#the first 3/4 of the book was so fun! the characters were cool and it was an easy read

[depresseddepot]

the last quarter of city of bones by cassandra clare is. certainly something.

[waterlilyvioletfog]

Rating Scum Villain Characters By How Much I Cheer When I See Them Depicted With Grey Hair

It goes without saying that this list is highly subjective. But it makes me happy! I have not actually seen all these characters with grey hair, i don’t think. Listed ages reflect end of book except where stated otherwise.

Mobei-jun: 2/10. Age: fuck if I know. We’ll say he’s like 39. I understand the whole ice prince aesthetic makes silver/white haired Mobei-jun attractive to some people but I personally think it’s really funny if he just looks absurdly young forever. Assigned youngest child.

Shang Qinghua: 6/10. Age: like 40 or 80 if you count his first life. Shang Qinghua’s perpetual state of total stress is one of his most defining characteristics so grey hair for this character makes sense. Also jives well with his whole sleazy uncle kind of vibe. When paired with above, it can make MBJ look like SQH’s inappropriately younger boyfriend, which is deeply funny to me. Unfortunately, the twinkification of this character in fandom limits my opportunities to experience this kind of joy.

Luo Binghe: 0/10. Age: like 25. It just feels wrong.

Shen Jiu: 8/10. Age: depends, we’ll say 40. If Shen Jiu had grey hair he would dye that shit so fucking fast. Yue Qingyuan would try to re-assure him that oh, shidi, grey hair is nothing to be ashamed about!! And Shen Jiu would be like you stupid fuck it’s clearly caused by my terrible shitty cultivation GET OFF MY FUCKING MOUNTAIN!!!!!!!! But fun fact! It is actually caused by his constant hyper-vigilance, PTSD, and meteoric stress levels. 🙏💚

Ning Yingying: 1/10. Age: also like 25. Gets 1 point for the hilarity of a character named baby ending up prematurely grey.

Ming Fan: 5/10. Age: 27-ish. This kid is so fucking stressed. Obviously this more applies post-jump, not to volume 1!Ming Fan. There is excellent potential here though for every time something happens to Shen Qingqiu, Ming Fan shows up looking greyer and more haggard.

Liu Mingyan: 0/10. Age: like 25. Idk it just doesn’t inspire me.

Sha Hualing: 1/10. Age: also like 25. I was gonna say 0/10 and then i thought about Luo Binghe-wrangling giving her grey hair and her furiously dyeing it black again and I thought it was funny. Sue me.

Gongyi Xiao: 2/10 Age: ??? Dead anyways. See, if the depiction of GYX gives him grey hair, that means he lived long enough to have grey hair 🥺

Yang Yixuan: -10/10 Age: Baby. Reason: Baby.

Tianlang-jun: 10/10. Age: I don’t fucking know, man. Lots of great reasons to give TLJ some greys. # 1, it helps distinguish him visually from Binghe. # 2, appropriate since he is an evil DILF. # 3: my guy got crushed under a mountain for like twenty years I think that entitles him to some grey hair. # 4: I think he’d be completely ridiculous about it. I am imagining him frantically denying he looks his age and demanding Zhuzhi-lang tell him he still looks pretty.

Zhuzhi-lang: 3/10. Age: ?????? On the one hand, ZZL is probably old enough and stressed enough to have grey hair. On the other other hand, his hair is typically depicted as mostly green, partially snakes, so, like, ymmv.

Su Xiyan: 6/10. Age: dead, would probably be in her 40s/50s if she were alive. Look, I cannot deny the appeal of giving some grey hair to the dead dilf mother of all time. Tianlang-jun would also, unfortunately, be staggeringly horny about it.

Mu Qingfang: 7/10. Age: 40s-ish. *Nods approvingly*

Liu Qingge: 4/10. Age: 30-45. Liu Qingge is the assigned baby of the peak lords, so giving him grey hair always feels weird to me. He would look pretty with like a cool silver streak tho. I do also see some appeal to him acquiring grey hair during the five year time skip due to the *hand waves*.

Qi Qingqi: 7/10. Age: 40s-ish. MILF.

Yue Qingyuan: 16/10. Age: 40s-ish. Makes absolutely perfect sense. This is one of the most stressed men alive. He’s very literally the assigned da-ge by the narrative. His cultivation is a total mess because of Xuan Su! Frankly, I’m surprised his hair isn’t totally white by the end of this book! because it would make sense!! within its literary and cultural context from what I know!! Also, it would work with his wardrobe.

Shen Qingqiu: 10/10. Age: 27-ish, technically, except also in his 40s, except also immortal so who really knows. Similar to YQY and TLJ, this makes sense. Shen Qingqiu’s abysmal physical health and terrible mental health are persistent throughout the text, and things like Without A Cure and the widow arc are perfect excuses for SQQ to have grey hair. It makes him look older, which is fun in SQQ’s context for a variety of reasons, including the fact that LBH would find it hot. Elegant, Beautiful, Graceful, Scholarly Qing Jing Peak Lord Shen having grey hair is a beautiful thing indeed 💚

[maxdibert]

Hi! Could you tell me your top 5 least favorite Harry Potter characters and why?

My 5 most hated characters in Harry Potter are:

5 - Molly Weasley: I can’t stand this woman. I can’t stand how she acts like a morally superior, pure-blood yet holds endless prejudices, especially (and mostly) toward other, younger women. I don’t like her tradwife vibe, and I don’t like how overbearing and suffocating she is. Seriously, in real life, I’d feel the urge to tell her off—she’s that typical annoying woman who doesn’t know where the boundaries are.

4 - Remus Lupin: Zero sympathy for a man almost forty who got a 24-year-old girl pregnant and then abandoned her. Remus Lupin is a coward and a piece of trash, a bullying accomplice who keeps his head down regarding his own actions and needs a 17-year-old to teach him a lesson in manhood. I really wish Tonks had left him and taken off with Teddy to get as far away as possible from that pathetic excuse for a person.

3 - Dumbledore: Starting with the fact that the entire problem of the story basically stems from his irresponsibility with Tom Riddle, which already showed that he was a terrible teacher. He only shows concern for students who can serve his purposes or suck up to him, and his involvement throughout the story shows a moral stance I find nauseating. I mean, he’s a guy who has the nerve to lecture his former students who “chose the wrong path,” but when those same students were under his care, he constantly neglected and rejected them just because they didn’t belong to a certain house. He had the audacity to call Severus Snape “miserable” when it was Dumbledore himself who allowed Snape to be bullied and almost killed without lifting a finger to stop it or punish the bullies. This same Dumbledore scolds Draco Malfoy for not trusting him when from Draco’s first day at Hogwarts, all he saw from the old man was favoritism toward a certain house and certain students, completely ignoring the rest. Honestly, I’d have banned him from teaching. There’s a lot said about Snape as a teacher, but Dumbledore was responsible for everything, allowed terrible things to happen, and turned his back on many vulnerable children and teenagers. Then he acted all surprised when they ended up in bad places. Screw him, hypocritical old man.

2 - Ginny Weasley: The “I’m not like other girls,” the “shut up, Hermione, you don’t know anything about Quidditch,” the “everyone look at me, I hex people, I’m one of the boys, I’m not vain but I’m hot, but I’m not prissy,” the “I make fun of girls who are pretty, flirty, and feminine because I’m a textbook pick-me girl” who is shoved into the end of the series. She’s a character who didn’t matter at all throughout the story; she’s barely mentioned in some books, but suddenly she’s Harry’s love interest because J.K. Rowling needed all her characters to end up married with 468749284 kids, and Harry needed to be part of the Weasley family. So, they had to do something. Ginny is a terrible character, going from irrelevant to some sort of Mary Sue who even the Slytherins drool over and who, of course, is not a “typical girl” because being a “typical girl” in Rowling’s world is somehow the original sin. So, she’s great at sports, hexes people, pulls pranks because she’s so cool, uh uh uh, she’s not like the others, uh uh uh, but she has internalized misogyny that you can smell from here to China. Honestly, someone should have slapped her for being so damn stupid.

1 - James Potter: There’s nothing I haven’t already said about James Potter. He’s a character who really grinds my gears because they try to sell him as some kind of hero, but he was just a spoiled rich kid who decided to torment a poor, vulnerable boy simply because that boy was friends with his crush. He used his social power and status to get away with all the crap he pulled, attacked in groups, lied to his girlfriend saying he’d stopped bullying people when he really hadn’t, and when he was supposed to be locked up in a house with his wife and son, he was off fooling around with his best friend. James Potter was an ass, and defending him is defending classism, elitism, and whitewashing social classes. I’m not going to explain why.

[erlie]

M/M Books part 4

This might be the last. Or not!

River of Teeth -series by Sarah Gailey Taste of Marrow

Alternative universe American wild west where hippos were introduced as a alternative cattle. Very fun two novellas with some great queer romance on the side. Not smutty.

