#this is why i want to get a list of all the characters

[holy-mother-of-whumpers]

I'd like to explain why I disagree.

Disclaimer.

I have not been around TikTok stuff so I have no idea what is this against. Maybe I'd agree with them against it, but just don't know. All it follows is NOT against the book tok culture but just a polite disagreement of this post or what it made me think about.

This is not about booktok

"If someone told me... There is an enemy to lovers... Why are you spoiling the story?" -> spoiling is bad and marking the tropes is spoiling.

Spoiling is bad.

Spoiler works on some kind of content, like Marvel, which is a lot of surprise value and 'disposable' stories. If the narrative is good a spoiler (provided it isn't about the plot twist) doesn't decrease the enjoyment but enhances it (there is a whole thing, may even be called spoiler effect? Spoiler paradox?).

If spoiling or knowing the content would ruin things, there wouldn't be classics. Nobody would read LOTR, dracula, the Iliad/Odyssey, Count of Monte Cristo. Yes there are always going to be people who come at it free of previous knowledge, which is great for them, but usually people are aware of the story bits (like that the suspicious count in Dracula is in fact a vampire - I knew that and yet the book was an absolute blast, very suggested! It even got me trying epistolary novel as a format) and read it anyway. More, they read it because they kinda know what they are getting into.

So no, not all spoiling is intrinsically bad, in fact nobody would read a story they know nothing about. I'd say the trick is to 'spoil' the setting and the character dynamics... Just NOT something the author was playing as a reveal. Of course at this point we shouldn't even use 'spoil'.

What can we call the setting and character dynamics?

Marking the tropes is spoiling.

We can call them tropes and genres, they are broad characterizations that help people have an idea of what they are getting into. We all prefer a few genres.

What if we were allowed to prefer a few tropes as well, or just be free to avoid those we don't like?

The entire discussion that happened about fantasy romance (before it had a name) was that people got into what they thought it was fantasy but ended up with just romance, with basic characterization, minimal world building, no intrigue or epic battle between good and evil. It was very unsatisfying; so more classification of the book is better than less (with common sense, nor I nor anybody else wants a list of every single thing that's in there).

'Classification' as in to guide to to find the book you like or to let you know if you want to try something different than usual or again, you found a trope you never knew (like me with the reincarnation trope in webtoons) and you want to proceed and eat that in copious amounts until you have wrung every last bit of serotonine/dopamine from it.

If you don't want to know, you should be allowed to know where the trope markers are, so to avoid and go in blind (like I do with movies I know I'm interested in: I just don't watch the trailer. A legit choice I'm allowed to make and happy because of it).

Conclusion: if you think marking a trope is spoiling, they probably did it wrong, because it shouldn't. It should be supposed to give you an idea, so you aren't buying a book for the pretty cover.

Note! From fanfiction to published books it would be a good idea to use warnings, to some extent - I'd love to skip historical novels with gratuitous sa because it's 'realistic'... At this point it's its own trope which I'd like marked so I can avoid it. I have had enough of it ok. No hate but I want to keep away.

I'd like also a protagonist marker, examples, Reluctant Protagonist (no hate, just dislike) or pov protagonist (especially in fantasy romance so I know they aren't going to do anything and we are admiring together the brooding tragic-backstoried main lead).

Saying: 'I am annoyed by this thing' is legit and I support presenting narratives in a way that allows people to choose how much to know about it. Like a general summary behind, a tropes list inside the cover (or something) for those looking for the tropes. Saying 'you can't use fanfiction terms' is incorrect, tropes aren't fanfiction terms, and wrong in the 'you', because 'you' (publishing industry?) should cater to people taking into account that different people want different things and consume the book in different ways, nobody should be forced to consume a book any other way that the one makes them happy :)

Second post.

Again, I don't know about booktok so I'll keep to "encourages authors to built their entire story around marketable tropes [...] turn more of a profit".

The placing (<- marketing term) of a book on the market is hella hard ok. Like, so much. Very often what makes a book great is subtle, hard to explain, and people have a short attention span anyway. Building a story around a trope may be a bad idea, but many writers start the story around a image or a scene floating in their mind, all stories are Bron from an idea. Tweaking the core idea to a marketable trope make the author sell. "Turn more of a profit" yes?? Yes please??? Begging here??? If I have spent like the last five years working on this story I want people to a) find it interesting (thus I am brought to play on the main tropes in there) and b) make money out of it. I worked on that story for the last five years. Am I so evil to think I want a revenue so I can focus on my next book instead of doing so in scraps of times in this capitalistic hellscape? Yes I want the money so I can do what I want with my life and time (writing in this case) and give people meaningful stories.

If the trope-marketed story isn't meaningful I'm afraid the problem is the writer didn't care for it - which leads to another entire can of worms, kinda related (writing for the money and not for the story is an unfortunate rotten compromise for people who need money and can write but aren't paid enough to afford the time for a proper story).

So: writing a story around tropes is bad if it's demanded from the publisher like this, and with limited time to develop it, because it's what is popular now.

Using the tropes inside the book to market it, is just how you market a book. Who never ran into a great book which never got the popularity it deserves? It's because it was marketed wrong, or unsuccessfully.

Again placing and marketing a book is HELLA hard and often it's what makes it or breaks it for the book itself, even more than the content.

Let's cut authors a break on this ok (lol we can harass publishing companies though, just a little tee hee).

Third post

Do you know I actually dislike long posts??? How did I get here. Ah yes, frustration.

Why is fanfiction considered easier. 'cheaper' narrative?

Because you already know and care about the characters. Making people love our little guys is also rather hard.

If it works you will end up caring though, and people will put them in Coffee au.

