#self shipping year in review ask game

[goldenteaset]

3 and 5 for the ask game!! and D for Belial if he wishes to answer <3

-mullin

Thanks mullin! :D

3. Did you make any new self-inserts this year, and have your existing S/I's changed at all during the year?

*Maniacal cackling* OH BOY. So this wound up being even more The Year of Self-Inserts/OCs than last year, which is saying a lot. Sometimes being enabled is a very very good thing! While it was very much Cammy's year, as it should've been, Luxuria swept Djeeta off her feet and after a long period of hesitation Saber's finally getting a girlfriend in Jane. (Unfortunately Jane is still in the metaphorical kiln, more coherent details TBD.) I believe I'd made Doll last year, but this year I worked out the philosophical kinks of her existence a bit more, i.e. "If she's basically all machine, what does that mean for her 'human' emotions?" Still not sure about any answer, but it's at least interesting to think about!

I want to work on Luxuria, Jane and Rose (Vash's girlfriend) next year too. ;v;

5. Did you meet anyone or make any new friends through self-shipping this year?

;v; I mean, if I could be that presumptuous...I think so, yes. /Cammy moment

But no, really, I keep being humbled by how beloved Cammy is. It really makes my day when I get likes on posts about her, asks about her, comments on the fics I write of her. 12 year old me wouldn't believe it was possible. Part of me feels like I shouldn't go on about it too much, but another, less paranoid part of me just wants to thank everyone in this bar. ;v;

And now for Belial. XD

D. What's something you would like to do with [Cammy] next year?

"Hmm. Good question. She's facedown on my chest right now, breathing nice and deep, so things are already looking up Daddy.

But that aside...I'd like to take her to see one of Vicky's concerts for New Year's, assuming they're not sold out. We could use a lucky handshake and some Rat Shrine cheese. After that, I'm determined to keep the corruption train going. She did call me a wagtail when we first met, and I haven't been nearly roguish enough for that title."

[redflowersociety]

HEADLOCK - [Mouthwashing]

Part 1 - Part 2

It is the year 40xx: almost twenty years since what took place on the pony express cargo ship. You currently work in a space station settled right outside the dwarf planet Haphestus. While reviewing recent data of nearby free-floating objects, an abnormally large mass is located: it’s a cargo ship.

A/N: Hi! I had the idea for a… fix-it au for Mouthwashing with the inclusion of self indulgent Jimmy who takes responsibility. Generally, this is hopefully going to explore all the crew members dynamics if they survived. Basically the entire plot of the game is changed around…. So only read if you’re up for that!!

The sound of a printer buzzing and squeaking pulled your attention off the letter in front of you, and subsequently, the soreness in your chest, if only for a moment. Blinking your burning vision back into focus, you grabbed the warm papers and shifted the letter to the side, replacing its spot in front of you with the fresh inked reports. You sorted through each paper by area code, your brain pulsating at sheer amount of numbers. You rubbed at your temple as you copied down the information into a more organized spreadsheet. Once you got that done, you placed the papers into their respective folders on the wall across the room. You stood up with the hand-written spreadsheet, and exited your office, making your way down the metal corridors.

For the past 5 years, you had been the secretary of the space station settled just outside of the dwarf planet Haphestus (named for being a colony full of factories.) Your job brought along many responsibilities: The safety of the planet you guarded, and of course, filing all the data from nearby space junk to send back down to the planet. Whenever people ask what the job is like, you make a point to explain to them just how engaging it is to do the latter, making no effort to hide your sarcasm.

After a shaky knock at the door, your captain gave the okay to enter her office. “ Mx. Harold!” She greeted you with her usual polite, empty cheeriness.

“Miss. Riley, hey. Here’s the space junk data,” you spoke with less enthusiasm than you meant to, which caused an immediate jolt of panic to shoot through your body. Your hands shook as you placed the sheets onto her desk, and you knew in your gut that she noticed.

“You alright, dear?” She leaned forward in her chair, sliding the papers to the side. Her gaze was so sharp, it was as if it was shooting a bullet hole right through your face.

“I-..I’m alright, sorry, I’m just tired, drank coffee.” You swallowed, taking small, hesitant steps towards the door.

“You can tell me if something is wrong, you know.” She started to stand. Smiling.

“I’m alright, thank you.” You nearly choked on those words, having been standing there without breathing in for a considerable number of seconds. You turned-

“Sit down with me.” She stopped hiding her commands underneath the guise of a kind request. You did as you were told. Miss Riley shifted through the spreadsheets as you sat across from her for what felt like hours. Eventually, her fingertip traced down to a particular column. “You really should be more careful.” She flipped the paper to you, pointing out your mistake. You took a closer look now, having simply been copying and sorting without much thought. The object reported from the scans was unusually big, obscenely sized, and was reported to have the mass of iron.

“…Miss Riley, I just copied what I saw on the scanner reports.” you stammered, wrapping your arms protectively around yourself.

As if upset with you for having brought the information to her, she groaned, leaning back in her chair and turning her gaze to the screen on her left. As if she had seen a ghost, her eyes went large and her mouth hung slightly agape.

“…Miss Riley?”

Exploring old, decrepit cargo ships was never part of your job description. But, considering there being no protocol put in place for such a circumstance, Miss Riley found no issue in making you do it anyways. the sound of metal scraping against itself, and whirring pistons behind you made you jump. The doors were closed. You were on this ship, and had no choice but to look around all alone. You used a test strip to test for breathable air, and once confirmed, took off your oxygen helmet. The damn thing was way too heavy to walk around with.

The bright flashlight in your hand did little to soothe you in the middle of this darkness. The sheer amount of dust getting kicked up with your every step assaulted your nose and made you sneeze more times than you could count. On top of that, it blurred all that was more than five feet in front of you. For a moment, you considered putting the helmet back on.

Stepping through metal corridors with exposed pipes and circuitry, an unusual foam coating the walls in patches; the scenery, the darkness, and the silence aside from your one footsteps, created an ambiance that brought shivers up your spine. you spent a while searching- coming across various rooms.

You had to pry your way in, as the lack of power in the ship meant not a single automatic door, but when you stumbled into the medbay, the first thing that hit you was the smell of iron and rot. blood stained bandages and browned sheets on the stretcher- pill bottles, some empty and some not so much. The labels all read as some outdated pain medication. What really caught your eye was the case left ajar on the crusted stretcher. You recognized the red rim and the outline of a pistol in the foam bottom. This was an empty gun box.

dread beginning to set in, you backed out of the room, sliding back through the half-open door and into the hall. You found yourself in a communal room. It was messy; blood splatters along the table and floor, and a giant broken screen by some dusty couches. “What the fuck happened here,” You wondered aloud.

In no rush, as the fear that gathered in your stomach threatened to paralyze you from the waist down, you headed back into the halls. Eventually, under the crack of a metal door, and through its shattered glass window, was a light blue glow that was jarring compared to the darkness of the rest of the scenery.

“Is this…” you had a feeling about the contents of this room based off that familiar glow. You pried your way inside, slipping yourself through the halfway opened slit you created. In front of you was the jarringly bright shine of 5 active cryopods. The ships power must have allocated to this single room…You were sure of it. You tapped swiftly on your wrist.

“Captain… there are people in here.”

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

if I remember right, a year or two ago you made a list of recommendations for the Edinburgh Fringe. Any recommendations for this year? Already got Steffan on the list, obviously

I did! Okay, okay, here's what I've got this year. Caveat: I personally have not been up there yet (I'm going in a few days), but these are things I saw in preview/have heard great things about.

