#the main character’s internal dialogue is so funny

[yaoigoddess9158]

Yall were right, SVSSS was great lol

[transurgender]

i wish i was better at character analysis because like. kabru (dunmeshi) and enrico (gayepo) are such similar characters it makes me want to Bite someone but the moment i try to explain how i feel my brain just gets fuckin fried. i think about either of them for 0.5 seconds and i explode on the spot

[buckets-and-trees]

Pull the String

Characters/Pairings: soft!dark and rough Nomad!Steve Rogers x Female!Reader Word Count: 3.7k Summary: Friday, September 28, 2017. You have to live a normal life after meeting a larger than life figure. It's doable, and you're not stuck in summer dreams, but you do think of him from time to time. Another encounter in the Exiled Nomad Series.

Content/Warnings: explicit smut, oral (female receiving), vaginal fingering, kissing, vaginal intercourse, unprotected sex, overstimulation, hint of praise kink, internal ejaculation, overstimulation, emotional unavailability, a broken Nomad who thinks he's fine but definitely is not

Author Notes: I wanted to finish this for your birthday proper, @stargazingfangirl18, but alas, only managed for birthday week. It's not a standalone, so it technically won't fit into your Birthday Bonenanza, but I did use a prompt from your list (bolded dialogue). Credit to @biteofcherry for helping me flesh out Mark from accounting a little bit.

You blinked and then read the text message again.

Something’s come up, sorry, have to cancel tonight.

It was only twenty minutes before Mark was supposed to pick you up for dinner.

A third date dinner.

YOU: Are you okay?

You typed and sent the quick text back.

You saw the three dots that indicated his typing, then they disappeared. You frowned. This was really unlike him. Mark had been nothing but reliable and a gentleman since you’d met him. He worked in the accounting firm on one of the other floors of your office building, and you had seen each other a few times at the coffee shop on the main floor in the morning. He was smart, funny without being a goof. You felt wholly normal around him.

And after having your world rocked on earthquake levels by Captain America over the 4th of July holiday, normal was what you wanted.

MARK: Everything’s fine, but we should probably call this off.

“What?” you couldn’t help actually exclaiming out loud.

You scanned up and down over your texts.

YOU: Did I do something wrong or misread the situation?

You really didn’t think that you had. In fact, you were sure of it, but you’d let him explain just in case.

It had been a few weeks, and the texts had ebbed and flowed naturally. After your second date last Sunday, you’d exchanged a kiss that had been modest but had enough heat to it that it left you starting to think about more. And last night the texts between the two of you had gotten a little spicier than any previous exchanges. Nothing vulgar, but flirty enough that you had shaved your legs and had been debating all day over what to wear.

In your silk robe, makeup finished, and hair nearly done, apparently you didn’t need to make any wardrobe decisions other than slipping into a comfy t-shirt and leggings now.

MARK: No, it’s nothing you did, and I hope we can just be friends.

Your jaw dropped and you threw your phone across the room.

Friends?

You abandoned your mirror, no need to finish getting ready at this point, and went to pick up your phone.

Fuck Mark.

But you opened your text thread with him one final time.

YOU: No hard feelings, if it’s over it’s over, and we can be cordial if we run into each other, but honestly I’m not looking for more platonic friends.

Run-on sentence aside, you felt good about the text after you hit send, and you promptly blocked Mark’s number and deleted all the texts.

And what you said was mostly true.

You actually could use some more platonic friends in this town you’d lived in for less than a year, but you weren’t looking to be friends with guys who did but then didn’t want to date you.

But well into your thirties, you were so used to and exhausted by the runaround of talking, of the dating apps, of the first dates that fizzled into nothings – first dates that you rarely even agreed to go on anymore because it usually turned out to be a waste of time with men who were too boring or too horny. For a moment Mark had been a breath of fresh air, normal and nice and endearing.

And apparently not worth the time and effort you had sunk into the beginning of the blossoming relationship either.

Even at that thought, you were glad you had already followed your self-imposed rule of deleting messages, because you already had the itch to go back and re-read, and so it was good you had removed that temptation. No need to torture yourself.

You turned on your favorite album, cranked up the music, and ordered delivery from your favorite Italian restaurant with tiramisu and extra garlic bread.

You would watch your favorite movie, indulge in your favorite food, and later put yourself to bed with another chapter of the spicy romance novel you were reading and a nice session with your favorite vibrator.

Fuck Mark.

The app said your dinner would arrive in thirty-five minutes, so you slipped into leggings and one of your old comfy t-shirts, and flopped onto the couch to wait, the song from the opening credits of the movie making you feel just a little bit better.

At this stage of life, it was just annoying that Mark had called it off. Make it through dates three and four and people your age were reasonably sure they were headed down the relationship road together. At least that’s how you operated. You knew yourself enough that you weren’t dating someone to try and figure out who you were like you maybe had at times when you were younger, trying to live up to some expectation of society. You were busy enough that your free time was precious, and so you didn’t go on frivolous dates. Most important, as seemingly everyone around you had peeled off and gotten married while you remained perpetually single, you had to figure out if you could be happy alone, and you’d spent time to figure that out and truly find happiness. It was lonely sometimes, but overall you had built a good life, put your time into things that really satisfied you.

When you realized you were more annoyed at having to start over again than over losing Mark, you sighed and realized that was both a good and a bad sign. Good because you clearly weren’t going to be hung up on Mark, but bad because he really hadn’t meant much – you’d just wanted him to.

A small ache in your chest resurfaced.

The person you did miss was Steve Rogers.

And you held no bitterness there – it had been so clear for both of you that it was a summer holiday fling – but you did have some leftover longing.

Who could blame you?

When The Avengers had come together in New York in 2012, you had swooned over Thor, but there was something so steady, charming, and trustworthy about Captain America down to the bone that your admiration had developed into quite the crush. You knew the parasocial relationship that you and the rest of the world developed with him over the years was synthetic. It was fun and harmless.

But then you had met the real Steve Rogers in the flesh – and spent time flesh to flesh with him over the Fourth of July weekend.

The days you spent with him had been both intense and surreal. You had context to who he was from history books and the public persona, but the man behind the shield was naturally and infinitely more than what screens, books, and social media could ever portray. It was clear that being in exile from his country and on the run from most of the world due to their signing of the Sokovia Accords had changed him. But as you talked and spent time together, you suspected that losing his freedom had also freed him in some ways from the burdens of expectation and the colossal mantle and responsibilities of being Captain America.

He hadn’t given up his sense of duty to still help when and where he could, but he could simply be Steve.

In the nearly two days and two nights you’d spent together almost constantly in each other’s company, you’d shared so much, talking over things that were both trivial and meaningful as the conversations evolved. You’d spent time in serene silence together as well.

All of that felt stolen out of the pages of a book on its own.

But then there had also been the sex.

So much super soldier sex.

Rough, intense, sensual, exquisite, and all-consuming.

All of it – the physical and emotional – had been more intimate than anything else you had ever experienced.

Logically you had also come to realize that the pure fact that you both knew the time was so limited and fleeting undoubtedly allowed both of you to suspend boundaries and open up in ways you wouldn’t have if it had been a more conventional coupling up situation.

Yet it didn’t take anything away from the memory of those days together.

Logically you also knew no one would ever compare to him, and you had been realistic about that.

But tonight you wouldn’t worry about letting your thoughts drift to Steve.

It was more difficult to think of the emotional, and so your mind diverted quickly to the physical.

The way he had looked at you, touched you, kissed you, pleasured you. The feel of his cock inside of you. His fingers and his mouth ripping more orgasms from you than…

“No,” you scolded yourself out loud and groaned. “It’s too early on a Friday night to be thinking about sex with Steve.”

Not that it did any good to say so.

You pressed your thighs together, feeling the ache the worst at your core.

No longer paying any attention whatsoever to the movie you had going on the tv, it was the doorbell ringing with your food delivery that saved you from the spiral of desperately horny thoughts you were caught in.

There were two bags deposited on your doorstep, and you snatched them both up eagerly. The larger brown paper bag was emanating some heat, so you opened the smaller one first, assuming correctly that it held your tiramisu. You snatched a spoon from your silverware drawer and went for a sweet, indulgent bite. A little spoiling before you turned to the savory feast.

