#or maybe she was just too focused on the blight lol

[fadejumper]

I just finished Last Flight and I am SOBBING. Spoilers ahead for any who don’t want them (honestly not saying much you don’t already know from the start of the book though)

It really is something else reading a book where you know from the start so many of the characters have to die — you know who will be the one to kill the archdemon, you know all the griffons die out (well, almost all of them), and you know countless Wardens will die to the Fourth Blight or their Calling afterwards. There’s just so much tragedy, but at the same time you know they’ll succeed in the end, and you know there will be hope for griffons in the future. Isseya’s story is so tragic with how much she had to sacrifice (herself and the griffons), but also just how instrumental she was in defeating the blight, and how she managed to save some griffons in the end. I loved the perspective from the present day, too, and I really hope Valya, Caronel, and/or Reimas show up in Veilguard (even if it’s just a mention in the codex or something)!

Also, I’m now in total awe that our Hero of Ferelden and party were able to beat the archdemon in Denerim. So many fewer forces, no griffons, and they somehow did it in less than a year! At this rate the Sixth Blight will last a few seconds before someone swoops in (hopefully on a griffon!) and kills the archdemon…

[cowboylikeyouu]

avengers interstellar AU

since i've seen it in theaters last night i can't stop thinking about writing an avengers/winterhawk interstellar AU and i feel like it's eating me from the inside, so i'm just gonna throw all my ideas at you. spoiler warnings for interstellar and a fanfiction i'll probably never write (having some interstellar knowledge is recommend lol i'm not explaining any of the movie aspects)

it's not gonna be as angsty as actual interstellar bc i can't do main character death for the life of me, i'm gonna ignore a lot of science bc i'm stupid and it's gonna be heavily winterhawk focused bc i'm insufferable, but here we go:

the world is ending and has been for years due to the blight and everything, yap yap yap you know the deal. the avengers basically just were a team of super talented scientists and engineers and test pilots, doing a lot of research for years and also dealing with some international shit or smth idk and it doesn't really matter. the team doesn't exist anymore bc they're not needed anymore, with food becoming the most dominant problem and everything, again, yk the deal. so most of them decide to retire from shield/nasa work and become farmers/etc.

nasa is doing the lazarus missions tho, and who volunteers? 10 people who don't really matter to the story (just like in the movie), steve (bc he's steve goddamn, ofc he's gonna volunteer to go on a suicide mission to possibly save humanity) and nat (bc she's rational, + she knows clint's probably gonna settle down with bucky somewhere (they've been in that "we fuck and spend almost every minute together, and we're so obviously in love but too scared to talk about it" stage for years), so she knows she won't be needed anymore bla bla)

clint's devastated about nat leaving, but she's like "enjoy your time as a farmer and when fury asks you to travel through spacetime to rescue us in a decade, you better be married to bucky's ass, idiot".

bucky's angry with steve for leaving but not surprised, and he's like "don't you dare die out there or i will walk through that goddamn wormhole just to kill you again"

tony's super pissy with steve for leaving, but doesn't show up to say goodbye or anything bc they're not really on speaking terms (they had an affair that was obviously much more than that during the period when tony and pepper had broken up, but then something civil war-like happened, and they're still angry at each other bc of that, and now tony's with pepper again, but there's obviously still a lot of unresolved stuff going on between them ykyk.

regarding steve & bucky: pretty sure i'll make them both the same age as everyone else, so no "frozen/held captive by hydra for 70 year" business, but i still need them to be supersoldiers. so maybe steve still volunteered for the experiment, and maybe he even became some kind of captain america (but an astronaut-version of him???), and bucky still got the not-so-good super-serum thingy and was held captive by hydra, but "only" for a couple of years, before he was rescued and joined the avengers.

again, all of that's not that important, the only relevant thing is that bucky got the serum and that it slows his aging process significantly.

whoo, lots of exposition sorry. that was basically just the prologue.

fast forward, 6-10 years, idk. pepper and tony had morgan, but pepper died of cancer (and i HATE nothing more than killing of a woman for an mlm ship, but seeing as cooper's wife in interstellar died as well, forcing him to leave behind his kids without a mom, i think it's a valid plot point for once). clint took bucky with him to his parent's old farm, they had peaceful couple of years, both recovering from trauma yap yap yap, they're happy alright (and officially together bc this is NOT a winterhawk slowburn).

then they all get a call form fury tho, being like "hey guys, sooo steve's, nat's and [random third character's] worlds look promising, wanna travel through the wormhole and check those planets out lolol???", and they obviously don't want to, but they all knew that day would come, so clint, bucky, tony and someone else (haven't decided who, bc that person's gonna be the one who dies on the water-planet thingy close to gargantua, so that's a hard decision to make) become the endurance team and set off into space.

and here's the thing: tony's on the mission bc he wants to save the life of morgan and especially her potential future kids and OFC bc he has a tiny hope of seeing steve again. clint's on the mission bc with bucky on the ship as well, there's nothing keeping him on earth, + the tiny chance of seeing nat again. bucky's on the mission for all of those reasons, but there's another factor for him, and that's time dilation.

he's a couple of years older than clint, but due to his slow aging, their body's are pretty much at the same stage already if u know what i mean, and while clint's relatively chill about it bc "hey man, you still gonna look sexy as fuck when i'm a bald old man, i'm so lucky", bucky's freaking out over it.

he's well aware of the time dilation caused by gargantua, so his plan is to be the one to stay behind on the ship while the others fly down to the planet on its horizon, and to NOT put himself into hypersleep for all these years, so that when clint and the others come back, he's gonna have a few physical years on clint again. his thought process is kinda like "i'd rather spent 20 years alone on a spaceship with the knowledge that clint is probably alive and i will see him again, than to watch him die of old age and keep living on my own for another 50 years". it's kinda stupid, but that's love for you guys.

so yeah, they travel through the wormhole, clint, tony, and [random fourth character] go down to the planet on gargantua's horizon, clint's convinced bucky's just gonna sleep for 7 years bc that's what sane people do, [random fourth character] dies, tony and clint have to stay down there an hour longer due to the water damage on the ranger, yap yap you know the deal, they go up again and BOOM: they've been gone for 23 years and bucky spent all those years alone and awake and looks 10 years older than before they left. many emotions for both of them "fuck yes clint, you're alive, i fucking missed human contact", and "jesus christ bucky you put yourself through this for me and" and "JESUS CHRIST bucky you put yourself through this FOR ME?????"

anyways, next stop is steve's planet. good news: steve's alive, bad news: the planet isn't a suitable candidate for a new world. the obvious new plan is to go check out nat's world bc it's quite literally their last chance. tony - now that they already "wasted" 25 years on this mission and found steve alive - really just wants to go back to earth tho and see morgan again. he knows that clint and bucky won't agree to that tho, so he kinda manipulates steve into getting on a ranger and flying up to the endurance again, leaving clint and bucky behind on steve's planet. don't be too angry with him, he just wants to see his daughter again, alright :,)

neither steve nor tony are exceptional pilots tho, (that's clint's fucking job), so they don't manage the docking process. bc this isn't a main character death angst fic, they don't die in an explosion like dr. mann did in interstellar, they just cause the endurance to spin rapidly, and then kinda float next to it in their ranger being like "well shit". clint and bucky come in with steve's old lander to save the day, and clint manages to dock onto the spinning spaceship (like cooper does in the movie) and stops it, and then talks tony and steve through the docking process on another point of the ship (the endurance, the rangers, and the landers all work the way i want and need them too btw, idc about accuracy when it comes to this kinda shit lol i just want them all to survive)

when they're all safe on the ship again, they talk it through. the endurance + 1 lander HAVE to go to nat's planet, it's the point of the entire mission, but clint's a self-sacrificing idiot, so obviously he wants tony and steve to have a chance of going back to earth. they load up on lander with enough fuel to take steve and tony back through the wormhole (they're not sure if the lander can withstand it, but it's the only way), from where it should be possibly to contact earth again, so that someone could get them.

clint tells bucky that they have enough resources and enough fuel to get them both to nat's planet safely, which is a lie, but bucky trusts him bc they're in love, man.

clint does the iconic slingshot-around-gargantua-or-whatever manoeuvre to give the endurance the boost it needs to reach nat's planet, and he also does the iconic "yeah, i'm just gonna load up one of the rangers with one of the robots (the robots are FRIDAY and JARVIS btw) and let it fall into black hole to hopefully gather some data, but then i also let myself fall into it without telling you beforehand" move, bc they need to lose the weight and there aren't enough resources for both of them.

he's like "this is paypack for your aging dick move, say hello to nat for me" and then he's gone. ouch.

then there's the whole black hole shit, with the 4th dimension tesseract and the data from the black hole that i don't really give a shit about rn tbh lol. the "solving the gravitation equation" problem won't be a huge part of the plot anyways, bc yes, it's an important factor to this story's universe in general, but i really just wanna focus on bucky and clint in the fic, so idc. it's all kinda happening in the background.

clint sends the data to earth in morse code like cooper does in the movie - tho idk yet if he sends it to a now much older morgan, or peter parker (who's kinda tony's mentally adopted son btw) or directly to tony, who made it back to earth safely. idk. like i said, doesn't really matter. the tesseract collapses, clint's gets picked up by stark station that they were able to build bc of the data he send them, all is well.

his slingshot manoeuvre around gargantua did cause another time dilation ofc (idk if i'd make it 60+ years like in the movie tho), so maybe tony's already dead when clint gets picked up by the station. due to slowed down super soldier aging steve's still alive and well tho, and they have a little chit chat where steve's like "go find bucky, clint, there's nothing keeping you here" and when clint tells him he should join him, steve's like "i'll follow, we all will at some point, but i promised tony to look after morgan" (who's older than steve at this point).

so clint steals a ranger (they're advanced by now, but not 100% cleared to do interstellar travel yet, but this is clint we're talking about and cooper literally did the exact same thing in the movie) and sets off to nat's planet.

it takes him a few years, but he gets there, and bc i'm a soft soft softie, OF COURSE both nat and bucky are still alive, already raising the first generation of the new colony (bc they obviously didn't know if they solved the equation after all). i'm not entirely sure how plan b in interstellar war supposed to work, like who would carry & birth the first generation?? but bc of the fact that they only put one woman on the mission, i'll just go with "they have artificial wombs" :D

and now they'll just chill there until the rest of old humanity joins them.

and idk, the thought of bucky and clint being adam and adam of a new humanity for a few years (bc nat puts herself into hypersleep on a regular basis being like "i cant deal with you two idiots for too long, i'm gonna sleep 'til these babies are grown-ups so that i can actually have some good conversations") just really does it for me lmao.

and they all lived happily ever after.

okay this was a long one, sorry, nobody's gonna read this post anyway lmao. i just needed to get it all out of my head bc i'm still not sure if i actually wanna write it or not. i feel a lot better now tho, maybe my head won't explode bc of this idea tonight.