This third post seems to misunderstand what tropes are. Characters are kinda always in a trope. You know that joke, after reading the vocabulary all books area remix? Tropes are how we categorize stuff happening in books (technically the recurrent things, but once we have given a name to all thing (and we have actually) everything is low key recurrent). Yes it often devolves into cliches, when a trope is cheap and obvious and kinda gratuitous. But they are 'places' where the characters are.

I, a living person, am always in some place or 'surroundings' since I am made of matter which occupies a space surrounding me. A trope is the surroundings of the characters.

You can made to care about original characters in a coffee shop, like if you are reading a cozy (example) and slowly get to know the people meeting for coffee.

The post seems to suggest that characters in books exist outside tropes. Not really. But also not a crime, I hope I explained politely why I disagree.

Why should you care for some randos meeting in a coffee shop? Well, if this is a book, consider it an essay explaining you exactly that ✨

More disclaimers.

Again, this isn't about booktok

This isn't against the publishing industry, if you have critics of them I'll probably agree.

If you take one of the things I said to the extreme to make it absurd, that is cheap, argumentative and I will ignore you. Same if you warp something away from what I meant, or your reply is based on an incorrect knowledge of this stuff, or you are just being provocative for the sake of it. Be polite and chill people.

Sorry it’s early but you really can’t use fanfiction terms in a non fanfiction context like if someone is trying to sell me a book to read and they tell me there’s an enemy to lovers I would be annoyed because why are you spoiling the story lol

[leonardalphachurch]

Burnie’s AMA podcast about Rooster Teeth’s revival is now available to the public and so I’m going to summarizing the relevant questions that were answered here.

Why?

“It’s because we could […] If we don’t do it who will?” Throughout the episode, Burnie also mentioned: not wanting RT to become lost media; wanting to create opportunities for himself/past employees of the company; wanting to work with old properties again; being able to collaborate with new talent; and the Rooster Teeth brand being good marketing. “One of the main motivators for this was preserving the media, and I’m happy to say, it is preserved.”

Also spoken about over multiple questions, Burnie says that Warner Brothers might have been planning to sell off the whole company, including employees etc., and he did not want (/couldn’t afford) to buy it then. It was only after the shutdown, after it became clear the WB was selling off individual shows, that Burnie started trying to buy things. I mention this specifically because I’ve seen a lot of people talk as if the company itself is coming back; it is not. What Burnie owns right now is the brand and IP rights to a lot of the properties. The actual “company” of Rooster Teeth is actually Burnie’s production company “Box Canyon Productions” and right now only has two employees.

What properties does Rooster Teeth still own?

“It’s a very, very long list.” Burnie says they have the rights over 50 shows, some specifically named ones being The RT Podcast, Red vs Blue, and The Know. Most of the shows that were hosted on the Rooster Teeth YouTube channel were a part of the acquisition. Nothing from Achievement Hunter, Funhaus, or RWBY are owned by RT anymore. Heavy emphasis was put on AH no longer being under RT’s brand anymore.

Are the scope of these new projects going to be more in line with smaller content like the RT Shorts, or is the hope to try and focus on larger productions like Day 5, The Schedule, or Lazer Team?

“The sweet spot for scale is going all the way back to the early episodes of Red vs Blue.” The focus is going to be on “compelling writing and great characters,” and making projects with smaller productions. Throughout the episode they reiterated that their main focus is going to be on individual projects and shows.

Does this mean there are hopes of getting a complete boxset of RvB?

“I also would love a complete boxset of Red vs Blue.” Burnie says he wants to do this, but doing physical media in 2025 is complicated and a financial risk, so they’re going to have to figure out how it would be done. He mentions possibly doing a preorder for it.

What happens if this just fails again?

“It’s not bulletproof, but I don’t know what it would take for us to have to shutter this thing at this point.” Burnie says that they’re already profitable, that they maintain themselves, and that unless they do something that would put them in tremendous amounts of debt, as long as YouTube still remains a platform that lets them host videos, he’s not worried about the company shutting down.

Could this lead to some of the old RT merch being available again?

“Yeah, it would have to be within the brands we’re talking about.” They talk about there being a lot of old merch, so figuring out how to provide the specific pieces that people want will be a challenge. Burnie how his personal philosophies on making merchandise in a way that does not produce “junk” may also make selling merch more difficult. Ashley says it is going to be a “slow start.”

More questions were answered and things discussed on the episode but this is what I found to be important to share here.

The TL;DR of RvB news: They do own the Red vs Blue IP. There was no confirmation or denial of any future continuations of the show, but we will very likely be getting a boxset and some old merch returning.

[novvabee]

And They Were Roommates 11

this sat in my drafts for a while because of the whole tiktok ban thing.

Summary: you prank James and it makes for a great tiktok.

word count: 1.5k

cw: swearing once or twice

The boys really didn’t understand what you were up to now. 

They understood the concepts of social media and partook in the occasional instagram post, but they were all so… different.

You knew that they went to a boarding school that didn’t allow any technology, and they were severely lacking in the pop culture department, but usually Remus could fill in the gaps for the other two boys. He was the one who had seen all the movies you’d reference or know about a celebrity that you were talking about. 

But when it came to silly trends and social media references, the boys were completely lost.

So, you decided to take advantage of their lack of understanding for a good laugh. Even though the girls also went to this boarding school, they still had a good understanding of the world. You and Lily would send funny videos or TikToks to each other, Mary would always discuss the latest celebrity tea with you, and Marlene would recommend new artists she found and send them to you to give a listen to. The point is, they weren’t as blind to these things as the boys were, maybe the boys were just heavily sheltered?

Either way, when you rounded them all up to explain that you wanted to do a silly trend, they looked at you in bewilderment. You had to explain multiple times what a “hear me out cake” was. You explained to them the premise, that there would be a cake that you all would take turns decorating with people and characters that you think were attractive and the rest of the group would have to ‘hear you out’ on why. 

