#they're pretty fun to write their perspectives of how the first generation of their family turns upside down

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

How I see every Godzilla x Mothra ships but in their respective eras?

MY GENERATION AU.

Showa Godzilla and Showa Mothra = ENEMIES (Okay, they're enemies and they both wished to stay each other's asses and their family to ensure the safety and secure of their family clan; still they dislike each other frequently whenever they passed by their homes or just...comment snidely to one another)

Heisei Godzilla and Heisei Mothra = Neutral (Heisei Mothra is married to Heisei Battra and they both raised a son named Leo. )

GMK Godzilla and GMK Mothra = Yeah partners-in-crime (both have family issues and ran away, eventually the two meet each other and become roommates shared in one rented apartment; I supposed they might be enemies but, here's the fact: they both dated each other secretly without getting caught)

Millenium Godzilla and Millenium Mothra = Friends obviously (Millenium Mothra still raising her twin children alone)

MV Godzilla and MV Mothra = MARRIED COUPLE!!! (Childhood friends; both lived in their family clan; inseparable until they were married and moved on to their new home; start raising your future kids would you?!)

[syndrossi]

resonant ch25 dvd commentary

Inspired by @cloud-harasser's ask, some dvd commentary of the latest chapter. No idea how I'm gonna be structuring these, so we'll just meander aimlessly until I settle on a format!

Favorite line: "The crown he had so coveted, she mused, had come to wear him." (Rhaenys)

Mostly because there's so much behind it. Obviously there's Rhaenys's own bitterness over the Great Council and her belief that Viserys's rule has weakened their family. But also how it has, in many ways, weakened Viserys himself. His health, his happiness, his relationship with his family. The crown consumes, if you are not strong enough--and perhaps even if you are.

In general Viserys + the weight of his crown is a subtle (or perhaps not!) theme in the chapter:

"He gladly forgot his crown when it did not suit him, only to brandish it like a sword when it did..."

"Viserys looked from Daemon to her, and then back, closing both hands around his cane, as though it were a scepter."

"His hand found his hair, as though to push back the weight of his crown, his sigh loud in the sudden quiet of the room."

"If Viserys decided to take his supper with only his crown for company, that was his own choice."

The crown constantly isolates and wearies Viserys, which is why he's constantly trying to put it down, and be just Viserys: a brother, a cousin, an uncle, a father. But to Rhaenys's point, he only puts it down and picks it back up when it suits him.

(I always worry that people think I dislike Viserys or am going out of my way to make him unlikeable, but honestly I find his struggle to be a very compelling one.)

Favorite moment: A toss-up between Rhaenys reaching for the wine to deal with this bullshit and Daemon comforting Jon by the hearth.

Favorite dynamic: Rhaenys and her cousins. Rhaenys's viewpoint of them is somewhat frozen in time (moreso Daemon than Viserys), but it's still pretty accurate. Since this story is very Daemon+Jon+Rhaegar-focused, we usually see Daemon in a very positive light, OR we see him as the ultimate villain from Alicent and Otto's POVs. Rhaenys is a fun middle ground. She is able to call attention to / muse upon his faults while still remaining fond of him.

"Quick" hitters:

This was one of the more frustrating/difficult chapters for me to write, because it took me a while to settle into Rhaenys's voice. Her POV is one of the most heavily edited scenes I've done.

I went back and forth between two versions of the boys' disappearance. There's a natural pause in the Viserys-Rhaenys-Daemon conversation (when they're talking about the Princesguard and also the Stepstones) where you could slip a scene break in. I wrote it originally from Rhaenys's POV, which is what we ultimately got, but I also partially wrote it from Jon's before deciding it was stronger to have Rhaenys's perspective. We'll save the secret passage spelunking for another time!

I originally had Jon bestow the name of his hatchling in this chapter when he introduced him to Rhaenys, but this wasn't really the appropriate place for Daemon + Rhaegar to react to it, so it got moved to 26, which is all about dragons! (The chapter is literally called "Dragonkeeping"!)

It's subtle, but Rhaegar latches on to Rhaenys hard as the first Targaryen woman he's encountered. Hugging her almost choked him up, and he was upset when she announced she'd be leaving soon.

Cut partial Jon POV scene in the secret passages (standard disclaimer that this is raw/unedited lol:

“Are we lost?” What Rhaegar had assured him was a five minute walk through tunnels beneath the holdfast to emerge in a small crypt on the edge of the garden—one of many for Queen Rhaenys, whose body had never been returned to her homeland—had become fifteen minutes of navigating tunnels that ended abruptly or in doors locked behind chains, or switches that did not work. “Much has changed,” Rhaegar said, fixing the latest dead end with a betrayed glare. “Or changed after, I suppose. Some of the tunnels must have been extended later, and chains removed.” He frowned in thought. “During the Dance, perhaps? It is not known how Aegon escaped the Red Keep.” Their plan to sneak to the king’s chamber in support of their father, exchanged in hushed whispers in Princess Rhaenyra’s chambers, was beginning to look doomed to failure. Jon followed Rhaegar back to their current tunnel, where his brother exhaled in frustration. Their hatchlings, who were entertaining themselves by zipping along the dark corridors, did not seem to mind. In fact, they seemed to rather enjoy the cave-like interior of the rougher-hewn spaces. Rhaegar held his torch up, their only source of light, turning to peer down each side of the tunnel. “There is a small passage near the tunnel to Flea Bottom that leads to the Queen’s Ballroom within Maegor’s Holdfast. I did not want to use it, because we will have to cross most of the holdfast to reach the king’s chamber. We will be spotted before we reach it.” “How far?” Jon asked. “Another ten minutes. We are on the opposite side of the Red Keep right now, nearer to the Tower of the Hand.” Jon grimaced. By the time they reached it, Laenor would almost certainly have raised an alarm, but the same was true of returning to the passage leading to Rhaenyra’s chamber. Then he remembered Rhaegar’s story from before. “Aren’t we near where the dragonglass mosaic is? Beneath the Tower of the Hand?” Rhaegar turned to him in surprise. “You wish to see it now?”

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

apologies for being callous in asking this, but seeing as so many aegon-centric (or those who had tagged him) blogs, no matter how good their dissertion and dissection of aegon is, gets called/is assumed to be a rapist defender/apologist, have you ever received an ask/comment calling you that? if so, i hope it never bothered you at all. apologies for bringing it up but i feel like getting called that would probably stopped those from actually enjoying/talking about him and his other qualities (such as his alcoholism, his bond with his dragon, his actions during the dance, his desperate survival.) because it actually stopped me from enjoying his character (because i initially felt so bad liking a character like that), going through his tag as well as looking for fics because of the vitriol. well that was until i stumbled upon your AKAB and OFCiR, which gave me so much perspective on aegon. and your opinion on the dyanna scene (which is oh boy, such a hot topic) was so beautiful.

No worries anon! So actually, I've never received an ask or comment with the rape defender/rape apologist accusations (and now that I've said this, I'm sure I'm sure someone will want to break that streak lol). I've participated in discussions in general in which those sorts of attacks were tossed around, but I've never had them aimed at me directly.

I'm honestly pretty surprised it hasn't happened, but I sort of chalk it up to two things. 1) I block prodigiously and pre-emptively and 2) I tag my discourse posts judiciously and try not to antagonize other fans by posting critical things in the main tags. And although I know opinions vary on this, using anti tags and team tags is also another way of making sure that people who have certain tags blocked will not see my posts, so I do use those when I feel it's appropriate. Beyond those two things, I think I also have a habit of writing pretty detailed responses and providing evidence to back up my assertions, which probably discourages people who are just looking to get a rise out of someone and don't want to read a five paragraph essay about why they're wrong.

I'm really sorry that those sorts of accusations have stopped you from enjoying Aegon's character in the past, and I'm glad my fics helped you to enjoy him again. Obviously I think he's an interesting guy with a compelling, tragic story! I will say this: I've been in the greater asoiaf fandom for well over a decade now, and characters who are far more morally dubious than Aegon have always had fans. Ramsay has fans. Euron Greyjoy has fans. I don't know if you were watching GoT when the show first aired, but so many show only people hated Jaime at first, not knowing his arc, and by the end he was one of the more beloved characters on the show. And by the end of the Dance, no one's hands are clean. Rhaenyra herself allows Dalton Greyjoy to reave along the coast of the Westerlands, which results in hundreds of women being taken as salt wives (and we know what that entails!). If we can only enjoy the most morally correct characters, our choices for the Dance era are pretty slim, and mostly limited to literal children.

