#the ifs story

[rocketbirdie]

fateful encounter

[ponypickle]

I will never not be sad by the de-fangification of our female characters on hotd. we could've had all of them serving cunt and warfare/bloodthirstiness but instead they are all 'peaceful' and everything is the men's fault 🙄🥲.

a cersei-esque alicent dead set on having her kids on the throne at all costs because she believes it's their gods given right, ready to slay everyone who gets in her way

rhaenyra asking her feral husband to eliminate anyone and anything that offends her, like vaemond, a son for a son, etc. stopping at nothing to get HER throne because SHE wants it, not stopping at anything to achieve her goals

rhaenys ready to ride into war for her queen to slay all her enemies instead of feeling bitter as she came across in the show a lot of the time

baela truly being the embodiment of her father in female form, being feral and ready to eliminate everything at once, etc.

oh, the show we could've had if they just weren't scared of the audiences reactions to powerful decisive women that aren't apologetic about their claims to power and what they believe is their's.

[mocamagical]

Charlie is not immune to getting cute outfits. She's just a NYC girl making it in New Orleans so she doesn't have to inherit her father's mafia enterprise and maybe one day, she can open a rehab centre or soup kitchen, like Al Capone.

[leashybebes]

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

tommy must live in a perpetual state of confusion over buck

do you think the longer buck allies the more tommy realises that "oh, he really is like this but he's definitely some flavor of queer"? because i see tommy maybe gently testing buck's jealousy to see what it'll take to make him break

oooookay once again this is not a snippet (sorryyyyy) but is more me attempting to understand wtf is going on in tommy's head throughout all this that he keeps "sure, okay"-ing himself into ridiculous situations with buck, so apologies for just unloading the contents of my brain on you

there are a few things i've been chewing on in terms of figuring out how tommy reacts to the buck of it all, which i hope will make it make sense that i actually don't think tommy pushing or testing for jealousy is on the cards in this fic (although i do love the idea!)

so first of all, this is a younger tommy than we've seen interact with buck in canon (of course), so whatever happened to make him Like That in the breakup hasn't happened yet (and won't, because i am a slut for a HEA). he's newly out and in my experience, a lot of newly out people, particularly people who are a bit older have something of a second adolescence. so yeah while this means he's incredibly horny (horny enough to let a self-proclaimed straight guy give him the absolute best sex of his life) it also means he just wants to have fun!! and buck is SO. MUCH. FUN. he's spent so long so tightly controlled that he's trying really hard to just go with the flow.

second, when i say newly out tommy, i mean newly out. like, it's one thing to "stop lying about who i am" - to me, there's a non-zero chance that just means "stop making up girlfriends" rather than "actually grapple with the life-long process of coming out (again and again and again)". so in my head (and it might come up in the fic, idk yet) the scene early on where he tells buck he doesn't want the cute girl's number because he's gay is probably one of the first times he actually said the words out loud. which ties into...

third, we know tommy was work friends with sal (at least and again, don't know that it'll come up in the fic but for the record, he 100% had a monstrous crush on him, like it made him ILL how much he wanted sal, i will hear no arguments), and that he developed good - again, work-based - friendships with hen and chim, but i feel like for a deeply closeted guy under dadt with a shitty childhood buck might be his first actual friend who knows all of him and likes him. spends time with him. doesn't care that he's gay. actively supports his gayness. doesn't recoil and in fact actively encourages tommy to talk about it. so i think tommy is just...deeply, deeply grateful for this confusing train wreck of a man

fourth, while i think there are definitely times that tommy thinks "he...he's flirting with me, right? is something gonna happen here?" this is a guy who has spent his entire adult life not looking at that kinda thing. not letting himself wonder if a guy (particularly a friend) is into him. or really, even if he's into them. he's really, really good at compartmentalising, and buck's pretty insistent that he's straight, so tommy's taking that at face value. hey, buck makes compelling arguments ("tommy, straight men have prostates too!")

aaaaand there we have the contents of my brain as it relates to one tommy kinard. even in my own incredibly stupid AUs, i am frankly obsessed. i want to gnaw on him. i'll settle for having buck do it instead.