Death and Devil -series by L.J. Hayward Where Death Meets the Devil

A secret agent meets a contract killer and by god are there trust issues and double crosses. Very steamy, high action romp with lots of cool characters. And sugar babies. But not like that. I haven't read the entire series but the once I have read have been good to solid. Very spicy.

The Tarot Sequence -series by K.D. Edwards The Last Sun Atlantis was destroyed and it was moved to Nantucket (if I rightly recall) and it is ruled by the Major Arcana. This is such a great read, the setting is fun and the magic the characters use is so interesting! Comes with some warnings of sexual assault, but nothing is on page. Lightly spicy.

Middle of Somewhere -series by Roan Parrish Out of Nowhere I only read the first and the second book. The first one is okay, it is steamy, romantic, everything you need from this type of book. But the second one will tear your heart out, stomp on it and throw it into a river. In the best possible way. With happy ending. Very spicy!

The Other Guy by Cary Attwell Its been eons since I read this but I adored it. It tells a rarely told story of a man who gets left on the altar when the movie heroine gets together with her childhood sweetheart. And then the groom goes to the honeymoon trip alone and finds new things about himself. Little spicy, if I remember right.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

[khristie16]

Blindfolded Desires

about: Charles can't resist you any longer, and your party takes an unexpected turn into a dark closet warnings: cnc, fingering, humiliation, tie up Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

“WHAT??!!” You watched your best friend with a mix of confusion and embarrassment. You never thought those feelings could coexist, but they did. After yesterday's fiasco, you bid farewell to Nicole and headed back to your dorm. Your plan? Forget about everything, bury your nose in books, and let your problems sort themselves out.

“I’m sorry YN. He really had his eyes open. And you looked so… eager. It was weird to look at that.”

Frustrated, you sat on the couch in your shared room, holding your head in your hands. This situation was worse than you could have imagined. Your arch-nemesis had left you feeling eager for him while he remained unbothered.

“It was a setup. He did it to make fun of me again!” You reclined on the couch, gazing up at the ceiling, searching for solace.

Realizing it was nearly time for your first class, you hastily reached for your phone. “I'm so sorry, YN. I'll never ask you to come to another one of these ridiculous parties with me,” Nicole said.

You exhaled, torn between frustration and laughter, feeling like a complete mess. “Yeah, I'm never going near him again.” However, it seemed your worst enemy had different plans.

As you walked down the corridor, your gaze fixed on the ground as you passed strangers, someone unexpectedly grabbed your attention.

“Hey,” a guy said in a high-pitched voice, nearly causing you to back away. You tried to place his face as he stood there smiling at you. He seemed familiar.

“I’m Stephan. I was at the party yesterday.” Perplexed, you kept your cool and replied with chilly reserve,

“Oh, hi.” You expected the worst, but his next words caught you off guard.

“I'm sorry for yesterday. My cousin can be a pain in the ass sometimes.” Scrutinising the differences between them, you scrunched your eyebrows. They didn't look alike.

Seemingly attuned to your thoughts, he smiled and said, “Yeah, I know.”

Your tension eased a bit, and you sighed quietly. “Yeah, sorry, but I have a class in a minute, so I've got to go.”

You tried to sound apologetic and gave him a simple smile. You appeared reserved, not unfriendly. “Yeah, sorry. I could catch up with you later, if you don't mind,” he said shyly. You just smiled and waved before continuing on your way.

As you turned the corner, you overheard a deep, slightly angry voice that you didn't want to hear. You hadn't encountered him at school until now, but things were different. He either had a strange interest in you or wanted to make fun of you again, and you weren't sure which was worse.

“Getting your claws into another virgin?” You abruptly confronted him, staring into his eyes. “One more word, Leclerc, and I'll teach you not to mess with me.”

He laughed, his dimples deepening. “Yeah, you're going to teach me how to fuck?” “Maybe,” you retorted, “because those bimbos you have can't tell you that you pretty much suck at it.”

His expression darkened, and he contemplated grabbing you by the neck, but instead, he stood taller and spoke from above.

“Careful, jolie. You should watch your mouth.” Your gaze flared with anger as both of you breathed heavily. A sudden clap of thunder broke the tension between you and Charles as you walked away, leaving your scent behind, something he longed to bathe in.

A few days passed, and you were preparing for another party, a Halloween one. You didn't want to dress provocatively, so you considered going as the Grinch. However, your best friend Nicole disapproved, saying, “You cannot be serious.” Rolling your eyes, you explained that you had no interest in showing off your body just because everyone else did. Nicole understood but suggested you choose a different character or actor to dress up as.

The next evening, you walked beside Nicole and her boyfriend, all dressed up as you reached the main entrance of a big hall where the music resonated through the walls. At that moment, you were second-guessing your decision to attend the party.

“Oh, come on, YN, you'll have fun,” Nicole assured you. She was right; you just didn't know it yet.

“Pulp Fiction?” You turned to see Stephen, and you smiled and nodded as you observed his Dracula costume.

“You know, I almost thought I wouldn't see you tonight.” You chuckled in response and began to pour yourself a drink. Stephen promptly took your cup, saying he would do it. You appreciated the gesture and decided to strike up a conversation.

“Do you like Halloween?” you asked. “Not necessarily, but Charles wants me to socialize.”

As you talked, you felt someone's touch on your shoulder. “Nice outfit,” Charles said. You eyed him with arrogance, and he asked if you thought he was a CEO. "007," he clarified. You nodded, unimpressed, and turned away to go to the restroom.

“Wait,” he said, his hand on your bare arm, making you feel a burning sensation. “Dance with me.” You burst into laughter, “Go bully someone else.”

A few hours passed, and the alcohol had definitely taken its toll. The room spun as you danced on the parquet floor with strangers, having lost sight of Nicole in the crowded venue. Numerous hands grasped at your waist, shifting around depending on opportunity. You were lost in the music, feeling it pulse through your entire body.

Suddenly, the music came to an abrupt stop, and you snapped back to sobriety in an instant. You quickly pulled away from the hands that had been holding you and made your way toward the exit. But as you approached it, something or someone grabbed you, and darkness enveloped your vision. And a hot body against you.

Your wrists were swiftly bound, and the sensation of a cold wall against your cheek intensified as the mysterious person spun you around. He held you firmly by your hair, and the pulsating music from outside surged back to full volume. His fingers trailed down your spine, gripping your buttocks with a determined force that caused a slight discomfort.

With a calculated move, he used his foot to part your legs and he went lower with his fingers to your core. He acted without hesitation, as if he were determined not to waste a single moment with you. He massaged your bud and you responded in arching your back toward his tight hot body. His skillful touch conveyed an intimate bliss of your desires, making you unable to contain your moans. He leaned in closer to capture every sound from your mouth and increased the pace of his movements. You were soaking wet it was all over his hand and getting down your thighs. The combination of alcohol and overwhelming sensations left you unable to think rationally. When he began to caress your breasts, you lost all control and climaxed, releasing your pleasure over his hand. All you could hear from him was a loud groan. As he helped you remove the belt from your wrists, he spoke to you,

“Desperate for my fingers as well, huh?” In that moment, you felt as if you could vanish into the ground, fully realizing the intensity of the situation.

[cupcakeslushie]

Hi there, I love your stuff, I hope you don't mind but I wanted to do an ask the artist

Where are you from?

What's your favorite color?

How long have you been creating art for?

What drives you to make art?

What is your favorite piece of artwork of yours?

What is your favorite fan artwork that was done for you?

What character of yours is your favorite?

If you could go to any fictional world which one would it be?

Do you consider what will please your audience or do you just do your own thing?

What made you want to start your AU?

1. American! Southern girl, specifically.

2. You’d think it would be green with how it’s been my hair color for three years, and I’ve made it my signature on here, but it’s actually yellow! Like the really saturated, sunny kind! 💛

3. Oh lord. Um, since like 1st or 2nd grade.

4. I never really thought about it. I think I’m just a visual person. So if I have an idea, I need to get it on paper to really see it. I’m the same with movies, especially adaptations. I could never picture characters by reading them in books very well, but seeing them in movies I’m like, “oh okay, now I see what they were going for!” It’s also just fun. It’s my own story-telling method.

5. Fav piece of anything I’ve ever made would be one of my stained glass pieces, like my lemon one, that took me three weeks, and was one of my first bigger pieces. Digitally it would probably be my most recent dtiys cause I just don’t like looking at my older stuff.

6. Noooo!! I have so many, especially recently, that I’ve been gifted! I can’t choose just one!!! Seriously! I love everything I’ve ever been sent! I will say, I’ve been gifted a few fan fictions by now, that have had me like, mind blown—just because writing is such a thing that I’ve always admired and never really been able to fully grasp. If you’ve sent me art, it’s more than likely been my phone or iPad wallpaper, and if you’ve sent me fanfiction, I’ve probably read it no less than five times, and will continue to go back to it.

7. I mean, it’s Donnie. It’s pretty clearly Donnie. I try and be fair and love all the boys equally, but I’m not gonna lie, you all know it. It’s obvious. Just know, I’ll never ignore the others story wise 😜. But Donnie gets the most of my attention and my evil creative plots 😈.