Steffan Alun: Free Standup, but at What Cost

Venue 156: PBH's Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth - Banquet Hall, 21.30-22.30

Back again! Eighth Fringe, this. The show is an hour, but that includes a 15 minute warm-up act, then Steff for 45 mins. He does this so that reviewers won't come and ruin the vibe.

Anyway this year he talks a bit about being Welsh and how he is therefore grumpy with Bristolian Tesco self-checkout machines

.

Jake Baker: Rule Breaker!

Venue 78: PBH's Free Fringe @ Canons' Gait - Lower, 16.30-17.30

I love Jake, he's lovely. He's a gentle soul and has an excellent delivery style; very warm and deceptively witty. Normally he goes with Just The Tonic and is given a searing hot basement in the sky that smells of mould for a room, but this year he's in Canons' Gait, which is much much nicer.

His blurb: A rule-breaker, a risk taker, a wave-maker and a convention-shaker – all phrases never before used to describe Jake Baker. But when a frustrating game of Alan Turing-themed Monopoly leaves him questioning the laws of the game, he finds himself turning that analytical impulse to bigger things.

.

Stephanie Laing: Rudder

Venue 300: Underbelly, George Square - The Wee Coo, 14.50-15.50

This show is particularly Tumblr-friendly, actually; it's described as 'neurodiversity-led'. However, it's a show with a content warning, although all the ticket page is saying is "themes" (insert Stephen Fry meme here); so, <SPOILER> she talks about withdrawing consent while sleeping with a FIB, and him continuing anyway. She talks about it in a very gentle way, avoiding Big Words, and it's very heavy on aftercare </SPOILER>

Her blurb: A comedy dance show about balance. Stephanie has a history of falling over a lot, accidentally kneeing herself in the face, and falling in love with total kn*bheads. In this show she uses a mixture of stand-up and dance to talk about bodies, sex, dancing, liking yourself, consent and healing. Also, there are cartoon bears and burlesque.

.

Erin McKinnie: The Faff Chronicles

Venue 108: Hoots @ The Apex - Hoot 4, 16.50-17.50

An Edinburgh local! Good solid standup for those who like such things. New-ish, but one to watch, she's very good. Don't be surprised to see her take off

Her blurb: What a faff! Erin McKinnie, a rising star on the Scottish comedy circuit, talks about faffing through early adulthood – from rogue adventures to living the "below-deck life" on cruise ships – she finds the funny in every bizarre encounter in this uplifting show that asks: Do we really need a life plan? Or... are we all just winging it? A brilliant, snort-worthy giggle-fest about exiting your 20s, facing life indecision and chasing answers for those big questions, all the while trying to convince your mother that this is a real job...

.

Alexander Bennett: Emotional Daredevil

Venue 24: Gilded Balloon Patter House - Coorie, 18.20-19.20

Dark feelings show with a really positive, optimistic message and a fun concept. It uses audience participation, but that's not compulsory, you're safe.

Blurb: I'm the emotional daredevil, and for my next feat, I need someone's help. A show about risk, for the unsatisfied and traumatised, from a Chortle Award nominee

.

Alex Franklin: Gurl Code

Venue 61: Underbelly, Cowgate - Delhi Belly, 20.25-21.25

Alex does a fun thing each year where she takes her publicity budget and rather than spending it on publicity, she hides it somewhere in Edinburgh and then reveals a clue to its location every day. This tells you something about her, I think

Her blurb: In 2024, trans girl Alex (me) started HRT. Now she (me) feels the most alive she's (me's) ever felt; and she wants to make you feel alive too, or die trying. A ludicrous, musical, chaotic, joyful show about the colours of the world becoming slowly brighter and giving people furniture via the tube. Also being trans.

.

Character Building Experience

Venue 49: Bedlam Theatre - Bedlam Theatre, 20.00-21.00

It's a D&D show - the MC Sasha Ellen makes a bunch of 40-minute simple campaigns and a selection of pre-rolled characters to do them, and then gets three comedians each time to play them. You know the drill. Good quality fun, and different each time, since you'll never see the same campaign/comedian mix.

.

2 Truths, 1 Lie

Multiple venues and times (search the EdFringe app or website to see them all), but I recommend catching the 3pm show on either the 25th or 26th August at Venue 108: Hoots @ The Apex - Hoot 1 for reasons I shall not share here (ooh, mysterious)

Fun panel-like show! Often MC'd by Steff, especially if you catch one of the 3pm shows. The format is:

Three comedians each declare a statement. Two are true, but one comedian is lying. The MC doesn't know the liar, nor does the audience. The audience gets to ask questions of the comedians; at the end, they vote on who they think the liar is.

(The prize for winning is a smug sense of satisfaction.)

.

Anyway, once I'm up there I will possibly have more, but currently, that's my list

[see-arcane]

I figured I should interrupt everyone's dash for some notes on current real life things.

This is a hefty one, so I'm tucking everything below:

A little good news. As of this writing, I’ve sold 74 copies of The Vampyres, in eBook and paperback! That’s 74 more than I thought I would ever sell! Thank you to everyone who picked up a copy or asked your library to grab some. Especially when I know I haven’t been the most stellar self-marketer. I can’t remember the last time I opened the septic tank formerly known as Twitter, so it’s all been down to this little corner here and a skinny appearance in Goodreads. Which means I owe any attention this short and sinister tale has received to you all and plain old word-of-mouth.

That said, thank you x100000 to you and any new readers yet to take a look. (And doubly so for those of you who go out of their way to leave comments and reviews around for me to reread ad infinitum.)

For those not in the know, all the info on The Vampyres can be found here, and all my author odds and ends can be found on my website here.

On a less heartening note…

As I’d already expected, the market for career writers is…rough. Copywriting—and writing in general—is technically a big open field (full of caveat descriptions about having to work with/teach AI programs to eventually swallow your job)! Tons of open positions! Most of which either pay you in pocket change while you’re working full time or expect you to singlehandedly run the entire marketing of a business for slightly more pocket change. Everything else is bloated with contract and/or freelance work*.

*Read: Gig economy schlock trying to pass for an actual job position with payment being a coin toss. I’ve also seen one too many listings on the job boards that are volunteer positions. Plenty of exposure to rake in though, right? Ha. Ha ha.

I’ve still been applying like clockwork, same as the rest of my fellow creators trying to get by in a field that seems to actively punish trying to be a professional in said field, and still no bites further than an interview. I have years of experience and a degree, but everyone’s chasing the same crumbs, so. Yeah. I’ve got to start padding things out.

Reminder that I do have a (barely peddled) Ko-Fi. It’s there for art commissions and chucking a few spare bucks at. Which is an increasingly big ask these days, I know. You can’t scroll two posts down without hitting someone else’s Ko-Fi, Patreon, GoFundMe, Kickstarter, et cetera. We’re drowning in arting starvists here. And although I have been asked before whether I would consider going full Freelance Storywriter on top of selling art, I’m still a little hesitant on it. I do occasionally send out story submissions and have even gotten published a few times, but I get nauseous thinking about:

1) Putting up a paywall on the scribbles that assail me like a baseball bat wielded by an unmerciful Muse. 2) Putting up a ‘Stories for Sale!’ sign only to wind up disappointing prospective buyers because I didn’t do their blorbos justice even after researching X background for the piece. 3) Getting duped into being a nonconsenting ghostwriter and discovering someone else has published my work under their own name.

