#their human au dynamic is basically the same as canon but with the familial aspect turned down

[wavesalwayscrash]

Correct me if I’m wrong (maybe I’m projecting from the human AU or something) but does Condor and Crane’s relationship teeter between familial and intimate? I tried to find where my brain held onto that concept but I couldn’t find it in the tags! (Apologies if it’s too spoilery)

Also what is it about Warbler that Condor and Crane found intriguing enough to make her a part of their weird family? I’m sure they’re were plenty of other orphans to choose from! She seems like a cutie, but I except she’s going to be someone who’s going to take a lot of convincing when she’s exposed to the entire deal that comes with being close to crane and condor. Did one of them know her old family?

For the Crane and Condor part: yes <3

As for Warbler: I'm sure there were tons of orphans in the war like you said, and no they didn't know her family, but Warbler was the lone survivor of her colony's massacre (They would not join the King's army. They fought and lost horribly). Crane saw the aftermath and took in Warbler, promising her safety and a family. Warbler was eager to take on any kind of mother figure/community after losing her own, to return to any semblance of normalcy. Little did she know Crane and Condor are a couple of freaks!!

[myosotlsart]

Any headcanons for characters you wanna share?

Aha. The time has come for me to answer this question.

The thing is, I *don't* have any headcanons for the main "canon" pokémon characters. I let them be. So technically, nothing for them is canon in my head. Not even the fact that Green Oak has a crush on Red. I respect the canon for what it is, and leave it at that.

But if we're talking about slightly *altered* versions of them, such as what I write for them... ahaha. Yes. That's when I allow myself to become a little creative. (The only issue is, there are different alternate timelines. I'll give you a basic rundown of what goes on in my head.)

more under the cut

Pokespe Inspired (Universe 1)

This is the first story I attempted to write, and as all things written by a child, the contents are a little wild. I'll say what I plan to carry through, however:

Green Oak has a crush on Red. Duh. It was clear the moment he doubled around. No, he wasn't "waiting" on you. PFfft. He just wants to prove he's the best. *Ensue depression after Red's disappearance*. Red, however, is on the aroace spectrum, which means they have to learn and navigate what an intimate/romantic relationship means to them, if they even have one.

Green feels a lot of emotions, which leads him to act irrationally at times. Red is overall a lot more introverted (not to say more calm, but appears to be) which can be hard for Green to read. Like a hot/cold dynamic

Professor Oak, at one point, became the Pokémon Champion due to a mixture of interest in pokémon and perserverence. He never, however, understood the bonds between pokémon, and ultimately dropped the job to pursue studying them. His lack of knowledge considering the bonds between pokémon is what makes him unable to gauge how much Green's pokémon like him, and ties into the fact he also bad at connecting to his very human family

Green's mother is the spoiled daughter of Professor Oak who was also very type A- and so dominant only her last name transferred to her children. Aspects of his personality, such as his cleanliness, and at times deep desire for perfection and insecurity, is a result of her high demands for overachievement

Blue (F) has experienced with traumatized children (Silver) and taking care of Yellow is natural for her because of it. After the events of the main story, she goes back to seek for Yellow, and emotionally and physically helps her grow into her own.

Kanto is generally misogynistic when it comes to female trainers in power and Blue does her damnest, resorting sometimes even to radio broadcast, to slowly shift public opinion on the matter.

Red's primary goal is to befriend pokémon, understand them, and change the region's attitude towards pokémon training (such as with whips, etc.) He doesn't take the championship seriously by the end, which infuriates Green, and only beats Green to bring some finality. Red initially partakes in media to discourage whipping and abusive practices, and stays for a little bit, before ultimately receeding to the mountains due to how overwhelming and impossible it is for one kid to change the world. Red is the one who makes the stairs in the mountain as a subconscious plea for someone to come up and find him, even if he won't go back down himself

There is way more on the second gen I could talk about, but I haven't even drawn any of them yet, so that's for the future I presume

FRLG Inspired (Universe 2)

Unfortunately, in the first universe, Blue (F) ultimately cannot surpass Red and Green, has to deal with the disappointment, and shift priorities. It seems that if only the female trainer exists, she can be the Champion. However, if she were to exist alongside Red, Red always has to win. This AU is an exploration of that notion.

Red and Leaf have the same mother, they look similar, therefore they are twins. However, in the games, they are never seen together. Thus, while Red is raised by his mother (if player chooses Red), this story has Leaf travelling with her father for the majority of their lives, making them estranged siblings. But no hard feelings. (Mostly).

By the time Leaf goes to pick up the pokéballs, only Bulbasaur is left.

Blue Oak is a lot ruder in this AU than he is in the other stories I'm writing, where his and Red's relationship is the core focus. Which is to say, he acts exactly as he does in the game, always trying to prove he's better and one-ups Red.

Leaf is never mentioned beyond FRLG, such as in HGSS. Yet, she must have existed. I imagine her to take a much more relaxed (thus hidden/less flashy) approach to the journey than Red and Blue do. While the boys take the spotlight, she takes unconventional paths around the region, focusing on befriending pokémon. Does she fail at waking Snorlax because she doesn't have the pokéflute? Well, fine, despite not knowing fly, she'll tell Pidgeot to fly over the dang thing, take a running start, and alley-oop over that giant monster.

Due to her more mischevious, shadowed nature (and harkening to her name) Leaf usually favors pokémon such as Butterfree, Crobat, Parasect, Venonat, Golduck, Victreebel, Cloyster, Hypno, Tangela, and Mewtwo. Her more mysterious nature sets her apart from the usual peppy female protagonists. There is something unsettling and amusing/curious about her. If you get decieved by her innocent smile, well...

The test as to whether any of this matters, if she can surpass the popularity of the stars of Kanto, comes to a head at the end of the story.

During HGSS, while Red is on the mountain and Blue handling the gym, she goes to Hoenn (referencing a 2005 postcard of her with a combusken), where she meets May. Traveling with May (who is a climate change activist, thanks to RSE's theme of, well, climate change) is a welcome break from the box she was forced into during her time in Kanto. An experienced, lightly jaded adventurist and an inspiring adventurer with a heart of gold make for an extremely heartwarming journey

Wow! I didn't think I'd have so much to say when I saw this, I was genuinely scrambling for headcanons until I laid out some of the stories I have swirling around my head. Apparently there was a lot in there! The more you know.

[borreloadsavagedragon]

20 and 21 for Kaito!

kaito posting……… we know how this will go down

20. A Weird Headcanon

What a perfect question to submit so I can talk about the Tenjo Cousin concept that Sorrel has me hooked on 👁👁

So one of my all time favorite headcanons to write fic and conversation for is how Yusaku and Kaito are actually related, they’re cousins now, I said so

A lot of it traces back to similarities in their characters, in their interpersonal relationships and friend groups, but also the fact that Yusaku uses Photon Thrasher in a duel against the Hanoi before he uncovers the Cyberse pile deck left by Ai

Like out of every card you could have used, Photon Thrasher, from an archetype we have canon confirmation for being created by dimensional science…………. interesting pick! I’m NOT gonna focus on it!!! (lying)

I love just finding a way to make them work as a family dynamic, but I also just want to give Yusaku a strong blood relative to go with the strong found family he’s already made, I like to make these loners feel a bit less lonely

Galaxy also being one of the Zexal anime decks that has a Link monster is v cute

Also looove theorizing Kaito’s background and what could have been, like why does he have the same diamond pattern on his turtle neck that Rio does on her out of school wear, and in a related note why does he look so much like his dragon in both his hair design and the previously mentioned outfit, just all those little details and where they could have been going-

One fic I’ve been working super hard on in hopes to publish is a post-canon AU that’s a focus on reincarnation and the power of human spirit and it’s mostly a project to answer my own lingering questions on certain aspects of Zexal canon, it’s very GoT/HoTD inspired and takes some of the pre-established history with warring kings but add slightly more politics, extra battles, and also dragons, but told through memories during some post canon conflict that ties it all together, one day I’ll actually make a post about it but for right now it remains a brainchild with 3 outlines and a 10k+ lore outline

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

Oh this is a good question

Ok so, preview for part of the analysis essay but-

It’s actually kind of sad because most of Kaito’s pictured happiness in BOTH spin-offs he appears in is all very past tense. Like, beside his general demeanor and the obvious instances, Kaito’s color palettes are a lot brighter in both the time he spends in the family cabin and in Haruto’s baby days in Zexal and in the Arc V High School tournament flashbacks, he’s also essentially never shown frowning anytime the shows recall him before current canon. The way they utilize color with Kaito’s regression into himself is brilliant, he’s the brightest thing in the hallway of Heartland Tower when Haruto is taken from him, he’s one of brightest things in the rain when Chris leaves, but water is going to darken the colors he’s wearing, another thing to really show that this moment is the last thing that pushed him into being Kaito who we recognize

I want to do more color analysis for him in canon too but that’s not the question fjdhdhsbdb

Despite that, I’d actually argue Kaito’s happiest in the end of Zexal(and Arc V but that’s a slightly different subject, end of the tunnel is similar!!), because he endured and arguably survived everything that came to break him, moon duel pending since the Code basically said lmao to that.

He allowed himself to open back up after being cast aside and was rewarded for it because not only did he make new everlasting bonds, but all of these people who left him and left a such a heavy mark on him came back to him. They not only came back, they’re brought back to him apologetically after acknowledging the things they did to him.

Kaito doesn’t get to do much in Zexal II mostly because the show got a little messy with bringing in more cast and having a few plot threads that actually needed to be wrapped up that had to take priority, but IMO he does arguably get one of the best ends in Zexal, Arc V is a weird second element that’ll get its own discussion piece one day

[lightdancer1]

Another set of things the Death captured by Burgess AUs explore:

There is more than a little evidence from the canon that Dream of the Endless was already starting to change before the fishbowl, and ultimately in my view he didn't have to die to change, the fishbowl did enough damage to him mentally that it made that fate in the end the outcome fixed in time.

That it is not, in fact, a place of healing is also noted by the differences in what happens when it's another Endless entrapped. And here, at least, Death's very similarities to humanity also up and bite her more viciously than with her less human siblings shielded by all the rules.

She's human enough that solitary confinement, which is what the fishbowl ultimately is, does a significant amount of damage from that alone, combined with all the rest of it. The other Endless are inhuman enough that time might pass in the same ways but they can still manage things somewhat better because their psychology differs from humans in fundamental ways, Dream included.

Death, OTOH, has that unlovely in this case aspect of being human enough that in cases like this she experiences it much more like what a human would than any other entity in a comparable situation, which creates compounding issues after the fact because she's human enough for humanlike trauma responses but inhuman enough that her means of dealing with them end up reflecting that and compounding the difficulties here for her.

That said, outside the human AUs I prefer that Burgess actually be loyal to Ethel Cripps, and consciously monogamous as a way to prove himself 'better' than his rival Aleister Crowley, who very much had a much more hedonistic aspect. In the human AUs, Burgess has zero reason to go for the wrong person in the family, still moreso if Death looks like Kirby and much less like Dream and I basically have it be a case of him specifically targeting her with what evolves into a twisted one-sided obsession which adds to all the unlovely nightmare fuel of a stalker that Burgess becomes, in a human AU, Sung Myung Moon/Brother Blood style cult leader.

The Order of Ancient Mysteries works just as well in a human AU though I do give it something of the willful con aspect of Brother Blood (and some maybe magic maybe mundane outside the one AU where the Endless family have powers in line with their canon selves but are otherwise metahumans....seemingly, at least).

It also very deliberately puts Burgess in line with what his real life counterparts with that kind of wealth do, and that is ultimately intended to reflect that in human AUs people do deal with human problems, of which a drug lord turned cult leader who develops a twisted stalker-ish obsession with a random person who never asked for it is an extreme but not unlike things that have actually happened.....and if she's from the Endless family that's filthy stinking rich then that is 100% connected.

It also allows me to play with the Dream and Roderick Burgess dynamics when he is not, in fact, the one caught and there's a whole sense of leaden destiny and irony in their interactions reflecting what very easily could have been.

[sevensided]

how did you get into writing fic? i'd love to start but idk even where to begin! I loved adats so I was wondering do you have any advice?

Oh my goodness! I am so flattered you’ve asked me this. Yes, I can absolutely help. I’ll throw a bunch of rambling under the cut.

I started writing fic probably when I was... sixteen years old? A lot of my early works were oneshots. I couldn’t figure out how to do anything plot heavy for the life of me, so I just stuck to AUs or whatever I felt like. I wasn’t in any particular fandom -- I really wrote whatever I had ideas for. I remember I tried once to do a plot-heavy story and I received a review absolutely ripping it to shreds. Like, it was so cruel I cried lol. I ended up deleting the fic. Years later, I get what they were trying to say (basically, more substance, less style), but at the time it cut to the quick. Really, it was only when I was in my twenties that I started writing work that was longer and/or better.

The fandom that helped me actually write plot heavy work was a historical-based fandom. As I’m a historian, it was perfect. I got to use my research skills and knowledge to create works that, above all, aimed to feel authentic. I mainly read historical fiction, so I was familiar with how that genre worked. Miraculously, people loved my work. I think I wrote about ~200k in the period of a year? These were several short stories (20-40k) and a few oneshot filler fics. While I was part of this fandom I also helped organise a Big Bang which was a lot of hard work but was extremely rewarding. Along with that, I interacted mainly with other fic writers, so I spent a lot of time chatting to people about ideas and encouraging other writers, and it just created a lovely medley where no concept was impossible or any line of dialogue too difficult. We supported each other and it was truly like a little commune. I gradually stepped away from the fandom mainly because it was just a part of my life at a very specific time, and almost as soon as that time was over, my love for that story/ship faded, but I firmly believe I figured out a lot of how/what I do now purely through that experience.

Regarding ADATS

With ADATS, it stemmed entirely from wanting to “explain” three months in canon (at the end of season three). I was interested in the idea of season four setting up Will/Mike in canon, and I wanted to test the source material to see if I could draw from what already existed to create something authentic. I began with that simple idea: what happened from July to October in 1985? Then I thought about the major themes I wanted to hit -- family, friendship, coming of age, sexuality -- and I nested them around the bigger concept: how do I get Mike from being ostensibly straight to realising he is gay? That meant thinking of two steps: Mike discovering his attraction to guys; Mike discovering his attraction to Will. Those two concepts were separate “arcs” that needed addressing in different ways. Balance was key to weaving them together and making the reader feel like they knew what was coming (and that they felt smart for putting the pieces together) without just rushing through and going “now kiss!” That’s partly why ADATS needs a sequel, lol: because it’s not finished!

Writing process

The first thing I do when I start to get an idea is I write it down. Sounds obvious. But when you have a killer line of dialogue come to you in the shower and you think “I’ll remember that” -- reader, you will not remember it. You gotta get it down ASAP! I do that the whole way through, as generally I’ll be thinking of scenes I’m stuck on and then it’ll just come to me and I’ll quickly jot it down.

