#these FICTIONAL CHARACTERS do not have to be the smartest in the room

[mushroom-through-the-stargate]

this is going to be a controversial opinion.

Jack O'Neill is not secretly a genius sheppard-style and its a grave injustice to think so

he is an AMAZING soldier and he's good at his job and he loves his team. he doesn't need to be booksmart for that. this thing where characters HAVE to be "secretly geniuses" is a disservice. being "dumb" isn't necessarily a bad thing. jack can be dumb as a bag of hammers and still be good at his job and still deserve his spot on the team.

to the arguments that hes a colonel and so HAS to be booksmart - have you not ever scraped by a test or a certification by the skin of your teeth and the help of a study buddy? and those who say "but his hobby is ASTRONOMY" - do you need a phd in astrophysics to stargaze? do you need to give the store owner your dissertation to purchase a telescope? his best friend, the kid who gave him back his will to live, was on another planet. of COURSE he looked to the stars every chance he got.

he's allowed to be dumb. hes allowed to not be the smartest on his team. that doesn't take away from his many other skills. hes allowed to be stuffed with love and sarcasm instead of brains and still be a badass colonel and an amazing main character.

[bitimdrake]

Very unpopular opinion: I don't like Alfred. I can't handle the hypocrisy of canon and fanon treating him like he's some sort of angle while ignoring the bad stuff he's done and how he's an enabler, and that disconnect has him on the bottom of my ranking.

ohoho spicy. most unpopular opinions around here are still at least very popular among a small subgroup, but this is tasty, anon.

And you know what? I get it.

Alfred's an odd character narratively. He was surely never intended to be an enabler. He was a sort of "only sane man" snarky side character here to contrast with our lead, Batman, and point out all the ridiculous things Bruce did, but never have any true power to stop them.

Except. He does. Alfred's close relationship with Bruce, who values both his presence and his opinion, gives him a lot of power--and any modern version of the character, who was not just around since Bruce's childhood but very likely raised him for half of it, has even more.

So we ended up with this guy who is (Doylist) a side character and can't actually affect the story that much, but whose whole shtick is dryly pointing it stupid ideas and bad behavior. Which (Watsonian) leads to a man who is explicitly aware of all the bad stuff being done around him, and makes witty little comments, but doesn't actually do anything to stop it. And rarely even tries!

imo, Being an enabler is a core part of Alfred's characterization.

Which is one thing, and can be kinda entertaining, when what he's enabling is "man dresses like a bat to fight crime". Alfred, who pretends to be above it all and find it silly, but deep down believes in Batman despite himself and is just as crazy as the actual vigilantes? Lots of room to play.

But when what he's enabling is, say, his son-figure emotionally abusing his own kids, or putting overly high expectations on them, or kicking them out of the house...then it's a whole lot darker.

A lot of the fanon that turns Alfred into a perfect angel also turns Bruce into a good dad, avoiding that particular pitfall. But instead he gets treated as always knowing everything and always being liked by everyone, which (is boring as hell and) sends us right back to the "why isn't he doing anything??" problem whenever there is an issue that he is shown to definitely know about and know a perfect solution to, and yet...declines to solve it for some reason.

In the end, idk if I have a super strong opinion on Alfred overall. There are small ways to make him better or worse. But I do have a strong opinion that, damn, he is absofuckinglutely not perfect.

(Also, separately, you are so right about a disconnect being the most annoying thing about many characters. Most of my least favorite fictional characters are the ones who were blatantly favored by their creators and act stupidly/cruelly/whatever, but somehow get treated as the coolest and smartest anyway. Plus, who among us hasn't started to resent a character we were previously neutral about because of annoying fans?)

[ladygreenwithenvy]

Taste-Testing for the Merchant of the Depths

𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝 ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊ ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡｡˚°.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊⋆.˚｡ 𓇼

Category: General, Slight Fluff

Characters included: Azul Ashengrotto, Prefect (Gender Neutral)

Oneshot Prompt: Azul wins a game and has the Prefect taste a variety of new drinks for the Mostro Lounge’s new menu for this upcoming fall season. No drink tastes like the next, but at least you get to spend some time with a certain merman…

In honor of: @quartzztwst

𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝 ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊ ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡｡˚°.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊⋆.˚｡ 𓇼

“Now, now Prefect” Tutted Azul, his gloved hand gently pushing that suspiciously beautiful glass of a drink with a color you didn’t think was possible you could find in liquid form.

“It’s simply a taste test, we had our fun back in the Board Game Club, and last I recalled, I won our little bet; lest you wish for me to remind you the purpose of this evening’s rendezvous?”

You shook your head in a surrendered manner, knowing full well why you were sitting at an empty table within the walls of Mostro Lounge.

During a Board Game Club, you and Azul played a simple strategy game with an added stake for some won, where the winner has to do a simple favor for the other. Unsurprisingly, Azul won. It was probably not your smartest move to suggest a strategy game, you regret not suggesting a game revolved around luck, especially when you know how much this particular Housewarden detested them.

“You don’t need to remind me just…. Why does it look so….. Neon Green?” You’re half convinced that Azul just had Floyd mix up every green chemical available in the academy’s Laboratory.

“We’re making new drinks for the halloween season. I proposed that this year’s limited time drinks should be based on different common potions in popular fiction and monsters. This notable one is based on a potion ingredient” Azul replies, his tone audibly relaxed

“Oh, you’re having me drink Frog’s Breath. Stellar, man.” You hum. "The last time I saw a guy drink that, he didn't wake up, but sure. Let's repeat that particular cycle."

