#there are some that have a lot of plotting/ideas behind them and i'd hate to lose those

[dragon-kazansky]

The song in our hearts

Lestat De Lioncourt x Female Reader

A musician with a heart that sings and an admirer who wishes to see his songbird thrive. Two beings in different worlds get caught up in each other when someone threatens to steal his songbird's spotlight. Loving Lestat isn't simple, and your life will never be the same again. What is eternity without chaos?

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Prepare to meet my plot device lol

Chapter Three - Third wheel

You're sitting at your piano in the empty theater mindlessly playing notes. The melody is new, something no one had ever heard before. You had taken the opportunity of no one being here to come to your familiar friend and play the tune in your heart.

You were so lost in the melody that you hadn't heard the door open and close. Nor did you hear the footsteps coming down the aisle of chairs.

The call of your name as your music ending shortly, unfinished. You sigh and look up to see the manager of the theater waiting for your attention.

“Yes?”

“I hadn't heard that one before,” he says, smiling at you.

You sigh again. “Of course not. It's new. That's not why you came in here is it?” You ask.

He laughs. “No. It isn't. I want to introduce you to someone.”

You can feel yourself wanting to groan. He knew how much you hated actually talking to people, but you wanted to keep him happy. He was, after all, your only chance to perform.

You stand from the piano and hop down from the stage. Jack, the manager, rolls his eyes at you. He often tells you off for doing that during rehearsals.

You now take notice of the man behind Jack. He's about your age, sandy brown hair, green eyes. You look from him to Jack.

“This is Noah. He's a singer.” Jack states.

You nod and look between them both wondering why he wanted you to meet this man. Plenty of people come and go from this theater, you don't usually meet them all personally.

“Noah has a request and I think it's a fabulous idea,” Jack goes on. “How would you feel about playing for him while he sings? You could be a duo!”

You stare at Jack. Noah is smiling softly from behind him. He takes a step forward and you turn your attention to him.

“I adore your talent. I have seen you perform several times and every time I hear you play I feel like all my worries melt away. I want you to play while I sing. I think we could go quite far together, perhaps even be good enough to see the world.”

Those were some strong words.

“I play solo,” you say.

“Hey now, give him a chance,” Jack says. “Look, you're our best performer here. Most of our audience come to see you play your piano. I think it's time to switch things up and try something new.”

“I don't want to try something new. I want to do what makes me happy,” you tell him.

He says your name with a smile, but you don't hang about to listen. You flee the theater and seek refuge in your dressing room.

You're alone in your dressing room for a good few minutes before you hear a knock on your door. You expect it to be Amelie perhaps seeing if you're in here, but usually she just comes in. You don't say anything for a while, preferring to stay alone if it isn't her. However, the door opens and someone comes in. You turn and find yourself face to face with Noah.

You frown.

“I'm sorry, but I couldn't leave knowing I'd offended you. Please just hear me out.”

You sigh softly and turn around in your stool. Noah takes a seat on the table behind him. “I know music is your passion. I've seen you perform many times. To be able to sing while you play… that would be a dream.”

“I play solo.”

“I know… you said that. I just… I think we could be good together. Imagine what magic we could create together. How many people would come to see us?” He smiles wide, excited by the thought.

It is clear popularity is important to him.

“I don't care. Music is all I care about.” And making Lestat happy with your music, of course. After that evening with him, he has been on your mind a lot.

“You can still play your music, just allow me to sing over it. Let me voice meld with your melody.” He speaks sweetly. Almost too sweetly.

“No.”

Noah sighs and then nods. “I understand. I'm sorry I disturbed you.”

Noah takes his leave. You sigh and slump down at your dressing table.

That following Friday you're waiting to get onto the stage to play your beloved piano, especially knowing Lestat would be watching. Perhaps he would permit you to go to his house again to play a duet with him. You certainly hoped so.

While waiting for your name to be called Noah comes up beside you. He adjusts his cufflinks mindlessly in the corner of your eye. You do not spare him a glance, keeping your eyes focused on your favorite instrument ahead of you.

“Good luck tonight,” he says.

You didn't need luck. You just needed your music.

“I'm sure you'll amaze the crowd tonight.”

You once again don't respond to him. Noah chuckles. You hear your name being called and you take a deep breath before walking out onto the stage.

Upon reaching the piano you turn to the crowd, but you're not really looking at them. You're only looking for one face. You spot him up in the boxes. You smile softly when your eyes land on him. He must notice your smile because he smiles too. Knowing Lestat was there was a comfort to you.

Lestat appreciated your music. He understood it. He understood you.

You take a seat at the bench and take another deep breath. Your fingers hover the keys. You imagine for just a moment that Lestat is beside you on the bench. You think about that night in his house when you made music together and how happy you felt in that moment.

Lestat knows.

You begin to play, a smile on your face. You're so ready to give a performance to be proud of, to make this a night to remember, not only for yourself, but for your admirer too. You wanted Lestat to enjoy your gift.

However, this would be a night to remember for all the wrong reasons. As you get into it, you're interrupted by a deep voice singing behind you. Not once missing a note you glance behind you to see Noah enter the stage. He walks to the center and sings with all his might. You stare at him with pure confusion. You did not agree to this.

Catching Jack’s eye off to the left side of the stage you can see him shaking his head at you. He doesn't look the least bit sorry. You turn your eyes back to the piano and try and focus on the music. However, that attention grabbing voice is making it difficult for you to enjoy your music.

Noah was owning the stage. People weren't listening to your music any more. They all had their eyes on Noah. Now, a crowd watching you wasn't your desire, but it was the thought that they were paying mkre attention to him than your magic that irritated you.

When you finished the piece you expected him to leave, but he didn't. He accepted the applause and then looked at you, urging you to keep on playing.

You stared at him with a frown.

“Play,” he says quietly.

You grit your teeth and begin playing the next piece. He smiled back at the crowd and then began to sing. For the next half house he sang though every piece of magic you played. He had taken your moment for his own and you hated it.

Up in his box, Lestat glared at the man. He gripped his arm rest so hard it began to splinter. Who was this fool who dared take away from your beautiful melody?

Lestat could read your thoughts. This was not something you wanted. You were upset that this man had taken it upon himself to perform with you without your consent.

That would not do.

The half hour of your performance felt so much longer to Lestat. He was eager to leave his box and go down to your dressing room, however, you were still playing and he didn't want to miss a moment to lay his eyes upon you, no matter how grating that voice was. Could this even be considered singing?

As soon as the show was over Lestat left his box quickly.

You hurried down to your dressing room as soon as you were free from the stage. You began to pace around the space of the room quickly. Amelie was first to enter. She was quickly to start chatting.

“I had no idea he was going to do that. I know you said no to his request, so I knew you had no intention of that happening. I am so sorry I didn't stop him, but it was too late. When I realised what he was doing I couldn't stop him, not without making a scene.”

You don't reply, just continue pacing.

The next one to enter is Noah, followed by Jack. You glare at Jack. “What was that?”

“That was me showing you how good we could be together,” Noah says.

“I wasn't asking you!” You glare at him and turn back to Jack. “I play solo.”

“I know, but surely it wasn't so bad to give it a chance.”

“You humiliated me!”

“You two work so well together,” Jack argues.

“No. No we don't.”

Jack calla your name softly, but it's Noah who speaks up. “Look, sweetheart, do you have any idea how adored we were? We had then on the edge of their seat.”

“They were on the edge of their seat because they were straining to hear the piano!” You bite back.

Noah laughs.

Amelie steps forward and rubs your arms with comfort. You lean into her embrace and let her soothe you.

“We could go global,” Noah comments.

“No. No, I refuse to let you spoil my moment. It's my music.”

“Look, that was the most popular you had been since you started performing here,” Jack tells you. “You need to let Noah worl with you. Surely you don't want to be stuck here all your life.”

“I like it here…”

Silence fills the room as they all look at you. Amelie is still trying to comfort you. Noah and Jack are staring you down. They want you to cave in.

There's a knock at your door and then a familiar voice. “If I may interrupt.”

You feel relief when you see Lestat slink into the room. He instantly makes his way over to you, pushing past Noah to reach you. You smile as he comes over. Lestat stands in front of you and uses his finger to tilt your chin up. He smiles.

“Are you alright?” He asks.

You nod your head slightly.

Lestat smiles and drops his hand. He joins you at your side. Amelie is shocked to see him here but doesn't say anything. You feel Lestat place his hand on your lower back.

“Who are you?” Jack asks.

“Ah, I apologise.” Lestat grins. “Lestat De Lioncourt. The sponsor for this pure talent in the room.”

“I've never met you,” Noah says, looking him up and down with a deep frown.

“I said for the talent,” Lestat retorts. He then turns to you with a smile. “Shall we go, mon chéri?”

You simply nod your head which makes him smile. Just as you're both about to make your exit, Noah steps forward. “I'm sorry, but who are you? Where are you going?”

“I don't think that's your business. Come, dear, let us go.” Lestat guides you out of the room.

As you leave the theater he puts his coat over your shoulders and walks with you down the street. There's silence between you for a little while, but then Lestat breaks it.

“Who was that man?”

“I don't really know. Jack, the manager, introduced him to me earlier in the week. He's called Noah. Claims he's a fan of my music and wants to sing to it. I tried to tell Jack I play solo… but Noah took it upon himself to join the performance tonight.”

Lestat looks displeased.

“Are you alright?” You ask softly.

He turns to you and smiles. “Yes. Do not fret. I shall not let that man take away your sparkle.”

“You told Jack you were my sponsor. I don't have a sponsor.”

He grins again. “You do now.”

You look at him in wonder. “Why?”

He chuckles. “Is it not obvious?” You shake your head. He chuckles again. “I want you to bloom.”

A warmth floods your chest as the thought that this man you have only known a short while cared so much about your passion. The smile on his face almost made you believe he knew just how happy hearing those words had made you.

“Thank you.”

“There is no need to thank me,” he tells you. “This is my gift to you.”

Lestat walked you home and did not leave until he was certain you were safe inside. Even then, he took his time heading back. He was not about to let some pathetic human man ruin your beauty.

@awanderingghost @theprettiesthead @cosmixstar @theblueslytherin @katherine2098 @sawendel @floofdeloop @sitkafay @bigbaddie45 @bluscryn

@secretisme4

[spookberry]

Hi! Your art has gotten me into SteamBat. I'm so behind on Monster High stuff, I wanted to ask; do they ever interact in canon? I honestly can't remember a whole lot about either of their pasts. If not, do you have an idea for their history and how everything went down?

Either way your art is really cute and I'm here for the star-crossed lovers.

Yes they do!!!! In the movie Frights Camera Action.

If you dont wanna go watch it though I'll summarize:

Basically theres this magic vampire artifact called "The Vampire's Heart" its meant to reveal who the Vampire Queen is. The Vampire Court more or less fell apart about 400 years ago due to humans but also because the heart went missing and they couldnt claim a new queen.

Modern day Lord Stoker(current interim leader of the court until the queen is found) claims to have the Vampire's Heart as it reveals Draculaura to be the new queen. The twist is that this heart is a fake and Lord Stoker was hoping he could use Draculaura as a puppet leader while controlling everything himself in the shadows. Turns out tho that the True Queen was in fact Elissabat, his niece, who disappeared alongside the Court's falling apart, and the Vampire's Heart disappearing. Draculaura was actually friends with her back in the day and so the ghoul gang (made up of Draculaura, Cleo, Robecca, and Clawdeen) decide to go find her. They meet other ghouls along the way and the b plot is about this movie series called the Vampire's Majesty that Draculaura hates but is really popular generally. (Vaguely meant to be goofing off the irl Twilight team Edward vs team Jacob thing)

Throughout their journey trying to track down what happened 400 years ago and where Elissabat went, Robecca starts having these odd feelings. She never met Elissabat or had even heard of her til now but she feels this odd connection to her. Robecca's desire to find Elissabat is almost entirely removed from the goal of needing to find The Queen in order to save the court from Lord Stoker. By the end Robecca's weird connection to Elissabat becomes their guide, leading them to her.

