#they'll be 8 chapters in total

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Japan is Winning on Kisses & Other Alternate Realities

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

March 2024 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Two Worlds (Thurs IQIYI) ep 3 of 10 - It would be great if we got the alternative romance with dead Kram from Tai’s perspective (JBL style.) Still I like this show. It’s a little bit like I Feel You Linger in the Air only with a love triangle. And while I'm not a fan of triangles as a general rule, I don’t mind it here because the set up is clever. Wayu and  ao are fun sides too. It sure is moving very quickly, which I like. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. But that’s normal for me with this kind of Thai drama. 

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 4 of 8 - They are extremely sappy boyfriends. I love that mom has a secret gf. Could we please have more of them? The love triangle sides are ridiculous, but I do like that it’s all out in the open. I also like they are actually addressing the complicated parental dynamics of owning a sex club. Honestly, I think Khem should have to be a host too. Learn him the right way, girl!

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - It’s good, I like the fallout and them actually having to deal with crazy fans and past relationships. They’re so good at communicating it’s kind of a pleasure to watch them suffer through external pressures, because I have faith that they can make it through.

To Be Continued (Thai C3 Thailand grey) ep 6 of 8 - They are such cute puppy dads and so clearly meant to be together, the fact that they aren’t is just frustrating. The fight thing was stupid. And not a whole lot happened... plus singing. I’m getting fatigued with this one. 

1000 Years Old ep 7 of 12 - Did I miss something happening, or did nothing happen? 

Kiseki Chapter 2 (Sun iQIYI) ep 2 of 6 - It’s so boring, there’s so much guitar playing, and it got weirdly voyeuristic (in a very much not sexy way). I’m totally out. DNF

Close Friend Season 3: Soju Bomb! (Weds iQIYI) ep 3 of 6 - I can’t tell if this is trying to be a BL Romancing the Stone, or a BL Hangover, or both. The problem with situational comedy is it must be both situational and comedic, not just option one. The problem with calling something BL, is that it must be BL. This show got 1 of 3 claims correct. 33% is not a passing grade. DNF 

Honestly, it's the HANDS with these two. They do beautiful beautiful things with their hands. If you're one of those hands-obsessed BLabies you should be watching LIBTSTA!

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues Youku YouTube & Viki) ep 6 of 11 - So the worst finally happened. The mountain of pain has fallen down upon us. And now, hopefully in the second half things get better for our boys. But what a rough ride. Normally, this is not my style of BL, but everyone is doing such a gorgeous job with it, I can’t fault it… except that it hurts. The red thread symbolism was elegantly done. I’d like to hope we get a reunion in the next one, but knowing this style of series they’re gonna draw it out. There's gonna be a more pain first.

Love is Better the Second Time Around AKA Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 4 of 6 - Those fuck me puppy dog eyes were perfectly executed. I would not have been able to resist either. Gosh they are so damn cute. This is a great show.

Jazz for Two (Korea Gaga/grey) eps 1-2 of 8 - This comes from the Shoulder to Cry On team so I'm scared, but this one is all actors* not idols so maybe they'll be braver. Boy howdy does it have a fantastic opening sequence. Also the lead is fucking adorable. Mr Broody McBroodypants is cute too. Korea sure loves “pretty but broken.” On the JBL end of the spectrum, is everyone in love with their siblings? That’s weird. The dining room scene was painful. All in all, it's good, I'm intrigued. Let's see how you go little show.

I stand absolutely corrected the lead is a member of NEWKIDD (in my defense I'd never heard of them until Build Up last month). I did recognize him from To My Star because at the time I thought he was too pretty to be only a side character.

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) ep 10 fin - Again there was overuse of previous footage and maudlin navel-gazing grief over something we knew was going to happen. So I didn’t really feel much emotional connection to the drama. 7 year time gap.? t was a cute reunion but the moral quandary never really got resolved. I don’t know how to rate this, I’m not sure I will ever watch it again, so that is a big mark against it.

There’s nothing objectively wrong with this BL except how upsetting it is because of the foundational pygmalion story - grown man falls in love with an android who is basically both his slave and, by maturity level, a child. Yet that premise is crystal clear from the get go, so we watch it eyes open. The actors are cute, the romance sweet, the physical chemistry on point (of course, it’s Taiwan) and yet I was left ultimately unsettled by the concept, content, and plot. 7/10 

My Strawberry Film (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 8 - I'm so ready for this to be over, and for Gaga to have something good on. Soon please?

It's done, ready to binge, but I suck

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps

It's airing but...

Graduation Countdown (Taiwan YouTube) - It's too much to ask me to keep up with 2 minute verticals, I don't have that kind of TikTok endurance training. Waiting to binge.

A Secretly Love (Thai Sat WeTV grey) 10 eps - I watched the first ep but grey is too much work for this inferior of a show. I may pick up and binge if it gets distribution but for now, it gets a DNF from me. KimCop might have held this crap together but Kim without Cop? No thank you.

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

Tangential to the genre

There has been the occasional discussion on this topic here in this little corner of tumblr so I thought there might be a few intersted in this podcast: AmericanThaiGuy Ron Weaver on the Complicated Issue of Racism in Thailand (The Bangkok Podcast)

Thailand passed its Marriage Equality bill through the lower house. It's expected to pass the high house and get signed by the King, but that hasn't quite happened yet.

And MaxTul dropped a photo shoot.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting Soon

3/31 Only Boo! (Thai GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - New main couple for GMMTV in an idol romance about a boy who dances good and a food stand vendor. Other side of the tracks grumpy/sunshine pair who fall deeply in love but, of course, baby boy idol can't date. Boyband but from GMMTV? Control your singing and I'm game.

3/31 The Next Prince (Thai ????) 12 eps - trailer. ZeeNew in a fantasy/historical set in a palace where Zee plays a knight and Nu a prince - YES PLEASE. (Apparently this is just the pilot, not the start of the actual show, see comments.)

4/1 Love is like a Cat (Korea ????) 12 eps - This completed filming Aug 2022(!) which means there have been serious problems with post-production. This is another of Silkwood's Korean+Thai colab projects. Mew Suppasit plays a rookie film star, called the Cat Prince (for his cold arrogance) who goes up against a charismatic puppyish animal daycare director (JM of JUST B). There is a side romance (love triangle?) with a veterinarian. Geonu of JUST B is also in the cast. Dual languages.

Hum, trash-watch-a-licious?

4/3 We Are (Thai GMMTV YouTube iQIYI) 12 eps - University ensemble BL featuring PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawinPoon - basically the good kind of messy gay friendship group (so more My Engineer and less Only Friends). Looks a bit like the Kiss series but everyone is queer. I'm IN!

4/11 Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan ????) 10 eps - Kindly Ryota goes off to uni only to find his new roommate is his childhood bestie, Kazuhito. Kazuhito doesn’t have a girlfriend and Ryota tries to help him figure out why, they fall in love along the way. Same director as Old Fashion Cupcake.

4/11 Gray Shelter AKA Gray Currents (Korea ????) 4 eps - SooHyuk is only just surviving and reunites with YoonDae, an old friend. They end up living together. One of the leads is played by Choco of Choco Milk Shake.

4/18 At 25:00, in Alaska AKA 25 Ji, Akasaka de (Japan Gaga - may not be global) 10 eps - Yuki lands his first starring role in a BL drama alongside superstar Asami (previously his senior at uni). Said superstar suggests they form a sham relationship until filming concludes. As they actually begin to fall in love, the spotlight begins to burn.

Seriously? You're killing me with these titles, boys.

4/26 My Stand-In (Thai iQIYI) 12 eps - adaptation of Chinese novel "Professional Body Double" by Shui Qiang Cheng. Stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please) directed by the same team as KP (not a recommendation IMHO - my biggest criticism of that show was the clashing directing styles). This one looks well complicated, lemme try: Joe is a stuntman for famous actor Tong. Joe falls in love with Ming but Ming sees Joe as nothing more than a Tong-replacement. After learning this horrible truth, Joe dies. Joe then wakes up in the body of another man also named Joe. He manages to rebuild the same life as before—with the same people eventually re-meeting Ming. Ming wants Joe back but Joe doesn't understand why. But Ming seems to know what's going on and wants to give him some kind of explanation.

I'm exhausted just trying to describe the plot.

Knock-Knock Boys (Thai WeTV) - 4 college friends conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. Familiar faces like Seng (yes, Billy's previous partner) and Best, news here.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

NOTE: It looks like one of my personal favorites of last year Unintentional Love Story is getting a spin off!

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

Just these two, in my head, rent free. Thanks Japan!

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are too much work.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy. (With so many tags when does a weekly tumblr post become a newsletter? That is this week's philosophical question...)

[tessenpai]

Kono Oto Tomare! Chapter 138 Scans and Rough TL

Disclaimer: Please DO NOT use this translation to make your own TL of the chapter!! The KOT TL group works very hard to give you the most accurate translation, that does as much justice to the original script as possible. This is a ROUGH translation. That means is faulty and there must be mistakes in certain places. This is just for impatient people like myself to get a grasp on what is going on in the chapter! You can REFERENCE my TL if you want to discuss the chapter but never USE it as it was your own.

Scans: kono oto tomare 138 raw scans

Page 1

Takezou[thoughts]: Back then, I couldn't have even imagined...

Side text: We experienced and overcame so many things together...

Page 2 & 3

*No text*

Page 4

*No text*

Page 5

Takezou [thoughts]: That this day would come.

Chapter title: #138 Tokise High School Koto Club

Page 6

Audience 1: Hey, it's the school of the incident.

Audience 2: It's finally here.

Uzuki: ...

Tsukaji[thoughts]: They're completely in enemy turf here. I already knew that but...

Page 7

Tsukaji[thoughts]: Somehow, through their performance they'll-

Audience 3: Hey, I even saw a bit of their performance on TV, but it wasn't all that impressive.

Audience 4: Totally.

Tsukaji: ...

Komaki: Ugh, everyone's just saying whatever they want! I hope they shut them up with their performance--

Tsukaji[thoughts]: To be honest, if it were Satowa's introductory solo like in 'Tenkyuu', it would surely have silenced the audience instantly with just the first note, but...

Tsukaji[thoughts]: 'Harmony' starts with Kurata's solo.

Tsukaji [thoughts]: When I heard it before it lacked confidence

Tsukaji [thoughts]: To put it harshly, it didn't come even close to Tenkyuu's opening.

Page 8

Tsukaji [thoughts]: Ahhhh I shouldn't be thinking like this! I don't want to think about it but...

Tsukaji [thoughts]: Ichiei and Meiryou made no compromises when assigning their parts...!

Tsukaji [thoughts]: I understand they wanted to be considerate with Kurata, with him being a 3rd year student and the club president!

Tsukaji [thoughts]: But that kind of kindness...

Tsukaji [thoughts]: At Nationals, it could be your downfall.

Judge Tatsumi [thoughts]: With this atmosphere, they probably won't be able to perform properly. Placing at the top is already unlikely. I just hope it ends without any major issues...

Page 9

Announcer: Program Number 13

Announcer: Kanagawa Prefecture. Tokise High School.

Announcer: Composed by Takinami Suzuka: Harmony.

Page 10

Announcer: In April of last year, Tokise High School's koto club was in the verge of disbandment, with only one member left in it.

Annoucer: Since then, one unique member after other gathered.

Announcer: Today, there are 9 members and 2 teachers.

Announcer: Altogether, it has now become a club of 11 integrants.

Page 11

Announcer: Each one of them is an irreplaceable and important presence.

Announcer: The song we will play today, Harmony

Announcer: Was composed for us from scratch by our club advisor Takinami-sensei.

Page 12

Announcer: This sound is our everything.

Announcer: Please, let it reach them.

Page 13

Takezou [thoughts]: I was always scared of that very first note that was entrusted to me. Scared of a future where someone might not be there anymore.