“I’m sorry, Frog’s Breath?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not a reference from your world…”

“Fucking bitter. Throw it out.”

“How honest” Remarks Azul gently, however his body language exhibited the complete opposite. He was surprised by the Prefect’s truthfulness. He was well aware of the sharp tongue you had, but to see you be so blunt had even shocked him. Not that he minded, of course. There’s a reason he confided in you for it.

“It’s like all you did was blend limes and every sour candy ever. Chill it out a bit, damn” The Prefect grumbles.

“Is it truly that sour? Goodness, I had created this one with Floyd and was hoping for a more bittersweet aftertaste. I was under the impression that we had balanced it well enough.” Azul looked down at his notebook and took quick notes, pushing the end of his quill. Truthfully, he had tasted it beforehand when trying to fix the bitterness. He just wanted to see your reaction to the taste. Afterall, there's a group that panders to these types of drinks- but they're not worth making and selling if they only pander to the minority.

“Is the sweetness in bittersweet in the room with us right now?” Asks the Prefect sarcastically, to which Azul only rolled his eyes. That of course following a scoff. “This might have given Riddle’s famous oyster tart a run for its money for uniqueness.”

Azul knew for a fact that your last line was by no means a compliment, but then again, none of what you said fell under praise. “Alright, alright. You’ve made your point. Next drink”

You were handed water to wash the first one down. You leaned back against the smooth leather seating of the cafe, allowing the cool atmosphere to relax before you heard the sound of a plate pressed against the marble table. You opened your eyes, and watched as Jade set down your second mystery drink and bowed- leaving to return to the kitchen.

It was so cute and pink. And the frosting was white and frothy. Upon closer inspection, it looks like there’s strawberries too. They’re even cut up to look like hearts. It’s positively adorable. You guessed in your head that it was most likely based on a love potion.

You didn’t think twice before sipping it. Enticement was on the playing field and Azul took instant note of that.

He also took notice of your reaction, trying to ascertain your final statement to the beverage before you could say it. You swallowed it swiftly and smacked your lips. Once again the drink left you nothing short but surprised.

“Cocaine might be easier to consume than this, but fuck was it delightful”

“Goodness,” Azul smiled from disbelief. At this point, he found your colorful honesty to be nothing short of entertaining. He found himself more eager to hear your reactions than to your critiques. Uhm- not that he was avoiding them, of course.

“Too sweet?” He asks, though it was obviously in a rhetoric sense.

“Far too sweet, but there’s a charm to it” You’re saying this genuine. You loved sweet drinks, and this was no exception. As cloying as it was, you couldn’t seem to stop yourself from taking more and more sips. You smiled. Delighted by it.

“Sort of tastes like these super sweet bobas back at home, they had lots of caramel and whipped cream.. But this one is just as good…”

Azul’s eyes would perk up at that little detail. You did not speak much of your home, and the merman knew better than to pry anyone’s past like that. Surely, even he had some limits when it came to prying into your business (Not like it would be easy anyway). But there was this care in your voice as you reminisce about something so small. To him, it was actually quite sweet.

Maybe even sweeter than that drink you were being so giddy about.

“... Let’s head on to the next drink, okay?”

It was the last drink, the fifth one you noted.

Thank goodness it was too. After that pink drink, you really only took necessary sips. They were pretty good after that, but you were getting full just by looking at them.

But this last one was… something.

It was nothing like the others. It stood out, but not for the most positive of reasons.. It was so plain looking that your first instinct was to question if the Octa-Trio was pulling your leg here.

It was dark green, but that was it. No gummies in the drink to make it look a bit more presentable. No . The liquid looked thick enough to perhaps be a simple smoothie. Not that you would complain if it was just a smoothie, of course. But it was curious. What an anticlimactic end.

“This is a separate one from the menu. Jade insisted that we make these healthy shakes directed for the student body, on account of how hard working they’re being during the making of their stations for this year’s Halloween. We’re also making fruit smoothies” Explains the second year with a relaxed hum, fixing his silver frames before glancing back at you

You were aware that Azul was part of the Halloween Committee this year, along with Jade. That explains this suspiciously red flaggy token of benevolence.

Not wanting to waste time, you once more picked up the glass

You lifted up the glass, and took a very light sip from the straw.

You perked up.

“Oh!” You took another sip.

“Okay, wait, this isn’t so bad” You comment, your expression relaxed. “Spinach with banana, those are the main ingredients with this one… and other fruits too? It’s better than I thought it’d be” You hum, taking another.

“Though, I’m curious, there’s this one thing that- Ah?!” You yelped, and quickly pushed the drink away from you.

Concerned, Azul stops taking notes immediately. He had his own serving of the same drinks you were having this whole time, and while he quietly jotted down his own opinions, he had been listening to yours. When he drank from this one, he found nothing wrong in particular.

He took another sip from his own to try and discern it. “Spinach, oats, banana, milk, apples…. Wait a minute, something’s in here that’s not in the- Hm?!”

It was then that he understood why Yuu yelped in such a way and struggled to speak. His tongue was paralyzed. Azul didn’t even need to put two and two together.

