#the writing in some of the older ones could be a bit better imo but i'm biased

[zukkaoru]

sits. hello grace. give me the top five fics ur most proud of

oh this is. so hard uhmm

1. (i am) the whisper of a memory - this has to be number 1. this is probably my favorite fic i've ever written. i don't want to spoil it but i made some risky stylistic choices and i think they really really paid off bc it turned out so good and i've had multiple people tell me it is THE megumi fic of all time and that is a badge i wear with great pride

2. the body i'm in - my akutagawa siblings character study fic!! also known as body dysmorphia: the fic. this fic was actually a really early idea i had shortly after i got into bsd so i'm proud that i not only managed to write it but also that i was happy with how it turned out after daydreaming about it for so long

3. alive & free (look at me!) - i've only had this fic finished for about a month but. wow. i really wrote 22k words about two characters i previously hardcore struggled with in one week. there's something so very wrong with me but at least it's mildly entertaining for a handful of people on the internet

4. the things all come and gone - my geto with sleep issues character study fic!! this got way longer than i expected but i think it turned out so well and i had so much fun writing it

5. this ultraviolet morning light - i think this one has to go on the list bc it's the longest fic i have published sitting at a pretty 86k words and i still can't believe i actually did that

honorable mentions: to know i am real (yuki & riko canon divergence au) brushed pink with false fire (utahime character study ft. shokohime) of all the stars, the fairest (mailee fake dating) a little bit of you & a little bit of me (modern au jinora character study)

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hi, sorry if this has been asked before but, regardless of trope, your favourite historicals of all time???? I was gonna say top10 or something but I read and love literally every one of your recs so top100 would work just as well <3

First off, thank you so much, you're too kind. I don't know if I can give you my Top 100 just yet (though I wish I could lol) but I CAN give you a good cluster ;).

It's been a whiiiile since I've thought of this, and it changes, so I'm happy to answer! I'm going to have some repeats, because I'm true my heart and some authors just write a good few bangers.

My top... 28, I think? In no particular order.

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas—Easy answer, I adore this book, it changed the way I look at romance and it's so, so definitive re: my taste. Beautifully written, angsty (and kinda funny too), made me realize one of my core couple dynamics is "somewhat crazy woman and stern man who just doesn't know what the FUCK she's doing and is totally thrown off by her shit".

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt—Another easy one, virgin hero (which I love) who's nonetheless quite stern, jaded older heroine (another thing I love—a jaded heroine), it has the Zorro masked man vibes, the high stakes, INSANELY good sex scenes that only Elizabeth Hoyt can write... And perfectly written angst that isn't magically resolved. Gorgeous gorgeous GORGEOUS.

Waking Up with the Duke by Lorraine Heath—Another angst machine, has a scene that never fails to make emotional, a crazy setup that turns out to be deeply emotional. Icy proper woman/secretly deeply pining rake. AINSLEY!!!!

Princess by Gaelen Foley—A recent favorite; supremely angsty, supremely sexy, supremely BONKERS. He feels unworthy, which, please, is crack to me. She's a literal princess, giggly and flirty and horny to the max. He's a good bit older, they've known each other for YEEEEARS (... literally all her life), he works for her father. It's very ILLICIT AFFAIRS. Everything I love.

The Duke's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley—Every single one of the first four Mackenzie books is a bANGER and this is the best one for me. I love a second chance romance. I love a growly hero and a heroine who absolutely owns him. I love that they've both been around the block (and have had sex before, three times, as he reminds her). Hart needed a woman who could MANAGE him and match his freak, and Eleanor is that. She boops his nose and he growls! He does a striptease for her! Perfection, even better if you've read the first three books.

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean—Another one I read early in my return to romance, and I adore it. Bourne is the most dickish hero MacLean has written (imo) and Penelope is such a a sweet heroine who nonetheless doesn't put up with it. He has to work so hard to earn her love, as he should. I adore the childhood friends to at odds vibe, another thing I'm sooo into.

Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale—A pretty dark historical? Allegreto is CRAZY, Elena manages him perfectly. I love a good kinky romance, and this one is so, so sexy? The femdom is perfect, but it's also beautifully written and has a lot of deep themes. The fact that he thinks he's going to hell and she's like "Whatever, I'll go there with you". It has both corruption and redemption vibes.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe—One of the books I hyped to a ridiculous degree before it came out, and somehow it delivered on everything. Has a touch of kink (mostly through rough sex, biting, etc) but it's honestly so soft in many ways. Lockwood isn't a pushover or a cinnamon roll, but he does have so much heart and he falls so hard. Nellie being the resistant, rakish one delights me. It has a great world (we need more Gilded Age books). It's another one where everything isn't resolved PERFECTLY, and I love that bit of realism. Just a big sigh ROMANCE romance. "I'm keeping you, Eleanor" PLEEEEASE.

Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall—Definitely tonally an unconventional historical, but my God, I love it. It's so funny. It's one of the only nb/nb romances I've read, and I love that it's a historical. Definitely the only one that has a castrato soprano lead, and we should honestly have more because they FUCKED. Like. Read it up. Castrati FUUUUUUUUUCKED. It's really tender and it has one of my favorite climactic moments. A very unconventional ending that made me smile so hard.

What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long. Just a classic, perfectly written age gap romance. This one doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it hits everything it needs to hit perfectly. Has a great mix of humor, emotion, and heat.

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas—While there are the classic Kleypas issues with depicting the Romani people and I do dock this book a little for that... Look. The romance aspects are perfect for me. I know that Kev is too angsty for some people, but I love angst and I love the childhood friend devotion and the feeling of unworthiness and Win being ridiculous horny and determined to have her own happiness. Has one of the greatest love confessions of all time. One of the best "the dam has broken and they are FUCKIN'" moments. Just GORGEOUS.

When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath—Another one that gets me super emotional. I love the horrified realization Lovingdon has as he realizes that he's so attracted to Grace. The intense desire. The denial of his feelings soooo far into the book, even when it's painfully clear to everyone that he's madly in love with her. This book also is one of the best when it comes to dealing with the Dead Wife Question. Of course Lorraine pulls it off.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall—Another one that's so unique and great and has amazing trans representation (at least to me, as a cis person, I could be wrong). It has this AMAZINGLY romantic moment that I always find SO FUCKING SWOONY. A great mix of old school vibes and modern sensibilities.

Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt—Truly bonkers. Maximus is my ultimate alpha hero; a dick, aggressive, super stern, super resistant to love. Artemis just isn't intimidated. There's a lot of angst in this book, and honestly? I find the fact that he is a dick and Hoyt isn't afraid of embracing that really admirable, from a writing perspective.

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath—JACK DODGER I LOVE YOUR WORK. A perfect "rogue meets uptight lady" book (I hesitate to call Jack a rake because he pays for sex pretty much exclusively, but he's definitely roguish). There's a wonderful dynamic here, Olivia being in denial of her attraction.

A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught—A gorgeously written book! You can see the groundwork being laid for other historicals here. A fabulous setting. The way the romance becomes so vicious at points, in a frankly hilarious way. Royce dragging Jennifer to the altar like "I DON'T WANNA BE HERE ANYMORE THAN YOU DO" is amazing.

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. Classic, everyone loves this book (well... not everyone) but with good reason. It's so very good. The perfectly executed rake/virgin book, with iconic moments, iconic characters, iconic SPIELS. The moment when Sebastian staggers out of bed trembling after the first time they have sex lives rent-free in my brain.

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. Just a fucking knockout of a book. Another "rake/practical virgin" book, backed by beautiful prose and impeccable historical research (nobody does it like Ms. Bev). There's so much seduction in this book. A great rooomance, but then it has a fun bonkers villain situation (I know some people don't like this... I do, I'm kind of a sucker for this type of controversial and perhaps dated villain). The ending makes me cry a lot.