In the movie when they finally find Elissabat it is revealed that the Heart was entrusted to Hexiciah Steam who used it to build his daughter Robecca. It now resides inside of her as a power source. (Therefore it spent at least 100 years laying in the catacombs before the ghouls found Robecca and pieced her back together)

The fact that Robecca's literal actual heart is intended to find Elissabat and to glow in her presence is kinda dropped after that. There's other plot stuff going on. Personally if it were me I'd take more time to explore Robecca's feelings on all this. The movie frames Elissabat as taking the throne back willingly cuz shes now ready but like... Part of the problem in finding her is that Elissabat didn't just run away as a means of staying safe from her power hungry uncle(who its implied killed her dad) but also because she doesnt Want to be the Queen.

She has dreams and Goals of her own. She's an actress!! Thanks to braces and lasik her physical appearance is quite different(plus i like to imagine she styled her hair differently, even if thats not canon to the movie) people don't really recognize her by the time film comes around. Her stage name is Veronica Von Vamp btw and she happens to be the star of that movie series Draculaura hates lmao. And its kinda just implied that she just does both now after all this with her identity just out in the open. I feel like itd kinda suck. So I like to imagine she's got a bit of a Hannah Montana situation going on with her identities. Obviously her friends and trusted court members would know, but otherwise she keeps the two lives separate in some way.

My take would either to have her be a small time actress, she works on indie films and stage shows primarily. Maybe the Vampire's Majesty was something she did more out of nostalgia and never expected it to get as big as it did. So after its over she keeps taking on smaller projects and less known stuff because acting is her true passion.

There's not really enough time to deal with her angst about becoming Queen to protect Draculaura/get rid of her Uncle and how that effects her life. But I do love to think about the fall out of that decision and how she copes, maybe Robecca helps her through that which leads them to developing a romantic relationship.

[a-sad-mage]

Rewatching Slugterra lately, I find it has such untapped potential. I understand it is meant for younger audiences, but if it were instead for from young adults on, it could have truly turned out beautifully, and I'd just like your opinion on that.

First of all, Eli as a character could be much more layered, conflicted and interesting. We have this hero burdened with a legacy he doesn't even fully know the details of, seing the world in black and white terms, but realizing his father operated in a grey area at times, and struggling to understand his own place in all that. Darker sides of him would for sure surface at times, including self doubt which is hardly ever explored.

Also, the dynamics within the gang and its members themselves could have been much more complex. Racism and trolls for example, the whole idea of Pronto leaving his kindgom behind, and some backstory for Trixie which we didn't have. And about that, I honestly think it would be natural for her and Eli to get involved sooner or later. Too many interests and traumatic experiences shared, adding to the fact that the Shane gang would hardly casually go on dates with other people when busy literally saving the world. I see them having something similar to what hiccup&astrid have (I'm referring to the httyd franchise) in a near future.

Also, countless other characters have such great potential in terms of more mature storylines. For example giving Twist a redemption arc, exploring all the shadiness about will shane, the balance between business and darker interests for Black, just to name a few. I also find the Game Master a very interesting character, potentially taunting the gang in a squid game fashion.

Besides, slugs are well and good, but what about real harm? Ghouls are more powerful, but would Black go as far as using them to kill people?

I also find the whole idea of legacy, for eli but also for many of his antagonists, very intriguing and potentially leading to complex plots.

There are definitely so many shows out there, but I definitely feel like, if slugterra was meant for older audiences, it could really have been something, I'm talking Hunger Games-like fame, which was liked by both teens and adults. Other shows similar to Slugterra don't have the same potential imo. For example, Storm Hawks doesn't have that many realistic premises (the binding of capitalistic interests and darker deeds for one). I already mentioned it before, but I find it could have been as known as how to train your dragon (a cartoon liked by basically all ages, each group of which grasps different levels of complexity): the bonds between creatures and their riders/slingers are there already, as well as a tight-knit group having each other's backs, with a gentle giant, a comic relief, a badass no-nonsense female second-in-command, and a reckless protagonist male character (I know many would hate this idea, but I find Junjie's character pointless in a situation where so many other things could have been explored before going to the other side of the world).

Since you seem to have so many interesting takes on slugterra generally, I would like yours! Long message I know, but unexpressed potential taps right into unmentioned things.

Long rants how I missed thee-

also, swears near the end becase I started ranting lmao

Anon, all phenomenal points, that are on point.

Eli is one of those characters who, in my opinion, had a lot of right to get like, extremely angry and lash out justifiably on several occasions, for multiple reasons.

Kid needed, and quite frankly needs to be an angsty, moody, angry at the word teen but was essentially forced to be an adult.

And you may argue yes, Eli made the choice to follow through and take The Drop at 15, but you also kinda have to acknowledge, he like every Shane before him, for as long as they where acting as protectors, was basically groomed to become Slugterra's Protector from a young age.

Said it once, I'll say it again, Eli is justified to have a crash out, and even pull a Spider-Man and quite being Protector for however long he wants, till he genuinely wants to go back to being The Shane. If at all.

-

The relationship and dynamics of the Shane Gang are important and im tired of pretending it's not.

Four very different individuals, a Moleinoid, Cave Troll, Human male and Human female, all live under the same roof, all with different experiences, issues, baggage, and stories as to why they ended up the way they are.

In less than a month they are living together, and it's only hinted at briefly in the first handful of episodes that the shift to all of them living at the Hideout was difficult. They have clear house rules about what not to do in the house, the food preferences the building of small team tradition like a big dinner before an important mission, and so many other little things.

I mentioned briefly in another older post, but you can only take so much living with the same people for so long, no matter how well you all get along. Hence, all the pranks.

Pronto clearly has some self-worth issues, hence his need to be the center of attention.

Kord relies on being the tech guy, because if he's not that, than what is he?

Trixie, while I lover her, her need to film and make it big one day as a real director and not a Slinger implies her want to leave something tangible, and real behind so she is remembered as more than just a Slug Slinger or a member of the Shane Gang. To be more than a foot note in history like many other Slingers.

Personally, while I ship Eli and Trixie, I also do just enjoy them being platonic best friends, as i genuinely love good, well-built friendships with members of the opposing gender without romance, especially since romance was not the focus of the show.

hot take, but romance for the sake of romance is shit and can ruin a character especially if it ends up becoming a main focal point and fuck up a character, especially the 'woman' in the relationship.

[I love HTTYD, it's awesome but the Race to the Edge ep Mi Amore Wing pissed me the hell off because of what it did to Astrid.

While yes, season 5 and 6 had a focus on Hiccup and Astrid's relationship, and how it affects not just them, but the team a whole, something that was carefully developed, but having Astrid becomes self conscious, insecure just because her relationship with Hiccup isn't all lovey dovie was like Mala and Dager's, causing her to act like a brat while they where dealing with something arguably more important, in the middle of what's essentially a war and race to find the King of Dragons was stupid and just drama for the sake of not explicitly having it. it was such a dumb reason for Astrid to be angry at Hiccup I'm sorry. like I get it was also about Hiccup needing to be able to pay attention to the people in his life, and not zero-in and hyperfocus and communicate, but there where just so many better ways to do that,- ]

Not to say I hate romance or no to it entirely, or the idea of Eli and Trixie becoming cannon/getting together. it, like everything needed to be handled carefully, and not rushed, trauma bonding be damned

That's why Aerrow and Piper's relationship felt so organic and natural in Storm Hawks, it was never the main focus, but it was hinted at, the affection was there, and real, and had a purpose. Because yes, a relationship in any story needs a purpose outside of just 'getting to together to the sake of getting together'. Romance outside a romance Story has to have a meaning, hell even Romance's in a Romance have to have substance, out side of the pairing being lead boy and girl, boy and boy, girl and girl or so on and so forth. And while Eli and Trixie have chemistry, it very surface level to me, nothing that tell's me they care about each other more than friends and teammates. but that's just my interpretation of their relationship.

But yeah, the development of their and the rest of the Shane Gangs relationship as a whole is important. And I wish we had more-

And FUCK YES- RACISM BETWEEN CAVERN RESIDENTS- its real, it's so freaking real because of stereotypes and preconceived notions- HOLY FUCK MAN- CONFLICT!

Don't get me started on Twist and EVERY OTHER MINOR VILLAIN/CHARACTER-

Twist's redemption would have been grate as the seeds were planted with the looks of hesitant on his face. I have mentioned it before with him being the Azula to Blakk's Ozai but give him Zuko's redemption arc. And would elevate his character. for me at least I don't know about others-

More and more Blakk Industries workers and highered marks slowly realizing Blakk is a nutcase who had become obsessed, and trying and failing to leave.

Game Master is Jig Saw but rated E for everyone.

As a Caustic main in Apex Legends, and a Toxzon from MaxSteel(2013) sympathizer, I have a special love for Blite.

And just, so many other minor villains/antagonists in the show who, quite frankly where done dirty, like Saturday and his Smoothie obsession. The show introduces so many cool characters but doesn't use them to their fullest of potentials.

And a lot of that has to do with run time, and them making more specialized characters than the story necessarily needs, and giving them complex stories and concepts without the proper help that is minor exploration of the character threw showing up again.

we see this in Storm Hawks. it's a fairly large main primary cast, for the main hero's you have 6 of them, 4 main villains, and serval minor supporting secondary characters and antagonists that all make reoccurring apparencies, with tertiary characters who appear once to fulfill a particular role, for a given storyline that they can't reasonably exist outside of. Like Princess Perri.

Slugterra's problem is that all its secondary and tertiary characters can exists out of their debut episode and relevant story lines, and have reasonable excuses for them to be present in almost any episode.

Also the noticeable lack of 'villain focused' episodes/segments. Storm Hawks had an episode dedicated to the Cyclonians, multiple scene with them to build of their characters, and dynamics as well.

sure Slugterra had it's villain scean's, but they where not all that insightful outside of a few instances, and didn't serve much of a purpose, outside of showing some details, some of which where never followed up on. like Twist's hesitance.

thus leaving a lot be desired in terms of character development and world building. especially when you have to deal with a PG/Teen rating to maintain.

You can very much to talk/reference more mature topics and dynamics with media like Slugterra, and have it be able reach all preserved age groups, while still being tasteful about it.

(don't ask how I know this, I just watch a lot of old cartoons, read a lot and know a weird amount of random shit-)

-

Junjie is love, Junjie is life, I cherish my emotionally unstable Champion of the East, but I fully understand your point, because I'm similar with Tad Blakk. That being said;

Junjie in a lot of ways mirrors both Eli and Twist.

Eli for obvious reasons and Twist for his desire for revenge against the Emperor, as compared to Twist's desire for revenge against the Shane's. Junjie, like Twist, let's his anger get the better of him on a few occasions during the first Eastern Caverns Arc of the show. Do the others draw him back to his senses?

Sure but he has his moments. If the Gang was not there to keep Junjie in check he would be acting impulsively, and making dumb choices, just like Twist. and yes, Twist make's dumb, impulsive choices, even if we see him like, three times-

love my disaster boiz, but DEAR GOD THEY ARE TRAMATIZED IDIOTS

-

Blakk as a character has always been my favorite.

for the simple reason being he came from nothing. and made a name for himself. and the best part, he kept his fathers name and the insignia of the Viggo Dare. The two men who treated him like shit, and out did them in both Slinging, leading and Business, keeping both name, Blakk, and insignia as a massive fuck you.

he became better then them, but also way worse, and I love that for him.

I know it doesn't seem like it, but I am a villain apologist/sympathizer

-

but yess, Anon thank you for sharing! your points where very interesting and I very much so enjoyed reading and overanalyzing it, and everything else!

as always, floor is open to the opinions of others in the community to discuss, add to or just talk about in general!

✧˖°. ⋆｡˚(✿ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)｡･:*˚:✧｡

[read tags]

[theincorrigiblemagpie]

Anne of the Island - the last chunk of the book

I'm going to SPEEDRUN several chapters here because I cannot believe I came back on the LAST day of book club! This is going to be very long but I can't just skip to the end.

Just to add to the list of reasons I hate Mrs Douglas, she would think it frivolous of Janet to wear a pretty dress but sees no issue with wearing nicely tailored silk dresses herself!

Ugh the hateful woman can sure design a high tea menu. Does she take time off from Evil Plotting to read women's magazines?

