#the characters and premise are pretty fun and that's really what matters

[kazz-brekker]

actually quite interesting to reread the notes for my unwritten fantasy heist book from middle school that i came up with in a a pre-six of crows era. i feel like it’s an fun little time capsule look into the ideas i had about that genre prior to that book deeply influencing my brain and therefore actually has a lot more originally than i expected

[celtrist]

This was the piece that I had started before my extensive vacation (of coughing). Once again, Alastor is consistently the bane of my existence with his... well everything.

No matter! Anyway, this is something I like to call the Obsession AU. To sum it up real fast: Everyone is yandere for Alastor. I think it would just be apart of his punishment in Hell, being consistently forced into or desired in romantic/sex which he's never had much interest in. I would describe it as a dark comedy thing, but it can be as comedic or as dark as you want here. With that said, please be on guard with any mentions of darker content that treds towards a certain dead bird territory when I get a bit into how I imagine some of the characters. Again, it doesn't have to go that far if you're interested in this premise of an au and wanna focus on the more light hearted stuff, feel free.

This au is just poking a bit of fun at how everyone in the fandom wants to put Alastor in romantic situations constantly (whether it be with themselves or the other characters) despite Alastor probably being the least interested in the subject in the whole show. This is by no means a hate train or making fun of people who do enjoy shipping Alastor, it just more of a funny thing I think comes off as pretty ironic for his character and hopefully, others can enjoy that too. In this au he leans pretty much on the clear-cut side of aromantic and asexual with no interest in romantic affections at all. With that said, if you want to explore Alastor genuinely being interested in one of the other characters romantically or something similar, feel free to explore that! I can see some interesting dichotomies there. It's just within the actual "canon" of this au, he's not at all interested with that sort of thing. And just with a last final reminder to get into some character things I have in mind, some of the content mentioned does get pretty dark, particularly with Valentino but I don't think anyone's surprised there. But there might be some triggering content of the following mentioned here with characters but no crazy details really: Manipulation/Gaslighting, forced feminization, Non-con, Munchausen syndrome, Poisoning, Possessive, Drugging, Love bombing And I will be sure to give a quick warning to each character it might apply to, please feel free to let me know if I missed anything!

Rosie (Munchausen syndrome, Poisoning): Rosie has 100% poisoned Alastor before to make sure he relies on her. They started off as good friends but at some point Alastor began getting ill and Rosie offered to take care of him. This leads to Alastor staying in bed for full days, only really seeing Rosie who took care of his every need from food, clothing, washing, and so on. At some point, Alastor caught on that Rosie was putting something in his food to make him sick and he managed to escape with their friendship tarnished much to his dismay. He's often uneasy around Rosie but is upfront about his knowledge of Rosie's deeds. Rosie, in turn, acts like it is a lighthearted situation and often offers Alastor over for lunch, which he often denies. Any food he gets at his doorstep from a secret admirer or a lunchbox he finds at his seat in an overlord meeting goes straight into the trash. Alastor will still use Rosie's assets to his benefit of course, but is always careful as to what she might try to get in exchange. He has had more awkward lunches with her with his homemade meal versus the buffet she catered for the occasion, with the two gossiping like old times. Alastor is still uneasy during these times, but he also revels in the false pleasantries due to not having many others he's able to associate himself with due to the curse.

Lucifer (Controlling, Possessive, Manipulation): So I'm not 100% clear how I wanted to approach Lucifer. He and Charlie are probably the most similar I suppose? He wants Alastor as his queen (either alongside him and Lilith or only with him, he doesn't mind either way). He doesn't force him into dresses or anything, but Lucifer does consistently make doting moves and talks about how Alastor would make a good father to their children. Marriage is one of the mind and Lucifer probably gets a bit possessive with him. He also tries to guilt trip Alastor a lot, or manipulate situations in one of their arguments to get Alastor to say something he doesn't mean.

Charlie (Controlling, Possessive): Probably the most tame of everyone quite honestly. Charlie can be a bit controlling but does step off when Alastor expresses his dislike of her doing so, even if it takes a couple times. She likes doing things for him, is super affectionate, and daydreams about her, Vaggie, and Alastor all getting married. She can get pretty possessive with him, not being pleased when anybody does anything against Alastor's will or hurt him. The only exception to this rule is Vaggie, to which Charlie sees it like two cats getting along and finds it very endearing.

Vaggie (Forced Feminization, Controlling, Murder): Depending on how you look at it, Vaggie's one of the more fucked up obsessions or one of the more funnier ones. Because she's automatically inclined to like Alastor quite a bit with the curse thing but her personality doesn't jive with his for her own taste (in terms of their first meeting), she both hates and loves the guy. She's obsessed with trying to murder Alastor with traps around the hotel or outright standing over him with her spear. The hatred comes primarily from not wanting to feel the way she does about him, I guess like a fucked up tsundere if you wanna go that route. At the same token, however, she does want Alastor to be involved with both her and Charlie romantically. There's just one little problem: Vaggie has about the same amount of interest in men as she does in canon. So to sort of "fix" Alastor, she consistently tries to force him to be more feminine in clothing, offering different feminine names, and even trying to force him to get a sex change. Alastor is pretty slippery though, so it never quite works out in Vaggie's favor aside from the occasional dress or skirt being worn, which solidifies her attraction to him. Then he takes it off and looks more like a man again, and it solidifies her frustration/hatred for him.

Angel Dust (Drugging): To start, while I think Angel would love to have sex with Alastor, he 100% would not force it. Wouldn't even do touches or anything. Potentially he could just like as a coping (to be in a situation where HE'S the one in control), but that is a darker route that I don't think will be exactly true for this AU. However, he very much enjoys drugging Alastor similar to Rosie. Not only just as a bonding thing since Angel would also do the drugs WITH him, but just to get the not-quite-lucid compliments from Alastor and maybe a snuggle then and there. He wants to dote on Alastor with him drugged out in his bed saying nice things to Angel. Admittedly this one's a bit of a workshop as I just knew I didn't want Angel to be focused on sex like somebody, but wasn't sure what to do here.

Valentino(Non-con, LoveBombing): I mean... it is Valentino, what did you THINK he'd be trying to do with Alastor? There's really not much to say here, Valentino essentially tries pulling all the stops trying to get Alastor in bed while also love-bombing the hell out of him. Which really doesn't work. Valentino is pretty open with sharing Alastor, but again, does this surprise anyone? As long as he's participating in some way, he really doesn't mind.

Vox (ALL warnings): Pretty much the worst version of himself that people make him be sometimes for those darker stories in the fandom. While more interested in having an enthusiastic partner, I don't think Vox would be opposed to forcing himself onto Alastor. He consistently tries to manipulate and gaslight, while enjoying both the suffering and pleasure of Alastor. Much like Vaggie, Vox is obsessed both being in love with Alastor while also downright hating him to the core. He's possessive and likes the idea of being both sweet and heinous with Alastor. He pretty much is every other character wrapped up in one fucked up TV man. Vox acts the most well-adjusted of the characters here, but he's probably got the obsession the worst.

And of course, pretty much every other conceivable ship is up for grabs here. I did think about maybe unfallen angels are able to resist the obsession curse, which would possibly make a funny team-up of Alastor, Adam, Lute, and Emily. Alternatively, I thought maybe the other canonically asexual characters in the show wouldn't be affected instead, meaning another oddball team-up of Alastor, Octavia, and Mammon. Then there is of course the "nope, there's no escape for deer man". Not sure yet, maybe I'll workshop it. I have more normal things in the works rather than this messed up little au, but darker content is a guilty pleasure of mine.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

You seem like an incredibly well read person, plus someone with a lot of insight into intimacy because of your work. So, in light of your romance book reviews, which are an absolute highlight on your patreon, do you have any insight into what is needed/suggested for a good romance novel?

g o d this is so fucking hard and also really fun to chew on. I want to preface this by saying this is ENTIRELY subjective and based completely on what I *PERSONALLY* find that I enjoy in a romance. this isn't, like, an objective guide on how to write a romance that doesn't suck. that doesn't exist because people like different things, and I'm speaking from one perspective.

also I should say that my preferred flavor of romance novel is solidly contemporary. I haven't read many historicals, certainly not enough to opine well on them, I don't do those mafia dark romances or whatever the fuck, and I've barely dabbled at all in any kind of fantasy romance, whether they're full high fantasy or witchy urban fantasy stories. (although I'm about to do one of the latter next month, you can vote for a book on my patreon rn!)

having gotten all of those caveats out of the way, here's some shit I like and dislike:

there are exceptions to this but broadly, I prefer a POV for everyone involved in the relationship. to me a romance where we're only seeing events from the POV of one member of the relationship automatically makes it seem like one person matters more in a dynamic where everyone should be of equal importance. also, god, if the plot's really going to hinge on not knowing what's going on in one partner's head suggests that miscommunication is going to be a pretty critical part of the plot, and I hate that shit. TALK TO EACH OTHER. I'LL KILL YOU.

on that note, there needs to be an actual compelling reason why the characters can't be together, okay? the #1 driving tension of every romance is "why the fuck can't they be together yet" and you BETTER have a good answer. whether it's interpersonal or external forces, if there's a very easy solution to what's keeping them apart then your characters look dumb and I'm bored. one of the most frustrating romances I've ever read involved two characters who were mutually attracted to each from the JUMP, who refused to act on it because they were coworkers (neither of them in any position of authority of the other, nothing unprofessional or inappropriate about it) and they were "only" living in the same state for A YEAR. A FULL YEAR !!! shut up. get a grip and kiss each other.

