi! You’re really hot!”

And Enjolras is flabbergasted.

He has no idea how to react, his brain straight up bluescreens. Fighting? He was ready for that. He was born ready. But flirting? In no way did he prepare for that.

His face turns bright red and he gets out some sort of strangled sound that’s maybe supposed to be “oh ok,” and fucking books it.

Courf is left standing there like, “what the fuck...?” So he take a second to process whatever that was, and comes up with a new plan. This boy is clearly not ready for whatever romance with Courfeyrac entails. He is going to be a mentor instead. He is going to take this weird angry baby gay under his wing.

Next class he corners Enjolras before class- so he can’t run away- and he’s like, “hello, I’m Courfeyrac, I’m not hitting on you, we’re going to be best friends. Do you want to go to a party this weekend? It’s hosted by the Queer Student Alliance and I don’t want to go alone.” 

Enjolras is so awkward he says yes, to make this interaction end, and thinks that’ll be the end of this mortifying ordeal. It’s not. Courfeyrac obtains his number and immediately blows up his phone. The party that weekend is only the first of countless Coufeyrac-and-Enjolras shenanigans.

[sneezypeasy]

Original Script Analysis, Part 1: Kataang Is Better... And Also Worse.

I want to start this off by saying that when it comes to media analysis, I personally don’t tend to give authorial intent a significant amount of weight – at least, not by default. I understand why authorial intent is so often debated among media analysts, and why so many metas and critiques often hinge their arguments on paratextual information that serves to provide potential insight on what the authors were thinking or planning. But I myself tend to follow more of a “Death of the Author” framework. There are some exceptions, such as when I believe the author’s stated intent – or even details such as their background, life experiences, advocacy etc – has bled through their work so heavily that it becomes impossible to ignore its impact on the final product. (E.g., reading Fyodor Dostoyevsky compare murder to state-ordered execution, it is hard not to contextualise the passage with the knowledge that Dostoyevsky himself faced a firing squad and was given a pardon at the very last minute). Even then, I tend to treat paratextual information like – Understanding the context behind x scene or y narrative choice potentially adds a layer of meaning to it, particularly why some scenes may have been framed the way they were, or why the author chose to tell/expand/conclude the story like this instead of like that. I use paratextual information to deepen my understanding of the author’s reasonings behind their choices. I don’t use paratextual information to form my opinion on whether their choices were good.

(I prefer to form my own opinion on that, based on what I think of the text itself.)

That being said, like most of you readers I too had heard the many rumours surrounding the writing/production process behind ATLA, especially when it came to the ships. Which ship, if any, was planned for, when were the romance arcs finally decided, were there conflicts/disagreements between writers, were there script changes and animation edits to strengthen one pairing while weakening other, and so on and so on. I’d heard the rumour that The Southern Raiders went through multiple rewrites/changes, because it was originally “too shippy”. I’d heard the rumours that Aaron and Elizabeth were pro-Zutara, Bryan and Mike were pro-Kataang, and that their respective positions/opinions on these two pairings seep through their writing in an acutely perceptible way.

I’d also heard the counter-argument, the official narrative endorsed by the creators that any chemistry or subtext between Zuko and Katara was always intended to be platonic, and that readers who saw anything romantic between these two characters were simply setting themselves up for disappointment by projecting their own expectations or preferences onto the show, nothing more.

Over the past 15 years or so, these debates shaped much of the ATLA “shipping discourse”, sometimes even dominating discussion on the subject. I myself have gotten many a variant of “Zutara was never going to happen, get over it” – even when I’ve made a deliberate effort to omit any mention of authorial intent in my analyses, because, as I’ve said, I still don’t consider that kind of paratextual information relevant to my own opinions on why I think Zutara just works better. But given the intensity of the arguments surrounding behind-the-scenes shenanigans, their impact on the final product, and even their supposed significance in determining shipping validity, it was impossible not to wonder at the truth behind all these conflicting rumours.

So when I set foot in the WGF, it was admittedly difficult to contain my bubbling excitement and anticipation. Even still, I resolved to keep my expectations low. Rumours are rumours, after all. Secondary sources must always be taken with a healthy grain of salt, and some of the rumours weren’t even second-hand information at that. And I already knew that no matter what I found, my own opinion that Zutara is the best love story almost written, would not change.

All that said and done, let’s just say that I found the discovery... highly rewarding, and for those of you who have spent years refusing to accept that you were just “reading into things”, I hope my findings bring you some long-awaited vindication.

There are two other disclaimers I need to get through before we continue:

1) The Writers Guild Foundation is not a lending library. You may make an appointment to view the scripts in person, and you are allowed to take notes and manually copy as much as you like. But you will not find copies of their scripts online, and photos and screenshots are strictly prohibited. From what I understand it’s a copyright issue. Legally I’m fairly certain that embedding photos in this post and accompanying it with critique and analysis would/should count as “Fair Use”; however, I know that at some point I’d like to be able to return to the library, and I don’t want to risk being blacklisted for not following their rules.

As such, all the images embedded in this post are reproductions of snippets that I had to manually copy and type up, word for word. It was slow work, so as much as I’d love to be able to just plop the entire script of The Southern Raiders (or any ATLA episode) here for you to read, I had to narrow my focus a fair bit. I mainly noted down, in order of significance:

additions, omissions or changes in the original script compared to the show

bits where the writer’s notes/storyboard directions contained insights or descriptions that I found interesting, surprising, or just plain funny

scenes that weren’t really all that different or unexpected, but we love to see it in writing anyway (ahem Crossroads of Destiny *cough*)

I’m sure there’s a lot that I still managed to miss - even visiting over two days, I couldn’t read every episode. I highly encourage Zutarians living in or near LA to make an appointment and read the scripts for yourselves. You’ll be able to see more than what I’ve posted here, and you might even unearth some goodies that escaped my notice.

(Credit goes to @lady-of-bath for taking my boatload of notes and reformatting them to look like scripts again ❤)

(Also apologies that some passages are split across two images; that just means they were long enough that they spanned two pages and I couldn’t be bothered splicing them back together so I just embedded them here as separate image files. I promise I didn’t cut/remove anything; images not separated by a line of dashes should be read as one continuous snippet 😊).

2) The second thing I ought to clarify is that, from my understanding, the drafts I read were final drafts. These were scripts submitted to the guild just prior to storyboarding, voice acting, animating etc. As I read them, I noticed that the only changes to the script that I could tell were non-dialogue related - so things like, descriptions of the characters’ actions, movements, facial expressions/body language, what you can or can’t see in the shot, etc. Otherwise, voice lines have been essentially kept intact. This suggests to me that the changes made to the script after submission to the guild, were also made after lines had been recorded, possibly even after scenes had been storyboarded. It also suggests that the scripts the voice actors read were the same ones I read in that library. (There is one notable exception that I found, a very interesting exception in my opinion, which we’ll get to later.)

While I would have loved to have seen the earlier drafts, to be able to see how the script changed with each revision (including revisions made to the dialogue prior to voice recording), it’s my understanding that the guild rarely ever receives these scripts, and such was the case again this time. I did also have a look to see if they had the ATLA Series Bible, but unfortunately that hadn’t been submitted either. It is what it is. Still, I’m not mad about what I found. :)

And on that note - ONTO THE SCRIPTS!

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

I’m going to start off by defending Kataang a bit here. (I know, I know. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the juicy Zutara stuff in due course.) In my 2 hour long video analysis I talked about lack of development being one of the biggest structural problems with Kataang as a ship. Specifically, I showed how you can take the scenes that we know to be “Kataang scenes”, jumble them up so that they appear in a different order than they do in the show, and the end result still makes just as much narrative sense - or maybe even more sense than they did in the show. 

Interestingly, the original scripts for these scenes do not fail this test - at least, I don’t think they do. Let’s start at the very beginning:

It’s love at first sight for Aang, which we all knew already. For Katara, it’s less “love” and more “wonder”. But it’s a powerful meeting for both of them. Honestly, this isn’t all that different from how I perceived this scene on television when I watched it. 

Let’s continue with the Fortuneteller:

Okay, so again, roughly what we see on television. Katara realizes Aang could be who Aunt Wu was referring to, and is unsure what to make of this. Fair.

Next, the Cave of Two Lovers:

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Unlike in the show, Katara doesn’t blush in this script (I also checked the ending of the script where I remember her blushing again in the show, but the script doesn’t mention any blush, anywhere). However, Katara seems to be taking the possibility of Aang as a love interest a little bit more seriously here. In the show version, they hug, Aang seems a little awkward and is clearly hoping for some closure/confirmation of where they now stand, but Katara doesn’t seem to spare it a second thought - she just yeets it out of there. The slow parting and the “awkward look” these kids share in the script suggests, at least to me, that script!Katara is placing more weight on what just happened than show!Katara does, and she at least seems aware, maybe even nervous, of the fact that sharing a maybe-kiss in a secret love cave might do something to their dynamic that she’s not sure how she feels about yet. 

The divergences get more interesting now. Enter The Earth King scene, where Aang attempts to confess his feelings to Katara:

“They both know what he's about to say.” 

WELL. Not only did they cut out the “he looks her directly in the eyes” part, but they completely took out any shot that might have indicated a mutual understanding between them, as was written in the script. Instead, we get a deer-in-the-headlights look from Katara, then her head cocks to the side “What is it, Aang?” and then… nothing. Everything about her body language on screen is written to suggest she either has no idea what’s coming, or is doing a great job of playing coy about it.

The cheek-kiss is intact in both versions, however. Let’s keep going.

I didn’t take notes on the Headband. I probably should have, but I didn’t bother because there weren’t really any notable differences between the script version and the show version. What you see is basically what you get - Aang dances with On Ji, Katara is agitated but acts aloof, Aang invites her to dance, she hesitantly accepts, they dance and it’s all very cute. She says “that was some dance party, Aang” and gives him another cheek-kiss at the end. If there were any differences from script to screen, I didn’t spot them.

But there was a pretty big difference for Day of Black Sun:

(By the way, this confirms an earlier version of the rumour that had been based on alleged edits made fairly late in the storyboarding process. Credit to @lady-of-bath​ for procuring this receipt).

So, what I’m basically getting here is that, in the original script, up until the midpoint of Season 3, the writing was originally heading towards a Kataang conclusion. And actually - you may disagree with me here but you know what? I actually don’t hate this version of Kataang. (So far, anyway).

There were two main issues I had with Kataang - the structure/pacing of it was all over the place, and on a deeper level I felt that the conflict they set up regarding Aang’s character arc and “letting Katara go” were not properly resolved in the show, leading to a lack of cohesion in the storytelling.

Combing through these passages, script!Katara reads way more natural and realistic, to me, than show!Katara. Let’s look at the progression here, from Katara’s side:

She meets an “adorable” boy and forms an instant attachment to him

She sees their dynamic as platonic until a comment from Sokka makes her question whether it will always be so in the future. She doesn’t quite know what to make of this at the time.

She shares a maybe-kiss with him in a secret love cave, and seems to be aware/nervous that their dynamic may change as a result. 

Some time later, he works up the courage to confess his feelings with her, and the script makes it clear that she understands what he’s trying to say and may even have been anticipating it. 