That bite made you moan in satisfaction. You savored the way the cream was perfectly smooth and balanced with the coffee and liqueur-soaked ladyfingers.

Your doorbell rang again, and you rushed over to open the door, assuming the delivery person probably realized they had forgotten a precious part of your meal – likely the garlic bread, and that would have been a sin!

Spoon still in your mouth, you opened the door and then froze.

Wearing the same aviators and non-descript baseball cap, Steve Rogers stood before you, as if it hadn’t been nearly three months since your once-in-a-lifetime encounter.

This couldn’t be real.

And yet his aggressive grip on your hip as he backed you into your place and kicked the door closed behind him was irrefutable.

Your heart raced as Steve pressed you against the wall, his body flush against yours. Your spoon clattered to the floor. He discarded his sunglasses on the table by the door and then captured your lips in a searing kiss. His beard scratched your skin, a delicious friction that sent shivers down your spine. Your lips parted for the demands of his hungry kiss, and when he licked into your mouth, his tongue slid against yours slowly for a moment, and you knew he was tasting the sugary sweetness of the bite you’d just savored, savoring it himself.

When he finally broke away, you gasped for air. "Steve? What are you doing here?"

"I shouldn't be here," he murmured against your neck, his breath hot on your skin. "But I couldn't stay away."

Your mind reeled. This couldn't be happening. "Isn’t it risky for you to come back?"

Steve's thumb traced your lower lip. "Some risks are worth taking."

You melted into his touch, your body quickly abandoning reason. You yanked him closer by his shirt collar, kissing him fiercely. You removed the hat that was already askew on his head and tangled your fingers in his hair. It was longer now than when you'd last seen him. He groaned, lifting you effortlessly and carrying you to the couch.

Steve laid you down on the cushions, his body covering yours as he kissed a trail down your neck. His beard scratched deliciously against your sensitive skin, making you shiver. Your hands roamed over his broad shoulders, feeling the tight muscles beneath his shirt.

"I've thought about this so much since I left," Steve murmured against your collarbone. His fingers slipped under the hem of your shirt, caressing the soft skin of your stomach.

You arched into his touch, desperate for more. "Me too," you breathed, that confession opening a dangerous door you had tried to keep closed inside of you.

Steve's hands pushed your shirt up, exposing your breasts. His eyes darkened with desire as he took in the sight of you. Slowly, reverently, he lowered his head to take a nipple into his mouth. The wet heat of his tongue made you gasp and clutch at his neck. He gave it a hard, long suck before letting his tongue swirl around your nipple again, laving at it as his hand kneaded the other. It was all you could do to moan, arch into him more, and hold onto him like a lifeline.

Steve kissed his way down your body, leaving a trail of heat in his wake. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of your leggings, looking up at you with a nearly feral hunger in his eye, something dark that sent a thrill of both adrenaline and desire through you, and you lifted your hips because no one had ever looked at you with so much need.

Steve slowly peeled your leggings down, his eyes never leaving yours as he revealed more of your bare skin. You shivered as the cool air hit your exposed flesh, goosebumps rising on your thighs. Steve's large hands caressed up your legs, leaving trails of heat in their wake. He settled his broad shoulders between your legs, spreading you wide beneath him. He kissed the inside of your thigh, then nipped at your tender flesh, making you yelp, before he soothed it with his tongue and then another kiss, even softer than the first. Then he shifted, and you could feel his hot breath against your most intimate parts, already slick for him. You didn’t realize you were holding your breath until he placed an open-mouthed kiss to you there, and you sucked in a breath.

"God, I've missed your taste," he growled.

Without warning, he licked a long, slow stripe up your slit, making you gasp and arch off the couch. His strong hands gripped your thighs, holding you open for him as he explored you with his tongue. He circled your clit teasingly before sucking it into his mouth, the pressure making you cry out in pleasure.

Steve's tongue was relentless, alternating between broad, flat strokes and precise flicks that had you writhing beneath him. He slipped two fingers inside you, curling them to stroke your inner walls as he continued his assault on your clit. The dual sensations quickly had you climbing towards your peak.

"Steve," you gasped, your fingers tangling in his hair.

He hummed against you, the vibrations sending shockwaves of pleasure through your body. Your thighs began to tremble as you teetered on the edge of orgasm. Steve redoubled his efforts, his fingers pumping faster as his tongue flicked rapidly over your sensitive bud.

With a cry, you came undone, your body shuddering as waves of ecstasy crashed over you. Steve worked you through your climax, lapping up your release until you gently pushed his head away, oversensitive.

But he growled and bit at the inside of your other thigh. “I’m not done eating my fill of this pretty cunt yet.”

You gasped at Steve's words, a fresh wave of arousal pulsing through you despite your recent orgasm. His blue eyes were dark with desire as he looked up at you from between your thighs.

"Steve," you breathed, torn between wanting more and feeling overwhelmed by the intensity of sensation.

He seemed to sense your hesitation. "Color?" he asked, his voice husky but almost gentle.

"Green," you replied. How could you deny him? This? When you assumed you would never see him again.

Steve's lips curled into a wicked smile. "Good girl," he purred, before diving back in.

This time, his tongue explored you even more thoroughly, dipping inside you to taste your essence before returning to your clit. He alternated between broad strokes and precise flicks, keeping you on edge. When he slipped two fingers back inside you, curling them to hit that perfect spot, tears were creeping up on you for the mingled overstimulation and ecstasy.

Your hips began to move of their own accord, grinding against Steve's face as he worked you towards another climax. The coarse hair of his beard rubbed deliciously against your inner thighs, adding to the overwhelming sensations.

"That's it," Steve murmured against your flesh. "Let go for me, sweet girl."

His words, combined with a particularly well-timed curl of his fingers and another hard suck on your clit, sent you careening over the edge once more. You cried out, your back arching off the couch as your second orgasm ripped through you, even more intense than the first.

Steve didn't let up, his tongue and fingers working you through the aftershocks until you were a trembling, oversensitive mess. Only then did he pull away, pressing a soft kiss to your inner thigh before sitting back on his heels.

You lay helpless, trying to catch your breath. He leaned forward and caught the tears on your cheeks with strong swipes of his thumbs. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be ruined for anyone else.”

Your breath caught in your throat at Steve's bold declaration. The intensity in his eyes made you shiver with anticipation.

"I already am," you confessed softly.

Something flashed in Steve's eyes - possessiveness, pride, and a hint of vulnerability. He surged forward to capture your lips in a searing kiss. You could taste yourself on his tongue as he devoured your mouth.

Steve's hands roamed your body, relearning every curve and plane. When he cupped your breasts, thumbs brushing over sensitive nipples, you arched into his touch with a gasp.

"Please" you mumbled against his lips.

He pulled back slightly, his eyes searching yours.

You surged forward for another kiss, wrapping your legs around his waist to pull him closer. "I need you inside me."

Steve groaned, his hips grinding against yours. You could feel the hard length of him through his jeans, and you ached to have him fill you completely. He sat back, quickly stripping off his shirt to reveal his chiseled torso. Your hands roamed over his muscled chest and abs, marveling at the perfection of his body.

As Steve unbuckled his belt and shoved his jeans down, you took the opportunity to remove your shirt fully, leaving you both gloriously naked. He paused for a moment, drinking in the sight of you laid out before him, flushed and wanting. His eyes raked over your body with such intensity that you felt more exposed than you ever had before, curves and scars and imperfections on full display. You felt yourself flush under his gaze.

You reached for him, pulling him down on top of you. The feeling of his bare skin against yours was electrifying. Steve captured your lips in another passionate kiss as he settled between your thighs. You could feel the hard length of him pressing against your entrance, and you rolled your hips, silently begging him to take you.

Steve broke the kiss, resting his forehead against yours as he slowly pushed inside. You both groaned at the exquisite feeling of him stretching and filling you. When he was fully seated, he paused, but not long enough for you to adjust to his size. But the painful pleasure of it only fueled your hunger for more of him.

"You feel so good," he breathed, his voice strained, words hot against the crook of your neck. "So tight and perfect for me."

You whimpered in response, overwhelmed by the fullness and the intensity of having Steve inside you again after so long. Your fingers dug into his broad shoulders as he began to move, starting with slow, deep thrusts that had you gasping with each roll of his hips.

"Steve," you moaned, arching into him. "More, faster."