Scandal's Bride by Stephanie Laurens—Kind of a new one for me, and it's here because it's so fucking bonkers. Constantly entertaining, Catriona is such a difficult heroine who... crosses the line a lot. Has a scene where Richard draws a sketch of her ass birthmark to be like "I WILL SHOW EVERYONE THIS TO PROVE THAT I HIT IT FROM THE BACK IF YOU DON'T MARRY ME". A delightfully fucking weird book and I loved every minute.

Hyacinth by S.M. LaViolette—The more I think about this book, the more I love it. One that I loved originally, and it rose in my regard over time. A scarred hero (who likes it rough). They're both switches. Hyacinth is neurodivergent and very much unconventional, and doesn't even think herself capable of love because of what society has told her she is. The climax of this book? Incredible.

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas. A gorgeously done book, so ambitious, has an iconically HORRID hero (in the best way), executes the rare feat of offering both an amazing primary romance and an absolutely fabulous, emotionally affecting secondary romance. It just hits so hard, dude. It's so good. It's probably Kleypas's BEST book in terms of general quality (though DoY will probably always be my favorite).

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley—A great marriage in trouble book! That's also super horny! I love so much that though there was a big breaking point in Mac and Isabella's marriage, there were very normal issues beforehand that had less to do with horrible behavior or ridiculous tragedy, but... Like... Them just not being ready for marriage? Especially him. The passion was always there, but passion and great sex isn't enough for a good marriage, and I love that in this book they do have the passion and great sex but also have to build a stronger relationship on an emotional level.

Regarding the Duke by Grace Callaway—Another delightfully bonkers romance. I love that they've been married eight years and she thinks it's enough but learns that it ISN'T. He has to open to her emotionally. There's amnesia. There's VILLAINY. I also love that the hero in this one has to. not only become a better husband, but a better father? I haven't read a lot of historicals where the hero and heroine aren't just married, but have kids.

A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell—Ummmm I read this very recently but it's been sticking in my heart? It's more lighthearted than a lot of the romances I've loved. But i just love this story of a hero and heroine going on a bicycle race lmao. I love how funny it is, and how the villain kind of... grows? I love that the hero is a rake and trans. I love that the heroine is a widow who decides to like, have good sex for the first time ever and go with it (and suddenly there are feelings). It's just really good.

Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt—Helloooooooo emotion. This is one of the best "healing from trauma" books I've ever read. Asa Makepeace is just a perfect rake who's secretly so deep and so gentle. The way he introduces Eve to sex is fucking gorgeous. His patience, his tenderness, his love of what SHE'S okay with it.

A Rose at Midnight by Lisa Kleypas Anne Stuart—This is what I'd call a dark historical. It's true enemies to lovers. The hero is a rat bastard for most of the book. The sex... is very dubcon for much of the book. But man. I think it's so bold, the writing is so good, the story is so different from what I've read in the genre. It just hit a lot of buttons for me. And it has a great secondary romance, something Stuart excels at. Ummm also the fact that the secondary romance is fueled by the secondary heroine wanting to save the primary heroine, her best friend? LOVE THAT.

Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt—Sorry dude, Mickey and Silence are just for Me. He's a ridiculous rake. She's a Quaker widow. There's that element of like "I'VE GOT YOU MY PRETTY". I actually love the baby in this book, and that can be a hard sell for me. (Several of these books include kids lol, but man, it's just this thing where you need to get it right.) It has one of my bad boy/good girl books.

The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath—Lol sorry, Gorilla Twins is a banger all the way. It's fucking insane. It's super romantic. It has one of the best "angst horizons" I've ever read. It does that Lorraine Heat Thing where you're like how THE FUCK is this gonna work. And then it does! It's just everything, for me. Edward Alcott, you beautiful idiot.

[arithmonym]

20 questions for 20 writers!

thanks to @accidentallyadorable for tagging me! this was fun. :3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

30! only 20 are visible from my profile, though. my older fics and drabbles are quarantined to a separate account, and a few things are posted anonymously.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

113,190 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

it’s mostly the locked tomb these days. i also have a few old works for the penumbra podcast, the magnus archives, and the adventure zone—and a few even older works for harry potter and percy jackson, but those are on ff.net so i can pretend they don’t exist.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

it’s familiar (but not too familiar) - fluffy griddlehark time travel fic. this was my first attempt at writing them and i could definitely do a better job now, but the prose still holds up.

alive, barely breathing - post-canon griddlehark first time fic that’s fucked-up and sad. sometimes i look at the comments when i want to feel good about my writing. :3

bring your hunger - post-canon griddlehark grief/relationship study. also a WIP. (honestly, this one might go on anon for a bit—it’s vulnerable in ways i don’t want to explain, and i’m shying away from writing the next chapter because the Fear of Being Known got to me a little.)

it’s not unusual - fluffy modern AU where team 69 go to a bar and play catan. palamedes has an oral fixation, because of course he does. this one is campal with background griddlehark getting-together, but i might write a sequel from harrow’s POV someday.

bad idea right? - modern AU chatfic inspired by this post by eskildit. it’s about camilla dealing with the paldulcie situationship™️ & enduring so much dyke drama thanks to the nature of her friend group. it received a podfic recently, which is fun!

(… i also want to write a camdulcie sequel for this one. i’ve been rotating the idea frequently.)

5. Do you respond to comments?

almost always. there are a few scattered comments i haven’t replied to yet, but i like responding! it’s an excuse to drop more lore about the fic and the writing process, IMO.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angiest ending?

the ace cam fic i haven’t finished yet, which will probably be posted on anon. (i feel like people are going to attack me for poor representation or something, but it’s inspired by my own experiences, so. can’t win them all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

something sweet is pure, uncomplicated fluff, so i guess i’ll go with that!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really. i’ve blocked a few people for being rude, but i haven’t gotten hate in years.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

occasionally. i’ve only posted 4 explicit fics, but so far it’s a pretty even mix of f/f, f/m, and other.

10. Do you write crossovers?

i have a tlt/w359 fusion AU i want to pick up again! i need to untangle some threads of the metaplot, though.

(also, the first fic i published on ff.net was a harry potter/rise of the guardians crossover. yes. it was cringe. yes, it’s probably still posted on the internet if you want to find it.)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, actually! a few of my old hp fics were translated into spanish or chinese.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i wrote a round-robin fic with the campal server once. i also started co-writing a fic with quinn a while ago (before we both got busy with school) that i’d like to return to at some point, because the concept still makes me vibrate with glee.

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

i’m not sure that i have one, actually? i’m a multishipper to my core.

15. What's one WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i have so many WIPs in my google docs that i’ll probably never finish.

i’d like to revisit my fic about necromancers & dysautonomia some day, but my writing style has changed so much since then. i might have to rewrite what i’ve posted.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i’m frequently complimented on my worldbuilding. i’m good at examining the implications of things that other people might not think about, so my plots are original even when i’m writing a fandom trope. (i can’t wait to post my harrow nova AU for this exact reason.)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

sigh. pacing. i write from very close POVs, but sometimes i get too far into the character’s head, and it drags the story down. i’m trying to write sharper prose, but i’m going through an awkward growth phase as a writer—i know the structure i want, but it’s a struggle to get there concisely.

also, i over-edit instead of writing new words, which does me no favors.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i guess it depends on context? i have a pretty good grasp on code-switching from being bilingual but not quite fluent, but the memory of that one klance fic haunts me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

i mentioned my first published fic earlier, but the first fic i wrote was a percy jackson self-insert fic when i was twelve.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

indelible! cam and pal figure out that dulcinea isn’t who she says she is at the fifth’s anniversary party, but it doesn’t change anything. <3

///

tagging @harrowharkwife @friendamedes @cindthia @logicbutton @thewinterstale @sluggydrabbles & anyone else who wants to participate!