They go to a party where Katara is moody seeing Aang dance with someone else. Then Aang asks Katara onto the floor, and they dance, and Katara seems genuinely pleased/delighted.

Finally, just before the eclipse, he kisses her. She may not have been expecting it, but her reaction (smiling after him as he flies away) shows she didn’t see it as unwelcome. 

If Kataang were actually written like this, I think that would solve the structural problems of the ship that really bothered me, and I probably wouldn’t have stopped shipping them. It’s very clear to me that taking any of these scenes, as written, and jumbling them out of order, would completely mess up the steady (if subtle) progression of Katara 1) seeing Aang as a potential love interest, 2) understanding he sees her as one, and finally 3) realising she does actually return his feelings.

It also makes Katara feel much more like a real person, and less of an objective for Aang to try to reach in a “two steps forward, one step back” sort of situation.

I think, even then, I still would have shipped Zutara as well, because I don’t think the symbolism and depth to Zutara can be beat. But I’m pretty sure I would have kept a soft spot for Kataang, for the fluff. At least, I wouldn’t be strongly opposed to it. My position would likely be “eh, there’s flaws, and it probably could have been written better, and I think writing Zutara instead would have been more compelling and thematically satisfying but you know what, this is cute. I get it.”

Of course, that’s before we get to the second half of Season 3, where Kataang goes from oscillating in place to taking a nose-dive out of ... nowhere.

And in a way that seems to seriously contrast with how the ship had been written from Cave of Two Lovers to Day of Black Sun, the downward spiral of Kataang coinciding with a deepening friendship/connection for Zutara - seems to be exacerbated in the original script.

Remember how uncomfortable it was to watch Ember Island Players in the show?

...

It’s quite a bit worse here.

Aang comes off significantly less sympathetic in this version of the episode. Here he is, looking at Katara “accusingly”, and even “glaring” at her, because the actress playing her on stage is flirting with actor!Zuko. Why is he so angry, and at her? And meanwhile, she “pretends not to notice”? Ick.

I’ll be honest, I never had a strong opinion of Aang being “possessive” in this scene. I understand why other people did, and I totally see where they’re coming from with that. Personally though, I kind of gave him the benefit of the doubt and just perceived him as immature, not really getting it, and I always perceived his jealousy to be more hapless than disturbing. This is just my personal opinion, but I felt that their clash in this episode was more indicative of a lack of compatibility and understanding between them than anything else, and obviously I think the non-con kiss was wrong, but generally I didn’t think the kid had bad intentions - I just saw him as... too young, to be honest. He did get pushy and demanding, and either way Katara deserved better, but with Aang, I kind of understood it to be stemming from hope/desperation rather than anger/entitlement.

The writing here, however, does not leave room for me to be charitable. Aang hearing Actor!Zuko suggest that Katara was supposed to be “the Avatar’s girl”, and glaring at Katara as if to say “Yeah!” - I don’t know how to read this as anything other than possessiveness. Yikes on a cracker.

ALSO, did you notice that Zuko and Katara don’t scoot away from each other in this version? Read it again; the absence of that bit escaped me on my first read-through. (Credit to @zutarawasrobbed​ for spotting that difference!) Zuko and Katara are still sitting next to each other here (the earlier “I wanted to sit here/Just sit next to me, what’s the big deal?” scene is still intact), and all it says about Katara is that she’s pretending not to notice Aang simmering at her from two seats away. Wow.

The non-con kiss is kept intact and most of it is just dialogue so there isn’t much deeper insight to gain from the script, though again, Aang comes off more explicitly volatile/angry at the end of it:

Later, Aang rejoins the group in the theater, and sees Actress!Katara reach a goofy platonic understanding with Actress!Aang, and reacts to this with chagrin and embarrassment. There is no reference to Katara averting her gaze from the screen in a sad or awkward manner, as how she does in the show. 

Overall, I find that Kataang looks worse here, a lot worse than in the show. The omission of Zuko and Katara’s “awkward scoot” is intriguing as well. To be honest, I never perceived “the scoot” to be explicit confirmation or denial of any potential attraction between them (that clip can genuinely be read two ways depending on what trope you’re trying to invoke; neither are inherently invalid), however, the fact that it wasn’t originally written but was added in later... that’s interesting.

Some of you might be forming some opinions by this point. I have some of my own as well, though I want to hold off on them for now. Let’s have a bit of a palate-cleanser with the snippet of Zuko sharing some vulnerability with Katara before we move on:

❤

Now I am going a bit out of order here - I know that EIP actually happens after The Boiling Rock/The Southern Raiders, but as I was already on the topic of the Kataang arc, I decided to continue with that before I delved into the other episodes. So now we’re going back a little bit, chronologically.

(Also, you know me, gotta save the best for last 😉)

Ultimately I had a very brief look through The Boiling Rock, and nothing really jumped out at me - except for this bit:

I can’t be the only one tickled at the idea that Zuko just yeets himself out of that prison cell and doesn’t seem to spare Mai a second thought 😂 (if you’ll recall, the show has the two of them share a glance through the cell window after Mai yells “Get off of me!”; Zuko looks apparently apologetic/sad while Mai just glares at him). I know people have pointed out how amusing it is that Zuko seems to forget about Mai completely after TBR, right up until their last scene together, but the way this scene is scripted here just makes it even funnier to me.

But I know which episode it is that you guys all want to read.

*record scratch*

Oh ho HO, what have we here Elizabeth Ehasz 😉

Next up - Part 2: The Southern Raiders, The Finale, and What I Think About it All

[persona-enjoyer]

So we know a lot about the shippy *they shared a bed* but as someone who has shared several hotel room beds with family members I think it is also fun to consider the more boring logistics of sharing a bed with another person. How long does it take them to fall asleep? Do they move a lot in their sleep? Do they snore or talk? Are they are a heavy or light sleeper? I also think about persona all the time and thought of some headcanons/story ideas when I first played strikers that I’ve been putting off actually posting.

I would have loved to see more “sleep over” kind of shenanigans. Though it makes sense that they wouldn’t be talking a lot because it’s an RV and those inside can hear everything outside and vice versa but can you imagine like one group talking about something that they don’t want the other to hear but they hear a part of it and drama ensues?

Honestly I would also be down for whole group hang outs before going to bed. Like why the fuck didn’t we have a sitting by campfire/roasting marshmallows scene? The debates over the proper doneness of a marshmallow, eating so many smores they have stomachaches, someone accidentally getting marshmallow in Mona’s fur and it being a bitch to get out. (He also can’t stop bitching about it) Telling ghost stories by the fire??? I think Makoto is canonically scared about ghosts but it would be cool to mix it up and not have all the girls be scared and the boys be fine. I think Mona and Makato would be the biggest scaredy cats (pun intended). Haru, Futaba, and Akira would be the best story tellers.  (everyone’s a little taken aback by how dark Haru can get) I would like to think Yusuke would be good too as a creative type, but I have the feeling he would get on a tangent about some aspect of the scene. Ryuji tries but gives up part way through when no one seems the least bit unnerved. Ann can tolerate the stories well, but is trash at making them up.

OMG also fishing! I would have loved a fishing afternoon. I think that Akira and Ryuji would be the best and it would be funny to see them trying to teach the others. Ann would hate the idea of putting on worms or actually touching the fish but would get a bite on like every cast. Haru would be the one to accidentally hook someone else.

OK but back to the actual point of this post.

It would never happen in game but lets pretend that they decide have everyone double up in the beds in the RV. Maybe they put up a sheet as a makeshift curtain between the boys and girls sides. So who shares with who?

For the girls, Futaba is first choice as a bed-mate as she is the shortest and will take up the least room. I see her and Ann sharing. Ann needs a lot of sleep to function so she goes to bed early. She bought a cute eye mask early into to the trip to block out the light from Futaba’s phone. Futaba is totally the type to stay up late staring at a screen and somehow survive on a few hours of sleep.

That leaves Haru and Makoto. I feel like Makoto would be the type to have trouble falling asleep but once she’s out, she’s out. Haru on the other hand is one of those people who can just close her eyes and fall asleep. However, she is a light sleeper, so the tossing and turning of Makoto trying to sleep keeps her up a bit. She also often wakes up if someone gets up to go to the bathroom.

For the boys I don’t have as strong feelings about who shares with who. Mona and Akira are used to sharing so that might be the way they go. On the first night in strikers it is mentioned that Ryuji snores and Yusuke talks in his sleep. Can you imagine Ryuji being like “Last night, you looked me dead in the eyes and said ‘beware, that’s not it’s real form.��� “What was that man?” or like if it’s more like a yell the rest would hear it and Futaba would be like “Inari, last night you shouted “The squid approaches” at 3 in the morning, what the hell.”

Also I feel like Ryuji is restless sleeper and will kick you in the middle of the night. He usually is just trying to stretch out his leg and your body being in the way is not his problem. Yusuke on the other hand lays stone still unless he’s talking. If Ryuji wakes up in the middle of the night he has to watch Yusuke’s chest to make sure he’s still breathing.

For other options I feel like Akira would also be a restless sleeper so maybe Mona would opt for the generally more predictable Yusuke. Akira and Ryuji both move around and after Akira accidentally elbowed Ryuji a little too hard one night and since then Ryuji has built a pillow wall between them to protect himself.

I also feel like if Ryuji and Mona had to share they would both bitch about it and then wake up with Mona purring on Ryuji’s chest all sweet and peaceful and the rest of the PTs won’t stop giving the both of them shit about it.

Another thing that would be funny is if they took turns sleeping in the tent vs actual beds. How do they decide? Switching each day? Intense games of rock, paper, scissors? Dumb boys vs girls challenges? the possibilities are endless.

[hopeassassin]

Rally’s Scribbles in the Work

So after that lovely anon blew my mind away with their kind words and wonderful support, and because I keep telling you guys about my writing plans without actually giving you even a teensy little detail, I have decided to stop being coy and actually likely get your hopes up a bit by dilvulging small details and bits of plots of what is currently going on in my G-Drive. 

This will be a brief recount of what I have currently baking in the AoMomo oven, so let’s dive right into it! Please note that the numbers are in no particular order - I just keep revisiting each of these stories and writing a bit more to them whenever I feel like it. So there’s no ranking and no importance, just a number to keep proper count.

1. “Knight of Renown” Dragons and Knighthood AU, based on that one AoMomo pic with Momo ithe Knight and Dragon Aomine that I reblogged a while back and I actually let me imagination go a bit too much in the tags. I ended up actually rather enjoying the premise I set up in the tags so I actually started writing that one out!  Completion rate at about: 5%? I’d say? Less? :D 

2. AoMomo Music AU - a dearly beloved project that I am pouring a lot of love and attentioin to. That’s why it’s coming along super slow. It’s been in the making since November and I chewed it and mulled through it so thoroughly that I’ve grinded to a halt with it. Intending for there to be 2 chapters, and I am at about 25-30% of chapter 1 currently ready currently. At the pace I’m going, it might be another full year before you actually get to see this bad boy up, but when you do, I’m sure you’ll see all the care and effort that went into making it perfect. Honestly, no joke here, I am intending for this to be one of my rare masterpieces in this tag. So I’m not gonna rush it!