Page 14 & 15

*No text*

Page 16 & 17

*No text*

Page 18 & 19

*All the flashbacks*

Page 20 & 21

*No text*

Page 22 & 23

*No text*

Page 24

Tsukaji [thoughts]: --It wasn't out of consideration. It wasn't a kindness.

Tsukaji[thoughts]: This is

Tsukaji [thoughts]: Sincere, straightforward and earnest to the very end.

Page 25

Tsukaji [thoughts]: That is the sound of Tokise.

Judge Tatsumi: Oh man… if you add too many sounds like this one then-

Page 26

*No text*

Page 27

Chika [memory]: I wanna join the koto club.

Page 28 & 29

*No text*

Page 30 & 31

*No text*

Page 32 & 33

*No text*

Page 34 & 35

*No text*

Page 36 & 37

*No text*

Page 38

Judge Tatsumi [thoughts]: Wait...

Judge Tatsumi[thoughts]: Wait a second.

Judge Tatsumi[thoughts]: This is--

Page 39

Tsukaji: The second solo...!

Page 40

*No text*

Page 41

*No text*

Page 42 & 43

*No text*

Page 44

Tsukaji[thoughts]: Don't cry yet!! It's still too soon!!

Tsukaji[thoughts]: We got the 1st years left!!

Tsukaji[thoughts]: Only the upperclassmen have played together up to this point, you don't want to add any unnecessary sounds to-

Page 45

*No text*

Page 46

*No text*

Page 47

*No text*

Page 48

Ousuke [thoughts]: He's tapping out the bass rythm...!?

Haru [thoughts]: So- so- so cooool----!!!!

Sentarou [thougthts]: His rythm sense is insane!!!

Page 49

Tougo [thoughts]: He's playing Yamada style, same as Kio.

Kio [thoughts]: But the strength of the sound is a bit overpowering-

Page 50 & 51

*No text*

Page 52 & 53

*No text*

Page 54 & 55

*No text*

Page 56

*No text*

Page 57

Judge Tatsumi: ----... What... is this?

Judge Kurokawa: How...

Judge Agata: Why...

Page 58

Judges [thoughts]: ...Is the level of every single member this high.!?

Page 59

*No text*

Page 60

Kifune-sensei: ...

Audience 2: Hey, I... have no idea about the koto but...

Audience 2: --Could it be that

Page 61

Audience: Tokise is... Amazing?

Side text: This is Tokise's sound!

---Kono Oto Tomare! will continue in the next issue!---

[anonymous-existences]

Chapter 1 : Red Tainted Walls

Summary for the Stories and chapters going forward :33:

They Found Out... His Parents found out.. And Worst Case Scenario Happened.. Heh— I guess I spooked them too much with my new identity. They opened him up as if he was already dead and Jazz ran to Get Help from Dan. But it hurt so much.. Please Arrive Quickly.. Please save me... Just like before. Or This is a story about how Danny gets De-aged because of Jack and Maddie's doing, Dan and Danny are basically twins but Danny just got De-aged and now Dan needs to be the adult after They killed jazz. Vlad then sends them to Gotham to apparently find their Biological Father. Dan also experiences Teenage Social Anxiety and totally losing his shit about it!

TW : Graphic Depictions of Vivisection, Violence, Child Abuse, Child Murder, possible Descriptions of Gore and Medical Malpractices.

Happy Reading!

[𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲-𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫]

[𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 21𝚜𝚝, 8:35 𝙰𝙼, 𝙵𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝙻𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢]

"Dad Please— Listen! It's still me! I'm still Danny! Mom!" Danny cried out as tears roll down his cheeks overflowing from his eyes as he Watches in horror.

"Shut it Ecto-Scum! How dare you use our Precious Son's Body to Deceive us!" Maddie Yelled and continues to point her gun at Danny, Danny was Horrified, He was scared of how they'd reacted, He only wanted to be honest with his parents thinking that maybe... Maybe they'll accept him..

"Mom! Dad! Please! That's still Danny!! Listen to me!!" Jazz cried out in the other side of the room as Jack restrained her, rendering her unable to get close to protect Danny from their Mother.

"Please.. I'm Danny... I'm still your Son..." He sniffled, tears flowing out even more as Maddie looked at him as if he was nothing more than... A monster...

"Shut it! You will pay the price of messing with the Fentons and Deceiving Us!" Maddie grit her teeth and furrowed her brows as she aggresively yanked and dragged Danny who was still sitting on the floor, she was dragging him down to the Laboratory.

Danny cried out to Jazz and Jack, Jazz called back.. "Jazz... Look.. that's not Danny anymore.. Danny is Dead." Jack tries to convince Jazz but Jazz Wasn't budging. "I KNOW MY BROTHER JACK! GIVE HIM BACK!" She cried out sobbing uncontrollably.

Maddie shut the door to the laboratory and Jazz could no longer hear Danny. Neither could Danny Hear her. He kept crying out but then Maddie put a tight collar on his throat and it send waves of electric shocks throughout his body making him scream out in pain.

It reminded him of his death and it made his body spasm the way when he became a Halfa. It terrified him even more, Maddie then forcibly put a Muzzle on him to "keep him quiet" she says. Danny tried to reason with Maddie but everytime he tries to she sends another wave of electrical Shocks through his body and so he just fell silent.

Maddie threw him in a cage like some sort of Injured Monster that needed containment at once.

His tears wouldn't stop flowing, they kept falling and thus he sobbed uncontrollably in the Containment Cell, Danny saw the Ghost Blobs staring at him with worry, they're buzzing with sadness and grief over what's happening to him, his heart aches as he tries to reach for them but couldn't...

His core ached and wrenched at the thought of what Jack and Maddie are about to do to him and it's like he can already see that Maddie was preparing surgical equipment... He felt like an innocent frog Infront of high school students ready to study his Innards..

Jack and Maddie are the Highschoolers. The only difference is he's already dead in the first place... And they can do anything they want with him because of the Laws.

May God be his only hope now.

Ancients Save the Ghost Prince.

[9:00 𝙰𝙼, 𝙰𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚔]

The Guys In White/Ghost Investigation Ward has arrived. They have higher advanced technology now, it seems as though when they were gone they were advancing their technology to find ghosts more accurately.

They put the Whole Town in Lockdown claiming that there's people that's Ecto-Contaminated and needed to be terminated before they become a threat...

But..

Those are children.

They've killed nearly everyone, some has already tried to call the Justice League again in desperation but they ignored their pleas thinking that this was a Prank Call.

It was just like before, they kept thinking they were prank calls after A child tried to ask for help because the whole town was sucked into the afterlife.

Jazz ran through the streets evading the Ghost Investigation Ward and heading to Vlad Masters. She needed to tell Dan, Knowing Vlad he won't be able to help because this is probably all Clockwork's Scheme for "Danny's Future Betterment", Jazz couldn't stop the tears forming from her eyes as she kept running.

The GIW has already terminated the children in cold blood.

Some younger than 10. Some teens. And 2 of those teens were Sam Manson, one of Danny's best friends as they have concluded that because of how long they've been around Danny that Danny had contaminated them and that they're no longer safe for everyone around them and themselves as well.

The Mansons tried to stop The GIW from shooting their beloved daughter but the GIW unfairly concluded that they were being overshadowed by their daughter thus they killed the Mansons in Cold Blood.

How unfair must this world be that even the so called Justice League wouldn't even hear their calls of help. They needed help from the heroes but it seems they're always too focused on other Matters... And that the safety of some Somewhere Middle of Nowhere Illinois Amity Park was not deemed "important" enough to be saved. It made Jazz's Heart Clench at the thought of how Danny was right.

The heroes didn't care. She kept running nontheless through the crowd of horrified people trying to stop the GIW from killing more of the Amity Parkers.

Eventually she reached Vlad's Mansion, she busted in through the door taking Dan Aback. "Jazz? Why are you crying? What's happening?" Dan asks immediately and getting closer to Jazz as soon as he saw her.

"Jasmine? Is everything alright dear?" Vlad asks as well in worry. Upon seeing them Jazz just Broke Down in overwhelming tears, "Oh G-god.... Hic.. they have Danny Vlad!" She utters as Vlad tries to put his hands on her shoulders trying to console her... "who has Danny? The GIW?" Vlad asks and hugs Jasmine who couldn't stop crying.

"Jack and Maddie! Jack and Maddie has Jack has Danny Vlad! They have my baby brother! My precious baby brother! They said they're going to o-pen him up! And that they'll torture him if he doesn't bring back Danny they say but that's already Danny and they won't listen, they said I must have been under control— and—AND THEY HAVE MY BABY BROTHER!" She yelled out sputtering words of panic as her breathing quickens and Vlad shushing her calming her down first before she has a panic attack.

"The Guys In White... They've killed people Vlad. Innocent People. They've claimed they're Ecto-Contaminated! And— and— Danny's friends are dead... Only a few aren't... Well I guess they're more of bullies than friends except Wes I guess but—" Jazz still sputtering words in a panic. "Jasmine! Dear.... Calm down alright?" Vlad calms her down and she slowly breathes slower in a normal pace before wiping away her unstoppable tears.

"What..." Vlad was flabbergasted and horrified to say the least and Dan looked Livid. "Please... Please Vlad... Help me... Help Danny.. P-Please..." She sobs in Vlad's Arms. "Okay... Okay okay— i— I will help." Vlad says stuttering and looked at Dan. "Dante... Will help...." Vlad says again and Dan just nods.

Jazz nods and embraced Vlad tightly, Vlad was distraught. Maddie? His Maddie? What... His Maddie had— she had... She wanted... She wanted to kill her son? Her precious son? Daniel? Danny? What...

His core ached in pain and suppressing these emotions of horror and Fear inside him that's slowly stirring up anger. Slowly his.. Obsession towards Maddie weakened because of this realization that she is more of a monster than him.

[3 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝]

"I'm sorry I can't... Come with you two..." Vlad says his core aching in regret. "It's alright Vlad... Please... We both know that... That their work.. their weapons will immediately turn on you even if you are their friend... Dan can atleast hide his.... Ecto-stuff somehow... But not you.. thank you nontheless..." Jazz says, her eyes with a soft gentle gaze as Vlad nodded, Ellie was by Vlad's Feet and smiling happily at Jazz and Dan.

"I'll be going with Jazz Now Vlad. I'll see you later once we get Danny." Dante reassures Vlad which made Vlad sigh and nodded in silence again. Jazz and Dante walked off into back into the main city of Amity Park. What they saw was heartbreaking..

Those who were killed were left on the park itself and the people of the town is burying them In tears... Why must they suffer like this? Why the children? Why? Dan asks himself, He knows.. he's killed... But... That's something else because he was under control sort but these..

These humans, they killed their kind in cold blood just because they were slightly different. "Danny?" The two hears a saddened female voice behind them. "It's Dante. Not Danny." Dante looked Back behind him. "Dash Baxter... You survived huh.." Dante says bluntly with a cold tone.

"Yeah I guess... Where's... Where's Danny?" Dash asks nervously and averted his gaze.. "They Killed... Uhm... Kwan... Star barely survived... Paulina is not fine tho..." Dash says following the two." Dante pulls him closer and hugs him to comfort the poor teenager. Dash just broke down, "They... They killed my friends... I—..." He sobbed, his jacket was still tainted with blood from his friend Kwan.

"I know... I'm sorry... Look... Danny is in danger.... Do you think you can help us?" Dante asks and Dash nodded.. "yk what... I'm tired of... Being me... So... I will help... That's the only thing I can do." Dash nods and the three ran towards Fenton works but as they do so they encounter Valerie Gray, Red Huntress.

"Where's Phantom." She asks bluntly without greetings, her voice hoarse and Rough presumably from crying. "Fenton Laboratory... They Have Danny." Jazz says and walks past her.