[skullytotheark]

Clear Skies 75

Setting: Different states of America

time setting: late 20th century, From 70s to 90s

Why I made it: Hehe creepypasta but oc au

Inspiration: 70s and 80s slasher mixed with creepypasta characters / creepypasta characters set in the 80s

goal: Possibly make an ARG series, But for now it’ll be in silly writing i do every now and then. Similar to creepy hornets

Description:

The Rot of the woods is slowly but surely making it’s way pass the treeline, The Horrible reality where monsters and things that go bump in the night are more common than you could ever imagine.. Deep in Montana and Colorado these nightmares hide within the woods, Awaiting for any lone hikers and the innocent to walk into their sight. For they hunt for sport and to survive…

Ever Since the start of the 70s, More and more of these creatures and psychopaths are beginning to crawl out from the bed to strike. Their goals and motives being a mystery to people like you and I… There’s only a burning ember of hope that there is good amongst the bad, But then again. who says they’re any better than those they fight??... Only god can save you from whatever is tapping at your window, The strange towering silhouette standing in the corner of your room or the sound of heavy footsteps heading straight for your bedroom door.

Welcome my dearest of friends and stalkers of the night!!!

Allow thy to introduce you to a World of many nightmares and terrors beyond your imaginations.

Clear Skies 75!

For a good while you've might've heard me just ramble or mention this AU in at least one or two of my posts, But Allow me to show you what I've been brewing for awhile!

For a good while I've been sitting in my little snowy room, Thinking of different scenarios and plotpoints involving these characters! Now personally I'm not ENTIRELY SURE, If I'll do as much "fanfics" or writing as much as I would do for Creepyhornets but You'll def probably see me write about this au Every now and then! I more or less really wanted to just, Have characters based off of some of the pastas or characters i've come to love growing up in this silly community!!

Introductions.

The Watchman.

"A Modern Tale for those who go wondering in these woods son. They say it's a Eldritch God of sorts or a "angry spirit"... Me?? I think it's a force of nature, Not something you can fight... But you'd have to adapt to.. trust me, I know..."

The great watchman! The Slenderman of this canon as you can tell and the main "big bad" of this canon, I more or less imagine that this entity is not your sterorypical slender that we're used to seeing in writings. Returning to the older versions such as the Operator and when Slender was simply a being of unknown nature and sudden movements...

"The Butcher"

"I had a run in with that fucking freak. Cackling and getting a kick out of my fear as he chased after me with a fucking machete.. One day he'll fucking learn what's it like when the roles change... One day..."

The Jeff The Killer stand in for this canon! More or less depicting him as a cruel but sloppy killer, Although he has a big reputation, He's a amature and a prime example of "human scum" in this canon. No goals or motives, doing it for the fun of it. Also im just thinking of naming him "Geoff" cuz it'd be a really funny bit imo

"The Pyromaniac"

"I remember when he was still young.. A cheerful little boy who still needed mommy to tie his shoe laces... But then things changed... He never got along with his stepdad... But then he went missing one day and.. I get a call that My husband was killed... Then I knew.. He wanted to get back at him for everything Frank had done to us... But it should have never ended like this.."

The Ticci Toby stand in for this universe!!!. Felix/Cody robinson is a child of abuse who is short tempered and rash, Often acting and thinking later. Although he's a valuable assest to The Watchman's following. Even though He hates it and wants to go home.

"Doll-Face"

"I still remember when "Bryan" took me up to that cabin... God I should've known I was just another lamb for the slaughter.. How did this end up like this Ma?..."

Doll-Face is of course the Masky inspired character! His story heavily follows the idea of "get away at the Cabin goes wrong and now all of my friends are trying to kill eachother" trope.

"Null"

"I'm alive... I shouldn't be but I am... After everything I've done.. I'll make things right this time... I'm so sorry Tommy.."

Null is a combination of both Hoody and Skully into one character! And is also the "Alex" of this scenario. Bryan's family was haunted by the watchman for generations, When he was older the entity began to pick away at his sanity and commanded a blood sacrifice for his family using 'it's children' for resources when building their cabin / property in the woods.

"The Stalker."

"I could've sworn, He was standing right at my bed when I was asleep. I don't know why but he was... He killed dad but... Why not me?... Was he... Taunting me?.."

And the final member of this cast [ATM] the Stalker! The eyeless Jack stand in for this series who draws heavy inspirtation from the og eyeless jack design. Atm I had the idea that he was a journalist in diguise pretending to be a demon of sorts who profits off of his crimes by taking photos of the aftermaths. Buttt I do also like the idea of him just being a demon. His story is still a WIP atm.

Until next time!

Sadly that is all the characters i have so far :(

But I do plan on making more characters such as Zalgo, Jane, Nina and a whole bunch more!! Ofc I plan on making a word doc for this au that'll have links to each of these characters butttt i gotta finish Stalker and "Geoff" before i do!

But until then keep an eye out on my tiktok *COUGH* Skullytotheark *COUGH* for a bunch of arrttt and wips of more characters!!!

See you all next time :)

[mythoughtsandrandomcr4p]

Life is Strange: Double Exposure- Initial thoughts

So. I bought the early access version and want to give my initial thoughts on this game, having played Chapter 1 and some of Chapter 2.

PLEASE DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET SPOILED!! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

First of all, the biggy. The huge issue everyone on social media and who has seen spoilers/played the game is ranting about right now. Some people (actually, a lot of people) are even choosing to refund their purchase, or to not interact with the game at all anymore due to this...

Deck Nine have seemed to dismiss the player's major choice from the ending of LIS 1, where we either chose to sacrifice Chloe or Arcadia Bay. The way they chose to (pretty lazily) write in how Max and Chloe broke up- (via a letter from Chloe, if we chose the 'we broke up' dialogue option at the start of this game)?.....a pretty shitty decision, and, for the majority of fans, seemingly a deal-breaker. A lot of fans are also disappointed in Chloe seemingly not being in this game at all...but I'll write more on that in a sec.

As for my opinions so far...I'm not gonna lie, yes I was a little disappointed and I can fully appreciate why so many people are hating, but it was something I could personally look past (even though I chose bae over bay). Firstly, the trailers and teasers leading up to this early access release pretty much set my expectations for this going in- that Chloe would likely not be a main part of the storyline at all, and that the major choice made at the end of LIS 1 wouldn't be, either. Okay, yes, the writing connecting this game to LIS 1 could have been a lot better. But...

Max is much older, and the story is centred on her time at Caledon, with new friends, a new setting and a new storyline. I went into this game really excited about all of these new things, instead of having my heart set on a game centred around the continuation of LIS 1.

LIS 1- related things aside for a sec... I LOVE the new setting, it's really gorgeous, I love the design of the university and all the new characters we get to meet, the soundtrack is amazing, and I'm just having such a blast playing this game. It's so cosy. And it certainly keeps the charming, cringe-at-times but hilarious dialogue and vibe we get in every other Life is Strange game, and I love it so much. The characters are all pretty unique, too, and I am quickly growing attached to some (and already hating others...lmao). Max's new ability to switch between universes is really well-done. I love using it and seeing all the, often subtle, little differences that really add to the atmosphere and the story-telling of the game imo.

So...personally I am really enjoying Double Exposure so far!

Back to the whole 'Max and Chloe' thing... it feels as though the game could (take this with a pinch of salt) go a certain way in regards to Chloe. I have a theory (a VERY far-fetched one, but a theory, nonetheless). If there is a chance of them actually having Chloe be in this game in Chapters 3, 4 or 5, it might just redeem a bit of respect back from the fandom. I don't think they will, but something in the back of my mind, a slither of hope, if you will, is saying that they might just do this...