3. AoMomo Car Accident AU where Daiki barely manages to save Satsuki from being run over by a hit-and-run and ends up being the one run over instead. This was my first piece of writing after coming back to AoMomo last summer and yet completion rate is a sad thing. I want it to be flawless, a perfectly agonizing, thrilling type of torturous read that gives you a great sense of relief by the end of it. Needless to say, the clusterfuck of negative feelings is a bit difficult to hold onto for a prolonged period of time and the work is coming along slowly. Planned at about 5 chapters, I have 2 complete ones and the 3rd one is at about ... 30%? Hopefully before this year’s whumptober, we’ll have a finished piece!

4. AoMomo bond character study, which went in a direction I did NOT expect nor intend. It was suppsoed to be an idea that you will see also listed below. But I started this one from their early childhood and somehow, instead of focusing on the kids and their bond and their weird interactions with each other and their first moments of realizing they are of opposite genders, it turned into something much too fun to let go of and the ideas for scenes just kept piling. It’s going to be a long one, very explorative and very in-depth character study on the bond between these two and how it changed over the years, and their first encounters with their sexuality inbetween (because that was really the main idea that I started with... xDDD;;;) Currently at 1 chapter complete, chapter 2 somewhere around 50-60% completion, and at least 6-7 chapters to come after that, soooo.... :’DDDD YEAH. THIS ONE AIN’T SEEING THE LIGHT OF DAY ANYTIME SOON.

5. AoMomo deciding to practice stuff on each other, because I am a sucker for this trope.THIS will be what the idea under previous number 4 was SUPPOSED to be like, but it instead spun out of control. So this one, under number 5, is going to be the smutty, idiots bumbling through physicality to discover that they actually have serious feelings for each other kind of piece. Chapters are planned at about at least 6-7 or so, but not my usual monstrocities! :D First we start with practice kissing, and we move our way up from there! 

6. “The Evil of Humanity” AU - a dystopian futuristic kinda mecha AU, sort of an amalgamation of some of my favourite anime in the genre - a bit of NGE, a bit of Gurren-Lagann, a lot of Darling in the Franxx rewrite and improvement, in distinctly AoMomo colors. I poured a lot of thought and love into initial outline of main moments for this one, and I really hope to make it an epic, thrilling action/adventure with a big dash of romance kind of read! Chapters currently not even planned properly, because I need to sit down and consider this seriously. It will definitely be more than 10-15 though, and they will be my usual chapter lengths so.... likely no time soon. :D 

7. Aomine Fanclub - I got a plot bunny some time ago and I shared it here and my friends were spurring me on with it, so I started trying it out a little more. I’ve written out like... maybe 30% of this one as well, but need to re-read and reconceptualize to get it back on track. The issue with this one is that I’m not really sure where I want to take it, thus it’s on the back burner at the moment.

8. KagaKuro AoMomo double-date kind of story, where Aomine is asking some curious questions of Taiga about going to America and pondering if any of his immediate friends know what Satsuki wants to do with her life. I’m really invested in this one but haven’t started properly writing it out yet beyond just sketching out the idea so I don’t forget it. (I’d say 1% complete here.) Really looking forward to using the idea of Kagami being super impressed with AoMomo perfect sync when playing as a team in arcade games!

9.Laws of Attraction Chapter 2 - You might be surprised at this, but I’m actually super invested in this one. Likely the reason why I am delaying so much working on it - I feel like all my great scene ideas are just too chaotic and I have a hard time starting the chapter flowing properly. I had like 4-5 false starts already and I’m feeling a bit skittish with picking it up. But I have such AMAZING concepts on where to take it after it revvs up the engine, so... Maybe sometime this year! Completion rate: 0% written, but at least about 30% ideas built up for the installment!

10. AoMomo college rooming together story - sort of an expansion on my fill for one of the prompts way back those years ago in AoMomo week. I really dig the concept and the trope of sharing spaces with someone you consider nothing more than a friend and then gradually learning to appreciate each other for something so much more. I am definitely doing this one some day, but not anytime soon, likely.

11. A random idea bit me the other day (read: a month ago) and I actually wrote out like... maybe 25% of it already as well. A random comment from Wakamatsu miffs Satsuki but then she realizes why he’s asking dumb questions and she comes to realize that something is wrong with the equation: either Dai-chan likes someone really close to them and she hasn’t realized, which is unlikely, or Dai-chan likes HER and is super blase about it in a way that betrays his feelings not at all, which is even more unlikely. Being a curious  individual, she sets out to find which it is! Some hilarity should ensue but mostly just some mess-with-Dai-chan fun!

12. Touou summer training camp at the sea - progress is practically 0, I wanted to write a summery piece and set my mind on this, but nothing beyond has come to me, so I’m not forcing it.

13. AoMomo cultural festival fic in second year of high school (meaning something approx end of Oct -> beginning of Nov.) with Daiki being in a distinctly Haruhu Suzumiya role at that festival (has anyone even seen this anime? I adored that episode to freaking bits, man, it’s engraved upon my soul) and singing Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” and one more song just like Haruhi did. And Satsuki just beholding the phenomenon he becomes in no time flat while he lays bare his passion for life for all the student body to see. Shippiness will happen in private afterwards!

14. You Can Leave Your Hat On Chapter 2 - Probably like 2-3 years ago while I was still in the damn woodwork and wrestling with real life and adulting being crap, I remembered this AU premise and I got super hyped on the idea of Club Owner Dai-chan being a flirt with innocent Satsuki who got dragged to his joined and fell in love at first sight with his shenanigans. I’ve already played around for like 7k words with the second chapter of this but I’m still not where I want to be at, so it will take a while longer to flesh it out.

15. Idol Worship - a story that I promised my mate aricana some 6 years ago the premise for which I am super hyped for but not quite engaging with it yet. The idea was that Momoi finally starts gettiing the dates she has been pesting Kuroko for for years, and Daiki feeling terrible about beholding that, whilst Kise is being pestered by Horikita Mai for a date and instead ditches her with Daiki because he knows his former Teikou classmate is a huge fan of her. Mai-chan isn’t particularly happy but somehow ends up enjoying her time with Daiki and starts considering actually pursuing him instead of Kise when she sees what an interesting soul he is, with the torch that he’s carrying for some girl in his life he doesn’t really talk about but is evident from the little things he drops off as hits. AoMomo shenanigans will start to ensue properly when Satsuki realizes that Daiki is actually having a close female friend who is not her but is Horikita Mai instead, Dai-chan’s perfect woman, practically. She doesn’t take well to the news and has to grapple with why that is! And what to do with these newfound frustrating emotions!

16. Obstruction of Justice Chapter 3 - MAYBE SOME DAY, I WILL GET TO WRITING THIS. Last summer I inteded to do just that but instead, Wild Side of Justice was born. And it became a spin off of sorts on its own. ORZ. I WILL FINISH THIS SOME DAY, I do have some plans for it and I do have the desire to pursue them. I just need to be in the right headspace for it ahsjkfhkjaf

17. A PWP story of Kagami arriving early for a practice match at Touou and somehow walking in on AoMomo getting busy with each other in very unexpected and explicit ways that Kagami did not see headed his way. Because, we need more PWP in this fandom, honestly.

18. And since we DO need more PWP, recently when checking the 30 lemons community on LJ (shut up, I’m not ancient, YOU’RE ANCIENT) I was wondering how exactly a smut plot around the “Taken by the Faceless Stranger” could work for Aomomo and I came up with this Masquerade ball that they end up both attending because of their friends and meeting each other and hitting off fantastically just chatting the night and then banging in a niche in the long castle-like premise of the ball. :’DDDD Cuz it’s me and if I don’t have something like that in the works, you know i’m likely sick.

ALL OF THESE I am planning on eventually finishing one day. ONE DAY!

For now they are in various states of completion and in various stages of being cared for and improved on with more ideas added and fleshed out.

I am not joking when I say I am very invested in this fandom. I just have difficulty getting to writing out these ideas when I spend like 60% of my free time playing my mobile games. :D 

So there you have it. I didn’t want to say anything about these because 1) I don’t want to get your hopes up. You Can Leave Your Hat On 2, for one, has been in the making for 3 years, very on-again-off-again kind of way, and I just... can’t do that to you guys. I have decided against posting any incomplete fics so I don’t torture you guys and my muse doesn’t abandom me forever for them. So when something is complete, it gets posted promptly for your viewing pleasure!

And 2) If I divulge too much of the story, I feel like my hype of it may disappear completely. Ehh, my muse is a willful creature, what can I tell you... 

So let’s hope at least SOME of these get to see the light of day soon!

[parappa-and-lammy]

Yoooo

so!! i am so vewy hwappy about the kind reception on Disabled OCs 2: Electric Boogaloo! and i am absolutely gonna show more content in that regard

BUT. i also wanna go in depth, because at this point theres so much info that its branching out into its own little story.

this bloggo right here i wish to intend for just PaRappa And Lammy shenanigans though. the games, their content, shippy arts, all that. InDepth Disabled OCs would muddy it up, and make it difficult to manuever here for content

SO, im makin a separate blog where i can go more in detail as i want to! @disabledocsofparappatown will be where the finer details of these characters will be. Theyll be introduced On This Blog, as per usual, but on The Other One, i can iron out their stories and meander with detailed arts, inspiration for the characters, silly doodles, and random trivia; like how Bumble likes to consume/smoke egregious amounts of weed (to help with chronic pain) and has the voice of a higher pitched Jack Stauber, for example. thats prime stuff only gonna be posted at that other place my dudes

the other blog aint exactly ironed out yet, i just made it super recently. But if you wish for more content of Disabled OCs, thatll be the spot to keep an eye on! Hopefully my own disability wont get in the way of me posting, as it always does.. ha, ha haa,,,,

thank for your supporting and kind words! ♿️❤️️🧡💛💚💙💜♿️ 🐕💗🐑

[astralore]

Thoughts on Monstrata’s ‘lost content’

I had originally started writing this as a progress post to put on our Patreon, but at some point I started going off on a tangent and decided that what I had written would be better suited for tumblr instead. 

Did you know that the original script for Monstrata was 37,000 words long and was written in about 3 weeks? (For context, the currently released content totals to about 44,000 words) Because it was for a game jam, due to time constraints we only had enough time to put 14,000 of those words into the game, which was the original version that was released that only had Nikolai, Cailean, and Deka. After that, we started filling out the game by adding new content updates. But because of the nature of game jams, a lot of the plot and characterization actually wasn’t worked out until after that original script was written, and a lot of stuff was added later. 