You all compiled your lists and sent the pictures up to Remus’s printer in his room. You noticed the boys had far less than yourself, but that was ok, you were really just trying to prank James and send the video to Lily.

The other day he had scared the daylights out of you when you thought you were home alone. He thought it was hilarious, you did not, so you knew you had to get him back somehow and you knew he wouldn’t be expecting this at all. None of them would, and you were ready to show off your mischievous side.

You sat in the living room, cutting out your images and taping them to toothpicks to later pop in the cake. Remus and James were kind enough to run to the store down the road and pick up a cake. You laughed at the inscription iced on top; a generic “Happy Birthday” with balloons iced around the corners.

“It’s perfect.” you smiled up at them.

They set the cake on the dining table as you and Sirius made your way into the kitchen. You handed both Remus and James their pictures and set your phone up to start recording. 

“I still don’t really get it,” Sirius said from beside you, “Why do you have to film it? And why do you want to know who we find fit?”

You laughed as you hit the record button, stepping back and in line with the boys. “Because it’s just a stupid TikTok thing. I thought it would be funny.” you said, looking up at Sirius and batting your lashes, knowing he would go along with whatever you wanted when you looked at him like that.

“Fine,” he said finally.

“Ok, I'll go first,” you said. You pulled out a picture and stuck it in the cake. “James Sully.” You finished placing the picture of the blue avatar front and center.

“The Avatar?” Remus asked as James said, “Why is he blue?” to Sirius. Sirius just shrugged and looked to Remus for an answer. “He’s from a movie,” he explained.

“That thing isn’t even human,” Sirius laughed.

You laughed too, shrugging. “I mean he kinda is… and I thought he was cute ok?”

The boys shook their heads, if they didn’t understand the premise of this game before, they definitely didn’t now.

“Ok, ok,” Sirius said, “I’ll go next.” He picked out a picture and placed it next to yours.

“Sirius,” you said softly, “That’s a cat.” You stared at the picture of the gray tabby on the cake. And he had the audacity to poke fun at you for your ‘non-human’ character.

“Well,” Sirius began, “I didn’t have a picture of her so… this will have to do.”

“Didn’t have a picture of who?” James asked.

Sirius turned to James slightly. “Minnie.” He stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Sirius,” Remus sighed under his breath. James just burst into laughter, leaning on an unamused Remus for support. “What is wrong with you?”

You didn’t quite understand the joke, and you certainly didn't know who ‘Minnie’ was, but it was nice to see Remus and James giggle like that. Your plan was working, you were getting them all to loosen up a little.

James went next. He placed a picture of Princess Leia then stood back and said nothing. Maybe he didn’t get the rules of this little game. “James…” you began, “Why would we have to hear you out… she’s a conventionally attractive person.” you giggled.

He shrugged in reply. “But she's an alien right?” Oh but your ‘alien’ wasn’t ok… hypocrite.

“I mean, not really.” Remus said.

“Well she doesn't live on Earth.” James countered.

“Ok we are not arguing about Star Wars right now you nerds.” You laughed. “Go Remmy.” Remus placed an old photo of Jane Austen on the cake. “Wow… You really are a nerd.” you sighed. You stepped forward to go again.

You decided to play out your little prank on James now. You placed your picture on the cake and stepped back without a word, trying to contain your laughter. You caught the smile on Remus’s face.

“You want to explain that one?” Remus asked.

You shook your head. “Nope.” You answered.

It took all but a moment for James to realize who the picture was. “THAT’S MY DAD!” James yelled. There was a flash in your peripheral vision which turned out to be Sirius falling to the floor with laughter. You held it together for as long as you could, but the second James ripped the picture off the cake and turned back to you, you couldn’t help but giggle. 

“This is my dad!” James kept repeating, shaking the picture at you. Even Remus was chuckling behind you, Sirius on the floor almost in tears and clutching his stomach.

“Where did you even get this picture? What, I mean… How even?” James was at a complete loss for words and you were losing it. You would never tell him where you got it. Lily would get a kick out of this video for sure. 

“Well James,” Remus chuckled again from behind where you stood, nudging you aside softly to make his way back to the cake. “I have a feeling you’re not gonna like this one.” He placed a picture of a woman you didn’t know. She was beautiful, looked kind. 

For a second the room was quiet, James and Sirius trying to see who it was that Remus placed on the cake. Sirius burst into another fit of laughter as James shrieked “WHAT THE FUCK!”

You looked to Remus who was full on laughing now. James kicked Sirius in the leg. “Shut up! She’s basically your mother too.”

“Wait, that's James’s mother?” you said, quickly making your way over and plucking the picture off the cake, holding it out in front of you to compare it to James. You could see the resemblance now. You decided to play along with Remus now. “Huh, you know what Remmy, she is hot.” you giggled. If that were to come out of either Sirius or Remus, James definitely would have punched them.

Remus threw his hands up in defence. “She said it, not me.”

James shook his head, speechless. “Why.” was all he could get out.

“Well I couldn’t put Sirius’s mother, now could I?” Remus stated matter of factly. 

Sirius, who was still on the floor and struggling for breath, managed to wheeze out, “They did… all that… for a your mum joke…” He was definitely crying with laughter now.

“Oh no,” You said, the boys attention turning to you, “We didn’t work together on this.” you held out your hand in front of Remus and he took the hint, giving you a victorious high five. 

“Great minds just think alike,” Remus agreed with you.

James’s face was quite priceless, somewhere in between shocked and baffled. 

“I wanted to get back at you for scaring me the other day.” you explained to him. He seemed to come to understand, but still so confused and freaked out that you had a picture of his dad that you had never met.