now, having said that: whatever your bullshit reason is for these two characters to be interacting with each other, you need to COMMIT to that shit so hard that I, the reader, will feel silly for even questioning the logic. the worst offender I've ever seen on this front is D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding, which pulls its protagonists together via a reality TV competition and then just... promptly loses any interest in really dealing with the actual realities of being filmed 24/7? it's insanely distracting how little the book engages with its central hook, and was a huge point deduction for me. whereas you have, like, The Bride Test, a book with a premise that skirts dangerously close to a little bit of human trafficking but embraces the whole premise so wholeheartedly that you completely forget about the potentially horrific elements in there. who cares that Esme was bribed here with the promise of a green card if she seduces a man she's never met? there's whimsy happening! we've moved on! it's literally fine and she's in no danger except the danger of a BROKEN HEART.

this one is going to seem SO obvious but like. I need them to be actually like each other. I'm not saying they can't be mutually bitchy while they grow to like each other or anything, they don't have to always be NICE to each other, but there are so many M/F romances where the dude is just flat out fucking MEAN and condescending to the girl until he decides he wants to fuck her. and sometimes even after that! stop it! after a certain point I don't want her to fuck him I want her to run him over a car!!!! there's suuuuch a line between "guy I butt heads and exchange banter with but could fuck if we just got to know each other" and "man who hates me and is for real fucking bullying me."

"kisses only," "doors closed," whatever term they use for a romance novel without any sex scenes on page, I don't like it. listen: I know that they're not everybody's cup of tea, and I FULLY recognize that a lot of romance novel sex scenes are unfathomably cringe. and yet, I need them. partly because they're funny, but also because if this book wants me to be invested in the developing relationship between two adults who are supposed to be WILDLY sexually attracted to each other, then I want to see the damn sex. no matter how many bad similes or unfortunate adjectives it entails. and if you're not going to show me the sex, don't you dare have the characters gushing about how great it is. I'll be the judge of that, thank you very much. (I'm looking at you, Sorry, Bro.)

related: there's this thing that I call "Horny Wolf Syndrome," which is derived from this tweet:

initially I used it to refer to when previously sweet-tempered male romance protags inexplicably started talking like horny wovles during sex scenes - "LET ME SEE YOUR PRETTY CUNT ON MY COCK" and the like - but now I more generally use it to refer to scenarios in which characters of any gender completely dispense with their established personality while they fuck in order to fulfill a more broadly appealing, one-size-fits-all sexual fantasy. I hate that shit; if your characters act like completely unrecognizable people during sex, you didn't write very strong characters. one of my favorite things about writing sex scenes is that it's so SO interesting to see how their the characters' personal quirks translate into a setting that's very different from most other contexts, and it's deeply disappointing when authors take the easy route in favor of some pornhub dialogue.

one of the things that actually won my most recent read, Raiders of the Lost Heart, a HUGE amount of points with me was how frank the female lead was about initiating sex for the first time. it was completely in character for her and felt really different than any other book I've read, and honestly? it was a breath of fresh air.

[raining-dreams]

Best Underrated Shows

Saving Me 

Saving Me is about a lonely old guy who invents a time machine so he can go back to his child self and fix all his past mistakes. I learned about this show from this video titled Watch THIS instead of Hailey's On It by M!n!mal M!ss Art. Despite this video, I was still very excited to watch Hailey's On It. It seemed like a story with a cool premise and cute art style (and ultimately I do really like the show) But Hailey's On It wasn't gonna be out for weeks when I came across this video and this video really sold me on giving Saving Me a try. I never would have even heard of this show without that youtube video which would have been a real shame because Saving Me is fantastic! I hope this show reaches more people and I'm dying for a season 3!!!!!

House of Anubis

Mystery is my favorite genre and House of Anubis is chuck full of it. I used to be obsessed with this show back in high school. I had so much fun coming up with theories and live-blogging my thoughts and opinions about each new episode. Some of the acting & dialogue could be a little cringe sometimes but the story is just so good that it doesn't matter. I've heard that Het Huis Anubis (the Dutch version of the show that House of Anubis is based on) is even better, though I haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

Over the Garden Wall

Those of us who have seen Over the Garden Wall seem to agree that this show is amazing! Which makes it feel a little weird to call it underrated. But it seems like so few people have actually seen it. Maybe because it was a mini series, it couldn't reach the same level of popularity as other shows of similar quality. If you like Gravity Falls, you'll likely enjoy Over the Garden Wall as well. (Wirt is even voiced by the same guy who voiced Dipper!) I would highly recommend anyone that hasn't seen it already.

Dead End: Paranormal Park

I feel like it's pretty rare for animated series to exist in the horror genre for some reason. It truly is an untapped market. But if you love horror and animation, Dead End is the show for you! (Of course it's kid friendly horror since the target audience is children) The two main characters, Barney and Norma get jobs at a haunted park and work together to fight ghosts and demons. Dead End has a super cute animation style, in my opinion, and a very diverse set of characters. I encourage everyone to watch it!

Just Add Magic

Just Add Magic is based on a children's book by the same name. It's a show about three girls who love to cook and basically discover that they can use cooking to do magic. It's a pretty interesting take on how magic works in their universe. It's very fun to watch. All of the actors are also so talented! And one of those actors is Zach Callison (the voice of Steven Universe)!

The friendship between the trio is awe-inspiring! They have so much chemistry. It's a pretty fun watch.

The Last Kids On Earth

Based on a comic of the same name, this show is about a group of kids who have to survive on their own when a zombie apocalypse breaks out. And other various creatures start to threaten them (or even become their allies) It's basically a cute found family story. The premise is pretty simplistic but that's what I love about it. The animation style of The Last Kids On Earth is so beautiful as well!

I'm still waiting for a season 3!!!!!

Code Lyoko

I remember as a kid being aware of this show and thinking it looked kind of interesting (and I always loved the theme song!!) but I never ended up watching it back then because I let peer pressure get the better of me. I remember I met someone who brought up how much they loved the show. When I heard them express that interest, I was at first excited to ask them more but before I had the chance, everyone else started making fun of him for liking Code Lyoko.

I guess it was like the nerd show or something? I don't really know why it was considered cringe to like Code Lyoko but upon seeing my peers act this way, I decided I can't like Code Lyoko if I want to fit in. So, I avoided watching it. But earlier this year, when I was flipping through channels, they were showing old episodes of Code Lyoko! I was intrigued since I remembered it from childhood and thought I'd actually give it a chance this time. And it's actually a pretty good show! It can be slow at times but overall I enjoy it.

If you're like me and avoided watching this back then due to peer pressure, I highly recommend leaving that in the past and just letting yourself enjoy this show!!

Slugterra

Slugterra is honestly pretty similar to Pokemon, except it's slugs! And the entire series takes place underground. Basically, there's a whole underground world called Slugterra, home to slugs, trolls, moles, etc. And all the slugs have cool powers so the people collect & befriend slugs so they can use them as weapons ("slugslinging"). If you like Pokemon, you're sure to like Slugterra!

Detentionaire

I discovered Detentionaire randomly while I was searching through Amazon's library of cartoons. I was looking for a new show to watch and just stumbled upon this one. It looked pretty interesting and I was surprised to see it was a show from 2011. I don't know how I missed this show back then. Idk if maybe it only aired in Canada or something? (cuz it's a Canadian show) But anyways, Detentionaire is such an intriguing show where the main character, Lee, discovers some grand conspiracy and has to try to expose it to prove his innocence so he can get out of detention. It's such an interesting concept. And, as I mentioned earlier, mystery is my favor genre, so I had a lot of fun with this one.

The only problem though is, of course, it ends on a cliffhanger. The show got canceled before they had the chance to conclude the story in a satisfying way (or any type of way) so watch at your own risk.

Catscratch

I honestly don't even remember what this show was about but I do remember enjoying this show and being excited when I saw a new episode was out. I remember thinking it was so funny. I just don't think enough people know about this show.

[dropintomanga]

Manga I Enjoyed in 2024

2024 has been an amazing year for manga. With the debut of the American Manga Awards to go alongside the Harvey Awards and Eisner Awards, we're about to head into some really fun times for manga recognition starting now. I read a lot of manga this year compared to last year, thanks to the libraries in my area.

But these few are the ones that impressed me the most.

Honorable Mention: Kagurabachi by Takeru Hokazono - I remember when I first read this manga, it became a meme. But once the meme died down, you got a title that's going to be another huge Shonen Jump anime hit. Reading Kagurabachi reminds me of the days when I loved BLEACH. The mix of sorcery, swords, and urban society combined with impressive art will leave a great impression on shonen readers. VIZ Media made an excellent decision in licensing the print edition as soon as possible as Volume 1 has sold amazingly well in bookstores across North America.