"Let me come with you .. I want to Save him too." Val says from behind Jazz. "Do what you want to do Valerie... The longer we pause the longer he suffers. Valerie nods and ran with them with her board.

[𝙵𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜 , 6:35 𝙿𝙼]

Dash tackled open the door, "God that's one tough door you have—" he says as he pats his numbing shoulder. And they all went inside, "I'll get the metal Door." Dante says and slams it open with force.

They saw Danny in ghost form strapped on the table bleeding out unconscious. "oh my god.." dash looked away unable to look at what the Fenton's did to Danny.

They weren't home which was good but also bad at the same time as that meant they're probably somewhere with the GIW. Valerie and Jazz rushed to Danny's Side. Dante found a stitch. "Let me." Dante says as Valerie kept Danny pumped to a new bag of Pure Ectoplasm as Dante quickly stitched his Wounds with Ecto Fishing Lines. Although a bit rough to the sides he didn't care right now. What we cares about is Danny's Livelihood.

Dante was holding back his tears and Valeria Checked the Collar on Danny's neck. "I can take off the muzzle but I don't know about the collar..." She says "take off the Muzzle.. Quickly Val..." Jazz says as she held onto the IV bag of Pure Ectoplasm that's keeping Danny Alive.

Dash was guarding by the door of the basement making sure the Fenton's aren't home yet. He was scared, nervous even, regretful as well.. Amity Park is no longer a safe place to live. It's no longer a home.

Val quickly removed the Collar with Utmost Care and Tossed it away, She Frantically looked at Dan who was finishing up the last stitches.

"... Done. Let's scram!" Dante carried Danny gently and Ran up the stairs and Dash followed the 3, running out the door and into the street far from FentonWorks they hope. "Oh my Danny... Finally... We're finally getting Danny out.... Finally he's Saf—" they heard a gunshot and Jazz Fell to the ground. The other 3 froze. "JAS—" Valerie pushed Dash away and he barely dodged another Bullet.

They saw the Fenton's and GIW Behind them. Dash was terrified but Urged Dante to keep running. "JASMINE!" Valerie yelled out as she shielded herself from the gunshots.

"Go.... Just....G-go... Please... Keep Danny sa—" she was shot another time and this time it hit her head. She bled out on the side walk and Valerie was in utter shock, the Fenton's just killed their daughter... Oh my god... Her heart was racing and she flew away with her board and shield still covering her.

Dante had made themselves Invisible and Running into the Forest. Valerie had a tracker on them to make sure he can keep up on them. Why must them, children be the only logical people in this town. Why must the adults be the one to be the monsters... Valerie did not know... But at the moment she couldn't care. What cared for more is what's gonna happen in the future.

What will be the future for them?

"𝕋𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕋𝕖𝕝𝕝"

[ageless-aislynn]

Title: “15 Minutes” (11/15) Author:  @ageless-aislynn​ Characters/fandom: Master Chief John-117/Reader, Halo the series Summary: John has learned something new that he'd like to show you… Series: How to date a Spartan (without even trying) Rating:  T (PG13) Length: 2,630 (this chapter, 27,487 total so far) Spoilers: Set in the Silver Timeline of Halo the series, not the games or novels. Though we began with the events of Halo 1x06, there will be no more show spoilers. We are still firmly seated in the AU Warthog, merrily driving out to places where there’s only a passing nod to canon. 😉 Disclaimer: Definitely not mine but I do enjoy borrowing them just for a bit! 😉 A/N:  Text is both here in this post or available at AO3, however you like to read. It's, yet again, been awhile since the last update, sad to say. I've been slogging through writer's block, health issues and some kinda awful real life stress but I'm not giving up on this fic (or its sibling, "Recreation"). I'd like to say that the final chapters will be here very soon but, well… I've learned to not call my shots, lol. I will, however, do my best to get them here as soon as I can. If you read, I hope you enjoy! ⭐💖⭐

Taglist: @pinheadbanger​ @mysardencut​ @laurenstacy610​ @sporadicbelievernightmare​ @ultrablackwidower​ @bxmxtx​ @jellotherelol @mirandastuckinthe80s

If you would like to be tagged in my John/Reader fics, just let me know! I also write John/Kai, John/Cortana and Kai/male Reader, so I’m glad to tag you for whatever you’d like. If you would like to be removed from the taglist, also feel free to let me know, no harm, no foul. 😉 💖

Halo fic masterlist ⭐

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10

PT arrived bright and early and, while you continued to bring out every expletive in every language you knew, ultimately it seemed your left side was improving: more range of motion in your shoulder and more strength in your leg, though the healing fractures still ached. All together, though, it was a win, no matter that it left you sweating and shaking like you'd wrestled an Elite and lost spectacularly.

You'd just come out of the shower and put on a fresh set of clothes when the door chimed. To your surprise, you found Riz and Vannak in their civvies standing there. You knew Silver Team had been on stand-by for the past few days – John hadn't been able to join you for every meal, understandably, but he had been there every night. Sleeping curled up in his arms was a luxury you weren't sure how you were going to give up when the time came. Kai and her friend had visited but this was the first time the other two Spartans had.

"Please, come in," you said and they did.

"You need new curse words," Riz said seriously.

"We got here while you were doing your therapy," Vannak explained. "Didn't want to interrupt."

"You could hear me cussing out in the hall?" you asked.

"Superior Spartan hearing," she said, matter-of-fact. "I doubt anyone else could."

"Teach her the one," he urged in as animated a tone as you'd ever heard from him before. "You know, the good one."

Which is how you ended up getting a tongue-twisting word in Sangheili added to your arsenal.

"You say that to any Covenant species and it's guaranteed to send them into a rage," Riz said with a confident nod.

"Except the Unggoy," Vannak added with a sneer. "Little bastards couldn't give a shit. They'll try to kill you on principle."

"I'll make sure I'm on a bullhorn from far away, then," you said, biting the inside of your lip to keep from grinning. "Don't want to be in striking distance if I'm going to send them into a rage."

They thought that over.

"Chief won't appreciate us telling her to pick a fight with a Sangheili," she pointed out.

"Just use it on somebody you're pretty sure you can take in a fight," he told you.

"I'll keep that in mind," you said.

They made slightly stilted small talk for about 15 more minutes, then took their leave.

A rest seemed in order, so you propped up on the bed and checked the news. They were in the middle of reporting that they had yet to apprehend the man who had tried to smuggle the bomb back to FLEETCOM in the Warthog. It showed some stock images of the Pit before being damaged by the explosion and that got you to thinking…

There should be some sort of footage of the explosion, right?

But, after poking around on your padd for a little while, you hadn't found much beyond what apparently had been approved for public viewing.

"Would you like some help with that?"

Cortana's voice startled you.

"Oh, hey there," you said, thinking, Poor thing, she's got the most boring job in the world keeping an eye on me. I hope I get the chance to buy her a coffee or something after all is said and done. Then your brain tardily caught up with her words. "You mean you have footage from the explosion?"

"Yes, I do."

"And it's something I have clearance to see?"

"I have footage from the explosion," she repeated, her tone supremely innocent.

Before you could decide whether to ask to see it or not, the holo on the wall lit up. The security cams had caught the explosion from multiple angles. You winced as you saw a body – your body – fly out of the crane operator seat to disappear into a sea of smoke and debris.

A moment later, the view changed, the quality severely degrading. You squinted through the pixilation and haze and realized you were seeing from the point of view of the holo-emiter Cortana had contacted you from.

"Oh, shit," you muttered. The massive beam that had pinned you down should've killed you outright but you'd gotten supremely lucky in the way the rest of the building had fallen, providing just enough support to give you a tiny open space. But even without the sudden, helpful overlay that detailed out the edges of the debris through the smoke, you could see how quickly that respite was vanishing as the beam's weight bore it inexorably lower and lower.

You found yourself gasping for breath, cast back into that moment. The image changed abruptly. Trying to figure out where you were now viewing from helped to break you free of the encroaching panic attack.

Then it all made sense: you were looking at several officers, so covered in dirt and dust that you couldn't recognize their rank, much less determine their names. They also looked extremely short.

Before you even skimmed over the information feeding out in rapid-fire bursts, you knew that this was John's HUD after Silver Team had arrived back on site.

"John, get here now. The support beam is failing!"

Cortana's voice came through his helmet's comm. "There's no time," he said, interrupting the man as he was saying that they would have to wait for an excavation crew to arrive to safely dig you out.

He was running before the man could object. The feed cut back and forth from his HUD to the holo-emiter. This gave you an unexpected perspective on how efficiently Silver Team worked. They needed almost no words as they homed in on your location, grabbing, lifting, moving and supporting each part of the perilous structure as needed.

It was Vannak who caught the beam before it crushed you but it was John who lifted it off of you.

The holo-emiter's feed abruptly ended and you were back in John's HUD. Vannak and Kai caught another part of the crumbling wreckage, creating an opening for Riz to dig you out by hand.

You noted almost absently how steady John's vitals were. He was holding a building off of you as if it were nothing at all.

"Out," Riz announced and John carefully lowered the weight he'd been supporting.

When he turned, you saw Riz clearing the way for Kai, who was now the one carrying you. Vannak and John followed.

They emerged out of the wreckage and Kai went into the Spartan run, taking you directly into a Pelican where she turned you over to a team of medics. The Spartans were waved back and the ship launched.

"We'll catch the next one," Riz said.

"She'll be all right, Chief," Kai told him. "She's strong."

He nodded curtly, tracking the Pelican that was carrying you away.

And once it went out of sight, that was when his vitals spiked and his heart began to pound.

You were still thinking about what all you'd seen when the door chimed again. A glance at the chrono proved it was lunchtime. You opened the door and, indeed, the first thing you saw was a massive, covered tray that no doubt contained your meal. But it was John who was carrying it.

"Silver's on stand-by," he warned, "but I thought we might get a chance to eat together."

Since you weren't yet cleared to make the long walk down to the Mess, a table and pair of chairs had been set up across from the couch a few days ago. As soon as he'd placed the tray down, you practically tackled him.

"Permission to hug the Master Chief?" you asked well after the fact, your voice muffled into his chest.

He gently returned the embrace. "Always granted."

You found yourself holding onto him a little bit longer than usual.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I saw the footage from the Pit," you said, resting your cheek against him. "I already knew I was lucky to get out of there but really seeing it? I… It makes me appreciate being here."

He paused for long enough that you looked up at him, finding him gazing over your head as if hearing something over a comm. Then he turned his attention back down to you, brow furrowing. "She shouldn't have shown you that footage and upset you."

"Cortana? No, I'm glad she did. It happened to me, after all." You put your face against him again and squeezed him once more around his waist. "You held a building off of me, John."

He made a move as if about to pick you up, then thought better of it and knelt instead to bring you more on a level together. "I'd hold a million buildings off of you, don't you know that?" he said, cupping your face. "Just… try not to be under any more falling buildings, hm?"

"I'll certainly do my best," you swore and kissed his palm.

The look in his eyes altered, grew both darker and softer at the same time. When you leaned towards him, he met you halfway.

He started carefully, like he did everything with you, but soon the kiss intensified, deepened, and his hands skimmed from the crown of your head down your back as if he wanted to map every line, curve and angle you possessed.

And then your stomach growled, loudly and unmistakably, and you muttered your newly-learned curse word.

He leaned back to look at you, amusement tugging insistently at his mouth. "That one's Vannak's favorite. He and Riz talked about coming to see you today. I'm assuming they did?"

"They did," you said, then winced as your stomach grumbled something awfully close to a repeat of the Sangheili curse word.

"Why don't we eat," he said, completely surrendering to the smile, "and you can tell me all about it."

Happily, he didn't get called away and you were able to finish your meal together in peace.

"Could I show you something I recently learned?" he asked as you stood from the table.

"As long as it doesn't involve throwing me around the room," you teased.