Imagine if Mrs Douglas lived another 10 years?? Insanity

I never want to hear shit about how age makes you more forgiving. If anything, I was more patient in some ways in my 20s, than in my 30s. Good for Janet and John but the fact they won't tell people what Mrs Douglas did is SO frustrating!

Heavily relate to the humour and horror associated with reading your own old work. At some point, I learned not to stuff pop culture references in every crevice, but before that, it was a bloodbath of song lyrics and viral memes and movie references.

Bring back walking parties, I say! I enjoy walking around and wish I could do more of it with my friends.

Anne's mental note about Christine's walk lol

The scene of the Gardner visit is one of my favourites in this book. I weep for Pris' cake. She could've just offered them some but chose the much funnier option.

I'd never heard the name Aline before when I'd first read AoI. And then many years later, I found it in one of Lisa Kleypas' Regency romances. It's one of those names I've remembered for having felt somewhat unfamiliar to me. Pretty, though.

Lmao remembering how I furtively looked up 'gumption' in the dictionary at 11 years old, almost as if Aunt Jimsie's ghost would catch me in the act and judge me for it.

Look, I don't care how Phil reacted when Anne turned down Roy's proposal. You'll never convince me that she wasn't playing the long game to get Anne and Gilbert together.

Gilbert just needs a hug. :( Imagine seeing Anne carry your flowers at convocation and your foolish heart thinking may be there's something there for you after all and then bravely asking her for a dance at the graduation party even though your head is telling you it's a bad idea only to be turned down again!!

I've moved around a bunch in my life and I definitely feel like I've left pieces of me behind in every place I've spent meaningful time in! I wholeheartedly agree with Phil's sentiments about places acquiring personalities.

I do wish we got to see more of the very prescient Stella! She's said a handful of lines in the entire book and most of them have been very insightful or practically useful.

I actually think more highly of Phil for being hard on Anne initially. I know, I know, there's a lot of 'we support women's rights, but more importantly, we support women's wrongs' feeling I see around on social media. And I'm mostly for it, even. But I do think it's important to hold your friends accountable and have difficult conversations sometimes.

The image of Roy pining away over women who didn't even know he was into them, probably, is killing me lmao.

I know Mrs Lynde is being very bitter about Jane but it comes entirely out of her love for Anne so I can't be mad about it.

Lol now why is Mrs Harmon salty about Anne's BA? Didn't she think it was pointless anyway? Or am I misremembering?

Ugh this woman is just unrelentingly bitchy.

Reddit would hate the age gap between Mr Inglis and Jane lmaoo

Looked this up and it seems to refer to HW Longfellow's poem Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie. Acadie is just Nova Scotia, PEI, NB and part of Maine. Makes sense for a poor minister to not be able to go far on his honeymoon!

One of my baby cousins got married a few days ago and Anne's thoughts about Diana's motherhood are hitting even harder.

Mrs Allan's story about her mother has always made me tear up a bit.

The scene where Anne hears about Gilbert's illness is appropriately awful but I'm dying over Davy's interjections. "He's dying." "Nooo, there's still hope." "The doctor said there's no hope." Absolutely screaming.

The paragraphs where Anne realises she loves Gilbert are SO GOOD. Ugh.

I'll never get tired of LMM's descriptions. It makes me want to see PEI and Canada like nothing else.

I'm obviously partial to Gilbert but also, this is such a top-tier proposal. And to do it in Hester Gray's garden? 5 stars. No notes. Perfect ending.

I've had such a good time doing this book club with you all, I'm sad it's over!

[watermel0ns-dumb-cringe]

Have the silly Swap/John Doe AU me and @marys-ghost have created !! (Yes I consider you a creator of it you help me with ideas /silly /pos)

Yes I'm aware that there's already some aus & designs (I saw like. one andy! Ezra/John design once) of this already but FUCK YOU (/lhj) THIS IS OUR TAKE ON IT !! (no hate to the other ones btw they're all silly)

Penny Lamb ; " The Guiltiest Girl In Town . "

&

[ █▅▅▅ █▅▅█ ] 'John Doe' ; " ██▅ █▅▅█ █▅▅▆▅▅▅ ▇▅▇ ▇▅ ▇▅▅▅ . "

Elaboration under the cut

small summary ! What if Ezra & Penny had swapped places? Well, here's our take on that concept!! :]

Both of them went to the fall fair with the choir, but Penny decided not to go on the Cyclone (as she has a fear of roller coasters), staying behind to try and win some prizes for her and her little brother while he went with the choir's family/friends(the cut characters). Penny tried winning a Raggedy Ann to match with the Raggedy Andy that Ezra had won, but ended up with the porcelain doll we're all familiar with instead. She's grown rather fond of the thing,, but yeah. Temporary split up, and then the Cyclone accident happened. Father Markus prevented Penny from seeing the aftermath of it all(or. he hoped he did,, up to interpretation!), and Ezra was left unidentified once Father Markus died from a heart attack. Penny's been searching everywhere top to bottom— but she knows Ezra's gone. Yet, she doesn't wanna believe it, and. Carries a lot. of regret & guilt. Nobody ever listened to her when she tried to identify him, due to her reputation as a "psycho cannibal kid that maimed a dude, born & raised from a place where all the adults were higher than freakin' skyscrapers." Plus her. Criminal record in general. Therefore, Ezra was labeled as John Doe.

While in limbo, he ain't doing too hot either, supposedly! Unlike most versions of Jane, John is purposefully pissed off. Knowing he's been fucked over entirely but can't completely pinpoint it. I'd like to think he gets along well with Astrid,, but he & Corey might have a rivalry similar to Penny & Ocean's. haters frfr/silly

Also yeah Ez gets Raggedy Andy head the Lamb siblings r so Ann & Andy coded /pos

So. the choir never die, but the cut characters do. Unfortunately includes Talia, as we need 6 people dead. 😭

Oh yeah Penny's also filled with spite & a sheer hatred for Uranium. She will throw hands or kill a man as seen here

still kinda in progress & I do have more info for it but that's the basic plot line !!

Definitely gonna draw them a lot they're silly/vvpos

Bonus

the fornication under consent of the king bit is replaced with John beatboxing/rapping. Trishna is terrified.

[cryvelv3t]

Me or them

Warning: Bit of angst, Sweet sex, Lovers to enemies back to lovers, Panties, Porn with plot, Unprotected, Flavored Lube, Analingus,

"Hey baby." Jd greeted as he walked up behind you, but you didn't even notice him enter the room. "Is it bad that I feel for Rhea and Damien?" His eyes widened at your question "No, but you shouldn't. They would've thrown you out at some point." You sighed "Maybe you're right." You put down the old Judgement day shirt that you were holding. Jd kissed you on the cheek before whispering "Come on, we have to get ready to back Finn up." You nodded at him. You got up and walked away quickly knowing that tonight would be the day you leave this new Judgement day.

You remained backstage while the rest of the judgement day got beat up. Up until Liv grabbed a chair, as she went to swing you landed a kick to her face. Jd's eyes widened "Baby." "Sorry McDonagh." His eyes widened more at the use of his last name. You called him his last name when he first joined, that was back when you hated him. You pulled off the new Judgement day shirt and threw it at him. You didn't look at him, not once, but you did look towards Rhea "I'm sorry, I couldn't just watch anymore." She smiled and took you into a hug. The rest of Judgement Day was busy trying to get away from the rest of you. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Finn forcibly grab JD and drag him away.

Backstage you were too busy thinking to listen to Damien "You okay?" Rhea asked knocking you out of your trance "I miss JD." "I know. I'm sorry." "Not your fault it's his.". JD was going through the same dilemma on his side but much worse. A lot of the other members were blaming him for your leave. "If anything I thought you were the reason he was going to stay." Liv said, her head resting on her palm "So did I." JD whispered, head in his hands. "What the hell JD?" "You think I asked him to leave? I'm heartbroken! He was my boyfriend!" JD pulled his head out of his hands to yell at Finn. That was JD's first time calling you his boyfriend and sadly it was the same day you left. "Did he tell you anything?" "No, he didn't say anything." JD placed his head back into his hands as he felt tears well up in his eyes. "Fuck." He whispered to himself before walking out of the "Club house".

"Where's he going?" Liv asked "I don't know, probably going to cry." "What if he's meeting up with him?" Liv said "I don't think he will." Finn responded.

They were very wrong. JD found himself at your car just waiting for you. "Hey, babe." "Hey, McDonagh." You said back. "Please, please don't call me that." He whispered, it sounded like he's been crying. "Sorry." You said back lowly "Why'd you do it?" "I've always hated Liv, and Rhea is like my sister. I felt the same way when we kicked out Edge but this is so much worse." Your hand sat on the top of the car next to his head. "But, what about me? You just left me, I'd probably have left with you if you told me." Your eyes widened at the statement. "Are you serious?" "Yeah, but you didn't so I guess we're over.". "You're gonna wish you came with me." You said lowly, anger starting to build up your chest. He hummed before walking away.

When he got back to the clubhouse they were all looking at him "Were were you?" Liv asked like a disappointed mother "I met up with him." Her eyes widened "What?" She yelled, jumping off of Dom's lap. "I wanted to get my stuff back. I had my wallet in his car." He quickly thought of a lie. "Show me." Liv demanded "My wallet? Here." He pulled it out of his pocket and threw it to her. She hummed before giving it back to him. Finn came into the room a little after "I got us a match with them, tag team." Jd's eyes widened knowing full well he was going to be apart of that match. "You okay JD?" Liv asked, for some reason she knew better than Finn that this was a shitty idea. "He's fine." Finn dismissed her "I wasn't asking you!" She yelled at Finn before looking to JD. He nodded before mouthing a small "I'm okay.".

"Hey!" Damien yelled to you "We have a match! Me and you against JD and Finn." You leaned back in your chair "Okay.". You looked down at the floor, this was going to ruin you.

As you looked down at JD in the ring, you could feel tears welling up in your eyes. You quickly blinked them away before whispering "Come on, hit me." He looked up at you "I can't hit you so come on baby, hit me." He hung his head before landing a punch to your face. You whispered a little "Shit" before realizing he was going for another punch. You weaved under it and grabbed his waist. Because you were able to get behind him you easily threw him into a suplex. He let out a loud yelp "I though you said you wouldn't hit me." "I didn't hit you." His eyes widened, you would still do anything to win. He watched as you tagged in Damien "I want to be the one to fuck up Balor." He nodded down at you. You watched as JD got beaten within an inch of his life. He never got the chance to tag Finn in. When on his last leg Damien tagged you in. "I want you to be the one to pin him.". Your grabbed JD by the hair and power-bombed him before pinning his shoulders to the mat. You usually did this pin but it just felt wrong doing it to him, you bent him in half, knees touching his chest. You heard the ref count to three, you successfully won the match.

After the match he showed up at your car again. "Leave me alone McDonagh." You opened the back door of your car, throwing your bag in the back seat. "I need you." He was more upfront then usual. You smirked slightly as you glanced at him. "You need me? What do you need?" "Please, I miss your touch. I need you.". He gave you the key to his hotel and told the number before walking away. "You know what this reminds me of." Rhea said as she walked up behind you. "Isn't this was Liv did to Dom?" "Yeah but this is sweeter." She smiled "It's like a movie." hopefully it has a happy ending. "Are you going to go?" "Yeah." You smiled at her.

When you got to the hotel you saw the judgement day staring hard, they were at the bar. All were there but JD. Good, you won't be seen. You unlocked the door after making sure nobody was around. "McDonagh?" You walked in fully. JD looked over towards the door. "What are you wearing?" You asked, looking him up and down. "Come find out." He smiled still staring at the floor. You walked up in front of him, you grabbed his hair the same way you did during the match. You used his hair to make him look up at you "Come on, sir. Please." You began to kiss his neck, as you gently pushed him onto the bed. "What? I-please kiss me." He begged but you ignored his plea. As you went to pull off his shirt you realized it was yours "Is this mine?" "Yes, yeah." He said somewhat breathily. "Fuck." you groaned. You couldn't bring yourself to take off the shirt so you pulled it up to his collar bones. After pulling it up there was another surprise, JD was wearing a pair of black panties. "I got these a few months ago, I wanted to surprise you when you got your belt match." Your eyes widened "Fuck McDonagh." You ran your hands down his body. You moved the panties to the side, "Fuck" You repeated, "I missed you fuck!" JD moaned out as you started roughly stroking his cock. "Kiss me, please kiss me." He begged but once again you ignored him, instead you brought your dominant hand to his lips. "Suck." You said firmly, he's never seen this side of you. He kind of loved it, after a moment of doubt he obeyed your order. The look of bliss on his face made you think that he was imagining those two fingers were your cock. "God, McDonagh." You groaned. A loud whine of defiance escaped his throat.