Favorite Ongoing Weekly Manga: Centuria by Tohru Kuramori - I swear more fans should know about this manga. Centuria is about a young man named Julian, who's been living as a slave for most of his life. On a slave ship, he meets a woman and a monster god - both who would change his life forever. Julian suddenly becomes endowed with supernatural powers and decides to pursue freedom however he can all while raising a child destined to be something more. This is a dark fantasy action series that is pretty much influenced by Berserk. Add the fact that Kuramori worked as an assistant under Tatsuki Fujimoto of Chainsaw Man and you have a highly underrated action series that will scratch any seinen fan's itch.

Without further ado, here's my top 5 manga of the year!

5.) She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki - While this manga starts off as a nice yuri series about two women whose common interest is food, it goes into some good commentary about what it means to be a woman living in an extremely patriarchal society like Japan (which I'll discuss in a future post). I like how the manga becomes better with each volume as you get to see the cast grow and confront issues bothering them alongside each other. I appreciate that this series is about how eating food with people you care about is always worthwhile when you get a chance to do so.

4.) Home Office Romance by Kinetsu Yamada - This is a charming one-volume manga about two people who find love during a pandemic lockdown. Reading the manga made me relate to Nokoru, the male lead, as I share the same insecurities as he does when it comes to finally finding love and having the courage to push ahead with it. The manga also made me think about the early lockdown days of COVID as I did enjoy those days quite a bit. But nothing will ever beat actually wanting to be with someone in-person. Plus, good things do happen when you take the time to slow down. I knew this manga was a hit on Reddit and I can see why.

3.) Sketchy by Makihirochi - A librarian recommended this to me earlier this year around the summer, but the premise of skateboarding didn't appeal to me at first. I later gave the manga a shot after my library put it on their top 2024 book list. I was left very impressed. While this manga is about women trying to find more to life than love/work/school, I saw myself in the main characters due to finding a hobby (mahjong) that got me out there engaging with a world full of fun people not related to the daily grind. Sketchy is a testament to finding hobbies even as an adult and making friends there as those relationships are extremely important in ensuring that you still matter even if you're not respected by mainstream forces.

2.) The Darwin Incident by Shun Umezawa - This is a very clever, action-packed, political thriller. It's my favorite action manga of the year. There's so much social commentary that will greatly appeal to Western readers. What I love about the manga so much are the cliffhangers. I don't remember the last time I was impressed with cliffhangers in a manga. Every plot twist has been executed properly from what I've read. There's also some great lines from a really great cast of characters. I hope this series blows up when the anime comes out.

1.) The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't Really a Guy at All by Sumiko Arai - A manga that has lived up to the hype it got online and in Japan. I love the design. I love the usage of green throughout the manga. I love Mitsuki and Aya. It may not be the most original love story, but I love this manga for bringing me back to the days of '80s/'90s rock music. My adolescence was defined by rock music and I felt that the manga is a love letter to the era I grew up in. Even though I listen to mostly K-Pop, I still listen to rock from time to time. When I see new rock artists bringing back sounds I grew up with for a newer generation, it makes my heart glad. I remember how much music from any era has the power to change people's lives. Music does give hope and courage to those who desperately need it. This year was a year where I finally dwelled back into music and that's why green yuri is my manga hit of the year.

If you haven't noticed, most of the manga I recommended are about relationships. 2024 was a year where I made some new close friends whose bonds I want to nurture. It makes me hopeful about people and those who I will meet in the future. While I can't make friends with everyone, I know how much the people currently in my life mean to me and I wouldn't be here without them.

Hope you enjoyed my list and I'll see you guys in 2025!

[comicaurora]

If you still have Sailor Moon on the brain, did watching it at all give you any options you wish to share about other magical girl esk media you wish existed or your own take on how you would create a story in that media space?

If not, then maybe, if you're inclined to, recount some interesting findings about the connections that exist between shojo and shonen media?

(If neither then please disregard, sorry for imposing)

It was interesting! I was surprised at how much it had in common with shonen action anime. Half the boss battles get resolved with a beam clash and the only difference between Super Saiyan and Neo Queen Serenity is whether the hair or the outfit changes.

The one part I found myself sliding off of - due to personal writing preference - is how Usagi is the defacto center of the universe and everyone else is very explicitly playing support. That's part of why I liked the Outer Senshi so much - because they've all got their own ludicrously OP stuff going on, they feel more like equals to Usagi than glorified bodyguards. The inner planet senshi get their own character arcs, which is excellent, but after a while it's pretty clear that none of them can ever finish a fight without Sailor Moon. And that's fine, that's the pretense of the story - their jobs are very explicitly to protect the turbopowerful demigoddess moon princess while she gets her act together enough to remember she can win - but I prefer writing an ensemble cast where everyone feels like the hero of their own story, not the support in someone else's, and that's pretty much antithetical to the core premise of the show.

It also has a lot of the hallmarks of a soft magic system that I personally struggle with - the old "you win by believing in yourself" thing basically means "you win when the plot demands it would be most interesting for you to win" - but again, they can get away with a lot by letting the actual core premise of the universe's power system be stuff like "a pure heart gives you strength" and "the power of love will legitimately make you more powerful." And I respect that the show doesn't just give people powerups whenever - one of the parts I found most emotionally impactful was in the finale of season 3, when Sailor Saturn is going to fight the big bad all by herself and will 100% definitely die in the process, and because Sailor Moon has sacrificed the season's macguffin, she can no longer transform into her powered-up form to help - which doesn't stop her from screaming the transformation phrase over and over, because she is desperate to save Sailor Saturn even if she's been told it can't possibly work. When she gets her The Most Purest Heart Ever powerup at the last possible second, that feels excellent because it's a profoundly impactful character moment that's being supported by the plot with a tangible powerup. It's pretty telling that we don't even see the final bossfight; it's not about the spectacle or the beam clash, it's about the character arcs that surround them. I think that's a really interesting way to handle it and to add depth to an otherwise basic "whose number is bigger" style struggle.

I'm also deeply fond of paragons, and as the seasons go on I really like how Usagi's ultimately kind personality drives her to constantly help, no matter the personal cost or how aggressively people try to dissuade her - and I like that she gets angry and frustrated and even says or does harsh things sometimes, but will ultimately always do what she thinks is right. It makes her feel like a real human being, and the "weaknesses" and flaws in her character - aka the parts that make her something more complicated than a perfectly stoic problem-solving machine - are a lot of fun to watch.

Personal preference, I'd like to see more magical girl stuff where the central pillar of the plot is not a constant will-they-won't-they het romance - but I also like how Sailor Moon as a series is legitimately aware that this is not actually the de facto most important relationship for everyone. Surprising multitude of gay characters aside, I recently caught a season 2 episode where Makoto donates blood to save a close friend, and explains to Usagi that she isn't in love with him, but they have an incredibly profound friendship that's more important to her than any boyfriend, a concept with startles and confuses Usagi. It seems to be a case where the heroine has a Foundational Romantic Subplot that defines the course of her life and the plot, but the rest of the characters get to have more complicated dynamics where their life goals aren't "omg boys", and I liked that a lot!

When comparing and contrasting it to shonen action anime, I think the magical girl genre manages to integrate the lower-stakes slice of life elements significantly more smoothly, and to great effect - the 90% of the show that's silly and ridiculous makes the 10% of it that's extremely serious and gutwrenching much more impactful. That's something that a lot of shonen series struggle with, where the tone goes from "moderately serious with the occasional goof" to "extremely serious with major character deaths." The magical girl genre going from "the dumbest episode premise you've ever heard" to "extremely serious with major character deaths" is a much more precipitous plunge into icy water, as it were.

When I think about how I would write a magical girl story, I basically just smack into the premise of Exalted. Its worldbuilding has exactly what I want - an interesting system of powerset-reincarnation into worthy hosts that allows for complex interpersonal dynamics through varying levels of memory preservation, several different flavors of magical transforming person including Evil Versions, and the one thing I prioritize in my own writing - a world that feels like it can have a lot of main characters and heroes of their own story. Everyone in Exalted has their own shit going on and their own past-life drama, including former friend groups/adventuring parties, soulmates (both regular and evil versions), and anyone who might've previously killed them. Most importantly for my preferences, there's no default main character of the universe. If I were to make an urban fantasy magical girl setting, I'd probably use an extremely similar premise because I find the ramifications of it unbelievably interesting in a way the system itself is not designed to explore.

[syn4k]

What's Mianite?

Mianite was a Minecraft roleplay series started in 2014 by Tom Syndicate and Tucker II_JERIICHO_II! It had two seasons, the second of which started late in 2015 and ended in 2016, and one spinoff series called Mianitian Isles that started in pandemic-era 2020 and ended sometime in 2022 IIRC. It also featured Jordan CaptainSparklez (yep, that CaptainSparklez) and Sonja OMGItsFirefoxx.

The premise of Mianite is that there are three gods: Mianite, god of order, after whom the series is named after, Dianite, god of chaos, and Ianite, goddess of balance. Each god has a champion (or champions), a player who carries out their will on Earth. A main point of tension present in all three series was that the champions were often caught between the bonds they had with each other and their loyalty to their gods, which made for some really damn good moments in all three series.

If that sounds interesting to you, good news, you can totally jump into this blind! I recommend starting with Jordan CaptainSparklez' POV first, since he's a central figure in s1 and involved in basically all the main plot points in s2. He also edited down his livestreams (the entire series was streamed live on Twitch) into shorter episodes with only the relevant clips sticking around. You can find his s1 playlist here, his s2 playlist here, and his Isles playlist here.