The next thing -- or what I do in the meantime -- is start structuring. I plan. I try to plan a lot. Sometimes it’s okay to write “and something happens here to get them here”, because you’ll figure it out later, but for the most part I’ve discovered that planning is like gold and you can’t get enough of it. I break my work up into generally 3-4 parts/sections, and I treat each section like a mini story. So each part needs a conflict and resolution, and it needs to flow into the next section. You need to have a feeling of things evolving and maturing. Once I’ve planned those little bits, I start thinking about the bigger plot arc and how I can drop in hints along the way. I’m probably not a subtle or skilled enough writer to yet pull off that sort of gasping twist you get in really excellent books, but I’m trying to get there. It’s hard, is what I’m trying to say, but that’s okay, because we’re all learning.

Then I generally do aesthetic stuff. Sounds stupid, probably. But nothing helps me get more into a mood than doing a Pinterest board or -- most of all -- making a Spotify mix. I start thinking about the vibe and the general atmosphere, and then I almost exclusively listen to that mix when I’m working. Sort of like muscle memory? Just to get the creative juices associated with that particular selection of songs.

Another thing I’ll do along with plot structure is character structure. This is a biggie. I mean, a story is nothing without characters. So I’ll just jot down a bunch of bullet points of characters and particular aspects that I want to highlight or remember. I hate continuity errors in fiction. Like, if someone says they work on Maple Street but later in the fic they’re working on Pine Street. I hate that. So I keep note of specific things that my main character might notice at repeated points in the story (colours, places, smells, names, sounds -- so they’re all consistent even as the narrative evolves). That’s another thing -- your characters’ motivations. Not everyone is going to be a huge player, but they all do serve a purpose. The most important character is obviously your main character. I personally think it’s important to let your M.C. be an arse at times. They’re going to be mean, they’re going to misinterpret things or fly off the handle... just let ‘em. Let them be wretched humans, and then bring them back and make them realise what they’ve done. Let them learn! I love consequences in fiction, lol.

At the same time, I’ll probably start writing. We’ve already written down some snippets of neat dialogue or descriptions, but now we should start the actual process. For me, I used to start at the beginning. Usually this was the most fleshed out anyway: I’ll have a clear idea of the beginning and the end, but nothing in the middle. These days, if I have a scene in mind that I can’t forget, I’ll just write it. It will possibly get scrapped or rewritten, but that’s okay, because at least you’ve got it down and now you can devote your brain power to something useful (like figuring out what the middle is supposed to be). I’ll have half a dozen of totally out of context scenes just littered in my Word document that I’ll add to as I go along. Eventually, though, you’re going to start writing properly, and that’s when you write your opening scene.

Opening scenes: super important. Every time I write a scene I think: what is the point of this? What do I want the reader to learn or takeaway? Sometimes you do have filler scenes, but they also serve a different purpose (perhaps to establish a group dynamic or to explore/describe a character’s surroundings). Mainly, though, every scene should push something forward in some way, whether it’s character development or a plot point. So, with an opening scene, I always think you have to establish: where you are; who you are; what they are doing; where they’ve come from (in a philosophical and practical sense); and where they’re going (ditto). That doesn’t have to happen in the first paragraph -- that would be silly. But if you sprinkle that information in over time it’ll gradually build up a picture of your character and that way the reader can get an idea of who they are. You basically need to give a snapshot of what your story is about. This also goes back to the character creator stuff: where they are at the start should be different to where they end up. How that happens is, of course, because of plot, and because you’ve structured everything to the nth degree, we’ve got a very clear progression of that character’s growth (/s easier said than done lol).

General advice

Write down everything: every idea, a bit of dialogue, a description, whatever. Write it down. Doesn’t have to be neat. Just has to be on paper. You can’t remember everything, so if you’re spending time trying to hold those things in your head, it’s taking up space for new ideas to come along.

Structure, plan, structure, plan. Sometimes it’s boring and I hate it. Other times, when I’ve not written in a few days and I open the Word doc and think wtf is this supposed to be, I am very grateful for Past Me for leaving such detailed notes. Seriously, it helps so much. Oneshots don’t really need planning, in my experience. You just get those out there. But multi-chaptered stories really do, even ones that “just” focus on a relationship.

Whatever you want to write, commit to it. Space goblins invade Hawkins? Do it. Eleven and Max find themselves in a cult akin to Midsommar (2019) and must escape? Yes. Just... whatever you want to do, remember that you’re writing it for you. Write what most interests you, what makes you when you reread it go AHHHHH I LOVE THIS!! Because that makes it a thousand times easier to actually get on with the writing when you enjoy what you’re doing.

Write a lot. Every day, if you can, or at least at designated times. Occasionally I have a very specific headspace/vibe I have to be in, but sometimes it just hits me and I’ll say to my partner “I need to write now” and just disappear, lol. The more you write the more you write. It’s so, so, so true. Cannot emphasise this enough. When I wrote that ~200k in twelve months? It was because I literally wrote every. day. Or near enough. Remember that some days you’ll write 200 words, and other days you’ll write 20k (this happened to me with ADATS -- part of the reason I finished it so quickly was because I had sprints of writing 10k+ at a time that only happened because I was in the rhythm of it). Write, write, write. Who cares if it’s crap! No one will see it until you are ready. In the meantime, just write!

Probably last of all (although I could go on and on) is connect with other writers. If you’re struggling to start, sometimes just talking about it can help a huge amount. I hope it goes without saying that you can message me whenever you want, anon or not, and I will talk to you. We can talk about ideas or I can beta stuff, whatever you want! Find like-minded people and talk to them about what you want to do. Another thing this helps is in advertising your work when you do publish. I see a lot of first time fic writers get super down because they publish their magnum opus on AO3 but no one comments. Honestly, it’s because no one knows you’ve published! You don’t have to be tooting your own horn every which way, but just actively talking about your work and even collaborating with other content creators with get you hyped and other people too (and the input and encouragement other fandom members give is just... out of this world. Anon messages helped me finish ADATS when I was really worried I wouldn’t [that’s the truth]. Seriously, support is everything). When you have people excited about your work, you get excited. It’s really as simple as that.

I could go on but this is already horrendously long. I hope even a bit of this helps! If you want to chat or have any more questions, just hit me up any time.

[sandalaris]

OTP/Pairing questions: SethKate 1, 9 and 10? 💖

I put 1 under a cut, because it became really very long.

9. Favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics? (Can be headcanon)

Probably how, despite everything working against it, there’s an equality to them once they get out of the abductor/abductee mentality (which happens fairly quickly all things considered.). There’s hints of it through out the show, but my favorite moment of it is when Sonja enters the picture. Seth does the same power play with both of them, glaring them down while advancing towards them in a display of dominance, and yet Sonja backs down, dropping her gaze and giving up ground to him while in her own work space, a place she should feel in complete control in, and a large, uncovered window right there that keeps her from being isolated with him. But when he pulls that same shit with Kate, while utterly alone in a motel room that belongs just as much to him as it does her and no one around to play witness, she stares right back and refuses to give into his dominance play. (There’s absolutely more evidence to Seth and Kate being on equal footing, but this one *chef’s kiss*)

There’s something I find so utterly delightful in someone like Kate, young and a little naive at first and all softness wrapped around steel, able to stand on equal footing to the bank robbing murderer who’s at his utter worst for a bulk of the time she knows him. Especially when the tough and fiery tattoo artist/forger who’s used to being in the criminal world and dealing with people like Seth couldn’t do it.

10. Least favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics? (Can be headcanon)

As much as I like what all it means/represents for them and how it contrasts with the Seth and Sonja dynamic, the fact that Seth pulled a power play on Kate in the first place, that he tried to cow her into submission, is something I don’t care for (wouldn’t change it, too necessary for their individual story arcs and I like what it reveals about their relationship), and how much Kate aimed for Seth’s most vulnerable points when fighting with him in season two. (Which if I’m honest, I would be tempted to change, even though logically I know it’s a character flaw for her that helps round her out as a character. Which probably says more about me than her that I’d be tempted to change it if I’d had the power.)

I know they’re each dealing with a ton of shit in season two. Seth’s got control issues to begin with, and that’s not even getting into all those protective instincts, both the new one’s with Kate’s name on them and the one’s belonging to Richie that find her a convenient target, and how much Seth feels that if he can just bully Kate into obeying him he can keep her safe and with him. And Kate’s angry and hurt and lashing out at someone who she feels holds some of the blame for those feelings. She keeps threatening to leave, and Seth’s abandonment issues are extra sensitive after what went down with Richie and Kate knows this. They’re both in a fucked up place, although Kate is trying to put herself back together while Seth’s still wallowing in his hurt and anger.

It’s something that I don’t think is a big problem after season two. Kate was already on the path to healing before she left (even if she’s not there yet by the end of the season) and while it falls more in the realm of headcanon, I think she acknowledges her destructive lashing out to herself and makes a point to try and not let herself slip back into the habit. And while Seth still has his issues, he’s not being ruled by them quite so hard after season two. He probably still does some controlling things, ordering her meal for her if they’re at a sit down restaurant and phrasing things more as commands than requests, and I still have a headcanon that he assigned her bodyguards without her knowledge after the events of season three, but those things are manageable. Again, I wouldn’t change anything that happened or their respective issues, but if I had to point out my least favorite part of their dynamic it would how they were in season two when he was too controlling and Kate took careful aim to hurt Seth as much as she could with her words.

1. If you had to change the pairing’s very first meeting, how would you change it? This has gone into full on What If territory and thus is long and under a cut. :P

If I had to change how they met and somehow keep it in the same canon-universe, I’d probably have Carlos drag the Fullers to the Twister, because he’s the one who wanted the family there so badly. Seth and Kate wouldn’t really meet until all hell broke loose and the initial massacre had passed, leaving the Geckos, Scott and Kate, and Professor Tanner still alive, and Seth wouldn’t really get to know/care about her until after they were on the road together (meaning no scenes where they’ve linked arms or him shoving her behind him while they navigate the underground tunnels, because Kate doesn’t mean anything to him at this point, is just another body to place between him and the vampires).

Instead of asking if he wants company, Kate would ask for a ride to the nearest town, because she doesn’t know enough about who he is and what he’s capable of to truly trust him not to mean her harm, especially after Tanner. Everything, both good and bad, that happened between them in season one wouldn’t be there to bind them together or give the other insight into who the other is. They’d stick around after actually finding the nearest town because Kate doesn’t actually have a plan and Seth’s terrified of being alone and they’ve talked just enough and are just tired enough to find it easier to not leave the other just yet, but it would be with this idea that’s its temporary. Their relationship would be different, far less trust or care between them, but still enough of a foundation and understanding that they decide to stick together for a bit. First week would pretty much be the same because trauma needs sorting through.

Seth would be a lot more obvious about his physical interest in her as time goes on, because he doesn’t have the guilt of being the one to put her in that place or her daddy’s death hanging over his head (Carlos would have disposed of Jacob before they ever even got to the Twister in this, and Seth only finds out after the fact that he even existed at all or what he meant to Kate and the fresh grief she’s carrying with her), and because he doesn’t care for her nearly to the same depth here and is therefore less careful with/protective of their relationship/her (if he makes it too awkward and she leaves, oh well. He'll wish her luck and then find someone else to travel with.) It doesn’t mean as much as it would’ve had he made the offer in canon, more just him making it obvious that he’s interested if she is as opposed to the declaration it would have been in show. Kate is a still a sheltered, sexually-repressed teenager who’s never gone past kissing though, and while she’s been through a shit ton of trauma that has her questioning where she stands on her convictions, she’s not really ready to jump into bed with anyone, let along an almost-stranger, even after she realizes he’s interested in something more akin to dating than a one-night stand. They may or may not start something, I’d have to write it out to see (and I’ve got too many fics in the works as is :P), but if they did it’d be caught somewhere between Seth’s jumping in feet first and Kate’s more celibate dating habits. All shared meals at actual restaurants and heavy make-out sessions in various stages of undress and Kate still asking for separate beds (they sadly never do grow to that level of familiarity and emotional intimacy while on the road together that they do in show). She’s not comfortable telling Seth about her inexperience here and he makes his own assumptions based on hormonal teenagers who stiffen everytime he messes with the button on her jeans. (They both keep jumping to the wrong conclusions, but neither are at a place where they will ask the other such questions.)

It’s a much slower emotional build, taking those weeks on the road to get to what they had by the end of season one in the show, but Kate still leaves, because Scott is still the most important person to her and Seth still has issues with brothers. It happens sooner and without a big fight, because they don’t mean as much to each other here to try and convince the other to stay/come with, but it’d feel more like an end to both of them than it ever did in canon. They’d eventually come back together after they fix things with their brothers (and maybe dealing with Amaru, I’m not sure how much of that would change in this without diving deeper into it). Scott’s still a culebra but holds none of the loyalty he did to Carlos in canon, and would be more likely side with the stranger wearing glasses who wants to rule Malvado’s territory than the man who murdered his dad and gave his sister to a serial killer, and Kate’s going where her brother does. Her and Seth give off a This is my Ex vibe when they meet again, but it’s not as awkward or as angry and hurt as people think it should be and Richie is a nosy little shit who genuinely likes Kate (a first for him with Seth’s romantic entanglements) and Scott has no problem sharing stories of his sister’s past exes with the new guy and basically they learn about each other’s pasts through the other’s brother in a way that means they understand a bit more of what they are getting into when they get back together.

Fin!

If I got full room to play and didn’t need to keep the storyline in tact in the slightest and can do an All Human AU (which I not-so-secretly want to explore) where they meet under entirely ordinary circumstances....

Kate’s in college and living away from home, and has come to the realization she doesn’t want to live the life she was always told she wanted.

(Kyle put a promise ring on her finger during senior year and keeps making comments about getting a job so he can support them and looking at houses in the same small town she grew up in and no one gets why she went to college in the first place when she’s already got a man to take care of her and why don’t you come home, Katie, when are you getting married already, what are you waiting for-

Kate can’t breathe when she thinks about it because she’s only eighteen and there’s so much she wants to do even though everyone she went to high school with is already settling down and talking babies and she’s not ready not ready not ready--- She calls and breaks up with him while sporting her first ever hangover. She only went to the party because the semester was almost over and she needed a break, but she got drunk on purpose. Some part of her wanting to experience this one thing that she was always told she shouldn’t do, and somehow started talking to a complete stranger and out it spilled just how utterly terrified she was of being trapped into a life she’s come to realize she's never wanted. She doesn’t go into details, but she wakes up with an inner peace and utter clarity of what she has to do under the headache and rolling stomach and the taste of something having died in her mouth, and she can’t help but know is was the best decision she ever made.)

After that she settles into this life she’s built, gets her own place off campus and learns who she is in a way most people don’t do until they’re in their thirties, and maybe she doesn’t know where she’ll end up but she knows its not Bethel and the life she’d almost fallen into.