What’s interesting about that? Well, because of the changes made to the characters and story, those leftover 23,000 words ended up not fitting with the rest of the game’s narrative and everything that’s been written since has been done from scratch. You can think of them as ‘deleted scenes’ in a way-- and they’re not the only ones. We write tons of extra side scenes that may never end up in the main game, just because they explore interesting things about the characters that don’t fit in elsewhere. (I’ve written so many deep heart-to-hearts between Nikolai and MC that will honestly probably never happen, sorry MC)

It’s kind of sad to me that there’s basically a novella’s worth of content that may never see the light of day, but it’s really interesting to think about how much the game has changed since then. In the “original” game, the plotline was a lot more lighthearted and mostly involved accidentally becoming part of an impromptu study group with your new monster pals and the shenanigans and interpersonal drama that ensued. (There were also some endings where you could die horribly, but I feel like we may still use some of those…Anyway, I don’t object to writing more horrible deaths.) The characters were different back then too-- Nikolai has taken on a more callous and sinister personality than the original, where he used to be more of a ‘tsundere Draco Malfoy’ as I described him. Cailean was, honestly, more of a himbo and a lot less anxious about engaging with other people. (And there were tons of shipping fodder moments between them, because I’m weak ok*) Deka is actually probably mostly the same-- cute, tired, and not here to put up with shit. 

I kind of wonder what we should do about this ‘lost content’ but there’s no way to reconcile it back into the game’s canon. At best, maybe we could release it at some point as an alternate universe side-story or something, but probably not until the main game is complete. I feel like people need to have a cemented understanding of who the characters are before we can release stuff like this that can undermine the intended characterization.

On that note, I love the idea of alternate universe stuff in general. I don’t think we have any concepts in mind for alternate universe stories, but I come from a heavy alternate universe fanfiction background and if I weren’t so currently mired in canon Monstrata Fracture lore, maybe I’d be coming up with stuff like that! It would be fun to think about, anyway. (I’m looking forward to when there’s enough canon content that other people can come up with alternate universe content too!!) (*side-note, remember that time Nikolai complained about his best friend dating some therianthrope? Those two are Faust (Nikolai’s raven-demon friend) and James (Faust’s ripped leopard boyfriend) and they were originally love interest characters for a game I was working on waaaay back in the day about dating magical creature boys. But then the artist and I started shipping them together and I wrote up a bunch of shippy content for them instead of making their game and the rest is history. I told you I was weak.)

[laws-yellow-submarine]

Where do you see Law after the One Piece has been found? I never got the sense that he enjoys pirating, and since I headcanon that he intended his mission against Donflamingo to be a suicide one, I feel like he’s been a bit aimless since. Maybe he’ll retire and open a clinic in an island in the middle of nowhere? Rebuild flevance? What do you think?

So I definitely agree that Doflamingo was meant to be a suicide mission, or at the very least an "I'm probably going to die here so I've planned for that but if I happen to live anyway bonus!" kinda thing lmfao but I do think he overall enjoys piracy, even if One Piece isn't his ultimate goal. When Oda listed his hobbies he included vagrancy, so I think he does enjoy the freedom piracy provides, the ability to just come and go and do as he pleases and fuck everybody else. That being said I tend to think he's trying to fit himself into this mold of what a pirate "should" be, which is a small part of why he's such an asshole most of the time 😂 like he's got a heart in there somewhere but he's a pirate so no one can ever know, cause pirates aren't supposed to be good or nice or helpful or any of that stuff (he's such a nerd too so I genuinely think he's got this storybook idea of what a pirate is and he's trying to be like that, but I digress...)

As far as after the One Piece is found, if Oda lets him live that long (please Oda) I think he'd still travel the ocean with his family crew, maybe with a "home base" on an island somewhere, but nothing that feels too sentimental to him. Flevance is in the past, and his home has been the Tang for so long, I don't think he'd ever truly be able to give that up.

I also feel like no matter what, at this point Luffy is like "this is mine" (not even necessarily in a shippy way, cause like I don't personally ship it but even I'm like "Law you're never getting out of this friendship" lmfao), so half the time Law's just gonna be trying not to get roped into whatever shenanigans Luffy's up to at any given time, and him staying put on one island will just make it easier to be found 😂😂😂 I think once they're in a position where things are more peaceful though Law will chill out and not fight the friendship so much so there's that, but still lol

Overall I think he's gonna have to figure out a new purpose now that his goal of taking down Doflamingo is complete, but I think he'll ultimately remain a pirate at sea just traveling wherever he wants to go with the people he loves most

[muggle-writes]

Bad Things Happen Bingo Losing a Bet

Requested by @dove-actually​

Most of this @badthingshappenbingo card inspires whumpy happenings, but this fic turned kinda shippy instead.

Content: Anxiety/facing fears, summer shenanigans when they’re all young and innocent, preslash Fremione

unbetaed and barely edited

read it on AO3

High Stakes and Higher Flying

“C'mon, Hermione, we need a sixth,” Ron pleaded. “Three on two isn't as fun.”

“Ron, no. You know I'd much rather watch,” Hermione insisted. She tried to step away, to sit down with her book and read, and keep her feet firmly on the ground.

“Please? you can play Keeper," he offered. “That way you won’t always be in the middle of the action.”

“I’d really rather not,” she insisted. Harry shifted his broom from one shoulder to the other, clearly impatient to be in the air, but also unwilling to leave her behind until everyone agreed that she was staying on the ground.

Ron was still on the ground, half mounted on his broom while holding a second out to her, but the other Weasleys had none of Harry’s hesitations. Ginny was far above everyone’s heads, testing how high she could climb around the edges of the clearing before Mrs. Weasley scolded her, and then diving, so steeply that just watching made Hermione's stomach clench, before climbing again, testing the limits. Although they were flying lower, Fred and George appeared to be trying to tackle each other off their brooms. Neither activity made joining in seem more appealing.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun.”

George’s whoop of laughter interrupted their argument as he made a muddy crash landing. He popped up hardly a moment later, still laughing, before even his mother could worry about him being hurt. Meanwhile, Fred swooped down beside the cluster of almost-fourth-years, grinning triumphantly. “Ronnikins, I think it’s a lost cause,” he said, shaking his head with mock solemnity. “Hermione is scared of flying, but she’s not scared of crashing, she’s scared she won’t be the best.”

“That’s not true!” she protested, trying to quell the guilty flinch at his words. Yes, she was scared of flying and yes, she knew she wasn’t the best at it, but causation went the other way …right?

“Prove it,” Fred demanded, with a wicked glint in his eye.

“I…” Hermione hesitated. She wasn’t exactly one to back down from a challenge, but that mischievous expression made her certain that pranks would be involved, and she was barely willing to fly on a broom already.

“How about this.” Fred paused, and with a quick twist of his wrist, he was hovering ten feet higher, so Ron took the brunt of George’s revenge mud-attack.

Ron dropped both brooms in favor of tackling George back into the mud.

“I bet you,” Fred said from her other side, suddenly flipping over to hang upside down from his broom, holding on with only his knees, and easing his broom downward until his face was even with hers, “that I can ride my broom, upside down, like this, for longer than you can stay in the air riding normally.”

Well, if the prankster grin was going to interfere with Fred’s flying and not her own… “Fine,” she snapped. “What are the stakes?” There was no way he could keep his balance like that for more than a few minutes, especially if he started moving around. She could last on a broom for a few minutes.

Fred’s grin got even wider, though it was hard to tell exactly which grin that was – challenging? pleased? anticipatory? – with his face upside down and turning red. “When I win, you have to let me take you for a ride on my broom.”

“And when I win, everyone has to leave me alone to read when I want to, at least until we leave for the Quidditch World Cup,” she demanded, heart pounding already at the challenge and at the prospect of flying even as high as Fred was.

“Now come on, that’s not fair,” Fred chided. “You’re making a bet with me, you have to demand something from me, not from everyone else.”

Hermione scowled. “I want you…” what did she want? “When I win, you have to warn me before you cause any explosions, in your room or otherwise, for the rest of the summer.” The irregular, loud noises were at least as disruptive to her studying as her friends’ desires to hang out were, and the explosions didn’t have three years worth of fondness built up to encourage her to forgive them.

Fred didn’t even hesitate. “Done,” he agreed, offering his hand, and they managed an awkward handshake that would have worked much better had he been right side up. She was briefly concerned at how fast he agreed, despite how following through might force him to stop experimenting altogether, because she doubted the explosions were planned, but now they had shaken on it. It was too late to back down.

Harry helpfully picked up the broom that Ron had been trying to force into her arms. Hermione procrastinated by finding a safe, dry place to set her copy of The Magic of Theatre: What Muggles Don’t Know About the Bard, but all too quickly, she had no excuses. She accepted the broom from Harry, and swung a leg over it.

Harry mounted his own broom and kicked off confidently, as Hermione rose, wobbly, a foot and a half into the air. She didn’t have to look at her knuckles to know they were turning white, where she had the handle in a death grip, but also she was very deliberately not looking at her knuckles, since that would mean looking down past them at how far away the ground must be.

Harry stayed near her momentarily, but once she was high enough that couldn’t even imagine that she was close enough to the ground that she could stretch her toes and reach it, Harry pulled away and climbed rapidly, quickly getting drawn in to some sort of game of catch-the-apples with Ginny.

Fred, unfairly, kept pace with her, meaning his knees were a few feet above her head, and his face stayed level with hers.

Hermione kept an eye on the trees to judge her altitude, and she stopped rising when she was about even with the lowest apples on the biggest tree.

She came to an unsteady hover, and met Fred’s eyes with her best attempt at a challenging smirk, though it felt similarly unsteady.

Fred smirked right back, and leaned slightly, with the effect that he began circling her. He looked perfectly at ease despite how very red his face was from being upside down so long. Hermione tried to pivot, to continue looking at him, just in case he intended to prank her when her back was turned, but as she tried to turn, her broom jolted downward, sending her heart into her throat.

Ignoring how her hands were now noticeably trembling, and the whole broom with them, Hermione forced her broom back to its previous altitude. She tried to look over her shoulder at Fred, since turning wasn’t working, but that had the effect of her broom shooting upwards faster than she meant, not that she intended to move at all.

She managed to get her broom to stay level again, but she was starting to forget why she was in the air at all. Her vision narrowed in on her hands on her broom, and the ground much too far below. Even the trees around the edges of the clearing seemed to fade into the distance. She was up here to spite someone, but surely she didn’t need to be quite this high. She eased her broom into descending, a little faster than she meant, but feeling nearly in control, and crossed paths with Fred who was still upside down, and climbing at a much more controlled pace.

She couldn’t focus on the look on his face, though he quickly reversed course to follow her down. Why was the ground still so far away?

Except, suddenly, it wasn’t.

She tried to pull her broom level, but she was a tad late, and her feet bounced jarringly off the ground as she leveled out.

But from there it was relatively easy to put her feet down deliberately, if a bit more firmly than necessary. She swung her leg off the broom and found, when she tried to step away, that her knees were shaking too badly to hold her. She collapsed in an undignified heap, but quickly rolled herself upright, scooting backwards out of the clearing to be less in the way. Her back ran into a tree, and she wrapped her arms around her knees. She found herself taking quick, panting breaths, trying to get enough oxygen.

Still, solid ground under her butt was as reassuring as it would have been under her feet, if not more so.

As the adrenaline rush faded, and her head cleared, though her heart was still pounding, she remembered exactly why she had been in the air, and groaned, as Fred came to a perfectly controlled hover in front of her, at a more-than-respectful distance as though she were going to lash out like Crookshanks did when he was cornered.