8. Any world ever? Probably Fullmetal Alchemist—if I could actually be an alchemist. I mean, like come on—how cool is that? And like, yeah, you’ve got Father and the homucuous running around, but for the most part, the world is pretty chill and has the coolest rules.

9. The main chunks of my stories are really just what I want to see, but sometimes I can hear a suggestion and think about changing the trajectory of things. I’m always open to ideas, especially if I’m stumped on how it should go. I even change my opinions on the things I’ve established myself, I’m very open to changing a story if a better idea comes to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been like, scared to tell something because I think someone wouldn’t like it. If they don’t, that’s fine, not everything is for everyone, and some things only click with a few people. If I really want to tell a story, then I’m going to tell it.

10. It’s really so funny, because at the time, I was working on this short, post-movie aftermath comic about Leo learning to find a healthy middle ground between being the silly guy and a serious leader. But I was having trouble with the next part, so I decided to watch Arcane and doodle. I posted that little concept sheet, and it feels like…within days my inbox was full with people wanting to know more, and the more I answered, the more I was like, wait I wanna actually explore this. Tbh pretty much all my AUs have started this way. With just an idea jotted down, and then turning into something I couldn’t stop developing.

[febuwhump]

febuwhump 2024 survey results

has it been six months since febuwhump? yes. yes it has. nevertheless, here's the cold hard data (analysis) of the survey from febuwhump 2024: feb five.

firstly, this year was our most popular yet! with 1417 works in the official collection across 329 fandoms, we made (and shared) 103 fics more than 2023, and 770 more than my first year running febuwhump in 2021! this isnt even including all the art and fics posted to tumblr, or wasn't shared during the event, which would put our total so much higher!

the prompt list had 4000+ notes and i received 115 responses to the survey.

there were 62 people in the hall of fame, up from 51 in 2023.

the blog hit 2,683 followers, up from 1,946 at the end of the 2023 event.

across two independant check, based on the average word count of 2,000 words per fic in the 2024 collection, and aware of the multi-chapter fics (some of which were finished after the event), it is estimated that 2.8 million words were written for febuwhump 2024. which is just. fucking insane.

now, onto the survey results!

firstly: in what way did you participate in Febuwhump this year?

with extra write-ins not pictured, fanfiction was the overwhelming winner with 92 responses (82.6%), followed by original fiction (22.6%) and artwork (11.3%). interesting to me personally is the 4 responses who wrote poetry and the not-pictured 1 response who created web-weaving! which is very cool and i would like to see it.

fandoms

according to the survey:

the most popular fandoms written for were the star wars universe and legend of zelda universe (8/115 responses)

21 responses included original fiction

the majority of responses also referenced more than one fandom, meaning less people stuck to a single fandom or topic the entire time.

according to the collection:

21 anime/manga fandoms were represented

51 books/literature fandoms were represented, 12 being specific star wars subseries

24 RPF fandoms were represented, including bands and minecraft servers

the most popular fandoms written about in the collection were:

star wars (all media types) - 253 works

star wars: the bad batch - 80 works

torchwood - 66 works

original work - 56 works

my hero academia - 54 works

why and how

next, there were a lot of really lovely responses about why participants took part in febuwhump, a few favourite and repeated responses being that it seemed fun, they'd done it before and so wanted to do it again, and they liked to write about their favourite characters suffering. also, multiple people have been doing it for three of the four years i've been running it (of five total), and several were encouraged by friends!

the majority of participants discovered febuwhump through tumblr, the admin's tumblr, ao3 fics and discord servers. a handful said there's apparently a google doc floating around that houses a whump event calendar. i would be interested in seeing that if anyone's got it.

did you participate in Febuwhump 2020, 21, 22 or 23?

the majorty of respondants were new comers to febuwhump at 66.1% "no" to 33.9% "yes". the majority of comparisons to previous years referenced a noticably bigger community, more interaction on the blog, and the admin being more "confident" (oh, you guys), however several noted that the prompts felt more repetitive or samey this year than they did previously.

are you a Febuwhump completionist or participant?

a fairly even split, 51.3% of participants didn't finish compared to the 48.7% who did. however, only 88.1% of those completionists submitted to the hall of fame.

for those who didn't complete, the most common amount of prompts completed was 2 (13.6%), 3 (11.9%) and 12 or 6 (6.8%).

the most common place to share prompt fills was tumblr (74.8%), ao3 (72.2%), or choosing not to share at all (7%). several write-in responses said that they were planning to share in the future but hadn't yet. and while 76.4% of people submitted to the ao3 collection, those who didn't claimed it to be because the fics weren't ready to be shared on time, they weren't following the rules so didn't add to the collection, an inability to find the collection on ao3 (i swear i'm working on it) or shyness/fear.

what went well/even better if:

the only actual criticsm of the event received was that the blog was posting in a "spam"-like way, to the point that the participant almost unfollowed (and another suggested a reblog tag so it could be ignored easier if people didn't want to see the works throughout the month).

several comments asked for a later deadline for submission to the collection/hall of fame, which is going under advisement, but the current position is that by doing so, it makes the event a different event. there are no stakes to actually create once a day if, at the end of it, you actually get 2 weeks of extra time.

another couple mentioned there being too many dialogue prompts and vague prompts. this will be considered during the next voting period and prompt collation - potentially, if i allowed less dialogue prompts into the final 100 vote, less would make it through to the official 28, however the voting itself is out of my hands (unless voter fraud occurs once again).

the main suggestion for improvement (8 times out of 44 suggestions) was for an additional mod to help with reblogging more. (which imo flies in the face of the "spamming" from earlier, but there is surely a middle ground). this is likely to not happen, because i like running the event alone, despite the major burnout i receive every single year without fail. but thanks for your concern lol.

on discord:

31.3% of participants were in the discord server (which, this year, ignored the first year's 100 user cap and had 172 total users).

43.6% of people who didn't join the server did so because they hadn't heard of it, while the majority didn't join because they were either shy (the minorty) or don't use/like discord (the vast majority). i don't know if tumblr still does groupchats and if that would be a viable alternative, or if there is another forum/chat location that would work better (or to have in tandem), but i am open to suggestions.

of the people who were in the channel, most (33.3%) used it "rarely", followed by "most days" (25%) and "for half the month" (22.2%)

febuwhump 2025

the majority of responses wanted next year's colour scheme to either be red or green, but shout out to everyone who wanted orange, the person who said "children's hospital" and the other person who gave me this specific hex code: #4BEC13

which is vile, but also another vote for green.

finally, here are my favourite suggestions for febuwhump 2025's colloquial name. previously, we have endured febuwhump 2: electric boogaloo, febuwhump 3: tokyo drift, fourbuwhump and feb five.

febuwhump 6 suggestions:

fe6uwhump (which, i'll be honest, is a real contender)

"I don't know"

febuwhump 666

febuwhump: revenge of the sixth

"I don't know, sorry"

"febuwhump sex and make all the prompts kinky"

"??? i have been thinking about this for 10 mins"

febuwhump 6(9)

feBEEwhump

"i am bad at this"

"could not care less"

febuwhump feb five 2: electric boogaloo

apparently, i accidently made this a mandatory question and that made some of you mad :(

and that's the wrap up survey, six months late! any questions/queries/want to see some of that cold hard data? send me an ask. i'll actually respond to it i swear! (probably!)

[cosmerelists]

What Happens When You Read Stormlight Archive first...

Personally, I ignored all of the “reading order” advice and chose Way of Kings as my very first Sanderson book. No regrets, to be honest! But from personal experience, here is what happens when your first stop in the Cosmere is the Stormlight Archive.

[Spoilers for Mistborn & Stormlight Archive & Warbreaker]

1. You don’t know who Hoid is

At first, Wit was just another character to me. Then the hints that he was, like, immortal or super old or some sort of god kept piling up. When Dalinar asked Wit if he was a Herald, I thought, “Ah ha! I was right!”

I was not right.

2. You don’t recognize any Worldhoppers

Zahel was just a grumpy guy who could do weird things with laundry. Azure was cool but I didn’t understand why she just sort of left the plot at one point. When people were called “oddly short” by Roshar standards, it meant nothing to me.

3. You don’t recognize non-Roshar magic

Seriously, that laundry scene with Zahel made NO SENSE to me. And when Hoid used non-Roshar powers, I just figured it was, like, some sort of bard thing.

4. You get very impatient with the interludes

I didn’t want my world to be expanded or to understand the nuances of spren or fabrials. I just wanted to get back to Kaladin! I remember being completely baffled by that one interlude where three men I didn’t know where looking for some dude with white hair and a narrow face. 

It was definitely only on a reread that I appreciated them. 

5. The big reveals are lost on you at first

When Szeth’s sword asked if he wanted to destroy some evil today, I thought, “Huh! Neat!” When Ialai namedropped Scadrial, I thought it was probably a person. And when Thaidakar was revealed as the Lord of Scars, I don’t think I even noticed really? I was too busy weeping as I tried to remember the difference between Thaidakar and Restares. 