They meet at some hole-in-the-wall restaurant that Kate goes to with friends now and again and has good enough burgers to attract someone like Richie who’s a secret foodie at heart. Seth’s at the counter waiting for his to go order and she’s been sent up to see if her group can get more napkins or something else equally mundane.

Seth’s not really the kind of guy she normally goes for, sprinkles of gray in his hair hinting at him probably being too old for her and a rough manner of speech that would have shocked her not even a year before when she was still getting used to life outside a small town. She notices him though, and that’s worth noting she thinks. When he looks over, quick and casual, before looking again less so.

Kate’s close enough to his type, even with the modest layers of clothes and apple pie sweetness, that he starts flirting before he’s really considered it. She doesn’t quite flirt back, but she doesn’t not flirt either, something smothered and peeking out at him when he manages to catch her attention more fully. She snarks at him when he gets cheeky and isn’t quite able to stop the smile from creasing her cheeks that makes him want to coax another from her. Both of them linger at the counter when their purpose for being there has long faded, not quite ready to end their little back and forth until its stretched past of the point of Too Long and Kate makes her excuses to go back to her friends. He ends up turning around in the parking lot to go back inside and ask for her number, half cursing himself for it because he doubts he’ll be in town long but part of him felt far too disappointed when she walked away to not go for it. If she’s entirely honest, Kate’s not sure if she would have given it if her friends weren’t watching the whole exchange, because she’s always been able to logic her way into making the smart, safe choice over the one she wants (one of the reasons it took quite so long to break up with Kyle) and Seth seems to have Bad Idea stamped across his forehead - see rough manner and possible too old age and hints at a crude sense of humor - and the way he leans forward with that smarmy, utterly confident grin that says he knows just how much she likes that suggestive flash of teeth and play of muscles beneath his button up... She consoles herself with the (very disappointing) thought that he probably won’t contact her anyways.

He calls her that night.

(I’m gonna stop there, because I have ideas on how Kate and Seth’s relationship would progress in something like this, and this question is entirely based on how they met, not how their relationship progresses. Plus, this is way too long already.)

[threewaysdivided]

Yo hey!!! I just read through your YJ:DW series and I absolutely love it??? So much??? You write absolutely marvelously and have such a wonderful devotion to characterization and everything feels very Real and Natural. Your pacing is most excellent, you really know when things need to be lingered on and when they don’t need much more than a passing mention. And g o d I absolutely adore how you characterize so many characters, but particularly Danny. Like, he’s still the same Danny from the-(1/?)

show, but he’s changed in very particular ways that really match with what he’s been through. He’s very cautious and nervous and frightened after everything that’s happened, afraid to trust, to let people know too much. And that makes sense with everything he’s been through! He’s been on the run for so long, settling in one place definitely chafes at him. More than he feels it should, but it does. And like! He’s so wary and on edge with meeting the Team and the League members. I am def- (2/?)

-initely looking forward to seeing even more of their interactions. And like!!! The team’s reactions!!! Are so well thought out and just fantastic. Like, how Robin is aiming for a mix of normalcy and just a touch of protectiveness. And M’gann is curious and welcoming and doing her best to be Team Mom without being overwhelming. And how Wally is so intensely disbelieving and flippant QND almost abrasive to Phantom. I really wonder how he’s going to change in his approach to Phantom,- (3/?)

-like if he’ll dig his feet in even further to the point of rejecting reality in an attempt to maintain the reality in his own mind, or if he actually will start considering the science behind ghosts possible. I’m so excited to see how that develops. Also, aside, can I just say I loved getting Black Canary’s perspective on things with the last chapter? It revealed a lot more of Danny’s proper abilities and strengths than ya’d necessarily be able to piece together with a younger perspective-(4/?)

-and it just really helps develop the dynamics of everything even more. I’m wondering if you’re going to end up giving Danny enhanced strength or not, and if so to what degree, as an aside, explaining a bit more why he might be pulling his punches. I also wonder if he has any hesitation with fighting living folks who aren’t actively trying to hurt him, seeing as he mostly has experience fighting Ghosts and Hunters. Also also, I’m just so excited to see them all go on a mission!!! (5 or 6/?)

-Aaaah I could keep gushing for a Good While but I’m forgetting how many asks I’ve sent and I don’t want to bother you toooo much, so Imma just finish with you write beautifully and I’m So EXCITED to see where you go with things and like aaaaaaaaah, ya kno!!! (6 or 7/ 6 or 7)

Okay, first things first, you are absolutely not bothering me.  You found a piece of free content that I put up and - with no obligation or expectation -  sent me six messages detailing how much you liked it, and that’s Delightful.  It made my morning.  ‘Bothering’ is more than welcome on this blog.  Encouraged, even!

We’ve got a lot to cover so let’s get to it:

Danny’s Characterisation

Danny’s character has been a bit of a challenge to balance at times but I’m pretty pleased with how he’s shaping up.  There was this trend I noticed back when I started where - even in fics I really like - people had a frustrating tendency to swing him too much in one or the other direction; either turning him into a confident wise-cracking hyper-powerful hyper-skilled Troubled Badass™ who everyone respected even if he was humble about it, or into a Sad™ Broken™ Tormented™ cinnamon roll who just wanted love and who trusted and is trusted by every hero with minimal persuasion, when really he’s somewhere in the middle.

He’s a hero, yes, but he’s also a teenager.  He’s experienced and competent, but it’s in the self-taught way that leaves him with rough edges, blindspots and a lack of technical skill.  He can be a good, confident leader when the situation calls for it but he’s also someone who reads as fairly socially introverted and canonically has personal self-confidence issues, anxious and depressive traits and really wants to be accepted by his peers.  He’s friendly and funny and likeable but lacks social experience in a casual setting and can struggle with expressing his feelings, knowing the right thing to say/ do and being open with people.  He’s not just one or the other.  He’s both.

I also really wanted to explore the Death and Secrets plot points with more emotional detail.  It felt like a lot of the time in stories where he lost his family, Danny would either stall out in a tormented Grief State right until a Power of Love/ Friendship-prompted revival toward the final act, or he’d be sad for 5-10 short chapters then bounce back to his old self and go off with his New Family like it ain’t no thing.  With Deathly Weapons I want the characters to have to grow and come together naturally; to earn their healing and show why/how they’d come to like and trust each other, or decide that the other person is worth making the investment.

The Team

It’s kind of funny in hindsight but the Team’s development was a oddly late addition to the planning.  Which was fine for Arc I - being very Danny-centric - but then, as I was brainstorming Arc II it kind of hit me that if I was going to call this fic Young Justice: Deathly Weapons I should really try to showcase what I liked so much about the series.  And then I realised how much Danny’s experiences (canonical and DW-verse) and Team Phantom paralleled different members of the S1 cast, and how much character exploration potential there was to be had.  Arc II is basically just 8 teens looking at each other and going “We’re not so different you and I” in various settings for 20+ chapters.

There’s this nice quote from Stieg Larsson that I think sums up how I see both Danny and the different members of the Team fitting together: 

“I’m not going to compete with you. I’m better than you are at what I do. And you’re better than I am at what you do.”

All of them have at least one thing they’re good at, and at least a few weaknesses that other members can cover.  Their skills are complementary, their personalities and experiences are complimentary and none of them feel redundant in being there.  And with the extra challenges a DW-verse AU opens up, it creates a space where Phantom can slot in without having to displace an existing well-established member.

It also makes revolving perspective a lot of fun as I can tag in whoever’s mindset and perspective best fits the tone and information that needs to be delivered, rather than risking any one character losing their characterisation to their role as de facto narrator.

Despite how he’s acting right now, Wally is actually one of my favourites.  Needless to say there’s a lot more going on with our resident speedster than simple garden-variety ecto/paranorma-phobia, but that’ll be explored more in the chapters Flashpoints, Combustion and Equilibrium.

Training and Powers

Bruce and Dinah both make fun writes because they’re adults with more maturity and experience, which makes them great sources of diegetic exposition and perception that the main Team wouldn’t carry as well.

I’ve gotten a few questions about Danny’s powers in that chapter and how close they play to canon, so I should probably clear that up.  First thing is that DP’s canon is very wibbly wobbly about Danny’s power set (Is it super-strength letting him lift that or is he touch-transferring flight to make it weigh less?  Are those ectoblasts actually fire or was that just an animation flourish?  Can he teleport or is he just really fast and invisible? Does him lifting a rake that one time mean he has telekinesis or was it just a quick sight-gag?) so I’ve had to make some calls with grouping and sometimes dropping or altering edge-case powers to create a system that makes sense.  The other thing is that Chapter 17 is Danny explaining the things he consciously uses on the job and exploring how they compare to similar DC powers, rather than detailing out every single aspect that makes him different from regular humans.  (Kind of like how you wouldn’t bring up your own lung capacity, 20/20 distance vision or excellent patellar reflex unless someone drew your attention to it).  The chapter mostly serves to do some character set-up for later and drop some needed exposition so that Danny won’t have to be breaking the flow of future missions to explain very basic facts about his abilities the first time he uses them.

As for pulling his punches, some of it is certainly to do with him being uneasy about fighting breakable living beings when he’s used to ridiculously tough Ghost Beasts, and some of it was specifically due to who he was paired against.  But again, that’s something we’ll explore in future chapters.

Pacing and Writing

At this point I can only put this down to lots of planning, drafting and taking inspiration from the styles and structures of some very, very good published authors.  Quite a few chapters started out as simple exposition dumps or time skips before I realised that they’d have more value expanded out into full entries of their own.  (My drafting process = step 1: write too briefly, step 2: balloon to massively bogged down self-indulgent explorations, step 3: reign it in to something readable).

Books I definitely took stylistic influence from:

1. Steig Larsson’s, Swedish crime-mystery series The Millenium Trilogy.  Lisbeth is one of my character references for writing both Batman and Robin.(NOTE:  Hard MA+ rating, cw for explicit discussions and depictions of misogyny, homophobia, violence, gendered violence, sexual assault, stalking, drug use and Nazis.  Good books but Discretion Advised.)

2. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief.General influence/ reference for prose and imagery, especially for the tone of Roads to Safe Places (ch.15).(Beautifully written story about humanity, but set in WWII-era Germany so be advised that Nazism, Nazis, War and Death feature heavily.)

3. Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller ChroniclesGeneral influence/reference for style and prose, YJ:DW Ch. 15′s title is a deliberate call out to the same title in Chapter 18 of KKC Book 1.(Fantasy books with some fantasy violence and a little bit of sex but nothing especially shocking.)

I’m just so excited to see them all go on a mission!!!

Me too!  Quick question though:

Just one?  Or are all of these okay? 😏

Now that I think about it there’s a weird dearth of story missions outside of the one needed for set-up in most YJxDP stories.  Not sure why.  Anyway, Deathly Weapons is a beast, we’re going to do at least 10.  I gotchu fam.

Aaand I think that’s everything.  Thanks for dropping in, feel free to stop by anytime.  Hope to see you around! ❤

[twitchesandstitches]

A few details i wasn’t able to get into the library fic that introduced the Avatar characters to Crossthicc! This was worldbuilding stuff I thought was interesting, but didn’t have room to put into the fic properly.

AVATAR STUFF

Suki is one of the daughters of Kyoshi, who rules a system of islands, and has inherited something of her size, power, and commanding attitude. The Kyoshi Islands are intended to be an analogue to Japan in some respects, and in particular Kyoshi’s daughters lead their own respective dynasties in service to Kyoshi, who is ultimately a Raava-blessed empress uniting them all as a daughter of Heaven.

The girls are considerably older than in canon, and the boys are more or less their canon ages but in a way to give them a different dynamic with the girls. Katara is the eldest child in her generation, with Sokka as her younger brother. Her dynamic with Aang is even more ‘skilled student winds up marrying his gifted mentor’, with a bit more emphasis on Katara being a heroine. The biggest shift is for Zuko; as Azula’s younger brother, he was never in the running for being Fire Lord and was a surplus child. Mai was more or less his bodyguard and they wound up falling for another as a bright spot in each other’s lives.

Way more AU as the cultures of Avatar go. Sun Warriors are still extant, groups such as the Foggy Swamp Tribe are all over the place. The Fire Nation is presently in a huge civil war between Azula and forces that follow Zuko, and Azula is actually more active as a leader than Ozai is; as it stands, the Fire Nation is basically like Warring States-era Japan, but with people who can breathe fire and ride dragons.

On that note, the Fire Lords are more or less just the Fire Sages as they originally were in canon; the Fire Lord is the leader of the Fire Sages, who ride dragons here and commune with them, and have enormous power over the Fire Nation’s people with this influence. Azula has taken over as hereditary right and the most powerful of the family, but Zuko has also earned the right and this has caused the civil war in question, with an unprecedented amount of nobles, warlords and influencers split between the two rather than the usual free for all.

The Air Nomads are mainly based off the people of ancient Mongolia, with Genghis Khan’s example being a pretty obvious one. The Air Nomads who live in this area are explicitly intended to be modeled after them. Yangchen herself is an analogue to the Khan, down to building an empire and unifying her people, and having a strict ‘insult my people and die horribly’ vibe. As a whole the Air Nomads are a lot more diverse than what we see in canon; Air Nomads like the monks we see in canon are still around, but they’re a specific set of clans who live in the mountains near the Southern Water Tribe and have established a monastary there. They support their life style by working out deals to control the wind for the benefit of their Water Tribe neighbors.

Bending here is marked by two things: becoming a giant hyper-curvy lady (as is the main rule in this AU when you become powerful), and physical mutations. Not like the mods used by other, but non-functional attributes such as crystalline skin for Earthbenders, icy body temperature for Waterbenders, blazing skin for Firebenders, and so on. It varies for each individual, gets more intense as they power up and the specific kind of mutation changes when they are bending different things, but all benders are obvious and easily spotted.

Size is linked to bending. The more powerful you are, the bigger. The inverse is true; if you’re bigger, you have bending powers. Characters who canonically have no bending ability but are big here (Mai, Suki, Asami and so on) are benders here, but have very low grade powers or extremely specialized skills. Suki is probably an Earthbender who can do minor tricks with soul to be immovable, Mai and Asami are firebenders (Mai does internal tricks with heat, Asami can bend lightning but ONLY lightning), and so on.

I usually avoid specific sizes, but I did measurements for a tricky line, and worked some things out. Katara is roughly about twenty feet tall here, an average man only going up to her knees. Toph may be about 30 or so while the other girls are smaller than Katara on average, ranging from 12 to 15 feet. Korra is the biggest at at least forty feet. She is very big!