I doubt most people throwing out those accusations could even spot actual rape apologia in a fandom context, considering all of the other types of apologia I see flying around unchecked. Rape apologia is not the existence of rapist characters, enjoying those characters, or even analyzing why those characters did what they did. Rape apologia is not questioning why the show decided to make Aegon a rapist, or hoping he might get more character development in the future. Rape apologia is making excuses for rape, or outright denying that it happened. So, saying "Dyana was probably lying" or "Dyana was probably into it" or "Dyana was scamming the royal family," or even what Aegon himself said in the scene, "it was just a bit of harmless fun," that's clear cut rape apologia. And here's the thing, when something is wrong, it's usually because it causes harm, and unlike simply enjoying a character, actual rape apologia does cause harm. Making excuses for or denying even fictional rapes perpetuates rape culture in ways that make it harder for women to speak up against assault, and harder for rapists to be prosecuted effectively. But again, I have never seen actual rape apologia among the team green fans I know.

Finally, I'll just say that while fandom in general can be a fun, positive thing that helps people connect with each other based on shared interests, that drives people to think and to create and to do, on the other hand, fandom can also feed some pretty shitty modern impulses. It creates cliques, empowers bullies, and worst of all, it encourages a kind of brand driven consumption that in turn perpetuates this idea of fandom as activism. Activism is getting involved in your community, volunteering, fundraising, protesting, labor organizing, boycotting, etc. Activism is not scolding people online for enjoying media the wrong way. People who think this way need to reconnect with the outside world, and anon, I hope you continue to enjoy whichever characters fascinate you, including Aegon.

[maleficore]

I really don't think I'll ever get to actually writing it this decade because I have just That Many other wips and this story is Long, but my god I keep rolling that RDR2 Modern AU of mine in my head like a pretty pebble and I have Many Thoughts. Looong ramble under the cut.

The general gist of it that it's supposed to be a "happy ending" to a true crime story, but it isn't. Not for a long while, at least. Like imagine watching a 45 minute documentary on a missing person's case, the credits roll and you're like "Wow so happy that they turned up in the end" but on the other side of the country that person has been having the worst fucking time for the past year and would've probably been better off missing.

Let me explain.

Up until May 1999 the story plays out like your run of the mill Modern AU that is kept as close to canon as I can make it. Of course some things are different in the way that comes from throwing everything a 100 years into the future like how Eliza and Isaac died in a car accident, not a home robbery. People have jobs that are different, some backstories needed to be adjusted. Arthur's last name is Matthews and not Morgan, having been adopted by Hosea and Bessie when he was around 8 or so. Him and Mary have actually been married, but it still didn't work out. Small divergences, seemingly inconsequential.

Then on May 18th Arthur Matthews goes missing. Leaves no clues as to what might've caused him to leave and where, had showed no signs anything could be wrong before he disappeared. A proper mystery. Of course it's a big thing for a while, Hosea being a pretty well known crook defence lawyer makes it interesting for the news, but after 6 months of nothing even the nastiest vultures get bored and everyone pretty much assumes Arthur to have died. Especially since he's well known to be a recovering alcoholic with multiple relapses under his belt. Probably fell off the wagon again, tripped into a ditch, hit his head. Dead.

That's when Arthur Morgan shows up.

It's up to the reader to decide if this is some universe warping time travel shenanigans or if he's the same person that went missing, just having an episode of some sorts. To everyone in the story Arthur "I'm telling you, I jumped off a sinking boat in 1899 and then showed up here" Morgan comes off as Mentally Unwell, so it doesn't really matter since it is not told from his perspective anyway and there's no way of really knowing.

(It's John's POV by the way. Forgot to mention that, whoopsie.)

And the entire story is basically a whumpy hate letter to all time travel AUs where Arthur gets yeeted into our times and pretty much shrugs it off with minor discomfort (/lh I don't actually hate those, they're silly fun, but they're not realistic?? And I am a realism nerd). Here, he gets majorly fucked up by it. Because how could he not be? First off, Hosea, who he just watched die maybe days prior, is alive and well. So is Sean and so is Lenny. He may be happy, but all that only makes everything feel even less real, pushes him further into believing that the reality he's in is some sort of a mirage or a dream. People talk about all these things that have not happened to him, there are pictures of a stranger with his face in places he's never been to. It's distressing and Arthur might be a guy that handles pressure well, but I doubt there's a single person on earth that wouldn't break under the weight of that. He's no different.

He keeps getting really distressed whenever that kind of stuff gets brought up too often. Starts having regular panic attacks, gets put on medication, sent to therapy. The "gang" are there to help him through it, but the situation takes a lot out John in particular once he realises that whatever has happened to Arthur seems unlikely to be reversed. Just as much as the person in every single family picture is a stranger to Arthur, this Arthur is a stranger to John. It's like he really died in a way. So the plot is just as much Arthur learning to cope and maybe eventually accepting that all of this is real and he's just "crazy", as John watching him go through it while simultaneously grieving the person he no longer is.

Basically an essay pondering the question "What makes us who we are, our memories or personality?" disguised as a fanfic because I like getting philosophical sometimes lol And I genuinely love it. This AU is my baby and really want to work on it, but it would have to straight up be a novel-length story. I don't have that in me 😭😭

[a-rum-of-ones-own]

Thank you for the recommendations! I’m excited to check out The Rib Joint and of course, A Skirt Full of Thorns. I’m all caught up on the Luna/Ginny fic, too, and excitedly waiting for an update ✨

Particularly intrigued by this line you wrote: “It's not just something you are, it is, to a certain extent, something you DO - a way of interacting with yourself and the world.” If you feel comfortable, can you share how being queer has affected your worldview and psyche like you mentioned?

Have fun checking all of them out, and yes, of course I can elaborate! Just a warning, it might get long, lol.

I'm probably going to phrase this weirdly, but in a way, I've always sort of disagreed a bit with our contemporary view of sexuality as this purely intrinsic thing within yourself you just 'discover' one day. Like, we've got this societal view that your sexual orientation just springs up on you, fully formed, one day when you're fourteen years old and get your First Big CrushTM. And of course that narrative is true for many queer people/women- they grow up, and one day in 9th grade, they realise they're in love with their best friend, and boom, queerness discovered. It's viewed as this intrinsic thing you are, rather than something you do, it's something you discover about yourself, not something you shape and that shapes you in turn.

And, obviously, that's correct to a certain degree- queerness is intrinsic, you can't choose to be gay any more than you can choose to be straight. But I do think there's an additional element to it. I've always experienced my queerness as sort of happening on two layers: the 'to be'-layer of 'I am attracted to women, that's an intrinsic fact', and a 'to do'-layer of 'I actively and consciously chose to follow up on that and discover what it means to me through... actually doing the thing and dating women'. And at least for me, that 'to do' layer feels more important to my own identity? In a way, I vibe a lot with the Greek/classical interpretation of sexuality as a behaviour. Like, I was never totally repulsed by men the way some lesbians are - I found dating them very 'meh', both physically and emotionally, but it wasn't mind-bendingly horrible. There was no huge intrinsic push away from them beyond a feeling of 'this is dissatisfying and would probably be better with a woman'. I still find men totally fascinating from a sort of artistic perspective (I mean, I have no issues writing straight romance, for Pete's sakes - I find it a really interesting way of exploring the world through a different lens).

I've now been exclusively dating women for pretty much all of my twenties, and feel absolutely no desire to change that. It's shaped me in a lot of ways - compared to my straight peers, I realise I have a different perspective on things like family, career choices, big moral values. 'Family' means something different to you when a lot of your friends and partners experienced family rejection (though I was very lucky in that regard). 'Career' means something different when it's both a means of safety and independence and something that occasionally pushes you into very heteronormative environments (I'm in law, and that's...not a very progressive world). Not dating men also frees you up from so many societal expectations, and after a while, you realise that that truly impacts everything from how you dress to how you speak and move and interact with the world. My general perspective on life became very female-centric after a while, not in the sense of being a misandrist - I just interact with women a lot more than with men. Their perspectives interest me more, I enjoy hearing about them more, they 'click' more with me. I think it shows in my writing sometimes: even stories I write from a male perspective eventually end up being about the women in them, about their histories and relationships to one another.