"On your hands and knees." You said as you took your fingers out of his mouth. "What?" "Hands and Knees McDonagh." You said with a firm tone. He nodded and obeyed "Do you have lube?" You asked. He groaned into the pillows "In my bag, smallest pocket." You hummed in acknowledgement. "It's flavored?" You couldn't hold back your laughter "Another gift for your belt match.". "Aw, so sweet." You cooed as you show up behind him. You lean down to kiss the back of his neck. You lubed up your fingers and placed them on his rim. You circled the rim on slightly dipping your middle finger in. You wanted to hear him beg before you give him any real pleasure "Please! Please, just fuck me. Fingers, tongue, cock, anything just please!" JD broke almost immediately, he begged loudly. You barely could hold back your laugh and began to put your middle finger into his hole. You gave him little time to adjust, almost immediately adding another and pumping them roughly. JD let out nonstop moans, you almost forgot how loud he could be. "Come on McDonagh, I'm gonna need you to be a little quieter." In response he bit down on a pillow. The pillow did little to nothing to cover up the sounds "Good enough.". He was so distracted by your words and the rough way you were treating him to realize you had four fingers knuckle deep inside him. You pulled out your fingers and quickly spit onto his hole making him yelp "Fuck!". You grabbed his thighs and pulled him onto your face. His moans got even louder than before, you were a little worried he was going to pass out.

You had ate him out before but usually it was soft and loving but everything today is rough. It turned JD on so much, he began to wonder if you were like this with passed partners. He should've asked you to be like this when you were together. JD tried to pull his hips away but you roughly gripped his hips. Your grip almost hurt and it was definitely going to leave bruises. He pulled his face out of the pillows "Just fuck me! Please!" He yelled out. "Quiet McDonagh." You pulled your tongue out and leaned above him. You quickly lubed up your cock a little desperate yourself to be inside him.

As soon as you slid cock into him your demeanor changed entirely. You were gentle, giving him enough time to adjust. "You okay, McDonagh?" You asked as you bottomed out. You could see his shoulders shaking "Hey, hey. You okay? Talk to me Mc-" He cut you off "Stop calling me that!" His voice was shaking. Your eyes widened and shoulders fell "Do you hate me?" He whispered "No, no. I don't.". "Then why are you calling me McDonagh, you used to call me that when you hated me." He looked at you over his shoulder. "JD, I need to hate you or I'm going to crawl back to the Judgement day. And I just can't let myself do that." "Pull out." He responded, his voice harsher than he meant it. You did as he asked, he turned around so he was sitting in front of you. "Baby, I'm going to leave the judgement day. We have another tag team match, I'm gonna do it then." He placed his hand on your cheek. "Now please, just kiss me." JD could feel the tears running down your cheek. You immediately did as he asked, kissing him with passion and love. He moaned softly into your mouth as he pulled you down to lay on top of him. "You can start fucking me again." He mumbled against your lips, without a second thought you lined yourself up and pushed inside him.

Unlike earlier your thrusts were slow but deep. It was passionate "Baby, go fuck go faster. Fuck me like you hate me.". Even after crying about you hating him he still wants you to ruin him. You smiled down at him "You liked that? You want to be my little whore?" His eyes widened at that and he let out a loud whine. The whine got drawn out by your increasing pace. He was letting out a string of curses and a loud but short 'ah' with every thrusts. "Fuck JD, you're so beautiful. I love you, I'm never going to leave you again." You placed a hand next to his head as leverage to kiss him. Your hips stuttered slightly when you felt him suck on your tongue. "Cum inside me. Please, fill me with your cum." You groaned loudly into his mouth "Fuck, you gonna come?" You asked him. JD nodded quickly "Fuck, inside, please please please." That was enough for you to shoot your load inside him. The feeling of you filling him up set off his own orgasm, his cock spurting ropes over his chest.

"You okay baby?" You asked looking down at him. He nodded with a dopey smile "I'm going to go run us a bath, I'll only be a second.". That night was filled with comforting words and kisses. You were so excited to have your love back.

[billveusay]

I watched Gundam 00 and...

It's a very mixed bag. So mixed in fact that I have trouble figuring out my feelings on it. I think of a good episode or character moment and my opinion goes up, then I remember some iffy writing and it goes down, then I think about those beautiful mobile suits and fight scenes and it's up again, and then the character design comes to mind and we're down the slope once more. But nonetheless, I'd still say that I enjoyed it. It throws a lot of good ideas with potential, and actually follows up on some of them in interesting ways, but also fumbles with others and suffers from overall very generic characters.

It does open on a positive note with a very powerful hook. See those guys? There's like 12 people in their organisation, they have four Gundams, and they're gonna declare war on the entire world. Now let's show you why they not only have a fighting chance, but they actually put the world on the back foot for the majority of the season. This show really gives the Gundams narrative weight, you can feel everyone going "oh shit" when Exia lands on a battlefield and Kenji Kawai's music starts playing.

However, I won't give it too much points for exposition because as usual, there are five hundred different characters and a complex geopolitical mess, which they drop you into head first before you can put your swimsuit on. But at least, they include a summary of the global situation after the opening, like the original MSG did. So when I had a rough idea of where everyone was standing, I was hooked. But in the first season, my thoughts at the end of each episode were mostly "man, I wonder where they're going with that". IE, the Schrodinger opinion, that hinges on the pay-offs fulfilling the promises of the set-ups. Especially the whole "solving war with an independent force of dissuasion". It's an interesting concept, but that's because its flaws are immediately apparent and deconstructing them raises interesting questions. And... they do pay it off somewhat. And make relevant points. Celestial Being succeeds in uniting the world, but because they did it by creating global chaos, the driving motivation behind this unity was fear and a desire for security. And these are the feelings that lead people to relinquish their rights and give way to totalitarianism. There are also other episodes that add nuance to the plot and their actions, with varying degrees of success.

And yet, I still found a lot of it dubious. I think that's mainly due to them biting more than they could chew, choosing to tackle such complex topics. And that's not even touching on them bringing real world conflicts into the mix. I'm not saying you can never do that, but the standards by which you're gonna be judged are gonna skyrocket. And I really doubt they lived up to them, because the few that are mentioned mostly serve as background for an episode or two. And while I'm no expert on these, that left a bad taste in my mouth. It's kinda weird that they didn't stick to fictional countries and conflicts.

But focusing on the more episodic side of the show, they overall managed to keep things entertaining. I like that they put a lot of emphasis on the tactical side of the battles, it gives them variety and leads to creative set pieces (like the Ptolemaios diving into the sea to generate a tidal wave and mess with the visibility and beam weapons of their opponents). I especially like the run for the orbital cannon.

Now, because this show is such a mess, I have trouble structuring this review. So let's just immediately move on to the characters and address what's relevant to each of them. Though before that, I must admit that this is one of the weaker Gundam shows character-wise. They do avoid some pitfalls though, like the main cast is pretty good at communicating and not getting caught up in easily avoidable conflicts.

Let's start with Setsuna. I don't... love him, but I'm surprised by how much I don't hate him, if that makes sense. Cause at first it really felt like I should have, with the edgy Sasuke vibes he gave off. I think they avoid it by letting him grow a bit as a character, which shows that we were not supposed to think the angsty shtick was cool. It's no Vinland Saga's Thorfinn, going from broody to blasé isn't a huge jump, but it's better than nothing. What also helped is that after a while I started finding him very funny. His gender-envy but for Gundams is a factor, but also his deadpan expression at everything that happens around him makes for some fun contrasts. One of my favourite moments is when Saji punches him, he falls flat on his face, and while Saji continues to yell at him he just... lays here, for 10 seconds. Like he's rebooting

As for the whole indoctrinated child soldier in a holy war thing... at least he's from a fictional country, but the imagery they used still made me uncomfortable. I won't go farther on that topic though because I am very much not qualified.

Then you have Lockon. And I mean... he's obviously made to be the audience favourite, but damn it, how can you not love an irish Han Solo with a pet Haro? On that note, this show has the best Haro content in the franchise. Not only are they consistently very funny, they pulled off a tear jerking pre-sacrifice goodbye scene with a god damn Haro.

As for Lyle... bringing back the identical twin brother of a dead character is a hell of a writing choice, and I'm not a fan of it overall, but at least they semi-introduced him in the first season (in a single shot that I would probably have missed if I hadn't been spoiled) and his relationship with Katharon gave him a subplot that was his own. But I'd still have preferred someone brand new, who could also have come from Katharon.

Next, Allelujah. By far the weakest of the quartet. When I watched it, I made myself laugh by thinking "Well to be fair, he probably needed that second personality because they forgot to write the first one". One that made me recall Beyblade Metal Masters (2010), sequel to Beyblade Metal Fusion (2008), spin-off of Beyblade (1999), for the first time in years. This is an achievement, but not a compliment.

Plus, every time the story focuses on him, it's very rushed and wonky.

"Oh god, they're still making super soldiers. I gotta do something about this... hey Sumeragi! They're making super soldiers, can I do something about this?!"

"A'ight"

"Ok, imma go do that then"

And then he does. He shoots at the building, and that's the end of that arc. We don't even see the children he's killed, but we know he feels very bad about it for the rest of the show.

Tieria starts out annoying, but that's on purpose and like Setsuna, they let him grow and become better so it works as intended. It was very fun and cathartic to see him berate everyone around him for not being worthy of Aeolia's plan, then having a nervous breakdown following the reveal of Nadheel and its luscious hairdo. Then you have the adorable moment where Setsuna goes out on his own to attack Trinity, and Tieria shows up with Virtue going "No I'm with you on that, fuck those guys". And eventually he comes around to his teammates and proves that he actually cares for them, and you end up with a perfectly decent character. Also if I had a nickel for every time a Gundam protagonist went undercover to a ball by crossdressing very convincingly, I'd have two etc, etc... And like with Loran, Tieria 100% had fun with it.

Next, Sumeragi. She's cool, and as I said, I like that she added a tactical element to the battles. However she made me understand the meaning of "knockers", because she could indeed knock someone out with those if she turned around too quickly in a crowded room. Made me realize that up to now, Gundam was pretty decent with that kind of fanservice (I know that Seed has a bad case of the boings but it'll be a while before I get to it) and this contributes to the more generic feel of this show. Not in the context of Gundam as a franchise like say, F91 is, but in anime tropes in general.

The rest of the Ptolemaios crew is alright. Mostly stock characters, but they do the job. And without much screen time, they at least manage to make the secondary cast identifiable enough so their death in the season 1 finale doesn't feel like killing off the red shirts.

One who does suffer from a lack of screen time is Wang Liu Mei. And her brother. It's telling that she has to summarize their backstory in like two sentences, five minutes before they both die. I frankly could have gone without them, they're neither interesting nor contributing much.

Marina is as generic as they come, and my feelings towards her are equally lukewarm. I don't mind her, she has a few somewhat heart-warming moments, but I wasn't cheering from the sidelines at every conversation between her and Setsuna.

But let's go from bland to god damn spicy. Graham Acker is relentlessly and delightfully intense, and definitely one of the highlights of the show. He, alongside Harry Ord, proves that if you are contractually obligated to feature a Char Clone, you might as well have fun with it. I love how you could easily tell the whole story of 00 without including him, and yet he vehemently refuses to be made irrelevant out of spite. It's great.

Also... "Mr Bushido". Sir. You're a captain of the pseudo-United States of America's military. You're probably from Kentucky. If people took you seriously, this would be offensive. What's especially funny is that he takes off the mask in A Wakening of the Trailblazer. So in Season 2 he's actually going through a phase.