Fred flipped himself back upright onto his broom almost effortlessly, before landing gently, beaming. “I do believe this means I’ve won the bet,” he said, as though she hadn’t already figured that out. He approached her slowly, watching with just a hint of concern in his eyes as she used the tree to pull herself upright. She had to lean heavily upon it because her knees still wouldn’t quite support her. One of her ankles was sore from her rough landing, but it didn’t feel sprained at least.

“Fair is fair, Hermione,” he said gently, in an encouraging and respectful tone completely at odds with his usual irreverence. “Can I take you for a ride now?”

Hermione got the surprising impression that if she said no, Fred wouldn’t force the issue. But even If she didn’t expect that saying no now would invite more pranks later, she was a Gryffindor, and they had made a bet. On her honor, she would follow through.

She couldn’t quite meet his eyes, but she looked determinedly at his freckled nose as she forced herself to nod.

Fred kept one hand on his broom, shuffling backwards and gesturing grandly with his other hand, clearly inviting her to mount in front of him. She left her own borrowed broom on the ground, next to the tree and stepped forward. As soon as her hand was no longer on the tree she was using for support, her knees were shaking badly again, but she could at least walk the four steps to Fred and his broom, and she didn’t collapse again.

She reluctantly mounted his broom, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, to grip the handle in front of them both.

“Trust me, Hermione?” he murmured into her ear, and she nodded, not quite able to speak. She grabbed the handle in another white-knuckled grip, just below his hands, before he could remind her to hold on.

He kicked off, gently, and they rose more slowly than either of them had during their bet. Hermione found her eyes drifting closed, trying to avoid realizing how far off the ground she was, but that turned out to be a bad decision, and the potential for being terrifyingly high had her eyes snapping open again. They weren’t; they were still well below the plane of Harry and Ginny (and Ron and George now too) playing whatever improvised game that involved throwing apples at each other. Some of the apples were rotten and exploded like water balloons when someone tried to catch them, which was inevitably followed with shouts and good-natured complaining.

She smiled fondly up at her friends. When the broom didn’t feel like a wild animal trying to throw her off, Hermione realized she didn’t hate flying quite as much. She still didn’t love it, but the usual panic, the need to be back on solid ground, wasn’t materializing this time.

Hermione leaned back into Fred’s firm chest, and suddenly realized how intimate a position this was. He was wrapped solidly around her, a pleasant warmth at her back, and she felt her face heating too. She was abruptly glad that her dark skin wouldn’t reveal a blush very easily.

Fred gave her an odd, hug-like squeeze with his shoulder, without affecting his grip on the broom. He must have felt her losing tension, because his mouth was at her ear again, breath tickling as he asked, “are you okay if we try something a little more exciting?”

She hesitated, then leaned back so they were cheek to cheek and hopefully he would hear her answer. “A little,” she conceded.

She felt, more than saw, his grin, as he adjusted his grip to comply. Fortunately, “a little more exciting” turned out to be them doing slow laps around the clearing, still gaining altitude at a snail’s pace, rather than going straight up at a similar speed.

Hermione felt herself relaxing further at the proof that Fred was completely in control, and he wouldn’t let her fall.

When they got high enough to join the others, Ron’s face did something odd when he spotted them, and George immediately started flying towards them, wearing his own mischievous smirk, but whatever look was on Fred’s face must have warned them both off. Ron scowled and turned away, and George, without hesitation, reversed course and dove after Harry who was chasing a trio of apples that Ginny had lobbed the opposite direction from the group.

Fred warned her before every new maneuver (including “can we startle Harry by rushing through his blind spot? I promise we won’t be close enough to touch”) and by the time Hermione’s feet touched the ground again, so gently she almost didn’t notice the transition, she was startled to realize she had actually enjoyed herself, and although her hands were stiff from holding so tightly to the broom handle, her knees weren’t shaking at all. She felt a goofy, breathless smile on her face that wouldn’t go away.

Fred trailed after her, broom slung casually over his shoulder, as she collected the broom she had borrowed earlier, and then her book.

“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” he prodded, though his proud grin made it clear he had spotted her own.

Hermione rolled possible answers around in her mind, before settling on, “I suppose, riding with you isn’t too bad.” Her cheeks were warm again, and she still couldn’t quench that smile, not even to express her discomfort at the prospect of flying in general.

Fred’s smile turned blinding. “Well, I guess I’ll have to take you flying again some time.”

He led her to the broom shed, to put her broom away. “Do I have to worry about you going flying with anyone else?” he asked, as she set her broom gently in the designated corner.

She turned around, and found herself practically in his arms. She took half a step to close the gap and wrapped her arms around him as she’d been wanting to do for most of the afternoon. He returned the hug, and pressed a tentative kiss to her forehead.

She squeezed him tighter, approvingly, since her own beaming smile was hidden in his chest. “No,” she promised. “Just with you.”

[smirkbastian]

blog rules   //    ♔

♔  ( intro )     Hello, anybody that may be reading this! My name is Marcel, and I’m just a guy that loves both Sebastian Smythe and torturing peoples existence with his shenanigans. Half a joke, half not. I have been role playing Sebastian for over three years now and have come back to love my boy again after a long time of taking a break from the RPC, and my previous blog was bcingnicesucks. I am in the PST time zone, if that means anything to you. I love making new roleplay partners and meeting new friends through this hobby, so please always feel free to reach out to me and say hi! I can be bad at initiating first interactions but I still want them to happen trust me! I look forward to writing with you. 

♔  ( selectivity/follows )     I am private and highly selective purely for the fact that I am particular about what I want to write and keeping my number of partners minimal to an extent makes me able to put all my energy and heart into every plot I write with you. If I follow you, it means I want to write with you. I only interact with mutuals. I don’t care how pretty your blog looks or what kind of icon you use. I could honestly care less. I just care about your writing and the dynamic we plot out for our characters. I don’t roleplay with people who use huge gifs just because of clutter reasons but anything else goes (icons, gif icons, no icon or gif at all, smallish gifs, etc.). If we are mutuals though, feel free to bug me anytime any day for all the plotting. I am such a slut for plotting and adding depth to the dynamic our muses have. I obviously am a bit bias to glee characters but I adore universe-colliding as well as OC’s and will be posting various AU’s for Sebastian over time. I also love glee characters that are highly off-grid from the canon glee plot. I’m not completely anti-following other Sebastian’s (I’ve written and been close with Sebastian’s in the past) but I don’t really make an effort to do that. 

♔  ( writing )     Roleplay is meant to be fun! It’s all fun and games! So let’s have fun! I don’t like petty stuff if there’s no reason for it, ngl. I am not triggered by any subject when it comes to writing so come at me with whatever. I like to write long things and short things-- but I really do prefer something somewhat in-depth overtime. If you get frustrated with long replies though, I’m probably not the right writing partner for you. I never expect you to match the length at all, as long as you give me a little bit of something to work with, my love for lengthy writing is purely just something I enjoy to do so that the universe in which Sebastian exists in is prominent and vibrant in my head. I will never judge you for lack of writing or long replies as long as it’s not like a one-liner reply to my two paragraph reply. Do what you can! Express yourself! I don’t care about grammar being perfect either, that’s an unrealistic expectation considering not everybody is the best with grammar and some people come from different first languages. 

♔  ( content )     The mun is 18+, and Sebastian is lowkey a hoe, so in no way will this blog be free of NSFW content. I used to be fine with interacting with minors so long as it wasn’t shippy or anything but now I”m kinda even uncomfortable with knowing a minor could be seeing NSFW content on their dash coming from my blog so I highly prefer things to stay 18+ around here. Sebastian has a dark character background, meaning their may be mention of child abuse, death and more on this blog. I will tag everything I post accordingly always. If there’s something specific you’d like tagged that you see, hit me up. I can accommodate to that. 

♔  ( activity )     My activity varies from what’s going on in my life but I intend to stay active as I can always. September-December I will be doing an internship with Disney so I may be a bit busier than usual meaning my activity might be spottier as far as actual replies but I’ll stay active on the dash and you can always feel free to remind me of replying. I don’t like to be harassed but I do lose threads sometimes so I appreciate your reminder if you give it. 

♔  ( portrayal )     Seeing as there was literally never a specification for Sebastian’s sexuality in the duration of the show, I have always imagined him to be bisexual. This being said, I play Sebastian as being interested in both men and women with a stronger interest in men. Sebastian is a human and there is a reason for every negative thing he may do, but Glee is a campy show and role play is fiction-- meaning my Sebastian is a dick. Yes, Sebastian is a good person but he can also be a bad person. He is a learning human and he is a pest, I will not lie. If you are offended with anything Sebastian says or does to your muse, then you can let me know but this is a warning now that if you’re highly sensitive or offended by characters who like to fuck things up a bit then I don’t recommend writing with me haha. 

♔  ( shipping )     I am so easy to ship with I’m not gonna lie. Sebastian is different story but as far as I go you can ALWAYS come to me with your ship ideas or needs. I love to ship unexpected or strange pairings and I get so excited about ships. I prefer to go hardcore with ships, and what I mean by this is when I have a ship with you I will make it my upmost effort to make it unique for the both of us and mainly prioritize just having fun! 

♔  ( stealing )     Yes, a lot of roleplayers have some similar headcanons if they roleplay the same character, but I have a very specific headcanon childhood and story line for Sebastian so I can tell if you stole specific details. I would never assume someone of copying if I didn’t feel confident in it, because again, from personal experience headcanons can definitely be the same between two people without intention of stealing them. If something is not credited on the things I post, that means I made it. All icons are made by scratch by me. 

[secretshinigami]

Masterlist of Demegawa-chan’s Special Prompts

A compiled list of everyone’s prompts from the exchange – thank you for letting us post them, and we hope you guys enjoy them! Prompts are organized by their submitter, so be sure to give credit if you use one.

niatsuki

Near and Light kissing

Mikami and Light in the rain sharing an umbrella

Misa in a suit

Domestic Mikalight

Matsuda confronting Near on the theory he brings up at the end of the manga

Nate and Light having an obtuse argument, but with romantic undertones

toygowther

Light wearing a crop top, high waisted jeans and fishnets, and a choker. 

L having a nice day out in the park eating ice cream with Maki and Near 

Musical!Light smiling

Misa in a cute gothic dress doing a finger heart

L and Light wearing Misa Misa merch at one of her concerts.

AU in which Light is actually a woman. The fic would follow how Misa reacts to it and if she would still want to be her girlfriend.

Role swap au. Light as Misa and Misa as Light.

Light and Misa meeting a different way and actually forming a healthy relationship. 

spaceblue

L, Naomi & B shenanigans

Naomi, Wedy and Lidner as Charlie's angels (or L's angels?)