Raava does not serially incarnate here, but instead bonds to multiple human hosts as they are born; the Avatar is thus not a singular entity but a soul fusion of many different people to previous ones and the other living ones, linked and boosted by Raava. Thus, Korra and Aang can be around at the same time, and she can be significantly older than him too. The other Avatars relevant to Aang (Kuruk, Kyoshi, Roku and Yangchen) are, of course, all alive and doing things, being important heroes and leaders.

The owl entity that is mentioned briefly near the end of the story is intended to be Wan Shi Tong, and the Great Library is a combination of his library and the idea of the Akashic Records from Mage: The Awakening. He’s not as anti-mortal as he is in canon, or at least, not allowed to act upon it due to the other powers in the Library. He is a spirit of the idea of knowledge and lore, and acts as a neutral figure within the library’s command.

Bending stuff. Here, bending is not hereditary (though it is dependant on cultural identity); rather, people commune with specific spirits after manifesting an elemental power at a young age. Everyon can use an element appropriate to their culture, though perhaps very limited, and some can commune directly with the spirits, earning their favor and gaining their powers, being physically transformed in some respect and gaining enormous amounts of power. These are like Benders from canon, but they explicitly sought it out. Animals like badger-moles and sky bison are linked to these spirits, too. (There are different ways of earning favor; some women might become hyper pregnant with powerful spirits, for example, and at the end of the pregnancy, transform into their new state and gain their powers. The REAL elemental blessing was inside them all along…!)

The Air Nomads are alive and well!

Aang is ethnically related to the northern Air Nomads who are based on the followers of Genghis Khan; Yangchen’s clans, here. However he was raised among the monastary monks near the Southern Water Tribe, where he met Katara when young and studied under her to learn Waterbending. His heritage carries no stigma, and while he has no concern about his actual family (it being an Air Nomad thing to raise children communally), he wants to know more about his birth-people and ancestral culture.

You may have noticed a reference to ‘red tornado spirits’ in regards to Aang’s tattoos. Double meaning here; Aang’s tattoos were originally based, from what I hear, on the DC robot hero Red Tornado’s markings, and thus the spirits who originally taught the first Air Nomads were related to the spirits that give Red Tornado life force. (It was either that or make Red Tornado this settings version of Tenzin. Still might do that, actually.)

Speaking of Tenzin, Aang and Katara’s children are around for sure, but doing their own thing during the events of this story.

NON AVATAR STUFF

Hermione here is based on my take on her in the fics I’ve written here and there. The other group mentioned in relation to her is intended to be her canonical friendship group, including Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville, and possibly others. The Great Library may be Hogwarts, but the castle may exist elsewhere with the wizards and witches here being a specific group that wound up at the Library through a mishap.

Witches like Hermione grow bigger as they get more magically powerful, as generally goes in this AU.

Hermione is intended to be read as black/Afro-British (or a space future analogue) but I’m not sure I’m that great at conveying that in writing.

Hermione’s somewhere between Toph and Katara’s sizes. Smaller than 30 feet, bigger than 20 feet. She’s thicc, hyper busty, and big all over!

Hermione not speaking the language of the Avatar characters is based on a few plot points I’ve had in mind; linguistics in this AU is a serious matter with no ‘translator microbes’ or quick solutions to language barriers. Languages must be learned the hard way. She’s never had any reason to expect to communicate with the people, expecting a life as a solitary scholary with her library chums, so she’s woefully unprepared for this. She will correct this in the future.

Magnus the Red is shamelessly based on the interpretation of him from the youtube web series, If The Emperor HAd A Text To Speech Device. I also included aspects such as the Primarch’s being sensory overload to regula humans, and more mystical overtones than they normally get in 40k. I wrote this with the idea that the Imperium was a pre-cataclysm society in line with the Emperor’s original goals (and had none of the anti-alien issues, due to difference circumstances), and the Emperor has become a god of the idea of humanity as its own thing, with the Primarchs as different reflections of that: Magnus embodies humanity’s magical potential as well as the drive to learn and know.

Magnus doesn’t have an exact size. He is huge, yes, but his bizarre magical nature means that he is much larger than he would seem to be. He’s also a shapeshifter, so make of that what you will.

The figures with him are basically Space Marines: Thousand Sons and Blood Ravens, if it wasn’t obvious enough. Gabriel Angelos, one of the canon Blood Raven leaders from the Dawn of War games, is mentioned briefly.

Obliquely referred to a few times is Optimus Prime; in the main events of the AU his absence has been notable, so this is where he’s been all this time; searching for an answer to what has become of Primus, and unable to return to the Autobots. Grimlock is gonna be PISSED.

The Unseen University’s faculty from Discworld are present here as more comedic elements of the faculty running the library, and may be seen on some other time. They’re not human here, since I’m trying to avoi the idea that humans are super-important in-universe. Ridcully, for example, is most likely a krogan. The magic they employ is a cross between Potterverse spells and classic D&D magic. (I used to headcanon that potterverse magic was particular to humans, but i may be moving away from that.)

I originally intended there to be several characters drawn from religious/monk origins for use as library characters to later join the Endowed Fleet and converse with the characters in this one, but there were too many characters as is. Two of the most important would have been Zenyatta from Overwatch (here a full on magic user and Guru Pathik-analogue) and Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist (donated his brother’s teachings to the library, stayed there to study as a religious duty)

There was originally an in-universe lesson about how their world fits into the cosmology, but i couldn’t find a natural place to slot it in. In brief, they’re technically one of the mortal universes, but exist in a demi-realm deep within the realms of magic and swimming in spirits, so they’re not really connected to the mortal universes and unless you know what you’re doing, there’s no real way to get there. This universe is mainly empty but rich with magic, so it’s possible for people who find their way there to establish new worlds there.

[convenientalias]

Yuletide Rec List

Y’all there are 3365 fandoms in the Yuletide noms and some of them are really good so I thought I’d just make a promo post here and also rant a little bc I’m excited even tho it’s barely October just looking at this list.

So I’m gonna put the rest of this barely coherent ranting under a read more but like guys, I’m excited.

So here goes. Some fandom recs!

Books

The Alpennia Trilogy by Heather Rose Jones

Mistress/bodyguard ship in the first book, which leads to so many possibilities! Loyalty kink! Power imbalance! All that shit!

Amazing worldbuilding and magic mixed in with religion

I’ve only read the first book but I’m totally gonna request it

Best for femslash fic tbh, but I guess you could do gen.

The Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab

Again the worldbuilding is good. But the series is overall very dark. Also, an ensemble kind of feel.

My ship is two powerful magicians who seem to be the last of their kind, both working for royal families, one of whom lives as a prince and the other of whom is enslaved.

They’re enemies most of the time but still.

But a lot of people ship other things bc ensemble cast. There is one canon m/m ship. There is a slightly OP female crossdressing thief. There’s angsty brothers. There’s lots of people basically.

Good fandom for m/m, f/m, gen, even poly. Very good fandom for dark fic or whump imo.

Peter Darling by Austin Chant

Trans Peter Pan who used to be Wendy Darling

Ship is Peter Pan/Captain Hook

Writing style is gorgeous

Captures the cruel, childlike side of Peter Pan.

Good fandom for slash mostly, but I imagine you could pull off gen too.

Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout

Detectives in New York in some vaguely historical time period.

Narrator is Archie Goodwin, very snarky and charming, one of my favorite characters of all time.

All the mysteries are fun but you’re mostly here for the dynamics between Archie, Nero Wolfe himself, and all the other regular members in the series--the detectives sometimes brought in to help out, the house cook, the pissed-off policemen, etc etc.

Also totally fine to read out of order, I’ve never really paid much attention to the order myself. Includes both novels and novellas.

A lot of people write slash in this fandom; I don’t really ship any slash ships for it (I’m kind of a gen bitch here) but I admit the potential is there.

Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner

Technically YA fantasy but I’d say it’s not that firmly YA except for the first book.

Land of twists and intrigue with the occasional questing adventure. Pseudo-Greek setting.

Includes one of my favorite f/m ships for which I long for more dark fic.

Surprisingly active fandom, I am nowhere near caught up on the fanfic for the last book published.

Good fandom for het, slash, occasionally poly, and very good for GEN (sorry, the MC’s name is Gen and I couldn’t resist).

Goblin Market by Christina Rosetti

Idk why there’s a fandom nomination for a poem but I guess I’ll go with it, it’s a good poem.

Very ripe for femslash tho technically the MCs are sisters (but do they read like sisters? No, no they do not) so you might have to go AU for it.

Kind of dark and weird but childlike at the same time.

Movies/TV Shows/Anime/Literally Anything But Books

Kakegurui (anime/manga)

I’ve only watched the anime but I hear the manga is good.

Crazy high school obsessed with gambling gets even crazier when Yumeko the gambling freak shows up just to start drama.

Weirdly dark even tho nothing life threatening really happens. Ridiculously grotesque facial expressions on absolutely everyone.

Very good for femslash, decent for het and poly. You could probably write gen. But how.

Kado: The Right Answer (anime)

It’s sci-fi show that’s half about contact with aliens and half about the unhealthy relationship between an alien and his favorite human. And when I say half I mean “gets really dark in the last third”. But if you’re mostly interested in that part, it’s short enough that you still get there pretty quick.

I really just want dark slash fic, that’s all guys.

Two Faces of January (movie)

This is also a book by Patricia Highsmith but I nominated the movie bc it has Oscar Isaac and Viggo Mortensen.

Dark thriller vibes

Slashy vibes with weird daddy kink overtones (it can’t be helped, and this remains constant whether it’s book or movie)

Somehow I still ship it despite not really liking daddy kink.

Just trust me

Singin’ In the Rain

I’m really hoping this was nominated by someone who wants OT3 fic.

That’s all.

Gattaca

If you don’t already know about Gattaca are you even following me

It has Jude Law in it

Also it explores dystopian ableism and yet has an oddly ableist ending which consistently PISSES ME OFF, which is why I always request fix-it fic.

People really like slash for this movie and I get it but I don’t really ship it but a lot of people do so if you watch it, you will probably ship it too.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

British miniseries which I somehow like despite not liking most BBC shows. (Seriously, my roommate and sister have both tried to get me into Sherlock and Dr. Who and I just can’t, good for y’all who like such things tho.)

I’m mostly here for the fae aspects and one of the MCs being traumatized and descending into insanity.

But the aesthetic is also pretty rad.

 Harlots

It’s about harlots. Kind of Victorian? I think? Idk time periods guys.

It portrays sex and sex workers in interesting, pretty down to earth ways.

It’s a good place for femslash but I somehow find myself craving gen.

The aesthetic is strong.

Luke Cage

I’ve still only seen the first season but it was rad

A lot of black people, guys

Also superhero-y things

Probably best for het, tbh, tho I would slash ship Luke with Cornell. Why doesn’t anyone seem to ship that?

Sakeru Gum

It’s like a five minute commercial compilation that will change your life.

I’ve probably reblogged it at some point. Otherwise, search it on Youtube.

Loooong looooong mAAaaaaan

Fandoms I’m Not Actually In But Might Join If The Prompts Look Good

There’s a couple different books nommed by Mary Renault! I’m reading the Alexander Trilogy right now (Alexander the fuckign Great, guys), which is nommed, so if things work out I might write for that. There’s also The Last of the Wine and Mask of Apollo.

Also, there are two series nominated that are by K.J. Charles. I’ve only ever read The Henchmen of Zenda by K.J. Charles but that was really good, so I may have to try one of these series out. Of course, I’d have to actually have time, and series are a bit lengthy for me this semester! But I might read a book or two if the prompts look excellent.

Someone nominated Learning Curves by Ceillie Simkiss? Which is an indie lesfic romance novella which was published only this August. I’m shocked it somehow ended up in the tagset and very curious about prompts. But I haven’t actually read this book, I’ve just heard of it.

The Caper Court series by Caro Fraser sounds interesting, too. It’s about a guy trying to become a lawyer who needs to fulfill a pupillage first, whatever the fuck that is, but apparently there’s gay people and intrigue, so I’m interested. I’ve started the first book.

Also, Zorro by Isabel Allende is nominated. I’ve never read this book but I’ve always wanted to because I love Zorro--the old TV show was one of my favorites as a kid. But I’ve never read a literary take on it.

If I can watch the Kdrama for Orange Marmalade, I’m interested in that too. I’ve only ever read the webmanga, didn’t know it was a live action now. It’s got vampires :) and high school drama.

So this rant was kind of unnecessary, but I just have a lot of feelings, guys, okay? Just...a lot of feelings...

[kakunamatatq]

Voltron Ask Meme

Tagged by @kalluraicedcoffee, @n-trace, and @teamsincline (tumblr is shit with notifs more than usual lately but I think I got everyone? thanks y’all!)

How did you discover the show?

Through tumblr, although special mention goes to this particular ML AU piece because two months before I got into Voltron, ML was my default go-to interest.

Was it love at first sight or did it take you a while to get into the show?

Pretty much. I watched A:TLA and LoK before it, so combined with all the talk about it on here I decided to give it a go.

I think I binged half of it in a day before stopping myself and thinking I had to tell my sister about it so we could watch it together lol. The first few episodes are kind of heavy on the set-up, but “Fall of the Castle of Lions” and “Tears of the Balmera” solidified my love for starting to explore Hunk’s and Pidge’s characters more.

Do you have a favorite episode?

I’ll just do one* for each season because there’s just so many episodes to love.

s1: “Crystal Venom” s2: tie between “The Ark of Taujeer”, “Space Mall”, and “The Blade of Marmora” s3: “Tailing a Comet” s4: tie between “Reunion” and “Black Site” s5: tie between “Blood Duel” and “Kral Zera” s6: tie between “Razor’s Edge” and “The Black Paladins”

*I tried and failed. Horribly.

Rest under a Read More because I’m long winded:

Do you have a favorite Paladin?

Do not...do not ask me to choose between my children (if you base if off of the “frequently tagged” suggestions on my blog it’s Keith lol. But for what it’s worth, I own these Garrison trio shirts, and the tradition is that I wear my Lance one and my sister wears her Shiro one whenever we sit down to watch the latest season drop)

Do you have a favorite Lion? (If it’s different from your fav paladin, why?)

Black because of her history with Zarkon and how it parallels Shiro’s history of trauma. Also, as Abby put it, Black “is the biggest Shiro stan & I respect her for it.”

Do you have a favorite Villain?

Haggar. Even if some things don’t entirely make sense (yet...?), I absolutely love the slow build-up we’ve been getting for her. She’s been in the thick of things since the first episode/10000 years ago, and we’ve slowly seen her piece together her own past (one of the biggest reasons “Blood Duel” is a favorite, her flashback was great) and manipulate things to her own advantage; I’m so happy she’s going to be the final boss of the series (or co-final boss if Zarkon and Lotor are going to come back in some shape or form, though maybe merely as her puppets).

Do you have a favorite Alien Race? (recurring and/or minor)

Galra for their species diversity and history (not entirely fair since they’re given a disproportionate amount of focus but still lol.)

Favorite side / other character(s)- Rebels, General, Blade of Mamora, Garrison, etc?