James looked to Remus for his explanation, but Remus only smirked back at him. “I Just think your mum is hot.” Remus joked. James was on him in an instant, tackling him to the kitchen floor. Sirius had finally pulled himself together enough to sit up and start wiping the tears from his eyes. You sat next to Sirius on the floor and watched as James attempted to wrestle Remus to the ground, partially successful, but you could tell Remus was letting him win, his reward for putting up with you all calling his family hot.

You couldn’t wait to send this video to Lily.

if you've seen the tiktok I am referring to 💋 that is for you. I hope yall like this, its a short but sweet one.

taglist 💌: @too-efn-old-to-be-here @cometsghost @eeviee4 @giuli-in-earth @spicybearnaise @the-lavender-girl @adharalikethestar @champomiel @itsleroyposts @enamoredwithbella @babymash @ilovejamespottersomuch @liszblog @sammyreid @kiaslily @idkman5335 @willowlovestheweasleys @lady-balem @nislame @latenightreadingpdf @v-loves-frogs @meggishhhh @mooonyxoxo @sodavrr @notmonstersapocalipse @plk-18 @prettylittlewrites @darkloverfox @navs-bhat @lexi2005 @bache3 @koolayee

[pegasussomnus]

Tim already did find someone who he can himself with in all aspects: Stephanie

There is also how bernard doesn't embrace all aspects of Tim. Their entire "relationship" is defined by Tim being robin

Bernard doesn't help Tim grow as a character, or even as a person relationship wise as Tim is still doing the same faults he did in past relationships with civilians not telling them he is Robin, keeping secrets, cutting dates/missing them, etc). but they are "resolved" by just making Bernard some ultra perfect guy who knows Tim's identity

Aka the resolution he had with Stephanie in terms of the civilian/hero life balance of having someone who knows both, so Tim is getting a balance he already had and not to mention you can't even say Tim progressed in this manner or learned from his mistakes as he never revealed his ID in the first place, so it requires no growth on his end) (never explained how he does, not to mention watering down Tim's competence in keeping his ID) so it's all moot.

Tim also doesn't progress in his civilian life at all. Like he lives on a boat and (it is said that Bernard helped motivate him to do this but never shown/explained at all and all we see is Bernard saying he likes it and the people there)? Like he doesn't even meaningfuly develop a connection with the people there aside from friendly neighbors at best. As an example There was this "subplot" of them being in danger of being evicted but Tim just doesn't care at all or do anything. Like why not use some of his wealth from his dad or something to like buy people's boats and resell them at a cheaper price so the people can stay?

The people on the boat don't even offer him a meaningful civilian connection as like I said he just doesn't connect with them and even then that civilian connection is kind of moot in the last issue when they all know his identity as Robin so that balance or finding a solution is rendered moot for the same reasons as above as he already found that balance with the Batfamily/YJ friends who know both aspects of his life and again he didn't even it reveal it to them.

Like what do they offer him? People to chill in a non-vigilante way? Like he can already do that with the Batfam/YJ and not to mention that as the series showed the Marina got involved in a lot of Robin related stuff because of Tim's ID, so it's also moot.

Another point is how Bernard for a 'relationship for Tim beyond Robin' really is a relationship where the substance largely comes from Robin. Like aside from Robin is how they got together which Bernard even states in issue 3, in the beginning of issue 7 when Bernard list why he likes Tim all the things he likes about him are reflective of his role as Robin. Like his whole trusting Tim to keep him safe, Tim being special, and Tim being his lucky charm, the examples he uses are of Tim saving him as Robin/being Robin.

And issue 7 also shows like I said above that what saves the relationship is Bernard knowing that Tim is Robin. Not to mention how he really only opens up to Tim/confides in him seriously when Tim is Robin as shown in issue 3 and 9. Hell in issue 3 when he talks about wanting to help Tim, knowing that he knows his ID, when he talks about Tim 'taking too much on his own and not asking for help and loosing himself or whatever' we know it's about Robin.

And issue 10 the grand saving moment for their relationship after the 'falling out' in issue 9 was Bernard saving the day in a Robin related mission and getting the ID reveal (but not really)

Issue 7 highlights how Tim really doesn't do anything for Bernard as Tim. Like all he does is tell him that his parents suck, he's great to make him feel better, and tell us a bunch of stuff about Bernard we've never seen before.....twice and given how the issue kept emphasizing this point (to the point where villains commented on it) and how over the top his parents/with Bernards heroic it felt generic and like the bare minimum and Tim felt like an exposition device.

Tim never really talks to him about his issues with his parents or actually substantially helps him as after Tim does the above it immediately cuts back to their relationship for cute moments. Like Bernard giving him the necklace isn't even connected to Tim 'helping' as he was gonna do that anyway.

Tim as a civilain is just the BF and the real substance comes from Robin (as it was a Robin related mission and Tim saving civilians as Bernard which lead/inspired Bernard trying to save his parents and oh look Robin once again is tied to their relationship)

Also you can't just have characters do thing with little to no motivation or reason. That is bad writing.

idk why everyone wants tim to be a cheater again and the hate for the houseboat like is this character finding a stable relationship and a home which he clearly loves too much for you to handle

like the he's rich why doesnt he live in a mansion argument means nothing to me ik everyone whumps on this guy but like aside from that maybe he likes living in a houseboat? maybe he's matured enough to not cheat on his partners?

and i love that tim found someone he can be himself around like in all aspects of being himself. thats my blorbo. that's the guy i imprinted on and have stuck with for god knows however long.