"Oh, I'll save that until you're all healed up," he murmured, then winked.

You'd like to think you laughed but no, that was a full-fledged giggle. "So, what did you learn?"

"Therapeutic massage," he said, flexing his fingers. "It's supposed to promote healing and relaxation. Want to give it a try?"

"Absolutely," you said. "Where do you want me at?"

"On the footstool, if that's okay?"

"Sure."

The wide, plush, rainbow-colored bit of furniture was another recent addition to the room, added because John wanted you to have the option to put your feet up. Kai had told you that, as soon as you were healthy again, she was going to high-five you for the color choice.

While his back was turned as he adjusted the stool the way he wanted it in front of the couch, you took your shirt off and tossed it haphazardly towards the bed.

He sat, a leg on either side of the stool, and looked up at you, clearly about to say something. But then his expression went thunderstruck and the words never emerged.

You had the same UNSC sports bra that he had to have seen other marines wearing in the gym a thousand times. You'd spotted Kai and Riz in them before, so it shouldn't have been that shocking.

"This all right?" you asked.

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Yes." Every affirmative had its own completely separate inflection, from stunned to wonderment to Wait, don't put the shirt back on.

You turned away, hiding your grin as you sat down where directed. Considering that you were hardly in top fighting form at the moment, his reaction was a very nice little ego boost.

His hands settled gently against your back, fingers curling over your shoulders. "If I use too much pressure or there's pain, tell me right away. Is there anything I should definitely avoid?"

"Can't raise the arm like I should" –you gave a roll of your left shoulder– "but it's already much better than it was."

"Copy that, no raising the arm. Anything else?"

No matter how battered and bruised you felt, there was no way you were going to miss this. "I'll let you know," you promised.

"Okay," he said and his hands glided up to your neck, then out, following the lines of the trapezius on both sides. The heels of his palms followed your spine down in a feathery touch, then spread out along your lats like he was smoothing wrinkles out of them before skimming down your obliques to your hips.

He returned to your shoulders again and very, very carefully kneaded into the tightness there. You did your best not to flinch when he hit a particularly sore spot but he jerked back as if you'd screamed.

"It's fine," you said quickly, afraid he was about to end up perched on the back of the couch like a very large, traumatized cat. "This is the only way to get rid of it. Just got to work it out."

His hands settled cautiously on your shoulders once more.

"You're doing great," you assured him, patting his knees on either side of you encouragingly, and his thumbs drew circles over the painful places as if he were trying not to fracture a thin sheet of glass.

The knots relaxed and you exhaled in the closest thing to sheer bliss you'd experienced in a long while. The warmth and gentle pressure had you melting back into him, your head lolling a bit, your eyelids fluttering shut and—

The next thing you knew, you were waking up. "Oh come on, I didn't want to sleep through all the good parts," you mumbled.

John's chuckle rumbled beneath your ear. He had pulled you back onto his lap on your right side, cradled comfortably against his chest. One hand was gently rubbing your back while the other covered the hand you had fisted into his shirt.

"I'm going to take this as a compliment to my therapeutic massage skills," he said.

"And you absolutely should." You raised your head to look at him. "Maybe next time I can even stay conscious long enough to really appreciate said skills. If there is, you know, a next time."

"There will most definitely be a next time," he swore and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"I still owe you a proper back scratching."

"And I am absolutely going to collect on that," he returned, his tone unexpectedly husky.

You smiled, straightening up to kiss him. He pulled you closer, then paused and sighed against your mouth.

"I've got to go," he said resolutely right before his wristband chirped.

You looked for a way to roll off of him that wouldn't aggravate your shoulder – or potentially crush any of his, ahem, important Spartan equipment – but he scooped you up bridal style and stood as if you weighed nothing at all.

"I'll meet you for dinner if we're back soon enough," he promised and gave you one more tender kiss then placed you onto the couch. Before he went through the door, he paused, looking back like he was memorizing this moment, then he took a breath and was gone.

It was nearly dinner time when the door chime rang and you went to answer it with as much of a hopeful spring in your step as you could manage. However, this time, it wasn't John holding a tray with your evening meal on it.

"Dr. Keyes," you said in surprise, snapping a salute.

She said your rank and last name. "May I come in? We need to talk."

[skibasyndrome]

writing tag game!

first off thank you sooooo so so so so much to @hergrandplan, @lollygirlpops, @filmspring, @enjoythesilentworld, @caramelpenguin, @iwouldnevergetintofanfic & @gulliblelemon for tagging me, love you guys 💜💜💜 and so sorry for being so late to the party!

1.How many works do you have on AO3?

43! 38 of those are YR fics, the rest are from a former fandom

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

232,639 words. which is... okay? I suppose? I always feel like I'm way too slow of a writer and like my tendency to only write oneshots and not multi-chaptered fics is something that I need to address some day, but tbh I'm pleasantly surprised that I had all these words in me! and that sometimes I write 15k that's just a single blowjob lol

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Young Royals, babyyyyy! I'm very one-track-minded when it comes to fandoms, I'm usually only interested in one thing at the time, and for the past one and half-ish years that's been my beloved yr <3

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

You crave the Applause / Yet hate the Attention my beautiful, wonderful one-time-I-tried-to-write-a-multichapter-fic-and-it worked-out <3 I really think this is sitting this high up because there are multiple parts to it (and maybe because it was one of the first fics i posted, back in 2023)

Lavender Haze strangers to club hookup wilmon, my beloved <3 I posted this a few days before s3 aired and it feels like it was the end of an era almost. I love that I still sometimes get comments on this one!

All this shit is new to me AKA pt. of Lavender Haze. Again, I think the multi-chaptered-ness is really helping this one. and I promise some day I will actually manage to finish this fic!!! and if it's the last thing i do!!!

Flash The Camera, You're A Star! co-written with @pagegirlintraining and we still wonder how this one hit the way it hit lmao. but good for cameraman Wille, that silly, silly fool <3

I've never met arms like yours hehehehehe, kinktober '24's bestseller, AKA snuggly cuddly cockwarming wilmon. honestly? I Get It (TM)

5. Do you respond to comments?

So 😭😭😭 at what point of being delayed will I have to reply to this with "no"??? 😭😭😭 see the thing is... I really want to and I still very much plan on replying to the lovely comments I've gotten during the past few months, but every time I sit down and want to start, everything I have to say feels very inadequate 🥲 which is super ridiculous, but idk, so many of those comments mean so much to me, and I want to take the time to reply in a way that's worthy of the comment and then. I don't 🥲 So I guess the answer has to be "no" for now, even though it really pains me. But I leave them all as marked unread so that one day I can go back and finally try to put into words how much they mean to me <3

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

If I'm allowed to include my little tumblr ficlets into the ranking then it's DEFINITELY this one over here

If ficlets don't count: I don't think there's one that's veeeery angsty? Sharpen your teeth, sink into me has an overall angstier tone and a sense of desperation to it that isn't necessarily resolved (also because I see it as a little peek into a fic universe I have yet to write more of), and Maybe I could hold you in the dark has a similarly open ending (and used to be a ficlet, so maybe that's that). For someone who enjoys angst so much I reeeaaaally don't write enough of it I'm afraid. Need to remember to write more angst!!!

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

Everything else? 😅 I think most of my fics exist as these tiny windows into wilmon's relationship that's either just starting or firmly established, so there's almost always a sense of "these two have got it. they'll be fine" when we leave them. One that maybe feels particularly happy and "we can leave them here, they'll be fine" is Kyss mig med dina röda läppar.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. I've had a weird anon message here and there from time to time, but nothing too serious.

9. Do you write smut?

I think the right question to ask would be whether I write anything that isn't smut at this point 😅 I mean that's definitely hyperbole and I do have the occasional t-rating peeking through, but I really think I've found my niche as a mostly-smut writer. It's just what I'm most comfortable with and what comes easiest to me, funnily enough. There's something about writing that physical aspect of their relationship and the different ways this can look, depending on their circumstances, that is very compelling and beautiful to me and I love that, so far, people seemingly haven't gotten sick of my writing about it yet. Because that's definitely one of my fears, that I'm being too repetitive and that nobody will want to read the 40th smut oneshot written by me. But... idk. I'd like to believe that I try to make every single one somewhat unique and interesting <3

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don't! I think the reason might be that I'm always only interested in one fandom at the time? But idk, crossovers aren't something I read most of the time either tbh, I'm just happy with my blorbos having their own universe.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Waaaaay back in the early days, I think it happened twice or three times maybe that someone copied my fic and reposted it claiming it was theirs. I only found out because people messaged me about it, and I thiiiink some of them are still up actually, but this was only on tumblr, so I doubt anyone would find either of our posts these days.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've had a couple of requests (and told them yes), but I haven't seen any of the results. That seems to be a bit of a common experience from the answers other people gave, haha.

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

Yesssss, I could eat that boy for lunch was co-written by @pagegirlintraining, @iwouldnevergetintofanfic and me, Flash The Camera, You're A Star! i wrote with @pagegirlintraining and Birthday Boys with @iwouldnevergetintofanfic.

@hergrandplan and I also have a very rough idea of a fic we want to write some day when we have time that I am veeeery much looking forward to working on 👀

And, I know that's not the question, but overall I think many of my fics thrive from me talking to other people about them. I love throwing around ideas with people and yelling about scenarios or concepts and a good number of my fics wouldn't exist if I hadn't had a friend to talk about them with <3 aaand there are certain fic outlines that only exist in my chats with some dear friends. so shoutout to the besties who listen to my ideas and shot ideas back and encourage the brainrot, ily <3

14. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Why would this question come into MY HOME and attack me like that??? jk jk jk.

I actually really, really hope to finish all the unfinished WIPs I still have out there, partially published. I don't like the idea of abandoning them and I also kind of want to prove to myself that I can stick with things, because while I do mostly post oneshots I reeeeeally want to write a couple of multi-chaptered fics in the future. And I can't trust myself to do that if I abandon my other fics.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Taking a character and really picking apart their psyche hehe <3 I loooooove introspective stories, I love getting lost in the thoughts and worries and ideas of characters, I love pausing the histoire to check in with the characters. And I've been told that I do it well, soooo <3

Also. Just generally? Smut? Is that a strenght? I know some people struggle with it and like, I have my own set of struggles around it, but it's still the "genre" I'm most at ease with and as a avid reader of smut I like that the thing I maybe most enjoy reading is also the thing I most enjoy writing. That's just kinda neat in itself, no matter if it's like... objectively a strenght or whatever.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I thiiiink this question is meant to be answered with something regarding style or anything else to do with the actual writing, not the process, but tbh I don't believe in objectively "correct" ways to write and I write rambly and overly detailed because I love to read rambly and overly detailed as well so. I'm going with process instead.

Sticking with things? Planning ahead? Structure? Going about things systematically instead of just... going with the flow? I think the thing that most frustrates me about my own writing is how easy it is for me to get out of the flow and how difficult it is a lot of the time to get back to projects I used to be very passionate about.

I love the way I go about writing, and I love that I have a more explorative process and I think for oneshots this works perfectly fine, like, having a handful of rough ideas, just starting somewhere and letting the story tell itself. But for longer projects this just isn't very sustainable? And I have so many stories to tell that kind of need to be longer fics.

In general, I think the very flow-based approach i have to writing is simultaneously one of the things I enjoy most about it, but also one of those things that make it most difficult for me. Which is. That sure is something.