Hira, Kolivan, Romelle, Thace, Varkon, all of Sincline, and all of the Holt family (we’ve only glimpsed Colleen in a flashback but Ihave a feeling I’m going to love her too)

How/Why did you join the fandom?

Wanted to chat with other fans of the show because I’d already bored my friends who were either casual about it or indifferent to it to death lmao. I’ve been relatively on the outskirts since I first watched it in July 2016 because I’d rather avoid fandom drama, but I’m a bit more active now and hope to write a bit for it, as rusty as my skills are.

Care to share a favorite headcanon?

Um I like a couple of popular ones like TransGirl!Pidge, past Alforan, and Yorak for Cosmic Wolf’s name. Was really big on Acxa and Keith being siblings too until s6 seemingly disproved it. 💔 Some others: - Kolivan is Krolia’s dad. (thanks @aaawunder now I’m going to be sad if this doesn’t pan out)

- Coran knew Keith was Galra ever since the Castle scanned everyone in the first episode and he had to look at the human medical data when he stuck Lance in a pod in “Tears of the Balmera”. (keeping in line with how he knew Pidge was a girl; guy is up-to-date on everything going on on his grandfather’s Castleship)

- Hunk either got his current headband from a relative who has since passed away or it was a gift from Lance after the original one he got was wrecked somehow, and that’s how they became BFFs. - Keith’s jacket and gloves were gifts from Shiro. - Lance’s jacket was a hand-me-down from one of his older brothers.

- Shiro grew up with either a grandparent to explain his “old soul” tendencies/perspectives or was raised by distant relatives that he didn’t connect with much (basically adopting @bosstoaster‘s backstory from her Spectrum series for him because it’s amazing). It kills me that Josh was able to mention the former at a panel because that means we’re probably not going to get to see much of his backstory in canon, and I’d really like to see from his perspective what his and Keith’s friendship means to him. If he was in a similar situation of isolation growing up, if he saw that in Keith, etc.

- Alteans aren’t really hung up on gender due to their shapeshifiting abilities. Alfor’s referring to Allura as a princess when she was still so young was due to personal preference whereas the majority of Alteans would refer to their kids with gender neutral pronouns until they’re roughly the Earth equivalent of eight.

What do you think is the best part of the show?

The characters and the genre.

For me, characters frequently make shows of this nature.There can be an interesting plot, but if I don’t care about at least some of the characters to some degree, I’m not as inclined to watch. As many complaints as I have about certain aspects of this series, I’ve been endeared to these characters since s1. There could always be more content (what I would give for more filler episodes for the team to just bond and chill), but with what we have been given, there’s enough there for me to find enjoyment in.

The genre acts as a supplement to that. For me, one of the best things about space-faring adventures is seeing these characters placed in (literal) alien settings and watching how they react to all the possible scenarios the incomprehensible infinite of space has to offer. (And I’m a sucker for such things, being simultaneously made to feel so cosmically huge in one’s consciousness and so incredibly small in the vastness of a universe largely unknown to us.) There’s so much you can do with that. Any hopes and wishes for future episodes / seasons?

Holy shit do I!

- Tying into the previous question, one of the things that sort of made me sad about s3-s6/the second production season is how we didn’t get to do a lot of planet exploring. There’s an entire universe to play around with, and I know it’s impossible to show everything, but with s7 effectively being a road trip season, I’m ecstatic, largely because this provides us with the chance to see civilian Galra. I’m super interested in seeing how those dynamics play out between those not involved with the Empire and all the people who suffer under Galra oppression (we see this touched upon in s3e01 with Kolivan and the BoM, and at the time I was disappointed that it wasn’t explored more, but if they’re saving it for this season I can forgive them).

- Going further, how do mixed people fare under these circumstances? I’m really excited about this because I feel like this would be the perfect opportunity not only to expand upon the VLD universe as whole, but specifically dive into the backstories of Sincline. We know at least the upper echelons of the empire wanted nothing to do with them — how many Galra outside of that hierarchy feel the same way? People of their parents’ species?

Likewise, we could see if Keith being part Galra and Krolia being around gets the team into any sort of trouble. Since Keith’s bigger on actions than words, seeing him in a situation he can’t physically fight his way out of and having to rely on his team is a scenario of continued interest to me.

This is already way too long, but I’ll end it by saying I’m so stoked about all the potential road trip shenanigans the team could get into and for them visiting Earth again. I figured we’d be going back there around the end of s4 or s5 back when seasons were still 13-episodes long, and finally getting to see that play out after two years of waiting is again, very exciting for me.

And, uh, ships. I have my preferences. If they play out, I can die happy. If they don’t, I’ll always have the quality fanon content that keeps me involved with the fandom (all you creators are great 💜)

Do you think you’ll stick it out until the end of the show?

Barring unforeseen circumstances, most definitely. Been with it since a month after s1 dropped and it became my default fandom obsession, will be here when s10 drops in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Tag your friends or someone you want to get to know better

@grandraconteur @guegetheassassin @honestlyprettychill @mischiefandspirits @nixthelapin @pipedreamprayer @purpleneutrino @spacemare @sparklingdisneyprincess @tomodachi-to-koibito​ @winry7

And @ any else I didn’t mention but would like to try it too (Apologies if any of you have been tagged for this already. Hmu with your answers, I’d love to read them)

[themarginalartist]

What would you say are the main differences personality and behavior wise between the Lan in the possession AU you are planning and the one over at the ask the demonic child blog?

Well there aren’t gonna be huge differences in behavior. Lan’s got quite the twisted sense of how to play with people no matter what version you’re looking at (including the Lanky attached to Lendry, he’s a much more jerky version of Lan yes, but he’s also 100% playing with Henry and Bendy, he just can’t physically do anything to them without harming himself in the process).

The biggest difference is gonna come down to having no 2D Bendy in the Possession AU as well as no additional humans to interact with (for the sake of the ask blog being even able to exist Lan had to be willing to deal with other humans beyond Joey and Henry). 2D Bendy is fun to add in addition, because the dynamic is a lot like a weird version of brothers, they poke and prod at each other and try to get a rise out of the other one. But with removing him it removes the idea of perfect copy from the AU. It’s still somewhat there don’t get me wrong, but it’s not as core to his character. He knows he’s made wrong, he knows he’s not what’s the image on the cutouts, but it doesn’t bother him nearly as much. And since there are no additional humans to interact with him (unless I decide to have Henry talk to someone which who knows it might happen), Lan’s only dealt with members of the studio who had dealt with what was going on there before being trapped themselves.

To expand upon that a little, this means that none of the members of the studio who became searchers, lost ones, or toons left either because they thought things would be fine for them, Joey took them privately to do whatever messed up things he did to them, or it happened all at once with no warning to the studio. And while it is feasible that someone on the outside, friends or family members, would have eventually attempted to go to the studio to find them, it may be the case they were barred from entering due to security systems (Cause there are a hell of a lot of pneumatic or mechanical doors for that time), the magic rituals Joey was using, or (while I think this is rather unlikely it bears throwing it out there) law enforcement or government condemning the building and barring people from getting close to it (though again unlikely due to Henry being able to enter the studio unless there’s something about Henry that makes him special like he’s actually never left, is part of said law enforcement, or is a rule breaker lol).

I also plan zero things out in regards to where the ask blogs go. I know it looks like I know what I’m doing with the story and reveals and such, but I have no fucking clue half the time. Hell it was a last minute decision to make the searcher Norman brings in to be Gloria, who is Sammy’s daughter from my fic Little Sheep, and even more last minute/random to have them be semi romantically interested in each other (But it’s like cute awkward stuff cause neither are good at any of it lol). I mean even Muerta and Ella were on the spot decisions to add a character, I had no background or reason to add them it just happened (I also have a bad habit of expanding the cast a lot whoops).

So because of the zero planning, Lan is just a bunch of general ideas about him that I use to base his decisions around. The gist of it is: 1) Lan acts like a child, but in reality he does have significant knowledge and power in the studio, he does use his childishness to lower the guards of people, it also sometimes is because of his origin as a cartoon character; 2) Lan will listen to Joey no matter what because he thinks it’s right and does not have anyone else in the studio to tell him it’s not, all attempts that are made to convey this to Lan make him confused and doubtful, but it also increases the chance that Lan will fight with someone about that; 3) Lan does not like sharing his pain, he only does it when he actually likes someone enough or he is trying to get something out of them; 4) Lan IS dangerous and SHOULD be feared, he can harm others very easily if angered or simply because it’s “fun”; 5) Lan is not a trustworthy source of information (technically no one is but still), DON’T trust everything he says to be fact (this is mainly due to his reformations but also still holds true for some other details)

I expect for most of those items to hold true to the AU version of him, it’s the same basic core at the end of the day, but I’m kinda kicking up the danger aspect and childishness aspect because of the fact it’s just Henry dealing with him. Though I’m not sure what Joey is to Lan in the AU… I kinda want it to be the same, but after introducing “Boris” in that last snippit I’m also game to switch up a ton of the other characters. I’d probably stick to ones we know what happened to for now. So Wally, Lacie, Thomas, Linda, Joey, Shawn, Grant, Johnny, and Allison (and anyone I’m missing here) would be skipped over as far as detailing what’s happening with them until chapter 5 either tells us what we need to know about them or we are free to interpret it. I like to stick way closer to canon for AUs, ask blogs are where I jump around and break things.

Hopefully that answered the question? I know this is uh… rather long lol. (I’m sorry I just get carried away when discussing AU details alskfjdjska)

[ayekanaru]

SHIPPING INFO.       Answer the following for your muse(s) so people       know how shipping works on your blog. REPOST.       Don’t reblog.

WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE?:

#IDontKnow2k17

I mean...not Yosho and Ayeka, for sure. Ew. *Michael Jordan voice* Stop it. Get Some Help.

if you want romantic otps, I guess it’s Ayeka/Ryoko/Tenchi and even then, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t go nuts for it. It’s just the ship that makes more sense for me. I don’t go nuts for the more popular Ryoko/Tenchi and yet that also makes much more sense than Ayeka/Tenchi -- I think because I see the latter as working better as friends. Ayeka has had such bad luck with romance, I’m just happy somebody who isn’t her direct family LIKES her XD

For the maybefriendsotp-but-we’re-not-really-sure-category, I like the dynamic between Ayeka and Mihoshi. Partly thanks to the lovely @mihoshi-kuramitsu since it’s through our threads that I was able to think deeply about these two, and how Ayeka thinks about Mihoshi. From the OVA we got a glimpse that maybe Ayeka respected her/her reputation/her title as Galaxy Police officer, until she started living with her XD But at the same time, in lots of domestic things, Ayeka never fails to be next to Mihoshi and I like to think it’s through that that Ayeka begins to understand -- or at the very least, see where Mihoshi’s coming from. 

At the same time, lookit episode 7. Their Episode 7 interaction never fails to make me laugh and also cringe a little now as an adult. Ayeka is MEAN when she’s in extreme rival mode. Mean mean MEAN. Poor Mihoshi!

SASAMI AND AYEKA, BEST SISTERS 4EVAH. Urd, Belldandy and Skuld who?

FOR FRIENDOTPS THOUGH -- this is a recent one comparatively, but I love the idea of Umi from Magic Knight Rayearth and Ayeka hanging out. I feel like they’d get together so well, since they’re both from rich families yet pretty subdued in their personal selves. They have quiet chats, or sometimes are just content to be next to each other in their worlds. Oh! And Ayeka could teach Umi how to sew (Umi hates sewing), while Umi can teach Ayeka how to bake (Umi’s an expert baker!) I HAVE LOTS OF OTHER HEADCANONS, I’D JUST HAVE TO REMEMBER THEM AND ALSO THEY’RE CONTEXT/SITUATION-BASED. (Umi would be the tag team partner with Ayeka while fighting. FRIENDLY BANTER ENSUES ♥)

And for a little blog crossover -- ironicaly enough, I think Skuld and Ayeka would be more acquaintances than friends. Ayeka may treat her like the kid that Skuld doesn’t want to be treated as (seeing her like she sees Sasami), and Skuld may see Ayeka as a classy lady, someone like Belldandy, someone to look up to...until she sees Ayeka and Ryoko XD. deja vu, yo. 

I also think Ayeka and Skuld would not interact a lot? Like. They’d be quiet together, to the point of not wanting to get together. (Or get angry and destroy the universe, both have some tempers!) IDK,  their relationship may mirror how Ayeka feels about Washu? Blah.

(For the record, I see Ayeka and Belldandy getting along swimmingly.)

And then there’s some people from ZOIDS too, but I’ll leave that for later because apparently I can crossover two or five series with ZOIDS. Jeebus I have a problem.

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING?:

Anything so long as it’s not incest*, torture porn, pedophilia and look, just pick up your local doujinshi with Ayeka in it, especially as the submissive, innocent type, and anything in there is off-limits, there you go. (Weeps for humanity.)

*And considering the incest mess Tenchi Muyo! has, this gets complicated. I recognize and know why Ayeka loved her brother as both brother and man, but I also know that Yosho didn’t want her that way thank Tsunami, and their families created their engagement for political reasons. Not good reasons, but it is what it is. I’m not up for any incest of any kind, either way and Tenchi's case is a hullabaloo, hoo-boy, but yeah

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?:

If romantic: I’d rest easier if both muses were 18+, but if there’s like…a 40 yr-gap and both are human –unlike say, everyone on Jurai who are millennia old and some random person from Earth– I’mma just close the ‘X’ and back away. (My parents have a 22 yr-old gap, I know what I’m saying.)

Other than that, *shrugs*

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?:

Based on personal roleplay experience, yep-a-roonie. Also, some of the questions below answer why, besides the fact that I’m choosy as heck. More so with Ayeka, because she doesn’t seem to ‘search’ for love, if you know what I mean. 

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NSFW?:

Once it gets into groping territory and some clothes are startin’ to be shuffled. I don’t rp smut on here at all. just because it’s extremely uncomfortable,

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH?: 

Didn’t you ask me this in the first question? Go up there and read again, yo.

…Unless you meant on Tumblr…in which case…

(Most of these are as friends, because i’m a boob. If you’re not on here I JUST FORGOT I SWEAR)

As I said above, I love how Mihoshi and Ayeka have gotten enough development thanks to @mihoshi-kuramitsu. Same goes for @asktenchi -- it’s refreshing to see Tenchi written almost the same way as he is in the Okuda manga, only with more memes sass and “oh god why am I even here why do I do these things????” Tenchi feels real, man. I like that the dynamic between Ayeka and Tenchi gets explored because YEAH they need it.