And finally, I feel like I should mention that I pointed at him and Billy minute one of the first episode and said "you guys are the stars of so many fanfics and fanarts". Didn't even have to check.

As for Ali al-Saachez... eh. He's menacing enough as an antagonist, but again nothing new. And he's at the center of every middle-eastern conflicts subplots, I.E, the parts that I prefer not to touch on, so I'll also leave him aside. It's a bit weird than he gets killed by Lyle. I mean, he does avenge his brother, but he had much more history with Setsuna, he was basically his nemesi-

"EXCUSE YOU?!"

Fine Graham, he was his second nemesis.

Then there's Colonel Smirnov and Soma. Now this is where I'm really pissed off, because those were the characters I was the most invested in. A child made into a weapon who tries to be the perfect soldier for an officer that actually sees her as a child. They start off on completely different pages from completely different books, but they also immediately form a bond based on empathy for Smirnov and respect for Soma. Then they become closer, and Smirnov's efforts help Soma rediscover her humanity. Then in season 2 it's revealed that she went on to live with Smirnov during the timeskip, and she's visibly in a much better place, speaking more naturally and showing more emotions. And he tells her that if she wanted to, he would officially adopt her. And a few episodes later she accepts, and I cried a little bit, but she's torn because deep down she still sees herself as a weapon and it's poignant...

...And then they COMPLETELY fuck it up! Remember when I said that whenever the plot focuses on Allelujah, it gets worse? Well surprise, she also has a second personality, but hers was the original. We'll send a few flashbacks your way so you can catch up but trust us, she's as interesting as Soma, we promise. So we're gonna have her take over her body and leave Smirnov to go with Allelujah, but it's okay, Soma is still inside of her (probably screaming). And she has her memories so that's cool, never mind that functionally she's a completely new character with the personality of a ":)" emoji. And don't worry if you were invested in her relationship with Smirnov, because we're gonna bring her back. After Smirnov gets killed. Yes, of course he was throwing death flags this entire time, but they still botched their bond, and it was still Marie who witnessed her death and not Soma.

This makes me so angry. I'm gonna talk about Patrick Colasour to calm me down. He's too twinky and he doesn't drink enough respect-women-juice to qualify as a himbo, but he definitely has some himbo DNA. And I respect him for falling in love with the woman who punched him in the face the moment he walked into a room. They're adorable.

I'm mixed on Saji and Louise. They work on principle, it's a great idea to regularly cut to random guys living their normal life and see how the world-changing events are affecting them, first in small doses, then escalating with the death of Louise's family and Saji's sister. Their discussion in the hospital right after Louise lost her parents and her hand is truly harrowing. Then in season 2 they get drawn further into the war and it destroys their life. Plus, Saji has some genuinely interesting moments, berating Celestial Being because everything was going well until they showed up, before getting smacked down with "yeah, it was going well for you". He tries to disengage from the conflict since "it doesn't concerns him", and it backfires horribly. And later when he's on the Ptolemaios, he learns that Celestial Being is gonna go fight the A-Laws or something and he almost runs away, but in the cockpit he realises on his own "...oh my god, I was just about to do it again". It felt like a very human reaction, having a moment of weakness and panic, acting on instinct, and then suddenly becoming aware of what you're doing. There's good stuff there. But... well he's still a bespectacled pot plant. And Louise is not much better. Before getting unhanded, her personality is "girly girl of the girl variety". Pretty abrasive too, made me wonder what Saji saw in her. Following that, she switches to a different generic archetype, so not much is gained.

Then there's Trinity. Not only annoying, but also extremely tonally jarring. I just mentioned how good the hospital scene between Louise and Saji is, but it's all happening because of a girl going "Oooh, I'm cute, kooky and violent (��ω≦) imma go kill some people, uwu so random". That's the problem with this show, even if there's a lot of good stuff, you often can't separate it from the bad stuff. Her brother (the one with the fangs) is also annoying, and I guess the elder appears tolerable by contrast. Their deaths were very cathartic though.

Oh god, there's so many characters. Ok, Alex... ander? Alejandro? Alejandro, right, what's the deal with that guy?

"Hmm yes, we will introduce this mysterious character with a mysterious agenda and an equally mysterious boyfriend who will regularly show up to comment on the situation, and we'll make it unclear on whose side he's on, he seems interested in Celestial Being but does he want to help them, or use them, or destroy the... wait, it's the season finale already?! Oh shit! Er... er... okay, let's shove him in a big golden mobile armour and throw him at the protagonists. He's gonna say some typical villain lines, then his armour is gonna turn into a mobile suit and he'll have a cool duel with Setsuna aaaand he's dead. Well I guess that wraps it u- OH SHIT HERE COMES GRAHAM WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!". The funniest thing is how he's apparently part of a shadowy cabal that only exists for the recap episode. Which, judging from the way they use art pieces as avatars, is basically Evangelion's SEELE but with old right-wing French dudes.

As for Ribbons, big meh. He reminds me of Paptimus, of whom I'm already not a fan, but without the charisma. It's kinda fun that he's voiced by Amuro but sadly I only discovered that after I finished watching the show. And at first I kind of liked that they seemed to subvert the Newtype concept by saying "hey, a superior race of advanced humans that are supposed to show up and lead us towards a better age is actually kind of fucked up, let's explore that", but then Setsuna's eyes started glowing orange and I ended up with a whole omelet on my face.

There's a bunch of characters left but this is really starting to drag on so, the other innovators... Smirnov's son... they exist. I will give them that. Let's move on to the movie.

Honestly? I wasn't expecting to like it that much, at least the first half. I knew beforehand that they brought aliens to the party, which didn't bode well for the whole tone issue since we started off with middle-eastern child soldiers indoctrinated into a holy war. But the way they leaned into the weird and incomprehensible side of these aliens took me by surprise. I was not expecting the Gundam show that reminded me of Beyblade Metal Masters to also remind me of the Blake and Mortimer comic issue "The Septimus Wave" (if anyone gets that, I'll be astounded). The first half has genuinely creepy and eerie moments, and that really cool action scene where Allelujah has to parkour to avoid possessed vehicles. It also features an adult woman and top-level scientist pouncing on Billy Katagiri the moment he walks into a room and shaking her butt like a cat, because this show won't let us have things that are just good and don't need big bold concrete asterisks. Second half is... okay? With literally trillions of aliens, of course it's gonna turn into white noise at some point. And 2001/interstellar style endings are hit or miss for me. There are a few that have hit me like a truck but most of them I'm just nodding through, and this one leans towards the latter.

Let's end on a more positive note with the visuals. Hot demn, those are some slick Mobile Suits. And not only are they gorgeous but the animation really does them justice. The other Gundams fight, but Exia dances. And even though it sometimes has the same issue as Unicorn, I.E towards the beginning, the fight scenes have the perfect balance of readability and energy, but as time goes on and they need to up the stakes, it leans harder into the visual noise, they manage to regularly feature great choreography up to the end. The final clash with Ribbons is a great 1v1 duel and not a splurge of yells and SFXs.

BUT, this is sadly counterbalanced by the bland and uninspired character design. They all have the same noodly body type and roughly the same face, so the only difference is often their hairdo. Which makes it extra frustrating when they decide to switch it up or wear helmets. Yes, I know this could be the only thing preventing your lungs from exploding out of your mouth if your cockpit was damaged, but now I can't tell any one of you a-holes apart!

Phew.

You know, I think I was excessively mean towards this one. I still liked it, and it remains in the top half of my overall ranking. But... writing over thirty paragraphs on a piece of media on which you mostly have lukewarm feelings is kinda exhausting, because you're not even fueled by enthusiasm or spite. It's still a recommendation despite its flaws. And hey, if most of its good ideas were squandered in the execution, that means you're free to take inspiration from them but do better!

Next is... MS IGLOO. And I have some fun opinions on this one.

Cheers!

My gundam reviews :

> Hathaway's Spark > Mobile Suit Gundam > Gundam Zeta > 0083: Stardust Memory > 0080: War in the Pocket > 8th MS Team > The Witch from Mercury > Gundam Thunderbolt > The Origin > Turn A Gundam > F91 > Gundam Unicorn > Gundam 00 > MS IGLOO > Gundam Narrative > Iron-Blooded Orphans > Gundam Wing > Twilight Axis > Requiem for Vengeance

[2deadkat]

i'd love to hear ur complaints abt modern geronimo! If u'd like to share that is

Thank you for asking anon, I’d love to share and you have inadvertently entered the dragon’s den/lh

But fr tho, it’s a lot. It’s mostly pertaining to the writing.

The reason why I hate modern Geronimo is in the biggest nutshell possible, they screwed up the original dynamic for the Stiltons, a majority of the books is just one big game of Geronimo torture porn between the other characters, and overall a lot of wasted potential for unique interactions between the wider cast and the rest of the Stiltons as its limited to just Geronimo himself. Hell a lot of the plots could have the input from the other Stiltons if they were brave enough. And there seems to be a new character every few books and there’s no rhyme or substance to it anymore. Since when did trap reproduce???

And you’re telling me von Volt has another relative???? Yk at some point you just stop reading the books. Oh and do not get me started on the Thea problem…

Let me start with the Stiltons real quick, somehow they got worse by watering down their personalities to a bunch of cheap jokes.

What made the classic (or early) books work was that the whole point of Geronimo’s character is that yes he’s a wimp, but that’s because he’s a tired boss who gets dragged into his family’s shenanigans, and by extension his friends and allies around him. Everyone has some eccentric personality that shocks or baffle him in some way, and that’s where the comedy comes from. He’s able to stand on his own because of his duties and eagerness to stay in his comfort zone is where the meat of the interactions come from.

His family especially Trap and Thea were meant to be respective foils to him. Trap consistently bullies him and Thea is meant to be the direct opposite of him, she’s the driving force in the group and has more pants to cover up what Gerry doesn’t have. She’s the one behind a lot of their adventures or scoops, hell she’s also the one who keeps finding them in the first place and drags her family and connections into them which makes sense because that’s her job and also where a lot of the plots start from. She fills out the spots that Gerry doesn’t have. Trap is just pure comic relief and is basically that outside force to the group. Hell the two even have a dynamic of their own where’d they just fight over the most trivial things and that makes us side with Geronimo more because of the ridiculousness of his family, that’s what made it click (to me). Highly recommend you read the early books, it shows the strongest character imo (#1-20).

Now Geronimo has all his autonomy stripped away and he’s been reduced to a nothing but a punching bag for everyone around him. I hope I’m not kidding here but try reading a classic book (let’s say #7 or #26) and compare it to the writing in a modern book (let’s say #46 or #74) it’s very jarring. They put more emphasis on different ways his day is ruined and give him no room to breathe or stand on his own. There’s just no charm to that anymore. There’s no fine line with his relationship with the other characters (Run for the Hills Geronimo is probably the worse one and represents everything I don’t like about the new dynamic)

Now over time that initial draw to action is also done by Trap, which I thought was cool because it still plays into the idea of Geronimo’s family dragging him into their shenanigans and the motives make sense to him specifically. It’s like he keeps getting calls from his relatives on schemes which is fun. But the more you keep reading the modern books the dynamic gets skewed over time and here’s the part I’ve been waiting for…Thea gets shelved completely. And now it’s somehow the GOD DAMN GINGER BROS SHOW?????

Now I think about it, Trap used to be a lot more clever in the classic books as well, he’s essentially a bumbling fool who keeps falling into the wrong situations to make a quick buck which slowly backfires on him. If you know me that well you know I’d call him a less scummier Grunkle Stan. The fact that there’s no Thea to balance it out or at least ground the dynamic to some level feels really annoying now.

You don’t really see much of her anymore as she’s either smiling at the back or doesn’t say more than five lines anymore, which is baffling because she’s the one who can pick up the pace the most. I really wished they showed more of her involvement again…They’re a trio, not a duo…and the books are suspiciously phasing her out to make room for the ginger bros fail routine and it ultimately feels very empty…there’s not much acknowledgement or involvement from her really like they could say she’s busy at mouseford or something but nope! Shelved completely without an explanation or a missed opportunity for a tie-in mention.