Fair warning: Seasons 1 and 2 but especially 1 are very much products of the time they were made in, and while they're pretty chill, some of the jokes and references made come off as dated and off-color today. The R slur is also dropped a total of like, four times over the span of the two seasons but I thought I'd point it out anyways jic. Season 2 also handles themes of abuse, torture, and is just in general a Little Bit (very) Strange.

is it worth watching it? i don't know. i don't know you. however if you can handle the format and the longevity of it (jordan's s1 and s2 povs combined are 200 episodes long), it tells a pretty damn compelling story about how uhhh [checks notes] divinity is found in the most human of places, how morality is farther from black and white than anything you could possibly imagine, and how and why it's important to pay attention to the way people present information and what motives they may have behind not only how they share it but behind why they might share it at all. it's also a testament to how humans will always find ways to stay silly no matter how serious things get around them. and last but certainly not least mianite is the forerunner of queercoded as FUCK characters interactions etc its just So Very, in more ways than one, All The Time.

but also ive had a raging hyperfixation on it for the past several months so who knows if any of that is accurate lol

good luck and have fun, anon :]

[waitineedaname]

hiiii lily what is this ‘orv’ i have been seeing…..

HIIII MIKE. SMILES. orv is Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint! it's a webnovel with an ongoing webtoon adaption and it is making me Fucking Crazy. basically the premise there's this really unpopular really long webnovel called Three Ways to Survive an Apocalypse, and for years, Kim Dokja has been the only reader. when the novel finally ends, the author sends him an email with the txt file of the whole novel, and then suddenly the novel is wiped from the internet and in that instant, the events of the novel begin taking place in Kim Dokja's world. the apocalypse begins and humanity is subjected to cruel scenarios and challenges livestreamed for the entertainment of these powerful entities called constellations, and as the only one who read the story to its end, Kim Dokja is the only one fully equipped with knowledge of how this story goes (or at least, how it originally went)

it is SO good. it lures you in like "ooh this is a normal reverse isekai" and then ends up being CRAZY. it deals with questions about the boundary between characters and Real People and whether that distinction really matters, and it's one of those stories that looks the audience dead in the eye and dares you to look away first. literary devices are made Real (oh fourth wall we're really in it now...) and it plays with narrative voice and pov and unreliable narration in such fun ways. it is ultimately about the value of stories and the value of being a reader and the choice to wrestle with the story that's been written for you in favor of the story you really want to tell. it's also about Kim Dokja having something Deeply Wrong With Him skdlfjlksdjf the journey i went on with him was "okay he's a reader insert who reads novels as escapism, i get it" -> "oh actually he has something wrong with him" -> "oh he has something Wrong With Him" -> "WHAT. WHAT THE FUCK. HELLO. WHAT WAS THAT." I'm obsessed with him.

I read the webtoon first which I think is a pretty effective onboarding point! some of the art had my jaw on the FLOOR it's so cool. the webtoon has adapted roughly the first third of the whole novel so far, and if you want to read the novel just dm me and I'll hit you up with the epub file lol (not just mike but anyone who is interested!)

[raayllum]

I read say the wind won't change on us at least once a week if I don't I will wither away and die what the HELL have you and burrs done to me

Aww thank you so much! that fic was one @thosefiveadoraburrs and i had a lot of fun writing in spite of the angsty subject matter! also weirdly enough felt like Growth in a lot of ways since one of our first rayllum oneshots 4+ years ago was a "Rayla is sick" fic and this like a much more in-depth follow up, at least in terms of premise?

Getting to weave in other characters (namely Ezran, Nyx, and Ethari) as Rayllum navigates the situation and all the big feelings that come with it was a treat, too, since it's rare to write the latter two overall

Did not, of course, expect any of it let alone 2+ things to have a weird amount of parallels to S5 and S6 though, but very pleased all the same!

“Thank you,” Callum said. “But I haven’t found anything yet. We’d probably have to turn right around and leave the sea entirely—” “Leave the sea?” Ezran repeated more doubtfully. They were more than halfway toward the centre, and that’d taken almost a week. They wouldn’t make it back in time if they turned around now, and they only had one ship.  Nyx raised her hand. “Uh, do you really have time for that kind of detour? Don’t you guys have like, the end of the world to stop?” Callum ground his teeth together. “I don’t care about—Rayla might not have two weeks.” 

She mock-gasped. “Oh no, whatever shall we do? If only we had a mage who could fly places—” Callum chuckled and shook his head at her, leaning in closer. His free hand rested on the railing by her hip. Did this count as flirting, she thought, slightly light-headed? “Y’know, I think I might know a guy.” “Oh we couldn’t get him,” she puttered. “Too busy and in-demand.” “I dunno, I’m pretty good at drawing on connections.” She arched an eyebrow. “Are you now?” “Well yeah.” His big goofy grin softened, his fingers entwining themselves with hers. “Word is there’s this elf girl he’s got a big soft spot for—would do anything for her.”

and it was either very early in the morning or very late at night when the door to the sleeping quarters burst open. She forced her eyes open, ears pricking between laboured breaths, and then nearly let out a sob in relief. “Callum.” [...] “You’re here,” Rayla rasped. 

[xaeyrnofnbe]

mannnn a buffy the vampire slayer / supernatural crossover would be so good idk why the idea isn't more frequently explored online.

like- the shows have a similar premise, with a similar handling of lore. obviously things don't line up exactly, but that works out too, because both also have regular mentions of alternate universes and dimensions! it's perfect!

plus, the core character lineups would mesh pretty well together, and i could really see dean and buffy specifically butting heads to begin with, but eventually really getting along. they'd be able to bounce off one another's quips. and i think xander would also get along with him pretty well.

willow and sam would have a lot in common, too, what with them both being clever nerds who went to the dark side once upon a time.

but overall i just think the scoobies and the winchesters would really click with one another. there are enough parallels and lore similarities that there'd be plenty of common ground, and the characters personalities i feel would have really entertaining chemistry. and they'd all be pretty close in age, which doesn't matter too much, but i think is a neat coincidence,

there are so many ways it could play out, the possibilities are pretty much endless! maybe buffy and co chase a demon through a portal or something, and end up teaming up with the brothers to track it down. or maybe there's some weird convergence of realities, and the two groups run into one another while independently trying to set things right, and they try to brush each other off and take over the case, but have to work together in the end and accept help.

i dunno, i just feel like the way both shows handle characterization, along with their mystery-based formats, would just combine together into a really fun story. a crossover episode of sorts just makes sense, had btvs not ended a few years before spn started

[joe-spookyy]

asks you about american werewolf in london

hoooly shit it’s finally happened. someone asked me The question. thanks anon.

i am now going to try and sell you all on this movie cause i can’t recommend it enough and i think everyone should watch it. so: let me tell you a thing or two about hit 1981 horror comedy an american werewolf in london!!! and this is off the top of my head so if any of it is slightly off numbers wise im sorry. if you like 80s horror, men, queercoding, re-animator, the thing, jaws, saw, the lost boys, or just werewolves in general. hear me out on this one. link included to watch.

The Premise:

fresh off the heels of his cocaine fueled jazz musical masterpiece The Blues Brothers (1980), director john landis decided he was going to cook up the greatest film ever made. and he did. he was actually gonna have john belushi (jake blues) and dan akyroyd (elwood blues and yes the ghostbuster) play the two main characters, david kessler and jack goodman. now, who are these fellas? well i’m so glad you asked. david (played by david naughton) and jack (played by griffin dunne) are two dear pals from new york on a cute little backpacking trip across europe. david's the tall one. he's silly and gleeful to be out and about. jack is the short one. he's very much not gleeful about the fact that they're on the rainy moors and wishes they were in rome. together they find their way to a cute little pub and go inside, looking for hot drinks. the locals do not love this. they also do not love when jack asks them why there's a five pointed star on the wall (since lon chaney and universal studios assert that that's the mark of the wolfman!) it gets awkward. so they leave, with nothing but the warning to stay off the moors, stick to the roads, and beware of the moon. obviously, they do not follow this. wouldn't make for a very interesting movie if they did. and, as i'm sure you've assumed, they encounter a werewolf, leaving jack like this (dead):

and david, who survived the attack, with the curse of the werewolf. but fear not! david is transported to a hospital where he makes a lovely recovery, and jack um. well he stays dead. but he comes back to haunt david! he shows up a few more times in further states of decay to tell david that he really ought to just kill himself so that the curse is broken, jack and all the other werewolf victims can rest in peace, and david won't accidentally maul any additional civilians as a werewolf. hey while we're talking about jack heres me when i dressed up as him at a horror con. and the man himself.

anyways. hijinks ensue, and you're taken on a delightful romp across 97 minutes of fun as david tries to navigate life as... you guessed it. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON!

why it rules:

in my opinion, that's enough to make this movie flames as fuck. but if you're not convinced yet? let me tell you some more. first off. the practical effects on this bad boy are straight up excellent. they're done by my personal favorite vfx artist rick baker (who also worked on star wars, men in black, videodrome, king kong and more!), and he does not hold back. the picture of jack shows how nasty and detailed the wound is pretty well, but in action it's even better with all the nasty fleshy bits dangling and wiggling and eugh. it's gross. but it's so well done. and he does a terrific job showing how jack decays throughout the rest of the movie. but of course, what really matters is the werewolf. it's not called an american dead guy in london. which is good. cause that would be a dumb name for a movie. anyways. if we’re going to talk about the werewolf, we have to start with the iconic transformation scene. sped up.