[yeoldecorprusarium]

I thought similar on my playthrough of HFW. I think it was the fact that old ones being able to somehow make themselves live for 1000 years+ ruined the “immersion” of the world, like it went too far into sci fi realm and was less grounded in the “reality” of the new world. Yes we have animal machines and talking AIs of insane complexity, but they’re almost plausible in the way it’s set up in HZD. The Zeniths just… aren’t convincing enough, I’d take cryogenics over what they went with.

At least Helis and Regalla were believable antagonists, leader of the mad cult of the new world religion manipulated by a rogue AI, and woman from a warrior clan who wants revenge on the tribe that caused horrors for years and destroyed her family and will do anything to achieve it.

Even though I'm not as bothered by their immortality, I see where you're coming from. It could have been explored a lot more to make it seem plausible. In fact, all the Zeniths felt very rushed, one dimensional and half baked to me (even Tilda). Not like an organic part of the world, but as baddies they added last minute thinking something like "what would be bigger than the revelations from ZD?" but it didn't work, imo.

We literally know only their names and some details from like two of them and their goal is completely nonsensical and just cartoonishly evil. That's my biggest issue with them: from the moment of their introduction they appear as mere one dimensional assholes and remain like that for the entire thing (Tilda has a change of heart, but her plan envolves massacring an entire tribe, so she also thinks of the tribals as vermin and Aloy is just better in her eyes because ~muh Elizabet~).

Also, Regalla was completely wasted in order for the end game to be focused on the Zeniths, and she was SO. COOL. From her character design, to her voice, to her aura of sheer badassery... and for what?

The game is a middle child and it should have embraced the role and laid the groundwork for the finale properly. There's more than enough content with the blight, Hephaestus, the civil war and Aloy recruiting more allies. They could have just ran with these plot lines and maybe introduced the zeniths from the sidelines (Gaia -after getting stronger- detecting a signal or some shit as they make their way to Earth and then quests like Chen's for the main zeniths, for example. I get that they're supposed to be anonymous and secretive billionaires, but if there's someone that would be able to dig for something on them that someone would be Aloy).

I enjoyed Hades because he was literally just a somewhat conscious computer program trying to do it's job. That job just happened to suck for everyone else. And that was kinda ruined by the "you're unhappy, I'm glad" line in FW, but anyways. Human antagonists need more than that to be enjoyable villains.

Let's see if they'll fumble the bag with Nemesis, too. I hope not.

Sorry for the mega wall of text, I'm still not over it lol

Also, not really relevant, as it's more of a personal thing, but I really dislike their ultra clean, futuristic aesthetic. That's not what I play the games for.

[ell-vellan]

7 and 9!

Thank you for giving me the chance to share these, which are both simultaneously my "favorite scene" and "favorite dialogue" that work out of context from this upcoming chapter <3

From the WIP ask game!

7. What is your favorite scene you've written so far?

Anytime I get to write this bro-ship is a good time, lol

“Something up, Chief?” Krem had come to his blind side, taking Bull a little by surprise. He’d been sweeping the horizon for any more dark, roving shapes.

“Nope.”

“Yeah, didn’t think so,” Krem said, sarcasm dripping. The other guys were clustered up ahead, boasting and arguing, not paying close attention. “Because nothing’s ever wrong with the Chief, yeah? Not even when he goes all broody and doesn’t even brag about his kill count–”

“Leave it, Krem.” Bull’s voice dipped into a growl, which was definitely not proving his lieutenant right in any fashion. His knee ached. He was sick and tired of sandy provisions and the constant low roar of wind in his ears. Nothing different to see in any direction, except the ever-present threat of the canyon shimmering with Blight like rivers of ancient blood, that made him faintly sick even glance down at.

Everything about this place threatened to drive him to distraction.

Just one more fucking day.

Then a return to Skyhold, and the uncertainty there he didn’t want to think about.

But it was better than this dump by miles.

He could feel Krem’s eyes on him, the frown lines that were surely deepening between his brows. Krem wasn’t going to be put off this time.

“Yeah,” Krem muttered, as if some revelation had occurred to him. “No punny nicknames today, huh? I’m sure there’s no reason at all to read into why we’ve been relegated to escort duty when this job could be pawned off to any of the fifty-odd soldiers stationed at the keep.”

“You complaining?” Bull asked, a touch of threat in his voice. They didn’t do this kinda shit. “Got somewhere else to be? Hot date waiting for you back at Skyhold?”

“Maybe I do. Kinda thought maybe you did.”

Bull shot Krem a look, and Krem didn’t blink.

Bull huffed and looked away. “We’re not doing this.”

“Nah, we don’t, do we?” Krem agreed. “It’s alright when you check up on all of us. Mother-hen everybody to death. Make sure our heads are straight. But nothing ever gets to The Iron Fucking Bull.”

Bull said nothing, just a low growl of frustration.

“It’s not gonna break ranks for you to let me know what’s going on,” Krem continued, dropping the sarcasm this time. “Thought you trusted me at least that much."

9. What is your favorite dialogue you've written so far?

Cole's dialogue is especially hard for me, but I liked this little exchange.

He didn’t want to think about this, not now when she was too far away for him to do anything about it. Bull grunted, annoyed that things kept resurfacing that he was doing his best to push away. He focused on the horse, on stroking the stiff bristles over her glossy hide, dislodging sand. "It’s late. Do you not sleep, kid?"

"You're awake, The Iron Bull."

Bull sighed. "I guess I am. Just trying to help, huh?"

The silence at his back unnerved him so much he patted the Asaarash to steady her and faced Cole.

"Like you.”

Bull's lips thinned as he hung the brush back on the rusty nail in the wood post. "I hurt people, too."

"I killed mages at the Spire. I murdered Lord Seeker Lambert. And anyone who tries to hurt the Inquisition."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

That made Cole tilt his head, one arm curling around the rafters. "I didn't know killing the mages was wrong. I thought I was helping. Now…sometimes killing is helping."

"Yeah," Bull sighed. He draped a blanket over the horse's back – the desert nights could be freezing. "Sometimes I think it's the only kind of help I know how to give, too."

Bull unlatched the stall and eased out, the horse nickering a soft farewell.

"You helped her," Cole said, turning to watch him through the beams. "More than anyone else. By being kind. And with ropes."

"I can't decide if you're talking about the Inquisitor or the horse."

"She felt safe, and then scared, and then sad. It was easier to leave than to be left."

That tightness twisted up. "It was her choice."

"She thought you had already made yours."

[numericalbridge]

TOH rewatch semi-liveblog. Season 1 part 4

episodes 16-19 + overall season 1 thoughts

Episode 16

- Ok, actually a pretty good and fun episode. But alas Willow is barely there, and i wish Gus and King's subplot was more focused on Gus since King has plenty of development.

- King saying that Luz is doing a favor for Camila by keeping the truth from her... considering the season 2 revelation about him... Yeah, the show is good with cool parallels and calls forward/back like this one, but really not great with the pacing of the character arcs or balancing the cast.

- Nooo, Amity beating up Hooty, lol

- Eda having a watch with a picture of King is cute.

Episode 17

- Also a pretty good episode, but has a bit too much silliness for my personal taste. When Amity admits to being like Bosha in the past it fits the first episodes much better, and it should've been brought up earlier.

- Not sure how i feel about this 'Willow became more popular because she felt more confident after patching things with Amity". I guess if we actually saw how the majority of the students were treating her before? Or if in this epsiode she was shown reaching out to less popular kids, or if Amity was shown helping her a bit in the previous episode (would work better with the Labirinth Runners too). Yeah, i think Understanding Willow should've been placed earlier in the season.

- What's with the random demon kid who is Willow's biggest fanboy?

i think Hunter has a tough competition there.

- Gus should've had more moments in this episode too, especially in the regards of his friendship with Willow. And Amity's sports backstory was again kinda just there for the sports episode meta joke, but the time could've been better spend on other things.

- Why are they so mean to Hooty yet again.

Episode 18

- First mention of the Day of Unity. I think this intro to Belos and his ideology and DoU works just fine, but if there were whispers about DoU earlier in the season it would've been cool too.

- First time i've watched i thought Hooty straight up murdered most of those scouts and then played the tea party with their corpses. It was even shocking/unpleasant to watch because of it, lol.

(also i was introduced to toh through a gifset of the Eda vs Lilith fight in the Convention episode, and it initially gave me an impression of a much more mature show because from the gifs i assumed Eda killed Lilith there too, when the Hooty looking spell 'ate' Lilith, lol)

- Maybe i've missed something, but how is Eda's gem actually linked to the curse? What even is that gem?

- Eda vs Lilith fight is A+ and Belos' moments are also great.

Episode 19

- I really like the detail that officially this is supposed to be the first petrification in 30 years, yet we see that the wild witches who were brought into the Castle earlier are already petrified.

- I was actually kinda intrigued by the 3 wild witches/demons who were petrified, especially the one in the classic witch hat who seemed quite defiant in death.

- Eda tries to convince Luz to go to the Human Realm, but what about King?

- Belos vs Luz fight is also excellent.

- The Blights' mild reaction to Eda's transformation in the flashback is so funny in retrospect (obviously they couldn't animated the background characters, but still funny).

- Such an important moment for Willow and Gus to interfere and try to save Eda, and yet, nothing is done with the aftermath of it or with their relationship with Eda that was subtly present through out this season. Like, grrrrrrrrr

----

Conclusion:

Episodes 16-19 are actually good again, especially episodes 18-19 are great and gave hope for better developments in season 2.

----

Season 1 thoughts:

Just writing wise it is mostly fine. Most characters are really good or have potential to be good with deeper development. Luz and King, Luz and Willow and Gus when they are allowed to interact, and Eda and Lilith are really good character dynamics. Humor is probably more engaging for the target audience, but there are moments that are funny even for an adult. The worldbuilding is not the strongest, but i think it's ok for what it is, since the show's storytelling is very stylized. I don't think we needed the full map of the Isles or anything like that. Some things about the schooling system and the coven/goverment system and propaganda are pretty well done for a cartoon.

But there are already problems with certain racist character designs, shallow attempts at body diversity, with sidelining Willow and Gus, especially Gus, and not allowing Luz to have deeper moments with them, and with prioritizing of the white characters; and in general the pacing of the character arcs and balancing the cast are not great, and sometimes it feels like the writers had big episodes and moments planned and perfected and invented some clever call backs/call forwards, but actually connecting those big moments isn't that interesting to them so many of the character arcs end up unfocused and disjointed. Relatively minor complain compared to the rest, but most of the season 1 villains and one-off antagonists are less humanoid demons or creatures and that kinda goes against the lore and the bigger picture of the show. (In retrospect there also seems to be quite a lot of 'missed opportunities' to introduce season 2-3 lore and characters or dynamics but i wouldn't hold it against the show).

Tbh if the rest of the show was like the first season i would've watched it casually, but wouldn't care about it very much.