Wammy kids as Pokemon trainers

Matt gets the rest of the Wammy kids to play Smash with him

Naomi and L after the end of LABB, after he says his name is Rue Ryuzaki 

Drama!L and drama!Raye Penber bickering 

hazblogs

your take on A's gender and sexuality, bonus points if they're not a cis man and straight

Mello and sun imagery

Beyond Birthday and his eyes

Near with Hanahaki disease (pick who it's about if you want a specific ship)

Mello and witchcraft, if possible in the canon universe

Naomi interacting with Beyond (au or canon), if possible talking about L or the Wammy kids

L/Light being soulmates, in canon or in an AU

how Matt started smoking (I am comfortable with heavy drug themes)

polyphenols

L learning to garden, paint, cook, do taxes, care for an animal, or pay for a parking ticket for the first time

All the times L has cursed Right In Front Of The Task Force (poor Soichiro)

L alone, dressed for the cold, in a cathedral during midnight hours, gazing at the altar in silent contemplation

Aiber and Wedy at an evening gala on a mission

L and Alessandro Juliani warmly shaking hands

Young Naomi in a darkened room with red string and case clippings everywhere

What chain of events led to Quillsh Wammy deciding to adopt L and care for him?

Matsuda cant swim and he’s knocked into a body of water on a case, one of the task force has to go after him

The conversation that happened between L and Rem before he walked out onto that rooftop

L traveling somewhere exotic for a case, meets celebrity of your choice and becomes unlikely friends, takes down crime circle together 

Naomi and L interact side by side as partners during a seperate case  

paralllaxes

16 year old Gevanni (normal day or family banter)

Naomi in modern clothing

the SPK in one of those cheesy family pictures.

Naomi thinking about LABB while in Japan

SPK found family stuff / domesticity

Naomi being with the SPK (with or without Raye is the author's choice)

kiranatrix

Light and L in emo/goth clothes or in an emo band

Light in a crown on a throne

Ryuk doing something funny or playing a prank while invisible

L and Light on a road trip

Misa painting Rem’s looooong nails or giving her a makeover

Death Note characters as birds! 

Sayu gets a grumpy parrot and Light doesn’t realize it can talk until after he hears it repeat some Kira plan thing, so he has to adopt it to keep it from spilling on him

L and Light talk about something important that happened to them in their childhood

L has to deal with growing amount of Light’s products in their shared shower and tries some out of curiosity with disasterous results

Light accidentally eats the last piece of cake in Kira HQ and L can’t deal at 4am

Lawlight Apocalypse AU of any variety 

Beyond breaks out of prison after LABB, where does he go?

47gaslamps

The task force with portentous umbrellas

Halle, symbolically framed between Near and Mello

Naomi kicking Light's butt after he attempts to use force

Matsuda gives Yamamoto a welcome-aboard to the former Task Force / 

AU where the drawer IS forced open

Misa has to shield Light from the paparazzi

translightyagami

Light and L in a crowded apartment, obviously lived in, playing piano next to each other

Light sewing something like his father's suit jacket or a shirt Mikami tore

Indulgent ask for my cryptid AU L and Light sitting in a graveyard having a nice time

Light having a smoke before he has to go tell his parents he's moving in with Misa

Light and Sayu having a difficult conversation where they're both saying they're gay without out loud saying it

Near goes to a Lego building event and meets a nice boy who isn't a Wammy kid

almostsane-things

Wammy's kid(s) of your choice sitting on the roof, watching the sky

Beyond Birthday and Candy Guro

DN characters in a rock band, maybe the shinigami are their mascots

Draw a less appreciated character but try something new with your style/medium. (i.e. use different brushes, incorporate a traditional art/craft like painting or cross-stitch, make a collage piece, go abstract, etc)

L in prison

Misa and Sayu becoming friends/ hanging out

The legend of Kira, how has the story of Kira changed over time in universe? Do people believe it was something supernatural, a government conspiracy, a group of vigilantes, or perhaps it's faded to nothing but a cautionary tale for misbehaving kids

A DN character enjoys that thing you really like/ find interesting to learn about, and shares that interest with someone else. (i.e. Matt plays your favorite video game with someone, Linda teaches someone about gardening, etc)

weneedtotalkaboutdeathnote

A hot double date with BBxDemegawa and LxHiguchi

B meeting L (any context is fine).

Naomi and Raye getting coffee together, having a nice time.

L can see ghosts, but he chooses to ignore them. This becomes increasingly had to do when B’s spirit shows up during the Kira investigation.

An Au where L defeated Kira, grew older, and basically disappeared. Older Mello (mid 20sish, now a detective) follows a lead that takes him to the washed up L. 

Non serial killer, "Unprivate Detective" Beyond Birthday works on a case with Naomi Misora.

pensulliwen

Misa making Valentine’s Day chocolate, perhaps while daydreaming about a fantastically unlikely result of giving them to Light.

Rem holding Misa as they fly over the city.

Meme redraws featuring Misa, Light, and L. Just go crazy. Any ridiculous meme image, shove these dorks in there instead.

Misa convincing Rem to take her flying, the feelings they both experience in the air together.

Misa and Mogi on a shopping “date” in which the unlikely pair manage to work together surprisingly well.

Light considers eliminating Misa from the equation many times, but there’s always something that stops him. Explore how he views her and the dissonance between how he views her versus how he views himself, as well as the reasoning for keeping her around longer than intended. 

izaori

Demegawa in a hot tub but instead of water its money

Mello playing soccer with the other kids (like Matt for example). 

Matsuda playing cookie clicker, because he's obsessed.

Young Demegawa when he first got his job, maybe a few months into the job.

Sayu studying for her big exam coming up so she goes to big bro Light for help.

Ryuk discovers sour green apples rather than just the red ones. Maybe Sidoh discovers dark chocolate/white chocolate at the same time.

mikami

High school age Mikami in a high school uniform.

MikaLight out on a date

anything L/Higuchi

A Sakura TV Documentary about the Kiras. 

MikaLight office romance, non-Kira AU.

Write me a fic about Demegawa. Can definitely be comedy, but please take the character somewhat seriously.

ghostoftasslehoff

L and Light playing piano together.

L with a kitty

Sayu and ‘Ryuzaki’ meeting, and hitting it off 

Matsuda recieving a present or something from a ‘secret admirer’

A day in the life of Matsuda (away from the task force)

L and B’s first meeting (can be shippy or not, whichever my Shinigami prefers)

L tries to engage in punnery with the task force, but only one person engages (preference for Light, but surprise me!)

Sayu’s (or Sachiko’s) thoughts on Light’s new secretive actions as Kira becomes more and more active 

tzigi

(All canon-compliant)

L gets first suspicions about a string of heart attacks which may be a new murder case for him

Light’s first day at To-Oh after L’s death

Light’s first day of work at the NPA 

Near tries to pick up L’s investigation

Why did Near go back to L’s original font for the “L” logo between chapter 108 and the C-Kira oneshot? 

A non-Lawlight rendering of the first evening of Light being chained to L after everyone else has already gone to sleep (preferably in keeping with the One Day one-shot) 

Light begging Ryuk for his life

Light’s funeral

catfishmaster

The main characters (plus B) as DND characters

Older Near (like 25-30) with a bunch of cats he keeps for company

Roger bonding with Near after the Kira case.

Beyond Birthday faked his death in 2004 and now lives alone as a poor and pretty miserable theatre actor with a fake name. Oh, and also it's a Kira wins au.

Years after the Kira case has concluded, L takes on Near as an apprentice.

Matt takes Near on a tour of an afterlife-like world they both wound up in. It's more like a dreamscape than anything else but it serves as an afterlife.  

[pizzafishandchips]

6 - I heard enough, this ends now

Fictober day 6. Still trying to catch up More 7KPP shenanigans with Octavia except... *gasp* Not shippy fic??

May contain spoilers for Clarmont’s route.

Octavia, covered in sweat, muck, and blood, points her sword at the woman’s chest. Their eyes are locked, fearful fury meeting tempestuous resolve. The knight stands tall, her demeanor betraying nothing but the staunch determination a knight always needed.

“Stand down, Gisette,” she orders.

The Revairian princess, in a rare break of composure, spits on the ground beneath Octavia’s feet. Undeterred, she continues.

“The castle’s forces have been subdued. The king has fallen, and your brother,” she looks to the side, where an unconscious form is slumped on the ground, “is indisposed. You have no cards left to play. Stand down, while you have the chance to keep your life.”

Gisette barks out a laugh, an eerie, shrill sound that holds no mirth. “My, my, what a loyal dog that upstart Clarmont found himself. He should be so lucky.”

Octavia pushes her blade forward just a little, enough to gently dig into Gisette’s chest. “Turn around. Now.”

The princess does as she’s told, and the knight quickly binds her hands behind her back. Making sure she could not run, she takes the time to tie up the limp prince, pulling him into a room to hide him away for the time being. The whole time, Gisette’s steely gaze is latched onto her, and her skin crawls as if tiny ice shards prick at her skin. She switches from her sword to a gun, aiming it at the royal.

“Move. Now.”

Shooting her one more dirty look, Gisette pivots and they slowly march their way to the great hall. The besieged castle is dark, much of its decor in tatters from the final skirmishes that would soon lead to the end of the war. They are alone however in these particular halls; the royal siblings had tried to escape through hidden, lesser-known passageways. It had taken Octavia quite a bit of effort to track them down.

Echoing down the marble corridors are the sounds of distant shouting and weapons clattering against each other. Gisette shoots nervous looks in their direction, but her captor pays them no mind. She says virtually nothing as she directs the princess save for very brusque orders on where to turn. Somehow, she keeps them away from where the main fighting is taking place.

Gisette finds this rather insufferable.

“Why not get it over with and kill my brother and me this instant?” she spits. “You have what you want. You have your victory. Or, after all this conflict, are you  so cowardly that you cannot strike down familiar faces?”

“We hardly have need to martyr you two,” she replies coldly. “Keeping you two alive will satisfy some of those who seek justice after what your family did.”  

Gisette scoffs. “Justice? Is it justice that you seek? My fair lady, it seems your involvement with Clarmont truly has turned you soft, hasn’t it?”

She feels the barrel press sharply between her shoulder blades, and it is Octavia’s turn to glare daggers.

“Do not mistake my refusal to kill as a refusal to harm, Gisette,” she snarls. “I am perfectly capable of dragging you where I need you to be. Be grateful that I am letting you have this last shred of dignity.”

“And you should not mistake that with my capture this will be the end of it.”

“We have already dealt with any dissidents--”

“Have you? Have you really, Octavia?”

Knowing a bait when she sees one, the lady knight refuses to be goaded. She continues to herd Gisette in silence, but the princess intends to say her piece.

“You speak of justice, my fair knight, yet I find it curious how little conviction you seem to have regarding the matter. How did Clarmont convince you, hm? I would surely like to hear how he wooed you into fighting a battle that you yourself had little stake in beyond your relationship with him. Is his performance in bed that compelling?”

Gisette is almost impressed at Octavia’s poise; there is no hint of a reaction from her at her comment.

“I can’t possibly think of anything else that could get you to fight. Your heart is hardly invested in this conflict, my lady knight.”

“My bullets say otherwise,” Octavia finally mutters. There is an audible click from her gun, and a thrill of fear runs down Gisette’s spine. But still she continues.