6. You buy into the Shallan-Adolin-Kaladin love triangle

Honestly, I wasn’t sure which way it would turn out! Would Shallan leave Adolin for Kaladin? It felt so plausible! I had not yet learned the ironclad rule that all arranged marriages in a Sanderson book will be successful. By the time I got to Warbreaker, I was like, “Oh, Siri is being married against her will to the evil, tyrannical god-king? I guess they’ll get along!” And I was right.

7. The magic system feels like so much

I was hanging on by a thread trying to keep straight Surgebinding and Honorblades and Shardblades and whatever Hoid had going on. Not to mention fabrials. By the time I got to Mistborn, it was like, “Three completely independent magic systems that depend on their own rules and can interact? Yeah! I can handle that!”

8. You want to read them all

For me, starting with Stormlight Archive was best! I loved it so much that I was suddenly wanting to read everything Sanderson wrote. Plus, the backwards reveals were pretty fun. Oh, you’re dead, are you, Kelsier? That’s not what Book 4 of Stormlight says...

And hey! Crazy how the King’s Wit keeps showing up!

[ginaluvr]

rating the changes between tmr book and movie

anyone who read the books first knows that the movie trilogy ended up telling a completely different story. i've been a big fan of the books forever so i thought i'd rate the significant changes made in the first one since it's generally the same plot. scale is 0-5 with 5 being good change.

the gladers initially not remembering their names: 3/5. maybe it was done to raise the stakes and make it more disorienting.

there are no real buildings in the glade: 1/5. this implies they had to start completely from scratch when they first arrived, which makes the maze seem like a test of survival rather than willpower and psychology.

leading on from that... the maze is actually outdoors: 0/5. you're telling me they had rain and lots of greenery in an outdoor structure in a desert climate? and the gladers had no real shelter provided? it also makes the test of their determination less powerful, because in the books, the maze was an indoor structure. the fact that they could technically climb the walls and see the outside world in the movies removes some of hopelessness and frustration for me.

ben is a runner: 4/5. makes sense! especially since we never learned how he got stung as a builder in the books.

the gladers are allowed to have a bit of fun: 5/5. i love the bonfire scene. i think it's a realistic change that a bunch of teenage boys would want to let loose every now and then.

they were there 3 years instead of 2: 4/5. i mean, sure.

no one has ever seen a griever before and survived: 0/5. makes no sense at all because the gladers are aware of the changing as a process! if no one has ever survived encountering a griever, where did they get this precedent from? how did they recognise that ben was stung? perhaps this info was just newt being dramatic since it comes from his dialogue.

they don't have grief serum until teresa arrives: 1/5. again, doesn't make sense. the changing being a process they're familiar with which brings back memories after they get the serum is entirely destroyed in the movie. this is the catalyst for a lot of the events in the book and it loses all its function.

several of the characters are different in personality: varies. thomas is more typically 'cool' in the movie and less curious and, to put it bluntly, less annoying. i don't like this change much, his constant curiosity and eagerness to learn and discover was a huge part of who he was in the books (if you know mbti, all i have to say is he was an INTP in the books and an ISTP in the movies). then we have minho, who was way less brash, hot headed, and reckless in the movies (he was also made into an ISTP while he was an ESTP in the books). i think alby is a bit different. i like both portrayals of alby, but i think he seemed nicer and more chill in the movie, probably just because the actor was very charismatic. this works because he can easily be charismatic as a leader. but him also being a stressed out kid with too much responsibility in the books, leading to him lashing out more and being less calm and collected, makes sense! gally is a bit nicer, actually rational at times, in the movie. he's also not, like, pathetic and embarrassingly petty. these are all traits in the book which emphasise the fact that he's a scared kid, so this also isn't my favorite change ever.

thomas gets memories back in his dreams: 1/5. unnecessary and completely removes the high stakes of him having no recollection of his involvement with WICKED.

minho doesn't find a dead griever: 3/5. at least they still accounted for why alby had to go into the maze. i still wish they did it.

alby was alone in the glade for a whole month: 1/5. it is not logical that someone would be able to run a whole farm and build shelter all alone at 15 years old without any help. it also doesn't make sense that he wouldn't have gotten killed in the maze on accident.

teresa doesn't come up one day after thomas: 2/5. i guess it doesn't really matter, but this is just one element of the timeline being quite different that wasn't necessary to change.

minho helps thomas save alby in the maze: 0/5. this is thomas's first big act of heroism and the thing that makes minho respect him. they should've kept thomas doing it alone.

the grievers are completely different: 2/5. i understand that this is probably a design issue for the movie, but the book concept of the grievers is better.

the maze is completely different: 1/5. i don't like the movie maze... why is it a circle. the idea of the 8 square sections that are repeating and consistent makes the maze so much more frustrating and bewildering! also that part in the movie where the walls start to fall and the floors come up... why. there's also no code hidden in the walls, which was a very cool element.

no cliff/griever hole: 2/5. not terrible because this would be hard to show on screen. but the fact that instead, in the movie, there is just a visible section that the runners never found before is a bit unrealistic.

gally never went through the changing: 0/5. gally's hatred for thomas in the movie is baseless, while in the book it's clearly about suspicion and fear. he's an understandable antagonist in the book.

thomas and teresa don't have telepathy: 3/5. would've been hard to portray on screen. takes away from the depth of their connection, however.

the gladers give up too easily: 0/5. this one bothers me! when all the other runners in the movie randomly quit their jobs. the whole point in the books is that they'd never do that.

thomas is looked to as a leader: 0/5. when he starts giving orders in the movie and leads the charge into the maze.... ughhh. again i think they tried to make him a more cool and admirable protagonist, but i think a big part of the books is that thomas never saw himself as particularly special, or a leader. he couldn't have done anything he did without minho's, newt's, alby's, teresa's etc skill, authority, support. they were a team and a family. instead, in the movie, they start to follow him without question when he was barely there five days.

the grievers don't only kill 1 glader per night: 2/5. adds tension but also takes away from the fact that the maze again wasn't a test of survival.

alby's and chuck's deaths were essentially swapped: 0/5. i really dislike this change. they took away the fact that alby's fear changed him, and that his last act was both selfless and scared. in the movie he just died on accident. then i think chuck actually chose to sacrifice himself in the movie, when in the books he was forced to as a variable by WICKED. this absolutely takes away from the utter pointlessness of chuck's death, and it's also ooc for a scared 12 year old to choose to die when he so badly wanted to escape.

thomas had no real reason to sting himself: 0/5. he already had memories coming back in dreams and they already believed they had found an escape in the maze. he literally had no reason to go through the changing in the movie and it's a bit overdramatic for no reason.

people take gally seriously as a leader: 2/5. this only happened because alby got killed off early in the movie.

this is one of my least favorite changes so i saved it for last. nalby erasure: 0/5. the movies definitely take away that alby was newt's best friend and the person he cared for and protected most. likewise, in the books, thomas's favorite and most prioritised glader (along with teresa) was actually always minho. although thominho wasn't erased as much in the movies, the fact that those two pairings were the strongest bonds we ever got between the boys in the books isn't really there in the movies. i think the movies allowed people to forget that newt being canonly gay actually means alby is his most likely love interest!

[dollishmehrayan]

GET TO KNOW ME Q & A BY DOLLISH ── .✦

a/n: this is just mundane facts about me for hitting 500 followers under ONE MONTH!? So yeah this is a post! <3

Hii! So tysm for 500 followers so let me greet myself to you!, my name is rayan/rayaan (pronounced ri-yaan) and you can call me riri or dollish and my pronouns are she/her (I’m biologically a girl so it’s she and her for me always please don’t misgender me) so here are some fun questions I thought to answer!!! (I’ll be editing in questions you guys ask <3) ── .✦

ᥫ᭡ ASKED QUESTIONS ── .✦

1. ‘How did you get the name dollish’ - I got the name dollish actually when I was about 2-3 years old because i was slightly chubby and my neighbors always called me a “porcelain doll” and how I acted doll-like until they named me “dollish” because it was childish + doll combined and 80% of the ppl irl call me dollish

2. ‘Where have you learned writing? Like where have you learned writing.’ - I learned writing like as in being a writer because originally I wanted to be a actual author and illustrator (still do) and I had a BIG passion for writing ever since I was a kid and was learning sight words even though English is not my first language!

3. ‘Why do you not write smut or n$fw?? I see other writers doing it fine.’ - I personally when it comes to topics such as smut I don’t feel comfortable with in general because personally it’s very hard for me to get romantically attached and smut makes me uncomfortable and I also somewhat despise it so much because I hate reducing a character to sexual appeal and etc.