Facts

[kazbrekkerfast]

what instrument I think F1 drivers would play + reasons (from a cellist who is objectively correct)

(if you disagree that's fine please share your opinions I really want to know them)

Get ready cuz this is a LONG post. I also mostly stuck to the 2024 grid cuz I couldn't be bothered with much more

also please note that I wrote this whilst exhausted and avoiding practicing so if it has any spelling/grammar mistakes, you didn't see anything

1. Max Verstappen: percussion

ok so max is to me a percussionist through and through but also seems like the type of percussionist who learnt how to play the violin as a kid and hated it, so became a drummer instead. definitely plays the marimba like his life depends on it. also becuase I have a thing for them so ye 🥰 (I do however love a good fanfic where he's like a super competitive violin/piano player even if I can't really see him play them)

2. Charles Leclerc: piano

so he obviously already plays piano which suits him sm so I'm going to keep that because he has the correct vibes and everything for piano, but more on the late classical onwards stuff than the earlier music (I NEED to hear him play Debussy like omfg please)

3. Carlos Sainz: conductor

ok here me out but I can't see him playing in an orchestra BUT he would definitely conduct, and could probably play a string instrument/piano quite well but like it wouldn't be his passion if you get what I mean (I also feel like he'd be quite strict as a conductor but get super good performances out of the orchestra)

4. Daniel Riccardo: trombone (+bass trombone)

ok he's the reason I'm making this list because OMFG THIS MAN IS A BRASS PLAYER like defo lower brass too but I can't really see tuba player from him so trombone. he's also the kind of brass player to be stupidly good at percussion too so ye that too. also get this man in a big band. please.

5. Lando Norris: violin

ok so lando is always giving main character energy and like there's not much more main character than a violin, and also I can very much see him being a more romantic/lyrical player (he just has them vibes idk). HOWEVER broski has a MASSIVE hand span so he has to play piano cuz he can deffo reach them 10ths let's be real

6. Oscar Piastri: oboe (+french horn)

ok HEAR ME OUT!!!! tell me you can't see this guy play an oboe. I think he has the right sized face for it idk that sounds strange but I can see it please believe me 😭😭. Also french horn cuz it's my fave instrument except my own and I think he'd serve playing it idk

7. Lewis Hamilton: cello

I'm biased. he has the vibes. (not really but idc). also probably sings (he already does but shh). Definitely not a baroque player and probably plays more Dvorak era stuff (the things I'd do to see him play Brahms E minor) but this is all because I am spectacularly biased and want to see my fave drivers play my instrument. also producer vibes but that's unrelated.

8. George Russell: flute

ok so personally most male flute players I know are complete dickheads BUT I think George is the exception like he just seems quite flutey (also he kinda gives classical era piano player but that may be me being silly) but bro definitely doesn't like syncopated rhythms like let's be real if it's off the beat my guy would be completely lost. he does seem like the type to be able to read ledger lines tho

9. Yuki Tsunoda: percussion

I think he's another percussionist tbh but more cymbals and timps than tuned percussion. I don't have much more to say about Yuki because he's just cymbals in my head lmao

10. Pierre Gasly: euphonium

right. he gives wind because he's french BUT he probably is euf cuz like I can very much picture him playing it and also I can very much see him giggling at the back of a brass band or some shit with Yuki (yukierre nation what's good) so I've put him as a euf cuz why not

11. Esteban Ocon: clarinet

another biased opinion but I can see it like he just is a clarient I think. I think it's probs just the fact he's tall but like the stereotype of people looking like their instruments is real so he (he does give cellist a bit too but that may also just be because he's tall)

12. Fernando Alonso: trumpet

right this was a very tough one BUT he holds all the chaos and menace of a trumpet player (especially when he was younger), and I think it suits him quite well. he does give lower brass a bit but I think he has more trumpet vibes than lower brass so ye

13. Lance Stroll: clarinet

ok rich boi obviously would have been taught the violin and I think he'd be pretty good at it tbh BUT he gives clarient vibes so fucking hard like especially bass clarinet, cuz he's different like that

14. Nico Hulkeberg and Kevin Magnussen: trumpet

right. these two are together for a reason. these two are the two trumpet players in an orchestra who sit there yapping for half the rehearsal, play the 4 bars they have in a piece and then are done for the day. don't say you can't see it. you can.

15. Alex Albon: guitar

this one is quite specific but he gives like classical and jazz guitar vibes in a very specific way. also woodwind. idk he contains multitudes and I think we should celebrate that. maybe flute? I can see that. (I'm losing the plot here wtf even is an instrument)

16. Logan Sargent: viola

PLEASE DONT COME FOR ME I SAY THIS IN A GOOD WAY!!! he really has strings vibes to me but definitely is not violinist at all, therefore I think he'd be a good viola player. I'm sorry we all need one somewhere 😭. HOWEVER as he is American I will say get this man on the cheer squad and like idk have him throw people in the air while the marching band does it's thing I can see him doing that

17. Sergio Perez: french horn

sorry he's so far down I had actually no clue what instrument he has the vibes for at all. BUT I made up my mind, and I think he gives french horn vibes. don't ask me why I don't know it just is there

18. Valterri Bottas: tuba

HE TUBAS MORE THAN ANYONE HAS EVER TUBAD BEFORE also probs plays percussion on the side but in the sense that they didn't have enough one day so he volunteered to play for fun. I almost put him as a double bass but he really doesn't have strings vibes at all so I moved him to tuba

19. Zhou Guanyu: piano

this is going to sound weird af but don't take it that way but holy shit this guy's fingers are LONG like I think he could probs do a 9th or 10th easily (I'm so jealous) and I feel like he has piano vibes. also a bit stringy but also not idk I feel like he'd own a harp but not play it often so ye

20. Franco Colapinto: violin (?)

idk him that well and he has very similar vibes to lando (this may be due to the edits I have CONSUMED over the last few months) so ye I think he could be violin, maybe like leader of the 2nds kinda thing for the fun of it

21. Liam Lawson: guitar and drum kit

ok. this is a copout cuz he already does and posts things of him playing but like he just is guitar like that is what he is in my mind. also he gives the vibe of that one guitarist who decided to learn drums but hasn't got the coordination quite right yet so isn't great at keeping time but thinks he's great anyways (I love him really)

ANYWAYS IM DONE THANKYOU IF YOUVE GOT THIS FAR I WISH YOU ALL THE LOVE AND HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD

[hopinglylost3214]

Tickling ask game

Odd numbers are for asks related to tickling, even numbers are for non-tickling related asks. For the tickling questions, I tried to make them so both lees and lers can answer.