So, still a bit iffy on that. I’ll chew on it. But what else is left?

Before you click the button!

Stop!

NOT YET!

Before you click, please know that I am being serious about this as something to potentially make 1) something of good quality and 2) earn more money than it loses. Looking around at the merch-making/selling options, there are fees involved with making an account just about anywhere in the online store game, give or take the price tweaking needed for shipping and manufacturing blah blah blah.

With that in mind, please do not automatically hit ‘yes’ because you want to be nice. I appreciate it, but this isn’t the same thing as the Ko-Fi where there’s no real loss in just leaving it up and drawing something once every few months. This will take new designs, another subscription to pay for, more logistics to untangle for quality and pricing and all the rest of the mess. Only hit ‘yes’ if you, personally, genuinely, would like to purchase some nefarious See Arcane wares beyond a book or a digital drawing.

[damnfandomproblems]

https://www.tumblr.com/damnfandomproblems/765166432631799808/6137-thats-a-thing-is-that-new-ive-been-in?source=share

Granted this might have been more of a thing a few years back, around 2016-ish (and i can't believe that's nearly a decade now) "cringe review" type of videos were popular. I remember this one that was so odd, it was like a half hour long video talking about this woman who self-ships with an (admittedly kinda goofy-looking) video game character (no, not Undertale), but with the seriousness and intensity of a true crime documentary. iirc it wasn't even anything like over-the-top sexual it was like, picnic date type stuff.

It might be easy to say that that was a long time ago (in internet terms anyways) and that that doesn't happen as much anymore, but I think people forget most places aren't Tumblr. "i am cringe but i am free!~" isn't the rule everywhere, and even for people who do happily embrace their own "cringe" will turn it around on someone else without any self awareness.

Posting as a response to a previous ask.

[the-creative-lounge-blog]

The Creative Lounge v2.0

While we continue to prepare the community for a full launch, I'll post a little more about what's different in this version.

The Creative Lounge is a Discord community of creators and lovers of different genres, crafts, and talents that, together, foster a positive creative environment.

A good portion of this community is dedicated to content creators who work with different mediums. That's by design. We inspire one another and often collaborate. I hope The Lounge makes it easier to do both!

There's also room in here to play. I'm arranging the ability to stream art and video games in here, as well as host virtual tabletop games (these adventures are fantastic fodder for art, animation, stories, and audio works)!

Art and storytelling have been part of the human experience since our beginnings. They withstand disease, war, natural and unnatural catastrophes, and most impressively, time. Be proud of what you contribute.

There have been some changes to the community rules (beneath the cut). Please review them while you wait for The Creative Lounge to launch!

Rule #1: Be Aware. This is a shared space. You must be at least 18 years old to join this server. Individuals from all places and all walks of life congregate here. The sharing of personal information (name, location, etc.) is discouraged. Don't share personal images of anyone under the age of 18.

Rule #2: Be Respectful. Any disputes between members ought to be resolved privately. Disruptive behavior is not tolerated! No racism, sexism, hate speech, trolling, abuse, spam, picking fights, harassment, etc. Direct and indirect threats towards any other person are strictly prohibited and will incur an instant ban. Avoid discussing sensitive topics (examples: religion, politics). Try to keep the conversation relevant to the channel you are in. This is a multi-fandom, multi-shipping community. Hate directed at fandoms, characters, or ships is not allowed. While age gap ships are welcome, teacher/student ships are not (if characters are portrayed as teacher and student in canon material, do not share fanworks of those ships here). Don't steal content, or ideas. Do not repost or share anything found here without the permission of that content's creator. When sharing content by others, they must be credited in your post. When sharing links to your content, ensure that it is thoroughly tagged in your post. Any NSFW content should be shared in the gated channels. No underage (less than 18 years old) or incestuous NSFW content (in ANY form, regardless of how brief it may be) is allowed in this server. Use tags and spoilers (if applicable) for “trigger warning” kind of content. Examples of warning tags: -Graphic depictions of violence -Character death -Rape/non-con/dub-con (A/B/O works are considered dub-con) Other things such as phobias, body horror, blood, etc, should also be tagged. If you would tag it on AO3 or a social media post, tag it here. If unsure, ask a mod for help!

Rule #3: Be Creative. This space was made so that content creators may meet and interact with each other and with fans of transformative works. It is encouraged (but not mandatory) to participate in Lounge events and challenges. Use this space to discuss your content and ideas, share tips, ask questions, etc.

Rule #4: Be Kind. This is meant to be a community. Remember to encourage and support one another. Visible support such as reblogging/retweeting, commenting, giving kudos, etc., ought to be considered part of being a Lounger. Do not simply use this server (or myself) as your marketing platform. Self-promotion is not only encouraged, but expected. However, when you promote your work, stick around to throw some support and encouragement at others.

[hxhhasmysoul]

Thanks for sharing your fics recs (especially the KilluGon) most in your list, I have not read them yet... 🤩🌻 Also, love your analysis and reviews, thanks for sharing them....

Okay, so as ItaFushi and SatoSugu shipper, I was curious about SukuIta ship. You are the first person (that I know of and follow) that ship them...Hope you don't mind if I ask you a few things. What do you think are Sukuna and Itadori’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? What make you ship them?

Also, you're the first person that I follow that don't like Gojo (even not entered him in your top 5 fav charas). I don't mean anything negative...I just find it interesting. As a Gojo lover (he's my 2nd fav after Yuji) I found your reasons for disliking him pretty reasonable and I love your metas.....

Happy holiday....

Thank you for your kind words. And I’m glad that my Gojou negativity doesn’t put you off. I haven’t been very kind in my posts about him, they are very ranty. My top charas are honestly related to how much I think about them and how excited I am for scenes with them for various reasons. And like for example Kirara is absolutely on the list of characters I’m always excited for, or: Miwa, Hana, Toudou, Junpei, Nanami, Higuruma, Maki, Uraume, Tengen or Yuki. Gojou used to be on this list because I actually enjoyed how flawed he is, it was: wow this man! A bit like watching an accident happen. But I also find his position in the jujutsu world interesting. Fandom soured me on him and that’s on me. 

______

As to the fic recs, if you enjoy killugon I have reblogged some hxh and killugon fics rec lists over the years: x, x, x, x, x, x, x.

______

“What do you think are Sukuna and Itadori’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why?”

Yuuji has it all. He has this sweet side, he’s silly, cute, compassionate and has people skills. But he also has a darker side. He’s lonely, has unprocessed issues concerning forming relationships with others, he doesn’t value himself too much, he has the tendency to blame himself, it makes him suicidal eventually. 

He can be very introspective and self aware but he sometimes chooses not to do that, like his refusal to think about his parents, or he can use it against himself to bash himself with guilt because he can over analyse his shortcomings. Yuuji both seeks connection and doesn’t easily let people know him too closely. 

He’s also very smart and adaptable. He learns very fast, he can analyse a situation well and employ tactics that will often make him succeed in what he’s doing. 

He also has good intuition, like in how he befriends Junpei, how he doesn’t want to be around Megumi during the culling games, or with plans on how to save Megumi. 

Because he wants to connect with people he doesn’t always know when to put his foot down. He’s very good at asserting himself against people who are bullies and who are hostile towards him, like Sukuna and Mahito. With people he cares about though he’s not really good at that. He will argue but with for example Megumi and Gojou he will fall in line. They intimidate him to an extent, they seem knowledgeable and powerful in ways he isn’t. He defers to their judgement despite them failing him.  