wow! pretty impressive stuff right? it’s all practical, no cgi, and i think the way it’s almost drawn out and the relative silence of the scene adds to the impact it has, since it sort of forces the audience to sit with and feel just a little bit of the discomfort that david seems to be feeling. we just have to watch him scream in pain and beg for mercy. yeesh. now, the transformation scene is hard to top. but i think the final werewolf design is actually pretty solid. it’s distinctly not man, but it’s also distinctly not wolf. i would include a picture, but i feel like part of the allure of the film is how it (jaws style) doesn’t really let you get a good look at the monster itself until the end of the movie. it’s a great way to build the tension and leave a little bit up to the audience’s interpretation. and the audience will always imagine something way more horrible than you could have ever created. which is kind of beautiful. the first time i watched, i found myself kind of disappointed in the werewolf’s appearance - its face seemed to be stuck in a sort of permanent scowl. i was kind of lost, because i couldn’t imagine why a static face had won out over whatever the vfx team was clearly capable of making. but Oh. dear reader. when nurse alex price, david’s dear love, who cared for him in the hospital, allowed him to live with her, and even banged him, approaches the wolf. when she tells david she loves him. the wolf’s eyes soften. it begins to drop the snarl. see. i lied here’s part of the wolf. all snarly like and scary. before it melts at three simple words from alex. god.

it hits me like a huge truck every single time. rick baker never misses and this movie was certainly not an exception. he got an academy award for it and it was well deserved.

not so into the technical stuff? that’s okay. i have more to praise about this movie. it is one of the best blends of horror and comedy that i’ve ever encountered. although some of it looks a little dated, i do think it maintains its fear factor. it’s plenty gory, and in my humble opinion, the subway scene (you’ll know it when you see it) is one of the most effective bits of horror i’ve ever encountered. even when isolated from the film, it still packs a punch. but i’m not gonna put it here because i want you to just watch it with the rest of the movie. sorry. and on top of the horror, it’s honestly hilarious. if you don’t think seven dead people ganging up on one dude and listing ways he should kill himself in the middle of a porn theater while a porno plays very loudly in the background. well. i don’t know what to tell you. you probably won’t like this movie that much. also, the final needle drop over the credits at the end is so abrupt and so funny. love it.

and of course, being an 80s horror movie with two male leads. i’m sure you can guess what i’m going to say. it is not hard to read jack and david as friends, but it’s also not very difficult to read them as having a little something going on. like love. fellas is it gay to go on a little trip across england with just yoh and your best bro? hard to say. textually, i do think it’s kind of telling that every time jack shows up, it’s either right after or while david is having a heterosexual experience (flirting with alex, banging alex, watching straight porn in the porn theater.) it’s almost like… something other than jack… is haunting david. i dunno. i’m not a cop. but it’s interesting. seems like something the average tumblr user might like to keep an eye on, so i’m letting you know. also they have a conversation while david is completely naked which is like. hello. plus the inherent queerness of the werewolf narrative is something i could talk about for HOURS and was especially prevalent, alongside vampire movies. in the 80s during the aids crisis. my short essay on this ⬇️

also, there’s a classic john landis third act car crash scene, where, in the same vein as the blues brothers, an obscene amount of cars are absolutely demolished.

also also, the muppets make a brief appearance in this movie. this made me jump for joy, because i love the muppets. and you should too.

fun and true facts

still not sold? well, check out this last ditch effort in the form of fun facts. or, if you just want to know more, read on.

micheal jackson was so impressed by the effects in this movie, particularly the transformation scene, that after seeing it, he promptly hired rock baker (vfx guy) and john landis (director guy) to work on the music video for his hit song thriller. you’ve probably seen it, but if not, go watch it. tbh, even if you have seen it before, go watch it again.

david naughton was a doctor pepper spokesman before the filming of this movie. he was in at least a few bits of promotional material, including at least one commercial. unfortunately he lost the job because of the amount of time he spent dick out in this movie. doctor pepper did not want that to be the representation of their brand. cowards, the lot of them.

speaking of his dick, you actually never fully see it at any point in the movie despite the fact that it seems they never felt like telling david to wear pants on set. there is a reason for this! david (character) is jewish and canonically circumcised (dunno how else to put it) and david (actor) is neither of these things. so, to avoid ruining the realism in his. werewolf movie. john landis took great care to never show the whole thing.

the american ambassador who visits david in the hospital is played by frank oz, who also voices miss piggy. because of her brief cameo, he technically plays two different roles in this movie, although miss piggy is simply credited as “Herself” in the end credits of the movie. he also voices yoda which isn’t relevant but it is really funny to me.

see you next wednesday, which is the name of the porno in the movie, is actually a fun john landis easter egg! many of his movies include the phrase “see you next wednesday.” it’s also seen on posters in the subway scene.

in the scene where jack first visits david in the hospital, he was supposed to take a bite of david’s toast, after which it would immediately fall out of his ruined and torn to shreds throat. however, it was cut for being too gross. which is sad i feel like it could have been funny.

when david calls home to talk to his parents, he mentions two siblings: rachel and max. these are the names of the directors children in real life.

griffin dunne, who plays jack, also appears as the family therapist in a season 2 episode of succession. this was a jumpscare.

while they were filming the naked in the zoo scenes, they were unable to actually close the zoo, so when filming carried on past the opening time of the park, they just kept going and allowed butt naked david naughton to run loose around the zoo. they did, however, succeed in closing piccadilly circus for the car crash scene.

in the beginning when jack is being attacked by the werewolf, it was in fact half a wolf prop on the front of a wheelbarrow. this is a very funny vision for me.

jack is right - the five pointed star is considered the mark of the wolfman, according to 1941’s The Wolf Man, played by lon chaney junior and produced by universal pictures. the guy knows his stuff. interestingly, rick baker did the makeup for the 2010 remake of the wolf man as well. he did pretty good, i think.

this isn’t even about this movie but blues brothers is an awesome film too and a fun fact about that one is there was a whole part of the budget devoted to buying cocaine. and you can tell. great movie.

director john landis did in fact kill three people the year after this movie came out. so. i do feel a little bad promoting it because jesus christ. but. no harm no foul in pirating it. it’s one easy internet archive search away. and sometimes it’s on tubi. but just in case, here’s the internet archive link. https://archive.org/details/an-american-werewolf-in-london

so. anyways. please check out this baller ass movie and talk to me about it. thank you so much to whoever asked this. i love you. thanks for reading. bye.

[fimmiest]

I would - huh yunjin x fem!reader

sypnosy: "i’m sorry" why was that so hard to say back then? Now, no matter how much I yell, you can’t hear me.

TW: major character death, suicide, swearing

tags: angst, bandmates au, kinda inspired by the anime 'given'

"jen im not so sure-"

"wait listen to me" you feel her grabbing your hand, yunjin knowing very well the act will grab your attention as she repeats her words again.

"it's not a big deal, you know two of the band members already. we are just needing a temporary singer, and you know you sing really well y/n. it'll be fun, i promise" her thumb was moving softly against your hand.

the premise was you being the singer for yunjin's band. you knew it wasn't something big she always said the band is a hobby, but growing up with yunjin you know how serious and passionate she is about music. how she dedicates her time writing songs and learning how to play new instruments, that side of hers always fascinated you.

as for you, you didn't had the talent like yunjin have with instruments but between karaoke dates you two had, your 'signing in the shower ability' managed to impress yunjin and since then she always compliment you for it.

even if yunjin says it isn't something big, you couldn't help it but to feel hesitant, what if you let her down? if you don't match the energy of the others what will happen?

"babe, hey look at me" your nervous habit of you chewing your lips didn't go unnoticed by yunjin, she gets closer, her warm hands touching your cheeks. "im not saying you have to, i-"

"i accept" you interrupt her "i.. i can be the singer. yeah, i will" your words make the expression of yunjin go to worry to excitement.

"really??" she hugs you tightly after you nod your head "oh my god, woah, im so glad, i swear I'm going to compensate you after" yunjin says and starts to shower your face with kisses "you're the best, thank you" the happiness of her actions makes you believe that you won't regret accepting that offer.

—

"remind me again why are we at the beach in this godly weather" you huff in frustration, hugging yunjin's warm jacket against your body more closely.

yunjin laughs at you and twirls around before answering "you said you never came here before!! it's pretty look at the scenery, like 'woah' right? and it isn't that cold too.." she continues, a shiver of cold running through her body soon after her words.

"jen summer is literally in two month, could've we waited?? you're a menace i swear" you complain again. of course the horizon was pretty, the ocean was calm and the day was near it ending, making the sky get a pretty orange color, but a cold breeze after another makes the beautiful moment ruined to you.

yunjin sudden sneeze makes you frown worried "yeah it is freezing, 'woah' my ass, can we go home now?" she grumbles, rubbing her arms to warm her own self. you roll your eyes at her antics and push her away lightly "dumbass, it was your idea"

"uh-huh, and i'm proud of it. now you won't forget i was the first one who brought you here, even if it was freezing cold." yunjin announces, pointing at herself proudly.