This was the work of a mushroom. And there's only one audacious eel in this dorm to have enough gall to mess with any of Azul's recipes for the sake of "Bringing his findings in the limelight."

In less than a minute, he found himself pushing that glass of water to you as a way to motion to wash it down. Right after that he stood from his seat-

"JAAAAAADE!!"

Note to self, never do taste testing for the Octa-trio, even if your life depends on it.

At least the pink drink was good.

Author's Note

𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝 ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊ ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡｡˚°.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊⋆.˚｡ 𓇼

Hope you liked my first actual oneshot thingy here.

This was a present for Miss @quartzztwst , I hope you liked it! I wanted to make something simple, but lighthearted as an easy read ^-^

I hope to improve better and faster as I learn how to write here on Tumblr. I'm quite new when it comes to uploading this sort of stuff like this... Still, there will be longer and more fluffier fics.

For more of my fanfics, go HERE to see my list of published fics (and other information)

Thank you! Buenas noches 💜

[sciderman]

Omfg he IS Daffy. Like. If we want to get into specifics…Wade’s entire life is that episode where Daffy keeps trying to play out the scene and the “animator” keeps drawing new ways to fuck up the scene. And after you’re certain Daffy has lost the tiny semblance of the sanity he had left, you pan out and it’s just Bugs in the animation studio closing the book on Daffy.

Oh man that tracks on so many levels. Especially the power exchange when Peter takes on the Daffy role and Wade gets to be Bugs. Even down to how Bugs dresses in drag, typically leaving Daffy to fend for himself in terms of the antagonist. When Wade dresses in drag or even simply wears a dress, even when Peter enjoys it he’s usually left to fend for himself against his biggest foe: his gender and sexuality.

Now I have to know…do you think Peter can get to a point where he’s taking up the Bugs role from time to time, or is he an eternal Daffy?

P.S.: Daffy is my FAVORITE.

i LOVE daffy, he's one of my favourite characters in fiction ever. and i've always said it, wade is very daffy duck coded.

wise guy ✅ funny way of talkin' ✅ ability to break the fourth wall ✅ tortured by the narrator ✅ mad about it ✅

even the kind of performative humour that's signature to looney tunes is hardwired into wade. the way he talks in early comics - even his debut series every issue is themed to ducks. i think it's all very intentional he's always meant to have been a looney tunes-esque figure, and that's the way he chooses to perform.

i was a looney tunes girlie growing up (my favourite) and watched looney tunes cartoons religiously and so SO much of my humour came from those cartoons and feeds into how i write wade (daffy and bugs are both like, the biggest inspirations for the way i write wade, no doubt. no doubt. i don't even know if i can point to any other characters as inspiration, save for wade himself.)

i'll squeeze in a clip from duck amuck (my favourite piece of media like, ever created ever.) please seek out the whole cartoon if you haven't - i really think it's one of the greatest cartoons ever made.

bugs and daffy's dynamic (especially in later content of them, where they're cosier and more self-aware) is a huge inspiration too - an odd couple that kind of hates each other because they're always, always diametrically opposed but kind of know each other so well and know each other's BIT so well that when they have each other's interests at heart and work together they are The Ultimate Duo with like, the most fire chemistry you've ever seen. the most unstoppable banter you've ever seen. when they're in a room together, absolutely no one else can get a word in. obsessed with that dynamic.

wade and peter are very bugs and daffy coded but it's dealers choice who gets to be bugs and who gets to be daffy. they're switches. i think it's all about who has the upper hand in the scenario - bugs usually has a confidence in a situation that comes from him knowing something daffy doesn't - (ergo, wade is usually the bugs. because he usually knows something peter doesn't.)

but... buuuuut, it's not always the case - and wade doesn't always have the upper hand when it comes to his dynamic with peter - particularly when he's feeling emotionally vulnerable. peter can handle those situations better than wade does. those moments, regrettably - happen more often in the fics than on the blog, because it usually happens when their clothes are off. (oops.)

wade's daffy moments happen when he's Not the smartest guy in the room, or things don't work out in his favour or he's not in control of the situation and he's being dramatic about it.

in those moments, peter gets to be the bugs. the level-headed guy who's in charge of the situation. i hope he gets more moments like that. because it's kind of insane that wade's usually the sane one here. and he needs to be dethroned.

peter needs more bugs bunny moments - and though i'm not sure when - olive and anita's warring divas dynamic fits the bugs and daffy model with so much more ferocity. they will be dropping pianos on each other. and you can guess who gets to be the bugs.

[akixana]

HIIII

so um i was scrolling on wikihow (as you do) and came across this!

ANYWAYS

i am opening up x reader writing requests (FOR REAL THIS TIME) with prompts!

all the prompts come from this article - https://www.wikihow.com/Tricky-Questions-to-Ask-Your-Boyfriend

Fandoms! TWISTED WONDERLAND PROJECT SEKAI ENSEMBLE STARS

PROMPTS

What’s your death row meal?

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Do you have any hidden talents?

What’s your dream vacation spot?

What’s one skill you wish you had?

What’s your favorite way to unwind?

What’s your most prized possession?

Do you prefer staying in or going out?

What’s the greatest character of all time?

What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?

If you could date any celebrity, who would it be?

If you could pick a new name for me, what would it be?

If you could have any superpower, what would you pick?

If I asked you to jump, would you ask “how high” or “why?”

If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you would buy?

If I had an identical twin, how would you know it’s really me?