So far the only redemption I see is the Mayan Mystery one and the Soccer one where she had a more integral role which are way more recent but it still bothers me that they just shelved her for a majority of the modern run.

Listen if the modern books weren’t cowards she would SOLO all these people

she’d probably have an interesting dynamic knowing that she gets along with everyone well and is technically an adventurer. It’d be such a good parallel to her brother to play off of.

hell it’s even worse in the comics. Like there’s legit no acknowledgment of her at all, when trap is absent that gets an explanation but she’s just suspiciously…gone and the only time she does have a major role is when she’s used as a fake mask for a psyche-out to the villains (I’m sorry but if the comics are gonna pull that shit then I’m baited to believe that Thea and (cat lady) would have a homerotic switcheroo fight akin to Ms.Bellum and Sedusa. SHES THE TOUGHEST AND SMARTEST RODENT, USE HER GODDAMIT)

Idk man I tried reading some of the comics and it never worked out that much, again the dynamic feels suspiciously empty with zero acknowledgment. It’s not the Stiltons it’s just the fucking ginger bros for some reason. It doesn’t feel solid like it used to. I really can’t get into them which is a shame, and tbf why would I want to read a comic where Geronimo goes back in time and helps a colonist do his thing 💀

I’d be very happy if someone here can give me one good reason to get into them somehow, I want to like modern Geronimo, please/s

Look if there’s one character I don’t mind them putting in complete absence it’s probably the unaccompanied minors/s…Or Petunia which makes much more sense since she’s a family friend!

Look I actually like Ben and Bugsy as a duo, I think their whole concept is really wholesome, but the books don’t really push their parts that much, like there’s no meaningful interaction they have with the adults which is a lot of missed potential that or it’s just limited to Geronimo. Like listen I get that the whole point of the books was that it was from Geronimo’s perspective, but it’s not like everyone else was just “present”. They had more active roles and Gerry would just write all his observations down. You want a good example? The Mona Mousa Code.

Still…Benjamin had more charm and a bigger role in the classic books…that boy can hyper fixate and master niche skills in anything and was the emotional rock for Geronimo. But now he just goes along with his uncle being a punching bag routine :/ and I KNOW they could do a lot more for Bugsy here, especially since the paws are practically family friends.

—-

But you know…I’ll do give it credit here this era has one of my favorite art styles in the series and notably the one I grew up with the most (classic books illustrations still hold more charm imo) but the way action and expression is illustrated is just *chefs kiss* there’s a certain bounce to it that makes it so memorable.

And I’ll do admit all those geography facts (even if it’s just basic facts I mean it’s a kids book) and long detailed lists or charts about a characters detail is really cool and somehow makes it more immersive.

And it’s really nice to see the universe get expanded.

But overall, the writing is not the same anymore, the original dynamic is screwed up, and lots of missed opportunity to round up the cast together. It’s either empty or I’m just getting too old…Maybe I’m just nostalgia-biased in different areas who knows. But that’s pretty all my thoughts I can pull out.

[noodle-made-a-mistake]

A short list of things that bother me about the Magisterium canon:

Forgive me in advance for rambling, I have to get these thoughts out of my brain lmao (also it's been a couple years so correct me if I'm wrong! (I really hope I’m wrong on some of these :’) )) Spoilers ahead obviously!

● The lack of Calron :(

● Not taking the opportunity to develop Tamara's character and keeping her static until she's randomly just different. Strong female characters aren't just skilled and perfect until their one flaw (usually it's having feelings like any other human being) is revealed shockingly (that's just sloppy characterization), they should be crucial to the plot and not overlooked in favor of developing other characters (from what I remember she literally was my favorite while reading the series until she just got annoying (??) after a while, of course that could just be because the story is told through Call's perspective but still)

● The entire school system that I need more info on bc it sounds so unthought out and not like something that has existed for hundreds of years

● The forceful nature of making people serve as masters?? That makes no sense? Like, “Congratulations on not dying during your schooling or in the war(s), your prize is forced labor 👍.”

● Also THE COLLEGIUM WAS MENTIONED AND NEVER ELABORATED UPON

● TGT. Least favorite book. Get out. Tgt truthers how do you do it??

● The Maugris plot twist. It destroys the meaning behind the past four books. It's just so uncalled for and frankly just sloppy ig? I love the idea in a way, but only if it's foreshadowed from the beginning. Also I'm too attached to the complicated dynamic of Alastair raising his possible ex-bestie for it to end up like that

● The fact that the iron trio is out of school for half the series, I'd like to know what's normal, y'know??

● THE LACK OF ELABORATION ABOUT THE FIRST GEN I WANT TO KNOW MORE I HAVE TO KNOW MORE

● They did my man Constantine especially wrong, give him some ✨️character✨️ aside from E V I L and problematic (trademark) and charming (???)

● AND ALASTAIR GOD TELL ME MORE?? He's characterized as distant and obviously traumatized with his hate of his magic involved past but I just need to know what that past was like. Like who was he before his dead wife syndrome?? Idk but I'd of liked any excuse to know more about it just so I can understand him more??

● Please give me a single character trait of Declan's?? Like he was mentioned a handful of times and that's all we got. He was just some guy and I am hating it !!

● And Sarah. Like. She was a mom and liked peace as a concept but she also made a cool ass knife. That's a lot of things left up for interpretation. And I know Call wasn’t allowed to ask questions for plot reasons but god i wish he had more information about his own dead mother for Christ's sake

● Also other than a victim, who was Jericho? I need to know who this kid who drew scribbles in the margins of his very important journal while writing about how he was slowly being killed was. What was his relationship really like with his brother if he was so scared to say that he was dying or what gave him the impression that he didn't care?? It's fascinating and I need him under a microscope immediately

● Also the lack of queer representation until the last two books. AND THEN IT WASN'T EVEN ANY OF OUR MAIN CAST. Literally the saddest L ever :(

● AND AARON WAS NEVER CONFIRMED QUEER LIKE WHAT THE FUCK JUST L O O K AT HIS CHARACTER AND INFACT ALL OF OUR CORE CAST IS AT LEAST BI LIKE C O M E O N (ik they're like kids but even I knew I was not straight when I was like 11 and i lived in the most conservative non-LGBTQ-friendly town known to man)

● Low key, callmara was so bad, like I love them but not the way it happened, horrible set up. Tamara deserved so much better and to not have her entire character destroyed by becoming a love interest. I wish they thought about her as an independent character instead of the means to implement a romantic subplot in tgt, they did so good in the first books with that

● Also there's no elaboration on what chaos is. It's the mystical 5th element. Wow! Let's go girl, give us nothing! You'd think that if Makaris were so exceptionally rare and special that we'd get some explanation on how they come to be and what it is exactly that they can control but we're just left to assume it's the special "chosen one" type of thing. Idk it bothers me for some reason :/

That's just off the top of my head and it's been years since I read the series all the way through (I should do a reread soon). For the most part I adore this funky series and I hate to bash it but I felt the need to ramble about it's shortcomings because I'm not crazy, right?? It had so much potential! Anyway, I'm sort of glad for the blanks in the story despite complaining about them because it leaves room for fics and fan interpretations that I always love to see, but on the other hand, I'd like for the story to feel finished and not like a last minute science fair project.

Thanks for sticking around for my late night rambling lmao

[yuukei-yikes]

I've been a longtime kagepro fan but I feel like u understand the actual lore details better than me so I gotta ask HOW THE HELL DID KONOHA END UP IN HIBIYA AND HIYORIS DAZE ? konohas state of the world is one of my fave songs from the entire series but I've never understood that part and I'm really hoping u do 😭

you know i was gonna write a post abt this a few days ago cause i was thinking about it. this is frankly, probably the one thing or one of the few things i genuinely CANNOT understand. i seriously just have no fucking clue how konoha gets trapped in it with them. basically, i personally headcanon the daze sort of "glitched" both because konoha is there and because hibiya and hiyori's wishes were overlapping.

hibiya and hiyori's timeloop happens because they both fit the wish/eye ability of focusing eyes, so the daze has a difficult time choosing which one to let live, from my understanding at least. it finally decides when hibiya sacrifices himself. in second manga route, hiyori gets it though. so they both fit it. which is. funny. because every ability is related to a wish, and the daze chooses who survives based on wishes fitting an eye ability, for example kido wanting to disappear from the kido mansion, then gets concealing eyes, or kano wanting to hide his mother's abuse, getting deceiving eyes. but hibiya and hiyori FROM WHAT I KNOW don't even HAVE canon wishes like these.

like we dont actually KNOW why they both fit focusing eyes, it's probably because they wanted "to find each other" in that very specific moment rather than a general wish. so, konoha wanting to save them/also find them, is ALSO fitting this wish which is how he gets swallowed by the daze right then too. since konoha is literally just awakening eyes, it wasn't recognized as a person so that's why the 3 of them get inside the daze together (even though in manga route 2, ayano and her parents also enter the daze together. ugh. i hate second manga route it's so fucking stupid). and since it's a snake, it technically can't have a wish (even though it does end up getting one in the good end), so "he can just stand there and watch" as hibiya puts it, angry konoha never actually helped during the loop. so we know konoha was there, hibiya and hiyori knew he was there, he just literally could not do anything even though he tried.

sorry i couldn't actually explain it, maybe i'm wrong and i just didn't understand it well. but i think generally, hibiya and hiyori's whole thing is pretty much the most unclear and messiest part of the story or the one that has the most "plot holes" (right behind it, haruka/takane/ayano's aug 15 follows with the weird ass plot holes. but i also have my hcs for that one lol)

it's one of those things that really reminds you kagerou project was A PROJECT, and jin was seriously writing as he went. this is why i like calling it a clump story. jin had many characters in mind and generally did a pretty good job linking them all together, but with hibiya and hiyori, they feel a lot more disjointed from the story. like hibiya isn't even related in any way to ANYONE, only to hiyori, who is only related to the group because she's a side characters' secret little sister. then they get related to konoha, who's entire existence also requires some prior understanding (even today i'd say some fans don't know konoha =/= haruka) so it's like... a Reach. i feel like jin had the good idea to write the plot for the kagerou daze song and then had a really hard time actually fitting it into the story he ended up polishing.

[nanapop]

Demon's Fate has been decided

Hey everyone, I've got some bad news 😭

I've decided to shelve Demon's Fate indefinitely and I have posted a devlog regarding this on the game's page, which you can read >here<

But I also will probably get deeper into the reasoning behind it here since this is my blog and feels less like a "professional" space and I'm thinking that getting my thoughts out might help me to move on from this one and better help me focus on new projects without feeling guilty about it.

So gonna pop this all under a read more, feel free to skip the rest of the post and just read the itch version!

So in the itch post I mention lack of motivation and consistently being unhappy with the results as the main reasons behind wanting to put this one down. I also talk about how I've had these characters and their stories (specifically Vy) hanging around with me for over a decade. & I feel like all of these things combined really made it hard for me to really get into making this game.

A Cruel Demon's Fate was originally going to be a novel, with Vy as the main character and it followed him after he fled from the demon realm after the death of Damin and his impending crowning. I tried to rewrite the story multiple times, over the span of like five years and I only ever got a few chapters in before I decided that I hated the way it was coming out (sounds really familiar, huh). So the story got put away for later.

Then I decided to try out visual novels. I'd always found the medium interesting and fun, the art side of it really spoke to me as someone who enjoys doing drawings of their characters and stuff. So Demon's Fate felt like a good starting point. I had all the characters and a loose plotline, though I reworked it to fit the style a little better. Now instead of Vy being the focus, it was all of the brothers and the story would take place in the palace specifically.

Maybe this was the first mistake I made. The story had already previously been difficult for me to fully get into, despite the want to work with the characters. I think the lack of motivation partially stemmed from the fact that I had failed so many times before to make something from this idea. The previous plots and their failures kind of stained the entire project from the start.

As much as I wish I could have started with a clean slate, it just didn't work out that way. So I wound up being unhappy with all the writing in this new version just like the old versions.

Something I didn't mention in the itch post is how throughout all the years, this story and the characters had been brainstormed with friends and so the whole thing really just feels tied to those relationships, and they're relationships I no longer have nor look back on fondly anymore. So perhaps that's part of the problem too.