I personally feel like I 'discovered' queerness within myself as this sort of seed, and only once I actually watered the plant and watched it grow did I fully realise how big and important this tree I was growing was going to be to me and my life. I was always queer, but I became a queer person through years of actually doing queerness. 16-year-old me was absolutely also attracted to women, but she was this little germinating seed who still hadn't shed a thousand tiny forms of heteronormativity (and I'm sure I'll look back on myself at my current age the same way in 10, 20, 50 years!), right down to not yet being able to admit to herself that she was exclusively attracted to women, because that felt too scary and impactful for her yet. The attraction thing is almost incidental, I feel. What really shapes you is the bravery of actually standing up and saying 'this is who I am, and by God, I will live it'. The attraction just is. That bravery is a choice, and that shapes your character.

This is SO long, I'm so sorry XD I hope it helps, though. Have fun exploring!

[dungeonsandblorbos]

hi! I love your blog! I didn't ever think of writing about ttrpg on my writeblr blog, so thank you for sending me down that tunnel! It's making me see my table top characters in whole new ways to think of them as oc's. (and honestly inspired by you im thinking of rebranding my blog to include ttrpg stuff now yay) Quick actual question, since this is an ask after all, how do you like to get to know a new oc when you have first created them?

aww, thank you! glad to know i can offer some inspiration there, and i look forward to learning about your PCs/campaigns too if you do end up posting stuff about them! 🥰

and ooh, that's a great question. there's a few different things i like

for my PCs, i usually only have vague ideas at first, so the process generally starts with me pouring over the rulebooks for the right class/subclass, background, feats, etc. to match the vibe i have in mind. this helps me narrow in on a more specific vision of the character and sometimes even gives me some new ideas to play around with. from there, it's often a lot of just writing things down, either in the character sheet or on my designated backstory doc, until it's time to actually play. it can take a few sessions to feel out a new PC and settle on how i play them, but i never really fully know them until i've "been" them, ya know?

if i'm getting ansty or want to do more character work in between sessions, i like working through lists of questions (especially when they're DM-provided). i really enjoy Ginny Di's POV Roleplay video series, especially this one: POV Roleplay: You're treated by a healer video link, as a more interactive style of questionnaire. essentially, Ginny takes on the role of a D&D-style NPC and has a "conversation" with you, with pauses in the video to allow you to respond in character. it can feel kinda silly at first, like a bizarro adult version of Dora the Explorer, but once you get comfortable with it, it's a pretty fun way to get into the character's headspace and explore how they think and interact with others in a zero-stakes, non-canon environment.

finally, i tend to do a lot of daydreaming and expanding their backstory doc. like, when i say that i am mentally ill about Cerris or Ariel, i am not exaggerating. i have hyperfocused on them to the degree that for, like, a month at a time, any time i wasn't actively focusing on something else, i was thinking about one of my boys. it's how i'd deal with long public transit to and from work when i didn't have headphones (and at least once missing my stop because i was too engrossed in blorbothinking). it's how i'd fall asleep. it's how a quick shower would turn into twenty minutes of me standing under the hot water not actually bathing, just thinking about character things. and Ariel's backstory doc (which also contains a good amount of worldbuilding content, as i got to help the DM develop the country he's from) has ballooned from its original, like, 4 pages to a solid 18-20. i have family crests and pedigrees and height comparison charts and explanations of noble social customs and naming conventions. it's ridiculous.

in a similar vein, i'll sometimes write letters and journal entries from their perspective, or random backstory scenes. these are especially helpful in getting a feel for the character's voice, which is a key part of writing and roleplay for me!

for non-PC characters, both player-created NPCs and OCs for non-TTRPG projects, i'll do some of the same things, but a lot of it ends up revolving around the simple question: what do i need them to do in the story i'm trying to tell? what characteristics and storytelling elements are going to best allow them to fulfill that goal? it sounds very formulaic and detached when i write it out like that, but in practice it feels much more personal, like helping a character discover their purpose in life

anyway TLDR: basically i give myself free reign to hyperfixate on the character and think about nothing else for at least a week straight 😂 when you spend that much time thinking about a character, it's hard to not figure out almost everything about them!

[corishadowfang]

Dandelion Seeds: If you were to write another chapter, or a short story based on Dandelion Seeds, who/what would it be about? 

Fallen Stars: How is Skuld’s Chirithy handling… everything? (Also, does Skuld ever walk around with her Chirithy and get weird looks?)

Bonus question: Do you have any “older” fics you still love? Do you remember your first one?

For Dandelion Seeds: Haha, oh man, I have...a ton of ideas that I didn't end up using for Dandelion Seeds that I kind of wish I'd been able to. A fun one I kind of wish I'd ended up doing was like...Skuld and Lauriam having very different perspectives on being an older sibling to Ven, and that leading to some (comical) clashing. It'd probably be a mostly light-hearted thing, haha!

But also, in general, there were a few relationships between the Union Leaders that I didn't feel like I explored well enough in Dandelion Seeds? Ephemer and Brain and Skuld and Ven, in particular. Especially Skuld and Ven, actually, because canonically...Skuld was kind of the person that Ven seemed closest to? So I would've liked to do at least something more with their relationship.

Something I would like to actually write at some point is the crew all meeting up again in the future. Like--maybe they can't stay together, maybe they've all changed, but just...something to give them time together again.

For Fallen Stars: They're coping! It's definitely a bit of an adjustment, and they're pretty worried about Skuld (and Brain), but they're trying to make do. (There's a part of them that's grieving Daybreak Town, too--and the fact that they don't know if any other Chirithy are left--but they haven't let themself think too much about it.)

Haha, I love the idea of Skuld just carrying Chirithy around and getting double-takes, but she probably wouldn't carry them around Scala just yet. Around the rest of the crew, though? Yes, definitely.

For the bonus: Guardian Twin and Before the Beginning are both very old fics that have very special places in my heart. Guardian Twin was actually the first fic that I published online, and it was kind of like...the first story that really proved that, "Hey, maybe people outside of my friends/family would also like my stuff." And with Before the Beginning, I just...had a ton of fun writing it. The MC's character arc and the ending turned out exactly how I wanted them to, which was just...a very good feeling. I'm sure if I went back and reread them now, I'd probably cringe at a lot of stuff, haha, but it's still kind of cool to like...have those fond memories, you know?

(I guess I kind of answered the second question already, haha; Guardian Twin was the first fanfic I officially published. I think it's also the first one I finished? I had snippets of other things before that, but I don't think I'd ever really completed a fanfic before. ...Although I guess maybe the stuff I wrote for contests on Neopets counts, since those were kind of like...'officially sanctioned' fanfiction, haha.)

[faebriel]

Ooo sbi!witch au? Tell me more? <-genuinely curious/interested

yayyy hi mye :D

okay so it's a bit of a fantasy setting first of all. that's your context. everyone has some connection to one of six* sources of power, whether that connection is strong or limited - there are phantom witches (connection to death), freshwater witches, saltwater witches, spark witches (connection to fire, lightning, etc), glamour witches, and blood witches (i.e. shapeshifters). all these are varying degrees of popular but blood witches are veryyy unpopular as shapeshifting is generally viewed as desecration of the body, esp from a religious perspective - the body is a vessel for magic, stop fucking with it. not a universal opinion but one that holds water in a lot of cities.

tommy is a spark witch! tubbo is a blood witch. the two of them generally run around stealing shit causing trouble burning things down having fun from town to town. tommy is still mildly rabid for lady prime but more rabid for his best friend. tubbo generally keeps his type of magic secret - not an easy feat as it's one of the first things someone will ask or notice about another witch - so they usually hang out until someone finds out about him, and then they skip town. they also have made their souls into friendship bracelets so they have a general sense of where the other is and their state of safety at all times. when one of them is injured or exhausted, they share the pain.

unfortunately tommy makes a few friends in bad places and gets snatched off the street in some revenge plot. tubbo uses his shapeshifting to break in and get him out of there - so now those guys know about the herefore underestimated tubbo element, and tommy is pretty badly injured. they disappear into the woods and try to avoid getting eaten by the trees. it does happen.

they think they find a beacon. nice! it's actually a coven, in some kitschy little house. bummer! tommy is not doing well and they're about to be find out by whichever freaks live here and tubbo is pretty skeptical of these random woods folks' opinions on the complex political situation of blood witchery so in a stroke of genius /doubtful tommy encourages tubbo to shapeshift to hide himself as an animal, a Classic Ruse. so he does! here's tommy, a random young witch, and his familiar. this is 100% normal and no one has any reason to question it.

living in the house is small weird family (?) of guys wilbur (phantom witch), techno (???), and phil (freshwater witch, but it gets worse). they offer tommy and his familiar somewhere to stay while he gets better and, with few other options, tommy (and tubbo lol) says yeah sure. found family ensues

here is some info that is important but this post is getting too long to write out in paragraphs

wilbur is a phantom witch, but after a suicide attempt, being so close to death constantly is kind of triggering. instead, these days, he focuses on brewing potions (without a license) to sell at town markets. he's kind of still in the recovery phase and has a bit of a rough relationship with phil and techno but he and tommy, who is drawn to potionmaking almost immediately (and relates to powers he can't control - he's been called destructive for his unchecked fire magic before), get on like a house on fire

and he has a familiar called mr president!!! this is very important. firstly bc kitty but secondly because familiars flock to each other like seeing an old friend from school at the supermarket.....but tommy's familiar wants very little to do with mr president, who just seems vaguely confused by him............how strange!