Would you rather always win an argument or never argue at all?

Would you rather be the funniest or smartest person in the room?

If you could be another person for a day, who would it be and why?

If you could live in any fictional world, which one would you choose?

If someone gave you a time machine, what decade are you going to?

If you could only say one word for the rest of your life, what would it be?

If you could have dinner with 3 people, dead or alive, who would they be?

What would you save first if your house was on fire: me, the dog, or your computer?

Out of the two of us, who would be more likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?

If you had to relive the same day over and over, which day would it be and why?

[milkywayan]

a work friend hosted a board game night last evening, and invited one guy who was not from our work friend group

and he was such a 'you must be fun at parties' guy

it was so fucking annoying

like the games were simple, we were not super invested, and it was more about the fun, and he was just constantly trying to be super firm on the rules

we ended up being too many people for normal games, so we did this 'you have a thing written on the forehead and have to guess what it is' game and he was constantly shutting people down if they were 'rephrase the question' or answered on misleading ways (e.g. one was a fictional character who is alive in canon, and when the person asked 'am i alive' he said no, because technically a fictional character is not alive)

when it was his turn to ask about himself he asked the weirdest fucking questions ('am I a noun', 'am i in visual-audio media') ibstead of just asking 'am i a person' or whatever

he literally was at a borgame night with people either doing or already having a phd and tried to be the smartest person in the room it was so frustrating holy shit

[somevillainfuckery]

HH AU real?!

Now that tumblr has stopped logging me out and making me put in the password like- 5 times- HHGregg AU!!! Or well- kind of an AU. mostly just a bunch of junk me and a friend made cause we were joking on how many ways we could ruin a single mascots life. This starts when HH was a kid, back then, his [or around this time, her] name was Hazel Howells- because uh.. n a m e. Hazel had a pretty basic life yknow, loving parents, a stupid fuck for a brother, basic stuffs. One day, tho, she happened to be in the backyard, playing, enjoying her day when uh. She gets thwacked in the head. With a big ass branch. And then gets kidnapped by a dude named Noah. [Who the hell is Noah? Basically, dude lost his girl because she wanted a kid, and he couldn't provide- so he decided to cure his sad pathetic life with a crime.]

Please note this is a W.I.P AU, I do wanna make this better- but- the first couple of years Hazel spent with Noah were.. ok. at best. He took care of her, wasn't some big mean scary guy or anything, and did his best to keep her happy and safe. [You know how it is. Manipulation tactics.] She was still allowed outside the house and everything, she just couldn't wander too far off. The town they lived in wasn't really the best anyways. Eventually, Noah opens up a store of his own- hhgregg. He's the manager of his new store, Hazel is absolutely clueless about everything, and at this point, Noah got the kid he always wanted [since Hazel eventually started seeing him as her father], what could possibly go wrong! Other than the fact that the already large abundance of missing posters has now multiplied a little too much for comfort. So what does a kidnapper do in this scenario? Tell the child they kidnapped that uhhh the town was attacked and a little bit of an apocalypse is happening. [Noah isn't the smartest with his plans, can you tell?].. The employees questioned things, and Noah just told them its for her safety and that he'd raise their pay if they didn't say a thing. So thats what happened. One of the smaller back rooms was kinda just turned into a living area for Hazel, and she never left the store again. And she didn't mind, since she assumed it was much safer there than out in the town. Not much happened after all that. Think the most important detail to point out is why HH is a girl so far, and I believe its about time I explain [especially since now in this very messy timeline, this topic becomes important]. Transgender. HH is very trans coded to me, and because he's just a silly little fictional character, I can do what I want with him. Hazel didn't feel like a girl anymore, simple as that. She just wasn't happy with it. Lucky for whatever the hell this species is, transitioning isn't hard, the only thing that went wrong was the fact he refused to let anyone help him cut his hair. He cut it aaaall by himself, and thats basically how he reaches the "hey barber, fuck my shit up" hair-do. Once again, more basic store stuffs, nothing interesting for a little while, until Noah decides to make HH [who ofc runs by Henry now] the store mascot. HH thinks its a cool idea, so a little hair dye later [because a mascot has to be cool, and whats cooler than red hair?], and a quick change in his current vessel, and he's set. {btw- wtf is a vessel? the hhgregg ad that makes up his body basically. His kind can use anything for a body} and I'm gonna cut it off here. Why? Well, I do have an OC that I ship with HH, but that whole part of it is even messier than what I have now. I'll clean this whole thing up and make it so much better, but just so you know, they get a happy ending, HH ends up living with GG [my oc], he finds his real family, Noah gets locked up [though still gets visited by HH], and it takes a while to get over the store going bankrupt, but other than that, things get better.