Is there a tickle spot that flusters you? If so, can you explain why that particular spot flusters you?

If you could wipe your memory and re-experience something, what would you choose to experience again?(This could be for re-watching a movie, re-playing a game, or re-living an actual event that happened in your life.)

If you are bilingual, does the word "tickling" evoke different emotions when said in English versus your mother tongue?

What's the best gift you've ever received?

Besides the basic necessities, what three things are you bringing to a tickling session?

What's the best gift you've ever given?

What's the ideal time length for a tickle session?

If you had a thousand dollars you had to spend in 24 hours just for yourself, how would you spend it?

Fill in the blank: All lees/switches/lers are valid, but lees/switches/ler who _________ have a special place in my heart.

If you could ask someone any question and they had to answer truthfully, what question would you ask and who would you ask? (This someone can be a historical figure, a person that's alive right now, or even fictional characters).

How important is tickling to you?

If you could get a definitive answer to a mystery(this could be something like unsolved criminal cases, unsolved math/physics problems or just something that happened in your life), which mystery are you choosing?

If you had to describe what type of lee/switch/ler you are in one word, which word would you use?

If you had to describe yourself in one word, which word would you use?

If you had to choose 3 spots for a tickle session, which ones would you choose?

Share a song from an artist you think is underrated.

Do you remember how you found out that you liked tickling? If so, how did you find out?

If you could send a one-sentence message to yourself one year ago, what message would you send?

What kind of aftercare do you like after a tickling session?

What's the most challenging thing you've done that you actually wanted to do?

How did you come up with your blog name?

If humanity were to lose all books except for three of your choice, which three books would you choose to preserve?

Tell us one aspect of tickling that you like.

If humanity were to lose all music except for three musical pieces of your choice, which three pieces would you choose to preserve?

Imagine your ideal day. Does it involve tickling?

If you could get a Pokémon in real life, which Pokémon would you want?(If you don't know any Pokémon, you can answer the question with any other fantasy animals or real-life animals that are exotic.)

For lees, what's one thing a ler can do to put you in a lee mood? For lers, what's one thing a lee can do to put you in a ler mood?

If you were to be reborn as an animal(excluding human), which animal would you choose?

What's in your tickling bucket list?

What's your favorite dessert?

How much of a lee/ler mood are you in right now?

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

For lees, would you rather be tickled on your lower body or your upper body? For lers, would you rather tickle on lee's lower body or lee's upper body?

Would you rather take a hundred dollars for yourself or take a thousand dollars while your worst enemy gets ten thousand dollars?

For lees, would you rather be tickled while making eye contact with your ler or be tickled while looking away from your ler? For lers, would you rather tickle your lee while making eye contact with them or tickle them while they're looking away from you?

Would you rather eat breakfast for dinner for the rest of your life or dinner for breakfast for the rest of your life?

Would you rather be part of one-on-one tickle session or a gang tickling?

Would you rather be able to levitate up to 3 meters(9 feet and 10 inches), or would you rather be able to run 100 meters in 7 seconds?

Would you rather tickle/be tickled with hands or tickle/be tickled with tools?

Would you rather get a plane ticket to wherever you wanted to go once a year or would you rather get one thousand dollars annually that you couldn't spend on traveling?

Would you rather have a tickle fight or just tickle/be tickled?

Your own question!

[rad-roche]

The way you write intimate scenes with Gloria and Nick are so hot and special and unique I hope we get more one shots of their life together

Sincerely me, a robot sex enjoyer

aw, thank you!! i'm very glad to hear that. i remember way, way at the start, when i was deciding to do a pastiche of 30s detective novels, i was laying out exactly what i had to do. well, it has to have this sort of tone, and use approximately this sort of language, and the character i'm making (who would become gloria) has to do this sort of thing... and i remember reading over the list and lingering on just how sexually charged a lot of those books are and thinking ah, fun to write, but it's not like i could actually follow them into the bedr... and being like. wait. why can't i? i like writing sex! and that was that decided. ditto gloria's truly, truly gigantic amount of swearing. that wouldn't fly in the time period, but if i took it out, she wouldn't feel like gloria, would she?

the written series is concluded, but as far as comics and pictures go, i'm always down to do more. if you didn't know, i host the nsfw stuff offsite. just as an aside, a thing that really vexes me in books, tv, not so much movies since their runtime is limited but you get the gist, is when the getting together/will they won't they is sooo charged and tantalising and makes you want to chew through your arm, but the minute they actually sleep together it goes out the window! it's like oh, relationship resolved. sex has been had. it is time to move on. character chemistry is a weird, tricky mistress, that's about as hard to pin down as the real thing, but i tried my damndest to make my audience go oh alright it's been two years and they're gnawing on each other like starving animals i see it, even if they're doing something totally unrelated and not sexy at all. thanks again, anon! it's not an aspect i've seen people bring up much, so i'm really glad it's resonated

edit: oh i almost forgot! keep your peepers peeled for this year's valentine's picture

[spread-the-influence]

i'm sorry this has been my roman empire SINCE i entered the fandom i have to get even more into detail . please forgive me for another essay

i don't want to bash on people's interpretations of ragatha because at the end of the day we will only truly know her once the other 5 episodes of tadc release .

so , i am Not going to list stuff i don't like . INSTEAD i'm just going to go into what i think is often missing when it comes to ragatha because my problem with fanon content of her is that she doesn't Feel like Ragatha enough . she often times feel more like a predisposed caretaker character that will have whispers of ragatha's flaws but none of , like , The Character if you get what i'm saying .