The whole things is too close to a past that I've been working on detaching myself from and while I will always love these characters and will probably always toy with the what-ifs of them in the back of my mind, it just doesn't seem feasible for me to continue to force myself to work with them.

So, now that I've gotten all of that out. I won't be taking the game down, you can still play through the prologue if you want to. But I won't be picking this back up again. If I do, it'll be in a completely new setting/plot or as a series of mini stories with each of the boys, I don't know. For now, I'll just let them rest and focus on fresh projects that don't have emotional attachment to things I no longer wish to think about.

That's all. I am really grateful for those of you who have shown interest in this project and all the other ones I've posted about. It really means a lot to me and I hope that I continue to see you guys around when I post about new stuff 🧡

[skibasyndrome]

Hello Simon! I have a few questions about smut writing I'd like to ask. So I was reading one of your fic and I thought you'd be the best to answer them though feel free to ignore if it's annoying! My first question is do you make a difference between smut that's purely smut and smut that goes a little more into narrative story so either there's a setting or you go deeper into what people think and why they do it? My other question is which one do you gravitate more to and why ? Do you ever feel called to write something just for the sake of it or do you always have to have a sort of plot into it? Do you ever get afraid to write certain things, was there ever a pairing or a certain situation that made you think I can't publish this or I have to publish this anonymously? Thank you in advance if you feel inclined to reply. Have a lovely day :)

Hey anon!! Thank you so much for the question, it's not annoying at all, I love to yap about fic and everything around it!! 💜

Hmmm. So. I think there's definitely a difference to be made between longer fics that have sex scenes vs smut oneshots, like there's definitely a significant difference in levels of narrative framing most of the time. I don't think I have very many examples of the longer fics with just some scenes though 😅 In my case it's really mostly "just" smut oneshots/ficlets. And... hmmm. Well...

I've always had a bit of a problem with the concept of pwp, just like... definition-wise, you know? (it's a bit of a running theme that a lot of concepts around fic aren't as well defined as I'd like them to be from an analytical or just i-wanna-know-what-I'm-talking-about standpoint). Because, like, what is "enough" plot, really? How do you measure plot content? Who decides if plot can only be "person A overcomes obstacle" and not "person A discovers something very small but new about themselves"? Idk, it's all very up in the air to me, so I personally rarely use the term to categorize my own or other people's smut fics, unless I'm talking colloquially about them.

I've always thought that, for smutty oneshots, just... the characters having an experience is enough for it to inherently have a plot already? Idk, they love each other, they miss each other, maybe they hate each other, they have sex of some kind, they feel some type of way about it. While it's stagnant in the sense that, usually, no thing outside of them or their relationship is changed by the act, I still think that there's significant change or action happening within them for me to see plenty of plot/narrative story. So in that sense... I don't know, I think for me every smutty idea already comes with enough plot for me to go "nice! a story to tell!", so I don't have those moments of contemplating whether I should post something despite there being nothing behind it, because to me it's always fundamentally loaded with meaning already?

But, okay, with that preamble out of the way, I think there's some more nuance to be had here probably 🙈 I'm always just speaking from my own standpoint and I know that I have my own way of writing wilmon and writing smut. Because, to me, the "mechanics" are only a small part of everything. When I've talked to friends about this before I've said something to the effect of "we all know how the sex part goes", because... yeah, we know, anatomically, what's happening (even though I love bringing in those little actions and moments and movements where something physical happens that's maybe a little unexpected, for both the reader and the characters, just because I love to try to have it be a completely new scene every time). So, idk, I guess my poetology (which feels pretentious to say but I mean... that's what it is) is to always add something onto the pure "mechanics", because that alone wouldn't necessarily make the story worth telling to me.

I always implicitly ask myself a couple of questions when I'm writing (in general, but especially with smut), like "who are these characters? where are they at emotionally? what reason would they be having sex for?" and THAT is where it all comes together. And, I mean, the parameters can be extremely "basic" (e.g. they're an aged up version of the characters we know, established longterm relationship, feeling cheery after a fun day out, having sex because it's fun and they like it), but where it gets fun is trying to describe everything so that the reader gets as clear a picture of these people and their inner workings as possible. I try to sprinkle thoughts and ideas and worries and feelings in between all the "mechanics". The question is rarely ever only "what are they doing", but "why do they do it like this?", "what is one or are both characters feeling when they do this?", "how is this different or very similar to other times?", "what are they figuring out about themselves or each other or their relationship?", "what do they want to happen?", etc.

I mean, as you probably know if you've read my fics, I love to write very explicit sex scenes, so the "mechanics" are a huge part of it all, but I hope that all the other things that I add in there to tie it together shine through. So.... in that sense..., I guess I'm very far on the going into what people feel side of things 😅

That's a slightly different conversation to be had I think, but this is also why I think I could probably read just about any kink or any practice out there if it was portrayed in a style that I enjoy reading, because it's never just about what's going on (even though I of course have very subjective opinions on what is, just conceptually, especially hot to me), but about why this works for the character(s). That's also why writing kink or different sexual dynamics and especially something like the kinktober prompst are such fun challenges to me, it's just a fun mental exercise to go "what would make character x enjoy y. why is he into it, what does it give him?" and to try and make it clear to the readers that 1) the character(s) is/are extremely into this and 2) they're into it for a couple reasons, here they are (although: caveat - I don't believe in psychoanalysis enough to be of the opinion that the reasons why always need to be named explicitly ooor that the characters are even aware. idk, sometimes a character just likes to be choked because it makes his brain go fuzzy and that's all the knows. sometimes it's almost a little unrealistic to me if the motives are perfectly clear in every single situation).

And, because l generally write the way I do because I like it, this is pretty much my preference when reading fic as well. There are some fics out there that just aren't for me personally, and that's cool, because they're for other people. I think in my case that's smut that feels like there's almost exclusively "mechanics" or not enough depth into the characters and/or their situation. Because, like I said, that's the part that I already know, the particular emotions and thoughts and feelings are what interest me and what, frankly, makes smut not only emotionally impactful, but also "hot" to me in the first place. What's "hot" to me is very rarely the "what" of it all.

Conversely though, I do sometimes thing "oh, I wanna write x sex act for wilmon", but the thoughts about the inner workings of the characters are always already included in that, like, idk, when I wrote the collar fic the initial idea was "I want to write wilmon collar fic", but the only way I was able to write it was by figuring out the why and how and what are they feeling.

And WHILE WE'RE AT IT, posting THAT fic in particular was fuuucking terrifying, and I was only able to because I had some lovely friends encouraging me and telling me that, even if that whole concept and the kinks in it aren't something they usually read, it "worked" for them the way I described it. And I've also gotten a few comments on it along those lines, which is honestly the loveliest feedback I could've gotten, because it's exactly picking up what I'm putting down!

Frankly, for someone who writes this much smut I should probably be a looooot braver about it at this point. But I still very, very much get a little scared whenever I post about a kink I haven't written before, or when I play around with the relationship dynamics (like threesome fic. TERRIFYING. I was probably more scared of posting that one than posting daddy kink, just because it felt like threesomes weren't very welcome). I've never seriously thought about having to publish anonymously, just because I do like the... idk... integrity? archival ideal? of having all my published works under one name. But I've definitely thought about not publishing some fics. Maybe most fics that were a step into some new kind of territory, actually.

But I also gotta say that I've been getting successively more brave overall and less scared of losing all my friends and every follower for posting a single kinky fic. And I love that for me, I'm very happy that I was able to shed some of those fears :)

Sooooo, that was very long and rambly, sorry about that 🙈 But I hope I answered your questions in a somewhat satisfactory way, but please feel free to follow up if anything remains unclear or if you (or anyone else reading along) has anything to say! Again, I love talking about fic and writing and smut and everything around it, so this was super fun to get into! thank youuuu 💜💜💜

[waddingham]

20 Questions for (Fanfiction) Writers

hihi sage :) @broadwayfreak5357 thanks for tagging me 🥰

1. How many fics do you have on ao3?

50

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

744,207

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

leg fic 💀

wildflowers (which has slowly crept up this far? somehow?)

two sweethearts and the summer wind :)

it's a symptom of your touch (it makes me so happy this is still top 5 lol)

someday 🥺

4. What fandoms do you write for?

actively right now, just ted lasso. but i've written for schitt's creek, twin peaks, and written for but never shared x-files

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

listen. i'm just a severely antisocial girl, staring at almost 4,000 comments, wishing LIKE HELL i could be that person 😭 i did originally on my first tl fic and i so badly wanted to keep going because i am SO grateful for every comment and reader I get, but now I'm so behind I genuinely wouldn't know where to start

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hmm. i don't do angsty endings really. maybe in the cracks of light just bc i was talking about it with a friend once and they said they genuinely didn't know which section was truly the dream section and i'm obsessed with that idea.

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

probably someday? I don't know. i end most of my fics in a happy place. or at least a hopeful one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no, thankfully. i don't mind criticism but hate would piss me off

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

yes, i do. the sexy kind.

10. Do you write crossovers?

no. they don't hold much interest for me

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

no, but i had a joke from one of my early fics stolen which is honestly just funny lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

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

no. that sounds so stressful fldndkdnd

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

it's gotta be mulder and scully. the way they ate my brain up for years on end......the way I read quite literally EVERY fic on gossamer.....most timeless ship on the planet

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

oh the western au. rest in peace my beloved </3

16. What are your writing strengths?

ive been told i write really gutteral emotions in a way that comes across very strongly. unfortunately i don't really know how I do that but I'm very glad people feel it when they read certain stories of mine.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i can be too heavy handed and overwrite things. in my more recent wips, I've gotten a lot better at showing instead of telling and trusting the reader to understand the nuances rather than explain them. also if I overthink a plot, or the order of scenes, it literally all falls apart. if I do anything but flow along from one scene to the next, I can't put the story back together. (again — rip western au)

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

I don't know why I'd have thoughts on this. if it makes sense, go for it. I've done it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

x-files, but as far as posted fic, it's some twin peaks ficlets that you could not pay me to reread, but i can't bring myself to orphan lol

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

this is a hard question because in terms of how the final product came out, it's probably a song of mourning, but my favorite experience with posting a fic was most definitely the escort au, BUT my favorite ones to actually write have been the vampire au and someday (though she needs [and will soon be getting!] a major edit) so i don't know. it doesn't help that if I have even a slight dislike of a project I simply won't post it lmao so the things that have made it up are there because I really liked them

[superkooku]

Me ranting about the Dorian Gray Netflix adaptation

Today, instead of complaining about Greek mythology adaptations, I'm ranting about this one ! In general, I think adaptation ≠ original story inspired by some existing work. In the latter case, I'm 100% for artistic freedom. Do what you want, if your character is female you can inspire yourself from male chatacters, I don't have the right to tell you anything.

But I think adapting a work requires, well, adapting TO said work and respect it. Which gets me to Netflix's future adaptation of The picture of Dorian Gray.

I know, there's not any news since August/September 2024 but I read the book relatively recently and have a lot of thoughts about it. And I hope this project is cancelled because... oh boy is that a mess !

So, in short, there's not a lot of material, which makes the fact that they ruined the whole story in ONE SENTENCE even more impressive ! I expect more of this kind of changes, unfortunately.

Basically, Dorian and Basil are now siblings ! Because... idk. We're in 2025. The freaking 2009 version got away with a kiss between them just fine, so why just remove Basil being a simp this important plot of the book ?

I have a brother, we're on very good terms but it's obvious that I never looked at him like Basil does Dorian, I'd never compare him to Adonis or Antinous (Hadrian's lover, not the one from the Odyssey), I'd never spent time painting him in all those poses or defend him like an angel. Siblings just don't do that 🤣.

Portraying sibling affection is fine and adorable but Basil's fascination is NOT brotherly and I thought it was obvious for everyone. Or they'd go in a weird incest direction, idk. Otherwise, the relationship and character interactions of the book will lose their charm and what made them so tragically interesting.