He growled low in his throat, picking up the pace. The couch creaked beneath you as Steve's powerful thrusts drove you into the cushions. You wrapped your legs tighter around his waist, changing the angle so he hit that perfect spot inside you with each stroke.

"That's it," Steve panted, his voice rough with desire. "Take all of me."

Your world narrowed to the feeling of Steve moving inside you, the sound of skin on skin, and the increasingly desperate noises falling from both your lips.

Steve's rhythm became more frantic, his hips snapping against yours with increasing force. The intensity of his thrusts had you clinging to him, nails digging into his back as pleasure built within you. Each powerful stroke sent shockwaves through your body, pushing you closer and closer to the edge.

"Look at me," Steve commanded, his voice husky and strained.

You forced your eyes open, meeting his intense gaze. The raw emotion you saw there – desire, possessiveness, and something deeper you couldn't quite name – took your breath away.

"I want to see you fall apart," he growled, never breaking eye contact as he continued to drive into you relentlessly. “I want to watch what only I can do to you.”

One of his hands snaked between your bodies, his thumb finding your clit and circling it with the precision he perfected in the heat of July.

"Come for me," Steve commanded, his voice strained. "I want to feel you come around my cock."

His words and the relentless pressure on your clit sent you spiraling into ecstasy. You cried out Steve's name as your orgasm crashed over you, your inner walls clenching tightly around him. The intensity of your climax triggered Steve's own release. He groaned, burying himself deep inside you as he came.

For a moment, you both lay there, panting and trembling in the aftermath. Steve's weight pressed you into the couch, but you relished the feeling of being surrounded by him.

When both of you settled back into even breathing, he planted slow kisses along your jaw and blazed a trail back to your mouth. Cock still inside you, he kissed you slowly. Slow and unrepentant, in no hurry now, only drinking you in, and you let your hands stroke up and down his back, relishing in the impossible and stolen closeness.

You could survive a second encounter with this super soldier.

↠ Masterlist | Aspen's Ask Box | Field Guide to the Forest

read more of the: Exiled Nomad Series

[aaronsrpgs]

The Accursed Vampire: The Curse at Witch Camp by Madeline McGrane

Three young vampires go to a summer camp for magic. Only two can cast spells, so the third, Dragoslava (queer icon) bums around and gets sad. But all is not as it seems at witch camp! (Duh!) Everyone is drawn into a magical plot, and we get touching moments (for real) about what adults owe kids, what kids owe each other, and how to navigate rejection and difference.

The Seeds by Ann Nocenti & David Aja

I just love David Aja art. The flat, sickly colors, the bold shapes. And Nocenti is just a weirdo; her aggressively allegorical writing from the '80s and '90s is toned down now, and she gives the art lots of room to do the heavy lifting.

Mimosa by Archie Bongiovanni

I'm happy to see queer artists of my generation reach middle age and make stories that are about getting older in this insane world of ours. Bongiovanni creates a great cast of aging urban queers who struggle through claiming responsibility for their feelings and actions.

Shelterbelts by Jonathan Dyck

Somewhat in the tradition of the "great" male cartoonists of the Fantagraphics age (Chester Brown, Seth, etc), Dyck takes everything I liked about those comics (the meandering pacing, the clear spare linework, the simmering emotions) and separates them from everything I hated (the misogyny and queerphobia). Shelterbelts is about a growing town in Canada struggling with religious tensions, the generation gap, and everything else our towns are struggling with.

The Chromatic Fantasy by H.A.

A transmasc nun makes a deal with the devil to escape the nunnery. Outside, he commits crimes and falls in love. I loved the bright, flat colors that are equal parts stained glass and old anime. And I loved how the main character deals with his self-hatred, internalized by growing up in a system that demands he be anything but himself.

Adversary by Blue Delliquanti

Real gutpunch shit. What are our responsibilities in the ongoing crises of looming fascism and disease? And how do we see those responsibilities across the intersection of race and sexuality? But all this is contained in a tragic love story set in the height of the pandemic.

Grog the Frog by Alba B.G.

I never watched Adventure Time, but I gather that fans of the show got from it something similar to what I got from Grog the Frog: fresh worldbuilding, funny dialogue, and great art all layered over a surprising level of emotion.

Blessed by Baal by Tzor Edery

Beautiful art. Great porn. People struggle with sex, personal joy, and understanding the self in the wider erotic world.

[feral-lore-creature]

💙 Prometheus Fics I Adore 💙

Just here to share some Prometheus (Alien) fics I love to re-read. 😌

Forbidden Gifts by Ardath_Rekha On Ao3 (Has not been finished) - This fic actually has the Last Engineer x Elizabeth Shaw ship! It's such an extreme rare-pair, and it's very well done! I love this ship with my whole heart, istg. - The bridging done between the prequels & the main film is interesting, and the whole story takes you on such a journey. The only thing I remember of reading this the first time was that it was a perfect vibe for mid-winter. - I won't spoil anything, but it does something really interesting with David's character, so for any David sympathizers (*cough cough* @elecctromechanika ) this one's pretty fun! - Is super internal-dialogue centered, and I love it for that! - Just as a note: there is a sex scene in here, but the author warns you thoroughly, and you can skip it if you please.

Those Whom Fortune Favors + Intrepid by JShale on Ao3 (Intrepid isn't finished, but the first one is!) - Those Whom Fortune Favors doesn't need much artistic liberty when going in, as it keeps the same isolated feeling & story as the movie. - Elizabeth's characterization is so fucking on-point. It's always the little things that make each character so distinct from one another, and makes them layered. - Intrepid is basically TWFF, but from the Last Engineer's P.O.V. & adds really interesting perspective I think I needed to recognize how severely a language barrier can warp your perception of a character.

Alone by @wingedmidnight on Ao3 (My apologies if you don't want to be tagged! I'll get rid of whatever upon request. :3) - This fic is OC & David centered, but I love it a lot because of that. It's a very interesting take, seeing the world through a different human's eyes while exploring the weird world of Alien. - David also doesn't turn out to be a creepy little murder machine! No war crimes here. Love that for him. - If you don't like shipping, romance, or sexual tension (the latter of which happens in the both of the above listed, seemingly only on Shaw's side in TWFF-) this one's better suited! - The world building is so creative! Not just in environment, but in the personalities and culture of the Engineers. - Not finished, but I don't mind. I love re-reading it either way.

Curiosity is a Virtue by MewMidnight fanfiction.net (Is also not finished) - There's definitely Elizabeth x Engineer stuff in here, but I'm a little less focused on that. There's also like... one chapter of smut, but it can be easily avoided, if that's not to your taste. - Shaw is as curious as she always is here, constantly seeking answers. - I enjoy the little chunks of world-building in here, but it's mostly funny to watch the other Engineers gawk over Shaw and David the whole time. - CiaV is a far lighter read by comparison, for multiple reasons. It's just such a nice ride.

Figured I'd make this list to give a bit of love (and life) back into this niche corner of the Alien fandom! I hope you give at least one of these a try, and happy reading! 💙

[moonshynecybin]

omg… rosquez body swap with pecco TELL US

NEUROTICISM 500000x YAYYYYYY

for real just like. lowkey a fun hijinks situation that i enjoy thinking about… probably a bit too hard for me to write and do justice because when i seriously for realsies write a fic with dialogue and everythang i need the INSANE happenings to get a lot of processing time from the characters… like space to breath… and i don’t think this fic would be about that. i think it it would be FUNNY ! a little sad ! but it makes me laugh… like they get freaky fridayed for ducati teammate reasons and marc gets plopped into the 100km race maybe, and pecco gets rocketed into a sponsorship meet and greet perhaps… somewhere they both really don’ttttt have a lot of time to PROCESS and instead have to play act as the other very hard… what does pecco think MARC would say to the crowd at this corporate party (has anybody in this bar seen bridget jone’s diary??) and what would marc do when bezz confidently tries to TOUCH TIPS WITH HIM ?

and like in MOST bodyswap aus i think it’s fun and horny and between our main romantic leads (which. say that.) but i think that can get rid of how funny the IDENTITY HIJINKS can be… pecco and marc both have enough internalized anxiety about image (and marc. greedily. has always wondered what it would be like to be vale’s heir apparent and still have him LIKE you….) that i think they tell like one person that this is happening besides each other. marc immediately calls alex and pecco tells luca bc i don’t think bezz could keep the secret ansjshhd. furious whatsapp facetime from them both like do NOTTTTT mess this up for me. three mouth. marc as pecco trying to threemouth but he can’t because pecco is genetically incapable.

so marc looks like pecco. turns up at the race. and well it’s a different body so idk, but winning is SERIOUS 2 him especially at the divorce symbology track with i think he has. conservatively 8000x more dog in him than pecco would in this situation and maybe he at least podiums… gets a little champagne bottle and a sausage wreath and vale (him and luca won pls.) is next to him on the top step smiling and shaking him around by his shoulders all giddy and affectionate and spraying him with champagne and marc can’t stop SMILING even as he wants2 DIE…. meanwhile hard cut to pecco at the grocery store having to walk the marquez party line about the sepang conflict because he accidentally ran into a guy wearing a vr46 hat that he didn’t have the good sense to AVOID

[psaikey]

Thoughts on “When This Is Over”

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

"When This Is Over"; Levi Ackerman/ Reader fanfiction on Ao3 and Wattpad by gorillagripgamer

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

I have no words for this one and at the same time don’t know where to start, so let’s take it one step at a time.