*phil was a freshwater witch, but after stealing a dragons egg, was gifted with void witchdom. void is like a really powerful add-on to original witch magic, and also gives him some extra perks like wings and voidsight (peeking into other timelines to guess what is going to happen). phil does a bit of cheeky voidsighting when they find tommy, just in case this is some kind of ruse that peering into another universe might reveal, but all seems fine. he's just rowdy. tends to keep more company in other universes but maybe that's just a coincidence (it's not). goddess wife also

voiddom is something that is gifted, and because of that, it can be taken away.

okay i struggled hard with figuring out what techno's deal is but i think i'd go for the classic. yeah sure techno is also a blood witch. he doesn't really shapeshift either - thinking he used it to fight his way out of some rough background, and now prefers to keep his own form and do other stuff (kind of like wilbur) - and, much like tommy and tubbo, SBI are kind of cautious re: mouthing off pro-shapeshifting around these random strangers. twisted web we weave and all that

theres a lot of bonding over not letting your magic or perceptions of your magic define you :> but yeah

oh and then tommy gets tracked down and snatched back

and tubbo, at the end of his tether, is stuck with a not great choice. let tommy die or burn down literally everything they've built here to put tubbo in his place instead. so naturally he 1. reveals himself as not a familiar (which, they were starting to guess there was something weird about him tbh), 2. reveals himself as a blood witch (distressing and confusing, but hey, let's talk about this) and 3. sets a trap to steal phil's voiddom and use those powerups to find and rescue tommy (aaaand nobody is happy about that one)

theres a whole thing with plot resolution also but this post is long enough and i can't put in a readmore on mobile so. woooo 🎇😺🧪🗻🐺

[genuflectx]

A Marvellous Light ("Terato" Book Review)

You can thank my fiancé for me reading this one, because this really isn't my usual cup of tea when it comes to literature! It's not "terato," not even exactly "exophilia" either, however I think its general themes might appeal to some people of those communities- even I was a bit shocked and impressed by it.

The first half has vague spoilers, such as descriptions of sex and if there was a happy end or not. Under the cut you’ll find a longer review with detailed spoilers.

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske has a simple plot at its core. Robert "Robin" Blyth is a typical well-to-do Edwardian jock who, due to a clerical error, is introduced to the secret world of magic. He meets Edwin Courcey, an icy and bookish magician with subdued powers- something Edwin's family looks down on him and teases him for. When Robin is attacked and cursed because of his accidental introduction to the magical world, Edwin feels responsible for him and does everything he can to find out how to remove that curse, with plans to remove Robin's memories after. Along the way a terrible magic conspiracy is revealed that the two become slowly more involved in. While also becoming quite "involved" with each other.

Pros and cons time! But.. I don't particularly have a lot of cons.

PROS ★ ★ ★ 

If I wanted to describe it in fanfiction tropes or tags, I would say: slow burn, magic kink, jock/nerd. Fun combinations.

Marske is really well spoken with her prose, and pacing seems to be a strong suit. Despite being her first published book, she really has mastered the craft of storytelling!

Highly romantic. Sexual content itself is built upon a strong foundation of slow built romance.

Multiple gay sex scenes, with some veeery interesting usage of magic as a kink. Something I've never seen before (but I've never been in any fandoms with magic, so maybe it's common in those?).

Because Robin is non-magical and Edwin is, it can sorta feel like that human/non-human gay relationship you might be craving. However, since they are both still technically humans, it doesn't really count as terato or exophilia explicitly.

A very rich magical world intertwined with the Edwardian period. It feels really unique, and the magic itself has rules and limitations, meaning magic isn't the end-all-be-all when it comes to power. Which... plays right into the underlying plot.

Themes of the rich (and rich men) being idiots and ignoring the importance of domestic magic and the magic of women. Marske is writing a period piece- and I appreciate her desire for accuracy while also clearly trying to find ways around it.

Ends on a happy note with potential for the next book and the main characters do not die.

CONS ★ ★ ★ 

The biggest turn off for some readers might be the prose. Yes, it's well written and well paced for what it wants to accomplish, but it is an Edwardian period piece that can still be pretty wordy. I don't think it's overly flowery, but someone else might find it harder to read if they don't really want to know what happens next.

While probably realistic for a bunch of rich white English gentlemen of that period, a large part of the book tends to feel like they're just piddling about reading books, chatting, and eating breakfast. That might be boring for some readers.

Somehow, the main villain should have both been obvious and was too obvious at the same time. I don't know if that is genius or lame. I guess it depends on what perspective you take.

This is a very "relationship" based plot; character relationships take the forefront over plot or action, as you'd expect with slowburn. If you go into it more interested in the romance and sex you might have a better time than if you go into it wanting to devour something plot heavy- it truly is just not plot heavy, unless you consider their romance the actual main plot.

★  ★ ★  WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO TERATO FANS?

Yeah! If you like magic stories! If you don't care for magic- or don't care for Edwardian period pieces- then maybe not for you. But if you do, then this is a darn good read. Marske is extremely competent in her craft, the romance builds slowly and the sex scenes feel both loving and exotically satisfying.

Just because magic stories aren't exactly my thing I might personally not read book 2, but I absolutely know my fiancé will because they adore this book and could not put it down. In their words, they believe it is one of the most romantic books they've ever read.

★  ★  ★  FINAL RATINGS:

Monsterousness: 0/10 Eroticism: 10/10 Story: 7/10 Characters: 10/10

MY FINAL SCORE: 9/10 (Not my favorite genre, but really good!!)

Heavier spoiler time!

I initially wasn't sure how I felt about the characters, I think ultimately the beginning is the story's weakest part. I feel that these are characters you grow to love more over the story's length, and when you are first learning who they are and getting that early exposition on magic it's sorta "eh" compared to the meat of the book... i.e. the rest of their relationship. Because yes, it's really their relationship that carries it. And that's not a bad thing! I actually prefer character-driven stories. But I think that's just something to keep in mind about this book (and probably the series), that relationships heavily take the forefront and the underlying plot is second to that. In this book, Edwin's past relationships and icy personality melting for Robin are more important than actually doing footwork to discover what happened to Reggie, the missing person, for example.

About 40% through the book however, I did have the realization that nothing was really happening or moving forward. It was a lot of playing little games, chatting over breakfast, and reading books. Sure, all this leisure is likely pretty realistic for their social status, but it does not necessarily make it an engaging read. Luckily, I think watching Robin and Edwin slowly fall for reach other to have encouraged me enough to keep reading to see them get even closer, but I do think that this might be a detriment to others.

It's not completely explicit, but rather something the reader needs to make a conscious effort to notice, that women and domesticity play a large part of this book's universe. By that I mean no one is going to beat you over the head to say "PAY ATTENTION TO THE SERVENTS AND LADIES" but they do play very important roles, in spite of accurate world views from the men that the women are too dumb to be taught. It is a domestic spell which allows Edwin to remove the curse from Robin's arm. It is a group of women- ignored by their misogynistic male magician counterparts- who discover the Last Contract and realize its potential for misuse. It is a pair of intelligent sisters who aid Robin and Edwin when the two are lacking friends. If you are a shallow reader you might take characters' opinions (including main characters) on women at face value, but their opinions compared to the actual actions and personalities of the women and servants is meant to show how wrong these spoiled Edwardian men are.

I really don't have much else to say! I thought the slowburn romance was great and using magic as a kink unique, especially the kind of magic they used. Overall it was a good book.