[salty-an-disco]

I disagree with Narrator in a very fundamental and philosophical level, but you know, even if I agreed 100% with his worldview and the reality he wants to bring about, I’d still think he’s wrong for taking matters into his own hands and changing THE VERY FABRIC OF REALITY affecting people in the entire universe, simply because HE thinks he knows what best for the world.

Like– that’s why I find him so fascinating, it’s not only the fear of death or disgust towards the very concept of change (tho that is very funny and interesting in its own right), but the utter arrogance to champion himself Savior of the World without EVER considering that maybe– just maybe, people might not agree with what he plans to do.

Like. Hubris indeed, and he even has the gall to say, “you can still do what you must and kill her” when we call him out on it. Like. Wow. I want to study this guy under a microscope.

[ofswordsandpens]

one day, ONE DAY, I'll write (rewrite) my Alaska au where Annabeth chose to go with Luke in botl, changing the trajectory of everything, meaning Percy chose godhood in tlo.

[liakunemui]

they say that the way to a man's heart... is through a cat!??!?

i love rayyan and i couldn't resist. also thank you anon—wherever, whoever you are!—for the silly little dialogue prompt and of course the author, for such a cool IF that i think about on a daily basis. @collegetennisoriginstory

[moonshine-nightlight]

So i just read Nothing's Wrong With Dale for the 4th time, and I just wanted to say thank you. I fucking love that story so much it's insane!!

I have a few questions that I keep thinking about of their life after the story ends. (Some of them are silly, sorry!)

1. Would you ever consider doing a sequel?

2. I feel like personally Dale would be an amazing father, but do you think they would ever have children in the future? If so, would they be half demon?

3. How would Dale react if another woman hit on him? I have a feeling he would be so oblivious at first.

4. What would Dale do if 'reader' is jealous of said woman?

5. What do you think would happen if someone in the 'readers' family accidentally found out?

Sorry if this is a lot, I'm just love this story so much! You are such a wonderful author 💜

Damn! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story enough re-read multiple times! That's so sweet!

i love questions about my stories, especially Dale! Since some answers will be spoiler-y and speculation, please see below :)

(Mild disclaimer: all of this is just speculation and half-baked ideas, nothing is canon because nothing is written etc even if i am the author. if anyone personally disagrees with any of this for their version of the reader and Dale--I fully support you)

I have considered it and while i do have ideas for some little spin off/side short stories, currently i don't plan for a full sequel. I just don't have a compelling idea for the overall plot/character ? Some of my bonus ideas are: POV story from Miss Adir&Mr Murray called "Peculiar Creatures" about reader and Dale; Dale hunting down Two; dale confronting the patrons of the assassination; a Midwife POV story; and a mini-romance story with Breighton and Teresa. I also do want to write more stories about different romances set in the Dale universe, with potential cameos by Dale and reader (each with at least 1 human and 1 demonic person).

Dale will certainly put his all into being a father. Not set in stone, but I think they'll have three kids and they are all part demon. If i ever was to write a full sequel it would probably combine some of the above short stories into one longer story covering readers pregnancy with their first born and the ramifications of a partially demon pregnancy lol while learning to take over Northridge. Dale felt very alone when he was young and so he'd put a lot of effort into making sure his child wouldn't feel that way--especially since the kid will be singular (no swarm) which Dale would see as very lonely. Both want multiple kids so that gets alleviated in time. They do have to be careful about letting Dale's grandparents around their children until they can control themselves lol

You're right, he likely wouldn't pick up on the nuance between "general manners" "sucking up to powerful people" "general flirt" and "flirting with him specifically". If he did notice, he'd be relatively polite but also ignore it or, if persistent, just leave to find the reader lol. If reader was there, he'd just be like "my lovely spouse" in greater and greater frequency/emphasis--like the other person is oblivious to the fact that he already has the best spouse.