To me the writing style is sometimes more important than the story because it can make any story exceptional. In this case the writing style ticks all the boxes. The POVs are amazing, the inner monologues, the dialogues, the descriptions, just everything is so real and feels tangible in a way.

Other than that the structure is very interesting, original and refreshing by narrating parallel stories in the past and present showing us the relationship between Levi and the main character from many angles and points in time as well as their many adventures together and how their bond grew. Character development also evident over time.

This is a slow-burn romance story but also somewhat an exception. Based more on denial, responsibility and acceptance. A story where the chemistry is immediate and having both parties aware but each having their own internal turmoil and reasoning why their love is unattainable (and obviously Levi feeling stronger about it). The weight of the circumstances forbidding their love but they always find themselves returning to each other fully aware, which makes the romance so thrilling, making you hold your breath and roll around in excitement. The romance scenes are hot and steamy, kudos to the author for writing them so beautifully. Their relationship is one of equals, respectful loving and funny at times.

The story takes place about a year after Levi’s recruitment into the Scouts and continues 10 years later to the end. Isayama’s original characters are all canonical, Levi included, and the new characters are all well written and fit the main character well. There are few manga/anime plot repeatitions and an interesting original side story. The only part where there is some description of Isayama’s story is the Rumbling, but with more than enough original content.

If you're looking for something truly moving that will leave you feeling hopeful and full of emotion, then you absolutely have to check out this amazing piece!

[tired-hellowl]

here' a comprehensive list as to every problem I have with the current *unecessary characters known as 'Glitz and Glam'

Do they expand the story/worldbuilding in any meaningful way? Do they explore a new hidden dynamic/past conjunction with a differing character and is that explored meaningfully? What was the point of having them animated when Mammon can portray the same level of humiliation/degrading/on stage lack of positive reinforcements. 😐

I'm so sorry but I view these characters as necessary garbage that caused some animators arthritis via too many patterns, not enough screen time to have meat and potatoes worth of dialogue, or really any pretense within the story whatsoever and yes this extends towards every female character on screen but let's not worry about that !!! Even if they are IMPLIED to be from the ring of envy-a color or ring we haven't seen nor meaningfully conveyed to the audience that it even is possible to go in/exists- it isn't conveyed to the audience well enough besides the visual implication of colors???? Instead of having shitty b-plots that go nowhere via Stolas and Blitz goofing off in seeing stars, Moxxie and Millie getting C-plots for no reason, or loona getting a rabies shot- all of that time could have been exploring hell, going to different rings, focusing on other characters besides the main 5, literally I would prefer a quiet episode like BoJack Horsemans 'Fish out of Water'where we can actually see the personalities of the main characters be appreciated and shown to us but that's never gonna happen :/

What I've been worried about is not even the on screen racism/out of touch 'rap/hip-hop parody' leaves a terrible taste in my mouth, if that isn't enough then the sexualization/implication of an incest type dynamic and nothing else besides fetish bait with these characters constantly grabbing one another and not really acting like siblings moreso someone who has never had siblings attempting to write sibling banter and failing terribly :/

Why do you have a problem with 'Klown Bitch' it's so catchy! Uhm, no??? I feel bad for anyone who attempts to defend helluva/hazbin as good modern musicals let me grit my teeth in silence as to the glorification over white people dominating black culture

HERES A HISTORY OF FEMALE HIPHOP ARTISTS: X

Pictured above is very old concept art about twin characters and its the same hairshape viv kept to transfer over to glitz/glam- despite clearly being over designed and way too much going on Alá vivzie style. It just goes to show she recycles even from herself and not every design is always new hot and fresh :/ AND SPEAKING OF CONCEPT ART-

Also also don't forget salems' concept designs thst got passed even though they loon toony, loony, clown enough, and definitely majorly way easier to have animated besides the mess that is the current design meta ???

Love how you can clearly see the silhouettes being so easily identifiable comparably towards the actual amalgamated mess that is their current limbs attempting to hold onto their toothpick body for their head.

All this screams to me is viv using the artists thst try to come onto helluva and they try their best with what their given, viv only picks the best bits SHE thinks is worth her time rather then thinking about the audience or animating anything else besides overglorified white people rap 🤔

Also the episode literally presents its full internalized misogyny/racism within this episode because vivzie herself literally admitted to typing into script with a full chest that

'Women just ain't funny'

. . .

why present misogyny within the series if you as a creator aren't willing to tackle the subject matter? Why write about it or present it as if you're smart over including the joke in your script when it isn't even funny because it just further pushes women out of the entertainment/comedy business which mind you IS ALREADY VERY WELL MALE DOMINATED SO PUTTING OTHER WOMEN DOWN TO PUT YOURSELF UP ISNT HELPING YOUR CASE VIV???

So then what was the point of adding female clowns if all you were going to do with them was make fun of them out of their expense and then profit off of the fact that they are incest coded????????????

?????????Are we watching the same fucking series????????

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hey, do you by chance have any dialog prompts for internet friends? Thanks!

Hi! This reminded me of how letters can sometimes be similar to how "internet friends" communicate. So here are some examples that may be used as prompts:

“Send me the words ‘Good night’ to put under my pillow.” —John Keats to Fanny Brawne

“To say I apologise just seems to be inadequate. Please write to me soon.” —Hughes to a ticked-off Lowell (similarly, internet friends may argue; one may apologise, sometimes beg for a response)

“I am lonely, Neal, alone, and always I am frightened. I need someone to love me and kiss me and sleep with me; I am only a child and have the mind of a child. . . . It is pure pity that I beg now, not comradeship or love or sympathy.” —Ginsberg to Neal Cassady (similarly, internet friends may confess their emotional turmoils)

“When you write my epitaph, you must say I was the loneliest person who ever lived.” —Robert Lowell, in his letter to Elizabeth Bishop, recalls this message to have been said by her

“Why are you alone in London, and when do you go to Salisbury? Do go there to cool your hands in the grey twilight of Gothic things, and come here whenever you like. It is a lovely place and lacks only you; but go to Salisbury first.” —Oscar Wilde to Lord Alred “Bosie” Douglas

“How can Death get at the Unborn, go back before birth and look at death. Or look at death though a coffeecup or sharpen your pencil on it, protect the chair against it, don’t destroy the chance of a boulder to life.” —Snyder to Ginsberg (similarly, internet friends may not always be coherent in their messages)

“Teaching is a groove, I have total freedom, and my poetry class is full of interesting hip young minds.” —Snyder to Ginsberg (similarly, internet friends may talk [or gossip] about their daily lives; so-and-so is “one of the meanest cats in Japan” -Snyder)

“My main psychic difficulty . . . is the usual oedipal entanglement . . . I have been homosexual for as long as I can remember.” —Ginsberg to Wilhelm Reich (similarly, internet friends may verbalise their internal conflicts)

“I ask you for violence, in the nonsense, and you, you give me grace, your light and your warmth. I’d like to paint you, but there are no colors, because there are so many, in my confusion, the tangible form of my great love.” —Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera

“Ah, how good it was to hear your voice. It was so inadequate to try and tell you what it meant. Funny was that I couldn’t say je t’aime and je t’adore as I longed to do, but always remember that I am saying it, that I go to sleep thinking of you.” —Eleanor Roosevelt to Lorena Hickok