So, in Chapters 1 and 2, Max finds polaroids that neither her in the 'Dead World' or her in the 'Living World' have taken. Suggesting that there aren't only two alternate universes. Now, all of these other alternate universes may have only 'opened' to Max in the present, but surely they aren't only influenced by what has happened to Safi. What if an alternate universe, perhaps the one that these mysterious polaroids are from, had Max and Chloe's relationship (or breakup) happen differently? Who's to say that we won't get a sudden, unexpected change in a future chapter where Max and Chloe meet in an alternate reality, where they didn't break up, or where they did break up but differently, or something like that?...I don't fucking know. I'm rambling lmao. I don't want to give false hope. Maybe I'm clutching at straws atp. But in LIS 1, remember when they (Don'tNod) completely baffled us with the whole, sudden 'polaroid time-travel, William being alive and Chloe ending up disabled' reality? If Deck Nine really wanted to take that kind of route with this game, this would be a hell of a way to do it. Take a sudden turn in a non- early access chapter, have people fooled, and all that. But this is Deck Nine- they have a 'reputation', and maybe they just fucked up.

Unless I've missed a crucial point of LIS 1 or LIS: DE where this just would not be possible (?), I just can't help but think that there could still be a little bit of hope for the people who wanted to see Chloe, or who are immensely effected and disappointed by how her and Max's relationship played out according to this game.

Probably not gonna happen, though. Just food for thought. If nothing close to this happens then I'm still going to fully appreciate and love this game either way, as I already currently am.

This is a hell of a waffle, but I just wanted to get all my thoughts down. Would love to hear anyone else's opinions on this whole thing. Do you like this game? Are you avoiding it now after hearing 'the news'? Do you hate Deck Nine? Are my thoughts on a potential turn-around completely wacko? lol. Any and all opinions welcome!

(also, I stream on twitch occasionally. I've been streaming some LIS:DE early access, but I play all sorts of games. if thats your thing and you wanna check out my twitch, my channel is 'splritwolf') :)

[sugdenlovesdingle]

⚠️If you are still fragile about Tommy & Buck, please don't read this.

I just watched 911 Season 8 Confessions episode and Tommy Buck beak up made ZERO sense to me!! 🤷‍♀️ Honestly, did Tommy break up because he was weirded out by Abby & Buck? Or did he get cold feet when Buck asked him to move in? Or was the ghost of Eddie and Abby too much for him? Like couples who basically love each other and have been together don't just break up with one sentence!!! They did have the option of scale back a bit.

Also, Buck had ZERO reaction to Eddie in his underwear and without a moustache. So, are we to assume that it has happened before?! 🤷‍♀️😳

Also, they made Tommy sound a lot older with Josh's pre Glee post Glee comment!

And the priest knew Eddie from his voice? He has no other preoccupation than to peer over people's shoulders to see what others are buying? Also, we know Eddie at some point is going to have a wet dream about that priest.

Anyway, imo it is hilarious how Shannon and Abby keep showing up as ghosts to prevent Eddie and Buck from getting too serious with anyone else. 😂

Btw what do you think of Josh and Tommy? I want Josh to have a good solid romantic partner. And they are both strong personalities and both kinda pedantic. Might be interesting to see if they are THE PERFECT COUPLE because they are SO SORTED. Or are they a complete disaster because they can't agree on anything!

I am still fragile but I'm kind of healing myself with Lou on SWAT (i never thought I'd actually enjoy that show) and Lou's movies and bucktommy fics (bless fic writers in ANY fandom tbh 9/10 times the fics are better than what's on screen)

and yes THANK YOU - see even a buddie shipper (affectionate) thinks that break up made no sense! Like we've had a few weeks to think/obsess over it and I think the general opinion (Lou included) is that it was a) shit writing and b) Tommy got scared because he's been hurt before/ has been left by a guy who he (thought) he really loved because he was 'just' the first and not the last/not the guy to settle down with/not enough. And then there was Buck saying he admired him and making him out to be some gay hero - which he doesn't think he is at all (big beefy man, zero sense of self worth) and he just ran so Buck wouldn't see who he really is and decide he wasn't enough and leave him xx amount of time down the line.

I think Abby was more of a problem for Buck (at first) and Eddie is Tommy's friend too (he was his friend first and his ankles paid the price) so that wasn't a problem either.

Tommy is 40 (according to Tim) and Josh (assuming he's the same age as Bryan) 45 - so the pre/post glee does kind of make sense I guess. Though I would have gone for pre/post Will & Grace - but that's not a Ryan Murphy show and I suppose he just wanted to pat himself on the back there.

And yeah if I showed up at my best friend's place and he was dancing around in his underwear and had suddenly shaved the pornstache he'd been rocking for *mumbles amount of time* I would have at least been a bit surprised. Even if my boyfriend of six months had just broken up with me out of the fucking blue.

And that priest was fucking weird. Like sure he might have recognised Eddie's voice but then to randomly go "ACTUALLY your pornstache is a mask and you won't let yourself have joy because you don't buy juice" dude - what??

As for Josh/Tommy - maybe. In a world where Evan Buckley doesn't exist. Because #TommyLovesEvan (thank you Lou) I think people like Josh with Eddie more really. Since that time Eddie spent at dispatch and they basically had daily (verbal) bitch fights. I can see it - though I don't think show!Eddie is into guys, but fic!Eddie could be.

[ctrl-lupin]

I was looking back at the ending of Castle of cagliostro and the bit where Clarisse de Cagliostro asked him to bring her along on his journeys even when she admits she doesn't know how to be a theif now when I looked at the hug and kiss I never really saw it as romantic more like he doesn't want to leave but he also doesn't want to jeopardise her life either. The fact we never got to see her again after this movie surprises me apart from a cameo in part 5 episode 1 in your head cannon what do you think happened to Clarisse de Cagliostro as it seems she has feelings for him

Man, oh man. There is enough things to say on the topic to write an entire essay. Personally my interpretation is that

1) Clarisse had some form of misplaced crush on Lupin - he saved her, he's cool and mysterious, he's her knight in shining armour. So of course she wants to follow him, be a thief like him, be a part of his life. Cagliostro's also full of bad memories, she just got freshly traumatised, and while we don't know her age she's probably too young to be ruling a country. It's no surprise she wants to get out of there.

2) Lupin, who is older and knows better, is having none of that. He's very attached to Clarisse and I'd say that the affection he feels for her is probably akin to an older sibling's (I can get into my headcanon of how they're related in another post if you're interested). He wants what's best for her, and he knows that he'd be a bad influence on her, no matter how much he wants to stay with her/for her to stay with him. Maybe he also wants to give her space to grow out of those feelings (we've seen how awkward it can get with Ami Enan... 😬) and out of her desire to be a thief like him.

3) About Lupin wanting to stay (as opposed to taking Clarisse with him), there's also the whole interpretation of Cagliostro as an older Lupin who's considering retirement, which I won't get into for personal reasons (but I'm sure you can find more about that if you dig a little, especially if you look into Miyazaki's own interpretation of the movie).

As for why we've never seen her again, imo that's just because of the franchise's statu-quo - all secondary characters aside from the Main Five are one-off characters who only exist within the bounds of their respective movie or season (admittedly the more recent seasons, P4, 5 and 6 have been breaking that pattern a little). It's the same reason we've never seen Murasaki again despite her being literally married to Goemon (for like 10 hours, but still). I'd like to imagine that Lupin still keeps in touch with Clarisse (and with many others), maybe even visits her. We just don't see it onscreen for Doylist reasons.

(My personal self-indulgent headcanon is that Clarisse is now the ruler of Cagliostro, she's still in frequent contact with Lupin, and she made polyam marriage legal just so he could legally marry his partners there)

[l-in-the-light]

Love your account ❤️🥰 What do you like best about Law?