[francesderwent]

I can fix him (no really i can): one fictional character you, personally, could fix and one you couldn’t?

loml: two unrelated things that are inextricably linked together in your brain?

i can fix him (no really i can): one fictional character you, personally, could fix and one you couldn’t?

okay this is fully hubris but I believe I could fix Smallville!Lex Luthor. what’s wrong with him is 1) never had a stable loving family 2) is usually the smartest person in the room and so gets away with a lot by intellectually bulldozing everyone 3) wants to be good but has never been presented with a consistent ethic and 4) doesn’t know God. on the other hand, I 1) have a very stable loving family which loves to suck people into their orbit 2) am smarter than him 3) would not confuse the poor man by being furious at him for doing good things and grateful to him for doing bad things 4) would love to talk to him about how he doesn’t actually need to save the world from aliens to justify his existence because he was created and is loved by God. he wouldn’t have a chance.

however. I could not fix Carmy.

loml: two unrelated things that are inextricably linked together in your brain?

the current moral purity culture in media and the previous Twilight furor. it could be a case of correlation not causation, that we just happened to have a whole generation fawning over the creepiest hero ever and now we pearl-clutch if a good guy has any flaws. but I don’t believe it. it’s causation in my head.

thanks!!

ttpd ask game

[real-godzekiel]

POV: you are a robot built by this horrible, miserable old man whose only punishment for tax evasion, corruption, money laundering, profiteering and several sanction, health and safety and privacy violations was to work for the government for a while but that's just too ridiculous and the people who he has to work with "suck" so he decided to lock himself in a government-funded Bunker for several years until he realized that forcing himself to stay at one place with minimal social contact is not actually very Fun but he has to do it because the posters he hanged on the wall say it's the only way to truly achieve thing that he has to achieve. and it is. i don't know

excerpt from one of my old 2022 #godzekiel posts that inspired this character:

"Someone Needs To Lock Me In A Room With Everything But Actual People (and the Ability To Do Anything But Post On Social Media) and I’ll truly become the smartest most awesome productive person alive I believe. I also need to stop liking fictional characters in a way that treats them like a living person. No more getting attached to people (I solely get attached to things or fictional characters that I treat like thing). Only until then (I think) I will become the true peak of who I am, making perfect things everywhere I go but nobody would know who I am because I’m Locked In A Room With Everything But Actual People (and the Ability To Do Anything But Post On Social Media). or i can just start treating real people like things but that wouldn’t be very nice. i need to be isolatedly obsessed with themes, dynamics, food. soc. idk. I have no idea what the definition of an “actual person” should be. maybe there’s lead poisoning in my water supply, mold in my vents or a gas leak I breathed in because nothing can explain this"

[britishsass]

aperture science is so unhinged it was painful to everyone involved straight up to cave johnson

no wonder black mesa stole the award

I mean, I don't think Cave was pained by it. He was the guy making it more unhinged. Dude outright ignored safety warnings and the need for elevators/ramps just because it was cheaper.

Besides, if you play Half-Life (Which I still haven't), I'm pretty sure Black Mesa is up to equally crazy things. It's just that Cave's in charge of something when he shouldn't be in charge of anything, and I don't know enough about Breen to make any assumptions there.

My opinion of Cave is akin to my opinion of Saxton Hale. Yes, they're funny, but they should not be in charge of this company, and I really prefer their assistants. I would love a whole comic about them and their everyday lives and what they do in their free time and their friends and things, either one. (Especially Caroline. But that is because my type is "brunette woman in science who is definitely the smartest one in the room," as seen by my girlfriend (despite xier not being a woman) and all the fictional characters I tend to find attractive.)

...This spiraled off into a new tangent, but I do agree with the suggestion that Aperture is absolutely unhinged and the whole population is having a terrible time trying to figure out what on earth (Or, ah, the moon? Bad jokes aside--) is going on.

[abovethemists]

Hi there! Santa is here!

How are things going?

I haven’t really started writing yet as I am still trying to make up a plot.

I do have an idea for the start and the finish. Anyway, it is definitely going to be Regency, that much I can tell you!

What are some things in historical fiction that just touch all your right buttons?

I know you want some angst, unrequited love that isn’t actually unrequited so that’s also being worked on.

And do you want Gold to be more mysterious, witty, secretly woobie?

What do you like most about Belle?

Oh and how do you feel about Bae being included?

Till next time!

Hi, Santa! It’s so good to hear from you. I’ve been alright, but it’s the most hectic time of year. I feel like I’m falling behind in 20 different ways.

Oooh I’m excited for a regency set fic! I think the thing I love most about historical romance is the UST, right? Every lingering glance, every brush of hands, it all hints at this seething pent up desire that they have to keep hidden behind cravats and petticoats. The idea that there’s this strict code of conduct that (especially women) are held to but there’s this simmering rage or desire or passion just beneath the surface. I live for the repressed feelings basically. And the men in billowing white poet shirts.

As for Gold, I like him how he is in canon. Mysterious, steps ahead of everyone else, conniving, extremely hilarious, cloaked in darkness, but with a soft woobie center he only shows to a select few people.

What I love most about Belle is her ability to see through people’s bullshit. She’s not easily taken in by a pretty face (like Gaston). I know people seem to think she’s naive or too trusting of rumple but I don’t see that. She knew who he really was and she was right. She saw through his bullshit. I also love that she’s the smartest person in the room and she owns it. She knows her worth. I like a Belle with confidence (though I realize I write a lot of Belle’s who’ve lost said confidence).

I’m all for including Bae! He makes Rumple the character he is.

Thanks for checking in, Santa!

[broken-mirrors-binding-magic]

FicTober: Day 5

Prompt #5: "You're the smartest person I know." Original Fiction: Broken Mirrors Series Rating: G Warnings: N/A

Characters: Alice Sweeney, Symone Krupin, Tiino Tikkanen, Kevyn Elander Ships: Symone x Kevyn

Alice and Tiino snickered as they watched Symone and Kevyn dance around each other. Everyone knew the two were interested in each other, but they were painfully oblivious of it.