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

I don't usually mind reading it and I've actually tried it before in my own writing, but since then I've sort of moved away from it for my own fics? For no reason in particular tbh, but it's just easier and more immersive to write when I stick to one language.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

One Direction 🫡 I said to someone the other day that the 1d to yr pipeline is strong, because I keep coming across form 1d fic writers hehe

19. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I suffer terrrrribly from recency bias. My favorite fics at any given moment are mostly some of the most recently written ones. For the moment the fics I feel the most proud of might be

1. Real short leash (but I like it tight), very much one of those fics that I wrote for myself and like. three other people who were supporting me throughout, but idk. I have a lot of love for this one in my heart. it feels bold, I felt brave for posting it, I feel good about the way I created the characters, I genuinely love so many things about it, which isn't a feeling I get for a lot of my own fics usually. It feels... special in a lot of ways. And I'm genuinely proud of myself for becoming a writer who feels good about having posted a fic like that, after spending so much time being scared of posting more "out there" fics. these two genuinely mean so much to me and I'm grateful for everyone who gave them a chance <3<3<3<3<3

2. Moon go down (do it again) this one just has such a... calmness to it. it feels so settled and so peaceful and like such an interesting moment in the life of a very interesting version of them. and I was so happy to see that this story touched so many readers <3 that was such a beautiful surprise to me <3<3<3

I've been offline for a while, so I have nooo idea who's been tagged before and who hasn't. I've really sorry if I'm repeating tags, but I'm (no pressure) tagging @shouldntbearevolution, @grapehyasynth, @saynomorefic, @bigalockwood, @earlgrey-lateatnight, @dreamyelectronicmusic, @vvachillessongvv, @the-impala-is-my-home, @willesworld & and if anyone who's reading this rn would like to answer these: great news! you've been tagged as well!💜

[teamoon7]

So, after the last chapter

I've seen multiple theories so I want to know what most people think

(Click bellow if you wanna read my long rambles about it lol)

I actually am having very mixed opinions/theories on this?

(I'll also write some concerns over the course of the story and etc in the middle, so be warned if you don't like to read this type of thing)

It makes total sense for Kafka to sacrifice himself and even die here, because in a way, he already kinda accomplished his main goal- he DID fight alongside Mina in this final battle (and even acted like a captain while mina was his support), so his arc already had some kind of closure. Also, 8's whole purpose of existing will kinda be fulfilled the moment they manage to defeat the great kaiju (Idk if it has a name lol), so it's death would also make total sense for the narrative. Plus saying something is irreversible only to, chapters after, show that actually there WAS a secret way to reverse all of this, kinda makes the whole "it was irreversible" thing pointless, and I don't think they'd want to go for that.

At the same time, I'm pretty sure it was said in an interview that Matsumoto doesn't like being too cruel in the story? Plus we only had one major character death up until now lol, not a single important death in this final arc, and I can't really remember any characters that had something irreversible and tragic happen to them in the whole story (most close we got to that was when hoshina almost lost his arm but actually didn't), so with what we had up until now I'm not sure if it's likely that we'll have a depressing ending?

I really have no idea if they're gonna keep the "things are kinda tragic but most characters won't get TOO traumatized or injured" thing or if they'll actually make the most important character have a tragic ending

I also don't know if we have any information on how many chapters we have left, because I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the manga is close to ending... So if we have a big enough amount of chapters left, I think it would be more likely that this whole thing with Kafka would at least be resolved in some sort of way, with him surviving and being able to still live a happy life somehow. If we actually only have a few chapter left (like idk, 12-20) I don't think we even would have enough time to develop and reverse this, so I think it'd be more likely for him to die.

I also saw recently the "he'll be turned into a weapon for mina to use" theory and it actually makes so much sense because mina is the only major character that didn't have any arc getting a full suit weapon and learning how to use it, so it would be a nice way to give her a weapon that actually has a VERY important connection to her (bc a character as important as her can't be the only one to be left out and not get a numbered suit, right???). It would be very tragic but also very cool

(If I'm being honest, I kinda wanted them to go for the cliche "Kafka goes berserk and everyone has to tragically fight him, but everyone just can't KILL him because they all just love him so much, so in the middle of the fight they manage to actually just contain him somehow so they don't HAVE to kill him, and they all try to find a solution to somehow still keep him alive" because I'm just a sucker for this type of thing and for characters being emotional lol, but I don't think that's happening)

Anyway, if they go with any of the tragic endings, I just hope the characters will suffer SO I CAN SUFFER TOGETHER WITH THEM

Pls Matsumoto, make them cry, make them go through grief (even the most unlikely ones like hoshina, mina and maybe even Narumi), make ME cry together with them- it would just be so sad (not in a positive way lol) if they mourned over this for like one or 2 chapters and then everyone gets ok after this 😭 if there WILL be drama, I want the drama to actually last and have big impacts, to actually show that the characters CARED, pretty pls 🙏

[tlbodine]

Overthinking: The Phantom of the Auditorium

The Phantom of the Auditorium came out in October of '94, and is another book I have no memory of form childhood. It's also one I don't hear people talk about much in general, even though there's both a TV episode and a stage production (as I just learned).

So what's the deal with this one? Worth a read, or snooze-worthy? Let's dig into it.

First, the Plot:

Our story centers on long-time friends Brooke and Zeke. Like many Goosebumps heroes, they love both horror and practical jokes, which is why they can't resist trying out for the school play--because the rumor is that it will be spooky.

Turns out the play may be cursed. At first this comes up from Brooke's overly-obsessive under-study (who really wanted the lead part, ok), but it's later confirmed by the teacher.

The basic plot of the play is: A theater owner has a hideously deformed, mask-wearing squatter living in the crawlspace under his theater. But theater-owner's daughter falls in love with this "phantom" anyway, much to the annoyance of her fiancee, who kills him. But the phantom returns as a ghost to haunt the theater anyway.

This play was supposed to be performed like 70 years ago, but on opening night, the kid playing the lead disappeared and was never seen again. They never performed the play after that and reportedly destroyed all the scripts, but somehow they survived! And now we're going to perform it, for...reasons.

Part of the play involves a trap door, which works like a dumbwaiter to deliver the titular phantom up from under the stage. Zeke is instantly intrigued by this bit of equipment and encourages Brooke to stay after school and test it out with him. They plunge deep below the school, way further than expected, and get a little lost. Then they bump into the night janitor, Emile, who shoos them away.

The next day, Brooke befriends new-kid-in-town Brian, who already knows about the play and wants to get involved. It's too late to have a part in it, but he gets a job painting backdrops.

Predictably, weird stuff begins to happen. Threatening messages get left first in Brooke's locker, later scrawled across vandalized set pieces. And a couple of times, Zeke has shown up in a mask on stage, acting creepy and erratic...except Zeke insists it couldn't have been him. Oh yeah, and nobody's ever heard of the night janitor, either.

Alas, nobody believes Zeke, and he gets thrown off the play. Eager to clear his name, he convinces Brooke and Brian to go with him back tot he school to get some evidence of his frame-up. They figure out that Emile isn't a janitor but is actually just some poor homeless dude living under the school. He's been leaving them messages hoping they'll leave him alone.

They call the cops on Emile, but he clears out. Opening night of the production, though, Brooke is joined on stage by a masked phantom who is certainly not Zeke, although she's the only one who notices. The phantom delivers his backstory, and it's totally off-script. We find out that he's the kid who disappeared 70 years ago -- he fell in the trap door and died under the school and nobody found him, but now he's returned to stage to act in his role once and for all!

He disappears in a dramatic curtain call, Brooke runs into Zeke, and then the two of them end up back at her locker to find an old year book that shows a picture of the missing kid from 70 years ago....Brian was the phantom all along, ooooOOOOooooo

Overthinking It:

I imagine that, as an 8-year-old reading this book the first time, the twists may have blown my mind. It's possible that there was a time when I didn't see Brian show up as The New Kid In School and immediately think, oh yeah, this is clearly the ghost of the missing student.

Alas, I am 30 years past that, so I pretty much had the plot of the book figured out within a few chapters.

Homeless-guy-Emile is a nice subversion, though. I am amused that, as far as we can tell, Emile's threatening messages and Brian's ghostly appearance are wholly coincidental and unrelated. Brian actually seems as frightened about the whole thing as anybody else.

What's frustrating about this book is that it is almost really good. But it just fails to tie up its loose ends or smooth over its plot holes naturally, instead taking a jackhammer to exposition to ram the plot along.

Why would the teacher have resurrected a 70-year-old cursed play? Like why that play in particular? And then why tell the kids its backstory? Because it's a necessary plot device and Stine is tired, obviously. But I kept waiting for it to pay off somehow, for it to turn out the teacher was in cahoots with the ghost. Alas, no dice.

It's also not at all clear how Emile the homeless guy is presumably breaking into lockers to plant evidence. And then later when the yearbook shows up in the locker -- that was Brian's doing, right? So was Brian also planting evidence? Why? What is happening here?

I do enjoy the story-within-a-story-within-a-story construct. There's some really trippy multilayered storytelling that could happen here, in a more ambitious work that wasn't going to be banged out over a weekend (no shade on R.L. Stine, banging out a book in a weekend is his whole thing). But it handles it well enough, and the ambiance and theater bits are fun and engaging for what they are.

If You Liked This, THESE Will Really Give You Goosebumps:

Obviously, the title is a nod to The Phantom of the Opera, which you can enjoy in novel format by Gaston Leroux, or in many different film and stage productions -- take your pick.

But the story here as presented is also heavily inspired by The Hunchback of Notre Dame and just a dash of Macbeth, or rather the theater kid legends about the Scottish Play.

There is a 2015 movie called The Gallows that appears to have a lot in common with this book, but I haven't seen it so I can't confirm.

For a very different take on dead students taking the place of live ones (and causing trouble), see the anime Another (directed by Tsutomu Mizushima). Compare and contrast with Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back (and its film adaptation).

And -- spoiler alert -- for more stories about a haunting that turns out to be some dude in a crawlspace, check out The Boy and Housebound.

[kamari333]

I really liked the 1 am tea on Undertale MTT and Dancetale's feud in EMV.

I now want to write a fic where all the MTT/NTT's do a family feud style quiz show and wanted to reference this with the two teams being based on the 5TT(s) and TonTon as the host, since he's a neutral party. (This would exist in a nebulous universe unrelated to EMV, just with references to it)

But I only know Undertale Mettaton's group, and was curious if you had input on what Dancetale's would be?

Also, if you have nicknames (or suggestions) for all of them I would love that! (I like consistency, lol)

P.S. I love the way you write characters (and just in general, you are amazing at writing)!!!

In reference to <Burlesque Chapter 8> & also <this post from December 2018>

That sounds so cool! (i too wanna write more about the MTTs but kam has to finish with kam's current character roster first xD lol)

I imagine that the group is largely the same, and the difference is whether Classic MTT or Dance MTT are the diva of choice.

I like to think that Dancetale MTT and Classic MTT are a little too similar in terms of personality, and end up butting heads because of it. But they both get along fine with everyone else.

If the group DID have to pick sides, I think it would be up to circumstances who would fall in line with whom. It could easily be written in several ways, with the balance shifting over one single choice of words. I can see both Dance and Classic MTT ending up either acting out or saying something in the heat of passion that makes or breaks an alliance. (Not that I think either of them would mean to hurt feelings for real, but they are the over-the-top types and get away from even themselves at times)

That being said, there are other dynamics I would keep in mind:

Fell!MTT and Fellswap!NTT are either (1) thick as thieves, being fell types who understand each other; or (2) have a rivalry of some kind where they butt heads over niche cultural differences that make the others very confused. i could also see both being true simultaneously, making it a friendly rivalry (maybe even homoerotic).

Underswap!NTT and Fellswap!NTT are probably on good terms, being the two natural introverts with low social batteries (introverts can introvert safer in groups)

Outertale!MTT probably likes Underlust!MTT for academic reasons (they are probably the only two who can speak to each other on the same level regarding certain technical topics)

Underlust!MTT likely prefers the NTTs more introverted natures to that of the flamboyance of his own counterparts. He could get along with them, but he might very well find them too much and too touchy for his liking (especially in an early relationship). Their obsession(s) with fame and fashion recognition might also put him off, although they'll have commonality when it comes to the business side of their fields.