4. ‘how do you easily write like headcannons so fast and release like 3-2 headcannons a day?’ - I actually just type fast secondly I’m a very creative person tbh and I always eat a lot before I write and I also have like posts on like the queue thing too! Matter of fact I’m not that active on tumblr tbh but yeah

5. ‘What socials do you have??’ - I only have tiktok for now (I also have other a lot of socials but those are personal for now) but I’m thinking of making a twitter to like promote this tumblr account but twitter Lowkey scares me so I’d rather not have that audience.

ᥫ᭡ COMMON QUESTIONS ── .✦

What's your favorite way to spend a weekend? - I personally love going out with my friends to restaurants and very cool places I also love traveling I already have been to (excluding us states because I’ve been to a lot), Japan, South Korea, bali, Portugal, nederlands, france, Belgium, uk, china, india, Norway (like 5 times) and Spain, Egypt, Germany, Maldives, Mauritius, and etc

What's a book that you'd recommend? - the book is almost TOO good I might have to gatekeep for now😞 (jk tbh I don’t read much but I can answer this but with comics!)

Are you a morning person or a night owl? - night owl defo

What's your dream job? - either a fashion designer or author or a actress

Do you have any pets? - yes! Two cats, both are Siamese cats named ren and irene!

What's your favorite type of cuisine? - too hard to choose, I’d take any food tbh I’m not a picky eater

Do you have any siblings? - yes!

there anything you dislike in your writing life? - yes! I don’t like people who copy my work or write off a lot and secondly I think as in pet peeves about becoming a fan fic writer is when you get complex requests like “write what if batboys and they’re s/o were (really long and complex and so fanon blah blah)!” Like genuinely I love it but I can’t be doing all that.

Do you have any pet peeves? - I don’t like being told off or put on the spot + plus I really hate attention seekers and narcissists too and I think also like for some reason someone watching something with me pisses me off for no reason especially if they lean over to watch my phone when it’s really no problem 😭

What was your dream job as a child? - I wanted to be an author + illustrator too so bad but also I wanted to become a pediatrician because my parents tried to force me as that too

If you could have dinner with anyone, who's one person you'd go with? - for some reason chlöe Bailey no questions asked, SHE’S FUNNY OMG or maybe like you know one of my moots 💕

Do you have a favorite childhood memory? - I sadly for some reason don’t remember my childhood that much (I think it’s best that way) but I remember watching the Wonder Woman movie as a child and like BECOMING THE BIGGEST fan girl of dc comics and also like omg I loved it so much too and maybe also like hyperfixating on themyscira as a child and trying to find out about amazons and themyscira

What's your love language? - okay so like when I give I love to give like words of affirmation and when like I receive I LOVEEE gifts like generally I love gifts so muchhh

What are two things still on your bucket list? - I think sky diving, I had the chance once in LA but I couldn’t literally because of my like fear of heights too!

What’s your biggest fear - um definitely like spiders or like secretly being hated too but also I have. DEADLY fear of spiders I feel like I can’t breath looking at them I just hate them so muchh

Do you currently live in the same place where you were born? - nope!

[hadesoftheladies]

FEMALE MOVIE/TV RECS (PART 1 / FANTASY)

got inspired from a recommendation post so decided to make a list of movies and shows with female-centric stories/female protagonists. since i can't post all of the genres in one post, i'll split it into multiple posts and y'all can save or add to the list as you wish. (disclaimer: i have watched most of these, but i only know about the existence of others. not every movie/show on these lists will be my recommendation. my recommendations will be beneath the list with reasons. also some of these are way better than others in terms of storytelling/performance--which is why i'll list my faves separately):

#1. FANTASY/ADVENTURE (LIVE ACTION)

Common Themes of Media In the List:

-Strong female friendships

-Romance critical (or anti-romantic centrism)

-Emphasis on female-female relationships

-Warrior girls and women

-Revenge against awful men

-Distrust of male love interests

Ones I Haven't Watched:

His Dark Materials

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Paradise Hills

Crimson Peak

Outlander

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

House of the Dragon

The Nevers

Cursed

NOT LISTED BUT QUALIFIES

Pan's Labyrinth

Mary Poppins

Twilight

The Craft

The BFG

PERSONAL NOTES FOR THE ONES I'VE WATCHED

The School for Good and Evil

5/10

There were many things about it that were good. The chemistry between the two leading actresses, the primacy of friendship over romance, the effects, the costume and set design, the insane cast (Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh, Kerry Washington?!) and the score. Some of the performances were good, too. The pitfalls of the film had more to do with the writing and directing. Some scenes were rushed, some dialogue was embarrassingly bad, some plot points were just nonsensical and childish. The magic system was also not well executed (though I've seen worse).

It's mostly mid, but the ending is refreshing for the fairytale genre and if you like fairytale fluff, you'll probably be more willing to forgive the film's transgressions. If you can, there'll be a lot of fun left to have with it.

2. Damsel

6.5/10

More action than fantasy and with a much smaller cast. Most of the movie focuses on Millie's character. The performances in this were pretty good, though. If you like heroines getting revenge, non-cliche fantasy stories involving princesses, and dragons, this movie is right up your alley! Also the costuming is delightful! It's predictable, but it is also entertaining.

3. Willow

7/10

This show was just fun. Fantastic effects, female heroics, tomfoolery, lesbians, action, evil forces, cool costuming, lesbians, sword-play, riddle-solving, dumbass princes, sarcastic mentors, and lesbians! This show knew exactly what it was trying to be. Aside from some poor performances, my overall impressions is positive.

4. Wednesday

7/10

I personally enjoy Wednesday Addams' character wherever I see her. Having a whole show of her was just a treat. I didn't care for the typical highschool-shenanigans (like the cliques) as much, but there were many enjoyable elements in this for me. Particularly, the effects, the crime, the other female characters, and the ending. It's entertaining and pretty to look at. Also I'm always on my wenclair propaganda.

5. Shadow & Bone

6/10

I've read the Six of Crows duology and the first book of the Shadow & Bone trilogy, so for me this show was a let down. For new watchers, however, you'll find interesting female characters, cool effects, and an entertaining (though sometimes choppy) plot. Inej Ghafa is my queen forever, regardless.

6. Renegade Nell

7/10

This is puts the fantasy in revenge fantasy. I love all the actresses from Derry Girls, and Louisa Harland is still charming in this. It's basically if Gentleman Jack (same director, I think) and Tinkerbell teamed up. Or if Little Women was also Pirates of the Caribbean but instead of taking to the sea it was highway robbery! The action sequences are so fun, the villains are nuanced (particularly the villainess) the comedy isn't overbearing (like I forgot I was watching a Disney show tbh) and the silly towel boy from Ted Lasso is here! I personally had fun. I hope it's renewed.

7. Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass

7/10 (i love these so much so it's 8/10 for me)

It sucks that Depp is in this, but I can never ever forsake my girl Mia Wasikowska. I just love these movies. I love the design, the music, the costumes, the irreverence toward marriage and romance, Alice's personality and relationship with her mother, how it tackles the pathologisation of female autonomy, the performances, etc. The books are one of my favorite books of all time so there's that.

8. Maleficent

7/10

I really loved the performances in this, the metaphor for rape, the satisfying revenge. I don't mind that it was cliché. I love Maleficent movies. AND the Lana Del Ray cover for "Once Upon A Dream." Also, the first one makes me tear up every time. The mother-daughter love is just so touching to me.

9. Warrior Nun

(?/10)

I love the premise of this show and I can get behind the characters. The protagonist just annoyed me so much so often I have taken multiple breaks and can't remember the story. I am all for imperfect, asshole girl characters. But this protagonist was just whiny and careless beyond reason. And it was taking too long for her to get with the nuns. Like I was not invested enough in her running away arc. Like sis get your ass to the coven you are not that main of a character!

She took up so much screentime when literally every other character in the show was more interesting than she was.

At least there's lesbians.

10. Snow White & The Huntsman

(8/10)

What can I say? Kristen Stewart was hot in this, as was stepmother. Effects? Stellar. Direction? Stellar. Performance? Mostly stellar. Drama? Action? Magic? All there. Thoroughly entertaining. Refreshingly anti-Disney. Unfortunately there are some annoying men involved (I'm talking about the dwarves of course) but it never gets too overbearing. This is, however, the least feminist of the entire list and scores lowest on the above common themes.

[lunastars21]

Welp, today is one year since Sonic superstars came out,

so for this special day I’ll finally put all my thoughts in this blog, so I can finally put this gosh darn game behind me! XD, so read if you like and enjoy the ride!

My (Hopefully) last Superstars Rant:

Well, this is it. Today is Sonic superstars first anniversary, and unlike the two classic games before it, this one doesn't come with a plus version at all. To say I'm not surprised is an understatement.

Now before we start let me get some things out of the way, First of all: This is MY OPINION on the game, if you like it that's fine, if you hate it that's fine too! I just want to get my thoughts out now and finally bury this game into the ground where it can stay there, alright! Second of all, I have no hatred for Trip, I may sound like I hate her, but I do think she is really neat and fun to play as and I hope she returns in future classic titles.