[thrustin-timberlake]

thoughts on epic the musical?

i hadn't heard of it before your ask! i looked up a bit about it/listened to a few songs and i'm conflicted, i think

concept-wise, i'm really into it. i think that's really fun, and I think musical theatre as an art form is a really cool medium for mythology/epics. in general i want to see more of that, and not just "oh! we remade disney's hercules!" (also, not complaining about stage version of hercules itself. its beautifully done, and its my favorite disney movie in general, i'm more complaining about just adapting a pre-existing movie for the theatre and calling it a day. i think its lazy and a waste of the medium) no, i ACTUALLY wanna see an adaptation, and it seems like this show does that? so i think that's really fucking cool! i also really like the instrumentals and i think vocally it seems to have some pretty strong singers? i'm definitely intrigued by it.

that said, i also have my own personal biases. i listened to Just A Man, and i'm conflicted because i really want to like it. tonally, however, i don't think it fits with the odyssey. i'm not sure if it's the performance itself, because in line with my own biases, i think that singer is trying too hard to be pretty, and because of that it loses the emotion that a song like that should have, yanno? this is a traumatized man who is desperate to return to his family, but it comes across as a sort of like an...ingenue song, if that makes sense. for me there was no emotional beat, which was strange to listen to because listening to it, you can tell there's SUPPOSED to be one. it just fell flat for me. again, this may very well be my personal bias because i don't think the vocalist's style fits with what odysseus' character is supposed to be. incredibly pretty voice, but it's a range that i don't think makes sense in this context. i would prefer a lower and rougher voice, i think its much better suited for the mental state they're setting up/odysseus consistently has in both the iliad and the odyssey.

also listened to Open Arms. in general did not care for it. it was another tone issue for me.

that said!! THAT SAID!! i think Polyphemus is fucking cool. i love the effect for his voice, i also really like that he's kind of playful with odysseus and the men. i can also imagine that song being performed on a stage and being REALLY unique, which i think is important for any musical.

overall, i'm...interested. i'm interested to see where it goes. when i looked it up (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Theatre/EpicTheMusical <- this is the first site that came up!), it mentioned starting on tiktok? and i worry i may be unconsciously holding that against it. but with that in mind, i think lyrically, it's very simple. the songs i listened to felt like they were holding your hand too much for my liking, i feel like it didn't give a lot of wiggle room to use your own imagination. which, i think there are pros and cons to that. a pro is that for someone unfamiliar with the story, i could see how someone holding your hand through it might be helpful, and i don't want to knock it if this is how someone gets interested in classics. but also, as someone who loves classics and IS familiar with the story, it felt kind of...juvenile? if that makes sense? the hand holding from that perspective comes off as thinking your audience is dumb, and i think maybe even for someone unfamiliar with the story, it might come off the same way as well. i think when you're writing you need to trust your audience. especially with classics, so much hinges on the audience interpreting things for themselves and using their imagination because that's how the stories grow and spread. narration is fine! it's expected with epics! if these songs did proper narration, it would be one thing, but instead it reads as "my audience can't see what i'm looking at so let me make sure there's no ambiguity" and like, you don't need to do that! it comes off as really unnatural, in my opinion!

i think another thing to keep in mind with that criticism is that this IS a concept album, and i'm not sure what exactly that means in the broader context of like, musical theatre, but i'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and hope that the things like excessive hand holding and vocalist preferences are more of a "hey, we're still working out the kinks!" type of issues. i may be completely wrong, but i really doubt that what's available is near the final product? so i'm not gonna put any nails in any coffins. i worry a bit about the tone and emotion, but, again. no nails.

i feel like this read like me being a huge hater. and i mean, i am by trade. but not about this. i think it's really cool! the stuff i liked i really liked, and i'm definitely interested in seeing where it goes from here. its clearly a really special project with really talented people working on it! i also love the idea of bringing epics to musical theatre/encouraging original works. i think i'm deffo gonna properly listen through the available tracks eventually because i can see this becoming something that i get into, depending on how it grows!

[rainydaydream-gal18]

Hello there, thanks for granting my two requests about writing some bad batch headcannons. Could I possibly trouble you for another request of you writing another headcannons post. This time can you write about how clones (both bad batch and regs) would react when their children start dating.

(Regs + Bad Batch) How He Reacts to His Kid(s) Dating:

"Regs"

   Rex: He's such a dad. He'd come across as slightly stern up front when meeting his kid's significant other, but of course shake their hand and be generally polite. He'd for sure be the one staying up late waiting for them to walk through the front door, whether it was his son or daughter. However, he's a littttle more protective when it comes to a daughter dating. He'd clap the boyfriend on his shoulder and make a subtly intimidating joke about being trained in combat so the dude knows never to hurt her. He might feel like he relates more to his son coming from a male perspective. Still gives corny dating advice either way though.

   Cody: He's pretty laid-back when it comes to his children dating. He knows how to get along with people, so there wouldn't be issues there.. Although, his good opinion will falter if the significant other hurts his son or daughter in any way. He is also pretty great about listening to their troubles and giving decent advice.

   Fives: He loooves teasing his offspring from the time he finds out they have a crush all the way into the time they get married (probably even after, too). He can't help it. No matter how old they are, he finds them adorable. He's easy-going and will get along with significant others, but still has his set of rules that he expects them to follow when they're dating and his kid is living under his roof.

   Wolffe: He tries to put off them dating if he can get them to wait because he wants them to be mature (and also because he's not sure how to handle it). Short-circuits a bit when his son or daughter does bring a someone home to meet him. He knew the day was coming, but it still felt like it came so fast. He's gruff at first, but if it's someone his kid really really likes, he does try his best to adjust to the change and be nice. Depending on the person his kid chooses, he may find himself getting attached and even considering them part of the family over time.

Bad Batch

   Hunter: Skeptical at first. He wants to be sure that this person has good intentions. So, he'll spend the first few weeks and even months being quietly watchful, taking mental notes. At some point he'll reach a conclusion that either this person isn't so bad, or that they're trouble. Hunter wants his kid to make their own decisions, but he offers whatever warnings or encouragement he has because he really wants what’s best for them.

   Wrecker:  He has so much fun intimidating his daughter’s suitors.  One of his favorite things is to see the stunned look on their face upon meeting him and seeing how tall and strong he is.  Still, he is very friendly to any significant other his kid introduces him to, and there’s usually playful teasing involved on some level.  Most of all, he wants his kid to be safe and happy, so he is good to the significant other as long as he knows they have good intentions.

   Tech: He handles it very well.  He is generally casual and pleasant, the least likely to embarrass his kid about these things because in his mind it’s totally natural to want to date, and he accepted the fact long before.  He is much less inclined to like the significant other if they hurt his kid in any way.  Tech is open to giving dating advice, but on occasion he finds himself shaking his head if his kid does the exact opposite.  Nonetheless, he understands how “young love” can be, so he doesn’t take it to heart.

   Echo:  Dating?  What?  They’re too young for that...even if they’re an adult.  It might take him by surprise- not because he’s out of touch or not paying attention, but because he was just a littttle in denial for a bit.  It’s definitely a change, and it takes him a while to adjust.  It will take time, but eventually, he will finally reach the point where he sees the significant other as family.  Poor Echo has a hard time giving dating advice, but it’s easier for him to relate if it’s a son.  He gets all flustered if his daughter goes to him for advice, but he really wants them to be happy, so he’ll do his very best.

   Crosshair: This man’s life mission is to scare suitors away from his daughter.  Any guy who dates his daughter is automatically guilty until proven innocent.  He’s less aggressive when it comes to his son’s significant other, but he still comes across as rather cold.  It takes a long time for him to come to terms with his kid dating either way.  He’s very protective of his family.  He likes his little unit the way it is and isn’t so keen on letting anyone new in.  Over time, he will adjust if he sees over and over that the significant other has good intentions and is in it for the long-haul.  Once they’ve earned his respect, it’s there for good.  He considers them as one of his own.

[uni-seahorse-572]

Ok, sokeefitz week.

The first thought i had was to revisit my princess's bride royalty au where my sokeefitz and universe are already pretty well established I'm not sure what I'd do with them, but i feel like i could make it work if i actually thought about it for a second

And then i was watching too much youtube and had a separate thought. This'll probably be in-canon but vaguely in the future somewhere idrc. I could use this to learn how to write little snippets of chapters and not several k behemoths so it'd be 3 parts. 1 would be keefe trying to teach sophie and fitz how to art inspired by me trying to make my friends teach me back in like 4th grade (it didn't work very well) in fitz's pov.

Then part 2 is fitz and sophie baking (from sophie pov) something for keefe i have yet to decide, it might be a kotlc recipe it might not be idk. I've already done this with fedex though but it might be interesting to see how these two interact. They're gonna use their limited drawing skills learned in part 1 to decorate the thing.