"uhm, i would remember it even better without this cold"

"yeah, you'll definitely forget this"

—

the first practice didn't go as bad as you imagined, the easy going vibe of the girls made you relaxed enough to sing confidently.

yunjin was waiting for your exit and talking to the girls of the band, getting to her side you intertwining your hands with yunjin, the taller girl smiles and press a sweet kiss on your forehead.

"hey we are going to hang out at chaewon house, do you want to go? we usually try to write lyrics but mainly is just because aunt kim cooks really well so we just eat good dinner for free" she explains happily and you see chaewon shaking her head at yunjin's words.

you stare a moment at yunjin who stares back at you confusedly. you take a few steps back pulling yunjing by the hand, just enough to make sure the others wouldn't listen

"yun..didn't we agree in making dinner together at my house today? you who suggested it, as a date"

"oh.." yunjin blinks, thrown off guard by not remembering that. "i mean, we can make it another day, no? like, we will eat for free. effortlessly. can't be better than that right?"

you stay quiet for a moment, a ache in your heart burning. what yunjin didn't knew was that you already had the dinner ready since the morning, excited to try the new recipe you made it ahead of time. but at that moment, you couldn't bring yourself to tell yunjin that.

her name being called by the bandmates pressured you to answer her question, her expectant gaze always making way to convince you of everything.

you sigh internally in defeat, putting a smile that didn't reach your eyes, you agree to yunjin. who didn't press any further and started to make her way towards chaewon's house with you.

—

as a kid yunjin was always full of energy, jumping and running around on the residential playground was her favorite thing to do. even if she was the only kid there, the neighborhood didn't had too many kids, and the ones it had yunjin didn't meet as much since her school had a different schedule.

so when she saw the little you, quietly sitting under a tree, she was surprised. and she was so happy when you agreed to be her friend, her 'pretty friend' she said to you. yunjin still thinks you agreed because of the candy she gave you that day.

growing up, yunjin liked even more to spend time with you. she was older by two years but yunjn admired how you didn't back down with her playful nature, there was a unspoken understanding between you two that by being in each other company was enough to have fun.

when yunjin realized she had fallen in love with you, wanting to be more then just friends. she surpressed it over months, afraid to take the risk and change the dynamic between you two.

when yunjin confessed, you never had seen her looking so different.

she was mixing her words and shifting her feet anxiously, waiting for your answer, she still looked hopeful as ever.

and even if you wanted to deny her and say you didn't felt the same, it was impossible, you didn't want to see her disappointed in you.

you didn't want to see yunjin looking at you the same way your mother looked when you denied something.

you didn't want the treatment you mother gave you that time when you refused something.

you learned from your mother to not deny the older ones, so you couldn't deny yunjin, right?

so as always, you accept yunjin words, and the pretty smile and warm hug yunjin gave you back told you you choose it right.

—

waiting for yunjin to pick you up after class was a common thing for you. it was the perfect time for you two to spend time together and talk about how was the day.

you were specially excited for today because yunjin said she was going to compensate for not being able to spend much time with you recently, you admired how she was focusing between her work and writing new songs to the band since you guys had a performance coming at the end of the month. you understood it all, but why she was so late?

thirty minutes had pass since you texted her to pick you up, two missed calls. when you called again at the third time, after ten seconds and at the last moment, yunjin picked up.

"jen -"

"y/nnie!! babe, heyy." a bunch of loud noises coming from the call made you wince and move the phone away from your ear, distincted loud music and muffled voices could be heard coming from the line.

"where are you yun?.. are you coming to pick me up" the noises coming from yunjin line told you the situation probably wasn't going to happen, but you asked anyway, already chewing on your lips nervously.

"what? i'm.." sudden words could be heard and the audio got muffled for a moment "babygirl hey, sorry for the noises. hm, I.. can we talk later? I'll pass by your apartment, how about that? I'm really sorry to not picking you up today, just called a cab to you by the way. but the boss invited everyone to drink and you know how it goes.. " despite the muffled noises in the background, yunjin sounded more clear this time, a tone in her voice you couldn't catch, but it was enough to reassure you. sighing in defeat you knew you didn't had too much choices, so you agreed in meeting her later.

but when you heard the soft knocks on your door few hours later, a discomfortable feeling took hold in you.

"you could've told me you weren't going to pick me up." you grumble after yunjin move back from the hug, which you barely returned.

"what?"

"you.. didn't answered me and I was there. waiting. for a second I thought something had happen but" you scoff in disbelief "when you picked up you sounded like having fun and.. i just.. can't believe it. was it hard to just text me back for a second?" you finish. sounding bitter and clearly upset, even if your intention wasn't blaming on yunjin, you couldn't help at the bite and accusation in your voice.

for a moment, the apartment became silent. yunjin stared back at you blankly. her expression shifted from confusion to anger as she processed your words.

"you know how I hate to wait for these things yunjin, we've barely seen each other this week. why didn't you just said n-"

"ooh ho, yeah, because just from one minute the princess can't wait, and wants everything by her rules." yunjin bites back, obviously annoyed.

"what?? my rules? i do everything you say yunjin, haven't you noticed? and when I ask for it you-"

"yeah yeah, if you knew how stressed i have been through the week. you have done nothing. if I say to you die for me you certainly wouldn't y/n." you scoff in amusent at yunjin's words, not believing what she just had said.

"go to your house yunjin. I don't want to fight over this" you tried your best to say it confidently but it came out so fragile that you hated yourself because of it. yunjin was about to speak again but instead let out an exasperated sigh and walks away, leaving your apartment. and leaving you with a deafening silence and a emptiness inside.

—

what yunjin didn't know, and unfortunately discovered later. is that you always did what she asked, whatever it was.

she spent the next day feeling incredibly guilty by her action and words, she took out her frustrations all on you and she wanted nothing more than to go back to you, apologize for what she did. trying to call you wasn't working, and the sinking feeling in yunjin's heart grew with each unanswered call.

deciding to take matters into her own hands, she drove to your house, with shaky hands, yunjin opened the front door and stepped into the strangely silent house.

she called out your name, her voice filled with a mixture of fear and hope. here was no response, just a haunting silence that surrounded her.

there didn't seem to have anything out of place, the shoes you always used when going out was untouched by the entrance. scanning around the living room yunjin found nothing but a pair of beer cans scattered around, that she found strange, you didn't usually drink.

as yunjin reached your bedroom door, a sense of dread washed over her. If only she had known that her impulsive behavior would lead to this, she would have chosen her words and actions more carefully.

her eyes scanned the room, seen even more empty alcoholic drinks on the ground, and then yunjin saw you.

hanging lifelessly from the ceiling, your body swaying slightly, as if caught in the final moments of a tragic dance.

the sight struck yunjin like a lightning bolt, freezing her in place. time seemed to stand still as she took in the devastating scene before her.

and yunjin swore, that if she could go back, just for a moment. she would give her all, just to have you again. for a moment, she would have given you everything.

note: music in the sypnosy is "i would by day6". (woah angst so hard to write tbh, lmk if I missed any important tag please) remember to drink water and stay safe guys <3

[the-fallen-blue]

Reading a lot of video game fanfic recently and there's a really interesting, idk, ludonarrative scale that writers exist on.

Like on one end, there's stuff that has no justification in-universe, which is purely for the sake of fun gameplay, but it's acknowledged in-universe. Party size is a big one for this. The idea that the protagonist is trying to save the world, cannot afford to take any risks or lose a single fight, has ten skilled fighters sitting at home base, and still just only ever decides on two to three to take to any conflict, is objectively deranged, and there's seldom if ever anything in any of these universes to actually justify it, even something as slim as "only four guys fit in the shuttle." But a lot of games do, nevertheless, reinforce *in the narrative* that if someone's not with you, they genuinely weren't with you, whether it's BG3's "they literally tell you your party is full and whine about staying in camp" or Inquisition's "woUlD HaVe liKeD To haVE beEn tHeRe" from Blackwall if you bring him a Warden widget at base instead of taking him to find it, or simply the mere fact of approval changes only hitting characters who are present.

And consequently, players (and thus writers) sort of internalize this as Just A Thing That Happens in the universe. 90% of Inquisition fics have the Inquisitor taking three people out into the world with them and leaving the rest at Skyhold for absolutely no reason other than that's what happens in the game, even though the only reason it happens in the game is to make combat for the omniscient omnipotent player fun, something that is not at all real for the actual tired, bloody, mortally threatened characters. And while that is arguably quite silly, it also makes perfect sense. The text of the game literally tells us this is happening, whether it makes tactical or real-world sense or not, so it would be unusual for a writer to write that it wasn't.

But on the other end, there's stuff that is not acknowledged in-universe, stuff with absolutely no rational connection to the narrative at all. The enemies come at the characters in consistent, predictable waves, in numbers that make sense for video games but wouldn't in the real world (a hundred wolves ten yards north of a farm, dozens of space assassins on a remote ten person space station, six of a type of demon used as a trash mob that, in lore, requires dozens of highly trained soldiers to stop only one). The character is subject to an attack that would be both impossible and immediately lethal in the real world and the fantasy world alike, five or six times, because the author is describing the exact attack animation of an enemy move; the character retaliates in an exact description of the flashy physically impossible move bound to the right bumper button. The character finds a ring on a 600-year-old corpse that makes that move 10% more effective numerically when worn, described in a way that just barely obscures that the in-game item has actual literal damage numbers on it.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with this. One should write anywhere along the scale that one desires. If your muse is struck by describing the four implausible conveniently-spaced plant-hangars that Ezio jumps up on his way to climb a trellis in precise detail, if a parkour sequence tickled your id so hard that you had to take it to the page, that is your absolute right, and a lot of your readers will be just as genuinely delighted as you to be like "omg I remember climbing that exact building." The gameplay is part of the story in a video game, and a totally legitimate part of the conversation that we're all having with each other when we read and write fic.