Now with that out the way let's begin:

I became obsessed with Fang the Sniper/Hunter on August 15, 2022 (yes, I remember the exact date), and when I finished reading all the information, one thing was clear to me.

Okay, I'm NEVER seeing him again

Pretty simple mindset I gave myself because of a few reasons!

1. He's a classic character, so he isn't allowed in modern with cool cutscenes nor voice acting

2. He hasn't had a big appearance since sonic the fighters and only had a cameo in mania

3. What kept him relevant was Archie, and that got canceled in 2017, so his only hope was idw. But they only do classic for anniversary specials, so once again, nothing for a good while anyway

All of it was clear to me that Sega wasn't going to use him, nor Bean or Bark. So I immediately adopted them as any fan who has been waiting for their return for over 20 years would, I gave them headcanons and their own story, Because if sega wouldn't, I will!

..and then Jun 8, 2023 arrived during a direct. Sonic superstars was revealed, and Fang would return in it. A coincidence I got into him a year before his return!? I dunno! But I thought it was a blessing in disguise! I was excited about it! October 17th was gonna be the best day of my life, I thought.

I was there for the comic short, I was there for the trio of trouble animation, and I was planning to buy his miniseries books once they were READY in January! I was prepared to give my full support so Fang could have more appearances just like Mighty and Ray! Hell, even hearing that Sonic Superstars takes place BEFORE Sonic Adventure gave me hope that if this game does well! They'll finally put classic characters in modern, this is where the barrier was and if Fang could break it! That would be awesome! I had my hopes way too high, and that was my mistake.

October 17th finally arrives and I buy the digital deluxe version, giving sega 70 smackeroons for the art book mostly and to support my jerboa in his career.

And then I played the game. It took probably 3 to 4 days to finish all the stories. My pros about it! Mostly great stages and atmosphere, I love the little cutscenes that were in, the controls were okay, and Trip as a playable character was fun to play as! Basically, being a better knuckles and Amy combined, the emerald powers could use work, but overall, I thought it was a neat idea to have these gems show they weren't useless on their own! This game has a ton of potential with all the ideas they were cooking with!

And uh

That's about it

Now for why you're probably here and why I'm writing this to begin with

The cons..

First off,

WHY DOES THE MUSIC SWITCH BETWEEN GOOD AND DOG SHIT!?

I WAS ABSOLUTELY EXCITED TO HEAR FANG'S THEME REMIXED AFTER ALL THESE YEARS AND YOU GAVE THAT TO THE OTHER GUY INSTEAD OF TEE LOPES!? YOU DIDN'T PICK THE COMPOSER WHO MADE THE FIRE SONIC MANIA SOUNDTRACK YOU GIVE IT TO THE GUY THAT USES THE SONIC 4 SOUNDFONT!?(No offense to them)

I have mixed feelings about Fang's theme in this game, it's groovy at first but then when we get to the part the song usually drops and goes into an absolute banger, it LOOPS early and doesn't play the part! My favorite part of his theme is CUT OFF from the song! Making it shorter and more annoying! And I can only listen to it maybe 2 times before I get sick of it!

Listen to the srb2 version that is more of a banger.

Another Con is the lack of story! I KINDA get the idea of what's going on, but where is this STUPID EGG FROM, HOW DID IT GET UNLEASHED? There's no cutscene that shows Eggman or Fang opening it up! It just spawns on its own and then gets sealed away, fucker doesn't even have a name it's just DARK DRAGON. Also the animation in this game that's 2D went down in quality compared to its trio of trouble short! What happened!? And why does Fang have SHREK EARS, just remove the tube's, don't give him earholes its fine! It's not supposed to make sense anyway!

Also, Trip's story is the same as knuckles, she's the last of her kind in an isolated island because her people fucked with the emeralds, she's now it's quote on quote guardian and she gets tricked (more like forced) by Eggman and Fang to be their tour guide through the islands untill she meets sonic and defeats them together, Lack of FIGHTING sonic because despite the game calling her an antagonist she doesn't really do shit against the heroes at all. But she's BASICALLY knuckles but a shy girl. We got this story before man, come on.

Okay, got the small points out the way, now for the spotlight of the hour..

Why the fuck does this game market Fang when he RARELY SHOWS UP!

This game went full force on marketing for Fang when it was announced, he got a mini comic explaining why he's there, he got an animated short, he got a miniseries announcement, HE FINALLY GOT A MINI FIGURE! He had comics in super fast friends that were going on at the time! And other official art from the main account!

But when you play the game, yes he shows up in cutscenes, but you only face him off 3 times and TWO OF EM ARE OPTIONAL, you have no choice but to play level sonic to run away from him, but the golden capital Boss fight (which is really time consuming) can be skipped via a glitch, and you DON'T have to fight him In trip's story if ya don’t want too, ya could just play and finish the main story and put it on the shelf bam boom ya done!

“But I wanna fight the dragon”

Not worth it, it's a pain in the ass like the other boss fights. So in reality if you skip golden capital and never play trip's story, you fight Fang

ONCE

And it's not even a fight you just run away from him!

This game was fully marketed for him, and he only made ONE ACTUAL SHOWING, and that's it! He doesn't have an ending cutscene. He doesn't show up at all during or after the dark dragon fight. He just vanishes. The End.

When I finished the game, I was absolutely pissed about it. I gave Sega 70 dollars to show my support, and he only showed up for a few minutes, and then he peace sign vanished. Ya wanna stay with him for 2 hours? Play his final boss fight because that's how long it took me to beat him.

Speaking of, I actually had a more annoying time with the Eggman final boss than Fang's. The second phase of eggmans was always buggy with me and kept killing me, at least with Fang my deaths were more of my mistake than a bug and his ending blow with his nose made me actually laugh because I didn't expect it and found it funny, and his boss theme is a banger too. (So that's a plus)

Another fault with Fang is the scene after his golden capital fight, where Trip stands up to him after he kicks Her in which the whole Fandom started calling him an abuser (even tho she has armor on so it shouldn't even do much) and now it's all over his god damn wiki, doesn't help his miniseries supports that now more too. And I know, people will love a genuine asshole character, but what bothers me is that

He is just EGGMAN 2.0 IN THIS GAME

Who else mistreats their allies, eggman

Who else builds a giant robot of themselves, eggman

Who else runs away when things get dire, EGGMAN

The only difference between them is that Fang is still greedy, but they are basically the SAME CHARACTER HERE.

I thought this game would go a different direction for him because the animated short and Fang's big break have the same morals.

Learning from your mistakes.

In both stories, Fang struggles against a giant animal ( the giant flicky and giant snake), but once he calms himself down or remembers a past experience, he focuses and defeats the foe! Both stories show how smart Fang can be if he puts his mind to it, and he is not called a hunter for nothing!

So I thought superstars would do the same thing in that scene in golden capital Zone, Fang would realize he is out numbered, his robot isn't done and Trip moved to the hero side, taking all the emeralds he had. at that point, it wouldn't be worth it, especially if Eggman already paid him in advance, and team up with the heroes instead to save his own hide. At the start of the game, Fang ALREADY got what he wanted. He could leave if he wanted to. Those stories showed Fang was smarter than he seemed, but instead in this FUCKING GAME he doesn't do that! He still goes in the UNFINISHED ROBOT and gets one shot by Trip.

I get that at the end of the day he's still an antagonist, BUT PREVIOUS STORIES SHOWED ME HE WASN'T THIS STUPID, SO FUCKING WHY.

This continues in his miniseries! Doesn't wanna go back for Bark, wastes TWO ISSUES searching for an 8th Emerald and getting nothing, and the 4th he separates from bark and bean because of his stupidity Not learning at all to be grateful or show any remorse, which is fine if people like him that way it's cool, but once again that just makes him EGGGGMMMMAAAAAN.

What I found cool about Fang is that he could be NEUTRAL! he'd be an enemy of sonic in triple trouble, but then the next beats up eggman and saves the world in sonic the fighters, and even fights THEN TEAMS UP with sonic at the end of the season of chaos special.

It was clear to me that fang can be a bad or good person as long as it benefits HIM. So him jumping in that Mech and kicking Trip DIDN'T benefit him at all, and losing Bean and bark didn't either because them not being there leads to his fate in superstars.

You can like the hooligans being together or not, but the whole thing stands, these boys were last seen in archie together, which got canceled and didn't show up again till season of chaos. At this point, specifically archie fans, WE GOT ATTACHED TO THEM as a team, we saw them up there with the other teams! And I got an entire discord server to prove it!

So, just splitting them up like that is a stab in the gut. That despite all of the waiting, sega decided to listen To fucking 2, 3, or more people (no offense to you) who hated team hooligan to seperate them and blame it all on fang.

Which by the way Bean ANNOYED me in the miniseries, and not in a good way, him and Fang arguing EACH issue was getting on my nerves, issue 3 being the best of the whole thing because they RARELY argued in that one. That issue showed the potential of the Hooligans and how good they worked as a team. AND SEGA THREW IT OUT THE WINDOW!!!! FUCKING GENIUSES HERE.