SILLINESS - this is the one that sticks out the most to me because it's Very obvious when there's not enough silliness in a ragatha . again , she's emotionally immature , which is apparent in her dialogue and gestures . maybe it's the psychology nerd in me but i Never really got mom vibes from her , i always saw everything she does as an epitome of anxious attachment i ammm not against putting her in a mom-child dynamic , i am not against the concept of mom ragatha and i have seen a fic that executed that well . it's just that when i see it pulled off , it's often ignoring that she puts one million emotional walls between herself and everybody - and it also ignores that there have been many implications where she's Not as helpful as she seems . this also often leads to infantilizing pomni and i Do not like that as well

insincerity - this is something that makes me go INSANE when i see it represented . i need to see this girl be dishonest , or Lie . i think it's so fascinating how much she hides her feelings to keep others from not liking her . i also think this is one thing i always find missing whenever i see other people's ragathas . there's just not enough of that insincerity . i'm not saying you should make her Lie all the time i'm saying that ragatha puts up a mask and is constantly thinking about what'll make the other person not hate her . she's just not a genuine person , which doesn't really help you on forming deep and personal relationships .

instability - ragatha does Not have her shit together i'm sorry . she wants people to like her to the point it's unhealthy and she has a grasp on her happy mask tighter than gangle's . this woman is a cocktail of internal issues . her self-esteem is Six Foot Underground . i have joked that she would do drugs if given the chance and guess what this bitch is at high risk of developing an addiction — now she's not like completely dysfunctional . but something to note is that her coping mechanisms are : Suppress Everything That Makes You Feel Bad , Ignore Your Pain , and Rely On Other People's Approval . we still don't know exactly Why she does those other than ' to not abstract ' , believe it or not they're still up for interpretation right now but yeah those are the stuff she does .

Does this make anyone else think of how the fandom treats Ragatha?

ehh i feel like the fandom has done a good job of acknowledging her flaws and how she's a people pleaser . if there's a problem i have with the general characterization of ragatha really , it's that there's just so little ... ragathaness in it ??

to put it into words , i feel like not a lot of people grasp that ragatha , at her core , is Emotionally Immature . she doesn't really act like her age . and i'm not saying that turning 30 means you have it all together and all of your problems disappear , it's more like that if we Ignored pomni and ragatha's appearances and compared their actions together , people would've thought that ragatha was Younger than her .

and this is intentional to show the contrast between them . pomni , whenever she's having The Conversation™ , tries to understand and offer suggestions . ragatha , i'm sure she does lend a listening ear but i do not trust ragatha " Toxic Positivity Incarnate " tadc to give advice that isn't as surface level as ' just don't worry about it ! ' or ' keep smiling ! ' , which is already kind of implied through gangle's dialogue

it just puts me off in a lot of fanon content . like i would read a fic and then i had to put it down because i'm like No ragatha knows too much about what she's doing She Literally Never Does that's her point please a ragatha is not complete without some element of anxiety , insincerity , and silliness i have the ragatha recipe right here

[queenlua]

your post about adding excitement to a story by increasing the pressure on a character was not something i’d heard before and i found it super useful. are there any other pieces of writing advice you find foundational and would be willing to share?

glad you found that tidbit helpful!

first, i’ll give my default caveat of “i’m just some guy on the internet, so take this with however many grains of salt you need”

plus my general caveat on… all writing tips/tidbits/advice? which is:

i find that, past the basics of “knowing about exposition/rising action/climax/denouement” and such, most writing advice ends up operating as a dusty old toolbox i open up now and again.  something in my story's not working; i’m not sure how to fix it; i pull out my little toolbox of tidbits i’ve accumulated over the years and see if any of the screwdrivers and wrenches in there actually fit.  the kinds of tidbits that are useful for me may be ACTIVELY DETRIMENTAL to someone else; someone who chronically overtightens their screws probably shouldn’t be told “have you tried tightening the screws more :D;;;;” or whatever.  and in particular what works for me is probably oriented towards genre-y stuff.

BUT, Y’KNOW, GIVEN ALL THAT

here’s the tidbits i find myself returning to over & over!

* three is a very powerful number.  i have a tendency to write myself into situations where you have Two Interesting Characters Doing Verbal Head-Games With Each Other, and that stuff can be tremendously fun, but it tends to run out of steam very quickly.  adding a third character to the scene combinatorially increases the dynamics available for you to play with.  so if you’re stuck, throw someone else in there.  (relatedly this is why awful dinner parties are Peak Literature™)

* if you’re writing a romance: put a sticky note on your monitor that says “WHY CAN’T THEY BE TOGETHER NOW?”  if at any point you don’t have a good answer to that, you’ve fucked up; rework the plot.

* this is a shlocky tidbit from the South Park creators that totally works: list all the scenes in your story, and then, between each scene, see if they are connected by THEREFORE or BUT versus AND THEN.

so., e.g., “the ocean levels in Tellius are rising, THEREFORE kilvas wants to migrate from their sinking islands and onto Serenes, BUT Reyson is opposed to that move, THEREFORE…”

that gives you a stronger structure than, like, idk, “the war ends AND THEN kilvas moves to Serenes AND THEN Reyson and Naesala get in a fight…”

you want it to be mostly “THEREFORE/BUT” and very few “AND THEN”s.  just a tighter overall plot structure

* each scene should accomplish at least two things.  the most common two things for a scene to do are “advance the plot” and “develop a character”; i have a hazy memory that when i first read this advice, there was a list of, like, 1-3 other things a scene’s allowed to accomplish?  but i cannot REMEMBER that list, lol.  but use your imagination; i’m sure you can think of another valid thing.

i think this is more useful as debugging/editing advice than upfront advice—often, when you’re writing something, every scene will *feel* necessary, but upon reread, you’ll notice your attention is drifting, this doesn’t quite feel tight enough… and you’ll realize, oh, ugh, i just had three scenes in a row that existed Solely To Hit A Plot Beat; why don’t i combine those three scenes into one, condense the action, and also make sure a character’s doing something actually interesting/new while i’m at it.