Then part 3 is a game of magic the gathering like i've had fedex do...i think only one has been posted but i'm not entirely sure. Anyway, it's keefe's id and its trying to ignore this fact but being the nice partners fitz and sophie are, the baked good from part 2 is like an elvin birthday cake. Also i'll have to drag dex in because i don't want to learn how to play multiplayer mtg so they can make teams of 2. I'm thinking red/green for the sophie/keefe team and either mono blue white/blue or blue/black for the fedex team. (I picked those teams because the colors make sense for those characters not because i'm trying to further my fedex aegenda). I could also replace dex with tam and they'd be playing blue/black then. Keefe pov. I could also play sophie against fitz and just have keefe as an omniscient narrator who gets to see all their cards.

...that's actually way more thought out than i realized. Sorry about the massive ask, but do you have any thoughts?

I read back through the princess's bride royalty au and delving more into the sokeefitz side of that could definitely work! You could tell it from an in-universe perspective rather than a storytelling one, as that way it might be easier to do something new with it. One interesting angle might be approaching the time period the fic mentioned wherein Fitz, Sophie, and Keefe are all living with the ruins or how it was for them to run away - found family and Grady are both great in general, and if you want to try to make sure your pre-prompt ideas can fit within one it could work for things like domesticity, found family, hurt/comfort, au, royalty, etc. which are all pretty common ship week prompts in my experience

That tri-fic idea would definitely be cool!! I think some common prompts such as future and during canon would fit it too. Also, one way to lay it out could be presenting it as a peaceful recovery from the war and trauma they've endured through doing something simple and fun with their partners. A fun way to frame it might be all of them trying to teach each other something new, so for MTG you could have Sophie introduce it to them with the idea that she's showing them something she used to do as a human? If you do throw Tam or Dex into the mix, personally I'd recommend just considering how both of them affect the sokeefitz dynamic. What conversational situations can their unique personalities create, and how can they help reveal more about the relationships involved in the fic through how others react and interact with them? If you don't think that either character would do much for you narrative-wise besides providing another mtg player, I'd probably just end up leaving them out, but of course that's your choice!!

Also don't worry about ask length, you're all good! I always have thoughts. hope this helped!! and if you need to talk through anything more my asks are open <3

[allsassnoclass]

9 for the 1d at the cabin fic, 10 from the cashton orpheus songfic, 14, 18, 20, 22 hazel i feel like i always pick such weirdly deep cuts of your fics because i haven't read the Big Name fics of yours even though i'm pretty sure the main Big Fic of yours that i somehow still haven't read is puzzle pieces (SORRY) but i honestly just love your small stuff so much. anyway. love you xoxo

honestly babe i'd say my big fics are off-screen, too close to see, puzzle pieces, maybe vampire mashton, and then the mashton college au (which is actually a series of five fics and you've read one of them) so you're not missing much lol although i appreciate the deep cuts those are fun to talk about <3

9. If you had to assign a theme song to here's a hand my trusted friends, which would you assign? The Straight No Chaser version of "Auld Lang Syne" is what it's named after! I love that version of the song, it's the only version I've found that feels joyful? And I feel like it captures a hope for the future and a love of those around you that I wanted that fic to have. Otherwise, I would say "It's Been A Year" by Tom Rosenthal, which feels cheap because it's what I named the roylum fic after, but it's the song that always defines the end of the year for me and I think it fits this fic well.

10. What is the line you’re proudest of from find me here amidst the chaos? ooooo i'm actually quite proud of this fic as a whole but the stand out line is this one

He might not know how to give stitches, but he can keep applying band-aids until the wound scars over.

that's a great metaphor right there. I feel like it really captures how Calum is feeling, and I think it's important that he knows that he can't fix this for Ashton, but he's still going to try to do what he can

14. How do you feel about your older work? i feel like i peaked with my first three 5sos fics In general I feel pretty positive! all fics have little lines here and there that I would change and while I feel like my execution of fics has improved a little, I feel like my older ideas are my better ones tbh. idk they're just charming. It's actually really strange to me when people who know my writing don't know off-screen, too close to see, or puzzle pieces since for a long time i had it in my head that those were the only fics of mine that people liked, forgetting that the passage of time and me releasing new content naturally means that sometimes people know my newer stuff instead lol

18. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? I actually really don't edit that much. For the most part I do it when it's finished, but sometimes I'll make little adjustments as I go if I'm re-skimming something I wrote so I remember what was happening/can get myself in the right mindset

20. What feedback makes you the happiest to hear? oooo this is difficult because i like all sorts of comments and positive feedback. right now I like hearing that my stuff elicited emotion in people because i've been feeling insecure about the emotional quality of my works lol but genuinely i'm happy with all sorts of stuff

22. Do you enjoy making OCs for your fanfics, or prefer sticking to canon characters? ooooooooOOOOOOOOO it sure depends!!!! I like incorporating existing people in the background because it feels really satisfying to me when I figure out how they best translate from the real world to the fic world in aus specifically, but I do love my OCs too! which i'm sure is apparent given that my first 5sos fic was from an oc's perspective. i feel like there are some roles that are best suited to OCs and some that are best suited to canon characters. for example: children are normally best as OCs. often for extended family members i use OCs because stalking their real families to figure out their sister in law or cousin or aunt is Bad. but if i needed to give my characters a neutral/positive roommate, I would use someone associated with 5sos (such as one of their actual roommates like matt, roy, or the girlfriends (platonic mode)). If i was giving them a roommate they hate it would be an oc because i'm not going to do a real person dirty like that.

that was a really long way to say that it depends on the fic but i find them both to be enjoyable!

ask me some fanfic writer questions

[dontcallmecarrie]

Natasha's judgment is so off for a spy. Could we get insight as to how they're thinking? I know you wrote a chapter but maybe some backstory or such to explain why she dislikes Tony on principle? Why she's so quick to insult Maria and choose Steve? Is she caught up in the goodness and honestly Steve seems to project? Does her judgment on his decisions become biased bc she's used to reading ppl who mean harm not ppl who unintentionally/subconsciously harm? Does Steve make her feel like she's good

I’ll see what I can do to clarify this in-story, because odds are you’re not the only one who’s seeing it. Hopefully, though, at least some of my reasoning showed through.

Under the cut, because cue meta and you guys know how much I ramble when I get going:

There’s several factors to it all:

First and foremost, there’s the unreliable narrator thing to consider. 

JARVIS, for instance, hasn’t trusted her since before she stabbed Tony in the neck, back in IM2. 

Add to that how he died trying to protect Tony [and at least managed to give a bit of a warning, when the Penthouse Incident happened], coming back online [with all the trauma that entails, even if he doesn’t quite show it], to see Natasha doing absolutely nothing while Tony was a flick of the wrist from a snapped neck, and you get a budding Skynet who harbors absolutely no goodwill towards Natasha Romanov [and it shows through in his POV, even if it’s hopefully subtle].

Tony’s slightly more chill, but he’s known that Natasha doesn’t like him, and after the disaster that was his sole attempt to reach out towards Bruce, well…once bitten, twice shy. 

Then, during the Penthouse Incident, he’s 50% on the defensive while the other 50% is in shock because JARVIS died and only Maria Hill even cared. [That he was being attacked was secondary, at that point.] So when someone’s attacking the only one who gives a damn about JARVIS, Tony’s not exactly feeling very charitable towards the woman who introduced herself as Natalie Rushman. 

…also, anyone notice the codependence going on between Tony and JARVIS? There’s a reason I’ve been warning for it.

As for my take on Natasha’s perspective: I did my best, and hopefully my dislike didn’t show [much]. 

Thing is, TWiFFON is a spitefic at heart.

I started it in reaction to the turn the fandom took when it comes to Tony Stark especially after Civil War, so I’m not going to be exactly very friendly towards Natasha [or anyone on Team Cap for that matter, if you guys haven’t already noticed]. 

And that leads me to the next point.

Fun fact: I actually like Natasha, for the most part. Her characterization throughout the entirety of the MCU’s been through the wringer, fluctuating from movie to movie, though, and I took advantage of that when I outlined this fic.

See, Phase1-and-pre-AoU!Natasha’s got a good head on her shoulders. Her, I like: she’s badass and loyal to people rather than institutions and ruthless enough to do what’s necessary to keep her people safe [gee doesn’t that sound familiar]. She’s outwitted Loki [even if he was under the influence of the Scepter at the time], and survived the Red Room, for crying out loud! [If you’ve read my fic idea Welcome to the Family, you know that’s the one I had in mind at the time of writing.]