Plus they could've EASILY left In issue 2 if they could separate the side cars from the Queen since they could already LATER ON in issue 4. (Bean and Bark ya both fuckin stupid ya not escaping my wrath either I'm ANGY

I Still love yall tho)

I'm fine with Fang being a jerk, But there should be a limit and getting him to “abusive Level” isn't it, despite issue 3, I wasn't happy or laughing as I thought I would for the game or miniseries, Because the hooligans are like looney tunes for me, when I see them, I wana laugh and have a good time. Not be depressed. And I know people like when Fang is cool and serious, I do too, but he was also made to be funny. If you want a 100% serious character, Shadow is RIGHT THERE.

Superstars was marketed for Fang fans. Everything related to it was, it was SUPPOSED to be his grand return. But no, it's a lie. This game was made so you could feel bad for Trip and like her. Fang was just a tool used to lure people to the game and love this lizard. That's all it was. He was just bait, so once Trip got the fans sega wanted, they would throw him away into the vault again, but this time with no Bean, no Bark, not even a bloody popgun, they just left him there to suffer.

That's how I view sonic superstars, a game baited to classic sonic fans, making it seem like an old character's return, when in reality, it's to get people to like Trip, a new character. Who won't even fucking show up till a new classic sonic game comes out or a new anniversary special.

That's why I find it so frustrating, and no matter how much I try, I won't be able to fully like this game because of this information, HELL SHE GOT A FULL SUPER FORM! NOT EVEN AMY, TAILS, NOR KNUCKLES GOT THAT SHIT.

They just got “Super powers” ooOoOo

Bullshit, and the fact your friends can't play as the same character in their levels sucks, Kirby easily did it for magolor, but nope! Ya gotta play level sonic with one player as your friends watch.

Anyway, I think that's everything. Thanks for reading this far. Once again this is just my opinion, I wanted to finally let that all out as for certain there's no plus adaptation for this, and that I want to finally forget this game, I already made a fanfic chapter doing it my way to satisfy how this story actually ends while being consistent. And maybe Fang will get another chance in another 20 years. But until then, I'll enjoy the small moments that did make me smile in that game and his miniseries, like him using an ice sword or having a big mech, and if you actually Enjoyed the game and everything it came with, and still love Fang despite it all, good for you! I'm glad you still like fang, whether he's good, bad, or neutral in your book! All I care about is that you like him, so thank you. :] but I'm fairly certain. Rarely any Sonic fans will celebrate its anniversary. If anything, mostly Trip fans will as it's her birthday.

…

ALSO BRING BACK HIS POPGUN YOU COWARDS! WHY DIDN'T HE USE IT DURING THE MINISERIES HE DIDN'T BREAK IT YET BY THEN AAAGGHGG

Cough if you want a better 2D game with more playable characters and a good story with great music.

Play Mario Wonder

Or play the new mario party! That's out today! ^^

Okay, have a nice day <333

[greenerteacups]

Hi! Just wanted to say the latest chapter is lovely & amazing & sweet & had me smiling the whole time! I absolutely love your characterisation of everyone, especially Draco, so it was so so lovely to return to this world & to his thoughts!! with his best friend and crush at malfoy manor no less! All the yearning is already off to a great start hehe I am so excited for the rest of book 5!

Wanted to ask you how has it been for you to write this new book and volume? Has your writing process changed since when you’d first begun taking on a long form project like this?

& also are there any moments or surprises in this book that you’re especially excited about?

sending so much love & gratitude for you and your incredible works 💓

Thank you so much! This is really encouraging, I so appreciate it.

Inasmuch as I can use this metaphor without having kids myself, I sort of see each of the books as a different child. The first one flew out in basically a few weeks of very intensive writing, and it was a total dream — plot, pacing, symbolism, major beats, all fell into place basically without effort. The character stuff was the hardest, as I've written about before, but even then, the glorious part of writing beginnings is it's the most energy you'll ever have for a project, so the lows were pretty soft lows. Book 2, in contrast, I had to drag kicking and screaming by its ankle from under the bottommost mattress of my brain. It's one of my least favorite books (tone problem; COS has killer plot/setting/ingredients for a YA novel, but it's stuck in the doldrums of Harry Potter's well-documented Early-Installment Weirdness, before Cedric Diggory slams the gas and upshifts the whole series into its correct age bracket). More specifically, once I'd gone through and picked out everything in the book that happened because of Lucius, I didn't have a plot — hey alexa how do you rewrite Chamber of Secrets when We Got No Fucking Chamber Of Secrets — and oh by the way, even if you want to do a moody tone/political setup book, remember that your protagonists are still twelve, so if you go too dark or too intense, you'll risk torpedoing your readers' suspension of disbelief. Good luck, Charlie.

Book 3 felt the most like its own novel, if that makes sense? It's the last truly feel-good book of the series; it's a great stand-alone mystery novel with relatively low stakes. Plus you get a bunch of the big series icons: patronuses, dementors, werewolves, Hogsmeade, the Marauders' Map, and time turners arithmancy. It just felt like a good old-fashioned motherfucking romp of a mystery/adventure story, before any of the complex character work and major stakes of the late books come in.

Book 4 was the most fun I've had writing anything maybe ever. I don't even know what it was. Maybe the tournament arc, honestly? Love me a tournament arc. But in any case, I opened every new chapter feeling a tingle of excitement for what I was gonna get to do. Oh, and the romance started, finally, Jesus God (if it feels like a slow burn reading, just imagine what it felt like writing it, when everything takes ten times as long, and you have to figure out how to word the fucker.)

Book 5, in contrast, has felt much less like that tingle of "here we go!" and more like "oh, man, this is gonna be cool." Because this is the arc of the story that composed the original idea for Lionheart, literally years ago, and to be honest, I didn't think I'd get this far! If you'd asked me "do you know that it's going to take you 500,000 words of backstory before you can start writing that concept you're thinking about, and you're going to do it anyway?" I would have said: "absolutely not, strange mind-reader!" But like... I'm here! Finally! And it's... real now? Like, this isn't just a bunch of clips of scenes in my head anymore! That's rad!

That being said, it's definitely been slower than Book 4, because I kept switching back to my outline document to make sure that certain things were set up properly, and that I hadn't lost any of the plot threads or forgotten a minor beat that was vitally important for the story three chapters later. And I had a minor crisis about three months ago when I ripped out about 8 chapters in the first third of the book — basically everything from September to December — because I'd done a readthrough to check pacing (big mistake! never edit while drafting, that's satan talking) and realized I had a missing storyline. Like, there was a whole layer of the story that was just. Missing. Not there. And the existing text really couldn't fit another thread, so instead of taking weeks to pore through and try to sift out what I could save, I needed to factory reset and start over. And I didn't want to! I vividly remember sitting there with my head in my hands, trying not to weep, because I'd decimated 90,000 words of work in a single edit. But it had to be done. Because the story wasn't going to work. And now (hopefully) it will.

And of course, there's still that sense of excitement and exhilaration from before. Always. But whereas Book 4 felt like a delicious chocolate pudding, Book 5 is a medium-rare steak.

(Book 6, so far, is four shots of espresso and a whiskey chaser. FWIW.)

[tynithia]

Fic Writer Questions

Tagged by the lovely @tavyliasin so I'm going to throw this out to @denesmera & @amoremagnificentbastard and to others who would like to fill it out!

Answers under the cut:

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

What a sexy number, if I do say myself!

3) What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Promise - Gale listens to Ellandra tell him the story of her and his great-grandfather, Gaius.

Memory Doors - Three years after the Netherbrain, Ellandra and the Emperor travel to Waterdeep where he faces his past.

Cutlass Tavern - Balduran finds himself at the famous Cutlass Tavern, to drink and think about where everything went wrong with their relationship. But things take a turn when elf woman sits beside him.

The A-Team - Ellandra and her Harper Squad investigate strange magical occurrences around Baldur's Gate.

Fun Questions to Ask Your Lover - Something silly I wrote for fun about Ellandra and the Emperor.

4) What fandoms do you write for?

Most of my characters are original within the Forgotten Realms/Dungeons and Dragons 'verse. And of course, Baldur's Gate III, which is now in the same canon 'verse.

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

ABSOLUTELY! Someone took their time to write something to me, I will write back! Even if all they write is 'great job'! I love comments!

6) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Fever Dream - Ansur and Balduran are not in a good place in this fic and while it ends okay, there is a storm coming... it leads into my Cutlass Tavern fic.

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I usually write happy endings... but right now, probably Until Today. Ellandra and Gale become friends.

8) Do you get hate on fics?

Yes, I have.

I have also received “You write the Emperor too normal.”  “You aren’t a GALEMANCER, your Tav isn’t even WITH Gale!” “Eww, not for me.”  "You are too old to write!" “You should stop writing.”

Whatever. The thing is, even if I read something I find, meh, I still and ALWAYS give the writer a kudos, because I understand the effort that was put into their work. And good for them on writing! Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean someone won’t and they should get a kudos for their effort. But that is just me.