Thank you <3 Sorry for the late reply, I was sitting on this one for a while, because I thought giving it time would help me write a better answer. But this is so difficult, because where do I even start? How can I say what I have in my heart so it doesn't actually just sound weak and pretentious, but also not extremely dramatic?

Maybe let's start from the fact I didn't fall for him at first sight. I totally didn't care about him in Sabaody when I first read that arc. The first moment he truly earned my sympathy was his confession in Dressrosa, I went all whoa, I was hoping for some open show of emotions, but I didn't expect this intensity hiding under the surface. Then Wano happend and he was so cool in Wano. And then I caught up with the manga in Egghead arc. He still wasn't my favourite, but things were slowly changing. I started noticing how much I actually miss him in the story. I started worrying for him. Finally, I gave up and just reread his parts from earlier arcs and damn it just hit differently the second time around. Before I noticed it he became one of my top 3 characters. Soon after, he sneakily took the number 1 spot as well without me realizing.

I love how unyielding he is, especially against Doflamingo, someone who constantly gaslights him. And oh boy I have been in that spot before, when a mentor figure tries to push their own way of seeing things without listening even for a moment to other reasons. I'm always surprised by Doflamingo-Law conflict in Dressrosa exactly because of that; Law keeps pushing in what he believes in instead. Even fandom buys Doflamingo's point of view on Law: yes, he's just a pitiful vengeful ghost, he's just lashing out, he needs to be put back into his place and silenced. But no, Law's not having any of that. It feels like a catharsis for me to see that and it restored my own faith, at least a little bit, because if Law could deal with all that shit and didn't truly lose (technically he did, but it was to his own good heart imo), then inevitably I also feel myself becoming more unyielding, it rubs off.

He's so unbelievably strong, but it's not about his attacks or power, but mental strength. And I wish I was at least a bit as strong as him. Between Doflamingo, Law's traumas, fears and putting up a confident front when he feels anything but that, smirking at those who lose to their own arrogance, I'm really amazed he is as strong as he is. And it's not just about him never giving up, because of course he has moments like that, but he always, always gets back up and it's probably never for himself, but for others that are dear to him.

And there's also his resemblance to Ace (and Sabo) somehow, because they're inevitably all older brother types. But while Ace is rough around the edges but his love is so warm, Sabo's soft and supportive but is also a bit self-centered, Law's something else entirely. He's just so avoidant, but at the same time kinda soothing and gently watching from afar, like the moon, you don't usually see it in the day but you know it's always there. That's his kind of love. It's captivating, but it doesn't exactly warm me up when I think about it like when I think of Ace, it doesn't make me feel the fluff like when I think of Sabo, but instead it's like a strong, tingling light that shines not in the sky but inside the heart, when you need it the most: in the middle of utter darkness.

His loyal love to Cora-san, his unobvious but gentle ways of showing affection, his good heart, his sharp smiles and unyielding spirit, reckless and petty paybacks, his shitty and brooding attitude, his serious but trolling sense of humour, I definitely like all of this about him. And sometimes he's just simply insufferable and I enjoy that about him as well. Every time I discover a new thing or detail about him, I like him only more.

[justagalwhowrites]

oh and you don't have to this post obvs but even macfrogs post contained points that were blatantly rooted in ageism. What do you mean the fandom is mostly twenty year olds? Do you not see the other groups that are thirsting after this man? I personally see a ton of "older" women and some men in this fandom. What do mean that personality traits like being frivolous are limited to twenty year olds? I wasn't aware that your personality completely changed at midnight on your 30th birthday. That response while well intended proved the OPs point by being ageist.

All the OP was asking for was writers to either show a 🌟little bit of respect 🌟 for older readers or simply leave them be.

Why is it so wrong to say stop with this don't worry this 30 year old doesn't have wrinkles so she's actually pretty (a real authors note btw) nonsense.

Because if it's fine you and other people to respond to OP, it should be fine fot her to express her opinion

Hi again!

When it came to the fandom age comments, that’s largely been my experience in this fandom. The vast majority of fandom spaces I’m in, I am one of the oldest if not the oldest one there at 34-years-old. That’s OK! At least in the spaces I’m in, no one is ever unkind about it, it just means I spend a lot of time on discord with people 10 years younger than me lol I don’t think the fandom is ENTIRELY young people but, by and large, most of the people I encounter here are in their 20s. Maybe I’m just in odd spaces, but that statement just seemed factual to me.

While I don’t think being frivolous specifically is limited to your 20s, I’m a very different person now than I was when I was in my 20s. That’s a good thing IMO! A lot of my interests are the same but my priorities have greatly shifted in the last 10 years because I’m at a different stage in my life. When I was 21, I remember feeling so stressed and anxious about going on a camping trip with friends and whether or not I could skip it because I was broke and still be a core part of the friend group. At 34, it’s a very different calculus because fitting in with a friend group just isn’t my number one priority now. I know myself better because I’ve had time to explore who I am as a fully realized person. In my 20s, I was still figuring that out. That period of time where you’re coming into your own, truly discovering what you want out of life and how you’re going to get it IS a unique time in my experience! I get the fantasy of wanting an older, wiser person (who also happens to be hot and great in bed) there to help you navigate it. Even though I rarely read fics where the age gap is the point (it’s just not my thing - and that’s OK!) I definitely understand the appeal.

I do agree that, if you’re going to write an older reader you should just write an older reader. Maybe I’ve just gotten lucky and not encountered content like that but, even if I did, I’d just roll my (ancient, 34-year-old) eyes, assume it was written by a 19-year-old who would know better in a few years, and move along. That teenaged creator isn’t going to change the way society views women, all that will be accomplished is making some random person online feel bad or dig in their heels even more. I think we can have these conversations (and should have these conversations) without throwing creators under the bus.

Sorry this was so long! Again, I hope it helps shed some light on my thoughts 😊

Thanks for reaching out!!

[mytardisisparked]

Tagged to do this Fic Writer Q+A by @more-better-words! Thanks!

1. Why do you write fanfic?

Because if I don't do something creative on a semi-frequent basis I will shrivel up like a little raisin.

2. Which of your posted stories do you think about the most, even though the story is “finished”?

I think about "And Still, The Sea Is Salt" a lot. It's a Pikeuna fic which, while I still ship them, I don't really think about them frequently these days. But this fic is still, IMO, some of my best work and so I think of it often.

The other fic I think about a lot is "The Ghost of You," which is an MSR fic. It's another one that feels like some of my best work. I feel like this, and "Salt" are fics that I am constantly trying to replicate in terms of quality.

3. If you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

Take your time. Chew on it. Let it simmer.

4. What’s your relationship to fic stats?

I love looking at comments but, otherwise, I don't pay attention to stats. I always appreciate comments and kudos and bookmarks but I'm not aiming for a certain number or anything. I appreciate them on an individual basis, I guess.

5. Is there a pairing or scenario or friendship you miss writing? If so, why? If not, why not?

Hmmmmm sometimes I miss writing JC or Obitine, but I am totally at the mercy of my hyperfixations so I am usually content writing whatever pairing or friendship I am currently obsessed with.

6. What motivates you to write?

The gremlins in my head. Also whenever one of my writing or art buddies goes "hey that's a good idea" when I pitch a fic to them.

7. Why do you write for the fandom(s) that you write for?

I'm currently writing for the X-Files because it makes me feel insane. I also still love writing for the Voyager Threshold!AU because it's SUCH a tasty story and it's full of great people to work on said story with.

8. If you’re stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

I usually let it simmer for a bit and then come back to it. If that doesn't work I typically go paw at @singeart's door and bounce ideas around with her.