I haven't given much thought to their nicknames yet, but here are the thoughts I do have:

Undertale MTT: Mettaton EX :: "EX" is the canon extension for his upgrade, and is also an abbreviation that sometimes means "Excellent; Excellence". I think it fits his personality.

Underfell MTT: Mettaton NEO :: NEO is the canon Genocide extension, and evokes the desperation that comes from fighting for your life in the context of Undertale. I think it fits well for his situation and context.

Underswap NTT: Napstation :: Given Swap!Napstablook is a DJ and radio star, his robot form having a double entendre relating to radio (radio station) makes me happy.

Fellswap NTT: Napstatron :: I just like the idea of a fell!swap!Napstablook taking the suffix -tron, since it evokes in me something menacing and (more) dangerous. I like to think he is a sweetheart deep down, but he had an image to maintain!

Dancetale MTT: Mettaton DX :: "DX" is an abbreviation that sometimes means "Deluxe", and is often used for upgraded forms of electronics. I can totally see a Mettaton taking it when he sees himself as a better version of... well, himself.

Underlust MTT: Mettaton LX a.k.a. Tonton :: "LX" is an abbreviation that sometimes means "Luxury", which fits with the original sexy design that Tonton tested and ultimately got stuck in. In another sense, it sort of fits with his augmented form, as it was redesigned to make him more comfortable since he couldnt leave it. I like that for him.

Outertale MTT: Mettaton LEO / Mettalite :: "LEO" is an abbreviation that sometimes means "low earth orbit", playing on him being a satellite and also constellations (Leo). It's also just one letter off from NEO, which pleases my aesthetics.

p.s. omg thank you for the complement!! kam still struggles responding to praise but thankyuu <333

[spiritsglade]

thank you for the tag @glitter-stained :]

Fic Writer Ask Game

1) How many works on Ao3?

33

[fun fact there used to be 2 more but they're gone now. lost media.]

2) Total Ao3 wordcount?

161,906

3) Top 5 fics by kudos

lies of omission

Something's Wrong with Jason Todd

homicidal tendencies

admonition

Unfortunate Circumstances

4) What fandoms do you write for?

27 - DCU/Batfam (26 are about Jason Todd)

3 - Moon Knight (2 of the show adaptation, 1 for comics)

3 - Wings of Fire

it's been jason todd for like 7 months straight at this point, but I do want to come back around to marvel eventually + wings of fire is like a sleeper agent that awakens every now and then and forces me to write another angsty oneshot about a children's book series. also i'm reading more non-bat dcu characters so maybe !! one day we'll get something there.

lots of unposted fics as well about ocs i have in various media (among us, hollow knight, rain world, etc.)

5) Do you respond to comments?

i am extremely inconsistent about this, but i do try! i do definitely read & cherish all of them though <3

6) Angstiest ending?

um. first instinct is protocol. because i do have other fics that end in very angsty ways but they're in like... 'hey remember this canon thing that happened? i'm gonna frame it in a way that hurts even worse' ways, while protocol innovated new and exciting pain.

7) Fic with the happiest ending?

why is my catalogue compressed misery who let this happen hang on. i think redux is the closest to a happy ending and even that is just the promise of joy on the horizon. maybe i need to be adding more fluffy codas to my works.

Something's Wrong with Jason Todd has a happy ending i think but also i am holding that fic at an arm's length still so i'm not rereading it to double check.

8) Do you get hate?

not off the top of my head, no! lies of omission gets a lot of people cursing out the characters (bruce, babs, and most recently cass) and i'm worried one day they'll figure out that it's me forcing said characters to do these things and redirect all the negative energy at me (joking)

9) Do you write smut?

nope.

10) Do you write crossovers?

no, but writing for comic characters is trying to wrangle 3 separate canons into something cohesive at all times, so it probably replicates the experience well enough, lol. i certainly think about crossovers often, and maybe one day one of my more well-formed concepts could make it onto a page.

11) Ever had a fic stolen?

i think the answer to this is no but i'm weirdly uncertain?? i know my art has absolutely been stolen so maybe i'm thinking of that instead.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope, but i've had someone ask if they could, so maybe that'll happen one day?

13) Have you ever co-written a fic?

yes! honestly it might have been more than once but the one that comes to mind is... i believe it was called Mirage, and i could dig it up if i really tried (which i will not be doing so). it was a future dystopian wings of fire fanfic that i think we got about seven chapters into and there was a general embarrassing lack of coordination between us lol.

anyway the person i was writing it with later revealed that they were multiple people using the same account and i'm still not entirely clear on which of said multiple people was actually writing it with me. you think you know a guy.

i would love to cowrite something again. it sounds like a lot of fun. does anyone want to roleplay with me and turn our transcript into a fic-- (also used to do a lot of roleplaying!! those were the days <3)

14) All-time favourite ship?

my wings of fire ocs. canary/aethon they're both fucked up and their relationship was a messy messy thing even before canary got themself blown up (don't worry about it) and it's even worse now. they're the dragons in my pinned post and i think the fact that aethon is killing canary there helps you get an idea of what their relationship is like. also acanthus is there and unwillingly part of the world's worst polycule.

for favorite ship that people might be more familiar i'm gonna have to go with marc spector x greer grant nelson (although jayroy might be edging them out for the top spot. it's hard to tell rn but jayroy has the benefit of a large fanbase throwing more propaganda in my direction.)

sorry thinking all the time about how marc's last words were him apologizing to greer because he promised he'd come back, and greer planning to break a god out of prison just to bring marc back, and neither of them were the 'first' for each other but that devotion is genuine. how greer first came back into marc's life as a way of monitoring him and he knew this and the way he betrays her trust and lies to her face later and they talk through these issues!! they make it work!! god. i lvoe them. i should probably figure out what their ship name is at some point.

15) WIPS you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

something shaped like brotherhood. fucking HATE that thing. it's um. from back in november. it was supposed to be part of what crawled out. let's not talk about it.

okay actually i will talk about it a little bit. the issue with that fic is that the plan for it was far too ambitious for my understanding of dc canon at the time and now that i do understand it slightly better, i don't think i could write it in a way that feels satisfying and true to the characters without wildly reworking how all of it works, and at this point i have other vague plans and concepts that hit similar emotional notes/plot points that i'd rather work on instead. like i guess i don't want to finish sslb itself but i do want to do things with its concepts and i'm sad that i can't reuse what i actually drafted for it without having to do major rehauls.

+ i do like the general concept for what crawled out. and i do want to finish the series but it's ughughhg. unlikely at this point. especially since i'm now rehashing similar beats in other fics.

anyway here's one of a couple theoretical summaries for it that have been Sitting There. Abandoned.

Red Hood slams onto the scene in Gotham in a meticulous, extravagant demonstration of violence. Nightwing disappears off Bludhaven's streets as everything that defines him crumbles into ash. These two things are, for the most part, unrelated.

there are fics that i really want to write and know that i realistically am unable to ever get done (cough cough suicide watch) but i'm still in denial about that and am chipping away at that monster very very slowly. if i just believein myself hard enough.

16) Writing strengths?

i like to think i'm good at dialogue + giving the narration a Distinct Voice. i love my limited third person pov that is filtered through a specific character's perspectives and beliefs!!

also TRUST that i am good at imagery. please. i know i don't dip into the flowery figurative language bucket often but i know that when i do, i do it well! i should do it more honestly. look out. i'm gonna personification all of your phenomenon.

17) Writing weaknesses?

i am weak on action scenes unfortunately :( i hate having to research and meticulously put a scene together and i think it shows a little when i vaguely navigate my way through a scene while describing minimum possible things going on. i'm gonna be entirely real. i forget how to write humans sometimes. i don't know how these bodies work despite living in one. it's what i get for being exclusively into a dragon book series for like 6 years straight.

like i genuinely believed if i watched more shows/movies with fight scenes i'd be better and more confident at blocking them out. anything including the characters doing more movement than waving their hands around a little makes me Struggle.

18) Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

hmm i don't have any strong feelings. the way i speak at home is a fucking mess of chinese & english so like yes i can see multilingual characters speaking this way, though it's only in pretty specific scenarios (like with family that also knows all languages involved). and as a reader i'm always a little excited when the writer starts blending in a language i Sort Of know so i can guesstimate at the meaning and then check the translation to see how far i got. + when people don't include translates but write the narration around it so you get the gist of conversation anyway is very fun. little endearments & nicknames (mijo, baobao) are neat. <3

but it's also like i do think if you're writing in other languages you do need to put in the work to make sure you're translating things correctly & sprinkling in the words in a way that would actually be natural for the speaker. (ex. damian calling jason 'akhi' -- akhi means 'my brother' so saying 'his akhi' just... is not right. and i've seen posts i can't find now about how that's formal arabic no one actually uses to address their siblings? take that part with a grain of salt i don't know any arabic & i'm repeating things from memory.)

19) First fandom you wrote for?

wings of fire!! my love for this children's book series about dragons truly knows no bounds. but i've also written entirely original writing back in like... fourth grade, or so. i was nine at the time, i do know that. i have an entire completed story about this girl named lokia born of the goddess of spring who had to go on an adventure to defeat the winter god after he kidnapped her mom. she met a cloud named fluff on her adventures. apparently it's titled Seasons and Dragonflies, and i actually managed to dig it up so have a lil excerpt:

“The blizzard is enchanted,” said Fluff. “It’s special.” The blizzard sprayed snow everywhere. Fluff charged into it and was whirled around by the storm, and thrown to the ground. “Oww…” said Fluff painfully. Lokia thought about what she was carrying. She knew she couldn’t destroy the blizzard with a sword. Suddenly she knew what to do. Taking out a few dry sticks, she poured the last of the fire onto the sticks. The flame flickered, then started burning the sticks. The blizzard felt the heat and melted, fell gently, like rain, and disappeared into the snow. The fire flickered and was also gone. Lokia and Fluff entered the palace with caution. 

that's the solution guys just melt the blizzard.

unsure what my first wings of fire fic would be. it's almost certainly deleted by now.

20) Favourite fic you've ever written?

one that is not on ao3... it's about aforementioned wings of fire ocs <3 whom i love dearly, and it's titled A Thousand Words We Never Said. here's an excerpt from it. my writing was Worse than it is now but the Heart of it. the CONCEPTS. they're Killing Me. and each other, apparently.

"You're distracted." It wasn't a question, but she offered a shrug anyway. "Too busy daydreaming about your pretty eyes." They were dark brown, rich, deeper than the night sky that glinted before them. They ignored her. Fair enough. "It's compromising your ability to fight." "Oh, we both know that doesn't matter. We'll just keep sparring, and I'll beat you next time." "I'll kill you, one of these days." Their eyes flickered towards her, without the slightest shift of their head. "I'll forget, or I'll overestimate you." She hummed, because there was nothing else to add, because it was true, because it ran both ways and it was just as likely that she'd be the one tearing a chunk out of their throat one day.

um for fic that you can actually read. compound fracture. ossification series in general i am very fond of compared to most of my other output.

no pressure tags: @birdieisnotwriting @havenesc @helsingvania @haithhegimp @just-a-random-dungeon-master + all my other beloved mutuals and anyone else who may want to join in!!

[leroiestmortvivelareine]

tgr live journal - ch 7-8

my reactions to reading tgr

(all chapters)

tgr live - ch 7-8

who did that post saying Jean would have freshman following him around in awe while he glared at them - its so true

like ducklings

oh, Jean's gonna be talking about Grayson to Lucas. we all know it.