“Are you quite sure? My dear, I never knew you to be so oblivious, especially when it comes to your own self-awareness. You come running after my brother and me alone, when you could have easily brought soldiers along. In fact, this whole time you have gone out of your way to keep us as far from the rest of the rebel army as possible, even though it would certainly be easier for you. You even hid Jarrod away instead of leaving him out in the open where he would be easier to find. My dear, you are doing everything you can to delay us from falling into rebel hands, even knowing that the entire point of this ‘revolution’ is to dispose of us all. As if you’re almost afraid of what they might do to us once this is all over.”

“Do you ever tire of hearing yourself speak?” Octavia murmurs. It’s enough to indicate to Gisette that she’s hit a nerve.

“You speak of justice, Octavia. Yet what justice is there to be had here? You depose us now, but what of years down the line? What of the children of those you’ve slain? What of the others like Clarmont, the ones who eventually seek vengeance for the loss they’ve suffered?”

“He’s not--”

“Not what? Looking for revenge? It hardly matters now, when in the end he still has the blood of hundreds on his hands, doesn’t he?” Gisette’s voice drops to a hiss. “You are an outsider. You may agree on some level with the rebels, but you really are only here for Clarmont. You could never tell him the truth, could you?

“Your heart wavers, Octavia. Face it. You are a knight without a just cause. Inside you’ve known that from the start.”

They finally reach an entrance to the great hall. The shouting and scuffling is loudest here; Octavia pulls Gisette to a stop before they enter. With a hand on her shoulder and the gun pressed against the back of her head, the captive princess doesn’t dare to turn her head to look at her captor. But Octavia’s deafening silence in response to her tirade is enough to satisfy her.

At last, she sighs. “I’ve heard enough. This ends now.”  

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Musings #12: Since the title of the next episode is ‘Rest and Resolutions’ can it PLEASE be one where the gang finally go out and explore Mistral?

Like seriously.

I’ve been itching for an episode where the gang finally explore Mistral and we get to see more of the scenery and backgrounds. Hopefully Chapter 7 will be the chapter. I need an episode where it’s just the whole group (Ruby, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Yang, Weiss, even Qrow AND Oscar. He’s not excluded from this at all) up to some good-spirited fun and shenanigans in Mistral.

Maybe it can be a day-off episode where the gang can go to a hot spring or get to explore the town in their own way and can each split up into smaller groups of two and go off on their own little adventures.

If that happens, you already know which pairs I’m foreseeing: Ren with Nora (naturally), Yang with Qrow (perhaps some private time so that she can probe him more about Raven and then some), Jaune with Weiss (surprisingly yet not surprising) and lastly, of course, the crème de la crème, Ruby and Oscar (and Ozpin who amazingly does very little to disturb or interrupt their alone time together beyond the usual wry remark at Oscar’s expense).

I’m hoping that the CRWBY will bless us the with the biggest RoseGarden moment to date this season in Chapter 7. Who knows, might even get to cross off a couple more of my ♥ RoseBuds/RosePine/RoseGarden wants off my list.

As a matter of fact, let’s add a couple more wants to that list, shall we?

All about Oscar:

My adopted gentle avocado farm child needs more screen time, dagnabbit and I solemnly swear to bitch every time he doesn’t. As a matter of fact, I need an episode where it’s just all about Oscar.

If this isn’t Chapter 7, then I’m hoping that we get an episode where the main focus is just on Oscar for the majority of the runtime and how he views the world. I want to know more about the young farmhand’s perspective of everything that’s going on around him, specifically from an emotional standpoint. We got a taste of that in Chapter 5, which you guys know from reading my musings is my favourite episode of this volume, and I’ve been craving more insight into Oscar’s mind. No pun intended since he is the boy with two souls. I just want to know more about Oscar from his point of view, y’know from I mean? I also would like to know more about Oscar’s perception of each character he’s come into contact with in the show thus far.

What does he think of everyone? Does he genuinely like them? Respect them? Admire them? Would very much love to know more about them...that sort of thing.  I’m not just referring to his growing connection to Ruby or even Qrow (which has more to do with the Ozpin side of things, to be honest) but additionally Ren, Jaune and Nora.

Now that I think about it, can this be a new segment to join/replace World of Remnant called ‘Oscar’s Thoughts’ where it’s just Oscar telling the audience facts about known characters in the show but it’s all his view of these characters and what he knows about them. Can this be a thing pretty please CRWBY?

Anywhozzits; folks have been hoping to see Oscar interact more with Jaune. While I’m not into Banana-Hamster (Oh what brilliant mind concocted this ship name?) or Shovel-Knight, I would still like to see Oscar and Jaune maybe have a little one on one where it’s just them alone socializing. Sure you can probably chuck in Ozpin showing up to share a few words with young Mr. Arc but the core of the interaction should mostly be between Jaune and Oscar himself.

I may be a mega, ultra RoseGarden shipper but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t mind Oscar sharing a close friendship with another character besides Ruby. Maybe Oscar can be the one to get Jaune to finally open up about his feelings regarding Pyrhha’s death. We still haven’t opened up that can of worms in the series as yet. And I’m still holding out on my theory of Oscar helping Jaune to unlock his semblance through awakening his own semblance. If you’d like to read my theories on that, check out ♦that musing right here.

. If Oscar isn’t the one to ask Jaune about Pyrrha then perhaps it could be Weiss instead unless she decides to accompany Yang somewhere for moral support. Raven did tell Yang to ask Qrow more questions about the true nature of Ozpin and I don’t think they’d bring that up in the story to just let it get lost in the flow of the upcoming episodes. Jaune did have romantic feelings for Weiss at one point after all (not sure if he still does) so maybe he might feel more oddly at ease opening up about Pyrrha to her. Maybe? Discussing the death of the girl who had a crush on you with your old crush. That’s a zinger but it could be possible. Who knows?

More Talks With Ruby and Oscar:

I’m also hoping this is the episode where we get some casual Ruby and Oscar interactions and conversations. I’m not ashamed to admit that the highlights of these RWBY Volume 5 episodes for me have mostly involved Ruby and Oscar just speaking to each other. Now all I need is an episode dedicated to them just talking; not about the impending battle and wars, not about Ozpin and whatever Grimm things to come...just them getting to know more about each other beyond just being huntsmen.

I want Oscar and Ruby to talk to each other about other things like their families. I want Ruby to ask Oscar about how his life was like growing up on his aunt’s farm and even question him about what his aunt was like (because God knows we’ve all been itching to know something more about the lady who singlehandedly raised our fine young avocado farm boy) and in turn, I want Oscar to ask Ruby about her mother (not intentionally though, like maybe he started off asking her if she had more siblings besides Yang which lead to Ruby telling him more about Yang, mentioning Tai and even Zwei which then prompted Oscar to question about her missing mother from her family tree).

Let these two have an actual human conversation for once, beyond thoughts of an impending war and battling the forces of evil hanging over their heads, beyond unforeseen prophecies and destinies about them that has yet to be revealed.

Let there be a bittersweet moment for these two to remind themselves and each other that at the end of the day, they’re human. Kids to be exact. The other characters are all legally adults. Ruby and Oscar are both the only ones still considered to be children. So let the kids just be kids for once in this episode. Normal, non-huntsmen kids don’t talk about wars and killing Grimm. They go out and laugh and just have fun with their friends. The title of the episode is called ‘REST and Resolutions’ for Pete’s Sake.

If there isn’t at least one scene where Ruby and Oscar just sit and relax and just enjoy each other’s company over a gorgeous Mistral view of the setting sun with Monty Oum memorial birds flying off into the distance, I will be pissed at this opportunity, not really for any kind of shipping (the other characters can join them too) but just a really tender moment.

Lindsey Jones, voice of Ruby, did mention at a con that Ruby and Oscar will hold hands at one point when the topic of RoseGarden came up. I mean she could’ve just been pulling our legs without hinting anything from the show, of course.

But picture this guys: Ruby and Oscar have a moment where they’re just talking about stuff and just being honest with each other about everything. Since the word ‘RESOLUTIONS’ is also in the title of Chapter 7, let Ruby and Oscar discuss their own resolutions going forward, admitting to each other what it is that they’re truly fighting for. And in the midst of it all, let Ruby reaches out and takes Oscar’s hand in hers. This surprises him at first and might even earn the red-head a blush from the young boy as the sudden contact caught him off guard but he eventually melts into the moment and the two share a look----this deep, longing, lingering look.

A look that everything is going to be ok and that no matter what happens, neither child would have to do it alone. Because they’re going to do it together and have each other’s backs.

Heck, if they don’t want to make it all too shippy, make it a Toy Story 3 moment where everybody hold hands. Ren takes Nora’s hands, Nora grabs Jaune, Jaune grabs Weiss, Weiss takes Yang, Yang and Ruby both grab Qrow who stands awkwardly between his two nieces.

Ruby, still, then reaches out her hand to Oscar. Oscar is, of course, hesitant at first not honestly feeling himself an affiliated member of the team. But after seeing the warm look of assurance on Ruby’s face as well as the welcoming glances from everyone including Weiss and Yang who he recently just met, Oscar smiles and accepts Ruby’s hand. The two can still share a look together but this time it would be shared with the whole gang over the view of the setting sun.

This is a perfect way to parallel what Ozpin told Oscar in Volume 4. ‘Greatness in knowing that when the world needed help, you were the one to reach out your hand...’

These are a group of people who are about to risk their lives to protect the world and people of Remnant and are fully prepared to do it time and time again, as long as it takes. Having Oscar accept Ruby’s hand would be a perfect way to nonverbally signify not only his full integration into the team but also his acceptance of his new fate to fight alongside these people til Salem and her forces are stopped.

Hazel Re-encounter:

Nothing really to do with ships but something I figured would happen at some point in the show. I want Oscar to suddenly bump into Hazel again while in Mistral. I found it interesting that the show made Hazel the one to meet up with Oscar before he got to Mistral. 

Would be interesting if Oscar ran into Hazel again while exploring the town with Ruby. Like maybe it’s a thing where Oscar loses Ruby in a crowd and the two get separated for a few minutes. In this brief interim, Oscar finds himself face to face with Hazel again. Surprise, surprise.

Of course the juggernaut of a man recognizes the small boy and the two exchange words---maybe, in an odd twist; Hazel takes pity on Oscar’s unfortunate predicament and sponsors him a beverage which he forcibly tells him to drink to help calm his nerves.

Oscar then awkwardly thanks him for both the drink and for helping him get his ticket to Mistral (cause he never did and this can be a good way to bring that little plot point back). But the casualty of the moment is ruined when Ruby finds Oscar and Hazel immediately recognizes her.

He, of course, doesn’t do anything and just sits there staring rather cryptically in Ruby’s direction however that doesn’t stop Oscar from suddenly sensing a strange change in the man’s demeanour and in an effort to get out of there, he hastily grabs Ruby’s hand as he practically hauls her away from Hazel muttering a quick thanks to the man as the two teens left him without a second’s glance.