I love how all the active Ryokos can get something out of Ayeka. The quiet chill and quick liners from @galacticdemon -- the sparse canon and domestic from @spacepirate-ryoko -- and the balls off the wall insanity that is @bringerofdxmons -- they’re all so great and I love that I can have Ayeka reflect on aspects of Ryoko with them <3

I like the banter and general interaction with Nappa! @nappainanotherdimensionI think it’s pretty cool that Ayeka gets to interact with another alien, as it were, who’s not from the Masaki household, and who actually forces her to rethink things. To top it off, his thoughts and (for her, out of the blue) occasional words of support surprise her. Think of it this way: you know what your family thinks about you, so you might not care as much -- but when a friend tells you things, you feel like you exist.

Dandy and Ayeka are best pop-duo 100/10 @pyoniumyankee I gotta get back to our threads, but Ayeka’s learning to keep up with Dandy, let’s just say! 

@invenina never fails to have her muses be fast friends with mine IT’S AN AMAZING ABILITY. Though with Carmilla, Ayeka’s starting to feel more like “the friend that wishes she wasn’t a friend, but would probably still get a froyo* with you.” Ayeka sees Carmilla as a young upstart (haha young geddit) who’s rough but at least is better than Ryoko in the sense that she's not a pathological liar and someone who’s trying. She’s got a young nation-state in Madripoor, Ayeka sorta gets it. 

*I have no idea if froyos are still a thing. I have never tasted one either.

@yunhuntress‘s Fang and Ayeka are so great and full of feels together, that Kat already made a verse for us. It’s such a weird relationship because they’re definitely friends --Ayeka cares for Fang and appreciates her a lot, especially her insights. But there’s also a feeling of...”ARE THEY?????” or is that just me I certainly didn’t mean for it to turn out that way, but who’s complaining, idk mang, you? 

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?:

Yes. Because a) I’d like to know and b) I’m an idiot, I don’t know when’s someone’s interested or not.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP?:

Not a lot, really…I like thinking about ships, if I have them, and theorizing a lot. But never put anything into play, and if I draw them, I either doodle stuff like here or…don’t draw them at all. The latter is what usually happens, haha. I’m poopy at drawing cute stuff too, so.

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?:

NAH, SON. It’s an unpopular stance on Tumblr, more so nowadays, but I’m singleship! I’d say why but again, pretty unpopular, so bleh. (I mean���at some point, if something drastic happens, I might change to multiship, but I have a good reason for my stance.)

ON AYEKA HOWEVER, it’s different because she actually has a canon future polyamorous/polygamous marriage! And it’s one that absolutely makes sense out of most anime I’ve seen, haha. So that’s why here I’m singleship, but multiship if polyamory’s involved. AKA if it’s at the same time in one universe, not an AU or anything like that.

ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?:

Um…neither…it depends..?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?:

#NumberOneFanofKazukiAmameClub

please. lookit them. She basically decides to teach him Juraian martial arts after calling his butt out for not carrying a gun to protect himself (aren’t you, like, a police officer????) and then they fall in love and listen, just based on this pure image alone, and the Masaki men having a Thing for strong women, that this is where it all started...

Also, I love that Seto had a deep relationship with Mikami, and something happened where they basically just separated and then Seto got married to Utsusumi. Like. We had canon lesbians/bi before the polygamy angle. This explains why Seto talks so much to Mikami! And Seto’s harem, I guess....? Now if only Kajishima showed us instead of his shota crap,it would be better! GIVE US THEIR ADVENTURES, THEY PROBABLY PRANKED EVERYONE ON JURAI.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU? :

I guess just ask? I prefer to write enough with someone where I know that our muses know each other well enough, that I could see it happening!

TAGGED BY.

One Gigamillion Years Ago by @nappainanotherdimension

TAGGING. @mihoshi-kuramitsu @yunhuntress @cantusecho @galacticdemon @spacepirate-ryoko @bringerofdxmons @pyoniumyankee @rosabrida @spiritxgun @sammyadorable @personategod @extravachance @reilapsed @invenina @discguise @devilslcg @asktenchi @way-of-flowers

[words-writ-in-starlight]

Wait, why do people have trans headcanons about Tobias? I love reading about trans headcanons. Soooooooo tell me about trans guy Tobias. 😃😃😃 And link me to trans girl Tobias headcanons if you know where to find them!

Right, so, a lot of people read Tobias’ discomfort in his human body as gender dysphoria, or at least a pretty good sci-fi analogue, which I think is really cool!  I generally don’t write trans Tobias myself because...actually tbh I think I’ve never written a fic where Tobias took his shirt off and/or anything else that would make anatomy a real issue, so you’re totally within your rights to headcanon whatever you like.  My somewhat disinterested grasp on gender makes me a bad candidate to write trans stuff because.  Like.  Listen.  You can use whatever pronouns you want with me and I will absolutely not give a damn.  I’ve gone by five different first names falling everywhere from feminine to androgynous to masculine (some people call me Gabe), I’ve been called sir, miss, ma’am, and you there, and honestly: I don’t care.  So like...I am not writing gender dysphoria stuff because I don’t have a good handle on gender in the first place.  

As far as the trans girl Tobias headcanons go, I don’t have any of them on deck to be linked because it’s not my jam, but I’m sure someone will step up to the plate here.  I did read a really excellent fic one time where Tobias acquired Rachel and she and Rachel went to the mall on a date and it was pretty cute, but also it is lost to the depths of my AO3 history.

Regarding trans boy Tobias, on the other hand, I feel it a little more.  Hear me out here.

Tobias is literally flat out tortured by bullies at school (MM4), which, listen, I went to a really small parochial school where their handle on the concept of trans-ness was dubious at best.  First gym class, Tobias is basically screwed, even though his uncle probably doesn’t give enough of a damn to say what he can or can’t put on his paperwork.

Tobias mentions several times that his uncle doesn’t care about him, but was can all basically agree that he’s probably also abusive as well as being neglectful.  More to the point, though, Tobias says that his aunt cared more when he was younger (before he came out maybe?) and that she mostly used him as free labor once he was older.  So in this situation I headcanon that the majority of the time, Tobias’ uncle doesn’t give a shit what Tobias calls himself and is therefore a nominal improvement on his aunt, who still calls him Tabitha and yells at him every time he cuts his hair off.  Tobias at some point tells Rachel offhand that, yeah, his uncle hit him from time to time, but at least he usually called him “kid” or whatever, and Rachel almost gets on a goddamn plane to go beat the shit out of his aunt.  (I firmly headcanon that in any universe, Tobias spends minimum one hour a month talking Rachel and eventually Ax out of hunting down his extended family.)

The Animorphs all know he’s trans and are ready to Fight about it.  This is generally the reason that I prefer trans boy Tobias rather than trans girl Tobias, because I like AUs that fit reasonably well into canon and in order for Tobias to be a trans girl, he would have to be in the closet with literally every single person he knows.  He would be lying constantly to the Animorphs about who he is.  And honestly his life is so terrible that I can’t stand to put him through that, and moreover: don’t come here with your The Animorphs Don’t Really Trust Each Other nonsense.  Get out of my house with that.  I will talk for days about the breakdown of team dynamics toward the end of the war, but these kids would fucking die for each other, don’t come at me with your Jake Is Transphobic shit.  I’ll deck you, straight up.

BOOK 23 SPOILERS: The Ellimist shows Elfangor the future so that Elfangor knows to write his letter to his son and Tobias has to work really hard not to burst into tears in front of Visser Three about it.  Relatedly, Loren is a disabled woman who married an alien, I am 100% sure that Tobias coming out to her would be 0% of a problem.  “I’m so glad you trusted me with this and I want you to be happy, but also we are at war so maybe this is not the best time to have a heart-to-heart.”

Listen...Andalite culture is such a hidebound train wreck that I have no idea off the top of my head if they would be fine with the trans thing.  I have some strict-ish headcanons about how marriage works (literally intended for reproduction, as in: usually arranged, often a friendly formality that only lasts as long as there’s a child to raise, and structured so as to match couples based on their ability to parent together and their genetic compatibility), but nothing hard and fast about sex or gender.  Except that I will have my tragic gay aliens and therefore: same-gender love matches exist.  But even if Andalites aren’t down with the concept of the gender spectrum, Ax will have known Tobias for most of a year before Tobias’ biological sex becomes an issue that even exists in the physical world, and I’m pretty sure he could be talked around.

I feel like the morphing thing has great potential for transgender usage, which I guaran-damn-tee you the Andalites have not thought of (I have a lot to say about how the Andalites seem...pretty uncreative with the morphing thing).  In a happier world, after the war Tobias admits publically that he’s trans and that it’s part of the reason he’s uncomfortable in his human form, and Frolis maneuvers himself a new human body that looks a lot like his old one with a few major exceptions.  A feather, or a silhouette of a hawk in flight, becomes a familiar Trans Pride mark, with people carrying flags and wearing tattoos at marches.  Rachel has never been more delighted with the world, and picks up a new crusade.  She only gets arrested a few times.

Oh, also let me take this moment to give you a few other headcanons about queer Animorphs.

Jake: actually Jake is straight because I have never seen someone who is so obviously a Straight Ally Doing His Very Best but in like every aspect of his life.  He’s doing a good job and he’s the first person Marco comes out to.

Marco: B I S E X U A L as fuck and dtf basically anyone.  This is straight up canon, literally any given Marco book includes him commenting on at least one person’s attractiveness.  I think the only Animorph who does not routinely get hit on is Tobias and I’m willing to ascribe that to Marco’s very understandable fear of death by acute grizzly bear.

Cassie: li’l bit bisexual, li’l bit gnc, lot bit too busy to care.  I feel like Cassie is also demisexual because...she’s so much about the person.  Whenever she talks about Jake and why she’s attracted to him, sure, she’ll talk about his eyes or his smile, but it’s usually about how his real smiles are rare and therefore special, or about how he seems so confident and adaptable under the gun, or about how much he cares about his causes.  Thus: demi Cassie.

Rachel: listen I don’t know because I feel like Rachel probably wouldn’t bother to take the time to have an identity crisis ever, she would just be like “update everyone I’m also into girls” and move on with her life.  People would ask her what her sexuality was and she would give them a disdainful look and say “not your fucking concern” and go on about her day.  Rachel goes to her deathbed without ever giving a single fuck about anything, up to and including what she should or should not call herself.  (Oh but obviously Melissa Chapman is a lesbian and has been in love with Rachel since they were kids)

Ax: cinnamon buns are Ax’s One True Love and while I do feel like he’s probably pansexual and kind of blithely disinterested in the human parameters of gender, I also feel like he’s the kind of person to tell people out loud and in public that his sexuality is Cinnabon.  He learns this kind of joke from Marco and the others all immediately despair of them both.  Jake just.  Washes his hands of this whole situation.  He’s out.  He’s done.  Ax is beyond help.

Tobias: even in universes where I write Tobias as a cis boy, please assume that he is definitely bisexual and also likes to wear eyeliner.  It is the only makeup he can successfully apply except for lipstick (lipstick is pretty idiot-proof as long as you can match colors), but his winged eyeliner is so good that Rachel sometimes has him do hers.

[scorpmal]

So lately I’ve been toying with @kikaiz ’s reverse trio au (based in Danny Phantom) and it sort of led me down the path of this concept in the Harry Potter world, specifically with the golden trio, to create what I called the flipped trio au.

Basically what I’ve done is take each character from the golden trio’s archetype and gave it to one of the other two, keeping their personality traits that are there because of their nature over the environment in which they were raised. In this, Harry would take on Ron’s position in the golden trio as the “comic relief” type character, Ron would assume Hermione’s “smart friend” character, and Hermione would take on the “chosen one” character previously connected to Harry. Basically what follows is a ton of various ideas that arise based on this concept.

HARRY:

Harry would definitely end up more like his father than he is in canon: confident in his abilities (bordering quite heavily on arrogance), prone to mischief, and always making jokes

His parents aren’t dead is this au so he would be actually been raised by people who love and respect him

Still very similar to the character we know today but WAY more laid back and relaxed because his life hasn’t been nearly as stressful as it was in canon

I wanted to also attach to him the poverty aspect connected to the Weasley’s but it doesn’t make sense to me (James is from an already wealthy family, Harry is an only child, more than one working parent, and even if James and Lily were as grossly underpaid as Arthur was I still don’t think they’d ever truly be poor)

He and his family (specifically James) would 100% be labeled as blood traitors though. Not only did James marry a muggle-born but it’s pretty obvious which side they’d fall on in this sort of race war

I think Harry might actually have a slightly better (maybe?) relationship with Draco in this? I’m really not sure how that dynamic would change with Hermione at the helm of the trio

Not only would he still be playing quidditch but I think he’d be even better at it since he would’ve been playing for much longer

Might have actually been a bit better with girls after some coaching from James (and then Lily telling him to disregard it all in favor of her advice which lets face it would be much better)

Still manages to be hella clueless which I really think rounds him out nicely as a mini James

Not not only does he looks just like his dad but he acts like him too (definitely less douchey though) which weirds people out to a whole new level

RON:

Ron is no longer the youngest boy of a family of purebloods, but instead the only magical child of a family of muggles

This probably would help a bit with his feelings of being overshadowed by his brothers

However! He still thinks they would have been better suited to the wizarding world and is considerably anxious about proving that fear right

This is what leads us to Ron being the smart friend He doesn’t want to be as lackluster as a wizard as he thinks he is as a muggle so he spends way more time actually studying and actively trying to do well because his grades are one of the few things he can control

Still quite lazy in other respects, and I don’t think he’d every reach Hermione levels of being extremely focused in school because he doesn’t have that same innate drive as she does

Just as cool under pressure as he has been shown to be, but not because he’s grown up around and is extremely familiar/comfortable with magic but because 1) he’s got a huge family and is used to the pressure and 2) he’s the type of person who makes themselves comfortable or at least can adapt to new and unfamiliar situations and 3) if he can be deposited in a world previously unknown to him and not freak out (too badly) he has a pretty good handle on most things

His family would be financially stable similar to Hermione’s family and because Arthur wouldn’t be working for the Ministry and thus couldn’t be grossly underpaid by them

Doesn’t mean that Molly stops knitting her sweaters because they’re awesome

Still hates spiders

HERMIONE:

Grows up an orphan with terrible foster/adopted parents (we know nothing about her family) who treat her similarly to the Dursley’s and Harry throughout the series

The only difference would be she would get out of the situation much more quickly than Harry did

I don’t care what anyone says, Lily and James Potter are not letting their son’s best friend go back to an abusive home especially since James’ parents took in Sirius to shield him from a similarly toxic environment

This could go one of two ways: either Hermione becomes an honorary Potter similarly to how Sirius did as a teenager, or it could open the door to Sirius taking Hermione in himself. Both ideas have merit to them in my opinion

Without trying to sound overly complimentary of Hermione I honestly think she’s the best suited of the three to be the chosen one

She’s got really strong morals still and is able to use her position as the “chosen one” to push for what she wants more forcefully (“I defeated Voldemort as a baby! Join SPEW!”)