“My heart has often been too full to speak or take any notice I am sure you know I love you well enough to believe that I mind your sufferings nearly as much as I should my own...” —Emma Darwin to Charles Darwin

“I composed a beautiful letter to you in the sleepless nightmare hours of the night, and it has all gone: I just miss you, in a quite simple desperate human way.” —Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf

“...you are lavish with little secondary loves, like that night in Thiviers when you loved that peasant walking downhill in the dark, whistling away, who turned out to be me.” —Jean-Paul Sartre to Simone de Beauvoir

“Think of me, sometimes, when the Alps and ocean divide us, –but they never will, unless you wish it.” —Lord Byron to Teresa Guiccioli

Notes on writing internet friends' dialogue (similar to how people write letters):

Example: "Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell" — Similar to these poets, your characters may lead very different lives, which you can make apparent in their dialogue:

For instance, Bishop's letters contain ardent descriptions of Brazilian flora and fauna, affectionate accounts of her humble neighbors in Petrópolis, and wry gossip about her upper-class social circle in Rio; whilst Lowell updates her on his tumultuous life with wives #2 (Elizabeth Hardwick) and #3 (Caroline Blackwood) and on the stateside literary scene.

Despite differences, your characters may still remain friends. Example: Bishop and Lowell's politics differed. Yet both tactfully avoided debating politics, and remained fast friends. (While Lowell was very publicly protesting the Vietnam War, Bishop was socializing with Brazil’s leading conservative politicians.)

Write your character's dialogue in a descriptive way. Unless they are sending one another photos or videos, most internet friends would be very vivid in their description. Example: In Hughes' 1956 letters, he frequently reported encounters with animals in a descriptive way (usually including his own interpretations): he’s sitting in a valley reading when a wildcat comes along and starts “to stare me out—very offensive”; he’s walking across a field when he sees a “beautiful cow” alienating the affections of a calf from a jealous horse.

Sometimes internet friends tell each other mundane things, like their dreams: For instance, in his letters, Hughes recounts, and attempts to analyze one, often violent animal dream, after another.

Also found this article on The Psychology of Social Media, which you might find useful.

Sources: 1 2

Hope this helps with your writing. Do tag me, or send me a link. I'd love to read your work!

[imminent-danger-came]

Why do you think s4 lmk is sometimes seen as a drop-off in writing quality compared to earlier seasons?

IS IT REALLY. That's so funny, I personally think s4 elevated lmk's writing to unbelievably high levels. It recontextualized previous seasons in ways that cemented my faith in lmk's writing team, and proved to me that this wasn't just going to be good, it was going to be GREAT, an honest to god masterpiece.

I find that the more complex the writing, when things like love and devotion aren't put into "good" or "bad" boxes, when characters are hypocrites and things develop in a way people don't like (it doesn't make them "feel good" but the writing itself is solid), that's when people start to say things like "the writing's gotten worse". I've seen plenty of takes for characters like Wukong and Viren (from The Dragon Prince), where folks want to boil down the mess and the complexity into "the writers don't know how to write this character," when the truth is the opposite. Sometimes, characters say one thing and do another and that's on purpose, thank you. Sometimes, characters mean well and have good intentions, but they still suck. Writing like that is fucking awesome.

(Big Owl House rant incoming, turn back now if you're not interested in that)

It's not really a surprise to me that something like The Owl House, where the characters are fairly one note and everything is said out loud and the themes are much more simplistic, is/was far more popular. Obviously, I don't want to shame anyone or make people feel bad for loving toh—like it's great if you love it, keep doing that—but I do think that objectively, toh has pretty weak writing (which honestly doesn't/doesn't have to determine how much you love it).

I was discussing this with a few friends last night, how with toh, the implications are hardly thought through, and characters aren't viewed beyond the role they can serve in the episode or the arc. Like, I think of the beginning of Hollow Mind, where King says "No one wants to believe they've spent their life following the wrong person", which is fine, it's something that could be interesting given the proper execution, but when you analyze it deeper, try to find the consistent character thread...it doesn't make any actual sense for King or the development he went through at the beginning of s2. Had he said something along the lines of "No one wants to believe they've spent their life following a lie", now THAT ties directly into the lie he believed for his whole life, and to King as a character. But that's not what happened, and that's never what happened in toh.

Even with Belos, the main villain, it's clear the writers wanted Grim Walker angst for Hunter, but they didn't want to explore the implications of Belos recreating his brother over and over again. So at that point, it's like...why not just have Hunter be adopted? Why have him be a grimmwalker at all if it's not something we're going to explore deeper on Belos' end?

Needless to say, lmk isn't like that. If a character has dialogue or a scene, it's going to contribute to our perception of them and their internal motivations. If Pigsy is worried about his relation to his ancestors in s4, and what that says about him, we can actually trace that back to 2x04: tradition matters to Pigsy, and it's a huge part of his heart, identity, and life. Of COURSE Pigsy is affected when he learns his ancestor was someone he doesn't like, someone who tried to eat the love of his life. He even tries to comfort MK with what he thinks is a shared experience, and it's AGH. It's so good

If something is established in lmk, it's expanded upon. Hell, even the Mayor of all characters was given his own spotlight outside of LBD. He even has a direct parallel to Azure—following and giving service to an Emperor before becoming disillusioned and changing loyalty to the person that will bring about real change: their Lady and their King.

Anyways,

I went on a super long tangent. I can't truly know why some people think of lmk s4 as a drop-off in writing quality, but those are some thoughts from me to you!

[ta5tier]

isat thoughts, go

[this ask is actually an excuse to ramble about whatever thing you can't get someone else to prompt you to ramble about]

i just woke up so this probably wont be too coherent but here we go!

I, like many, discovered ISAT through @jelloapocalypse’s fantastic video on the game, and by that I mean I watched the first 5 minutes of the video and immediately stopped and played the game myself.

I already liked time loops as a literary device, especially in games (outer wilds rocks, 12 minutes is interesting despite the general quality, etc) but ISAT managed to get me interested in the story and its characters before even introducing time loops as a mechanic. (Y’ALL I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR ISABEAU TO JUST COME OUT SWINGING LIKE THAT! I clocked that motherfucker before the gang even left dormont, he isnt smooth.)

ANYWAY besides the great character writing, ISAT also managed to nail its genre parody right off the bat, the literal RPS combat is so funny, Mirabelle gives off such RPG protagonist vibes, and its a neat take on the genre to center the narrative around the “edgy”rogue (HA Scissors pun). Along with the fact that Siffrin is absolutely the right amount of mentally unstable, you have all the perfect ingredients for great genre deconstruction.

Spoilers Under the Cut So be WARNED

There are tons of people talking about the story beats further so i’m not gonna spend more time here reinventing the wheel, but something I will talk about is how the game leverages ludonarrative assonance, I.e. how the game reflects the experience of the player as a part of the story.

In the case of ISAT, this manifests as the growing boredom both the player and Siffrin experience as they continue through the loops. On my first few loops I took care to avoid skipping dialogue and made sure my party was leveled up enough to succeed at any of the fights they faced. I explored thoroughly and enjoyed the process of doing so and I only reset when the game asked it of me.

But as the game continued I found myself zoning out of more and more dialogue, skipping more and more fights, and resetting whenever it would save me time. And Siffrin was with me all the way through all of it, his internal monologue growing increasingly disinterested with the affairs of his party members and the dangers they were in.

Ironically, in a game so outside my lived experience I found myself mentally aligned with Siffrin in a way that's frankly a little concerning. (im ok im not in a time loop lol)

The magic of ISAT for me was in that alignment, of feeling a shared purpose with a character, and in the breaking of that alignment in the games later acts. One of my favorite moments in any story is when I realize I can no longer fully root for the main character. Siffrin's last loop was that moment for me and I loved it. Siffrin's final trek through the House is so awful to watch but also represents the logical conclusion of his decent. The witty commentary is gone, his family is gone, the muscle memory that he and I shared in navigating the house is no longer reliable. Its all no longer necessary.

In Siffrin's mind, whats left of them isn't worth saving. And then finally, agonizingly, they are saved. Despite his best efforts to self destruct, his family come for him and they're mad and they're scared but they do it anyway, even when the world is ending around them.