But from a dev perspective, this is a pretty important lesson that the gameplay is part of the story, no matter how sharp or obvious you, the dev who is used to handwaving rings of +10dmg, think the line between mechanics and narrative might be. So, if it is a core premise of the story you're trying to tell that a particular type of demon is a boss fight for a dozen guys, don't make it a trash mob, because to the players who fight six million of the thing over their sixty hours of play, that's the portrayal that will be real. Definitely don't have your characters actively comment about not being present for things in the current game if it will be important for your story in a later game that they have the prestige and knowledge from having been part of the event. And remember, when you add random collectables to weird places, that you have now irrevocably imbued into someone's canon that their Grim Sober Angsty Space Marine is doing weird hops up the side of a light fixture to grab a jar of pink armor paint.

[marley-manson]

what are some of your favorite xena fics?

Thanks for asking! Fair warning, most of these are on old archives and can be hard to read, like, visually. I generally copypaste the fics, convert them to epubs, and read them on my kobo, but firefox reader view is also an excellent option for either laptop or mobile reading. Not sure if chrome has an equivalent.

I will warn for rape and specify the gender configurations (f/f, f/m, or m/f) when I can, because I know that matters to me when I'm choosing what I want to read, but for the fics I haven't read recently it's more of a crapshoot because I just don't remember well enough.

And if you just want my current top faves, I've starred those.

Xena/Gabrielle, fics I've read or re-read recently and remember fairly well:

Aftermath: The Tree of Life and The Hanging Gardens Conqueror AU - imo Gabrielle falls for Xena a little quickly considering how it starts lol, but it's well written, fun, solidly plotty, and the second is a pretty good mystery (though with a caveat for some racialized stereotypes.)

The Paradox of Dying Short glimpse into Gabrielle's state of mind in the later seasons.

*Storms of War A long, plotty, and quite dark exploration of Xena and her relationship with violence. Surprisingly well paced and engaging imo, considering how 600ish pages covers about a week of time. (mentions of m/f rape, past f/m rape)

As Long as Earth Endures Plotty, fun, entertaining OCs, violence and sex as themes (though not really intertwined lol) (mentions of past f/m and f/f rape iirc)

Been There, Done That Revisited Fun one shot set during the eponymous episode.

Confession An angstier take on Xena and Gabrielle's relationship.

Xena/Gabrielle, fics I've read years ago and enjoyed then, but I can't be 100% certain they hold up:

Infamia Conqueror AU, Gab is a gladiator, Xena is Empress of Rome. I actually have re-read about half of it lol but haven't finished it. It's a lot of fun, and the author has a way with words.

Pretium Silenti I plan to re-read this soon, it's another gladiator Gab/Empress of Rome fic, though more dark and serious, and very well written from what I recall. (m/f rape iirc)

Conqueror Series This is a hesitant rec lol because even in 2014 I thought it was very cheesy and tropey in that classic bodice ripper-y way, but like, I honestly had a lot of fun reading it. ymmv of course. (past m/f rape and csa, present f/f sex with a slave that isn't fully acknowledged as rape iirc, past f/f rape. Also warning for some racist tropes, about on par with what we see in the show as far as I recall.)

The Charioteer: In the City of Har and The Amazons of Dahomey I remember thinking these were extremely well written, but I haven't re-read them and I remember very little so I can't warn for any content.

Queen fun pwp

Appetite I remember loving the writing style. Post-finale.

Tarot Conqueror (well, warlord) fic. Fun premise, present day Gabrielle meets a younger, warlording Xena thanks to magic.

Other ships, recent reads:

*The Destiny Series Mostly gen, some het. Conqueror AU but in a very unique way. Focused on Caesar and Gabrielle after Xena has been killed, and it's an excellent depiction of like... everything I want from a good angsty darkfic. Eg the way it could've been hurt/comfort but the hurt character sucks and constantly self-sabotages and the comforter is way out of her depth and stops trying soon enough and they make each other even worse instead. Just about every choice made goes wrong. The world is a miserable, violent mess because three wonderfully, viscerally epic warlording women have been destroying it with their battling. Speaking of, I loooove how this author writes Xena, Callisto, and Najara.

Like the vibes are just immaculate to me <3 (f/m rape)

Payback is Hell Xena/Lao Ma, missing scene

*Equal To the Gods Xena/Gabrielle, Xena/Ares. I've read this twice now and it was an emotional rollercoaster each time, which is rare for me - like, I sobbed for basically the entire last third or so lol. And I'm not usually into poly fic, especially mixed gender, buuuut boy do I love a good trainwreck and this is a novel's worth of well-written, devastating trainwreck. And I do feel that ultimately it's very fair to both ships, despite the author being primarily a Xena/Ares shipper. If you buy into the premise that Xena does love Ares, all the characterization choices work great for me as well.

The Apology A missing scene set between Adventures in the Sin Trade and A Family Affair.

Other ships, old reads:

Among the Tigers and Approach of the Greeks Xena/Lao Ma

The Legacy of Lao Ma Xena/Lao Ma, The Debt from Lao Ma's pov

Aphrodite's Prayer Gabrielle/Aphrodite

The Joining Xena/Ares, I have actually re-read the first two relatively recently, and they're well-written and a good exploration of Xena's heroism versus Ares' job. Gabrielle and her arc gets a lot of focus in the second too. Don't remember the third well though, but I enjoyed it enough to bookmark it.

[phantomwyvern]

Pokes u gently... How developed is the AU you've talked abt where you drag Firth thru a redemption arc? Do u wanna talk abt it. I wanna discuss that little loser. I want him to be in immense pain /silly

YOU GET IT!!! TO THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT BLENDER WITH THAT LITTLE BLUE BASTARD!!

Kay, this does have an outline and dialogue for it so far in my docs and it’s gotten me to pick up comic art again. Under a cut because this got long af. And as always feel free to ask about anything else or even add your thoughts or what you think would be fun for this AU, I’d love to hear them. Also if you see anything in here that strikes you and want to do something with please take it and run with it. Whatever you come up with is bound end up different than mine on some level and I’d love to see what you do with it, universal blessing for plot beat borrowing.

The basic premise is Firth manages to dig himself from under the boot bar, into a New Carcinia that has been launched into a Great Depression because Firth has managed to make the vast majority of trash completely worthless within a matter of hours. You can find pretty much any type of trash you want by just digging around for it in the city now, the value for just about anything that isn’t a building material to them has tanked HARD. And on top of that people going nuts from getting Gunked has went from basically unheard of in the reef to a near daily thing. Crab Raccoon City my guy, Crab Ragoon City if you will.

Pretty much all the trash Firth had saved up as a just in case scenario is completely worthless now, and seeing as he seemed to be a trash reseller of some sort before all this, he no longer really has that as prospect seeing as that’s likely not in very high demand. He’s walking around with injuries both from his fight with Kril and being crushed by a building. His apartment building has been completely destroyed because of the trash island he decided needed to be dumped on top of the city. He has screwed himself and literally everyone else over so fucking bad with his idea and his only saving grace is that he, Kril and (unbeknownst to him) Nemma and Chitan, are the only ones who know he did it so he doesn’t have a whole angry mob after him for this.

Firth is now in the same place of everyone he’s ever thought he was above, and he has no clue what the hell to do about that. But he’s still in denial about any of this being a terrible idea, he thinks this was still a great idea on some level! If only everyone did what he thought they should have done things would have been perfect. He refuses to take responsibility for any of this, and blames everyone else for not acting how he wanted them to for his ideas to work. (It’s not Firth if he isn’t still kind of the worst, and he still has capitalist brain rot really bad. Don’t worry though, this is a redemption AU.)

He eventually runs into an old business partner named Strait. Strait is OC I made specifically for this and he’s very much meant to be a reflection of Firth if Firth was more self aware of just how selfish he was and knew how awful everything was for anyone who wasn’t actively in charge of stuff on some level and just…didn’t care and actively leaned into it.

And Strait, seeing how dire Firth’s situation is decides to take advantage of this. He offers Firth a job that he knows he doesn’t really have any choice but to take, and knows he won’t be able to leave as well with how injured he is and seeing as Firth never really mentions any family or close friends, and to be honest is probably someone who has a hard time asking for help and likely had a pull yourself up by you bootstraps mentality won’t have any help to get out of it. He knows Firth is desperate and a desperate worker is a hard worker and Firth already sees him as a friend so he can also spin this as Firth doing a favor for his friend. Strait sees the power vacuum that Roland left after he disappeared and is gunning to take it over and he’s going to need a lot of people to help him take that place, which in his eyes means to screw a lot of people over, and his old “friend” Firth unfortunately just so happens to be in a very convenient place for him to do so.