Best episodes: 18-19 The worst episode: 11

[takerfoxx]

The Owl House, Season 1, Episode 1, First Impressions!

Let’s! Get! WEIRD!

Okay, so I’m noticing that all the kid’s cartoons I’ve been watching lately can be grouped into three categories sort by tone and style, with the main unifying feature being that they’re all adventure stories with casually diverse casts.

In one category, you’ve got the Netflix gang, where we have She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and The Hollow. Here, things are a blend of traditional western animation with noticeable anime influences and take place in colorful fantasy worlds with hopepunk themes.

Next is the Avatar gang, which is of course ATLA and The Dragon Prince and maybe one day Legend of Korra, which is much more anime-esque and tends to take place in mythology-inspired fantasy worlds that are very epic hero’s journey focused.

And finally, we have the Disney gang, which has Gravity Falls, Ducktales, and now The Owl House, where things are more wacky and weird with a strong focus on episodic adventures.

Like, I was very much expecting something more in the vein of She-Ra, given how much crossover there is between their fanbases, but as I was watching, I kept thinking, “Wow, this feels a lot like Gravity Falls. Luz is basically Mabel/Webby on slightly less crack, Eda gives me strong Grunkle Stan vibes if Stan was a witch MILF who was actually legit with the powers stuff, and hey, King sounds a LOT like Bill Cipher...”

Wait a minute, thinks I, is that ALEX HIRSCH?

Yup, it sure was, and I’m getting better at recognizing voice actors, go me!

Anyway, our story is about Luz, and as I said, she’s in the same vein as Mabel Pines and Webby VanderQuack, only on slightly less crack than the former and with fewer insecurities as the latter, and unlike the other two, she is the main character, so this promises to be...chaotic. 

Anyway, her aggressive...creativity (i.e. super weirdness) keeps getting her into trouble, so her mom decides to send her to a summer camp about how to be normal, and I know that’s a joke, but DAMN are the implications disturbing! Like, there’s a lot of similarities to real-life institutions intended to hammer out things that society considers deviations and...

Surely I don’t need to say it out loud. Jesus, Mom!

Anyway, before getting shipped off to be lobotomized or whatever, Luz’s favorite book is stolen by an owl, and in following it she Narnias herself into basically Weirdmaggedon world and meets Eda, a witch who makes a living hocking human goods. Which, to the incredibly weird Luz, is a dream come true! Finally she’s in a world that celebrates weirdness!

Except no, since the world is actually under the control of its own equivalent of the Weirdness Inquisition, which punishes non-conformity. Well, okay then. And Eda and her adorable Demon King buddy named...King needs Luz’s help just eking by.

Anyway, this is the pilot episode, and it’s purpose is to introduce the characters, setting, and basic premise, so there’s not a whole lot to really dig into just yet, except to say I like what’s going on and am looking forward to further exploring this world. The Warden I think is the best representation of what we can expect from this show, as there was so much about him that was genuinely unsettling and intimidating, but he was also really, really goofy.

So yeah, strong Gravity Falls vibes, and I am here for it!

Another note: okay, this is kind of embarrassing, but when we met the vampire girl who was in jail for writing fanfiction, I had to take a moment and tell myself, “I must not simp, I must not simp, I must not simp...”

Hey, we all have our types.

Also, interesting to note that Luz learning magic is less of the high school experience and more of an on-the-sly apprenticeship, and the Owl House is literally just Eda’s house. I have seen a lot of school-related screenshots, so we’ll see how that pans out.

And, uh, is Amity Blight gonna basically be Pacifica Northwest, only gay? Because that’s very much the impression I’m getting.

And Eda’s body parts falling off looks like it’s going to be one of my favorite running gags.

And finally, lol at giraffes actually being monsters who were exiled for being too weird. Are these guys also responsible for platypuses? 

[404fmdhaon]

creative claims verification — beautiful

summary: his tsundere song where he cries because regret lol some sappy shit warnings: the worst verification i ever did but take it :~) wc: 1848 (not including lyrics or dates)

dated august 2011

straight from one practice to the next — it all becomes a cycle of habit when he swings from one room to the next. saving grace comes in a studio room, one shared with five other people only today, he’s lucky and it becomes hollowed out and empty by the time the clock strikes three am. what’s left is his own self ruination that comes in lapses of judgement — the mirror image of someone who’s shed the last morsel of dignity he possesses. 

she becomes all encompassing, the air that he heaves in. dance practice into vocal — rap, he skips for time inside the studio. because the formidable years of rap become set in stone, embedded in the presence of her. she’s his muse, always was. always has been.

yet, the distance that separates them on opposite ends of a belligerent battle field leave radio silence. a month of no-contact where ends of lines become the empty rings of no voice to pick up (but he knows, remembers how her frail voice breaks at the edge of their last conversation). he tells himself goodbye — tells her goodbye, undeserving as he leaves her in a standstill of uncertainty and doubt.

and still, he remains on bc’s floors like someone else’s possession. and she’s now merely hidden away behind closed doors of anonymity. a stranger, a nobody. the person who houses the other piece of his heart still straggled along.

but acceptance comes with keys that play a gentle melody. it’s gentle, like the soft touches of her fingers along his spine, engraining each and every memory skin deep. chords come into overlay, and he remembers — it’s her favorite chord he played deep inside his family’s pensions off in the countryside. a haywire frenzy of a road trip in back and forth arguments, hands thrown her fists balled into his chest as she heaves a heavy breath. and his own selfish dejection leaving sharpened words aimed towards each tear shed from her eyes. 

he writes his ode to her. writes every last saving grace of his heart inside a jazzy undertone (etta james was her favorite, the way her dimple softened when her voice hummed along, the way her eyebrows scrunched when she focused too much on the off-key notes of the keys). this becomes the first of the endless pit that he writes his heart to her because at the end of it, she holds every single card of his in her palms. like putty clay, he molds and moves to the shallow sighs of her chest and the laughter that oozes the soft melodies of spring inside his head. 

his fingers flit across the keys, starting from the basis of the chords recording (file titled: yeseul). romanticism plays, and it’s the wistful bittersweetness that rises when he thinks of her. thinks of the first time in a dusty pub where she split him dead-center with her off grid remarks only to stitch him back up with each kiss across his lips underneath the shadows of the street lights.

gyujeong has nothing without her, he’s aware. written himself to nothing when he’s no longer attached to her — but she doesn’t deserve him, he comes to accept. he doesn’t deserve the boy who carves his soul out to bc entertainment stepping over the eggshells of promises he’s curls his fingers over. he’s no longer the musical mastermind with the false bravado standing on the apex of the world — us against the world, it doesn’t exist.

they don’t exist anymore.

all he has are the meager keys, the lack of percussion. most of all, the support that comes as a safe haven for him. instead, what remains is him inside the standstill and barren echoes, somber melody of the pianos mixed in with the faux snares that hit the base. 

relatively simple, she’s always been relatively simple. liked the songs in subtle stares, mutters. the way the edges of her lips peaked up higher, ruby stained as it digs into the white shirt hung loosely around his frame (he’s kept the shirt, kept each remnants of her lips close). 

— 

dated august 2012

a year passes since he clicks back upon the title filed yeseul. a year — and time changes all, no longer trapped in the four walls and pigeon holed into the slavery of trainee life. it’s knight he’s propelled into, the fame, the stages. hungry eyes all prying onto him.

yet, it still doesn’t fill the gaping hole and bleeding heart that still paints her silhouette each time he closes his eyes. and maybe, it’s the fate of luck that has him in the same position — 3 am weariness, deep into a harddrive. one file, and it blares her name in black and white. yeseul, he clicks. 

(in retrospect, nothing’s changed. not his feelings nor the muse that pools inside his heart.)

the concept of change ranges clear: it’s curiosity. confusion in what she’s doing, a year of no-contact and his half becomes withered away to nothing — the ashes of her remnants still vivid and palpable. (if he’s lucky, he’ll see her once he closes his eyes tonight).

he wonders if closure is as good as it gets — the blight optimism that still clings on. once he lets go, will it fill the void or render it empty? he doesn’t want to know. doesn’t want to accept a view of him where there’s no her.

but he knows, it’s too late to cling onto optimism. not allowed when his rights are plainly signed away and he’s stuck inside the rooms housing a prison more than the independent grandeur of fame inside blaring lights. when he steps back, lets himself reel back in how far the distance parses between them, he accepts. knows he can’t go back now — not when she doesn’t deserve the shit he’ll put her through inside the tempest waters.

It seems I have to let you go now I’ll count down the days to a meaningless date a flower’s not my hand, it’s a butterfly’s stage I hope it flaps its wings again now bye babe

acceptance is the hardest. harder when he finds himself choked up on the words scrawled across the page — he wonders, if this is his heart breaking, shattering or if this is the resolution into emptiness. 

a year passes, and still he’s hung up on her knowing nothing. questions her whereabouts, picked up on the whispers of the crowd. but what’s left is the remains of what he’s held onto. how her eyes brightened at the mention of prada, chanel, and margiela and how his shaky fingers locked and slid into place with hers — a silent promise, never to be brought to full fruition.

broken beyond repair, he sighs. lets his eyes stare onto the blink screen as each letter continues on after another — a domino effect leaving him emptied, and the culmination of emotions to lodge themselves deep in his throat. seconds into silence, and he waits a beat because if he doesn’t, then maybe he’ll cry.

You’re like elegant Prada graceful Chanel sleek Margiela I fell for you I planned to do well but because of my inferiority complex I can’t have you, I can’t hold you you’re still so so beautiful Run

but he cries. lets the first taste of salty tears linger across his face, met with the bare knuckle that swipes it away. it’s the remission of her back into his memories, flooding through. and now, he drowns.

drowns inside self-pity for each mistake he’s made through violent shouts outside of a crowd, hostile arguments laced and lined with his own insecurities. the march up of his forceful fingers wrapped around her wrist, yanking her out to where the picture outlines of her own tears down her face would fuel the heavy sights heaved out of his chest. and each time her fists would ball up, battering against his chest shouting empty nothings fueling his own piqued vexation for her ruination. shallow words and a heavy heart — he regrets.

if time had rewind, he’d use it now.

use it for every time the mask of irrational insecurities poised itself as defense with the inability to vocalize each feeling of heartstrings being plucked. 

(if he could, he’d tell her how many times she looked beautiful in the early morning yawns, where the milky skin exposes itself to the ribbons of golden sunlight. how many times her laugh became the ringing alarm jolting him awake to see her sooner, and how many times he’d wish he’d take back the last words of ‘fine, let’s end it.’)

if she could see him now, no. if he could see her now — “i’m sorry.” comes out like a slipped whisper muttered inside his breath.

Someone supported your high value since when were you this beautiful you’re too much, without words I thought that but I wore a mask and hid from you

his fingers rub against his eyes, now rubbed raw from each and every blink unraveling the floodgates of tears. i’m sorry, i’m sorry. i’m sorry. comes in tandem repetition underneath his breath — a breakdown? no, it’s regret that drowns him whole for letting go. leaving the pinnacle of his happiness.

young and in love, he tells her sorry. 