9. What do you wish people knew about comments?

I cherish every single comment - no matter how long or short - like someone just left me a vast fortune in their will. Also PLEASE don't stop yourself from leaving comments on older fics. Getting a comment on a fic I wrote 4 years ago is like getting willed a vast fortune and then finding out it grew a ton of interest at the bank. Fic writers love comments on old fics.

10. Maybe there’s a question you wish had been on here. What’s that question (and answer)?

Will you wear wigs? Maybe.

No-Pressure tagging: @singeart, @thursdayinspace, @jellybeansarecool, and anyone else who wants to because I am having a heck of a time figuring out who has and has not been tagged to do this lol

[renamusing]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

aaah mack, thank you for sending me this!! im a bit embarrassed to answer because im not as prolific as i wish i was, and my confidence in my stories tends to diminish with time since im never satisfied and always think i could have done better (imposter syndrome my old friend), but here are what i consider my 5 favorites in no particular order:

how fools fall in love 126k | ginhiji — somehow this became a classic in the ginhiji fandom despite the time it took me to finish and my terribly irregular updates. i reread it recently and it made me cherish not only the characters but my fandom friends so much! always a sure read when in the mood for slowburn and angst.

ceremonials 29k | ginhiji — my post-canon ginhiji fic has some of the best character writing i've ever done imo. it's also a breather for me because i get to write ginchan and toshi being properly together, leaning on each other and healing.

when silver turned white 32k | ginhiji — one of my favorites because of its structure and plot. it's not too long but i managed to cram all my angsty headcanons and fit them into the plot of bfy movie. i also LOVED to write ginchan and toshi in other timelines/ages, which i plan to do again soon!

beware the desert 15k | skysolo — occasionally i go and reread this one and can't believe i wrote it because it hits every beat, it contains every single thing i love about skysolo and depicts so clearly the han solo i have in my head i could cry. honestly, im so glad i took the time (a year if i remember correctly) to write this down because it's made specifically for me and i don't think anyone else could have done it.

give heartache a name 25k | sterek — im so specific about stiles' characterization in fics that i had to write my own because after the movie came out this year the dormant sterek part of my brain came alive after a decade and i needed to put down my love for both these idiots. i think i've reread this story at least 50 times because i wanted it to be canon so much. i know i sound like a loser but i get so giddy about older stiles and derek. as the kids say nowadays, i am cringe but i am free.

im also nuts about my ginhiji zombie au which i fear i may never finish because im always thinking about expanding the plot instead of tying it all up and finish so i can start taking my og writing seriously. oh well.

tysm for tagging me <33

[n0wav]

Pinkerton appreciation

HELLO CHATTERS!!!

Today i did what i do on almost a weekly basis, which is to listen to pinkerton. i was in a good mood listening to this very awesome album... UNTIL! i noticed something that somewhat upset me not really but its really interesting.

you see back in the 90s pinkerton wasn't loved as much as blue album because it's messy dark and emo and not silly fun power pop like blue. it wasn't till many years later that pinkerton the the love and appreciation it deserved. Although it isn't nearly as popular as blue, green, or even make believe (really only because of Beverly hills), it is still very loved by weezer fans now.

Today while looking through the deluxe version i realized that "I just through out the love of my dreams" is more popular than any of the songs on the normal non deluxe album. Now don't get me wrong its a really good song (although this cover of the song is kinda better imo :3) and i do really enjoy it, i do feel like its a repeat in history.

now if you don't know what i mean by this repeat in history, i will shift the attention for a short moment to another band, PAVEMENT!!!

one side note i think is funny is that back when weezer started, people called them cheesy pavement rip-offs... just something i remembered!

pavement is an awesome band and they will get another post out of me at some point of me writing on this tumblr blog, but in the mean time... Pavement has always been relatively popular in indie rock circles, but nothing exceeds the popularity they got when harness your hopes blew up like crazy on tiktok, making it their most popular song on streaming services by a very large margin. AND Just like i just threw out the love of my dreams, harness your hopes is also a B-side that randomly got popular from social media.

Don't get me wrong I'm not upset at all, to be honest i don't care that much like it really isn't that deep, i just think its interesting how common this is, where a song from an older band gets big thanks to social media, more specifically tiktok.

The only thing i do wish is that people listened to more of the bands music rather than just listen to the one song they know, but then again i just realized not everyone is as obsessed with music as i am lol.

Back to pinkerton

i LOVE pinkerton, i def like it more than blue album, which isn't much of a hot take since the weezer fandom has been split on which album is better for prolly 2 decades at this point. For me the album is just more up with the kinda music i listen to, while being very different at the same time. the way the album starts with the synth, and you automatically hear the raw and underproduced sound this album has.

aside from the sound, i just personally kinda relate to some of the songs, maybe not the weird parts... but def many of the bit more normal ones.

With tired of sex, I have definitely grown tired of having relationships with people where there's no actual relationship or connection at all. for a long time i really didn't know who i am (weezer reference).

getchoo is hard for me to analyze or related it to anything so i will skip that one (good song tho)

no other one hit pretty hard home for me. i've been in pretty shitty relationships with people who treat me like shit, hence the shittiness, and for some reason i didn't leave because i didn't think i could do any better and that nobody knows me like her, that we're all we got and we don't wanna be alone (weezer reference).

why bother? is me when I'm scared to make relationships and friendships with basically anyone because of my fear that whoever i talk to will eventually not like me and abandon me, to where in my head i will think "why bother? its gonna hurt me. it's gonna kill when they desert me. It's already happened to me twice before. it wont happen to me anymore." (weezer reference)

i only semi relate to across the sea because i've e-dated as a young child on discord.... next song (still a good song)

the good life is me too because i used to be really cool and leave my house a lot and play shows and have lots of friends and just do things that aren't me sitting at home doing nothing being a pig and a dog (weezer reference). it is def time i got back to the good life (weezer reference) But to be fair i don't really want to go back to that time i just wanna be a normal person again.

i don't really relate to el scorcho much but its still an awesome song.

pink triangle is me because I've dated girls who turned out to be a lesbian but trust me i didn't turn them, they were already lesbian before we started dating i don't know why they started dating me maybe because I'm not very masculine so they thought it would be fine. (note that i didn't know they were lesbian till after we would break up)

i put falling for you in a mixtape i made my ex. whenever i would hear that song i would think of her because its how i felt about her. i was afraid of falling for her, but in the end i just wanted to settle down with her (weezer reference)

I don't relate to butterfly either but it is a really really good song

as you can see i really like pinkerton and relate to it very much. it is prolly one of my favorite albums of all time no doubt

this is the end of the post

we love pinkerton

pinkerton is our everything

here's a song rec from the album pinkerton by weezer

thanks for reading my weezer rant! idk what i will post about next but we will see!