Anyway yeah i love this game so much Siffrin is Stars' most mentally unwell soldier and i love them and their stupid family so much.

[toastandjamie]

So like, since I’m doing my re-read, I’ve reached The Great Hunt and it’s got me thinking about that of the three Ta’veren boys, Mat is the only one who doesn’t get a pov in the first two books. His first pov is book three and while he definitely makes up for lost time I’ve been thinking about it.

So, when I first read Eye of The World and The Great Hunt and joked with my dad about how Mat was virtually a ‘damsel in distress’ for Rand in the first two books. And while it’s Funny I think the actual reasons I got that vibe is the lack of agency.

So Mat gets daggered very early on in the first book and throughout the Camlyn Road-trip Mat’s main purpose is to be something Rand can worry over or be frustrated by. In writing a character Pov is a major way of establishing agency since it turns the character into an active participant in the story and while it’s not the only way to do this as seen by characters like Morraine and Lan who don’t have povs in the first book either but are still active characters. This becomes especially apparent in book 2 where the major motivation for the boys to even go on the hunt for the horn was to get the dagger back for Mat, so much so that it’s readily established that Rand wouldn’t have gone on the hunt point blank if it wasn’t for Mat and the dagger; yet Mat still has no pov in this book despite being the one primarily affected by losing the dagger. Mat is more or less used as a plot hook in the first two books to force Rand into situations he otherwise would not be in. Such as what happened at Four Kings where Rand repeatedly wants to leave and suggests doing so but Mat insists on staying so they don’t have to sleep in the rain or in the case of the hunt, causes Rand to participate in the hunt with a life or death ticking clock. We don’t get any incite beyond Perrin and Rand noting Mat’s physically declining health, growing paler, losing weight and looking sickly as the book goes on. Mat of course doesn’t ever acknowledge it in dialogue because it’s Mat so we as an audience never get any incite into how Mat feels about the fact that he’s quite literally dying since we don’t have the benefit of his internal monologue.

Compare this to a the time where they subverted the ‘damsel in distress’ trope. with Egwene, there are three major plot lines in which she’s captured and we have povs for all three and in each of those events she still has agency. Even in the damane arc where she is quite literally stripped of her agency she still feels like an active character because we see her trying to defy the Seanchen, she’s not simply a plot device needing to be rescued she’s a character experiencing trauma. Even when Rand was put in the box he continues to evolve as a character and so did Faile during her time with the Shaido. All three had povs, all three were still actively participating in their situation, we knew exactly how they felt about the horrible things happening to them and see them deal with them in ways that show their characterization and growth.

Mat receives none of that. Not until the third book at least when he’s finally freed from the dagger.

So what’s up with that? Well, it’s possibly intentional. Okay so, the dagger of Shader Logoth and it’s Evil overwrites or at least tries to overwrite the person it’s possessing, that’s it’s curse, you become one with the dagger and one with Shadar Logoth. So up until the point Mat is fully healed from the dagger he is not really himself. Even after Morraine partially heals him, calming him down and keeping it from getting worse he’s still not fully Himself, as evidence by his memory loss. Partly it’s repression, but it was also the dagger overwriting his pre-exiting memories, his personality, everything that made him him. In the simplest of terms, Mat quite literally Wasn’t really his own character until book three, in many ways he WAS the dagger. An object with no personal agency but a catalyst for other characters.

[rararazaquato]

Master Detective Archives (2008-2009, Nicktoons)

screenshots taken from episode 3A "House of Hecksmile" and episode 7A, "Halara's Nightmare"!

early concept art reveals the character of "Yomi Hecksmile" was originally referred to as "Yomi Hellsmile", but due to pushback from censors, his name was changed. additionally, while halara was never referred to by any gender in the original english, in languages where this is difficult, they are referred to by both masculine and feminine terminology.

(weeheehee i made moreeeee!!! might make a Lore Post at some point but relevant bits are under the cut + more bonus arts)

so when i draw these, the design sensibilities are based on children's cartoons that pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable for a y7 rating, but still maintained a solidly "for children" audience. think invader zim, billy and mandy, etc. so to fit in with my Lore for this fake rain code nicktoon... i had to change yomi's name. his name is Hecksmile now. honestly i think that makes it funnier.

i'm pretty sure that halara is mostly referred to with feminine terms in languages where that's unavoidable (french, spanish, etc), but unlike the rain code localization teams, i'm not afraid of nonbinary people. i know i was just talking abt changing yomi's name for Standards And Practices, but i like to think this show aired in the Woke 2008 That The Liberals And Joe Biben Wanted. i think that would also be funny. so in the international dubs of Master Detective Archives for Nickelodeon, halara gets the mangle fnaf treatment. why? because i think that's cool.

ok here comes some bonus stuff!

shoutout to steam code from the rain coat server for suggesting the "snooping as usual" from satam scene. i changed the dialogue to make it fit more with what i had in mind but this one was supposed to be a pingas joke.

the versions w no subtitles... now you can see allergy-riddled halara's hastily-drawn tissue box in all its glory.

and of course, some more of the cast! aphex and pucci actually get to be main cast members this time, yippee! don't worry, zange and melami are still here, but they're closer to side characters. still, probably more screentime than in canon.

i wouldn't say any of my designs for this little project are strict improvements from the original rc designs, but seth's is a whole lot more fun to draw. shaped like a fuckin boobah.

[dlsintegration]

Using @iwtvfanevents's a meal to remember event as an opportunity to celebrate some of the sickos beautiful authors in this fandom 🧡 here's a list of some of my favourite recommendations, all of them Louis-centric and/or involving louis in a major fashion.

I will also be adding a song that I associate to each of them!!

🐺Leslou🐑

canon/semi-canon compliant

Pour (E) by baberainbow / @baberainbowao3: Kicking this list off with one of my all times favorite, manages to capture their voices perfectly. You'll never go wrong with one of babe's fics, they're all canon in my head 🧡

song: holy terrain - fka twigs

Glass (E) by baberainbow / @baberainbowao3: Melting just thinking about this one. I can never be free of them.

Pieta (E) by baberainbow / @baberainbowao3: Gabrielle gives lestat something he needs and gives louis something he didnt know he needed 🧡 Gabrielle is so kind 🧡

song: let go - tinashe

song: mary magdalene - fka twigs

Tides (E) by @nlbv: Tides my best friend. had to stare at my ceiling for at least 10 minutes after that one and it doesn't lose its impact no matter how much I come back to it. Masterful grasp on both louis and lestat's characterization and the toxicity that permeates their relationship.

song: tear you apart - she wants revenge

Roadkill (E) by @baberainbowao3 and @nlbv: TELL THE AVENGERS TO PACK IT THE FUCK UP. This is the most ambitious crossover of our generation. Roadkill my wife my beloved my soulmate. Read it so many times i've managed to convince myself it was canon. and it is. What is a family meant for if not for going to the circus, commiting horrifying acts of violence and making plans for the future 🧡

song: savage good boy - japanese breakfast

someone buy me roses (E) by indigostohelit: Perfect dialogue, impeccably true to their characters, illustrates louis' religious hangups and repression in a subtle funny and intimate way.

song: save a prayer - duran duran

Amour Rouge (E) by revengefrnnk: Louis exploring femininity. Big big fan of putting that man in lingerie personally. 10/10 certified s1 deleted scene to me.

song: blood and butter - caroline polachek

AUs

Reformation (E) by verseau / @greedydemands (MODERN AU): The sacred texts. We all remember where we were. 10/10 will make you go through the full range of existing human emotions. I laughed. I cried, a number of times. I sweat, I danced. I got... a shot, I ate and... I had many epiphanies.

song: heaven - shygirl / be sweet - japanese breakfast

hold me tight, & fear me not (E) by boltcutters / @wordforworldisforest (TAM LIN AU): Me when I find a beautiful fairytale book in the evil yaoi section. Read if you love beautiful writing and if you want to find out what happens to lost little lambs that stray from the path.