I don't think reader would be jealous, they're married and stupid in love, but Dale'd probably just be confused if they were. Like, jealous of what? lol (I mostly find jealously fun to write/play with either before the couple is together or if its about non-romance things)

Reader's family finding out is a very interesting idea. It would definitely depend on who and when they find out. Callalily is the most protective so she'd be worried about the danger to the reader and generally everyone, not just violence but also manipulation. Douglas would be suspicious and wary and would need to interrogate Dale directly--fearing the reader being controlled in some way. He's seen the damage demons can do and takes it super seriously, but knows individual demons vary wildly. Marigold and Asher are both the most likely to hear the reader out and not jump to conclusions, for different reasons. They have more open minds and trust the reader to know themself/trust their judgement the most. All are more likely not to run screaming the longer they've known him/any children the couple has. The reader's parents would immediately tell everyone, they would have to be actively kept from spreading the word.

thanks for sending this ask and these questions in! It was a lot of fun to think about and share, especially since i hav basically no time for anything but work (which i should be doing now lol)

I'm always happy to talk about Dale ^^

[collegetennisoriginstory]

Absolutely adore your IF, ugh gosh felix and sam PLS HUMP ME

But do you happen to know any other college IF's? of any sort honestly

1000/10 on the enthusiasm.

College IFs... I remember a high school one though it's also a thriller named Conspiracy at Emerson but other than that... nothing else off the top of my head -- if anyone else has ideas, shoot away in the comments!

[fandom-susceptible]

AU where the Moonshadow assassins' bindings were specifically bound to avenge the death of the dragon prince, and when Rayla confronts Runaan on the ramparts he realizes the egg being alive renders their mission impossible, and he ends up rallying the other assassins to help bring the egg back to Xadia. They send an illusion to keep the guards distracted while they slip the boys out with the egg.

Everyone still ends up thinking Harrow is dead because the illusions aren't real so they aren't getting hurt by the guards, and it gives Viren an excuse. He realizes they're illusions but uses them to kill Harrow's body anyways, and pin the blame on the elves.

Rayla's cases to the other assassins for allowing her to return after being Ghosted are essentially their reasons for going along with this

Runaan didn't sign up for two more goddamn kids but here he is he guesses

I just started the rewatch so like, a lot would change because of this, but idk where to start. I think the boys would find out Harrow is dead way earlier, because all six assassins would notice their ribbon drop, and Runaan would just tell them the truth. Ez wouldn't head back immediately though, because there's legal processes to go through after a king's death and it should have taken longer to move on. They won't know about Viren moving up the timetable or Corvus trying to find them until the same time they do in the show.

For some reason I also keep imagining Corvus and Callisto with similar personalities so the idea of Corvus chasing six Moonshadow assassins and two little kids across Xadia, and one of the assassins clearly gets his vibe, is very entertaining to me at the moment.

One or two of the elves may even return with Corvus and Ezran when he does go back. Zym's forgiveness of Rayla would cause all of their bindings to fall off (based on Runaan's binding disappearing in the show), and they'd go back to Katolis at the new king's side. Ram and Callisto, maybe. And then we have a whole new plot with new stakes as Viren whips up animosity against them when they've appeared in allegiance with Ezran.

I might have more thoughts on this later.

[timefall-if]

i was just wondering if the gender of the ros get set once u pick the mc's sexuality (e.g. heterosexual mc = all male ros)? this isnt rlly a problem but a lot of ifs do this and sometimes i just wanna be able to pick their gender yk? also i rlly like ur if so far and cant wait to see future chapters! <3

you'll be able to pick the RO's genders individually! i'm hoping to put the option to either choose before the prologue or upon meeting them ^^

(also MC isn't gender locked, so if MC was heterosexual it wouldn't automatically mean all the ROs are male! ik you probably meant it for your own personal MC, but i just wanted to specify so no one would be confused haha)

[ahamkara-apologist]

Experiencing The Longing of wanting to write canon lorebooks and expansion plotlines for Destiny 2 vs The Harsh Slap Of Reality (13 years of fanfic experience is not good for resume + the game industry is a hot fuckin mess rn + if I were to do it, it would be contractual, and I wouldn't want to take the job full-time writers had just for fun)

[get-back-homeward]

Did he talk much about the Beatles?

All the time.

Did he feel like it was a weight on him?

No, he absolutely loved it. I used to have a little Sony blaster that I would put up… It’s funny because now I do my fucking mix through a Bose wave radio, but then it was a Sony blaster. A fairly good one. And if you sounded good in there, everything was right. And one day in a few moments when nothing was going on, he would put on WNYW FM and listen to the radio. He loved to listen.