Biker Jean is coming, and we are NOT ready

the Foxes are a pack of useless fools, little thing like a murder trial and they lose focus for an entire WEEK

i can't talk about the trial

i can't talk about Neil being still like stone

I can't

endless hours of fictitious legal drama in the world yet that scene on the stairs will haunt me forever

thank you Nora for not putting us through too much

Nicky... oh my poor Nicky... please believe you have a family. The right family. You chose right, you did, you did...

don't touch that car you idiots it's going to explode

LOLLL... imagine if Jean's and Kevin's shiny new cars arrived with a card saying "please stop sleeping with my stepson"

Nora you are fucking diabolical

whatever hole Tetsuji's hiding in, I hope he gets to hear about the Ravens stooping so low as to bribe people to please say nice things about them

although I like to imagine he's still in the murder room where we left him, doubled over on his knees and hating life.

Kevin got all his textbooks back, aw. The EA Kevin shrine joins the PSU ring-binder Kevin shrine. I wonder if they'll ever meet up, and argue about whose owner was more obsessed

Are the books damaged? No but they're sticky for some reason

mmm hmm we're sure you'd like to show Kevin the best Los Angeles has to offer Jeremy

lack of impressive things to do in South Carolina???? WTF???? does he not know about the roof with the broken lock?? is he unaware there are beanbag chairs?? has he never seen the Mas?? never been to Sweeties?? EDEN'S?????!?!!! The world is not enough for you Jeremy????

The freshmen are revolting

lol Neil is the new Kevin

OH NO YOU DID NOT BRING ANDREW TO CALIFORNIA!!! WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK YOU DO NOT PUT THAT MAN IN THIS STATE!!!

lol Neil you demon of chaos

you are sooooooooo sleeping on the couch when Andrew gets home

Dunno what you're both so upset about, I did give you details! I said I had pad thai with chicken and coconut rice and a mango lassi

Left out some vital points though...

...Like which state you visited...

...And a whole other crime family...

...And attempted murder...

...And actual murder...

Also tbh it was really a pineapple lassi.

Jeremy you shouldn't boast about using a lighter to cruise guys with when your shorts are that flammable

I bet Andrew was super impressed to be holding the lucky lighter of love lol

HAIL QUEEN!!!!!!

Jean just cannot hide his feelings can he, poor lamb

Kevin, The Boy Who Is Off Limits

mmm Kevin being soft with Jean is very hurty

Jeremy is two seconds away from relating his sexual prowess to impress Kevin

*excited voice* OMG I totally slammed Ivan into the wall you should have seen me Kevin

... which i guess answers at least one question we definitely weren't all asking at all in any way...

Jeremy is constantly on the verge of slipping into cruising mode, he has to actively stop himself doing this with Jean

it's literally harder for him NOT to pick up men than to pick up men

what... that's not how you study, Jeremy

why on earth anyone worries Jeremy will get into law school is beyond me. Riko had more chance of becoming a history professor.

In the running for valedictorian? really?

(< prev, next >)

[meimi-haneoka]

Do you guys ever think about how many times CLAMP tiptoe around the word "death", in Clear Card? (you: what kind of question is that???)

Because it's an awful lot.

The actual verb 死ぬ (to die), the classical one, is never mentioned* to indicate "death", and I totally see the reasons why: mainly target and "world view" of the series (lord, if there's something I learned during these 8 years of observing the reactions from the JP fans is that the 世界観, the "world view" is EVERYTHING and if the authors dare doing something that goes against it, they won't forgive them. Especially for a series rooted deep in everybody's childhood).

* (Actually, it is used in chapter 43 in a funny skit with Kero, Suppy and Nakuru, where Kero says "I thought I would die!!!" because he's too embarrassed by the SyaoSaku scene he had to forcefully witness hidden in Sakura's bag 😂but it's a foolish scene)

I think the first time where they actually start to dangle it in our faces is in chapter 28, when they make Momo scream in panic: "If you rewind that far, the repercussions will be immesurable!!" and then Kaito confirming right after "Time magic shortens the caster's lifespan". 命を削る indeed means "to shorten one's lifespan", and what else does that mean, if not that he's killing himself little by little, by using time magic? Sure, magicians have a longer lifespan, but...

Another instance where they make us "sniff" the smell of death but they don't serve the actual meal is in chapter 33, when Kaito goes out in the garden to counter the attack coming from the Association. He condescendingly says 力不足と己の身が滅ぶのを恐れて, mocking them for not including time magic in their collective attack because they're afraid their power won't be enough and they'll literally wreck their bodies in the process. Kaito doesn't straight up say "they're afraid to die", but the verb 滅ぶ means "to perish, to be ruined, to be destroyed" and we all saw what effects time magic had on Kaito's body. He's basically calling them p*ssies, yes.

And excuse me, but the most apparent one....when Kaito (or the Clan) says multiple times "Her soul will break", should Akiho write on herself more power than her body can sustain....isn't that just a very generous way to avoid saying "Akiho WILL DIE" to not scare the young readers away? Because, think about it...if her soul breaks...what is left of her? What is left of Akiho, as we know her? Yes, just a shell, a corpse for use and consumption of the Association/Clan, exactly.

And what to say about the scene of chapter 41 when Nadeshiko is trying to mom-talk Kaito into reason and the guy answers "I guess it's because I'm getting closer to become the same kind of entity as you", meaning, a ghost??? Hence, he's basically saying "I'm about to die"? I always snicker when I read that part because I'm like "OH COME ON, CLAMP, MAKE HIM SAY THE WORD" 😂

Another instance where the characters dance around the concept of death is in chapter 51, when Momo gets to have this very mom-son talk with Kaito (yes, exactly, Kaito set into motion several mother figures throughout the story - Lilie, Momo, Nadeshiko herself - that should tell you SOMETHING). Momo is trying to make him understand that he's literally betted his life away when he made the contract with her, so that should give him an idea of how important this mission is to him, and for whom he's doing this for. She says "When you made the contract with me, you revealed your true name. We could say I hold your heart as magician in the palm of my hand". Here Momo is basically already mentioning the concept I've been saying time and time again when Kaito revealed his true name to Akiho in chapter 80: in CLAMP works, revealing your true name to someone is like placing the most vulnerable part of yourself in their hands. The "imagery" Momo suggests here is actually pretty disturbing: the word 心臓 (heart) is the one commonly used to indicate the actual organ, more than "heart as core of the emotions", and so what she's suggesting is that at any moment, without notice, she might close that hand and crush his heart, basically killing him. Of course Momo would never do that, but she wants to remind him of what damned situation he's put himself in, how far he went for the person he still isn't ready to recognize at this point of the story.

I think the closer they went to say the "forbidden word" was when Lilie in chapter 72 explained to Sakura the extent of her premonitory dreams: "I know things that will happen shortly ahead...things way far ahead in the future...and even things that will happen when I'll be gone".

Another instance where they TOTALLY dance around the real situation (that is, Kaito should've been dead-dead-dead by then) is in chapter 80 when Eriol explains to Akiho what Kaito had been doing: I'm not sure if it's Eriol who sugarcoated it in his speech, or Akiho herself while recounting it to Sakura, but she says "He messed with lots (of dangerous magic), so his condition wasn't supposed to be that good", another polite way to say "he should've been dead by now". In fact, what's keeping him alive is literally the fact that the pocket watch (and therefore, his time) is frozen for now.

And sometimes I wonder if the "unhappiness" or "grief" that Yelan foresaw for Sakura, in the eventuality she couldn't gain control of her own powers, included....death too....NAAAAAAAHHHH

(well, I mean, who didn't think of THAT when they made Kaito say that he could see Nadeshiko because he was close to dying?? Well knowing that Sakura could suddenly see her too?? they did that on purpose jfc)

[p5x-theories]

I gotta say, I really like Ange being the new idol, but her new portraits look a little bit to jarring for my liking, like her hair color is really throwing me off, in the official arts shown it’s more like her original portraits but in her new one is just plain black. But anyways, I wanna hear your thoughts on everything! What did you think of all the stuff revealed in the livestream?

Hmm, yeah, I kind of agree they look a bit weird next to each other (screenshot from my Ange post since I put the two portraits next to each other there), although the hair color isn't as much my problem as the way they sort of look like different art styles, heh?

The ear, for instance, and the way her eyes are done in general. It's not too jarring to me, but they do look a little weird right next to each other? I guess part of the differences are meant to be that she's taking better care of herself (her hair is neater, and her neck's less thin), and more relaxed (her shoulders aren't hunched up), but even if it was originally traced from Futaba's portraits, I kind of wish they'd stuck with the same base.

Heh, anyway, I am super excited for Chapter 4! I'll admit, I'm actually more excited for Polter than I am for Luce, but that's not to say I'm disappointed with him at all. It's actually really funny what they seem to be setting up here, so it's hard to complain! Like, imagine you're Aran Hirano: you've managed to uncover the identities of the real-life Phantom Thieves, and apparently at least one of them is a huge fan of your popular phantom thief manga. So you use the school festival to get close to them, and ask them to help out with the stageplay based on your manga! But then they recruit one of your lead actors to their team?? Something about ants?? There are times of day where you just cannot get in touch with them no matter what?? And then it looks like next chapter she'll probably actually join the team! It's a pretty funny situation to put her in, so I'm happy with it even if we have to wait a bit longer to see her in the Metaverse.

As for Luce himself, and Ange, it was a little surreal to finally get to move them off of my "future teammates" post and give them their own proper info posts. It's a bit of an adjustment to call him Luce/Shouki now- he's been Enco, or just Ikenami, for over a year and a half!- but I'm certainly excited to see what they'll do with him, and learn more about him. His outfit's fun- kind of a slightly cheesy/costumey prince outfit- and I'm curious what that's meant to say about him. And I can't wait to see what Ange is like in combat, her skill that gives an extra turn sounds super useful! Plus her Persona has a great design, and her Metaverse outfit isn't bad (though it isn't quite my personal taste). I hope Chizuko makes an appearance in her Confidant, since Manaka obviously first appeared in Chizuko's side story.

The upcoming Palace looks super fun, too!! It's pretty, and a total change of pace and aesthetic from the dam we've been running around in for so long. Not to say I didn't like the dam, but after ~8 months with it, I'm looking forward to a change! Shimotsuna seems like a fun villain from our first impression of her, so I hope she's a real jerk, hehe. I feel like the female Palace rulers are too often a victim/forgiven for their crimes compared to the male ones (consider Futaba, Sae, and Katayama, vs. how there hasn't been a male victim Palace ruler like Futaba or Katayama yet (as in, a Palace ruler who is only getting hurt, not hurting others), and Maruki is maybe the only somewhat "forgiven" male one. This is partially because there are just more male Palace rulers, but still!), so I really want Shimotsuna to be a terrible person on par with the male Palace rulers, even if she has a sympathetic backstory like Kiuchi, Miyazawa, and Akashi all did. I'm curious to see what's up with her secretary, too, since they went to the trouble of showing him off during the livestream.

And then this is more minor, but I'm glad they're moving updates back by a week in the future to give themselves more time to put stuff together. It's really good to hear they're prioritizing having enough time to make everything properly, rather than rushing things to appease impatient players. I'd much rather wait longer for something better, rather than get something unfinished more quickly!

[zenshigarakilover]

episode 8 bnha anime spoilers and speculations about when we'll get naked afo

it was confirmed this weeks episode will end here, which is the end of chapter 352.

so if we're going at the rate we are now, afo will start rewinding in two weeks. here's how I'm imagining it to play out...

episode 9: 353, 354, 355 - May 29

episode 10: 356, 357, 358 - July 6 (afo starts rewinding in 357)

episode 11: 359, 360, 361, 362 - July 13

episode 12: 363, 364 365, 366 - July 20 (premiere of naked afo)

HOWEVER we're approaching that time where the anime might split into the second cour which means it'll go on break. bakugo dies in 362 which would be the perfect time to do that, then again maybe they'll want to show him having his heart being repaired before break so people won't drop it with him being a popular character and all 😂

one thing to keep in mind is that while season 6 went on break after episode 13, we're working with less episodes as the first four that counted towards this season were recap episodes. so there's 21 in total we have for the season as a whole which means the split might happen sooner.

anyways this is just what how I think it could go. I'm hoping it doesn't go on break until after episode 12 because then that'll mean naked afo premieres right on my birthday 🤧

[darkwingphoenix]

Cyangeline Escape Destination

@loominggaia, I request help getting this to your blog.