song: i cant breathe - gwsn

Part of Your World (E) by weathermood / @weather-mood (LITTLE MERMAID AU): I never know where to start when praising POYW, from how real and alive the world feels to the sense of tragedy permeating Louis and Lestat's entire relationship, to how much it's made me miss the sea. Oh and also the monsterfucking ❤️

song: like real people do - hozier / sea, swallow me - cocteau twins

House of Gold (E) by dirtygoldensoul / @revolution-starter : I don't usually read A/B/O fics but I love this one so much, for many reasons, the main one being how bad the family dynamics get me... Can't recommend it enough 🧡

song: work song - hozier

Like a Heathen clung to the Homily (E) by @thelioncourts (SEX CLUB AU): One of my favorite insights into Louis' internality and his lingering religious trauma, and how it still affects him, chapter 4 almost made me cry... Can't wait to see where it goes next.

song: after dark - mister kitty

🥀Loumand🎭

canon/semi-canon compliant

dirges (E) by boltcutters / @wordforworldisforest: Can't make my way into loumand territory without mentioning my beautiful wife dirges. Ziska if you read this know that you will be dealt with shortly. Loumand bed death allegation hours: CLOSED FOREVER.

song: posing in bondage - japanese breakfast

Alluvium (E) by serpenstkirts / @knifeeater: The best way I can describe Laïs' fics and how they make me feel would be to liken the experience to drowning into a lake and being grateful for the dark water filling your lungs. This fic is about eroticized latex gloves and finger sucking btw.

song: only seeing god when i come - sega bodega

vanishing point (E) by serpentskirts / @knifeeater: Motorcycle sex as religious experience. Day 67 of my campaign to get Laïs in that writing room.

song: sunset - caroline polachek / nascar - stella smyth

Selfsame (E) by @vampdf: 70s LOUMAND CRUISING ERA MY BELOVED. Number 1 on the list of the crimes Eli has to answer for. 1000/10. Died five separate times reading this. Rolin look at me. Rolin dont listen to AMC. You need this in s2. It is crucial that we get this. Louis deserves it.

song: a pill to crush - evelyn / sulk - tr/st

Prey Drive (E) by The_Lame_Goat / @iwtvdramacd18: Speaking of loumand's 70s insane bdsm practices 💔💔💔 s2 script just leaked. Is your eternal vampire marriage hitting a rough spot? Try our newest predator/prey large-scale roleplay!

song: lullaby - the cure / on the run - kelela

Mark Deep (E) by The_Lame_Goat / @iwtvdramacd18: Goat you have my blood on your hands. No added commentary needed actually. The damage this fic has done to me is irreversible. Read if you want some more quality t4t loumand insanity.

song: pang - caroline polachek

Rumpelstiltskin (E) by weathermood / @weather-mood: Most normal loumand roleplay night. Louis wakes up in a tower. I literally refuse to say anything else until you all read it for yourself and go through the sheer range of emotions I've went through when first reading it. #Their princess/captor slay is real and alive and thriving. This fic is also part of the NMHMRGPINE (No Matter How Much Rashid Gets Paid It's Not Enough) verse btw.

who is she ? - i monster / big bad wolf - shakey graves

AUs

the night island (E) by @vampdf (MAFIA AU): I don't know much but I know Armand was made to be a mob boss and Louis was made to be a mob wife. One of the most insanity-inducing byproducts of the career dom s2 teaser Armand scene(tm).

song: bitch bites dog - cecile believe

🚬Armand/Louis/Daniel📚

thy fearful symmetry (E) by mothmaiden: 70s era. One of the flrst iwtv fics I ever read. Never left my mind since. Delicious dynamics between the three of them, got me gasping and covering my mouth many times. Can't recommend enough.

song: soul control - jessie ware

Little Kidnaps in the Dark (E) by @gayvampiredivorce : The damage little kidnaps has wrought on my crops, my mental health, my friends and family can NOT be overstated. Masterful interpretation of the evolution of their relationship and dynamics through the haze of vampiric existence. Anne could never have done this.

song: when the sun hits - slowdive

Lethe series (T/E) by serpentskirts / @knifeeater: Quite simply one of my favorite series not only in that tag but in general. Every sentence Laïs writes pulls me into a dark void that I hope I'm never getting out of.

song: hopedrunk everasking - caroline polachek

🖤Lestat/Louis/Armand/Daniel💀

Good to Love / Ruthless in Love (M) by themasterletters / @brightfelon (MODERN AU): Reading Toni's fics makes me feel like im a teen again, waiting anxiously for updates and calling up all my friends to scream and , am in love with all of Toni's readings of the characters but his Louis truly gets me. That fic doesn't only live rent free in my head it's also led me places I wouldnt go to with a gun. I have seen the best minds of my generation led to madness by toni's loumand. btw.

song: career boy - dorian electra / genghis khan - miike snow

Lestat/Louis/Armand

A Potentiality for Corruption (E) by @vampdf: The thing is. I can't talk about Eli's fics without talking about Potentiality. However. Talking about Potentiality also happens to send me into a state of delirious hysterics. Daphne Du Maurier found dead in a ditch. Charlotte Brontë shaking and crying. Guillermo Del Toro found jobless. There's a new Gothic classic in town.

song: ptolemaea - ethel cain

[ddwcaph-game]

In celebration of Chapter Four being complete here's a question for you:

Which one of the main cast is the most difficult to write and which one is the easiest? Also, which one better represent your personality?

Can't wait to play the update when it releases!

Hello, sorry for taking super long to answer this. 😅

Of the main cast, the hardest to write is definitely Brandon/Beatrice. It's a combination of:

being the newest member of the group in terms of development (Cordelia and Cham existed way earlier than B did)

me just having a hard time writing antagonists in general (which is why B's sidequest is taking this direction very early on)

B not having much screen time yet (B would've had more screen time before the rewrite, but that's a whole can of worms)

me just taking a very long time to figure out characters (although I guess this doesn't apply to the IAC cast lol)

and I guess there's also this pressure now, considering B seems to be the most popular character despite being the least developed member of the group

For easiest, I don't think it's a surprise for most people that it's Wayne and Roselyna. Their dialogue just comes to me naturally, especially since they're part of the original trio in the original novel (along with Paddy), and because they're just so much fun to write... Which is funny, since I'm nothing like them as a child, and more like something I ideally wanna be like. I guess they're also partly the reason why MC & Twin are fairly easy to write, minus the bad relationship scenes/variations. Those are always painful and exhausting to write. I always write the positive/emotional variations first, and I have to actively repress those feelings before I can write the opposite variations.

Cham is also easy and fun to write, but also exhausting at the same time, so I don't think I can write Cham for long unlike Wayne and Rosie who's always in my head (but refuse to get into my dreams).

As for who represents me the most, I've already mentioned before that it's Paddy. But actually even more so now that Ate Paddy's an option and actively questioning their gender identity. Paddy has a lot more internal dialogue going on (which is why they're not as easy to write as Wayne or Rosie), but MC's rambly internal dialogue pretty much evolved from how I was writing Patrick before he got demoted from main character status. I'm not saying I'd act or look exactly like Paddy, but in essence, the story I'm writing is basically how Paddy would write it, if that makes sense. It's kind of like Paddy being content enough to watch over the twins (and experiencing the story through them), but would absolutely get wrecked if they went away.

Anyway, thanks for sending the ask and I hope the update was worth the wait!

[regarding-stories]

Some looking back and some rounding up

So, a while ago I did a selection of series I was watching this simulcast season. And some other stuff. Here are my updated thoughts on several of them - plus more other stuff! Yay, other stuff!

...

Dead Dead Demons DeDeDe Destruction

I can say I'm interested where the series is going, but there are two factors stopping me. Following an unfolding catastrophe by itself would already be a downer. But particularly this year, I am really not inclined to watch scenes of cutesy aliens being brutally murdered over and over. First I banned the series from watching at mealtimes, but now, with 11 episodes already watched, I haven't picked it up in quite some time.

GIF by animescreencolle

2.5 Dimensional Seduction

Turned out exactly as I expected it to be - an enjoyable watch all in all, a cute collection of blushing included. I find two downsides with the season:

Unrequited love interest / girl #2 was absent from half the season in spite of being spotlighted in the credits. My guess she was a bit of a filler right from the start, but seldom has a character been sidelined so hard. When she reappeared at the end I actually found she had grown as a character, being some necessary counter-pole to the airhead main girl. (Sorry Ririsa, but your commonsense is entirely absent. The total focus on Ririsa is less surprising when you know (only) her name is in the Japanese title, though.)