Hermione would also still be the one to call Harry and Ron out on their bull and keep them in line, so to speak

OTHERS:

Lily and James never die, which would set off a whole chain of events within their personal lives that I’m trying to keep as close to canon as I can

Peter would still end up on Voldemort’s side (can’t change canon too much) but he’d end up in Askaban and he would be the Prisoner of Askaban from the books who escapes I’m not 100% sure how it would play out but let’s ignore canon and go with it okay shhhh

Remus ends up teaching DADA like normal, but he’d be a better adjusted human

Snape would still out him as a werewolf to the entire wizarding world and I think he’d still end up going into hiding

Snape would also pretty openly hate Harry since Lily is still alive. Instead of him having Lily’s eyes being what protects Harry from Snape it would be a constant reminder that James and Lily got together and had the cute ass kid that is Harry

Harry would definitely mention it to one of his parents and it would culminate in Lily having some GODDAMN AGENCY in this “love triangle” and she could finally put to rest all of the Snily shippers the idea that it was ever a love triangle or that she was a prize to be won. She chose James and if Snape has an issue with that he can take it up with her fist (and he ends up getting punched because I made this au up and I need to see that)

That’s one of the many reasons he’s salty enough to out Remus

Besides maybe taking Hermione in as a surrogate daughter I really don’t think Sirius would work

The man is an eligible bachelor right up until the day he dies (unfortunately under similar circumstances)

Harry and Hermione still spend a lot of time at the Weasley’s house. That’s where Harry meets Ginny and they do their thing

I also like the idea of the Weasley’s sort of ushering in an era wherein muggles who know about magic (and squibs of course) are able to take an active part in the wizarding world. For example, Fred and George could still pretty easily found Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes — it doesn’t take magical ability to do potions and once they have a couple of wizards working for them they can collaborate to make charms and the like. Ron retiring from the Aurors to join at least George (unsure as to whether or not Fred should die) to help out makes a lot of sense in this. I don’t think it takes magical ability to ride a broomstick and play quidditch (lmk if I’m wrong) so for all we know Ginny could become the first muggle quidditch player. You hopefully get my point with this one

This is hella long but feel free to add your own ideas about this on this post or tagged under #flipped trio au

Don’t think too hard about canon and it’s a pretty interesting idea in my opinion

[laughingpinecone]

Chocobox 2019 letter

I am laughingpineapple on AO3

This year’s theme is, apparently, out-of-left-field intra-party interactions (plus the occasional ship). For any of these, I’d be thrilled to get any small situation or event that highlights the dynamic you see between these characters - show me what ties them together, what could make them drop their barriers with the other person. Or a big situation! I like plotty fic too! But especially if we matched on some bizarre “&” combo that never even interacted in canon, I’d love to simply see what a scene between them could be like.

All requests are art or fic - for art, my fave kind of fanart is based on interaction. It can be super simple - one character makes a face and the other one emotes accordingly, or they’re having a cup of coffee together, walking together, chatting, that kind of stuff. Anything that shows that they enjoy each other’s company, or have each other’s back, or get on each other’s nerves but with gusto. Slice of life fanart, if you will.

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (doubly so if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots , outsider POV, UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, cuddling, wintry moods, flannel, ridiculous concepts played straight,sensory details, sickfic

Cool with: any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, gen, shippy, IF, nerdy canon references, unrequested characters popping up

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, unrequested ships, canon retellings, consent issues

Final Fantasy VI 

Gogo & Cyan Garamonde

Mog & Terra Branford

Sabin Rene Figaro & Celes Chere

Sabin Rene Figaro & Cyan Garamonde

Strago Magus & Celes Chere

I recently replayed FFVI and truly fell in love with it for the first time. The game does a wonderful job of juggling such a big party but I spent all the downtime daydreaming about all the intra-party dynamics I could think of - these characters are all so cool and should talk to each other more. Worldbuilding also very welcome if that’s your thing. I don’t have any strong shippy feelings here but if you want to background something, I do dig Celes/Terra.

Gogo & Cyan: ascetic Gogo leaves their cave to fight for a higher cause. What’s it like, being a hermit but having a skillset that is literally based on other people? Something something abnegation of the self? What’s it like, suddenly being among so many loud, unique people? Do they and Cyan meditate together and find a moment of respite from the crowded mess that is the Falcon, what does Cyan think about them, what does it feel like to see Doma’s otherwise lost sword techniques mimicked on the battlefield? (I default to they for Gogo but he or she work just as well. I’d just like them to be their own person, no identity reveals. And a pretty big person at that, going by Amano’s artwork, regardless of gender!)

Mog & Terra: fae folk bonding, basically? It’s such a central aspect of Terra’s character but I saw it in Mog too - the way moogles break the fourth wall, how they help her at the beginning like an aid from the earth itself, and Mog’s own Geomancer skillset, his dances that draw from the power of the earth... so maybe some cute friendship between these two otherworldly characters, each in their own way?

Sabin & Celes: Celes could use some friends she could rely on and Sabin always felt so... safe to me. Good bear. So when they got their moment to shine in the World of Ruin, I was overjoyed. Sabin’s comforting presence was just what she needed to find first! And that long chocobo ride along the serpent trench, chasing hope, seeing the cultists’ tower from afar...

Sabin & Cyan: Sabin’s leg of the journey is something else and I’d love to know more about his adventures with Cyan, or their feelings about their homes, one lost, one left behind. They’re both pretty emotionally charged at that point and I think it’d be interesting to explore. They also share some form of martial training, making imho for an interesting common ground.

Strago & Celes: descendant of the mage knights & artificially infused magitek knight, what does magic feel to them? Does Strago’s odd family have space for an added granddaughter (especially if Cid died on the island, but Strago was the Coolest Grandpa anyway, no offense to Dr Del Norte Marquez and his magnificent banana coat)?

Ghost Trick

Cabanela & Pigeon Man

Jowd & Lynne

Jowd & Pigeon Man

Jowd & Sissel

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd

Jowd/Alma & Cabanela

Alma & Cabanela

Cabanela/Jowd

Lynne & Memry

Lynne/Memry

Pigeon Man & Memry

Cabanela & Sissel

Jowd & Yomiel

Open to AUs here, especially for generic fantasy or sci-fi settings or the Final Fantasy ones I prompted for Yuletide. GT is one of my forever fandoms, I love all about it, especially how heartfelt and over the top it manages to be at the same time.

Cabs & PM: how do they meet in the new timeline, what makes their odd friendship stick this time? I love how they play off each other, with Pigeon Man’s snark bouncing off Cabs like water off a duck’s back...

Jowd & Lynne: please show me the Worst Mentor doing his Worst Mentoring? How is chicken involved? (this one would lend itself particularly well to a Jedi AU, I suspect) Or does Lynne’s optimism save the day on one occasion when Jowd is doing his cheerful nihilist thing?

Jowd & PM: anything about their friendships from back in the day when Pigeon Man was still Jowd’s coroner to a new timeline where PM is still fascinated by meteors/astronomy/alien conspiracies and Jowd humors him...

Jowd & Sissel: oh the shenanigans. Some clever communication between them, on a case or otherwise? Sissel doing cat things? Gossiping through the ghost world?

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd: what’s a hobby one of them has that the other two are dragged into? How about a day at the beach? Or in a cabin? I’ll take hot springs or basically any standard anime filler plot too. Unless you want to write about their get-together, which will never get old for me.

Jowd/Alma & Cabanela: see above but with INTENSE found family instead. Cabanela finding a place where he belongs, two people who feel like home. I can totally see it not being romantic at all and just as intense. When did it click for them?

Cabanela/Jowd: please no infidelity, I only like the ship without Alma during the canon times when Alma is dead or at most a what-if where she’s not around. Did Cabanela lower his mask for a hot minute during their walk to the minister’s office? What if he’d stayed dead and tagged along with Jowd and Lynne after 15? What if no-reset scenarios? Or office shenanigans where Alma is backgrounded by virtue of not working there but she’s okay with what’s going on.

Lynne & Memry: next generation detectives! Action! Ridiculous murders! Secret ghost cats! A little bit in the future maybe? Odd girl & odder girl teaming up and leaning into each other’s quirks... maybe undercover?

Lynne/Memry: same as above but they kiss - and Memry trying to get through Lynne’s obliviousness sounds like my kind of fun.

Pigeon Man & Memry: please evacuate everyone else from the expected blast radius when these two start talking. But she’s a detective - Special Investigation Unit, at that! - and he used to be a coroner and still has several aces up his sleeve, so who knows what could get them working together...

Cabanela & Sissel: let Sissel have his fun. He’s been eyeing Cabanela’s quirks since that fateful night, please let him tag along and enjoy the eccentricities. He can do the whole noir detective narration and Cabanela (who, lbr, would jump at the chance to be even more extra) can act accordingly...

Jowd & Yomiel: the PTSD team. Even beyond the experiences they have in common and the memories they can’t share with anyone else who’d truly understand them, there’s something about their approach to life that makes me think they’d bond quick and be able to get over the respective atrocities. They also share Sissel! What do they talk about in jail, or what do they do on a day off once Yomiel is out (cat dads’ cat date!!)?

Pyre

Big Bertrude & Volfred Sandalwood

Celeste | The Gate Guardian & Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Sir Gilman & Jodariel

Vagabond Girl & Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel

Hedwyn & Jodariel

Any cutesy activity lifted from the game would be great, like X doing laundry with Y. Any postcanon very welcome with any combination of endings as long as the revolution was peaceful. I love everyone so much. Good with background Volfred/Oralech, Bertrude/Pamitha if applicable.

Bertrude & Volfred: something nice Volfred does for Bertrude? Some mild adventure as he brought her to the Nightwings? A bizarre request for her shop? That dialogue about their relationship slew me dead - friendship through unrequited love is one of my rare tropes, so I’d like to see any aspect of their bond. Or epistolary with an ending that splits them, either way?

Celeste & Tariq: something completely alien set at any point before the ending, showing how inhuman they both are (but maybe Tariq picked up /something/ during his travels?) or, on the contrary, figuring out humanity as they travel together as a mysterious indie duo?

Sir Gilman & Jodariel: On war, honor, the Bloodborder... Sir Gilman is in awe of her, obviously, but is she in a state of mind where she can be boosted by his unrelenting energy?

ae & Tariq: Moon Moon! And Tariq looks like someone who knows a whole lot about the Scribes, so I think she might try to figure him out at some point, in her own way... but mostly, moon connection...

Volfred/Tariq: All I know is Tariq of all people fell and fell hard - he makes it sound like Volfred is the biggest deal ever and he's some servant... but he's the herald and Volfred is actually some dude who got kicked Downside (albeit a particularly charismatic and idealistic dude). And I like this dual imbalance very much. What happened in the woods during Volfred’s self-imposed exile? Or do they find each other again after the ending, in the Union? If you want to lean on how alien Tariq is and/or how tree Volfred is, please do!

Hedwyn & Jodariel: (I see them as brotherly more than mother-and-son, fwiw) what was their reunion like? How much did Hedwyn find Jodariel changed, horns and dramatic makeup aside? What about fic where her transformation recedes in the Union? Or their early days in the blackwagon - or their late days in the blackwagon when it’s not just them anymore? What can she absolutely count on him for?

The Last Guardian

The Boy & Trico

The boy & the very good boy... I’d like to read about a distant reunion. I was surprised by the boy being the combo breaker after the former Ueda protagonists cast their societies behind. He gets to live his life with his people, apparently, but what makes him leave and find Trico again? What’s their bond like, years later? Or is it Trico who comes back to search for him?

The Last Remnant

David Nassau & Allan

David Nassau & Duke of Ghor

David Nassau & Emmy Honeywell

David Nassau & Roberto

Emmy Honeywell/Glenys

Pagus/Maddox/Sibal

David/Rush is a welcome exception to my “no unrequested ships” DNW. I’m mostly interested in post-game exploration, which means either a David who has lost his bf or fic set further in the future where Rush has somehow come back.

David & Allan: Allan is tsundere enough about Torgal (not necessarily in a romantic sense!) and enough of a stuck-up cat in general that I think it’d be fun to throw a skilled diplomat at him, and one who knows Torgal very well at that.

David & Ghor: I like the Duke of Ghor a lot, and the more well-adjusted Yama characters in general. Politics talk? Or something more personal? What’s Ghor’s position in the new political landscape, what would David’s visit be like?

David & Emmy: if David was Emma’s filial figure and Emmy her actual daughter, did they perchance grow up together before Emmy left for her journey? How about some reminiscing? What did Emma teach them, how are they coping and moving forward?

David & Roberto: Can someone please adopt the good Marquis - celibate Roberto, for example? I imagine they could feel at ease with each other, got each other’s emotional back covered...

Emmy/Glenys: Sword lesbians? With very different hangups about proving themselves... if you want to go full weird with Glenys, especially wrt her mysterious connection to the homonymous kingdom, be my guest!

Pagus/Maddox/Sibal: old men being together like they couldn’t be in their youth when life got in the way, please? Get-together (who makes a move...? or established Qsiti triad would all be amazing...

Twin Peaks

Harry Truman & Garland Briggs

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman & Frank Truman/Doris Truman

Gordon Cole & Constance Talbot

Gordon Cole/Phillip Jeffries

Maddy Ferguson & Audrey Horne

Dale Cooper & Laura Palmer & Wally Brando

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman

Dale Cooper/Harry Truman

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman

Bobby Briggs & James Hurley

Chet Desmond/Sam Stanley

The mystery of the woods. How do they relate to the woods, what do they gain and what do they lose in the woods. Case fic but they don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there, it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge spaces. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. AUs and fusion AUs are great for this fandom! I have Final Fantasy on my mind a lot recently so any FFVI, VII, T, IX, X, XII or XIII reimagining would be fantastic, but also regular fantasy, space opera, sci-fantasy… anything fancy!

Canon-specific dislikes: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s House by the Sea being the White Lodge, Gordon being a harmless, fun dad or conversely having the worst intentions. Clear explanations for canonical ambiguities.

Harry & Garland: Bookhouse Boys&Bue Rose-adjacent friendship, quietly aware of the mysteries that surround them? Or, as per Mark Frost’s AMA, Harry finding out important info throughout the 25 years and passing them to Garland - but Garland isn’t conventionally alive and physical throughout the 25 years, so did he travel through strange places to reach him?

Albert/Harry & Frank/Doris: Albert needs someone to shout AT, Doris needs some to shout BACK, I think. It could be therapeutic for both of them. Could they meet through the Trumans? Frank and Doris’ relationship can be as complicated and probably doomed as we saw it - I do feel that they care for each other and I’m really invested but it’s too strained, too sad.