Y'see, I have two major locales I wanna send Cyangeline and Skylie to. They can all go together or separate to differing locations.

One is Drifter's Hollow, a pretty important location for LG's major crew the Freelance Good Guys.

The other is Uekoro, where their Aunt Azura is the Queen.

On the one hand, Azura could seriously help them using mercenaries or whatever, but on the other, Drifter's Hollow. The Uekoro route will likely be a bit more smooth but may have some shenanigans related to the Aquarian Alliance, Yerim-Mor, and the Kaconeans. Drifter's Hollow will have slightly more angst, be a more desperate fleeing attempt as they will have to evade the law and be in the wild, but have interactions with Folkvar, Kelvingyard, and ogrish tribes in Evangeline. Also my divine OC Saraia.

So, poll below, vote when you can! I also put in arc names for each route the plot could go once it gets to that point.

Also, the motives for Cyangeline and Skylie depend on where they go. If to Uekoro, it's a mostly well prepped journey on their own terms. Going to Drifter's Hollow will be a far more spontaneous thing, with Cyangeline having been caught/being too heavily suspected by Teal/Cyana's parents or Skylie's stories being burned and she runs away totally upset and unwilling to stay anymore.

Again, this will determine the future of my fic, readable right here! This won't be immediate, we have maybe 6-8 chapters before the results of this poll are relevant.

Edit: I will likely also post alternate versions that all split off after a specific chapter I'll use as the major canon split for each of these.

For example, if Cyan Uekoro and Drifting Skies (Cyangeline to Uekoro and Skylie to Drifter's Hollow) wins, that'll be the canon arc, but I'll also write the others as non-canonical alternate paths.

And both Cyan Uekoro/Uekoran Skies will be split POV between Cyana and Skylie, each chapter starting with what Cyana's up to before shifting to Skylie. These will pretty much be the same rough time periods for each chapter, so, for example if Cyan Uekoro wins, two chapters might encompass two weeks of travel for Cyana and two weeks of evading the law for Skylie. They may not be truly equal (Maybe Cyana's part is about 2 hours and Skylie's part is over a 3 days' time), but they'll ultimately be over the same approximate amount of time.

[goldenhickeyss]

Wanted

These last few months we have been definitely spoiled... 

From the 1st of February, until the end of April, we've had 15 vlives from Jungkook and 8 vlives from Jimin. In total 23 vlives in 3 months. That's an average of almost 8 vlives per month. LOL

(I know, I know.. some of the JK’s vlives are in the same day... but all together have more than 3 hours total length... that's equivalent to several vlives of the rest of the members. ;))

Now it seems like a dream... 

We are half way through May and....

Let's see…

My positive side is that these two are finally aligned and both working hard. We don't know what Jimin is up to, but I'm optimistic that more music is coming. And of course, JK is totally into JJK1.

(my negative side keeps thinking about that last post of JK asking his stalker to shove the food up her ass. I hope he comes back soon, with his beautiful ponytail and the whole threat thing will be buried)

Before February I used to grieve thinking that there was nothing in the pipeline that would bring jikook back together in content.

After the last few months, I think I've learned that there are always plot twists, unexpected surprises, subtle gifts to their fans….

They know we're here, and while they're still with us, they'll surely come back from time to time.

There are a few months left to enjoy many things. I would advise everyone to try to live this in the best way possible.

Talking to a friend, I told her that BTS will keep putting their fans first, at least until this chapter is over.

Not for nothing Suga himself, who writes challenging lyrics and drinks on stage, and smokes in his MVs (to reflect the reality of his generation/age, not to set an example of anything), just recently said in an interview that they are all like "real brothers" and have been living these last 10 years together LOL…. any curious fans will know that in 2018, when they had some issues, many of them moved out to live on their own.

I mean, we're living, in my opinion, a sort of Chapter 1.5, with them discovering new facets of their independence (I loved NJ's interview for Vogue, and how he acknowledges the limited or isolated life they've lived until last year), but without crossing too many boundaries (and especially not changing too much certaing OT7 dynamics)

Couple this with the lack of ot7 content, this might not be the best of the chapters, imo. Not so for jikook, at least in our eyes. We are certainly far from the golden age of 2019.

But it is what it is… and as I said, better to enjoy it, not think too much about the dark parts of this fandom. Let's learn to respect each one of them and who they hang out with or don't hang out with. What they want to show us or what they want to keep to themselves. We are not in their shoes...

..and wait for whatever, because whatever will come… as Letter came.

[bardic-inspo]

Writer Interview

Tagged by the wonderful @electricshoebox 💜💜💜 Thank you, friendo!!

Tagging forward @vixstarria, @littlejuicebox, @ravnloft if you'd like to do this, too. No worries if not! 💜

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

16 (and counting!)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

351,099

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Red Heart indicates smut included somewhere in the fic (or will be included in future chapters)❤️

All are Fallout 4 fics except the last two, which are Baldur's Gate 3.

Bring the Gasoline (MacCready x Sole Survivor Longfic❤️)

No Rest for the Wicked (MacCready x Deacon X Sole OT3)

We Never Go Anywhere Nice (MacCready x Deacon x Sole OT3)

Worried Sick (MacCready x Deacon x Sole OT3)

Midnight Chimes (Astarion x Cursed!Tav longfic❤️)

Honorable Mention: Blood in the Mortar (Ascended Astarion x Vampire Bride Tav❤️❤️❤️)

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

Yes! I'm sometimes (very) fashionably late in doing so. But it's really important to me for a number of reasons. I don't ever want anyone who takes the time to read/comment to feel like I take that for granted (I absolutely don't). It is so incredibly motivating to know there's someone out there enjoying what I'm writing. I want any/all commenters to know I just appreciate them so much.

I've also stumbled into friendships through commenting back and forth on fics before, which was wonderful and unexpected and just opened a new dimension of fandom/community for me. Compliments are wonderful, but I mostly share my writing because I want to feel connected to that sense of community and enjoy that mutual love of whatever universe sprouted the fics in the first place. Responding back to comments makes me feel more in tune with all of that.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I tend to follow a "more hurt more comfort" motto, so most of the angst I write is followed up by comfort (or at least, a comforting note at the end).

I'm gonna say Warm Bodies. It's an angsty Fallout 4 smut fic featuring Deacon x MacCready x Sole Survivor in an established (somewhat domestic) OT3. A close call with death rattles them and they have emotional sex about it. Although there's a lot of comfort with the angst, the ending note is slightly melancholy. It implies that either a) a pretty significant lifestyle change is in order for all of them, which goes against the grain of their characters or b) they'll have more close calls until, one day, it's really too close, and they lose each other for good.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I almost always go for a happy/hopeful ending. It's hard to pick one, but it's probably gotta be one my fluffy domestic MacCready x Deacon x SoSu oneshots, Hungry Hearts. Ends with a big happy family moment.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Not yet, at least. I did once thoroughly outline and started drafting an AU that was basically the plot of Casino Royale with Deacon as Bond and MacCready as Vesper and other Fallout universe characters (like Mr. House) inserted in. I don't see myself going back to finish that one at this point.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nah. I think I'm too small fry for that in terms of my audience size/reach and that's just fine with me. I'm cool tending this cozy little campfire over here.

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

Yeah! I mostly enjoy writing smut with a ton of feelings/history to it, (Warm Bodies is a super emotional comfort sex OT3 fic; Blood in the Mortar is an evil power couple with an established dynamic relishing in some power play and spicy use of their telepathic bond). But I've also dabbled in some kink exploration in Follow Suit, which plays a little bit with dom/sub dynamics and very light bondage.

I'm really looking forward to writing upcoming smut scenes for Midnight Chimes. Astarion's relationship with sex is such a huge part of his arc, and I'm looking forward to writing the smut scenes in a way that shows his own individual progression with that, and also how his relationship with Naomi deepens/changes over time.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also not to my knowledge.

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

Nope! I am so feast or famine with my writing process/preferences, I don't think I would make a great writing partner at this point. Maybe someday!

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

Ahh that's tough. It's really going to be, whichever is at the forefront of my mind at the moment. Currently, that's Astarion x Tav (especially my own Tav, who I'm doing a lot OC work/development for). But MacCready x Sole (Natasha) feel like, nostalgic, warm and fuzzy friends to me. I think my heart will always get soft when I think of them together (and with Deacon!).

Really, any ships I used to be more fixated on are just dormant and still have a space in my head/heart.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I could very well come full circle and feel the pull to deep dive into Fallout again (especially if the TV show turns out to be good, or if they release a new single-player game in the series), but the only further Fallout 4 fic I see myself finishing at this point is Bring the Gasoline (most likely by hermit drafting the rest of it and waiting to share further until I'm done). I think the amount of ideas I had, unfortunately, outmatched my motivation/hyperfixation on that universe. I had a lot of ideas for fics showing the actual OT3 relationship "negotiation" that I've had vivid daydreams about, and lots of wild notes for, but I don't have plans to pick up again at this point.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I get a lot of positive feedback on my action scenes. Also a lot of feedback that my writing is really vivid/visceral/immersive. I think I'm good at putting the reader in the character's shoes/in the heat of a moment, and wrapping them into the character's thoughts/feelings right off the bat. I also feel like character work, generally, is a strong suit of mine (character voice, mannerisms, individuality).

Something that has been really touching to hear is how well people respond to my OCs. I've done a lot of work to make unique/compelling/flawed original characters that readers can get invested in. I am still absolutely floored by some of comments I've gotten re: Natasha (my Sole Survivor). And although Naomi (Tav) is a newer character in my arsenal, I've gotten to play with some alternate (evil) versions of her, and folks seem to be intrigued by both.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Echoing Riss on the crutch words and phrases. I do have some editing steps I use to try to mitigate this. In the past, I've also had a bad habit of transposing/mingling words from different fantasy universes (mirelurk vs. mudcrab; Storm Coast vs. Sword Coast) without even realizing I'm doing it. I'm hyperconscious about that, now.

I also struggle to be concise. I made a commitment to work more on this this year, and in doing so, am trying to strike a balance with it. Ideally, if I have a lot of words, there should be a certain density of ideas/information being shared. So, if a fic gets long because it's packing a lot of punch that way, I don't want to cut it off unless it's too much to share at once. If it's long just because I'm being wordy, well, maybe that comes down to self-confidence, and me needing to let my words stand on their own without so much hedging/propping up.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I've experimented with this (and now cringe about it in retrospect), but hey, I think it takes some trial and error to figure out what works. My general preference is to write the lines in the language being used for the bulk of the fic, but then add a phrase like "X character said in Elvish" after. I think the less the writer knows of the other language themselves, the more they should err away from writing a lot in it. I think short phrases or single words in a different language can also be to great effect (as long as they're properly researched/understood).

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Warrior Cats as a kid loose on the internet 😺

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I want to write some Shadowheart/Karlach smut! I'm a little intimidated as I've yet to add F/F to my smut fic punch card, and I wanna get a free sub but I think they have so much angsty sweet potential and I already have a little outline for it!

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Bring the Gasoline will always be my baby. It's my first real fic, and the thing that got me through a lot of ups and downs. I poured so much of myself into it.

But for now, I have to go with Blood in the Mortar. I just had an absolute blast writing it. It gave me confidence back in a way I really needed. It made me feel like I'd grown in skills I'd been working on for a while (particularly with writing dialogue and smut, and character work in general). I got to write villains, really for the first time, and was surprised I had so much fun with it. It was the perfect blend of challenge and getting back into my element, and writing/sharing it felt really uplifting. Felt like letting my hair down, hehe.