…however, that’s not the Natasha we’ve seen recently.

Phase2-especially-post-AoU!Natasha didn’t think to call the genius who’s company she infiltrated during a time they could’ve really used his expertise, didn’t see the problem in letting the fugitives she’d been helping chase go, and didn’t think twice about attacking the Crown Prince of a monarchy that just lost its King. I know it’s probably just bad writing in general [where the hell did the Bruce/Natasha thing even come from? Or the wanting a kid thing?! Canon or not, that’s just…nope], but still.

She unironically tried to go “I’m not the one who should watch my back”, in Civil War, despite having painted a target on anyone she ever worked with [yes I’m still salty about it], so it really should be no surprise that this is the Natasha I have in mind when writing TWiFFON. [Not very nice, but like I said, spitefic.]

So, that’s a good chunk on my approach to Natasha, right there. The rest involves her backstory.

I’ve yet to read a comic, but via tumblr and Phase 1, I got the feeling that the Red Room isn’t exactly very kind. [No comment on Phase 2′s interpretation bc I hate AoU with a passion rivaled only by Civil War.] As such, I can extrapolate from there that Natasha’s had some hardcore training, and to be fair, she’s very good at what she does, and her confidence in her skills is mostly justified.

However, she’s been born and raised as a living weapon, a child soldier and spy: that skillset is not exactly conductive towards being an analyst, or tactician.

Infiltrate consulates and take out hit squads singlehandedly? Sure. Reading people for the short term so she can use that to her advantage? Absolutely. But what she gets up to later on in the MCU is nowhere in her job description [coughcough*analysisinIM2*cough]. She can make a decent facsimile of it, sure, but she just isn’t qualified to diagnose people [though I have a headcanon for that scenario that explains why, but that’s something for another post].

But she can read people very well, and since it’s worked thus far, Natasha doesn’t think twice about it. Due to the life she’s had, she doesn’t look back, which I completely understand because if she had she might’ve drowned in regret because I get the feeling the Red Room’s upbringing was nothing less than cutthroat. Those two things get a special mention because of how she’s introduced to Tony.

Now, let me backtrack a little: I’ve done some meta before on how good Tony is at masks, enough so that he’s fooling everyone even as he’s dying. He grew up in front of the cameras, and learned how to work them from a master of the art [his mom, in my AUs].

So, when a spy rocks up expecting a show, Tony puts it on, and Natasha buys it. I don’t doubt she twisted some things to suit the analysis at the end, of course, but between his public image and his masks, Natasha ends up falling in the same trap everyone else does.

Anyone who gets close to him knows it’s bull, but since Tony in TWiFFON is more guarded than ever before, and he’s not about to let Natasha in now.

As for Steve Rogers…Tony’s image is a general “everyone knows” thing; it’s subtle and low-key “oh what’s he done now? Another Fashion Week Fiasco?” Kardashian-style sort of thing, which is part of why Natasha fell for it. Steve’s image, on the other hand, was blatant propaganda since the start and only became more so over time […I wonder what the Second Red Scare would’ve looked like, in the MCU now, ngl], so for Natasha, with her Red Room upbringing, it’s pretty damn easy for her to tell. 

From when she first meets Steve, and later on down the road, it’s a no-brainer to look past the propaganda and notice the lonely man who’s adrift in a world that’s moved on without him. And from there, it’s very [almost scarily, for someone who’s very guarded when it comes to personal stuff] easy to make friends. 

Steve sees Natasha where others see the Black Widow, which isn’t something many people do [Phil and Clint’re the exception, not the norm], though, so it makes sense that she warms up to him so quickly. Plus he’s a good man, and given the life she’s had, Natasha can fully appreciate just how few of them there are in the world.

And since we’ve already established that Natasha’s fiercely protective of the few people she likes, it makes sense she’s just as fierce to attack if the situation ever arises.

During the Penthouse Incident, Natasha’s immediate take-away of the situation was: Tony’d fucked up somehow and needed to own up to it, meanwhile Maria Hill was on his payroll, defending him when he was in the wrong, and had a gun pointed in the general direction of the people she liked more than the people she didn’t. Of course Natasha was going to yell at her for it! 

And it wasn’t like Thor was going to hurt Tony or anything, his hand was obviously positioned in a way that was meant to be nonlethal and if he’d really wanted to kill Tony his grip would’ve been different.

After the fact, once Ultron’s made clear just what he is, she’s mildly apologetic about it. But since she didn’t really like Tony anyway and Maria Hill seemed to have forgotten about it, well, it wasn’t like it was anything major anyway, right?

...meanwhile, Maria’s very good at hiding her grudge and venting whenever she’s at one of the SWORD meet-ups while the others are patting her on the back while continuing to plan Phase 3 and checking out rich protocols, but that’s a story for another day.

Also: bear in mind that Natasha, in my AUs, has the Red Room’s version of the serum, so she forgets that not everyone’s as durable as she is. [that’s the only explanation for why I see her being so chill during That One Scene because the alternative’s incoherent internal screaming]

[bastillearchive]

(new fan here) do Bastille have any love songs? I've noticed most songs on the first album are more about like, dark themes and on WW they're about the media and stuff. I'm not complaining, I actually find it refreshing to know a band is writing songs about something other than what has become the main theme in the music industry, I just wanted to know. (if there are any, which ones?)

Bastille are definitely not big on the love songs. Dan always mentions how he finds it more interesting to write about the themes and things he finds interesting and how he is impacted by the movies and books he reads as well as the world around us. I am also a big fan of this, because it’s just very interesting to hear things in different perspectives and have a change of mind. But I do think you might be missing that the songs have several different themes in them and they can include love. It can be hard to tell since we’re so used to seeing love as the main and only theme, but Dan is a very creative and original songwriter who is capable in working more than one theme into a song. I feel like that’s part of what makes Bastille so good. The songs make you think and connect deeper than other songs, because they touch on so many things that several people feel. 

That being said the songs I would consider as love songs are:

Durban Skies from All This Bad Blood - It’s a song in the perspective of Dan hearing about the story of how his parents fell in love and got married. I think that’s really cute and sweet. 

Torn Apart from their mixtape VS. (OPH3) - It’s a sad love song about being torn from the person you love and the stripped back version is stunningly beautiful. You can find it here (x)

The Anchor from Wild World - It’s about the one person who grounds you in a world you feel like you can’t get a grip on. I know that the feelings described in this song doesn’t necessarily have to be about s/o and can be about a family member, friend, etc. I don’t see that as meaning it’s not love. I’m sure whoever you feel is your “anchor” you love in some way. Anyone who is able to do that feels like a comfort and safety and that to me is love. 

Warmth from Wild World - “It’s about how the world is pretty fucked up in general, but how people and relationships are great and can kind of be like the solace in that.” This a quote from Dan on what the album was about, and so it’s no surprise why this song is the crux of the album. I feel it truly covers exactly what he said, and that when he’s talking about people and relationships he’s again referring to someone that you trust and makes you feel warm and happy inside, even when the world around you is terrible. I think that’s my favorite form of love. 

Glory from Wild World - This song is so beautiful for so many reasons. It’s again one of those songs that has more than one theme. One of those themes is definitely love to me, because a lot of times we can feel hopeless “way down here upon the ground”, especially when you’re “looking up for heaven” just waiting for something to happen or for things to be okay but with no sign from anyone that it will. That’s when you need your best friend, family member, or significant other to be there to reassure you and “put your hand” in theirs and let you know things will be okay, because heaven sure as hell ain’t talk right now.

Fake It from Wild World - To me this song is another sad love song, because it sounds like it’s about a deteriorating relationship. However, there are so many sentiments of still being in love with the person despite the mistakes and problems that may have happened. My favourite sentiment would be “I wanna waste all my time with you,” because I see time as something so precious so if I’m willing and to devote it on someone they must be pretty special. 

I feel like that covers all of Bastille’s official songs, but I think it’s worth noting that Bastille also makes fantastic covers of love songs, and like real love songs that are just about love. Although they are usualy mashed up with a few other songs so the meaning changes a little I guess, but the primary sentiment is still there for sure. I think the most sterotypical romantic love song cover they did is “I Don’t Want a Miss Thing” which you can listen to here (x). There’s also this mashup of “Locked Out of Heaven” and “Angels” and a few others, which you can listen to here (x).  Thanks so much for your question, it was a lot of fun to answer. Welcome to the fandom and please let us know if you have anymore questions! I really hoped this helped. Okay I’m done rambling now.