“Kevyn, would you mind helping me put this shelf together?”

“Of course, where is it going?”

Alice rolled her eyes as she at the table with Tiino, “This is the sixth shelf this month.”

Tiino laughed, handing her a cup of tea, “Isn’t her family known for building?”

Alice smirked, “If you ask her, she’ll insist she only worked with metal and runes.”

Symone shot the two a glare from her spot on the floor after Kevyn stepped out, “I can hear you two, you know!”

Alice and Tiino burst into giggles, at Symone’s attempt to be intimidating.

“That was the point, Symone. You can’t relegate me to be an audience to you trying to flirt so poorly and expect silence.”

Tiino’s smile widened, “You can’t expect Alice not to tease you, at least a little.”

Symone chucked a small log at the two, only for Tiino to catch it, “Just shut it you two! Go harass someone else. I’m sure that vampyre you have tied up in the basement would be more entertaining than me!”

Alice scoffed, turning her attention back to her tea, she didn’t want to deal with the assassin they had captured, he was too loud for the morning. 

Tiino followed her lead, leaning back into his chair with his coffee, “He’ll be there in a few hours. He still thinks he has a choice, so we’re letting him think about his options for a while.”

Symone groaned in annoyance at the two before turning her attention to Kevyn as he returned with his toolbox.

Kevyn handed her the toolbox, “Here, this should have everything you need.”

Symone tried not to direct a glare toward the snickering two beside her, “Oh, when I asked for help, I meant that I need you to help me not just let me borrow your tools, Kevyn.”

Kevyn’s eyes widened as he glanced down at her, confused, “What do you need me to do then?”

“Well, I need you to help me design it and build it. I’d like your input because you’re the smartest person I know.”

That was their breaking point, to Kevyn’s confusion, Alice and Tiino loudly dissolved into a loud fit of laughter. It wasn’t long before Symone began chasing Alice around the room shouting threats. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he hoped he could help Symone. She meant the world to him, and to have her ask for his opinion meant more than anyone could imagine. He settled into a seat at the table, drafting ideas for the new shelf they would build together and drowning out the noise of the two women running around the room.

[vintage-bentley]

ik they arent even in the trailer and their story is done but im kinda bummed out thatin the good omens tag basically nobody is ever talking about the them or the human characters anymore like they make up most of the book and half the show but always get the side lines in fandom content :/ like ive never seen an anathema focused piece of anything shes always like crowleys bestie or something nobody cares to explore a female character deeper than is shown in canon like raphael doesnt exist in canon and yet had more people explore his intricacies

I’m guilty of this too, and I think aside from regular fandom tendency to focus on a ship and let that be all that matters, A/C’s story is so interesting and unique that it outshines the others.

But I love Anathema! I really like her storyline of following something for her whole life because she was told she has to, and having to navigate not having that guide anymore—after choosing not to have it. I wish we got to see how she deals with going about life without knowing what comes next, I can see it being a great source of stress for her. And it would’ve been neat to see it paralleled with Aziraphale going through something very similar, now that he’s abandoned his trust in Heaven. I saw a post a while ago talking about how both human couples were mirrors of A/C—Newt asks questions of Anathema’s unwavering faith and helps her to leave it behind, just like Crowley does for Aziraphale. Shadwell ends up with somebody he’s supposed to believe is an embodiment of evil and sees he was wrong about her, just like Aziraphale does with Crowley. That was really interesting to see and I have a feeling that season 2 will do the same thing with Maggie and Nina (of course I hope they’re more than just mirrors of the male characters).

But as far as fandom goes, I have to admit that I understand wanting to focus on A/C since they’re the most interesting. It does annoy me though, that Anathema often falls victim to the typical fandom treatment of female characters, where they only exist to mother the male characters. In fan fiction she tends to be the voice of reason and the “smartest one in the room”, which seems great because yay a woman is smarter than the men…until you realise she’s only “the smartest one in the room” because people can’t imagine a woman being silly and fun, only responsible and maternal. I think so much more could be done to explore her whole conspiracy theory thing.

As far as the trend of her being Crowley’s bestie, I think it’s cute, but it feels like people reduce her to being a “goth bestie” and don’t really pay attention to her interests. I feel like she’d really get along with Aziraphale and they’d bond over interest in/knowledge of books of prophecy. I’m sure Aziraphale would be absolutely fascinated to hear from an actual descendant of Agnes Nutter, and despite having left the descendant lifestyle behind I’m sure Anathema would be eager to share her history with somebody who’s knowledgeable and interested. Like imagine you dedicate your whole life to following in the footsteps of a historical figure that not many people know about except prophecy enthusiasts. And then you meet the enthusiast of all time. That would be exciting!

And, y’know, I’m sure she’d be more fond of Aziraphale over Crowley, considering A’s the one who healed her and treated her kindly while C didn’t care that he’d hit her with his car and instead focused on un-denting said car…

That being said, I’ve found that a lot of content with her being friends with the husbands, especially Crowley, ends up treating her like set dressing. I’d make a feminist analysis of this, but tbh I notice it with all the human characters, so I don’t think it’s specific to Anathema because she’s female. It’s possible it happens to her more though because of it.

Anyways. I agree it’s sad that the other characters don’t get much attention! They’re great, especially Anathema and Pepper who are my favourites. But like I said, I get it, when they’re up against the competition that is ineffable husbands.