Gordon & Constance:is she involved in some new strange case or is Gordon cleaning up the Briggs mess? What’s it like, sparring with someone who still has the fire of a young Albert? What does she suspect? (no Albert/Constance, please. Albert&Constance otoh I’m interested in)

Gordon Cole/Phillip Jeffries: does Gordon eventually manage to throw himself into the void (that’s one way of considering a retirement plan!) and reach Phillip? What’s left inside that teapot alembic, or is he the smoke? How did Gordon even get word from Phil - in his pt17 infodump, he seems perfectly aware of the other’s status - what kind of contact have they kept? I love all the fanon I’ve seen for them, if you want to lean into it.

Maddy Ferguson & Audrey Horne: looking for Laura in each other, finding out they’re not Laura through each other? It’s a shame that Maddy and Donna never really got to explore this angle in canon and it’s an even bigger shame that Maddy and Audrey, also on her path toward Laura-ification, didn��t even meet! Or, if you will, wild postcanon meeting. Mfrost said Maddy is alive now, so...!

Dale Cooper & Laura Palmer & Wally Brando: I have a soft spot for Dale and Laura traveling through strange spaces, lost, slowly healing. On this background, imagine, if you will: Wally speeding by on his bike. I need this meeting...

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield: fiery early days? Dream meetings that Albert will inevitably write off as a product of his aching subconscious? Post-finale where Albert has made his peace with Coop not being part of this world and not even deigning to greet him, except one day Coop is back - with apologies? Post-post-finale where they’re peacefully living out their days as best as they can?

Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman: did they tragically fall into each other’s arms in the wake of Coop’s disappearance? Did they realize they’re so good for each other, but neither of them was willing to give up their life? And/or was the wound of Coop’s disappearance too fresh for them to try to heal? Do they keep in touch throughout the years? Does Albert resign on the spot with a resounding fuck it after the s3 finale and rush to see Harry? Does he stay this time?

Dale Cooper/Harry Truman: Harry seeing his Coop again… somewhere, somehow. Maybe he perceives him in the woods, maybe Coop isn’t all human now. Monster cuddles very welcome. Could be canon divergence but could very well be post-s3. Harry getting closure for waiting all that time in front of Glastonbury and never giving up on Coop… they can live in the woods together…

Dale Cooper/Albert Rosenfield/Harry Truman: basically the sum of the three sides of this triad… give them peace, given them nice things, give them so much love… Coop finding his place in the world and making up for lost time… give time to these old wounds…

Bobby Briggs & James Hurley: once Laura stops being a burning wedge between them, could they maybe... begin to get along? There’s something to be said about their complementary approaches to the bad boy image - besides, Shelly thinks that James was always cool and Bobby does value her opinion! Could also be Bobby/Shelly & James, if the Briggs manage to reconcile... maybe through James somehow?

Chet Desmond/Sam Stanley: reunion fic! Chet’s been AWOL for years, Sam has fallen through the cracks, how do they find each other again and why do they choose to remain off the grid? I would also like to read about them in the present day-ish, handwaving the return and reunion. Maybe they made a new life for themselves. If Sutherland were to play Sam again, Sam would be… notably more buff. What caused that change, was it traveling with Chet, what kind of person is he now? Could they be in Buenos Aires, investigating on their own whatever that shrinking box was?

[prinzenhasserin]

Yuletide!

Dear Yule Goat/Creator/Person I Will Love Forever,

I am very excited for anything you write for these fandoms. Please feel free to take my prompts and likes any way you wish, as long as you stick to my dislikes. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the prompts! I’m always open for other characters. Generally, I will be delighted with any rating from gen to explicit. I hope you have fun creating!

My AO3 name is Prinzenhasserin, here. If you want to browse more of my letters, here are some at my exchange letter tag. 

Likes:

fake/pretend relationships, arranged marriages

loyalty

odd couples

found family, dysfunctional families that nevertheless love each other

historical stories for same-sex pairings that aren’t unhappy but that fit with the society of the time (so like, spinster ladies living together; bachelors-for-life)

cultural differences, age differences, height differences

heists, rescue missions, case fic

dragons, fairy tales, magical realism, urban fantasy

competent characters

people not realising they’re the most competent at their job/hobby

people failing their way to success

happy endings, earning your happy ending, open yet hopeful endings

cynical humour

mutual pining

suits, corsetry, fancy dresses

Identity shenanigans (secret identities, mistaken identities)

Blatant Lies

Enemies finding common ground and becoming friends/lovers; rivalry

outsider POV, 1st person narrator

epistolary, fictional non-fiction, worldbuilding, interactive fiction, poetry

orange/blue morality (that is, not entirely human morality); grey/grey morality

people not usually found in law enforcement solving crimes

non-verbal expressions of affection

contradictions: that is, I like my fantasy with the mundane (doing taxes in a mythical land of dragons, or space pirates!) and I like my mundane fiction with outrageous happenings.

Kinks:

wall sex! overcome with sudden desire! sex with clothes on! 

shifting power dynamics (outside the bedroom, and inside the bedroom), actions on both sides, basically

stiff characters letting go of their iron control inside the bedroom; characters feeling guilty of their desire but not guilty enough to stop; coming to terms with the guilt

lots of foreplay, drawn out orgasms, edging

desperate sex, drunk sex, we-just-can’t-help-it!sex, sex for life-affirming; sex pollen

sex toys

Dislikes (Do-Not-Want):

rape played for laughs, or as backstory

sexuality, or gender as the focus of plot or used for drama

suicide

tragic endings (ambiguous endings are fine, though!)

RED (Movies)

(Characters: Victoria, Sarah Ross)

This movie, goddamn it. It’s so silly, and so! much! shit! explodes, but I can’t help but find it charming and adorable.

If you want to write me Victoria teaching Sarah how to handle her weapons and shoot shit up, I am absolutely here for that. I would also love secret spy shenanigans, or a situation where only the secret skills of the customer service person Sarah or the filling skills of a bored bureaucrat (also: Sarah) save the day in a spectacular manner.

Or Victoria taking Sarah under her wing and teaching her everything she knows about life, men, and how to end both. Or trying to protect her from the fucked-up shit in her life, and then maybe realising that maybe Sarah doesn’t need to be protected.

I am a fan of the age difference, too, and I do ship them together, if you rather want to write that. Give me all the fucked up femslash! Going on murderous rampages together, and having sex amid the slain corpses of their enemies, yes, that. Bedsharing because circumstances have them hiding out in the Siberian Tundra. Victoria dressing up Sarah and taking her as a trophy wife to diplomatic functions? Seducing Sarah so Victoria can rub their togetherness into Frank’s face. Taking people of guard, because the expected a toy boy, and not -- whatever Sarah is.

DNW: mommy kink

Gokusen (Manga)

(Characters: any -- Fujiyama Shizuka, Kuroda Ryuuichirou, Sawada Shin, Yamaguchi Kumiko)

How do I love this manga so much? I have no idea. I’m not even near high school age anymore, and yet the plot (and tbh, sometimes its ridiculous nature) always gets to me. I’d read more about any aspect of this canon, and if you want to bring in any other characters, and leave others out, feel entirely free to.

Post-canon would be great, but anything goes really. Focusing on just one character would be terrific. Having all of them would be great!

Kumiko has adventures with another class, or her minions! Does she continue with being a school teacher? Maybe she starts leading the Yakuza group, and still goes to school to teach her kids manners, and morals, and how to fight the system?

Shin goes to law school/Africa/some place, but gets lost on the way there! Will he come back to Yankumi? Will he eventually lead the Yakuza group?

Fujiyama Shizuka doesn’t get why she’s the one without the beautiful student toy-boy, and tries to find one herself, and instead falls in love with, idk, the new female teacher? one of Yankumi’s brothers? the new janitor? Or she watches and cackles a lot as Yankumi and Shin date, and then maybe found a Yakuza orphanage, and/or marry.

Kuroda Ryuuchiro and his quest for the rightful heir to his Yakuza group! How does he feel about his granddaughter running around with the police chief’s son — does that bother him more than the whole student thing? Does Shin really inherit the Kuroda family group? Does he become a Yakuza lawyer? Or does Yankumi make him stay away, or maybe Kuroda makes them stay away?

I ship Shin/Yankumi but gen is delightful also.

How does Shin convince Yankumi to have sex with him? Is he getting kidnapped left and right before they actually get together because all and sundry already think they’ve been doing each other for years?

If they are already in an established relationship, how does Shin deal with Yankumi’s students (especially when one of them develops a crush)?

I have no problems about depicting violence, or graphic criminal activities, but please keep the violence perpetrated by the nominated characters within the spirit of the manga? I like to root for morally ambiguous characters, but not if they are truly evil.

Roundtable Rival - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)

(Characters: Durango Black, The Violinist (Roundtable Rival))

I love this music video! It’s so silly and fun! It is here, if you want to watch it yourself, but basically, people are fighting each other with music instruments to a jaunty tune, set in the Wild Wild West.

Basically, fighting with music! Foiling dastardly plans! I want to read more about this! And anything goes, really. If you want to focus more on one character, or want to show this from an outside perspective, either would be great.

Lowkey, I’m really a fan of rival-dynamics, and love to ship enemies, so bringing a lovestory between Durango Black and the Violinist would make my day. Or if there’s a dynamic like "You are the only one allowed to catch me"? —Perfection

Maybe they know each other from before? Maybe there’s epic discussion about different ways to fight each other with music (I’d be into reading about that!).

Would also be into PWP where the Violinist dominates Durango Black. Some Bootlicking, maybe? Or creative uses of the music instruments. Or clothing porn!

Or case fic where The Violinist tours around the country, catching criminals; or just a glimpse into how music developed its own fighting style — or performing tricks like shooting an apple out of the air, just with music instruments!

(Additional question for worldbuilding: What is that clear liquid they serve in beer humps?)

DNW: rape (dubcon is fine, though!)

British Romantic Writers RPF 

Characters: John Keats (British Romantic Writers RPF), Lord Byron (British Romantic Writers RPF), Percy Shelley (British Romantic Writers RPF)

Okay, I’m not even vaguely sorry. Here’s my confession: I ship all of these with each other, as pairs, or as threesome. I’d read them writing spite!fic, or rather spite!poetry, about each other, though! Or a zombie!AU, in which they are all stumbling incompetently around the dead suddenly among the living. Or maybe they turn out to be surprisingly competent at killing/evading zombies! (I’d expect nothing less from Percy Shelley who seduced people on graveyards, tbh)

Hey — at least they knew of each other! I am into the really very dysfunctional relationships with each other, here. Who is to say they wouldn’t have been very happy with each other in various constellations? Lord Byron seemed to have detested Keats — or at least thought his poetry as "mental masturbation" — I’d dig them in a rival relationship, that suddenly develops into a sexual relationship. Maybe even romantic? (Definitely romantic in the original sense)

And I can definitely see Lord Byron condescending down on Keats for his poor upbringing, without being aware that this is what he is doing, and Keats so not having that. And Percy Shelley with his continued efforts into giving all his money to charity while having the luxury to seduce women and traipse around the continent!

How about an AU in which Keats doesn’t die and joins Percy Shelley in Pisa (and for some reason Lord Byron is there, too — I will not read this for the historical accuracy, believe me)

Basically! Literature! Orgies! Seducing people in graveyards, and skinny-dipping in French rivers, that’s all I really want. I’m not saying no if you do decide to go down the historical accurate road, but I’ll also read all sorts of wild AUs.

Or adventures in Greece during the revolution in an Everybody-Lives!AU?

Percy Shelley wrote an elegy about Keats, and said this when he invited him to Pisa: "I am aware indeed that I am nourishing a rival who will far surpass me and this is an additional motive & will be an added pleasure." Added pleasure? (He means fucking! says me) I am just very into rival relationships that turn sexual or more.

Look, I’m just here for Lord Byron and Percy Shelley seducing a reluctant Keats — and Keats maybe anchoring them a bit down to earth. Or various combinations.

I am not into the long-term effects of drug use and the suffering thereof, but if you want to mention it, that is totally fine. I wouldn’t want it glorified.

DNW: contemplation of suicide, vore

Miss Marple - Agatha Christie

Characters: Jane Marple

I am a fan of Miss Marple. I, too, have lived in a quiet town where you can see into the abysses of the human condition :D

I’d love to read something that lead her to the person we know her as, maybe when she went to the girl school in Switzerland? Maybe during her time in the cypher division, during the war — maybe the cypher division was really a cover for Miss Marple’s spy activities for the war office?

I’d also love fic about her as we know her: spending time in St. Mary Mead’s and solving crimes, quietly knitting her nephew another sweater. Holiday themed fic! Somebody keeps stealing the geese for the holiday celebrations!

Honestly, I’d also really like to read about her in a relationship, especially one that people wouldn’t expect of an elderly woman. Did she have a youthful indiscretion with the prime minister, and now that he is widowed, he visits her again, and Jane’s nephew is entirely shocked by the whole thing?

Was she maybe in love with a woman the whole time? Did she quietly retire into a cottage with her best friend, and they have a romantic relationship with each other?

(Or crossovers! It would be super interesting if Miss Marple knew a wizard from the Harry Potter universe, or maybe she’s a squib or a with herself? Or maybe she knows Phryne Fisher, or Lord Peter Wimsey!)

Island of the Aunts | Monster Mission - Eva Ibbotson

Characters: Dorothy (Island of the Aunts)

Look. This is one of my favourite books. I would read absolutely anything about every single character— I choose Dorothy, simply because she’s my most favourite, but if you want to write a story where she’s not the focus, I’d still be ecstatic.

That said, omg, Dorothy. I love her (and her wok!) and I would read countless stories on adventures she had while going off of the island in a rage to be angry at polluters, or hunters of endangered species, or both. I like that she seems to be the most competent in dealing with outsiders, even though usually she rather likes to resort to violence.

So! Pre-Canon, or Post-Canon, whatever; either would be great!

How is the work on the island? How is Dorothy dealing with her piranha farm? Maybe she decided to pursue some other, even stranger, protection against various and sundry? Does the Kraken return to the island?

How does Dorothy deal with the mermaids? Is she tolerant of their foibles, or is it a similar relationship to the one she has with her sister Betty, that is: polite bewilderment?

How does Dorothy feel to be suddenly the responsible one, who didn’t kidnap children and make them work with her? How’s her relationship with Etta, and does Dorothy milk it for all that it is worth?

Did Dorothy ever fall in love? Was it someone off the island, campaigning for more environmental protection? A mythical creature of her very own?

Who did she meet in prison? (Was Archie someone Dorothy pulled in?) How did she deal with prison in Hong-kong? Is Dorothy the reason there are now forest cities in China (— this is maybe a bit of a reach, since Hong Kong isn’t really mainland China and all, but I’d love if the Aunts have a bit of an influence on the world, even though Fabio is probably never going to be Brasilians prime minister. Though I would read a story about that.)

(Burning questions I have that aren’t relevant to Dorothy as a character: Is Herbert ever going to return? Is the younger Kraken?)

DNW: unhappy endings

If there’s something confusing, please don’t hesitate to ask! (Anon happens to be open, too.) And I hope you have a fun Yuletide!