— 

sobs loosen up easier when he’s alone. stripped of the weary eyes and stares of those around. gyujeong collects himself once more, just as he always has in each motion — from the toss of the empty cigarette carton to the eyes that don’t peel themselves from the blank screen. he tells himself, it’s okay. eyes rubbed red, the constriction in his chest eased into a full out vacantness.

he turns on the mic, just as he always has. 

catharsis only comes easy when it’s spoken soul heavy, heart deep. when the words spill out from a blank state of mind, and his breath held close feels inches from bursting out. (state awry, he hopes this song reaches her somewhere.)

he raps, hits the verses the way he always has. remembers the way her face lit up when his gaze peeked over inside underneath the club — on top of the world, and her frail palms clapped off-beat singing along to the songs he shared with her. but the club scene doesn’t apply, not now. not in the future — not when his past has been solidified with her. 

repeat in playback, and he realizes — it’s never been what he wanted. he doesn’t want to drip his words inside malice and spite, nor does he want to shout anymore. what he wants, is the opposite effect in the things she’s only ever instilled in him: the soft touches, grazes of her lips onto his and the subtle pushes of his spine hoisting him into where he’s standing now. 

his voice softens, lessens into a singing voice (the voice she tells him she loves, he hates). tears don’t fall like he’s let out, instead — it’s the steadiness of nostalgia that keeps his head afloat, hitting each word to the beat straight-on. 

there’s an addition he adds at the end — the layers of cello and the electric keys, her favorite setting. his fingers snap, add the reverb to keep the beat on play, and he wonders. questions. if it ever comes to seize the day where the song plays and lilts on to the beat of her. there’s an pull of the snaps, knowing how his own metronome plays to the rhythm of her beating heart.

somewhere, faraway. he hopes that she’s listening. she’s still a piece of him.

[afewmarvelousthoughts]

Truth [Part 1]

Master List 

Request:

What’s up sug! sorry you’re struggling right now but I’ve come to help you If you could bring this to light for me I’d absolutely love for YOU TO DO JT So basically Bucky X Enhanced reader who are fuckin enemies. Hate each other to every last fiber of their beings bc Bucky is rude and she calls him out on it. AnywHs, they get drunk, truth or dare (go crZy baby) and LOTS LF dirty talk if u wanna do smut but if u don’t then buck taking care of her while she’s drunk cause she admitted her feelings

Pairing: Bucky X Reader (Enhanced)

Summary: Since The Avengers gave you a home the only blight has been Bucky Barnes, a ghost from your past that you can’t seem to shake. It makes you hate him. The feeling, it seems, is mutual. But maybe things aren’t quite as simple as they seem. (Post Winter Soldier AU)

Warnings: Violence, guns, plotting (lol).

A/N: Well. This is a thing. At first, when I got this ask I was like... uh... hmm... this is so not me. (Honestly, the truth or dare element threw me because let’s be real, I haven’t played that since high school.) But then I thought about it and realized I could totally run with this and have some fun. Then I ended up having too much fun I guess. (And look I’m not saying it’s perfect but damn I’m enjoying it.)

I think this won’t go past a three-parter but who knows. The next bit gets smutty (I know for sure since I’m currently writing it) so stay tuned for that. Also, this makes three fics I’m actively writing (you know plus my day job) so I can’t promise part 2 will be up next week but sooooon. 

Tags are open! 

@mywinterwolf  @disagreetoagree @peachthatdrinkslemonade @breezy1415

I could do it, you thought staring down the ridge. No one would know it was me, too much chaos, just focus and BAM, the old fuck drops… Just then Steve flings Barnes the shield to fend off an attack and you remember that you can’t off the fucking Winter Soldier because Steve, who had unquestionably saved your life, would be absolutely devastated.

“Hey Y/N!” Barnes bellows over the com, “How about you pull your fucking weight?!”

No. One. Would. Know. “Hey Barnes, how about you go fuck yourself?”

“Kids,” Clint pipes up. “Play nice.”

You chose to ignore them both and plant your hands firmly on the ground. About 20 Hydra agents just ahead of you, you could feel the vibrations of their energy through the soil. Your breath stops and you begin to pull energy into your body, the air around you getting cooler with each second. This was going to be a show. Heat curls up your arms, you feel like you’re on fire, electric with this power. Admittedly this didn’t always work, focusing the energy through the ground but this time you had pettiness on your side and that was as powerful a weapon as whatever Hydra put in you.

“Fuck, on our twelve,” you hear Barnes say. Little late old man. “Goddamnit! Y/N why do-“

Now. Intentionally making the energy release a little more powerful than it needed to be you let go, concentrating hard, Just the Hydra agents, no one else, acutely aware of where each of them stood. White hot light snaked from the ground into the bodies of each unsuspecting agent, their screams loud, an uncomfortable sizzling hitting your ears as they lit up like candle flames. As gruesome as it was, in one shot you eliminated every single one.

“What was that about doing my part, Barnes?” You snipe over the com standing looking smugly over the ridge, “Your count was what, five?”

“We’re clear,” Natasha says before he can respond and you silence your earpiece, turning on your heel to head to the jet.

Back at the tower, you’re stripping out of your gear in the locker room with Natasha.

“You know you two could just fuck and get it over with.”

“What?!” You’re genuinely confused.

“Uh, you and Bucky. You go at each other like-“

You begin laughing, “Look I get your angle here but no, that’s not what this is. He’s a fucking asshole, and not in the way that gets me going,” and they didn’t know what he had been like before, not really.

“Whatever you say,” she slams her locker, dirty tac gear inside to be picked up for cleaning, “but there’s nothing like a good hate fuck to work out tension.” With that, she saunters away.

The thought of letting him touch you made your skin crawl. Though… No. Absolutely fucking not.

Tony had demanded everyone get together to celebrate a successful mission and as much as you weren’t a huge fan of social gatherings of more than two people even after almost a year of working with them all you begrudgingly agreed when it was made clear that this was a casual affair.

You stare in the mirror at yourself in black skinnies and a fitted white tee, so… normal looking. Who would suspect you were essentially a woman shaped atomic bomb? Sighing you throw your hair into a ponytail and head for the elevator. At the very least, Barnes never came to these things.

Mother. Fucker. When you got out of the elevator you had thought you were in the clear. Tony shoved a whiskey neat in your hand (spiked with his special ingredient to get the enhanced among you just as lit as the rest) the coast looked clear. Then across the room in a corner, you saw Barnes brooding, drink in hand, slouched in an oversized chair.

“What did I say earlier,” Clint says with a wink, jabbing an elbow at you.

You roll your eyes, “I always start off playing nice, thank you. It’s not my fault he’s determined to piss me off at every turn.”

“I’m on your side,” Sam pipes up from your other side and you can’t help but laugh at the exaggerated look of disdain on his face. Barnes looks at you then, eyes burning. All humor drains out of you and you turn away to head to the other side of the room.

The evening goes surprisingly well. Tony’s ‘special sauce,’ as he keeps calling it, is just enough to get you perfectly tipsy... if not bordering on drunk. Honestly, you couldn’t remember the last time you had felt this loose. Not to mention his playlist for the night was on point, unsurprising since you were technically Tony’s age (even if you looked half that) so you generally had the same taste in pop culture.

This was the first time since you had been with them that everyone was together and for the most part everyone was having an exceptional time. Everyone that was except for your resident cloud of darkness.

Unable to let sleeping dogs lie Tony finally plops down on Barnes’ lap, “You know, I made this hooch for you special, because out of all you,” Tony gestures to you, Steve, and Thor, “I think you’re the one who needs to let loose the most. So,” Tony picks up the tumbler that had been sitting on the table next to Barnes the whole night, “drink your juice, Shelby.” Between the Steel Magnolias reference and the look on Barnes’ face you nearly send your drink shooting through your nose with a laugh.

Barnes looks at you then back at Tony, not a flicker of humor in his tone, “I don’t think you care to know what me letting lose looks like Stark.” With that, he dumps Tony off his lap. The mood of the room immediately shifts, everyone afraid of just what The Winter Soldier letting lose would indeed look like.

“Wow,” you drawl, “really know how to kill a buzz don’t ya Barnes?” The look he shoots you is ice cold, Steve looks stressed, and all you can think is, Please, please give me a good reason.

He saunters over to you in, what Natasha has playfully labeled his ‘murder strut,’ and looms over you, “And you’re just the life of the party, huh?”

You sneer, “Nah, but at least I can pretend to be a normal human for a few hours.” His upper lip ticks just a bit, and you swear you can hear the metal plates in his arm shift. When he moves you’re already bracing yourself internally for a hit, instead he just plucks the drink from your hand and downs it in one shot.

“Alright, Tony, it’s not bad. Guess I’ll have another.”

“That’s more fucking like it!” Tony bellows getting up to make another drink for Barnes immediately lifting the room back almost to where it was before. As for you, you plaster a smile on your face but all you want to do is level that fucker.

Banner goes down for the night and Clint follows not far behind despite taunting from all of you. About being lightweights. Things had started to wind down but Natasha, still wide awake, isn’t quite ready to let everything go quiet just yet.

“Alright, now that the old men have left us I say we play a game,” the look on her face is filled with mischief.

“What kind of game?” Steve catches her tone and looks more than a little suspect.

She smirks, “Only the best kind of game when you’re in the company of soldiers, assassins, gods, and spies...” everyone stares, “Truth or dare.”

“I’m down,” you’re drunk enough to want in on this mess.

“What exactly is that?” Thor looks confused as if it can’t mean what it sounds like.

The rules are laid out. No truths that can get anyone killed because... well between Nat, you, and Barnes there had to be more than a few secrets that should 100% be kept. And, only minimal bloodshed would be permitted in the event of a dare. All rules everyone could easily abide.

Only ten minutes in and you realize the long con Nat’s been playing at... and that you should have definitely not agreed to this.

“Dare,” you say.

Natasha’s mouth curls into a smirk, “Good. Kiss Bucky.”

“What?!” You both spit at the same time throwing daggers at the other. Everyone is cackling.

“You can’t refuse, it causes no harm, and it’s the least the two of you owe the rest of us for making us deal with you,” shrugs of agreement from everyone. Barnes’ head drops to his hands.

“I’ll take a truth then.”

“Not how it works,” Thor chides laughing. “You have-“

“Want to make me?” The temperature around you dropping just a little as tiny streaks of energy snake up your arms. Any residual cheer drops away.

“Now who’s a buzzkill?” Barnes asks sardonically. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. He was right. And maybe you could zap him a little just to prove a point.

Without another word, you stride across the circle and pull him up by his collar, the fabric making a ripping sound. He doesn’t resist you and you kiss him hard, bordering on violent, forcing your tongue in his mouth just to be sure no one can say it wasn’t a thorough kiss. And... maybe you were curious as to what he would taste like. For good measure though you let just a touch of the energy zap his lips. He pulls back in shock at the feeling.