[philcoulsonismyhero]

I'm having a weird brain week because the old family shit has been stirred up, so I guess I'm rambling about it on here.

So (bear with me) I reinstalled my old LEGO HP games because I was getting bored of the superhero ones I've been playing and LEGO games are pretty much the only video games I can ever be bothered with, and hoo boy. (And I don't even mean the whole issue of 'the creator of this thing I still can't help but care about hates people like me now', I can mostly deal with that these days by just not putting any money anywhere near her direction and not engaging publicly with her work.)

Sometimes there's that one fictional character that was really important to you when a bunch of shit was going down in your life and so they end up intrinsically linked to that shit in your brain, and for me that's Lupin. Every time I go back to HP, I end up going back to obsessing over that guy, and more often than not it dredges up everything that I used him as a coping mechanism for. And this time it very much has.

Long story short-ish, I was 15 when my parents sat me and my sisters down and told us they were getting divorced. It was November, and that was the year that I was sitting my Highers, which at that point were the exams that your uni application would depend on the results of, i.e. the exams that at a private school obsessed with academic results you end up believing are going to determine the rest of your life. I was doing six, you're usually supposed to do a maximum of five, so I had no free periods and a reputation as Probably The Smartest Kid In My Year to uphold. So my parents told me they were getting divorced and I dealt with that by just putting my head down and Getting On With Things, because school was the thing I was good at, and had to be good at. (I got straight As, three subject prizes and Dux of School that year. Fuck you, circumstances.)

To be completely honest, despite the myriad of new stresses it caused, the divorce was kind of a relief because it had been inevitable. I have a very distinct memory of being quite a bit younger that 15 and standing in the kitchen by the doors through to the dining room and listening to my parents shouting at each other in there, and turning to my younger sisters and saying "This is going to end up in divorce." I can only remember a fraction of what went down in the years that led up to it, and not even half the reasons for them splitting up, but there was a lot of shouting when I was a young teen/pre-teen. I spent a couple of years being the shoulder that my mum cried on, and the person that my dad complained to about my mum, and I was about 13 and knew fuck-all about anything except for the fact that someone had to be the sensible one around here and try and mediate a bit. I was the oldest, the younger two shouldn't have to deal with All That, and the last thing we needed was anything or anyone introducing More Drama into the situation. I got bullied at school and I don't think I ever mentioned it to my parents. I do remember emailing one of those support services about the bullying, though, which I have to remind myself every time I think back and I'm like 'but it wasn't That Bad, was it?' I got deliberately tripped on the stairs once. Fortunately both of those assholes grew out of it in a year or two, and I finally stopped being in classes with one of them, although I never managed to get rid of the other guy. Trounced him in the final year physics exam, though, and boy did that feel good after years of "girls can't do physics".

Anyway. Being fifteen sucked, but I was good at school. And I was Sensible, and I didn't get into any of that Teen Drama that fiction and society both seemed convinced was inevitable, I did well in my exams, I didn't make a fuss about anything, I kept my head down and Got On With Things, and then two years into uni I crashed and burned dramatically because turns out I'm autistic and don't deal very well with new situations and never learned how to ask for help *jazz hands*

All this to say, 15 year old me took one look at Remus Lupin, designated Sensible Adult In The Room who was always the one helping other people and being Understanding and never complaining too much about his own situation despite everything always seeming to collapse around him and went ah. That one. That character would Understand. Plus, he was an adult who treated the teenagers with respect while also always being clearly aware that they were still kids and there were some things that they shouldn't have to deal with, and. I had emotions about that. I was never hugely interested in the fandom version of the guy as a teenager, I never got particularly invested in stories about teenagers because I never felt like one myself, but the adult version? He was the crutch that got me through Being Fifteen.

And now I'm 27 and most of the time I'm Fine but every so often (often in November, but not always) this stuff comes back to bite me and I look at all the characters that I care about the most and they're folks like Obi-Wan or Lupin or Hotch or Ironwood, people who are stuck being Sensible or In Charge or both and sometimes end up cracking under the weight of it all and it's like. Yeah. Yeah, I guess all that did fuck me up. And at least now I'm engaging more with characters who get to be angry about their situations. I'm still really bad about being angry about things, it's an emotion I really struggle to express because I associate it so much with a whole lot of shouting that just makes a mess and takes forever to actually achieve anything. I think I'm angry about a lot of things, but part of me is always like 'yeah, but what's The Point, it's not like getting angry now will change anything that happened'. So I just don't. I stall out before I get anywhere. But the characters that I write, both in fic and my own original stuff, are starting to get to Lose Their Shit. I'm getting a little better at secondhand catharsis. It's a baby step, but it's something.

I don't think I'm going to write any of it because engaging to that degree with HP isn't something I want to do anymore, but I could write so much fanfic where Lupin gets to actually get mad about his situation. Where he gets to shout about all the shit he's been put through, all the friends he's lost and all the prejudice and injustice he's faced and how he's tired of being the calm and sensible one who helps everyone else and never gets any acknowledgement from those people about his own struggles. Some of it would be projecting, some of it would be just having an outside perspective on the story that he's in and the way it treated him and how it was bullshit and how that makes me mad because he Deserved Better. How his story ended up being about his own insecurities and how he should just get over them rather than the colossal injustice he'd faced his entire life and the fact that he shouldn't have to be just resigned to it, he should be allowed to get angry and to try and do something about it.