Not sure if Salem would make Hazel go after Ruby while he’s in Mistral. The beef with the silver-eyed girl has more to do with Cinder and Tyrion than him and Hazel strikes me as the kind of guy who wouldn’t get his hands dirty unless the situation concerns him. However, the Volume 5 intro did tease Hazel combating Ren and Nora so...maybe he does receive orders to capture Ruby at some point *shruggity shrug*

Is it weird that I kind of want Hazel to have a weird connection to Oscar? Like, I don’t want it to be a crack twist where the CRWBY writers basically Darth Vader Oscar and make Hazel his long lost father or relative or something (like the uncle who was once married to his aunt he never met or whatever). But rather, perchance Oscar reminds Hazel of someone he once knew...someone he once loved and lost at the same time. Like a son? Or maybe it’ll just be a thing where Hazel sees a lot of himself in Oscar and can’t help but imprint on the young boy. They do share some similar character traits (like skin tone and hair colour). But we’ll see. We haven’t seen Hazel since Episode 2 so Chapter 7 would be a nice time to bring him back into the story and him bumping into Oscar again would be one way to introduce the notion that he too is in Mistral.

Overall, those are my wants regarding Chapter 7. As you can probably tell, I’m really excited for this episode. While I heard from sources that it’s going to be a short episode (the shortest of the season so far at only 12 minutes and 19 seconds. Oh bother), I’m still feeling pumped for it. I really feel like this is going to be an amazing episode or...at least one that I would really, really, REALLY enjoy. I’m feeling that hype.

If anyone happens to see the episode before me tomorrow, do you mind letting me know if any of my wants from this musing showed up in the episode, please? You don’t have to tell me which want it is. No spoilers! Just DM me saying only ‘YAS’ and I’ll get the picture. I want there to be an air of mystery while still riding on that big ole hype train.

As always, thank you guys for reading my musings for those of you who take the time to. Really appreciate it. Until the next one, I’ll see you fellow RWBY fans for Chapter 7.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2017)

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona's Top 5 Second Male Leads Who Deserved to End Up Alone

[Disclaimer: This list is intended for entertainment purposes. It includes spoilers for the tagged shows. This is just my personal opinion, so I apologize in advance if I’m bashing your fave. I just woke up this morning and thought, “You know, I haven’t pissed anyone off in a while.”]

In the Kdrama fandom much is made of SLS, or Second Lead Syndrome, that is the condition of sympathizing with the secondary character, usually male and usually the hypotenuse of a love triangle, over and above the actual hero and wishing he would get with the female lead instead. Most of the time because the hero is an asshole and the second lead treats her like a human being. There are occasionally examples of SLS regarding the second female characters, but it is far more common with male, because unfortunately second female leads have a tendency to be stock characters or finger-steepling jealousy monsters, instead of fully fleshed out people. God knows I’ve had my share of SLS in every flavor…

But this isn’t a list about SLS, but rather the opposite of that. This is about the second leads I had no patience for. The ones who are a waste of air and screen time. The ones who annoyed me with their shitty “nice guy” attitudes or frustrated me with their passivity. The ones I immediately wanted to punch in the face. In short, the second leads who deserved to end up alone.

5. Kang Shin Woo/ You’re Beautiful

I’ve gone off several times in the past on the infuriating species infesting dramaland I’ve termed the “passive pining second lead”. I really dislike this character type, it drives me up a tree. So you knew going in one of these boys was going to end up on this list.

It didn’t have to be Kang Shin Woo. It could easily have been Ji Hoo from BoF or Kang Woo from Master’s Sun. Or any number of other second leads who fit this archetype. But it had to be one of them.

I can’t really explain to you why Shin Woo earned my particular ire. Maybe it was just teeth-grinding frustration I felt with each successive, convoluted attempt to woo Mi Nyeo. Maybe it was the weirdness of that let-me-stalk-you-via-telephone-while-you-go-on-a-solo-date thing. Or that fact that the male lead was such an unmitigated moron.

Shin Woo managed to miss his window while Mi Nyeo was still crushing on him hard. He had countless opportunities to confess his feelings and just waited and waited until she was almost obliged to fall for Tae Kyung out of sheer impatience. This is the kind of character that makes me want to tear my hair and yell at the screen “USE YOUR FRICKEN WORDS!”

Luckily, there’s an appealing “third lead” in You're Beautiful who saves it from mediocrity, and the drama is otherwise such dopey, fluffy fun that you can’t help but be endeared. Jeremy saves this from being higher on the list.

4. Lee Ji Hoon/ The Best Hit

Talk about a character who has one of the worst cases of “Nice Guy” syndrome I’ve ever seen. Lee Ji Hoon was one of those characters I was initially rooting for, since Best Hit’s ambiguous love lines appear to leave things open ended as far as the end game couple was concerned. For the first half of the drama it seemed like things could go either way, and the friends-to-lovers dynamic between Ji Hoon and Woo Seung was endearing and heartfelt.

Also Kim Min Jae is pretty. So, so pretty…

For a while I was worried he was going to fall into the “passive pining” category, remaining silent, and losing his chance. But finally he made up his mind to confess and I was ecstatic. Yes! Go for it! And that was just about when it all went wrong.

The way a male character handles rejection and disappointment is make or break in my book. It takes them farther than charisma, looks and even moral fiber. (Give me a pirate or a conman over an entitled asshole.) And for me Ji Hoon totally failed this very important test. After Woo Seung told him she didn’t return his feelings Ji Hoon continually badgered and attempted to win her over even when she asked him to stop, intentionally made her uncomfortable, and thrust a surprise kiss on her. My frustration with his character grew until the point were he told Woo Seung that he regretted meeting her first as his friend, after which point he was dead to me.

Despite the potential ickiness of timetravel paternity shenanigans, I was so relieved when Hyun Jae ended up being our male lead. The Best Hit remains one of my very favorite dramas of the year and I still highly recommend it. But if you want to come at me about SLS for poor, poor Ji Hoon, kindly get out of my house.

3. Han Tae Jin/ Another Oh Hae Young

Han Tae Jin had all the makings of a really interesting, sympathetic anti-hero. After all, he comes across like the obvious wronged party in this love triangle. Due to a case of mistaken identity, Tae Jin becomes the target of the jealous spite of our male lead, Park Do Kyung, ultimately causing the ruin of his business, the breaking of his engagement with the titular Hae Young, and getting him sent to prison! Ouch. That’s a lot of angst wrapped in an attractive Lee “Chiseled Jaw For Days” Jae Yoon.

And yet, instead of cutting a fetchingly tragic figure, Tae Jin turned out to be a vengeful, bitter, violent man incapable of letting go of a grudge even for the woman he supposedly loved. He was such an emotionally unstable, loose canon that I was frequently uncomfortable when he was onscreen. If I’m not very much mistaken he assaults Do Kyung not once, but several times, to such a degree that Hae Young ends meeting him to beg him not to hurt Do Kyung anymore. It struck me as incredibly messed up.

I really didn’t want Lee Jae Yoon on this list twice– I have nothing against the actor–which is the only reason his Cruel City character Detective Ji Hyung Min wasn’t on this list instead. I actually like Lee Jae Yoon! Just not the characters he tends to play…Luckily, Cruel City wasn’t extremely focused on the love triangle, it was focused on the pain. I chose his character in OHYA instead because, being a romance focused drama the way they handled the love polygon was more important to me. By the end of the drama they attempted to redeem him and it just didn’t work for me at all. Keep this dude the hell away from me.

2. Lee Joon Hee/ Falling for Innocence

There are a variety of strategies drama writers use to make us root for the jerk chaebol hero over and against the started-from-the-bottom second lead with treats the female lead with tenderness and respect. They give their heroes tragic backstories, slowly grow them into human beings, build UST, and give them melodramatic redemption arcs. The options are basically endless.

But why go through all of that when you can just make your second lead a secret scumbag murderer! There…all sorted.

This was honestly the most confounding bait and switch love line I’ve probably ever seen. When the reveal of who was ultimately responsible for the death of Sung Joon’s fiancé finally happened I very nearly threw my tablet across the room. They go to a lot of trouble to give Joon Hee a sympathetic long time unrequited love backstory as well as motivation for his sometimes morally dubious corporate ladder climbing. They also give him frequent shippy scenes with Sung Joon where he takes care of her and worries about her or vice versa. While in contrast Min Ho is absolutely horrible to her for a good portion of the show, the only thing that redeems him being a literal personality transplant.

They go out of their way to present this like it’s a legitimate love triangle, when given all of the facts it’s nothing of the kind. It makes me wonder why they even bothered trying to get me invested in the character since it turns out he’s actually evil.

Upon rewatch (started this one again rather recently) I had a lot more fun with this drama. Since I already knew what I was getting into I had the resounding pleasure of yelling at the screen every time Joon Hee and Sung Joon get a cutsy or romantic scene, which is very satisfying. The real reason to watch this show, Min Ho’s horrid behavior in the first episodes notwithstanding, is because Jung Kyung Ho is absolutely hysterical. For me it’s still kind of a garbage show with a garbage plot, but, hey, I love garbage.

1. Goo Jung Hee/ Ms. Perfect

There are very few characters in drama land that inspire in me the kind of hatred I felt for Jung Hee throughout this series. There are villians that don’t fill me with such seething rage. There’s a lot of adjectives I could use to describe Jung Hee. Loathsome comes to mind. An incomplete list of others would include: spineless, selfish, sniveling, and “the slimiest weakling ever to crawl the earth.”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I hate this so called man. And yet, to my eternal confusion he is loved by and romantically involved with not one, not two, but three different women throughout the course of the show.

Actually, this entry poses a little bit of a problem regarding what we actually consider to be a “second male lead”. For the majority of the list so far I’ve been using the definition of the “second romantic lead” or, in brief, “the member of the obligatory love triangle who doesn’t get the girl” rather than “a male character with lesser narrative importance and/or subordinate billing to the male lead.”

In Kdrama the two things are usually one in the same. Usually, but not always. The reason is a) most dramas place a heavy emphasis on romance b) romantic fulfillment is usually the overt goal or the overt reward of the hero’s character arc and c) if a show ends without romantic closure (dating, marriage, babies ever after) it’s not generally seen as “satisfying”. But there are cases where the character with top billing or greater narrative importance is not meant to be our romantic lead, or even necessarily someone we root for. Jung Hee falls into this category, which made me wonder if I should even include him on this list.

Because Yoon Sang Hyun received top billing and was considered, by all reports, the lead in Ms. Perfect there was a great deal of disagreement and turbulence surrounding the intended endgame of the drama. Sung Joon’s Kang Bong Goo readily fits the mold of the romantic lead but his screen time is about half of Jung Hee’s, so I can readily understand where these concerns came from.

I’m happy to report that Jung Hee remained a subject of sometimes pity, but more often disgust, and the only thing that really disappointment me with his plot trajectory was that he didn’t end up dying in a fire at the end of the show. Missed opportunity IMO. While certainly a weird and flawed drama, Ms. Perfect remained entertaining throughout its run and I honestly would recommend it if for no other reason that Shim Jae Bok is a goodamn queen. There is the notable downside that this character has forever ruined Yoon Sang Hyun for me as an actor, as I can’t even see his face without feeling slightly ill.

I hope you enjoyed my top fave LEAST favorite male leads. This list was requested anonymously and I would be interested in producing other, similar lists in the future. If you have a subject you’d like me to cover please send me an ask or reply to this post and I’ll take it under consideration.

Jona