GIF by a-titty-ninja

There were... probably two... episodes that were almost entirely composed of internal dialogue that was highly repetitive and stretched out far too long. Yada yada I love all cosplayers. Change of heart. It was tiresome. There's a limit to how much internal dialogue is good in this kind of anime.

I had fun, though.

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines

I thought this would become a harem comedy or at least have some harem vibes, given the narrator-protagonist we follow around is a dude surrounded by girls with widely differing hairstyles and personalities (and he actually tries to help them all).

I'm gladly surprised how much time this show takes to actually follow along the three titular losing heroines, though. It seems to be very willing to explore their struggles - first with their respective love interests, but now also expanding into shy bookworm's struggle to find friendship, acceptance, and a place in the world she can trust.

GIF by senjo

This focus is reflected in the credits sections which vary and focus on the girl currently taking the spotlight. Bonus: The show has some great music.

I still think that inevitably the protagonist's kindness will lead to a second round of falling-in-love trouble, especially given that girl-who-never-stops-snacking seems to already fill the girlfriend role in most aspects.

Still, loving the attention to characters, emotional scenes, some drama, and it being outright charming, funny, and delightful - this is so hard to wait for each week!

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

Ended up watching it, and it's a fun diversion. It actually works quite well as anime!

I still think the MC and his sister are absolute jerks when it comes to pranks. And the time he spent in Russia is even more sidelined than in the light novels.

Pseudo Harem

Now for an entry I picked up late. The basic premise is easy - there's a girl named Rin with a crush on her Senpai in drama club. To overplay her cowardice and blatantly flirt with him she invents a series of characters she portrays based on tropes/stereotypes (Imp-chan, Tsundere-chan, Cool-chan, etc) that her Senpai is absolutely enthralled with - so it becomes their own private thing (and probably a bit of a love language).

It surely helps the character is the most adorable little thing ever and voiced by the same voice actress as Yor in "Spy x Family", lending her this particular quality that is a bit timid and easily lured into blushing embarrassment.

The only downside I see to this series that can make you seriously go "Squeeee!" is that it overly focuses on only two characters and hence is more like a gag-comedy manga in terms of plot than an unfolding story (though it has elements of both). The anime certainly transports the whole thing way better than the original manga which I sampled at random before the show was picked up but I found a bit lacking.

Not sure why Senpai and his family (at least his mom) have constant "I lack sleep" eyes...

Days with my Stepsister

In hindsight, a chore with nothing much happening. Girl who is a loner who only relies on herself becomes stepsibling with boy who is a loner who detaches himself from everything. They fall in love.

Which is what you see mostly not happening for a dozen episodes as you watch them asking themselves questions and denying their feelings. And lots of inner monologue.

(Can't find a GIF for this under the English or Japanese title, so tumblr seems to have spoken...)

The show aims for an elegic, nostalgic quality, but it sometimes feels just slow. It is better, though, than shows that stall the plot with over-the-top drama. I watched it to end, after all. The end of the season is such that I find it hard to relate to her as a character, given how he discovered her feelings way before him. (I get that this is a heavy conflict for her, though.)

Side characters are almost entirely sidelined and mostly there to further what little plot there is between the main couple. And it wins the prize for the worst way to draw eyes in female characters, I thought at times she was having a mascara accident when it turned out it was still part of the eye.

Solo Leveling

Didn't expect that one, huh? I was rather annoyed by the hype, as I sometimes am, and had a preconceived bias about what the show is, well, about.

So glad to be wrong!!

The premise is much better than anticipated. Instead of this being about a game, it's about events unfolding that have game-like characteristics underneath. Except the protagonist is the only one to find that out after many years of this going on and hence in a unique position to improve his station in life - though through a very risky, painful means.

The show is well-paced and gorgeous in general, though also gory and overly dramatic. It pulls it off so well, you're on the edge of your seat rather often. And it manages to pull you in for the ride first.

The main criticism I have of this one is that the human side of the MC is... too passionate, focused, and a bit unconvincing. Come on! There is this girl desperate to go out with you but you're not only too consumed in feeling like a loser to take her up on it when you're failing, you still have no clue when you're succeeding! I don't buy into this level of onesidedness. (I guess the "hero" is destined to be with the ice queen we see portrayed so often. But season 1 has zero contact between them and they live in completely different worlds.)

A very harsh show, gore-wise, and more than a tad cruel. Be prepared.

Haganai - I Don't Have Many Friends

It's hard to have an opinion on this one. I read on in the manga because the show leaves off somewhere in the middle. And I must say, it really really has flawed characters - and displays them in all their misconceptions.

At one point I thought I almost got it - when the manga turned against the whole "rumor" and "reading the mood" and the mood turning on people culture. It was nasty how the group-think blamed one girl for the fact a dude had a stupid crush for her instead of the other girl. Of course she contributed to it - not through encouraging the dude like she was accused of (so she was essentially slut-shamed, I guess), but because her response was so horribly tone-deaf as well.

But when you read the defense her friend conjures on the spot, it's no better. So is the author himself horribly tone-deaf or is he meaning to portray characters that are so strongly flawed? I couldn't decide.

There's more of this - like the male lead thinking this girl attracting so much attention and supposedly super smart (but lacking any commonsense) is some sort of goddess. It's hard to tell if that is his flawed thinking or partially the author's? Because she's very flawed, and in turn the anime constantly makes fun of her - including playing a "moo" sound whenever she runs towards someone because, you know... dare I say it? Cow udders.

So it's a flawed show with a desperate amount of fan service and flawed characters, but I was still interested in where these characters would go. And it can be quite funny and/or sweet at times. It doesn't exactly inspire me to read the light novels, though.

My First Girlfriend Is a Gal

Now here's an anime that had some issues that had little to do with the actual story. Boy asks gal out on a dare and she actually accepts - apparently she had a secret crush? Whatever gets the ball rolling.

What the show does make clear is that she as a person/character is very different from the hyper-sexualized image some guys seem to have of gyarus. It actually mostly is a sweet and rather harmless romance with typical anime hijinks - let's go to the onsen (hot springs), MC gets to see her in a yukata, etc. And in this regard the show does fine.

However, the anime version specifically is turning what probably were very short scenes in the mind of the MC into long "censored" sequences, entertaining - at length! - the exact same mindset the character herself so noticeably disproves. While I only started reading the manga picking up at some point towards the end of the show, I don't see the same there. It nowhere takes as much focus. It's clearly a device the anime makers seem to have come up with.

I also have failed to find so far the story arc the show's only season ended on. The whole late story arc was so confusing in the end, not even I was sure what was supposed to happen between them versus what happened. It was a whole lot of "you should have known better" and "I'm disappointed in you" that I couldn't quite follow.

If you look past the blatant "sex sells" treatment the anime got, you find a nice enough story mixed with very silly and unrealistic hijinks. Not exactly destined for greatness, but it's worthwhile (and quite long-running, actually).

My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex

While I'm watching shows I originally had no interest in, this one turned out to be quite decent. The setup is interesting - boy and girl have a middle school romance between nerdy loners that breaks up when they can't cope with change and the communication needed to keep the relationship up. Shortly after the breakup his dad marries her mother, with neither knowing they used to date.

The show varies between different territories. On the one hand it plays with the lingering feelings, especially hers towards him. A lot of the show's humor and premise is based on this, and frankly, it's quite sweet.

What sold me in the show much more, however, is the introduction of a third character into the equation. Another girl who loves the boy - but most of all she treasures the friendship and connection she has with him - more so than "having to have him" or "being the only one." She just is happy to connect to this person - and a romantic relationship would be a bonus.

First the other girls think she is naive and hasn't admitted her feelings. But in the end, her take on emotions, feelings, and love is more mature than frankly most people's (in the show or outside of it) - including the mother of the newly formed family. Her character seems entirely believable and is an interesting expansion of what characters exist in these kinds of stories. She's also a wonderful combination between clueless and having a deep understanding of what love actually is. Brilliant!

The show then proceeds to portray as much the failed relationship as their current one, highlighting the need for personal growth and going beyond the past. The middle school romance isn't portrayed much at first, but as its realities are laid open, we understand how much of the current situation is rooted in them having been socially inept people - or simply kids growing up.

While doing all of this it's a lighthearted show full of banter and little silly situations, and people trying to guess each other's true motivations and feelings. Which makes it a really good take on the premise.