I don't think I'm going to write it, but thinking about it has helped a bit, even though thinking about Lupin was what landed me in the Brain Weird place in the first place. Sometimes you've just got to get angry on behalf of a fictional character because that way you can sidle up to getting angry on your own behalf. Try it out a bit. I don't know. I don't know if any of this is productive or just an exercise in being maudlin, but I guess I'm having the yearly breakdown about Family Shit a bit early this year and it probably doesn't hurt to dust off an old coping mechanism and see if it helps at all.

And at least this time I've gotten another original fiction idea out of it, so I guess that's something. I'll probably talk about that a bit soon, it's a fun one, and I'm slowly working out how to properly use it to get into the fact that to me werewolves are almost always a metaphor for repressed anger and being scared of the mess that you'll make if you let it out. They're a lot of things to a lot of people, but to me, thanks to Lupin and all the personal shit from my life that he got tangled up in, they're that.

And speaking of dealing with repressed anger, I should probably go and rewatch the scene from the penultimate Ted Lasso episode that absolutely wrecked me, which was the one where Ted finally has a proper go at his mum. Because I felt that one in my bones, although in my case it's my dad that I could do with repeatedly saying 'fuck you' to. Blargh. That was definitely the thing that primed me for the descent into Lupin nonsense, that's for sure. Fiction, man. It'll do things to you.

It's nearly 6 in the morning and I should probably attempt sleep, I guess. Thanks for reading if you got this far, this was just a brain dump because sometimes you just need to Put The Thing In Words, whether it's coherent or not, and throw it out into the void.

[naranja-uva-librarians]

So what are each librarian's favourite fiction and favourite non fiction books and why?

My favorite fiction book, hands-down, is Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. I love the Discworld setting, I love Tiffany Aching, and I love the very human relationships and emotions at play in the book-- even with the non-human characters.

Hamlet is a very close second, but as much as I love Shakespeare it's such a slog to digest his verbiage, and also I feel conflicted about listing a play as a book.

I don't do as much non-fiction reading as I probably should, but The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language helped ignite my love of linguistics, so... probably that?

-- Steven

YA books, especially YA romances, are my guilty pleasure, so it's really tempting to list one of them here. But honestly Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi has captivated me ever since I first read it in school, and I feel like not listing it would be cheating. I guess I could also count that as my non-fiction book, but for completeness's sake, John Carreyrou's Bad Blood and Bethany McLean's The Smartest Guys In The Room are great insights into Theranos and Enron, respectively.

-- Rebecca

I don't know if I could pick a FAVORITE book, per se, but I've been re-reading Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack manga and really enjoying it, so I'll say that's my favorite as of now. As for non-fiction, much like Steven's answer, Randall Munroe's What If books really helped me understand some key scientific concepts when I was younger that I wouldn't have been able to grasp otherwise and I can't thank it enough for that.

-- Adam.

[jd-rivers]

Beyond "The Edge of a World"

So, someone out there might wonder what is next.

I have taken now a few weeks off writing, to collect myself and to understand where to go from here.

Otar's next book is started. Yay. The first draft will take me a bit of time until I figure out some plot points. I'm a pantser, and pantsing an entire series might not be my smartest move, but we will ge there.

I'm also currently working on a small story about Onder, Andres' twin and how is life went after [redacted]. Currently I'm not sure how I will distribute it, either as a reader for people that subscribe to my newsletter or maybe as "pay-what-you-want" option on my kofi.

Well first it needs to be edited, but I like where it's going. Besides exploring abit more about the steppe rider culture I only painted in rough strokes in the book, I also dive a bit more in Onder's feelings about his own position and how he sees the world around him.

Beyond that, I'm working on a novella which might see a publish next year (very rough estimate), which is urban fantasy with a murder mystery thrown in. It's quite different than "Edge of a World" and was technically finished before my debut novel. I like it very much (I often keep liking my works even if I can see all their tiny little flaws, or big gapping erros) and will be very happy if one day I can share with the rest of you.

A little teaser:

But that is not all.

There is also a small novella series in the works, which for the moment is a kind of cyberpunk urban portal fantasy. At the moment I'm figuring out the magic system, which is based on an idea I had more than a decade ago, sadly I haven't revovered all my notes about it, but some and I'm very excited to dive deeper into that kind of world.

Mores teasers:

I will also dedicate more time again to write fanfiction to experiment and to give me some room to breath. I always enjoyed writing original fiction a bit moren than I did fanfiction, because I always feel a bit constricted when writing in another world that isn't my own---as if I need to obey a certain subset of rules and implications to make my take on the characters I'm writing about believable. I know that I can let loose and run wild---this definitely a me thing---but I always prefered to my own shit up, molding characters and their story together as I see fit.

This is hard work. "The Edge of a World" took seven full rewrites to reach the point it has now, and that is not counting the additional edits I had to do. It still has flaws, its far from perfect, but I love it.

And yet, the energy it took was a lot, and now fanfiction makes it easier for me to just write without giving too much thought about the world around the characters and how their relationships need to be. It is still work to make it believable and craft a story that will entice and move the reader, but there is a background to fall back onto if I get too lost in my own storytelling.

So back to fanfic it is for a bit.

So yeah this is it, the update post. See you on the other side!