Goodbye!!!! :3

[rollercoasterwords]

do you have any advice for someone who wants to start writing but is terrible and has never been good at it? or translating what’s in their head into words?

yeah my advice is to stop trying to write well and instead just try to have the most fun possible. standards of "good" and "bad" in writing are all entirely subjective anyway, and there's no god in the sky waiting to smite you if your writing doesn't meet their standards. if you're not where you want to be writing-wise, that's fine! writing is a skill just like anything else, and you'll only get better as you practice. and the best way to stay motivated to practice (imo) is to not put too much pressure on yourself to measure up to a certain standard and instead just try to have a fun time making up stories!

the other piece of advice i have is to read a lot of books, and try to read books from a variety of writers with different styles. maybe annotate a bit--underline or highlight the parts that you like, the sentences that really stick out to you. then go back and look at those sentences and think about why you like them--is it the word choice? the arrangement of sentence structure? is the writer doing something stylistically that surprised or intrigued you? the more you read, the more you'll begin to notice nuance amongst different writers' styles, and the better you'll get at recognizing what you might want to try implementing in your own writing.

writing is not a skill with a linear trajectory, where you start out at square zero and eventually reach the finish line of being A Good Writer and stop there. it's a skill that you develop over time and with practice, and that you continue to develop for as long as you do it. i genuinely think that the biggest block to most people who want to start writing but are too worried about the quality of their work is not skill, but that worry--the worry of not being "good enough." but who gives a shit if your writing is bad (<- again, totally subjective measure)! do you wanna know what the first story i ever shared on the internet was about? it was called "kidnapped by dragons" and it was about a girl who got kidnapped by four (later i added another one, so five) handsome men who could turn into dragons, and also she had secret magical powers and needed to save the world and there was a mermaid living in the lake in the garden who became her bestie (i was twelve). by my own (current) standards it was Not Good, and now i laugh about how cringey it was. but you know what? there were a handful of random tweens on quizilla.com who ate that shit up, and i had the time of my life writing and posting it, and that mattered so much more than any other measurement of quality. and it wasn't until i got older and started worrying about writing "high quality" work that i stopped sharing my writing and wrote less and less, because i was paralyzed by my own preoccupation with arbitrary standards.

so...yeah there's my advice lol. if you want to develop your writing, try to stop worrying about how good it is, pick something fun to write about, and just write. and when you need to get inspired, read some other writers and think about why you like the way they write!

[keepmeinmind-01]

Hello! So interested in exchange student AU and the dogs, but I HAVE to ask about plug in baby because that is giving me a weird image in my head.

thank you so much for asking @tina-mairin-goldstein :D

I'll go through them! I did a little too much writing last week and haven't managed much at all this week. No idea whether I need to rest and recharge or just get a bit more inspired LOL. But I can share some snippets—I write in chunks in the first draft stage so they're a bit everywhere, and these bits might not even make it into the final :')

Exchange Student AU

This is actually the prompt you gave me about a little Newt seeing Theseus and Percy together and being his accepting self!

A Second Person? Visiting the Scamander household?  Well—Second Person wasn’t trailing in. He seemed very confident and self-contained. In fact, Newt has always thought Theseus was exactly like that; but next to this shorter, dark-haired stranger, Theseus suddenly looked coltish and far too smiley. Newt clicked through the settings and accidentally zoomed in far too much on the stranger’s expensive-looking scarf.  Why does he want to spend time with Theseus? Newt mused, as most seven-year-olds with older siblings sometimes do: sure that his brother could hang the moon and stars if he tried, but chagrined by the pure bossiness their relationship seemed to entail enduring. 

Thesival Dogs

It's a one-shot (with several chapters LOL, I don't know if that stops it being a one-shot anymore). I started drafting this in a frenzy over four days because I felt bad about how kmim Theseus never really finds a partner he's comfortable with again. Losing those feelings of intimacy and trust forever hurt me. So, it's set sometime after the end of the election in kmim and kind of diverges from the rest of the outline I have planned for that long story. Theseus and Percival get into a sort of casual-sort of not relationship complicated by their respective traumas. When Percival accidentally triggers Theseus while they're working on a case together, they have to get through it and figure out how to re-negotiate the physical stuff. It goes well—well enough that Theseus accidentally summons his Patronus (a borzoi). But after Percival summons his (a German Shepherd) too, as a joke, the dogs stick around, so they spend the next day figuring out how to make them dispel and thinking about their relationship.

Nearer the start:

Each like a damning indictment—because of him, it could never be long term. Because it’s you, Theseus imagined, because it’s you, and it’s me, they could tangle their broken bodies together, but they couldn’t fix them.

Nearer the middle:

"Tell me how you imagined it," Percival demanded, voice roughening.  "I, ah..." Theseus faltered, uncharacteristically flustered by the heat kindling behind Percival's eyes. Get it together, Scamander. “Mmh?” “Er…” Theseus racked his brains, but it’d been weeks since he’d had a vaguely sexy thought. I thought it’d be nice seemed like a mood killer for someone as skilled in talking filth as Graves. And I love you was all of the steps too far. “You…hmm. You would…um. Or maybe I...or maybe not.”

Plug in Baby

This is named for a song by the band "Muse", because I always end up doing song lyric titles. I do have four other songs that fit wayyy better with the themes, plot points, etc, but even though Muse said they forgot what the song was about because they were high (LOL), there's something particularly good about this as a title imo. This is my dark!thesleta fic, where Leta joins Grindelwald at a rally and Theseus follows her. It's set in a world where Grindelwald and Dumbledore are much more organised and there are very partisan 'sides'. Theseus is less certain, trying to convince her to leave, but when something happens that makes him fall apart, Grindelwald has enough and brainwashes/reconditions him using a mixture of drugs and magic. The 'character is turned into a weapon against the ones they love' trope, basically. It goes downhill from there, and involves Newt, Tina, Grindelwald, and Dumbledore, focusing mostly on Theseus, Leta, and Newt. The ending is a bit bittersweet, but I'd say positive, given what happens. I'm curious what the image in your head was! Hopefully, no actual babies? XD

I have no big chunks of text for this one. Even though it's all planned in detail, it's being written in spotty chunks, so here are a few lines I've jotted down:

"You're getting better at this," Gellert said, removing the needle. His voice was approving, almost fond. "Hardly even a flinch anymore." How much did he require tonight? Surely his tolerance was not increasing this quickly.

Power still crackled through his veins like lightning seeking ground. He felt half-feral, drunk on destruction. Unstoppable.

[chrimsonfoxdon]

Ooh question, you mentioned rewatching as an adult, and I'm curious, what kinds of things do you view differently now? I'm rereading the manga after a long time too, and the big thing I'm noticing is that I have more compassion now, especially towards characters who I didn't realize reminded me of myself and not in the best ways 😂 And especially during part 1 I found myself wondering why we don't see their parents more often (for those who still have them) and who took care of them growing up (for the others).

I have felt similar!! Ok I’m gonna maybe list stuff out on what I’ve noticed I view differently.

Very long post under the cut of me rambling (again)!

1. My Opinion on What I Consider Good Media Has Changed

Starting with this one as I feel it’s a big overarching thing that’ll dictate all my other opinions and thoughts. I’ve watched, read, and listened to A LOT of other series and media since I first started watching Naruto (also you know life experience and such), so I have a better idea of what is “good” media and what is “bad.” When I was younger, I considered Naruto to be the best of the best, but I don’t think that now (as far as anime that title now goes to FMA:B it’s very good please watch it if you haven’t oh my god). It has a lot of flaws, some endearing and others… not so much. Granted that’s any piece of media. Nothing is perfect (not even FMA:B). But despite that, I’ve also learned that it’s ok to still enjoy it!! Imo it’s not all bad, I mean, we’re still here discussing it yea?

I guess the TLDR of this part is: it’s cringe but that’s ok cuz life is short and we should enjoy the stuff we like.

2. Female Characters/Feminism

I feel like, while these are different topics, they’re very linked together in how I watch Naruto now so I’m putting them together. When I was younger, I didn’t like really any of the female cast (except Tenten). I found them “annoying,” to put it simply. Sakura always chasing after Sasuke?? Lame. Ino being obsessed with her looks?? Shallow. Hinata losing to Neji? Weak. I began to think that I didn’t like those characters because I didn’t like female characters mostly as a whole (which is kinda hilarious cuz I did start making Chihiro back then who does in fact identify as a woman LOL!!). But this negative attitude towards female characters not only leaked into how I consumed other media, but how I saw myself and other women irl. Like I distinctly remember believing that a woman could never beat a guy in anything. Which is uh… not true!! And kinda fucked up!!!