- C - 

[plasticnightmaredoll]

Resident Evil 8: Village review (spoilers everywhere!)

Now, I want to start off by saying I've never been very interested in the "Resident Evil" games. I've always preferred the "Silent Hill" series because of how macabre the games are, the creepy symbolism behind the monsters, and the intense moments of fear despite having weapons (well, in most of the games at least). I like dark, twisted stuff, and "Resident Evil" seemed too...action-oriented for me, I guess?

However, I did finally get involved when I saw the trailer for "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard." I was shocked, but pleasantly so. Not only did it feature new characters, new locations, and a new disease, but it was in first person AND looked like a true survival horror game. I know some people may prefer the third-person perspective for RE games as that has always been one of their key characteristics, but I think horror games are much more effective in first person. They're more immersive because they give you the illusion of being in the game itself.

I really loved RE7, and still do. I actually have begun playing it again, the first time in a few years (I think 2019 was the last time I played through the game). I still see it as my favorite RE games and one of my favorite survival horror games, but I have enjoyed the "Resident Evil 2" and "Resident Evil 3" remakes and may play other games in the franchise just because.

Now, onto "Resident Evil 8: Village," a direct sequel to 7 (lol 8 does come after 7 but I mean that 8 is a continuation of the story introduced in 7. I mean, RE7 was not a sequel to RE6 at all). I was excited to see the franchise continuing with what it started in RE7, and while I did enjoy RE8, it does have some issues...nothing serious but things that prevent it from replacing RE7 as my favorite.

The Good:

There Four Lords and Mother Miranda were truly unique characters despite being bosses. I felt pity for all of them in one way or another and enjoyed learning their backstories. I think they are the most interesting and "human" villains in the RE games so far (at least, from what I've seen), and in games in general.

I felt so much pity for Moreau, though. He was such a tragic character, and I felt like I was putting him out of his misery by killing him. Clearly, there was something wrong with him mentally like his mental growth had been stunted and he thought and acted more like a child. His primary goals were to win the praise of the other three Lords since they didn't like him (I think Donna may have been ok with him but her mental health issues prevented her from expressing her feelings in a more effective and healthy manner) and to have Mother Miranda see him as her son. All these emotions over one character, a boss enemy, and possibly the least complex of the Lords and Miranda herself, I think demonstrate some fantastic writing. I mean, I've very rarely encountered bosses that I felt sorry for, and killing them was mercy.

Donna was a very strange character. She was the only one of the bosses who didn't transform into a monstrosity, and her boss fight was vastly different from anything else in the game. I liked it, though, for the most part, this sort of "calm" within a storm of deadly monsters and bloody battles. Of all the Lords and Mother Miranda herself, Donna was almost just there, like she was observing instead of actually participating. She respected Mother Miranda but, unlike the other three Lords, she seemed to prefer to live in her own little fantasy world with her dolls as her family and friends.

The graphics were, as expected, incredible. If you have a computer that can handle the game with high/max settings, it will look absolutely stunning. Also, the soundtrack was very fitting, but I don't have much concern for this trait unless the soundtrack is truly exceptional, which is rare -- or if the soundtrack is awful, which I have yet to encounter in a game.

I enjoyed the change in environment from RE7. I liked the creepy house in the woods and "ghost ship" in RE7, but RE8 had us in underground tunnels, a rundown village, a castle, a factory, a swamp town...I mean, you went all over the place, but it made the experience diverse and entertaining.

RE8 gave us a lot of answers to questions left by RE7, and, in some ways, enhanced that game's story. Finding out the truth behind Ethan's seemingly indestructible body was a twist I didn't expect. It did provide an answer for just how easy it was for him to literally patch himself up and put himself back together over and over again. It was no longer just "game logic."

Ending Ethan's story made sense. It was clear by the end of RE8 that his character had gone as far as possible, and it was time to switch gears. I'm curious as to how the next game will utilize Rose as a protagonist. She has powerful psychic abilities, unlike her father, and I don't think any other RE protagonist has had such abilities (as far as I know), so that could make for a very interesting gaming experience.

With that being said, I really do hope RE9 continues what was started in RE7 and developed further in RE8. I really do. I think there are plenty of things left to explore, plenty of room for some good twists and turns.

There weren't many puzzles in this game, but I didn't think it was such a bad thing. It was still a lot of fun to play with a reasonable amount of action-oriented challenges. There were so many bosses in this game, minibosses included, yet it never felt overwhelming or underwhelming. I thought the minibosses were fantastic "bridges" to each of the 5 main boss fights.

MAGNUM IS BEST WEAPON. Seriously, what is it with these types of guns and their insane amount of power? I liked the grenade launcher as well, despite how slow it was to reload. The use of flashbangs proved to be much more useful than the grenades themselves, oddly enough. I know they have been in other RE games, but they were much more essential in RE8.

The pacing was perfect. I felt like the game was the appropriate length, not overstaying its welcome nor leaving players underwhelmed by lack of content. I mean, I still wish it were longer but that's only because of how entertaining it is to play. Leaving players wanting more but in a positive sense indicates that the game was planned thoroughly with a lot of attention to detail.

Miranda's and Moreau'sboss fights were the most challenging in the game. Both were endurance battles and required you to move quickly and think fast and basically just survive until they died. Ammo was very important in both boss fights because the right weapons made things much easier but if you didn't have enough ammo for them, well...you're going to have a more intense challenge.

My favorite "location" was the Dimitrescu castle. I like the elegant "antique" aesthetic of old castles and houses/mansions.

Unlike in RE7, RE8 does allow you to upgrade some of your weapons, which makes things easier if just to allow your guns to hold more ammo before needing to reload. You also didn't need to pull out a weapon to open crates. If you "interacted" with one, Ethan automatically used his knife to break it. RE7 made you do it manually which was a little annoying, especially during fights.

RE7 pretty much just had the Bakers and mold monsters as enemies. They all put up a good fight, but RE8 has a much wider range of enemies: wolfmen, zombies, flying zombie bats, werewolves, cyborg monstrosities, witches (well, if you consider the Dimitrescu daughters as witches, and they kind of are), a gross but pitiful fishman, a mentally disturbed doll maker, and an egocentric engineer. Variety added another layer of difficulty and surprise to the game since it wasn't always the same enemy types popping up to get you.

Mixed Thoughts:

Donna's boss fight was unlike any other fight in the game -- or any game, really. It was a morbid hide and seek challenge that was a nice change of pace but I do wish it had been a bit more difficult. I liked the concept, and it suited Donna, but it was the easiest boss fight in the game, almost like it was a miniboss fight instead. Good concept, but weak execution.

RE8 allows you to upgrade weapons, but RE7 doesn't, and while it may sound like RE8 has the upper hand, I disagree. RE7's lack of weapon enhancements/upgrades made the game more difficult because what you saw was what you got, and you had to make do. You didn't have the option to make your weapons hold more ammo or shoot faster or deal more damage.

The Bad:

Most of the boss fights were...rather easy? Minibosses included. The only ones that posed a real threat were Moreau and Miranda. Everyone else was just standard boss fodder, unfortunately. In RE7, I felt that, while there were far fewer boss fights, they all were much more demanding and exciting.

Lady Dimitrescu was such a fun character, and yet, she was only in the game for a short time, and her boss fight was just so-so. With all the marketing surrounding her before the game was released, I expected her to have a much larger role in the game.

They had an opportunity to make Miranda a sympathetic villain seeing as how the loss of her daughter basically drove her to madness. However, the way she was portrayed, I honestly didn't feel any sympathy for her, which was a shame. If she had been portrayed as a more tragic, broken character, then it would have made the final boss fight very emotional since you would feel some guilt killing her knowing what she's been through.

Not very scary. I mean, it's not a terrible thing, but for a game that is part of the survival horror genre, I felt like RE8 focused on the action a little too often. It was an intense experience just not a chilling one. RE7 had so much tension and atmosphere that it truly played out like a survival horror game.

Overall, I do like "Resident Evil 8: Village" and want to play it several more times. It bested "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" in a few ways, namely with a diversity of enemies and customizable weapons but it fell short in the horror department and mishandled most of its bosses.

Final Grade: B+

For reference:

Resident Evil 7: A

Resident Evil 2 (2019 Remake): A-

Resident Evil 3 (2020 Remake): B-