“Happy?!” You ask turning to the group. They’re all staring like they really didn’t expect it. “Good.” You sit down heavily next to Natasha without another word and diligently chose truth for the next hour.

Eventually, you all grow bored of the game and fall into just talking, though you mostly listen. You were so committed to ignoring his existence you don’t actually notice that Barnes had slipped away until everyone decides to disperse.

The rest of them seemed perfectly content to go to bed. You were envious. Being drunk went from being fun to making you feel anxious around the time of the kiss. The power had been too quick to come to you, too volatile, you knew that. Not being in control was something you hated and... if you were being honest wasn’t good for anyone around you.

Need to sweat this out, you think and head down to the training grounds buried beneath the tower.

You had intended to go to the shooting range. Tony had set up a special stall for you that had heating panels all around it so you could play with your energy manipulation more, refine it, make it your own. But as you walk up to the glass you see someone else emptying a clip at a bevy of moving targets, hitting each perfectly.

Lightening fast he changes the clip and you can’t help but watch as again not a single target is missed. You’re good but you can’t touch that level of precision. Not yet. But Barnes was good at what he did, no one, not even you, would question that.

It doesn’t take long for your admiration to sour though. He had this uncanny way of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Suddenly the steady sound of bullets stops and he hurls the gun at the targets, roaring. His hands rest on the small counter before him for a second, back heaving. Turning halfway, not noticing you, he leans against the wall of the stall and slides to the floor his head thudding against it, forearms resting on his knees, cheeks shining with moisture from sweat or tears you couldn’t tell.

Goddamnit, your dislike for him ran along the lines of hatred... you had thought about how to kill him so many times in so many ways it was almost comical. Right now though... You didn’t have it in you to comfort this man when you could hardly tell him good morning most days but you could at least give him privacy.

You turn to leave and you feel his eyes on you, “Enjoy the show?” Most wouldn’t have been able to hear his words through the thick glass but you weren’t most.

He’d seen you, no use in pretending. “Not particularly.” You open the door and stride in, heading toward your booth, “And as usual you’re right where I don’t want you to be.”  

You’re almost in your booth when he starts laughing, and you’re pretty certain you have never, in the years you’ve known him, heard him laugh. You lean around, “Something funny?”

He keeps laughing, “Yeah, you.”

“Oh?” You walk back to him and stand looking down, arms crossed. He’s cackling. “Do tell.”

“You really don’t know why we always end up here at the same time? Why we’re always at each other?” More laughter, “You really think you hate me.” Finally, he takes a breath, wiping the tears from his eyes, “Your obliviousness is hilarious.”

“You’re such a fucking prick,” you say and turn away.

“Yeah. I am. And you’re a cunt.” You spin so fast any normal person would hardly have seen your movement, streaks of light snaking around your skin, ready to destroy him. “I’d say we’re cut from the same cloth.”

“No,” you growl.

“Really?” He stands up and shoves his hands in his pockets. “So you’re not in here because you need to work off the feeling of not being in control?” He takes a step toward you and you move back in turn. “You’re not in here because you’re scared if you don’t get that energy out you’ll hurt someone?” A few more steps. “You don’t wind up in here more nights than you’re in your bed because you can’t sleep?” You're almost against the door. “Just. Like. Me.” Your back bumps against the glass.

He’s inches from you, so close you can smell the whiskey on his breath, “If you touch me I’ll fucking kill you.”

“I know you will.” He stares at you for a moment, “That’s why I’m glad you’re on the team.”

[comicteaparty]

January 11th-January 17th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from January 11th, 2020 to January 17th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What’s an unplanned idea you had through your story part way through that forced you to change things?  How did everything go?

eli [a winged tale]

After my beta feedback there were some characters that needed further fleshing out with stakes and relationships. Therefore I had to change some backstories to make certain interactions impactful. Thankfully im at the start so nothing i had to go back and fix. I did think of some alternative openings should the comic goes to print but that can be future me’s worries

snuffysam

simultaneously very little and a huge amount, lol. in terms of big story beats, they've pretty much all stayed the same since i first started planning the comic. the twists have been set up and paid off and the like. but there's a bunch of things i've improv'd at the last minute. one notable example that was pretty well-received - in book 2 chapter 4, taci has a fear of puns (basically only shown in facial expressions and a single comment from mizuki towards the end of the fight). this was added because... otherwise the fight at the end of that chapter is just a bunch of walking around in near-identical dark tunnels. the way the fight ends is fun, but the fight itself isn't really anything. with taci having a reason to be afraid of coruby, the fight has more stakes & entertainment value, and it makes coruby feel much more interesting as a character. another huge example is the love triangle in book 1 - in that in the script, it was non-existent. mizuki being into girls was originally only gonna be introduced in book 2 (guess where), and the relationship between cahe and pejiba was going to advance with no real competition (besides bullets). it was gonna be mentioned in like book 3 that she had a thing for pejiba, but nothing in book 1 itself. (similarly to the pun thing, you may notice that mizuki being into pejiba isn't referenced at all in the dialogue besides pejiba saying "i know what mizuki thinks of me" which is kinda vague. i... don't like changing scripts last-minute lol.)

Mei

Not gonna lie, everything I do is entirely unplanned. I focus a lot on improvised comedy and what feels right 'at the moment', and considering I write scripts way in advance, sometimes it leads to jokes falling flat when I read them again a few months later. Which is all fine, honestly, it's part of the process. The main unplanned idea for My Husband is a Cultist was turning it from a 12 page one-shot into a fully fledged webcomic, now with 3 chapters and more to come. It was very 'on a whim', and from that very first chapter I came up with more silly ideas. And the more I talked to friends, the more ideas I had for chapters. So the biggest change personally was going from a pure slice-of-life comedy and spending time actually building the world around it so that there was structure to the chaos. I'm still working on it all. I now have an underlying plot that I'm hoping to explore, and I have the arcs planned out way in advance. So it's wild that I went from 'random ideas spewed on a document' to 'I now have a plot and several arcs to cover'. That being said, I still come up with a lot of things on the fly, so I'm changing things constantly as I go and hoping that there aren't too many inconsistencies!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

One of the most important story elements of Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/) came up early in the second chapter, when I was asking myself some more questions about the world - and came upon a crucial opportunity. Luckily I didn’t have to change too much to make it work, and while it didn’t really change the plot, it upped the emotional stakes 100-fold. Which is just what I wanted. In this world, I have a big naval force, of which my heroine is (was?) the future leader - but with relative peace and cooperation between the different island nations, who the heck does the navy fight? Pirates? Eh, maybe. But vanilla pirates have been done to death, and while they can be awesome, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to tie them into the world’s supernatural element - while strongly avoiding the Pirates of the Caribbean cursed-buccaneer aesthetic. I decided to tie them to a particular blight that affects some of the characters - so as to up their stakes and better convey why they’re societal outcasts. And finally, I wanted to give them a freaking awesome name, something both nautical and supernatural. Thus, for those reading - the Fata Morgana. What didn’t even exist at the beginning of the second chapter is now an absolutely crucial story element, and I’m so happy they came into the picture. They’ve changed everything for the better. This is one reason why I resigned myself to revealing the world in bits and pieces - I’m revealing it to myself as I go along, too. It helps to be slow sometimes

eli [a winged tale]

The Fata Morgana introduction in the story was A W E S O M E! I’m so glad you have them in the story and looking forward to that amped up stakes!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I think the biggest example would be the last-minute inclusion of Jonathan as a main character in my comic Dark Wings: Eryl (https://www.flowerlarkstudios.com/dark-wings-2/). I had originally planned for him to be a temporary character that we said goodbye to at the end of Chapter 5. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised the main travelling party needed another character to balance things out. I was really struggling with planning future scenes because the pool of characters felt too small. I also realised that I had developed Jonathan’s character quite a lot for him to be dropped so early. So halfway through drawing chapter 5, I rewrote the second half and he’s now a major part of the cast.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

A second example is Anor in my other comic, Children of Shadow: Ashes (https://www.flowerlarkstudios.com/cos/). He was originally written as a far less sympathetic character. In fact, he was going to be a borderline antagonist who only became sympathetic close to the end. But my characters often do things I don’t expect, and as I was planning the story, he and one of the other main characters, Rava, started falling for each other. I honestly loved this, and so I reworked the entire story to make Anor part of the main cast and much more sympathetic. He’s still a tsundere, and at the point where the story is now, still in constant friction with Rava, but I feel he’s now a much stronger character and is contributing a great deal more to the story than when he was a vaguely ominous frenemy in the original draft.

varethane

ooooo I am intrigued by this factoid about Anor

re: unplanned story elements, in Chirault..... [spoilers obviously] Ridriel and Trillia being sisters was something that hit me out of the blue about halfway through the story, and I immediately reworked a lot of things to make it happen http://chirault.sevensmith.net/(edited)

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

In ghost Junk... We actually avoided a major character death and had revised it literally a chapter before it happened!! We had everything written out right the the very end, but were seeing the readers reactions and reflected on the importance/and if it was absolutely necessary! So with that said, we saved the character, and kept the necessary impact and growth that it was to bring, and honestly- I'm so happy we did it

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@varethane Yeah, Anor’s character has evolved a LOT since the first draft.

Phu

With Blackblood, we actually created the 2nd and 3rd chapters and then thought we wanted a chapter ahead of those as sort of a prologue to give some world building and lore elements haha. Worked out well i think! https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/blackblood/list?title_no=300252(edited)

Erin Ptah (BICP 🎄 Leif & Thorn)

This is kind of the opposite, since I did the "include a new thing in the story" part first, and that's what forced me to come up with a previously-unplanned idea to explain it... In Leif & Thorn, I had a character drop a reference to "that country doesn't allow interspecies marriages" before there's any canon reference to nonhuman species that human characters might want to marry. ...and even I didn't know what that species was going to be. Had some vague idea about revealing that mermaids existed, but in my head I never managed to integrate them with the rest of the plot or the worldbuilding real well. A few months later, I finally remember that I like drawing Tiny People (not like hobbit-size, think Borrowers-size), and realize this is the perfect setting to have a Tiny People Species! Now I get to come up with plot-based excuses to draw them wherever/however I want. Plus it opens up a whole new mine of jokes: https://leifandthorn.com/comic/somethings-cooking-26-29/

Can't for the life of me remember where I got this quote from, but there's an author who, when readers would ask for details about future developments in her books, would only give answers with the disclaimer "I reserve the right to have a better idea." Words to live by.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Damn, I love that quote.

DanitheCarutor

Admittedly there isn't a whole lot I've changed, maybe a couple small things here and there, but major stuff has been the same since I started. During the very beginning of the planning phase Daniel wasn't even going to be in the story and Julian was going to be homeless, but I wasn't quite satisfied with it. The story would have been too short, contrived and the resolution didn't feel satisfying. After some brainstorming and reflection on my feelings on certain experiences I've had, I added Daniel and 'The Guide to a Healthy Relationship' as it is kinda fell into place. It's weird thinking about how important Daniel is in spite of how new a character he is. Usually it takes me a little time to build one up before throwing them into a story, they gotta age like a fine wine first, but he popped out all ready to use like one week hooch.