Sukuna is funny in his contrasts. I’ve once written that he’s full of shit. He’s the opposite of Yuuji because he refuses to introspect, to analyse himself. He of course has a huge ego so he has a very specific attitude towards people who exert any form of power over him. He gives Kenjaku the cold shoulder and tries to ignore them as much as possible. (Tell us why, Gege. Heian flashback when ;-;) Towards Yuuji he’s just irritable, disrespectful and petty. 

He’s very nerdy about jujutsu, it’s very clear he enjoys it and he enjoys fighting. He believes that others matter only as much as he can get some enjoyment or entertainment out of them. Which is actually not entirely true, because he very clearly has a friendship with Uraume and he’s very mindful of Uraume’s feelings in it. As I said, not self aware. 

______

“What make you ship them?”

The process of elimination. It will be a story XD

When I first read and watched JJK, I came out of it caring very deeply about Yuuji. I liked other characters but Yuuji was and still is special to me. 

In fandom I primarily seek three things: 

1. Art of the characters I like because I just like art and also it gives me extra emotions.

2. Meta and discussions, because I enjoy over analysing stuff and making theories.

3. Extra emotions in the form of fics. I’m only in two fandoms, they both traumatised my favs very deeply. I want to experience other things with the favs. I want them in situations. (mostly long form AUs but not all AUs, I’m picky XD)

With Gon and Killua, point 3 was easy. I find their romantic ship close to canon, I love them both, I wanted more of that.

With Yuuji I wanted something good for him. I wanted him to be prioritised and on the receiving end of love. I wanted someone to care as deeply about him as he does for others. 

So I went on ao3 and started to look into the tags. 

The first one I checked out was ItaJun. I like Junpei, I think he’s an interesting character. Yuuji and Junpei’s canon interactions can be read as pre crush stuff. They hit it off very quickly, share the passion for films. Are capable of talking honestly about deeper and darker things. Most fics in that rather short tag were from Junpei’s pov. Made him very mopy, soft and fragile, introverted in this stereotypical way. And Yuuji was there as the manic pixie dream boy. Next.

So I looked into the ItaFushi tag. It was long so I had hope. Even though I was and am ambivalent about Megumi. And I don’t particularly like his dynamic with Yuuji in canon. I mentioned it above, it’s about the misplaced deference that Yuuji shows Megumi. And Megumi thinking he’s much smarter than he is. Most fics in that tag were from Megumi’s pov. Made him very mopy, soft and fragile, introverted, melancholic and overly intellectual. And Yuuji was there as the manic pixie dream boy. But also dumber than Megumi. Like in the KilluGon tag you can find fics like that too, fics from Killua’s pov by people who don’t care about Gon. In both tags there will also be these kinds of fics but written by people who seem to dislike the “sunshine” character. It’s not just that they find that character to be a tool to make their fav feel better, but that they are kinda upset about it. There are few fics in that tag that I liked, though. Because despite being from Megumi’s pov, they both wrote Megumi and Yuuji close to as they are. 

But generally, I was growing disappointed and frustrated. And I remembered one smut in the ItaJun tag which was actually a poly threeway with Sukuna. I remembered it because Junpei’s pov was nice and the dynamic was interesting. And I was like: well, can SukuIta be really worse than this? I mean if that poly fic was anything to go by, at least the smut will be fun.

So in the SukuIta tag finally, finally, my chance of finding Yuuji’s pov was high. And the authors there are actually interested in Yuuji’s personality. Not all of them do it justice, obviously, but they are interested. They are interested in putting Yuuji in situations. They are interested in tension and high emotions. They are interested in strange, codependent, very intense relationships, even in some of the more fluffy fics. There’s a lot of E rated stuff there, a lot of dead dove. And as I said before, I’m very picky and I won’t click on most stuff, but that was true for the other 2 tags as well. Just that, when I chose to click on stuff in this tag, the percentage of fics I read till the end was incomparably higher than in the other two tags. And reading through it, I started to get ideas to write for it. 

______

“What do you love about their dynamic?”

As I said above, in the beginning I was mostly amazed that I’m getting Yuuji exploration. Sukuna was there as the vehicle for the situations and the emotions. Even when I started writing my first fic, I was of that mindset too. Writing it made me ponder Sukuna more and grow to like him beyond his fun energy as a villain. 

The thing I like about their dynamic is when Yuuji gets to finally allow himself a close and raw relationship with someone, it’s usually very dramatic and dark in the best scenarios. That he carves something for himself, something often imperfect and kinda toxic, something where both sides are forced to make concessions and navigate around each other, but something where he’s prioritised. 

And when Sukuna gets punished for his personality, like the consequences of his irreflexive nature give him anxiety or something like that. When he’s forced to actually self-analyse. Sukuna is about his own pleasure and you can write him in a way that if someone becomes his pleasure, he gets very intense about it. 

At its best, this dynamic is very intense, dramatic and either goes in a very dark direction or requires a lot of negotiation. 

Also true form Sukuna is the hottest JJK has to offer and my dear Yuuji deserves the absolute best.

[candy8448]

Rambles Masterlist

(Theories and such)

#i do a little ramble

Big Rambles:

Flora and the chain

Sky and Sun headcanons

Music in loz and BotW (TotK continuation)

Botw cutscenes: 3 7

Legend on kohilint (lucid dreaming)

Portals in LU

Random details in LU

Hyrule castle tablet speculation (totk)

Sage themes ranked

Pre-Totk speculation/discussion

Dawn part 4 part 5 rambles

Sammer's kingdom piano cover

I finished totk!!

Warriors stance

Bigender

Ask answers: -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Stakes in tears of the kingdom

-tober posts and appreciation

Revisiting my 11yr old self's wattpad account

Smaller Rambles:

Lu age headcanons

Hinox fish

The LU chain as benders (ATLA)

Skyward sword manga

Shiny boys (LU)

Dark world forms sky wild

Girlfriend? Ceased to exist

Purple korok forest

Dawn part 3 rambles

Scrapper THAT LITTLE-

Zom 100 animation

Legend fighting

Imprisoning war cutscene

Skyward sword screenshots

Sealed grounds in totk (not really)

Mermays

Totk school quest reward

Legend and Ravio (lookalikes)

Dawn 4 names list

Twilight is squishy, squishy Twilight

My favorite types of stories

No totk DLC

Oot manga Link related to Zelda?

Song of the hero

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door reveal

Lu ships

Oot and Tp manga parallels

Link's awakening manga

Tag chain questions

Houseplants and flowers

Fic recs

Legend and the master sword

Divine dark reflections

Favorite lu boy (leg)

Art style preference

Whumptober fluff challenge idea

Light dragon bookmark

Me, an avid skyward sword fan

Sky and other various fuzzy creatures

Same photo of sksw link

Legend violet eyes

Surface birds

Look at him!!!

Absolutely Tiny Rambles:

Piano rambles 1 2 3

Imprisoned plushie

Champion's ballad (homework ramble)

Official sksw fancams

Watching reviews

Homework music playlist

Legend fics (more legend fic rambles)

An assortment of video game rambles 1 2

Link's awakening manga

GCSE stress rant

Legend in a dress

Legend art gib

Ganty

Posting (+goofy little man warriors)

Twilight princess be like:

HIMB!!! (TOON LINK)

[mycupofrum]

Hii I'm late and totally out of the loop but I'd like to know about 7, 14 and 21 for the 2024 review please ❤️ If you already did them you can pick 3 you haven't answered yet 😅

Hi Maddie!! Thanks for your ask! 💖😊 Happy to still reply to this ask game!

7. Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

I wrote my first Drarry fic Birthday boy.

I also translated my one and only Obi-Wan/Anakin fic (Star Wars) Just one kiss into English this year. :)

14. What were your go-to writing songs?

Maroon by Taylor Swift

Dress by Taylor Swift

Shake it out by Florence + The Machine

Need you tonight by INXS

Säännöt rakkaudelle (cover version) by Janna

The Funeral of Hearts by HIM (lol xD Does drawing music count? I kept thinking about and then listening to this one when I drew Padfoot on Jily's grave. There's my secret revealed! 😂)

21. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

Birthday boy is actually a part of a longer Drarry fic (the de-aged one I've mentioned before with Draco reverting back to his teenage self while married to Harry in their 30s). It has been in my WIP folder for a long while. I took the flashback scene that is now Birthday boy out from that fic and wrote it into its own fic. The story remains the same but I thought it works better as a standalone fic and prequel for the longer fic (if I'll ever finish it).

Looking back at the fics I've mentioned here, I guess I'm really into age gap. 😂 I never truly realised it until it smacked me in the face. I definitely loved writing Professor Black (Prongsfoot non-magic AU). There's something hot about the dynamic where one is young, eager and horny and the other is mature and battles with the knowledge that they should be the responsible one and yet they're so attracted to that young hot guy.

2024 in review

[therapycord]

❝ 透過、「また会いましょう」 ❞

❝ 天国も地獄も無いのなら ❞

riri ♡ they/he/she ♡ istp ♡ akito & shizuku kinnie ♡ nagi seishiro & keqing fan

♡ hi! I'm Riri and this is just an archive for all of my ao3 fics since my ao3 page has become a very large mess :)

━━ ♡ please read the full pinned post, thank you!

★ ! '07 · bllk · literature ! ★

— 🎧 !! 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎 !! 🎧—

喚く踏切が遮って、

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ. ABOUT RIRI !!

♡ please refer to in 3rd person or use the they/he/she pronouns

♡ minor, high school 2nd year, biromantic asexual

♡ very big fan of Keqing (genshin), Baizhi (wuwa), Nagi (bllk) and Mizuki (prsk) so please don't slander these characters in front of riri

♡ hyperfixations and adhd

♡ likes to yap about their interests a lot, please use tone tags when speaking with them since they're terrible with social interactions

♡ uses CAPS LOCK while typing and rambling. likes desserts, animanga, vocaloid and badminton. dislikes spiders and mornings

♡ absolutely adores the hirakagi/kagihira and kyoru ships

♡ akiyama mizuki (prsk) and mitake ran (bandori) oshi but never gets them in game </3

♡ really loves to read novels, classic literature and manga! always open for recommendations to add to their to-be-read list!!

これで全て終りなんだろう

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ. ABOUT THE BLOG !!

this blog is for two purposes: 1. to archive and keep track of all of my ao3 works 2. to post my opinions on manga i've been reading recently this blog is mainly to keep a track of my ao3 works since my ao3 page is extremely disorganized and a mess with over 200 fics (some aren't even completed) i will be using this blog ( and another priv. blog) to post my opinions and review on manga - mainly so i can finish reading all the manga i own. the manga review is for a school project.

さよならの合図が轟いて

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ. FANDOM WORKS !!

♡ MASTER-LIST/DASHBOARD ♡

Project Sekai Colorful Stage ft. Hatsune Miku

Fruits Basket (anime + manga)

Hirano And Kagiura

Miraculous Ladybug

Genshin Impact

My Hero Academia

Haikyuu !!

Assassination Classroom

━━ ♡ plus a lot more but they all have like 1~5 works so I didn't bother including links

溶ける飛行機雲

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ. SERIES !!

Chatfics

Fandom Snippets!! (Completed)

Violet Ballroom (Fandom Snippets Part 2, completed)

Kagihira Week 2024 (Completed)

━━ ♡ I have a few more series posted but they're mostly incomplete so I didn't bother. They can be found under the series tab on my ao3 profile.

がなる現世の境界で

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES !!

♡ Please include the title of the fic + author when submitting fics for me to read and add to my bookmarks, it's super helpful!

♡ You can submit nsfw fics but please put a trigger warning before you add the link so I'm aware, thank you!

♡ Include trigger warnings if the fic involves triggering/dark topics (that aren't horror)

♡ I read fics of any and every fandom so don't be afraid to submit fics from fandoms that aren't animanga or video games! I'm always looking to expanding my reading horizon :)

愚かなあな��は泣いていた

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ. ASK BOX / REQUEST GUIDELINES !!

♡ Feel free to ask me anything that aren't the following:

my age, where I study, my birthday and other personal information

♡ I will do my best to answer any questions!

♡ When requesting, please write out the full name of the fandom and particular ship you want me to write for. I accept rarepairs as well.

♡ And please make it clear what you'd like: fluff, angst, crack or a combination when requesting.

♡ Unless it's for my own self-indulgence, I will NOT be writing nsfw.

薫る夏風に誘われて、

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ. HASHTAGS !!

fanfictions = » eulaexe

original character stuff = » therapycord

project sekai = » pjsk🎀

bandori = » bandori🎍

enstars and other rhythm games = » es+others💿

gacha games (genshin, hsr, wuwa, etc) = » gacha🔮

manga reviews / posts = » manga review📖

unrelated rambles / random posts = » chaos

悲しくなどないさ

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ. EXTRA STUFF !!

♡ favorite song(s)

とっても素敵な六月でした (It Was A Very Beautiful June) - Eight Piya O Re Piya - Atif Aslam, Shreya Goshal JUDGEMENT - ASH DA HERO STORMY - Nissy x SKY-HI

♡ carrd !

♡ ask to add me on genshin (asia server), honkai star rail (asia server), wuthering waves (asia server), roblox, ensekai and jpsekai !

天国も地獄も無いのなら こんな泥塗れの現実を誰が裁けるの

[goldenteaset]

6 and 8 for the materialistic girlies

Thanks anon! :D

6. Favorite bit of F/O merch this year, either that you bought or just saw somewhere? Or if you’re lacking in options, what do you really wish was available?

That Belial body pillow is going to live in my head for all of 2025. It's been what, weeks? And I'm still getting brain-blasted by it regularly. I'm so happy...!!

Oh, but besides that, for some reason Stampede!Legato keeps getting smaller, rounder and smugger in every new merch I find of him on ebay, and it's a delight even if I can't bring myself to buy them yet:

8. What about other people’s creations? Got a favorite bit of fanart or fic that showed off your F/O(s) perfectly?

(Pardon the goof-up with the numbering) HMM. It's always hard to choose with a question like this, both because I know I didn't see everything and I don't want to leave anyone out. That said, the second art in this Belial set on Pixiv turns me into a giggling mess every time I see it, so that's a good sign!

[bakerstreetbabble]

Sherlock Gnomes: my expanded review for IHearofSherlock.com

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a brief review of the 2018 film Sherlock Gnomes, and animated take on the legendary detective (as well as a sequel to an earlier animated feature, an animated version of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, called Gnomeo & Juliet). Shortly after I wrote that review, I offered to expand it a bit and submit it to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. They posted my expanded review today. I've copied it below.