Now that I’m older I just realize that kishimoto doesn’t know how to write women all that well. Imo, it’s not the girls’ faults, it’s their creator. Which is disappointing but also freeing almost?? Plus, I can now appreciate what good they do have to offer!! (I talked a little about the konoha 12 girls and what I like about them in this ask in case you’d like details on individual characters)

I think also being exposed to other fans with differing opinions and views has helped me with this as well. When I first started watching I didn’t really go online (wasn’t a thing in Cuba plus I wasn’t really interested), so I didn’t really have other perspectives to bounce off of.

Also wanted to add that there are definitely parts of the show I laughed off before but you know, just are not acceptable nowadays. Mainly thinking of Shikamaru talking down on girls/women, Neji made a rude comment about girls too (that Tenten corrected him on tho thank you queen), and some bits that could be perceived as a little transphobic (I’m not trans tho so I don’t wanna speak for them on that bit). Its viewpoints that I feel are a product of the time, but does not make the overall series bad per se.

3. Seeing Other Children as a Child VS as an Adult

Ngl since I grew up with Naruto, I feel as if I will always see them as my peers in a sense. If anything, almost like the “older kids” in school. Like I don’t know if this is a common perception, but I remember when I was like in 2nd grade I saw 6th graders as like tiny adults, but then when I was in 6th grade I saw 2nd graders as like babies. Does that make sense?? Anyway, it’s interesting rewatching Naruto as an adult and seeing my “peers” when they were younger. I remember thinking that 12 & 13 year olds were badass and cool and practically ready for the real world (I was like 8 or 9 when I first started watching leave me alone), and being amazed at stuff like the chunin exams. Nowadays my brain just kinda goes “why are we letting these CHILDREN go to war???” It’s a similar story with like the sensei. Thinking they’re so experienced and old and… now I’m the same age as them and I’m still young!!

4. Might Gai is Cringe and I Love Him For That

The way I didn’t appreciate this man when I was a kid is a CRIME. Teaching his students (and friends) that it’s important to find joy in life is SO IMPORTANT and Gai just does an EXCELLENT job with that!! He strives to be a source of light for the people in his life, and to show others it’s important to smile and laugh from time to time. It warms my cold dead grownup heart what can I say. There’s a line in OG Naruto after Lee beats Sasuke in their fight before the chunin exams, where Naruto turns to Sasuke and Sakura as their cringing at Lee and Gai and says, “actually, it’s kinda sweet how they’re all hugging and stuff!” And that kinda summarizes my thoughts on them.

TLDR Might Gai is cringe but he is free and I love him so much for that.

5. Seeing Myself in Characters I Didn’t Before

Off the top of my head, the three characters I see myself in more so now than when I was younger is definitely Choji, Lee, and Tenten.

I was never popular growing up, especially when I moved back to the US after living in Cuba. Kids just didn’t wanna play with me or have me on their sports teams, so I was purposefully left out oftentimes, kinda like how choji was when he was younger. Rewatching that part made me cry honestly HAHA I saw myself so clearly. I’m also plus size so the beauty standards he has to deal with really speak to me. I remember Shikamaru telling him one time that girls don’t have to be skinny to be pretty and I would be lying if that didn’t give me a huge amount of confidence in myself.

Rock Lee’s story has always been top notch, but as someone who chose to specialize in a path that I didn’t really have natural talent for myself it REALLY speaks to me now. I’ll be 100% honest, I was never really one of those “been drawing since I could hold a pencil” kind of kids. I liked it, but I didn’t really consider myself any good until like 8th grade or so. Anyway, there’s this scene where Lee is crying at the training grounds cuz he’s scared that, no matter how hard he works, it’ll all be for nothing and that he’ll always be a loser, and uh… had to turn the show off cuz that struck WAAAAAAAY too close to home for me as an artist with a… let’s be real, a failing art business. Anyway, he inspires me though to keep going cuz this is what brings me joy. I may take longer than most, but that doesn’t mean I’m less of a person for it.

Tenten I’ve honestly seen a lot of myself in even when I was younger! But there’s this filler episode that goes into detail on how she tried really hard to be just like Tsunade, since that was her dream since she was little. Turns out she doesn’t have the capacity to do that (not being able to do medical ninjutsu well, etc), but she finds her own strengths along the way. What really spoke to me was letting go of your childhood dreams. It’s hard. It feels like you’re failing in a way. But Tenten was able to persevere and find a new and even better path forward for herself. And that’s just amazing. I love seeing that, and it helps me feel as if I too and maybe find my path.

6. Final Thoughts and Random Little Things

I think it’s also safe to say that I can pick up on story flaws (I’m looking at you 4th great ninja war arc) and inconsistencies (how the heck does the hyuga clan work wtf). It’s a long series and nowadays you can binge the whole thing in one sitting (I don’t recommend that please take care of yourself). Back in my day I had to wait a whole week to watch the next 26 minute episode with commercials in between. Also I was a kid. AHAHA!! But again, long series, so I’m sure Kishi forgot about certain details while he was being pushed to continue the series.

Also my views on certain things that happened in the series changed based on what I know what happens later, which I find to be quite fun!

Overall I still enjoy the series, both for similar reasons as I did back in the day (Neji) and for new reasons!! Flaws and all. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk

[haroldosaur]

Hey, so I'm re-reading Simpler Times and I just hit the spot where Bluestar finds out about Silverstream. I know it doesn't go this way, but I've got a brain worm over this. What if she was so angry with Tigerclaw that she demotes him over it, possibly even promoting Fireheart waaaayy earlier than he's supposed to be? How would the conflict play out with Fireheart as deputy and Tigerclaw disgraced, but still part of Thunderclan?

That's,,, a good question! Hmm.

To start, one thing that's important to clarify is that part of Fireheart's promotion to deputy in the OG series is that Bluestar p. much has a mental breakdown and decides that he, specifically, is the only person she trusts. (At least, that's how I read it xD). So my presumption would be that something similar is happening here. If you look at it logically, there's no reason for Fireheart to be made deputy over all the other older and more experienced cats in the clan (coughWHITESTORM?cough) so if it's happening, Bluestar's gotta be Going Through It.

With that established, how would the conflict play out with Fireheart as deputy and a disgraced Tigerclaw being part of ThunderClan? Hoo boy.

I think Tigerclaw would be absolutely, intolerably furious about Fireheart getting his job. Like, he'd personally hate that more than just being exiled. He's gotta take orders from this guy every day now!! Meanwhile Fireheart is p. much treading water and stressing over Tigerclaw, similarly to canon, only it's more anxiety-inducing because the rest of the Clan STILL doesn't really see Tigerclaw for the monster that he actually is; they just thing he's overzealous n got demoted because he made a whoopsie. It probably leads into some kind of thought question: do you prefer having your greatest enemy out of sight but away from you, or constantly in your living space all the time?

Saving grace here would deffo be Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw IMO. Brambleclaw would be able to keep being nervous but determined to deal with his father, and Squirrelpaw would 100% be mocking Tigerclaw to hell and back for losing the deputy-ship because of his own impulsive idiocy. Oh my god, she would see it as a golden piss-taking opportunity. I need to stop imagining how funny she'd find i before I start writing out her dialogue. :P

I think... hmm. My first reflex is that the conflict would go better for our heroes, because Tigerclaw has lost his power in ThunderClan but doesn't have the freedom to slink around and make alliances that comes with being an exile. That said, with Tigerclaw still in ThunderClan, he could probably talk to a lot of cats individually and bend their ears into supporting him and his attempt to return to the deputy-ship (and possibly more?) To that end it'd probably become a Fireheart vs. Tigerclaw PR battle for a while, and then eventually something would give and there'd be a physical fight and then things would play out a little bit more like canon.

I'm sure there's some details I've missed, but that's all I'm thinking of off the top of my head. :D Thank you so much for the ask!!!