Firth begins working for Strait, very much under the impression his friend is actively trying to help him, completely unaware that he’s in no better of a position than everyone who ever worked for Roland was. Every time he sees someone get injured or gunked and he himself gets injured he goes to complain to Strait. Strait who always says he’s going to fix it, but that never happens. Firth waits and waits, watches as more and more people get Gunked and injured, including him when Strait starts sending him to kill the gunked crabs. Crabs that he had gotten to know usually and was sometimes friends with.

Firth’s mental health spirals further and further down until he’s eventually forced to acknowledge that this is just what happens to the people who aren’t on top, this is how you run a financially successful business that doesn’t stop growing. You oil its machinery with blood and cruelty and you can never stop. He doesn’t want do that to other people, doesn’t want others to die and get injured just so he can make money. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but that had been pretty much all he’d done before he’d wound up here. From trying to kill Kril to dumping trash on New Carcinia and getting just about everyone in the city sick. His world view is finally beginning to completely destabilize.

Enter Kril and Chitan, who post canon have become an adventuring bestie duo and are surviving and thriving despite the horrors. Protecting people from the gunked crabs. Kicking the asses of people who are screwing everyone over like Magista and Roland, which is how they hear about Strait.

The decide “Yeah, this guy probably needs his ass kicked, let’s make him regret every single decision that lead him here!” And off they go to storm Strait’s company!

Which is how they finally run into Firth again!

Strait sent Firth to go confront Kril, having already been using him as a sort of living shield up to this point. And Firth is rightfully fucking terrified when he realizes who Strait sent him to try and scare off considering the fact Kril kicked his ass even when had god powers and Kril seems to have gotten only stronger since then. The second Kril lays eyes on him and realizes that Firth survived, he knows he’s screwed beyond belief.

And Kril is pissed to see Firth. That’s not just Firth’s new found fear of him talking. He sees Firth looking to start another fight and jumps in without thinking twice about it.

And Firth is still fucking terrified but he also realizes he’s angry at Kril too. Kril who ruined his whole plan, Kril who broke the Whorl so neither of them could even fix what happened, Kril who who didn’t even have the shucking guts to finish the job and kill him and now he had now choice but to work for Strait with no way out that he could possible see.

What had begun as physical fight that Firth was terrified off descends into a yelling match with Firth blaming Kril for all this because he still refuses to take responsibility for his actions and there consequences and Kril calling him out on every single thing he knows Firth has done. From all the shit he pulled and said on the treasure hunt. To how he stole a magic glowing shell he knew nothing about and dumped trash on everything he’s even known and now the fact he’s blaming Kril for his own stupid and selfish actions. Tells Firth how he’s glad he failed to kill him because it’s only fair that he gets to live through the consequences of said actions along with everyone else.

And this is what finally completely shatters Firths world view. He knows Kril is right, has been thinking how Kril was right about him being selfish since not long after he got to Straits. How he very well could have been the one hurting other people like Strait’s been hurting him and all the other workers here in slightly different circumstances.

Firth finally just crumbles. Like full on sobbing crumbles as all the guilt, stress, grief, fear and anger and accepts the fact Kril is probably finally going to kill him here, thinks he deserves it even, he knew Kril would make it quick. That Kril was still merciful.

And that’s when Kril finally stops looking through his lenses of anger and finally takes a good look at Firth. Realizes just how beaten down and broken he looks. He’s injured, looks like he’s barely been getting anything to eat and Kril swears he sees the early signs of a gunk infection on him.

As much as he’s still upset with Firth he just feels like sort of a bully now. Firth is in no better of a position than all the other crabs here. Kril is stronger and in better shape than him by a long shot and Kril still decided to beat him up. Whether or not he still thought Firth was a complete jerk he didn’t think he deserved this.

So Kril tells Firth to wait right there and that he would be right back.

He goes off to find Chitan who had went ahead to go see if she could get a hold of Strait only to be told that Strait had escaped.

He tells Chitan he wants to help Firth. Chitan is far from enthusiastic seeing as Firth almost let her die because he stole the Whorl and then poisoned the entire city. She kind of wants to just kill Firth and be done with it but she sees Kril is trying to help someone and is willing to help him with that with the caveat that if Firth fucks up too bad and becomes a threat they do away with him.

They begin deciding where they want to take Firth because they don’t know of any family he has and they saw how his last friend went.

And then Kril lands on Moonsnail! Kril knows Moonsnail won’t hurt Firth, y’know probably.

They bring Firth to Moonsnail, not realizing they are about to put Firth with someone who is he is going to hate between Moonsnail narrating his own and everyone else’s actions and the fact Firth is now pretty scared of Umami Magic thanks to the Whorl.

Kril very briefly thinks this might be a bad idea before deciding they don’t have any better ones and there’s a Moonsnail shell right there so he can just come check on them every now and then. Chitan thinks the thought of both Firth and Moonsnail tormenting eachother is entertaining so she isn’t about to start thinking about anything other options either.

Cue the one of the stupidest situations Firth has ever been in. Moonsnail narrates whatever Firth does half the time because he finds it amusing. Firth is still scared of magic but his irritation with Moonsnail far outweighs any fear of him. And he can’t even bring himself to be mad at Kril for this. Kril didn’t have to help him with any of this, especially after all the shit he’s pulled, but he still did and even came by to check on him on a regular basis. Every time he mentally curses Kril for bringing him here he feels bad about it 5 seconds later. Kril still cared about him despite the fact he’d been a complete jerk so he wants to at least try and make him happy rather than do nothing besides complain about his new roommate.

Kril comes by to visit every couple of days, both to talk and check in on them, and honestly he does sort of just find Moonsnail’s and Firth’s interactions funny at this point.

Moonsnail eventually says that he senses some Umami abilities in Firth, gives him the magic awakening zap and tells Firth to try out some combat magic, Firth immediately hates it because it just reminds him of when he had the Whorl. So now he has new abilities he doesn’t even want.

And then one day Kril comes to visit them with a injury that’s a bit to concerning for Firth to just shrug off, because he does care about Kril quite a bit at this point if he’s being honest.

So rather than combat magic Moonsnail tells him to try healing magic instead. And what do you know he has a knack for it.

This is what I have outlined out for the most part. There’s a good chance this is going to get shippy with Kril and Firth and because they make a great enemies to lovers ship and I love something that’s one sided pining before it gets to be two sided and theybalso work really well for that, but they might also just become close friends we’ll see what I’m vibing with more.

Anyways thanks so much for asking about my silly AU, I hope didn’t spring to to much on yall but who am I kidding when I’m on the other side of this situation I’ll usually eat this up.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Have you read "change your mind" by somecaveats?. If so, how oo you think the aftermath might unfold? Like how jason and tim's friends would react. Or how tim new vigilante persona could be.

I have and I really like it! It's a delightful premise and the POV it's written from is really quite charming. In fact I shall give a link to the fic and a wave hello to the author @de-vespertiliones :3

First of all, I think Jason and Tim would have an enormous amount of fun "killing each other off". It's schemes and explosives with relatively low stakes, meaning it's low stress and high creativity and that's just not something either of them get very often! Cherished memories to make :3

I also think they'd definitely continue working together, there's waaaaay too much for them to each adjust to and need to ask each other about to just leave each other alone now that they're getting along ("Jason, why the hell arent any of these painkillers working???" "Oh you're taking like half the dose I usually do, also remember how I mentioned the nerve damage? Yeah you need a whole different set of medications for that shit.")

I do think that although Jason tossed the Red Robin costume once before, he'd keep it this time. Better circumstances and an actual support system will do wonders for a guy's inclination to stick with a thing lol

Probably Lady Shiva would be the first villain to realize that Red Robin was a different person now. Even if Jason could act out knowing her perfectly and knew the context to every comment she could think to make - she trained Tim; she knows him too well and it would be very obvious to her that someone new was in the driver's seat.

I can imagine her coming to try to fight Red Robin for a rematch pretty early on after the switch and making the connection. Then mysteriously disappearing with a note saying that she'll be back once he's finished adjusting to the new body and is properly at his peak fighting abilities. A good fighter is a good fighter after all!

I have absolutely no idea what Tim would go for as to a new identity. Funnily enough I think Jason has a way more to work with here than Tim does. Like, Tim has way more people, way more friends and teammates but like... even the RED bit at the front of Robin didn't stick!

It'd be very funny if he went for Drake again lmao, and I think at least one person would suggest he go for Mr. Sarcastic, but I really don't have any serious answers.

Jason might offer him one of the alternatives he considered during pre-crisis before Dick formally passed on the mantle of Robin? "Since you can't come up with jack shit on your own, here's another one of mine" kinda thing? But that of course requires some way to incorporate those ideas into this timeline.

Wyvern could be quite cool, however, I'm always going to associate that with arrows, since that's what the Wyvern organization in City of Heroes uses. They mixed together the ideas of Batman and Green Arrow into the character Manticore, and Wyvern are his volunteer army of bowmen. Actually that kinda makes it really fit? Still would be weird to me to see any version of that using something that's not a bow tho

No matter what I figure he'd stick with either a bird or something winged

Final thought: They definitely forget to tell someone lmao, like, there's a whole lot of people who'd have a right to know but also a whole lot of people who weren't supposed to know and every time they think they've finally covered giving explanations to all their friends another one pops up going "You did what? With WHO?!" and it is a whole ass production every time

Thank you for ask anon :3 !