"...scrambling over your garden wall." (EMPT)

Several years ago (in 2011, to be exact), when my older daughter was a lot smaller, we watched a fairly humorous children's film adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, entitled Gnomeo and Juliet. I remember how, as a five year-old, she was entertained, and there were enough tongue-in-cheek Shakespeare references to keep me interested as well.

As you can imagine, the “star-crossed lovers” do not take their own lives at the end, as the target audience would likely find such a thing a bit traumatic. Still, the animation was pretty good, the soundtrack was fun, and there was a very entertaining bit with Patrick Stewart as a statue of the Bard himself.

In March 2018, a sequel to Gnomeo and Juliet was released, this time a spoof on Sherlock Holmes: the title of this new gnomish adventure was—you guessed it—Sherlock Gnomes. The film is part sequel, involving the characters of Gnomeo and Juliet in new adventures, but it is also (of course) a spoof of some of our favorite Sherlock Holmes characters. In fact, the film starts out with a funny little bit where a few gnomes argue about which story they’ll tell next (“Game of Gnomes! Or The Gnome Ranger!”).  

Sherlock Gnomes (voiced by Johnny Depp) is a garden gnome detective (that is, a detective who happens to be a garden gnome), who is sworn to protect all of London's garden gnomes. He finds himself pitted against his old archenemy, Moriarty: a sort of "Bob's Big Boy" type of pie mascot (don't ask). 

Sherlock is a kind of self-absorbed character, who doesn't treat his sidekick Watson with the respect he deserves. Of course, this is a subject that has been explored in other Holmes films and spoofs. (The Holmes/Watson relationship in the Guy Ritchie films, or the spoof Without a Clue, both spring to my mind.)

Their paths cross those of Gnomeo and Juliet, who are attempting to improve the garden of the house they’ve just moved to, when their fellow garden gnomes are abducted by the evil Moriarty. Or are they? Sherlock Gnomes hears of that abduction and many more around London, and…the game is afoot!

Honestly, I found the film pretty entertaining. Depp was not the best Holmes I've ever seen (well...heard), while Chiwetel Ejiofor voices Watson with great subtlety and dignity. There were all kinds of goofy nods towards the Sherlock Holmes canon: Doyle's Doll Museum, Wisteria Lodge Florist Shop, a grating with "221B" on it, while Sherlock and Juliet encounter a "fierce" pug dog, which Mr. Gnomes calls "the Hound owned by the Baskervilles."

One character even delivers the entertaining line, “No ship, Sherlock!” And of course, there's the obligatory deerstalker cap, Inverness cape, and magnifying glass.

In a little homage to the BBC's Sherlock, perhaps, Mr. Gnomes occasionally retreats into a "mind palace" of sorts, with a completely different style of animation for those sequences (it looks like black and white cel animation, although I suspect it is still done mostly with computers). One little animation detail that I thought was odd: Sherlock Gnomes has a tiny little white beard on the tip of his chin! I think this was probably the only bearded Holmes I’ve ever seen on film. Not that a beard that small is really deserving of the name...

The voice cast is a panoply of celebrities: James McAvoy (Gnomeo), Emily Blunt (Juliet), Michael Caine (Lord Redbrick), Maggie Smith (Lady Bluebury), Mary J. Blige (Irene), and many more. Even Ozzy Osbourne has a brief role, as a somewhat befuddled ceramic fawn.

The animation is quite high quality, and the aforementioned "mind palace" sequences were bizarre and fun. The story is packed with enough action and silly humor to keep children entertained, while there are enough pop culture references sprinkled throughout to keep adults from being completely bored.

As mentioned above, Sherlockians will no doubt be amused by canonical references here and there. The plot as a few fun little twists, so the movie isn’t as predictable as some animated feautres can be. As a Holmes fan, I found it enjoyable enough, if not incredibly brilliant. The film only received a 28% on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but I've seen much poorer films with higher scores.

If you have young children, you could do a lot worse. Or if you’d simply like to indulge in 90 minutes of innocent fun, it’s worth a few laughs. Oh, and did I mention that most of the soundtrack is made up of Elton John songs? (One of the film companies that produced the film was founded by Elton John, so it’s no surprise.)

I would give the film 4 Calabash Pipes on a 5-Pipe scale.

[pensionplanningservice]

Should you start your retirement countdown in your 30's?

 Retirement? In your 30's? Before you gawk at the idea, thinking, "Shouldn't I be planning my next trip rather than my golden years?", let's spill some beans. While counting down to the state pension might feel like waiting for a pot of gold at the end of a never-ending rainbow, starting the countdown early has its perks. Let's explore why (with a sprinkle of humour, of course!)

Why The Early Bird Gets the Pension Worm

Starting to think about pensions in your 30's doesn't mean you're a party pooper. It means you're a planner—a forward-thinking, future-enjoying planner.

DWP Pensions: A Glimpse into the Future

DWP pensions are essentially the Hogwarts letter every adult awaits. They give you an insight into what government benefits like the state pension or pension credits you might expect. While it's not a magical school invitation, it's the next best thing.

Understanding the Basics: Basic State Pension

Ever tried assembling IKEA furniture without a manual? That’s what diving into pensions without understanding the basic state pension feels like. Know the foundation, and you're halfway there. No hex keys required!

State Pension Age vs. Private Pension Age

If age is just a number, then the state pension age and retirement age are the numbers you should be aware of. Think of them as the milestones in your retirement marathon. While the UK state pension age gives a broad overview, your private pension could offer flexibility. It's like choosing between a set dinner menu and an a-la-carte!

Pension Credits: The Cherry on Top

Earning pension credits is like collecting bonus points in a video game. The more you have, the better your retirement level-up will be. Remember, in the game of life, retirement is the level you want to play with all the power-ups!

The Role of Private Pensions: Your Personal Safety Net

While we all hope for a comfortable cushion from the state retirement age benefits, having a private pension is like having an extra parachute—just in case. It gives you control and flexibility. And who doesn’t like to be the captain of their ship?

Deciding the Right Time to Hang the Boots

Now, here’s the million-dollar (or pound) question: When should you actually retire? While the typical retirement age is in the late 60s, if you've started planning in your 30's, you might just be able to hit the beaches sooner. Or perhaps take up a new hobby, like stand-up comedy—because, by then, you'd have mastered all the dad jokes!

In Conclusion: Your 30's - The Perfect Prelude to the Golden Years

While the 30's might seem too early for some to start the retirement countdown, it's the perfect time to set the stage for a worry-free future. Remember, retirement isn’t about pulling the plug; it’s about charging up for the next adventure.

So, next time someone asks if you're too young to be thinking about pensions, give them a wink and say, "I'm just ensuring my future self thanks me while sipping a piña colada on a beach!" Cheers to smart planning!

If you would like a Free Pension Consultation to check the health of your Pension, then click on this link here

[prokopetz]

It might still be too early for this kind of question, but what have been your favorite video games you've played in 2022? :3c

Given what the release schedule over the next three months looks like, yeah, it's probably jumping the gun, but what the hell. I'm going to arbitrarily restrict my consideration to games actually published in 2022, or else we'd be here all week, though.

(I make no apologies for the high concentration of sequels on this list. I know what I like!)

Amber City is a spiritual sequel to 2017's Flood of Light, and its gameplay is in much the same vein, being an atmospheric walking sim with light point-and-click puzzle elements. If you enjoyed the idea of The Witness but wish the puzzles didn't hate you personally, this might not be a bad one to check out.

Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince isn't going to break any new ground for those who’ve played its predecessor, though it's somewhat more adventurous in its dungeon design; if you enjoy casual 2D Zelda-likes, you'll probably enjoy this. Fans of 1980s fantasy media may also get a kick out of its pop culture pastiche elements – let’s just say the narrator is definitely taking advantage of the fact that his grandkids have never seen Labyrinth!

COGEN: Sword of Rewind is a Mega Man Zero style hack-and-slash platformer that does one of the first interesting things I've seen in years with the time manipulation formula, essentially merging your "mess with time" gauge with your health bar. The damage-boost routing in the speedrun is something you need to see to believe.

Curse Crackers: For Whom the Belle Toils is a retro platformer from the makers of 2020's Zelda-like dating sim Prodigal. Comparisons to Celeste are, perhaps, unwarranted, as the mechanics are very different, but I felt something familiar in the role of momentum in its flow of play. Visually, it's incredibly pink, which is something I always appreciate in a game.

Dungeons of Dreadrock is a short logic puzzler that one could be forgiven for mistaking for an old-school roguelike at first glance. Each level is a set-piece that borrows from the conventions of the grid-based roguelike genre to create situations where only one sequence of actions leads to survival, and challenges the player to find it..

FAR: Changing Tides swaps Lone Sails' landship for, well, an actual ship. The engineering sim gameplay remains largely unchanged in spite of that. Some of its elaborations on the previous game's formula don't work as well as they might have, being challenging more due to the limitations of the physics engine than anything else, but the frustration factor wasn't high enough to ruin my fun.

A Game with a Kitty 1 & Darkside Adventures is me flagrantly breaking my own rules, since everything in this anthology actually came out in 2005–2008 – it's just the anthology itself that's a 2022 release; I'm mostly throwing it in because this list was otherwise light on free-to-play titles. It all held up remarkably well on a replay earlier this year, though.

Gunborg: Dark Matters is a run-and-gun precision platformer that seems to have flown entirely under the radar, having just 11 reviews on Steam at the time of this posting. I'm not sure why – I mean, it's got a great soundtrack, and you play as a woman with a sword the size of a surfboard. What else do you want?

Jack Move is a JRPG-style title that blends self-consciously silly 1980s cyberpunk with contemporary anime aesthetics. I have to confess that I'm cheating a bit by including this one, as it's been out for all of three days at the time of this posting, and is the only game on this list I haven't played; I have, however, followed its development for some time, and I've had a lot of fun with the various demos the dev team has put out over the years, so I'm confident in plugging it here.

Recursive Ruin takes a page from 2019's Manifold Garden and basically asks "what if it was super fucked up?" The recursion here is fractal rather than directional, with progress "inward" eventually leading right back where you started. The story is naturally pretentious as hell; whether that's a criticism is a matter of taste.

RUN: The World In-Between wears it Celeste influence on its sleeve, but really takes more from classic endless runners like Canabalt. The "procedural generation" is just the same dozen or so puzzles for each zone being strung together in various orders, and the story is thinner than the trailer makes it look, but if you're a fan of the "running from left to right set to awesome music" genre, you could do a lot worse.

Submerged: Hidden Depths picks up where 2015's Submerged left off. The gameplay is substantially similar, though with a heavier focus on exploration puzzles and fewer linear set-pieces. Even so, it's not exactly what I'd call challenging – it's better approached as a pretty walking sim with light parkour-puzzler elements.

System Purge is about as basic as it gets for a precision platformer. No fancy moves here: you run; you jump; you get your face melted off by a laser. There's actually quite a bit of blood and gore, which is something I rarely have the stomach for, but the game is short enough that the lurid bits don't overstay their welcome. Fair warning!

Taiji is... well, remember when I said Amber City is a good one to check out if you like the idea of the Witness but wish the puzzles didn't hate you? This is one to check out if you do enjoy it when the puzzles hate you. There's a lot here that will be familiar to fans of the latter, though the puzzles are somewhat more varied owing to the fact that colouring grids is a more flexible game mechanic than drawing lines.

Vain Ascendance is a a roguelite precision platformer whose art style and mechanics put me strongly in mind of 2018's Overclocked, though the dev teams are unrelated. When I've plugged this game in the past I've been teased that my obsession with games about red haired women who can air dash is showing, but this I must protest: her hair is purple.

As for unreleased games available in demo or early access versions that I've tried out in 2022, I'll keep it brief, since these aren't proper recs, but you might have a look at any of Dormiveglia, Garbage Girl Louise, Gigasword, Keylocker, Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara, Little Witch in the Woods, Rebel Transmute, Rose & Locket, Ruin Valley, Shards of Gravity, Star Hearts: Launch Point, Undergrave, Venus Looks for Jupiter, Vermillion Descent or War Girl.

[utilitycaster]

I've been really enjoying your analysis of c3. I think if there's one positive thing that hasn't changed despite a lot of paper stuff being a bit messy storywise, is the way the cast seems to still be having a great time playing together, even after years doing so in front of cameras. The whole death wish run was so much fun for example

Hi anon!

I went back and forth on how to respond to this because my guess is you are well-intentioned and just wanted to share a thing you're enjoying, which is valid (although - please don't hesitate to DM me for things like this! I'm much nicer when people aren't on anon because of the nature of anon and the small but unpleasant fraction who like to hide their identity in order to be dickheads, and for things that aren't questions or requests I'd usually rather get a DM than an ask).

That said it brought up a BUNCH of thoughts that had been percolating and this felt like a good, if extremely self-indulgent opportunity to air them. It's a long post, and it's not directed at you specifically, and again, if you meant to just say "I'm enjoying things like the Deathwish run and it seems the cast is too, it's not that deep!" then I agree and feel free to ignore this! I'm putting it below a cut just for length reasons.

I am really wary of "as long as the cast is having fun" as a comment, not because I don't think they're having fun, nor that I think the cast having fun isn't important; but because it's often used to really mean whether the viewer is having fun. It was wielded clumsily and frequently as Campaign 2 wrapped up ("well, I'll be disappointed, but as long as they're having fun") and in a manner I found very distasteful in early Campaign 3 (claims of "They're having fun again!", when people really meant "I didn't like the ending of Campaign 2 and this campaign does not yet have the baggage of canon ships or intense arcs that don't appeal to me.")

I don't think it's possible for an actual play show to survive if the cast is not having fun, in the same way that it's not possible for a D&D game to survive if people aren't having fun. It's a game; you're supposed to be having fun. (Note: I'm leaving out discussion of how 'having fun' is itself a complicated term, and how you can have difficult emotional arcs or even outright tragedy and still, overall, have fun, for being out of scope, but this is yet another reason why I look askance at 'they're having fun!', since it often also serves as a substitute for "things are light and unchallenging" from people who cannot comprehend that one might actively enjoy high stakes or failures as a player.) I think if the cast isn't having fun...we don't have a show. It's vitally important! It's also something the fandom has zero say in and little insight into. It's not worth discussing.

I also want to make it clear that I'm still having fun; I'm just having slightly less fun than if the party or plot felt more cohesive. If I'm truly not having fun, I'm turning the show off.