Not sure if it counts, but I've also made changes to future parts of my comic. Like recently, even though I know what the ending is, I put a more final image in my head on what the final frame will look like. Also I changed an event that will happen at some point revolving around Apollo and his friends. Originally something skeevy was going to happen with Brandon and Apollo involving video uploads, and a homemade contract that was signed with Apollo was drunk. I thought it was too... I dunno, stupid? impractical? So I changed it to Julian was going to (unwillingly) attend a party at Brandon's (Apollo's friend) apartment, then some big, jealousy induced fight happens where Julian gets kicked out and Apollo feels bad. I didn't like that either, felt too reaching, so I'm going with another event that is a little out there but does happen in real life and something I have done some good research on.

Gonna be as vague as possible because it's spoilers.

keii4ii

Surprising myself is pretty much every step of my writing process. For good or bad.

I do plan things in advance, but find that sometimes things aren't what they seemed from 15 chapters ago.

I think what it is is this particular comic is such a visual story. I could plan out my previous comic with far greater accuracy. That comic was more dialog-driven; you could convert it into an audio drama with minimal changes, and it would still make sense. Whereas my current comic, you can't turn it into an audio drama without very VERY extensive changes (not even sure if possible... Many silent scenes). So I need to actually draw the pages to feel it out. And I can't draw out of order. Brain just won't that way.(edited)

carcarchu

totally agree with you @keii4ii sometimes u have to actually draw it out to get a feel for it. when i write out all the dialogue for my chapters i feel like it always ends up coming out so stiff, thats why i prefer to let it flow naturally and if something happens that i didnt account for just roll with it and adjust the story accordingly

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I'm kind of weird about always needing to know exactly how many pages a chapter is going to have, so I script right down to the panel. It can create flow problems on occasion, so I wish sometimes I could plan my pages more visually, but my brain just doesn't work that way. >< It's a good thing my stories mostly rely on dialogue because they're pretty much novels in comic form.(edited)

Cronaj

When planning a scene at the end of Chapter 3 of Whispers of the Past (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366), I was having a hard time writing the dialogue. I had the images of my lead characters, Agatha and Izrekiel, talking by the docks in the moonlight, and I knew generally what they talked about, but I couldn't script it. And then, one day while walking to work, my characters straight up had the conversation in my head! And as the dialogue unraveled, the characters (mostly Izrekiel) did something completely unplanned (which I won't reveal because spoilers). This unplanned change has completely upped the drama and sexual tension for the entirety of the future story. The second event of this is in Chapter 2, where Izrekiel is helping out on Kelan's farm. Initially, there was going to be some dialogue that mostly served as world-building, but when actually writing the scene, it occurred to me that they would likely not talk too much, too absorbed by the work of harvest. And then, I suddenly visualized/heard Kelan and the other farmhands SINGING. I don't know why it popped in my head that way, but they began singing a working song. Now, I am not a musician, but I used to sing in choir and do musicals and such, and like half my family members are musicians, so I have a bit of a musical background. Anyway, all this to say that the characters started singing, and in response, Izrekiel (who has amnesia) has a flashback to some repressed memory of men marching and singing the same song, with altered lyrics. This can get extra spoilery, so I won't delve too deep into what his memory means, but.... The lyrics go as such: Oh earth, oh rain, Oh sun in the sky, You grant me with your fruit In this land. And they are directly mirrored in the flashback with: Oh strength, oh grace, I'll raise my sword, With victory in mind In this land.(edited)

Deo101

For me, I totally changed the ending! I was going to make it a tragedy, and then at some point I realized I didnt NEED to... that a story can be happy and good. So, I rewrote a ton of stuff, and actually ended up adding in some new characters! I'd say It's gone very well ^^ I'm much happier with everything now (for one, I can think about the ending without crying!!) I've changed a lot of other little things as i've gone along too. too many things to count, really.

Tuyetnhi

Initially I was writing the story timeline to 5 days but it spanned to something about a year. Which means I had a chance to develop it further than trying to rush plot points. Used to be like 3 chapters originally but now its like ....I guess 20 chapters? I don't remember the full count but lmao I'm ready to endure.(edited)

varethane

most of the biggest changes to Chirault were decided on during the first 3 years of me making it..... I completely threw out the first plan I had made, lol. There was no specific trigger for this, except maybe for 'I don't like this, actually'

keii4ii

Oh! I remembered something specific. My tiger character used to have a 'generic lean-ripped' build. Kinda like the rabbit from Juuni Taisen. Then I posted a random beach day picture, and someone (who wasn't used to seeing characters with visible leg muscles... A lot of comics they read have characters who suffer from Skipped All The Leg Days syndrome) pointed out how insanely muscular his legs were. I ran with it. Today his legs are 2x bigger than they were in that beach day pic, and it's all muscle. Also while this character stays very lean throughout the story, I as the author guarantee you that if he were to put on fat, his thighs will be the first to expand, and the most. 8)

Tuyetnhi

omg

Cronaj

@keii4ii I'm so glad for this change. Lu's legs are majestic

Capitania do Azar

Interesting replies here

In o Sarilho https://www.sarilho.net/en/, I have avoided one major character death in the first part of the story because I grow super fond of them and also because it wasn't really going to build up to anything... Which felt really unfair. So now I had to come up with narrative lines for them and I'm quite enjoying that. Furthermore, I was halfway through chapter 3 when I figured out Eurico's looks but especially his role in the story. It involved drawing a lot of trucks (and there will be more trucks in the future) but I'm really excited for him as a character

Desnik

As I was writing my comic I was trying really hard to keep the POV limited to one character, but that character doesn't have enough perspective to set up the plot very well at the beginning. This meant hopping POVs to some other characters and now I'm gently trying to squash a lot of these subplots before they go completely out of control...

[petri808]

Fandom: ノラガミ | Noragami (Anime & Manga) Rating: Mature Relationships: Iki Hiyori/Yato

@noragamisecretsanta2018  Merry Christmas! @justebisuthings   Yatori angst with a fluffier ending.  I have no idea what city Noragami takes place in lol, so I just set this is Tokyo and nearby Kanagawa.  I guess you could set the timing of the story after the latest chapter.  I had fun writing this one so I hope you like it too :)

Echoed in the Night

It was Christmas Eve in Japan, but unlike in the west it was a day for couples…. Sharing a meal at KFC, maybe a Christmas Cake or some Wagashi…  Strolling along the park hand in hand amidst the lighted displays of the Sagamiko Illumillion….  But, for a lonely young girl saddened by the disappearance of her first true love, it was like her heart was being ripped to shreds by all the festivities surrounding her.

Bless his heart that Yukine had tried to cheer her up by taking her to see the show and ride the rides. He too missed the days when the trio would venture forth like a family, all smiles and laughter through the streets of Tokyo and its surrounding cities.  If it wasn’t for Heaven’s stupid wars or this ‘Father’ guys desire for its destruction, the young Regalia believed those moments wouldn’t be like a fleeting memory and ‘he’d be damned if he was gonna let it die just because Yato was too stupid to realize how much pain he was causing them by keeping them in the dark about it all,’ end quote.  

And so here is where she found herself, feeling like a third wheel behind Yukine and Nora who’d decided to come along.  They were kind of cute, Hiyori realized as the two children sat in the forward sky lift tittering and giggling to one another…. Oh, how sweet, now Nora had her head on the Yukine’s shoulder, and a blush no doubt flushed along his cheeks. Just wonderful, Hiyori glances away and focuses on all the lights gliding by below them.  As much as she wanted to support their increasing rapport, all Hiyori wanted to do was cry, scream, and run as far away as she possibly could.

Once the ride was over, Yukine points out the swings and Hiyori just smile’s hiding her true feelings from the boy.  “You guys go on ahead and have fun, I’m kind of tired of going on rides.”

“Are you sure Hiyori?” The concerned young man was hesitant to leave her side.

“Yeah, go have fun, show Nora what it’s like to be a kid,” the crinkling around her eyes seems to reassure him.  “I’d like to just relax here for a spell and look at the lights.”

“Okay,” he grabs Nora’s hand and heads off towards the swings.

Hiyori’s body deflates against the bench and she pulls the coat tighter around her frame.  The evening air was definitely cold, but it was the chill through her soul that left her freezing.  She closes her eyes, unwilling to allow any tears to be shed lest it reflect the icicles growing in her heart.  Yato….  Things were so much easier when she’d been blind to her budding love of the stray god.  Why did Kazuma have to dash her hopes like that!  At least Tenjin alluded to the possibilities of a god loving, like he did for Tsuyu.  Let Yato himself tell her he didn’t care for her!  Yato….  Where the hell are you!

~~    

Since late that afternoon he’d felt a powerful sting in his chest, like a thousand daggers running their blades through his flesh.  At first, he thought maybe Yukine was upset and blighting him again, but a quick check around his body revealed no tell-tale marks.  It wouldn’t have surprised him if Yukine had been behind the stings for he knew his young Regalia was very upset by his actions of late. Though the longer he thought about it, and the deeper the pains began to center in one location, maybe this was something completely different.

What day is it, Yato wondered as he travelled along the tops of the buildings, noticing a flurry of activities and lights near Midtown. Holiday’s didn’t mean much to him aside from all the delicious seasonal treats that abounded during this time, so of course he hadn’t realized today was December 24th.  Hundreds of couples of all ages were gathered on the streets, some with families, many without.  Aww, look at them, he first thought, I wonder if anyone has any wishes…. And that’s when it finally hits him…. The couples…  The families….  Yukine…. Hiyori….  

Another sting, worse than any before it stabs him with such ferocity, he almost falls off the powerline he’d been running along.  Yato drops to the ground, clutching his shirt above his heart.  Oh, Heaven’s, was this because of Hiyori!  Was she the cause of all the pain he was experiencing?  It was hard for a man who didn’t quite understand human emotions such as love.  He knew what it was, he wasn’t blind to it, in fact he was pretty sure that’s exactly what he’d been developing for the young human girl, but since he’d never been in love before, the idea that it could actually cause pain was enigmatic. Hiyori wasn’t a spirit he was attached to, so she couldn’t blight him.  Then how is she reaching out to me like this?              

“Are you okay?” Kazuma drops down beside his master.  “You don’t look so well, should we return to the shrine?”

“I think….” Yato turns to his friend, “I think I need to find Hiyori…”

“Hiyori, Yato I don’t think…”

“I’m sorry Kazuma, you head back to the shrine, but I need to find her!”  Another deep sting pierces through him and Yato buckles at the knees, cringing through the pain.

“You are not in any condition to travel, let’s just go back to…”

Yato grabs Kazuma’s ankle, “If you’re really my friend,” his voice strained from the searing pain in his heart, “you’ll help me find Hiyori now!”    