Another change that's kinda iffy is the "Doran" thingy. I'm hoping it's a typo and not genderbending Dorian into a woman. Because no, it's not feminist at all to do that, there are tons of stories about feminine beauty and Dorian's just isn't one of them. Plus there's just no point in doing that other than doubly killing the gay.

Want to make beautiful women relevant? Give Sibyl Vane and the other female characters more screen time. How about Gladys for example? She appears pretty late and is underused. Let her have more time !

Want sibling interactions ? Sibyl and James are literally RIGHT HERE. Give them more interactions that don't focus on Dorian or stuff. More about the Vane family, the sibling's career ambitions, living without a father and in more poverty than the rich main characters, how Sibyl's death affected James and his mother, how he festered his hate towards the "prince charming" for years and his feeling when Dorian got away. This could translate well in a modern setting too.

Or small stuff like making Lord Henry's wife divorce him on screen, this moment would be SO delightful to watch (fanservice for me).

In general, there are tons of better ideas that would flesh out secondary characters and keep it faithful to the book. How about more scenes with Alan Campbell, who's pretty mysterious?

Or adding OCs ! Since there's a lot of room to do that in the time skip where Dorian meets a lot of people (and ruins their lives).

Heck, coming back to the 2009 version, adding a time skip and the concept behind Emily isn't bad. Though the ending of this movie is also a mess and it makes questionable changes in general, it'd be way better and faithful than whatever I'd expect after reading this stuff.

As for the "modern beauty industry aspect", I can't really say anything since I don't have enough material.

Anyways, there's a lot of potential by adapting this simple story and fleshing out secondary characters other than the core three (that obviously need to stay at the center of the story, especially our eponymous golden boy, but maybe not exclusively them). This cast of characters is just so delightfully flawed that there's a lot of drama material.

Though I say that as someone who read and loved the original novel, which I don't think is the case for the people in charge of this adaptation 😅

What do you think ? I'd love some answers!

Edit : I spelled Sibyl's name wrong

[gracebethartacc]

You've been answering a buncha mlp asks so I thought maybe I'd send something :3

Kinda wondering if you'd want to talk more about your version of Spike? Ideas you might have for a character arc or smaller plotlines, maybe? Or maybe just talk about the Sparkle family in general, like how his relationship to Twilight is throughout the series

I just like some of the ideas you've mentioned with him before, so I was wondering if there's anything else you might wanna say about him :)) yay

YAYYY I LOVE ASKSSSS

I LOVE SPIKE HRAHHHHH WEREWOLF SHIRT RIP I HATE HOW HES TREATED IN THE SHOW AND FANDOM SOBSSSSS

Not thought too hard on an overall arc but i definitely would enjoy a spike coming into his own away from twilight plot in which twilight has to cope with the idea of spike not always being by her side like this isn’t Just her assistant this is her little sibling who has been attached at the hip for her since she was a filly but it also would be good for spike bc aforementioned spike gets regulated to just assistant/helper a lot so them sort of finding their own identity would be really sweet methinks, also would love to have spike interact with the others more like I only ever remember him being paired with twilight rarity or AJ that was IT I never remember seeing a spike and flutters or spike and RD plot why did we not get him w the others more but then i remember the show didn’t treat him like a main character and I go ohhhh ok that’s why ALSO IN MY RW IM KILLING THE RARITY CRUSH DEAD. EXPLODE. GIVE HIM A ACTUAL CHARACTER BESIDES LITTLE BOY WITH CRUSH ON ADULT PLZ.. maybe if I used it it can yk actually be used for a lesson about boundaries/why it’s ok for a kid to have a crush on someone older but the older person shouldn’t have to play along/have communication between the two instead of. Yk. Rarity leading him on….. Why Did Girl Do That💀

I def think I wanna play into my spike being an aspiring author, maybe would have a thing similar to rainbow wanting to join the wonderbolts of spike writing a story they want to actually get published and it end up happening late series !! :3 smth like that, maybe we follow them adding plot points or things inspired by the adventures they and the mane six go on like uses irl events as inspo for the book etc

aforementioned I def wanna have more spike and other characters interacting bc it didn’t happen much, also I kinda like the idea of maybe bc twi had to hatch him that perhaps all the students at tias school have dragons or little familiars to be their assistants/helpers, but bc twi was younger/prob a child prodigy in some way her family all took care of spike like a second kid than like a assistant, also adds to like an almost witch theme w the school bc i love mlp being more fantasy esc :3 like just imagine this huge magic school campus with ponies walking around alongside dragons and phoenix’s and breezies trailing behind or alongside them that sounds so fun visually ITS A MAGIC SCHOOL DAMMIT LET IT LOOK MAGICAL !!!! <3

[yuseirra]

Hi there, lovely artist!

I have no idea if you answer these kinds of question, but considering what we see in the manga. Do you have any headcanons on how the twins see Hikaru and how Hikaru would see the twins? What would they like/dislike about each other? Or would the twins just hate Kamiki, without feeling anything else?

Hello lovely anon! I can't promise you that I will, because I have to say, I'm not very confident about talking about things I'm not sure of.

In terms of fandom, I tend to focus very hard on these very specific plot points I get interested and intrigued in... as for the rest of the work, I would have broad ideas. I would care about how things flow overall, but I don't really feel like I could ever be one of those fandom experts who come to answer every part of a work in depth. Some people can do it, and they're really amazing!///

If there's something I really want to talk about or have thought in depth, I feel I would come to bring it up on my own eventually. 'v')/ So if I had to choose between "yes, I answer them" and "no, I don't", I'd say it'd be the latter because I can only talk about the things I have a strong idea or a sense of conviction towards!

You're really nice though, and your question here is a little bit on the border(?) in terms of what I thought about, so it's something I can try and answer a bit on my end, but it may not be as well as I'd like at the moment.

I've been drawing a lot of fanarts of Hikaru, right?

I drew some comics with him hoarding some familial feelings towards the twins, I feel he acknowledges/considers himself as their father.

In the third one that I linked, I had him say "I like it. I like having kids who take after us(him and AI). They are what you've left behind." I think that's a summary of how I think he thinks of his kids.

The idea that Hikaru has fatherly feelings for the twins comes right out from his mouth in CH 153, and there's no reason to take that as a lie. He didn't need to say that at all, and he was preparing to leave Aqua and be gone for good out of their lives(hey Aqua you didn't need to point your knife at him then;; he was already planning to do it in the first place)

I also wrote quite a few analyses that he does care for his children and he loves them all. I wrote about that even in my first in-depth analysis of him- I'll just bring along the full phrasing I had in that post.

Kamiki advising Aqua and Ruby aligns with my interpretation of his character. These actions seem sincere. Given his affection for Ai, he may feel some warmth towards their children, as he once referred to Ruby as "our" children. He's also been able to see through how Aqua is in a very accurate sense, he seems to have watched him intently. Hence, when Aqua approached him, he expressed his feelings honestly.

To Aqua, he says stuff like "you might find me detestable, but I was glad to talk like this with you", and he gives some advice to Ruby too in a pretty kind way, actually. These actions are likely genuine. It's only natural to find the children, who resemble themselves and their loved one, adorable. Just as Ai told the twins, while dying, that she was glad to have given birth to the children, I think Kamiki, even if they didn't love the children as much as they do for Ai, would at least be happy about their existence. I believe Kamiki would have kept a distant watch over them all along. It's just that he couldn't approach them.

I feel like he'd have been a good father. He's being really patient with Aqua in 160 as well, he does not get agitated or show signs of frustration even while having a lot of strong words and accusations being thrown at him. If all went well and Ai and he really had become family.. he'd have been a very soft and loving kind of dad I think. I drew a few comics with that sort of idea. If he'd actually gone and went to meet the kids, he'd have been soft around them and Ai. The way I see it, he CAN give his life for his kids as well as for Ai's.

What he'd like and dislike about them, huh?

I'm not sure what he'd dislike about the twins... I actually don't see this character having a dislike in people because he never harshly treats anyone (come on, he STILL adds a -kun to Ryosuke's name, it's just-;;)

He seems to be watching Ruby's performances intently, I think he really likes seeing his daughter shine, and he visibly shows happiness when she claims she'll be an idol that surpasses her mother. For whatever reason, he's HAPPY. and he's watching Ruby's performance through his phone in 159. I was thinking that maybe he was going to go sacrifice himself for Ai (in 155 he did leave on a note saying he's going to do something for Ai, right...) but he's seeing Ruby's stage last thing before he has to go? Could THAT be it if that plot point ISN'T a lost cause? Anyhow, he really seems to like seeing his daughter.

As for Aqua, I think he relates to him and views him as his son who's been going through the same struggles he's been. I think he worries/is concerned over Aqua because.. he's been there, in the same places he's been. That whole mention of the black star eyes in 160? I think that's him trying to relate to him, seeing how his son is so keen about lies. You have those same eyes, you've been doing the same things I've been doing, it was fun, wasn't it(a question meant to be answered on a negative note)? I think that's what he's trying to get at, actually.. Although Aqua doesn't take it that way and the whole chapter addresses it in a really ambiguous manner. He was quite understanding of Aqua in 152 too.

So for Ruby, I feel Kamiki sees her as a daughter who will go beyond Ai (he's proud of her) and for Aqua, I think he takes him as his son who resembles him in ways he actually didn't want for it to be- thus has some concerns over.

I've made a lot of analysis about Hikaru in order to characterize him in my fanworks of him well, so I could talk about how he'd feel, I actually haven't thought so much of how the twins would feel towards him and I'd just take what the manga throws at me on this XD Here's what I got though,

Ruby wasn't able to forgive him and really loathed her father for quite a while in the plot, but somehow, she decided to forgive him even before Aqua could. Maybe this was because she decided to move on to the future and save everyone by becoming the best idol ever, and maybe it was because she played the role as Ai in the movie and understood the feelings her mother had towards her dad. She still wanted to inquire him as he left in 155, though, so I wonder what would have actually happened if that happened.

Aqua is a bit confusing for me, he's the one who played as his dad in the movie, so theoretically, he should be the one who understands Kamiki the most but I'm not so sure if he actually does. That part is still left pretty vague. Is he harsh towards his dad because he knows his true colors? Are his accusations towards him in ch 160 really how things were in an accurate sense? Because I hope not, it does not make sense for me if it is, not because I favor Kamiki but I just can't stand the idea of Ryosuke and Nino being the ones that have been manipulated into stabbing people. It CAN'T be that way, the story will be so ugly if it leads to that conclusion. It's just weird, too.

He still says he feels like killing Kamiki when he talks to Ichigo after he's left... so I think he hates him. From what I've been getting from 160 is that he's aware that Ai really wanted to save and loved Kamiki, but he thinks he's beyond hope, and is a despicable liar who's murdered people for his own gain so he needs him gone from his life. So it's mostly dislike I see. Aqua associates his negative characteristics with Kamiki and that could mean he does have something he finds he can relate to in a sense, but is this really an accurate depiction he has? Does he know about his dad as much as he should? I'm really biased on this one at this point but I feel like he STILL doesn't understand either his mother, or his father. He says he wants to fulfill Ai's wish, but he wasn't aware that she could cry until Ruby made her performance. He might have gotten a better grasp of Ai at this point compared to that, but.. if he realizes how much love she has for Kamiki, then he'd see how strong her wishes were. Was there really no room for Aqua to see his father in a better light?

In short, they all do have complex feelings towards each other but

Kamiki>Ruby,Aqua: Pure love. He does have fatherly feelings for the both of them and cares about both his children

Aqua>Kamiki : Hate. Feels he's irredeemable, associates him with his negative sides and feels they are the same in that aspect. Wants him gone.

Ruby>Kamiki : Ambiguous, but I don't think she has any initiative to have had any positive feelings towards Kamiki? Maybe a bit of sympathy, understood Ai loved him, but still Dislike. A little less hate compared to Aqua but that'd be because she wants to "head on to the future" and focus on her idol work. "Forgave him".. but really?; She probably didn't want him to die by Aqua's hands and get further associated with him that way as a foul memory.

Long post, I hope you enjoy! :) My comics tend to reflect the impression and my interpretations and I really care about the relationship dynamics when I draw them, so you'll be able to infer how I think about them through those too!

Hope you have a nice weekend!