And when a Beatles song came on the radio, he would tell you everything about that session. Everything that happened. He never had a problem talking about how much he loved that band. And how much he loved those guys. He was a little annoyed at George, because George had written a book and he didn’t mention John much in the book, at that time. But he felt that that would come around.

But his love for that band. Phenomenal. It was great. It was what you hoped he would be like.

He loved them as much as everyone loved them. Did he ever discuss why they never reunited, or why they had those near-misses? Well you know he and Paul were already in the process. This Ringo album I think was going to be big.

That could have been a big stepping stone?

Yeah.

Did you ever see them together, any of them?

No. But I know that Paul was up at the Dakota.

Did they jam together?

I don’t know. All I know is that Paul was preparing stuff for Ringo’s album.

—Jack Douglas, producer of John Lennon's Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey albums [x]

[13eyond13]

Something I think fiction does sometimes is make sex represent the end goal for relationships so often that if two characters sleep together it causes readers to automatically see them as truly in love / that it would solve all problems for the pair to be together forever, even when that isn't necessarily what the narrative is trying to say / depict otherwise.

I am thinking about this because of Guts and Casca... to me they sleep together initially almost as an act of friendship? A way of experimenting with each other and learning about sex, perhaps of distracting themselves from the person they're both more actually into, and of course also because they do care about each other and maybe are attracted to one another on some level, and want to see what it would be like to try to get even closer together. But I think the story also makes it pretty clear that Guts is more emotionally invested in his relationship with Griffith than with Casca, in what you might call a narratively romantic sense... and Casca is shown sort of seeing the futility of her feelings for Griffith and eventually growing apart from him that way pre-Eclipse, even though she still cares for him the most out of everyone she knows (though I don't think he ever feels nearly the same way about her). So getting with Griffith isn't end game for Casca (and she herself eventually realizes that), but I also don't read Casca as a character for whom getting with Guts is the end game character arc-wise, either. I'm not sure Miura even had a concrete end-game character arc in mind for her, to be honest. I feel as though unfortunately she was written mostly as something to be used between Griffith and Guts rather than to end up having her own fully realized narrative journey in the same way that Guts (and maybe also Griffith) will. I want to see her and Guts as friends and at peace more than I want to see them live happily ever after together as a couple, because I feel like that's actually more how they really feel for one another than anything else. Granted, there's a bit of an interesting ironic twist in the story that happens during the Eclipse, where Griffith (unintentionally?) drives Guts and Casca closer together than I think they might have been otherwise with the trauma that he causes them both (even though I think their relationship is probably something he'd be jealous of and read as more romantic than it actually might be and wish to destroy, simply due to his own insecurities and his own possessive feelings for Guts). But I also didn't really read Guts' reactions in the Eclipse scene as Guts being jealous and possessive over Casca in a sexual / romantic sense - I read it more as him feeling empathy for her pain and desire to protect her from harm / from the darker side of Griffith he maybe knew about a bit better than anybody else. I DO care about Guts and Casca's relationship a lot, and find it one of the most emotionally compelling things in the story. But I don't think shipping them together for a happily ever after is really what I'd want for them, nor something that the narrative was actually trying to work towards / suggest to be the best ending for anybody involved? I don't know if I think shipping Guts and Griffith necessarily is either, particularly because of how irredeemably awful Griffith behaved during the Eclipse... but I DO think the story intentionally hinges more around the Griffguts relationship and their emotional journeys / character developments than it does about any other pair/relationship in the series, and that both of them have intense unresolved feelings for each other that come off much more suggestive and stronger than ones of just simply wanting to be friends. And I think all of these characters are pretty explicitly aware of that themselves even in the story as well.

Haha I don't even know what I'm trying to even say here except to work out some of my own thoughts about the main 3 that I care about, I suppose!

[lemongogo]

ykw maybe i do want stamp 2 come back for the sake of new / revived trigun content ok…maybe i do …

[thedarkfiddler]

Blaseball has been back in my brain and my heart because we're looking for pre/post-show music for the play again, and it really left me wondering about all the what-ifs. All the elections that could have gone differently, mostly - especially early on, when it felt like every season's election truly changed the direction of the game.

Thoughts under the read more.

get tillman'd lol 🩳