“Just call her or Yukine,” Kazuma helps Yato to his feet, helping to steady him, “or can you feel where Yukine might be?”

The stray god closes his eyes, “He’s not too far… if we take the train to Sagamiko station.  He won’t always answer my calls right now, but he texts me if he leaves the area…”  

~~

After an unknown amount of time, Hiyori finally glances up from the ground at her surroundings. Considering how brightly lit most of the area was, the young girl had barely given any of the attractions much attention.  It wasn’t worth it to take in a sight, only for a young couple around her age to walk by and dim the view.  At least if she looked at the ground, she wouldn’t notice the hands being held, the embraces being shared, or worse….

She shivers again, if only the memories of her first kiss wasn’t such a hurtful one.  Fujisaki had stolen what he had no right to take, but like an idiot, she had been too shocked and nervous to pull away.  Maybe if he’d been just another classmate it wouldn’t be as painful.  Ugh!  ‘Father’ knew the knowledge of stealing my first kiss would enrage his son and that just isn’t right!  I hate him!  Hiyori’s fists clench at her sides, she needed to do something to take her mind of…. everything.

Once a quick text was sent to Yukine so he didn’t worry, Hiyori heads down the path towards the illuminated forest hoping that all the bright colors would shine a bit of light into her otherwise dreary mood.  The dazzling LED’s covered trees in a rainbow of hues, even the ground was swathed in light so mesmerizing she had to shield her eyes or be blinded.  Reds, Orange, Yellows, Purples, Greens, and Pinks…  But strangely no blues.  

Through twists and turns, up slight inclines or valleyed displays, Hiyori continued along the forest path, following the signs towards the exit.  Rounding another bend, she reaches the famous tunnel of light, but the spectacle was not what made her pause.  Blue.  Light Blue.  Just like Yato’s eyes.  Heaven help her now she knew why the color had been devoid along the way!  There was no way to avoid passing through it unless she wanted to walk all the way back to the entrance.

Hiyori merely sighs and trudges forward, keeping her eyes low to the ground.  Pulling up the edges of her collar, Hiyori hides her peripheral view.  She should have guessed that the color would reveal itself sooner or later.  And why not to throw a wrench in her mood that had actually been a little better for the last 20 minutes or so…  the rest of her life was throwing her curve balls one after the other.

As the tunnel curves slightly, something catches her attention, a scent she’d not expected nor picked up in weeks and it was growing stronger with every step she took forward. Hiyori shakes her head, it must be her imagination.  Maybe there was a flower or plant nearby, or someone who just so happened to smell similar to him.  He’d had no reason to be in the park, didn’t know she’d be there… Right?  But as the exit appears, a shadowed outline of a man leaning against a pillar comes into view.  Her breathing stills, feet still moving forward despite reservations telling her to run in the opposite direction.  Fear that her mind was playing tricks on her run rampant.  No, it could be, it shouldn’t be….  Her hands raise up to cover the gasp she didn’t know she was making.  It was.

“Hi Hiyori,” Yato smiles weakly.  

It was obvious from the look on the young girls face that his appearance was triggering a multitude of emotions.  From surprise to anger, her blood begins to boil red hot!  This bastard disappears for weeks with no contact and suddenly appears with just a Hi Hiyori?  

“Is that all you have to say to me!” she screams uncaring of any onlookers.  “You leave me all alone then show up unexpectedly with just hi Hiyori!?   What about I’m sorry Hiyori, or better yet please forgive me Hiyori!”

He’d expected a bit of anger, but this girl was furious!  Yato flinches back a step, though he knew the pain in her heart wasn’t from anger.  Her fury was hiding the real emotion that had brought him there tonight.

“Please Hiyori,” he reaches out tentatively, “I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”  She draws back causing a new ripple of stings to attack his body. Yato’s drops to his knees, keeling over in pain.  He was right, it was from Hiyori’s shattering heart.

But seeing the man she still cared so much about fall to the ground in anguish flips a switch in her brain. She was angry yes, sad and hurt most definitely, but she had no idea that those feelings were somehow being conveyed to him.  Was it because their fates had been entwined?  Tears flood her vision as Hiyori drops before him and throws her arms around his body.  “Oh Kamisama, am I doing that to you?  Yato I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you…”

“S-Stop apologizing Hiyori. It’s not your fault.  I don’t even understand why this is happening but it’s just… it’s not your fault.”  He cradles her face in his hands as the waves of painful stings slowly subside. “Everything that’s happening to you is all my fault.  If only I’d cut your ties immediately, none of this…”

“Don’t say it!” she shakes her head.  “Don’t you dare say it Yato!  If you had granted that first wish I never would have fallen in love with you, I never would have met Yukine, or Kofuku, or been a part of this amazing realm.  I don’t want to lose you!  Don’t you get it!”

“But you wouldn’t be sad right now, you’d be living a normal teenage life with your friends.”

“I don’t want a normal life!”  Hiyori slumps in his arms, sobbing heavily.  “I understand why you left us Yato…” her voice trailing and softened, “I know you are just trying to protect us and that you think it would be okay if you were reborn, but that’s not what we want…” She looks up and fixes his eyes upon hers, “we want you as you are now!”

“But Hiyori…”

“Could you just shut up for a moment Yato and let me process all of this.”

Yato opens his mouth to retort but quickly slams it shut.  She was right, he’d caused her enough grief, so the least he could do was let her vent and figure out how to deal with it all.  But as he glanced around and realized the spectacle they were making, he bundles her into his arms to find somewhere a little more private. Hiyori makes no move to resist, simply resting a hand on his shoulder and turning her face into his shawl.  

Once out of view of any onlookers, he makes a few leaps until he spots a secluded area along the waterfront just outside of the resort.  Hiyori takes out her phone, remembering that Yukine must be wondering where she might be.  “Don’t worry,” Yato puts her down and gently places a hand over it, “Kazuma went to find them.”  

A soft, “Oh,” is all she responds with and turns away to stare out over the water.  The far shores were ominous, but the lake itself was glistening from all the lights of the park.  It’s gently lapping waves shimmering, creating beautiful reflections like the stars above them.  Hiyori was still so confused about it all, her feelings, humans, spirits, gods, and all the rules that seemingly bound each world.  She was but one young girl just trying to navigate it all and she knew what her heart desperately wanted, but was that enough to somehow override everything that was working to keep them apart?  

He just stood back and let her settle into her skin.  This whole situation was something Yato had never in a thousand years has ever had to deal with, so he too was trying to process it all.  In fact, it was basically unheard of for a God to fall in love with a human, at least not romantically.  Sure, Gods cared for humans, Bishamon truly loved her Regalia’s, but they didn’t fall in love with them like he had for Hiyori.  There wasn’t any God he could even consult with over this predicament which left him to handle it all on his own.  Obviously, he wasn’t doing such a great job.

As he watched her eyes shutter through a light sigh, and the coat is pulled tighter against the chilly air, Yato moves in closer to wrap his arms around her waist.  She startles at first but the added warmth along with his scent calms her enough to settle against him.  This was the first time he’d held her like this and although awkward, it felt nice.  He closes his eyes too.  If only they were simply two humans bumbling their way through life and not star-crossed beings from separate worlds.  For a fleeting second, he almost wished he could just be human.  

Yato releases a vested sigh into her hair.  “I don’t know what to do Hiyori,” he finally relents and lets all the fears locked away in his mind pour out.  “I need to stop my father, I need to fight against Heaven’s stupidity, but all I really want to do is make you happy…  And I don’t know how to do it all without someone getting hurt.”  Another sigh escapes, “I’m so tired of people I care about getting hurt…”

Hiyori sucks in a breath and hesitates before placing her hands over his arms.  With an exhale, she squeezes, “I don’t know what to do either.” She tilts her head back slightly, resting it against his chest, “I wish I could say just let it all go, let Heaven deal with your father and we go back to the way things were before it all started…. But I know that’s not possible anymore. I wish I could say that pain is just a part of life and we just have to learn to deal with it…. But that wouldn’t be fair either when there is something that can be done.”  Hiyori let’s out a drawn-out exhale, “it’s selfish of me to force you to endure this just because I don’t want to let go…. But I can’t bring myself to severe our bond….  I don’t want to lose you…”

“I don’t want to lose you either Hiyori.”

Her eyes squeeze tight as a flood of emotions threaten to spill out.  She takes a shaky breath, “Yato…. What am I to you?  I-I mean, how do you feel towards me?  I need to just know the truth because everyone is telling me that Gods are incapable of…”

“Love,” he finishes her sentence, “I love you Hiyori.”  Yato buries his face into her hair.  “If there’s only one thing that I am sure of it’s that.  I don’t know what will happen….  Everything is so chaotic right now, but I don’t want to lose you either.”

“Then why is everyone saying God’s can’t love?”

“I don’t really care what everyone is saying,” he turns her around, “all I can know is what I’m feeling.” Yato tips her face up as a few drops of tears leak down her cheeks.  “Hiyori open your eyes,” she shakes her head.  He kisses the tears on either side of her face, “why won’t you open your eyes?”

“In case this is all just a dream, I don’t wanna wake up from it.”  Yato chuckles and pinches her cheek, “Hey!” her eyes fly open, “what was that for!”

“It’s not a dream.” Pulling her face up to meet his own, Yato presses his lips against hers in a soft kiss.  Hiyori freezes momentarily, the sudden warmth and knowledge that he was kissing her almost too much on her psyche.  But as his hands weave around her body, smoothing against the small of her back in comfort, her own encircles his neck, fingers lacing through his hair.  Small sighs and mewls of contentment, break the otherwise silence of the moment and remove any lingering doubts that what they were feeling were genuine.  

He wipes away any traces of moisture from around her eyes, placing chaste little kisses on her lips before pulling back to gaze upon the flushed young woman standing before him. Yato smiles sweetly, “you are so beautiful to me Hiyori.”

“Oh stop!” her cheeks growing ever more crimson and heated, “I’m sure you’ve met plenty of pretty girls over the years.”

“Yeah, but you’re the first one I fell in love with in a thousand years, that makes you pretty friggen special don’t ya think?”

“I…” Hiyori gives up, there was no way to respond to that!  

Yato just laughs, knowing he won that round.  He takes her hand, squeezing lightly, “come on let’s get you home.  I don’t need you catching a cold.”

“Where do we go from here?” she wonders aloud, “you’re just gonna disappear again aren’t you and leave Yukine and I in the dark again.”

He sighs, “I’m not doing it because I want to.  It’s to protect you both from father and from Heaven.  Kazuma is determined to fight no matter what I tell him, but you two…. It’s safer that you stay away.”

“Yukine is your blessed Regalia, surely…”

“Yukine means more to me than just some Regalia and that’s exactly why I don’t want him anywhere near my father if I can help it.  Father’s just too dangerous.”

“You’re talking about the God’s Secret thing?”