The other thing on my mind was also just like...I couch a lot of posts in praise not because it's something I necessarily think should be done but in an effort to divert people from trying to push back. It's actually not how I like to engage but people are really weird about criticism, and I don't know why, but it's come up before. I wonder if it's because people feel they're being judged for their taste (usually not) or if they're just uncomfortable with anything that's not positive but either way it happens a lot and I never like it. I think it's really normal and healthy to express when things aren't working for you, and this isn't Matt Mercer's performance review; I don't need to give him the compliment sandwich (if he is reading this blog which I think is very unlikely). I can just say "the pacing isn't working, here's why" and the lack of other comments can be taken as as neutral and my feelings about the campaign can be inferred from the fact I'm still watching and engaged.

It's the same way I feel about that person who keeps spamming inboxes with brief snippets about ships, or like, the "I want to spread some positivity!" social media posts...they're ultimately hollow and (to me, at least) kind of annoying. Thoughtful criticism to me says "I care about this" in a way "they're having fun!" doesn't. And that's not something I expect everyone to feel! But I do, and I would like if people engaging with this blog just like...understood that the appropriate response to someone providing criticism on a show or character isn't to try and counter it, in the same way that if someone were to say "Bells Hells is my favorite campaign!" I would obviously not go to their blog or inbox and say "well, the pacing is worse than prior campaigns".

[acnelli]

I posted 1,284 times in 2022

132 posts created (10%)

1,152 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@romione-trope-fest

@harryronfest

@disneyprinceronweasley

@oxydiane

@acnelli

I tagged 1,279 of my posts in 2022

#hp - 904 posts

#harry potter - 847 posts

#ron weasley - 627 posts

#hp fanart - 467 posts

#hermione granger - 408 posts

#romione - 321 posts

#hp fanfic - 289 posts

#rarry - 164 posts

#harry james potter - 143 posts

#romione fanfic - 139 posts

Longest Tag: 124 characters

#and also for yourself btw because we might filter out your story because you felt the need tagging every single side pairing

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I'm looking to read some friends to lovers Romione fics??? Plz???

Hi anon,

you mean like...in canon? ;)

Jk, I assume you mean AU fics?

One story comes to mind which perfectly fits the bill and that is Pulley System by @reallybeth9. It's a Muggle AU where the two know each other since childhood.

Another one would be all my best lies by @remedialpotions. It's 6th year AU where Hermione asks Ron to be her fake boyfriend for a wedding.

These three I haven't read yet (at least not all of it) but they should also fit the bill:

Isolated by @cheesyficwriter (6th year AU), 12 Fail-Safe Ways To Charm Hermione Granger by @be11atrixthestrange (a canon-compliant Ron POV of their relationship) and Miracles Happen by @accio-broom (also a 6th year AU).

I also have a teeny tiny self-rec which is a little reminiscence of Ron's about his relationship with Hermione throughout the years.

If someone else has more stories to recommend which focus on the Friends to Lovers trope, please add them in a REBLOG!

And never forget to leave Kudos and comments if you enjoyed reading those stories 🙏 It's so important to keep the fandom alive and get more of the content you crave.

Thanks for the ask, anon 💛

48 notes - Posted February 1, 2022

#4

OH AND SEAMUS/DEAN who happens to be my favorite but I never seem to find any good long ones

Hey anon,

this part of your ask I can answer with two lists. I too like this ship but unfortunately I haven't read that many stories about them yet. These two rec lists though should provide with plenty of Deamus goodness.

Deamus Library Google Doc by @nienna324

Seamus/Dean Masterlist by @hpfanfictioncatalogue

Don't forget to leave kudos/comments/reviews for the stories you enjoyed reading. It gives good karma points as we all know.

Thank you for your ask, anon. I hope you find some more reading material.

50 notes - Posted June 25, 2022

#3

Black & White

@microficmay Day 10: Black & White [Blaise/Ron, rating: GA]

***

"One game, Weasley," Zabini pointed at the chess board in front of him, "and if I win, you'll go to Hogsmeade with me."

Ron sat down, turning the board around, so he could play black. He had to give Zabini at least some chance to win, hadn't he?

***

Part 2

Read on AO3

70 notes - Posted May 15, 2022

#2

hullo! do you have any good ron centric fic recommendations? they could be ship or gen i don't have a preference, I'm just in need of good ron centric stuff :3

Hello anon,

okay, since you're not picky with pairings, I'll recommend a little bit of everything. Oh, and there are also WIPs among them. If we don't read and support ongoing stories, how would we ever get new content?

This became a longer post than I thought, so I put the recs under the readmore line (I really hate long posts showing up in my time line).

And dear anon and everyone else who'll read these stories, please please take a minute to leave a comment. No matter how old the stories are, no matter how many comments & kudos the fic already has, it always means something for the author and also for other readers. All this content might be free, but it's still good to get something back. Writing is hard work. And the more you support the writers who write your fav characters, the more content you'll get.

I'll start with the Gen Fics, then Romione, then Rarry, then Other Pairings.

*** *** ***

GEN (there might be pairings, but they're not the focus)

Harry Potter and the Lack of Lamb Sauce by @imagitory

Inspired by a post on Tumblr, this is a AU story set during Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, with one big, foul-mouthed difference. Instead of Horace Slughorn, the position of Potions professor will be taken on by...Gordon Ramsay.

While the summary doesn't indicate it, this story is actually very very Ron-centric.

*

Pendragon: The House of Pendragon by @chuchiotaku

An unsung hero haunted by the loss of his brother's love. An overshadowed youth abandoned by everyone he ever loved. Why the enigmatic Lady of the Lake chose these two as her new champions against the growing threat of the Dark Lord--or why she chose now, of all times, to do so--is beyond anyone's rhyme and reason.

But the Lady does what she wants. All Ron Weasley and Regulus Black can do is hold on for the ride.

Very promising! I'm looking forward to the next part.

*

Tugging Sleeves by @windschildfanfictionwriter

Ron struggles with what to do when he realizes that there can only be terrible reasons for why Harry isn’t responding to his letters. Little does he know that Ron’s distress is just as worrying for his family.

This is adorable, angsty and just beautiful. I also recommend everything else by that author, but all of their stuff is over on FFN. My favs are The Boogeyman (read the A/N at the beginning!) and Spitfire.

*

Pawn to C3 by Realmer06

Teaching Lily chess started as a way to keep her occupied and out of everyone’s hair. It grew into much more than that.

This is a really great story about Ron and Lily Luna. A sweet family story.

*

How to Succeed in Dark Wizardry (Without Really Trying) by technically_direct

Ron maybe accidentally-on-purpose becomes a dark wizard, and everything changes.

This is so so funny. I'm looking forward to the next chapter. I cracked up several times while reading this.

*

ROMIONE

See the full post

76 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Masterpost for all my entries for @microficmay 2022! Thanks to the mods of this fest, this was so much fun. I kept them all under or exact at 50 words. That was harder as I thought it would be.

I'm also taking requests which of these fics should turn into a longer story.

If you prefer reading my microfics on AO3, click here.

Ron x Hermione

Ignite | Crisp | Lost & Found | Expectations | Radiant | Fire & Ice | Hesitate | Promise | Epilogue

Ron x Harry

Heartbeat | Survive | Ferocity | Balance | Progress | Hopeful | Wax & Wane

Ron x Draco

Irresistible | Decadent | Secrets | Pain & Pleasure

Ron x Blaise

Black & White | Wander | Train Tracks

Other Pairings

Open the Door (Remadora) | Remember (Perciver) | Sand & Sea (Linny) | Serenity (Flonks) | Why? (Harry x Ron x Hermione)

Gen

Solitude (Andromeda) | Symphony (Bellatrix) | Invincible (Narcissa)

99 notes - Posted May 31, 2022

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