I support other writers and artists. I want them to know that someone enjoyed their creation, they were heard and seen, and someone listened to what they had say to the world.

Art, in all forms, is like being naked on a street full of people with signs judging you. I will happily stand in front of those signs and applaud people for creating!

9) Do you write smut?

Yes, but I will admit, it's not my strongest scenes.

10) Do you write crossovers?

I am not that creative, but I have read some really cool ones.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I have no idea. I hope not!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have not. It would be cool though!

13) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have co-written an audio drama, which became three published books.

14) What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace and Lee 'Apollo' Adama (Battlestar Galactica)

15) What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have about 3 Emperor & Ellandra stories nearly complete that will now not be published.

16) What are your writing strengths?

I think my dialogue and world building. I like creating worlds and I practice dialogue out loud with my hubby to make it sound natural, or as natural as I can.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

PASSIVE VOICE.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I have, but I have had assistance with a translator with the idioms and grammar.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

World of Warcraft. I wrote flash fiction on Twitter during Mists of Panadria expansion.

20) Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

The Promise. I absolutely love it what I have created here, because it's all me. Of course, there are plenty of D&D and BG3 cameos and events, but the story is mine. I love the relationship with Ellandra and Gaius, his son Griffin, and their lives together. It's a sad story, but I poured love into it.

Photo by ladydarkka.bsky.social

[mellkellyismyhero]

Jonathan Stroud and Kipps

You know, as a kid reading Lockwood and Co., I LOVED Lucy, George, Lockwood, and Holly. They were all my age! Every time a new book came out I’d imagine Lucy was growing up with me.

But that meant that I didn’t have much of a connection with Kipps, who was kind of L&Co.’s punching bag (affectionate). I liked him, but I never loved him the way I loved everyone else.

Now, I’m older than L&Co. Reading the books and watching the show feels like revisiting my younger self. I was expecting to love the L&Co. trio dynamic- and I did! But one thing I really wasn’t expecting was my newfound appreciation for Kipps.

Jonathan Stroud’s decision to focus on Kipps’ transition from brilliant teen agent to terrified, washed-up adult... It didn’t speak to me as a kid because I was too busy identifying with how cool Lucy’s Talent was. But now that I’m in Kipps’ age range, I identify with Kipps a lot more over Lucy. I can’t really put it in words- this is probably going to be the first of many posts of me spewing emotions and love for Jonathan Stroud’s writing skill- but I’m going to try.

Minor Kipps-related spoilers for L&Co. books under the cut.

Kipps, in the show and books, is 20-22 years old. He’s college-aged. And he cannot do the one thing that he has trained his entire life for, and needs to adjust to that. As a kid, I just kind of saw that as the same kind of “kids rule, adults drool” thing that happens in all kids adventure stories. Can’t have the responsible adults ruining the kids’ fun!

But Kipps was unusual in that you get to SEE him go from ‘competent rival agent’ to ‘technically a useless adult’. He’s straddling the line in the way that other series, where kids get to have magic because they’re good and pure or whatever don’t.

The thing is, it would’ve been easy for Kipps to be forgotten. Just let him fade into the background and never be mentioned again after book 2. But he’s there in book 3, and 4, and 5, still doing his best to fight ghosts even if he can’t see them. As a kid, I was just like ‘huh, okay, that’s a choice’ and kind of ignored him. Who cares what Kipps is doing when Lucy and Holly are having an epic argument that’s going to bring a million ghosts down on their heads?

As an adult, I LOVE that Stroud chose to keep Kipps around. I love that Kipps found a new way to keep fighting (the goggles). I love that Kipps kind of became a member of Lockwood and Co. I love that Stroud made the readers and the characters confront the reality that one day our beloved main characters would lose their Talents too, that even Lucy would go deaf one day, instead of just ignoring the generous but very real time limit the characters had hanging over their heads.

(Side note: part of my love for this series might be stemming from my complicated feelings about the Seven Wonders book series, where a kid is told he has less than a year to live and will likely spend months in debilitating pain and then... spends that year fucking around looking for magical artifacts and not actually having any kind of physical consequences for LITERALLY HAVING A DEADLY ILLNESS-)

Anyway.

Kipps is fantastic. The way he represents the inevitable future of Lockwood and Co... the way he represents the thousands of other agents who grew too old to sense ghosts and couldn’t keep fighting even if they wanted to... the way that he tries so hard to keep the kids he’s in charge of alive but can’t because he’s only one person and he’s losing his Talent...

He’s going through such a major transition and doesn’t know what his place in the world is anymore, and honestly, what early-twenties person does? There’s something there about Talents and childhood trauma and taking your first few steps into adulthood without the tools that saved your life as a child because they don’t work anymore...

In conclusion: Kipps was an amazing character, and I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate him sooner.

[thegirlborninthelate90s]

Give me Top 10 interesting facts about Graham Arthur Chapman.

Aaaaaaannnnndddddd GO!

Oh god…this feels a bit open-ended and I don’t know what is expected that hasn’t been mentioned before, so I’ll writing what *I* think are fun facts about him, I guess, with the good and the sad 🤷🏻‍♀️ This means the information I put here aren’t going to necessarily be about commonly known facts about him, but rather information that requires a bit of further digging.

(This isn’t ranked most to least interesting btw. This is just how I’m organizing everything. I am, after all, a Virgo moon and rising.)

1) Around the time Graham’s cancer had spread to his spine, he first found out something was wrong when he had gone out to pickup Chinese takeaway and he noticed that his legs were wobbly as he walked, because he couldn’t tell where his legs were, even though he could feel with them. Later, he had his son do an experiment on the sole of his foot: John had to scratch the bottom of Graham’s foot and Graham’s toe would’ve had to have gone down (somewhat like how, when the doctor bangs your knee, your lower legs kicks by itself). However, Graham’s toe went up instead of down, and this was when Graham found out something was wrong with his spine. (This is really sad, I admit that, but I always found it cool how he self-diagnosed himself, in a way, and I appreciate how he shared this prior to his death for us to recognize simple signs of something being wrong with our spine too which we never would’ve thought of otherwise…a true doctor through and through 🥺)

2) There is a Christmas TV special with David Berglas, who invited four celebrities, one of them being Graham, and in the end, they all had to choose something to give a sick child in a children’s hospital as a Christmas present. The thing that struck me was how, while everyone else chose a toy of some sort, Graham was the only one who chose a book (and it was Peter Rabbit), which I felt was quite revealing about his character.

3) When Graham bought his home in Kent, he had taken up the habit of painting. Apparently, after he passed away, David Sherlock showed Michael Palin an oil painting Graham had done of a gate in his garden.

4) Speaking of Graham’s home in Kent, he had arctic roses there, and David said that those were his favorite in the garden.

5) Graham mentioned that, amongst Python, he felt he was the most similar to Eric (in his own words, he said Eric was likely his “parallel” in the group), except that he acknowledged they were polar opposites when it came to trusting others. These were his words on the matter:

“I think Eric expects people to be devious, where I expect them to be straightforward. I’m stupidly trusting, and Eric’s unduly suspicious.” (from the book, “Graham Crackers”)

6) In 1986, Graham was actually in the process of writing a musical about the Jeremy Thorpe trial, with the goal of making everything camp. Unfortunately nothing came of it, but just the fact that he came up with such an idea…😚🤌🏻✨

7) Someone once asked Graham how he felt about Benny Hill, and Graham allegedly threatened to defenestrate them, which…honestly, considering Hill’s sense of humor, is such a mood.

8) Graham was very into cooking elaborate meals, which would take him a few days to complete. The meals themselves were usually simple, but Graham just took a lot of time in making them. According to Michael Palin, his meals were usually a lot more delicious than the style in which they were served.

9) Graham’s favorite Beatles album was “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” but his favorite album overall was John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Truly a man of taste (particularly regarding Sgt Pepper).

10) This isn’t so much about Graham as it is about his dad. His father was born on November 11, 1911…so basically, 11/11/11. Impossible to forget 😅 I just always thought that was pretty neat. Graham’s parents were somewhat akin to helicopter parents, but Graham was rather close to his father, particularly since he was the first out of the parents to be accepting of Graham’s sexuality.

11) [you can’t expect a Graham Chapman fan to follow rules] It often bothers me how other Pythons and people Graham worked with or knew complain about how Graham was a ‘freeloader’ when, after becoming sober, he proved just how much of a hard-worker he was during “Life of Brian.” The dude was out in the sun all day in the titular role, then served as the set doctor. In fact, even David mentioned that Graham could be quite disciplined, perhaps even more so than other Pythons in that he was really good at multitasking. He truly became much more hardworking after becoming sober, but no one really talks about that, because they didn’t trust that he had changed and they rarely gave him the opportunity to prove himself.

12) As I’m now full-blown cheating in this challenge, here’s a bingo card I made awhile back which is a rudimentary summary of Graham’s personality:

[Sorry this took so long; Graham has a lot of interesting tidbits to limit down to 10]