“Yea… how’d you know that?”

“I figured it out.”  Hiyori pulls Yato to a stop, “you need to realize we’re not stupid.  Why don’t you just try talking to us for once because not knowing anything only drives us to think the worst and end us up in predicaments like tonight.”

“But…” Yato exhales and hangs his head, “you’re probably right.”

Hiyori leans in, pulling his face down to rest his forehead to hers, “come on, let’s go get Yukine and go back to Kofuku’s.  We’ll sit down and figure this out as a family.”

Yato closes his eyes, Heaven’s was he really deserved of this girl?  “I’m so sorry I ruined your Christmas Eve.”

She smiles and pats his cheek, “You managed to make it up to me in the end.  Now let’s go home…”

KFC & Wagashi info https://favy-jp.com/topics/1421

Sagamiko Illumillion info https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1606/

[emthinks]

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Honestly speaking, I feel like I expected too much from this book. I don’t say this to be mean. Far from it: I think it was 100% my fault. I’d just finished Empire of Storms and was desperate to get more of Sarah (especially after having binged all of the currently published ToG in like three weeks) and I’d put all my hopes and dreams onACoTaR. And while this book delivered for the most part, it’s still Book One and I’m not used to a new heroine.

Rating: 9/10

Warning: Throne of Glass spoilers up to (and including) Queen of Shadows

My notes (as condensed from my iPad)

Feyre’s family is shit. They just let her go out to hunt by herself all day and provide for them and chop wood and do all the dirty work and don’t even care about her dirty clothes or worn shoes. You gotta leave girl. They ain’t worth your time

Ooh. Warnings about faeries from mercenary. Not good

Damn Feyre. You skinned this guy’s friend. No wonder he’s pissed

Okay. Live in faerie world. Prythian. You can do that. At least you’ll survive

The Spring Court. Nice. Empty, but nice. Ish.

Hey! Lucien reminds me of Mad Eyed Moody. One eye that swivels around and all.

Okay, Feyre, you need to get one thing into your thick skull: stop trying to plead your case to Tamlin. I hate how she’s so one-track minded and so focused on getting back to her shittyass family. Yes, you made a vow to your mom, but how hard are you going to try to keep it? They’re fine. Stop asking Lucien. Stop.

Oh, are you still not listening? The puca was going to fucking devour you because you wanted to see your father. Jfc. I can’t deal with this right now, Feyre.

And then she goes and catches a Suriel to demand answers. Yay, you’re strong, but seriously, Lucien? You’re just going to let her do this?

And this is why. The gods damned naga are here.

And Tamlin had to save you. Feyre, you’re so useless

Ooh, finally, a lighthearted bit: Tamlin writing limericks to Feyre’s words. Hysterical

And then, in the middle of the night, a faerie comes stumbling in. Torn of his wings. Damn

To counteract that, the next chapter, we go on a picnic with Tamlin and Lucien. And this scene spawns my favorite quote: “He also said you like being brushed, and if I’m a clever girl I might train you with treats.”

And we also go swimming in starlight. Which is always a nice plus

And then it’s Calanmai. Fire Night. Feyre, why don’t you listen for once? There’s a reason Lucien and Tamlin insisted you lock yourself up. Yes, Mr. McHotty saved you (which I totally think is going to come into play later) but seriously. Tamlin was a fucking savage animal

The next party is the Summer Solstice. Which Feyre is apparently allowed to attend

And this just snowballs into a Tamlin/Feyre romance, mushy gooey-eyed shit

Oh wait. No more fluff. Apparently, Mr. McHotty is named Rhysand. And he’s the High Lord of the Night Court. Oh shit

And Tamlin sends her away. What. Feyre, why are you agreeing to this? Feyre, stand up for yourself. Feyre!

Feyre goes back to the mortal world. Where her family is now living in a manor and Elain and her father are happy as happy can be. But Nesta. Nesta remembers. Nesta was the worst, yet Nesta remembers. Nesta is automatically my favorite now

Thankfully, Feyre doesn’t stay long. Clare Beddor. Her family was murdered. Feyre goes back.

And learns the truth: that the blight is not so much a blight as a faerie. The general Amarantha to the King of Hybern. She’s been ruling Prythian for over forty-nine years and has subjected all the High Lords. She wants Tamlin, though, and made a bargain. For all these years, Tamlin has sent his sentries and friends out to get slaughtered by a human girl so she can then fall in love with him. Wow. Sadistic.

So Feyre goes to find this Amarantha. Because it’s all her damn fault that she didn’t say I love you.

Under the Mountain is shit. She’s given three tasks and a riddle. The tasks nearly kill her each time. (Is it just me, or is this very Harry Potter-esque?)

Lucien can’t heal her after the giant worm debacle, so she makes a bargain with Rhysand for her beloved. Thank God, because she can’t read and would’ve been severely fucked for the second task if not for Rhysand’s bond.

The third task broke me. She has to kill three faeries. She gets through one and two – barely – by holding onto the thread of hope that this was for the greater good. And to free Tamlin. And then number three is Tamlin. Because the Tamlin beside Amarantha is the Attor in disguise. Fuck.

Fortunately, Feyre figures out the riddle: Love.

Unfortunately, Feyre is fucked anyways because while Tamlin and the Spring Court are released of their bonds, in the ensuing fight, Feyre – get this – dies

She is then resurrected as Fae by the Seven High Lords. Which. Okay good, because otherwise the story can’t continue

And then they all go home. Happy ever after?

I don’t think so.

“But I gave myself again to that fire, threw myself into it, into him, and let myself burn.” – Feyre

The Characters:

Feyre. Feyre, I must admire. Feyre, unlike most of Sarah’s characters, is not a warrior, but she can hold her own and she will go down swinging. I think Feyre’s strongest skill set is her determination and strength, how she doesn’t back down from a challenge. Unfortunately, this admiration of mine does not stop me from continuously comparing her with Aelin. Which is bad. Because even if they are both the main characters to Sarah’s books, their situations are vastly different. First off, Feyre is a mere peasant and mortal, while Aelin is half-Fae and the rightful Queen of Terrasen. Like, their situations are so far off, and yet, sometimes, I think I forgot that. I forget that Feyre, despite knowing how to hunt, was not trained in the deadly arts of assassination and politics. I forget that Feyre does not know how to charm and scheme her way out of things. And this temporary lapse of confusion, I must admit, is especially common when Feyre was struggling or near death. I was always expecting her to suddenly come up with a plan (especially with the first task and the worm, which actually only served to reinforce that expectation) that during her second task I was wondering how she was going to do this. That’s another thing: Feyre is (basically) illiterate. And Aelin is, obviously, not. And while I love Feyre’s paintings, I kept on waiting for her to learn to read. I nearly wanted to hit her upside the head when she refused Tamlin’s offer to teach her.

Speaking of Tamlin, what do we think of him? All the members of the Spring Court wore masks for the most of the book, so we couldn’t get a good gauge on his appearances. Still, he was pretty enough and he seemed seriously nice. Like, awkwardly nice. It was adorable how Tamlin is like “you look…better than before” and Feyre is wondering if that was a compliment. Lol.

If you could read all my notes/commentary throughout the book about Rhysand, it would literally just be (in chronological order): “ooooh hottie”, “oh wait what he’s a High Lord? Damn. Like Tamlin”, “oh hell no he ain’t like Tamilin at all what a bastard”, “wait he’s fucking Aedion, whore and all. Maybe he’s actually good?”; “wait he actually is! He’s just hiding it really well. Like Aedion”; “and he has a tragic backstory too”; “he’s doing all of this for his people”; “and he actually helped Feyre”; “Rhysand is our friend!”

Alis is another character who reminds me of someone in ToG: Celaena’s servant. Philippa, I think was her name. One of my favorite quotes is for her: “Dead chickens, my sagging ass. All you needed to do was offer it a nice robe.”

Lucien was an asshole. Until he wasn’t. I don’t remember the particular moment he became my favorite character, but it definitely happened at some point. Perhaps around the same time Feyre and Tamlin kept on making gooey eyes at each other and Lucien just couldn’t stand it anymore. Granted, neither could I so I totally feel you bro. He’s like muttering to the Cauldron to spare him and saying he’s trying to eat and just being a great annoying best friend who’s cockblocking you.

Is it just me or does Amarantha remind you a hell lot of the King of Adarlan? Now here is s parallel I can draw to ToG with no regrets. Okay, a lot, but at least she’s dead in book one instead of book four. It could’ve been a lot worse. But seriously. The whole attempting to take over the continent but in reality is just doing it because of some twisted reasoning that actually kinda makes sense is so last year. Also, picking a “champion” to complete tasks is just not cool anymore.

Lucien’s fam is shit. Especially his brothers. Omg. I hate them with a passion, even before I actually met them. Lucien’s life was shit. I’m so sorry bro. And then I met them. And my opinion didn’t waver in the least. His father didn’t even really bother to make an appearance. His mother though. His mother at least tried.

“Don’t feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.” – Tamlin

Questions:

So Feyre is now a Fae. A High Fae? Does that mean she has powers? Like fire like Aelin?

Because that would be super cool. Like, really badass. And while I love Feyre (and trust me: I do) I can’t really stand her being basically powerless, especially when she’s surrounded by such über-powerful people. Feyre, imo, doesn’t need others to save her ass. She shouldn’t need others. But she does because the power discrepancy is too great. So now that she isn’t a mortal, I hope to gods she can actually defend and fight for herself now.

So, um, are we ever gonna acknowledge the actual looming problem in the not-so-far distance?

The High King of the other gods damned continent wants to invade Prythian and kill all the mortals. I feel like we should get on that. Chop chop?

What was that shit that Rhysand realized just before he flew off?

Like, Sarah described it as his eyes had widened and he had looked so stunned and flew away as soon as Feyre tried to question him. Like, what? Wait. WAIT A SECOND. HOLD UP A GODDAMN SECOND. Are they…is it possible…could it really be…..they’re MATES???!!! Cuz we’ve learned from ToG that the first (few) love interests are not necessarily endgame. And. And. Oh poor Tamlin! Oh I hope this isn’t what happened but now I can’t get the idea out of my head. JFC. Tamlin better still be friends. Like Dorian and Chaol. Amicable exes and all.

“I felt as unburdened as a price of dandelion fluff, and he was that wind that stirred me about the world.” – Feyre

Hopes/Predictions for the future

Um, I don’t have much, really. We weren’t given much to work with

The King of Hybern is invading. I think? We should probably fix that.

I actually do want to see Feyre visit the Night Court to fulfill her bargain. Because we haven’t been outside the Spring Court and Tamlin is hella nice and peaceful. We need something to stop making us think all Fae (besides bitch queen Amarantha) are semi-decent

Rhysand being (more) nicer. Continuously. Rhysand being a friend! Feyre should start accumulating friends. Friends are good. Aelin has many. Then again, Aelin needs a court. Maybe Feyre will need one, too?

“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.” – Rhysand