(i think i see this plaguing a lot of novels that come out of nanowrimo in particular.  i mean, not me, because i don’t have the fast-twitch muscle required to do nanowrimo, but when i read other people’s nanowrimo stuff, it often feels like it was galloping through a bunch of plot beats without bothering to do anything else interesting.)

* if you're stuck on a particular scene/chapter, stuff to try:

delete the current sentence and start over

delete the current paragraph and start over

change the font and reread what you've got so far

open the document on a different screen and reread what you've got so far

print the thing out and reread what you've got so far

open a brand new document and rewrite the whole scene/chapter/etc from the start (NO PEEKING AT THE ORIGINAL VERSION)

go outside and look at a bird for a bit

take a nap

shoot a whiny discord message to a friend about it (even if it's solely rubber ducking, this can be helpful) (though if you have any friends who are good at writing AND ALSO willing to put up with your shit and offer helpful feedback AND ALSO you're not too mortified by your writing dilemma to share it with them, that's even better) (btw, any friends reading this: if you want to opt-in to messages like this from me, LET ME KNOW lmao, i'm really shy on this front!)

if you're DESPERATE: open a new document and just write out, like, "Character X wants Y. Character Z wants Q. These are the sources of pressure on character X. These are the sources of pressure on character Y. I want R to happen but I feel stuck because of M" and so on, just... really trying to dissect what the scene's trying to accomplish? most often, the outcome of this is, i'll notice in that "thinking aloud" document that i'm circling around some central question that I Don't Know The Answer To, and i need to answer that question to usefully proceed. sometimes this will be painfully obvious in hindsight. (e.g., sometimes you'll go back to your outline and you'll realize you've literally just hit the bullet point that says UGH OKAY THEY GET TOGETHER SOMEHOW I'LL FIGURE THIS OUT LATER, and you're like, ugh, fuck, it's now later, why is past-me such a bitch!) but them's the breaks. (in particular, i remember getting catastrophically stuck on a "meet the parents" story until i realized i was... avoiding actually writing out the "meet the parents" scene... which feels "well duh" in hindsight! but, like, hey, in order to write that scene, i needed to commit to some specific decisions on What The Story Was About, the same way artists gotta eventually erase a bunch of sketchy lines to commit to the Lines They Will Actually Be Inking, and that decision point feels hard and scary and no wonder i waffled lol)

okay so that's all the super-specific-concrete advice. here's some stuff that's more big-picture but i've still found personally useful:

* i once went to a talk where a novelist said she doesn't start writing a novel until she knows exactly what she wants it to look like on the bookshelf. as in: is it a schlocky trade paperback or is it a beautiful hardcover thing with fancy paper? does it have IMPACT FONT for the title or something handwriting-y? how many pages is it? and so on.

in service of this aim, she never writes any of the novel (no notes, no outlines, no snippets of dialogue, nothing) until she has that image vividly in her mind + she can't physically STAND not writing it any longer. for her, this process allows her to be sure that she knows what her novel is about—not necessarily in every single detail or plot beat (though, often she has a lot of that in mind before starting), but in terms of "what am i trying to say," "how do i want the world to look at it," etc, and she's found through hard experience that, while it's easy for her to start novels, it's often hard for her to finish them unless she has that crystal-clear image in her mind.

i can’t quite do her purity-of-method (my brain is scrambled eggs; i HAVE to write down snatches of dialogue and such before i get started on something or it all leaks out of my ears), but i see a lot of wisdom in it.  i do a lot of prewriting & thinking & scribbling out little snatches of dialogue and such before i really begin writing. i think everyone develops their own little heuristic for when they can be reasonably confident they know what their story is about, so you should try and figure out what that heuristic is for you & learn to trust it if you can? (a common one you hear a lot is "i have to know how the story ends / what the ending feels like," which makes sense; endings usually have a lot to do with what a story is About. i know NK Jemisin mentioned once she can't really start until she's nailed down the voice, and that also makes sense to me—you read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and it's very clear that her choice of voice is a large part of what drives the story, it has a propulsive force of its own; it's The Thing that blasts the whole thing open for her. for me, i'm not sure i have a tidy heuristic, but there's a point where i've written enough snatches of dialogue plus bits of scenes that i've unlocked some core thing that i'm really excited about—i keep spinning out bits of dialogue and setting and such that are related to that thing, i'm so excited to see how that thing plays out across the story, i look at my outline and see only possibilities and wonder instead of connective tissue that needs to be filled in... and then, yeah, i'll know i'm cooking, but not one second before!)

note that the story is allowed to surprise me & change on me once i get properly started—my longfic changed substantially when i realized Reyson’s perspective needed a LOT more room to breathe than i had accounted for in the outline, and then changed substantially again when i realized the butterfly-effect-style implications that keeping Leanne around had for my entire storyline—the ending wound up being TOTALLY different than what i'd originally planned!—but like, in that case, i don't think my sense of what the story was about ever fundamentally changed; i just added two more huge elements that orbited that about-ness. if that makes sense.

* i think about this passage from Bayles & Orland's Art and Fear a lot. i'm actually not sure that advice is helpful for literally everyone—i do see people who somehow manage to write the same fucking thing over and over, for years and years, and never seem to develop their craft or make any movement toward saying something interesting.

but i do think most people are developing something even when it feels like "the same thing over and over," and as someone who probably tends toward too little output, i found it a useful reminder that returning to familiar forms, themes, and characters across pieces is intensely useful if it gets you in front of the keyboard again, so don't stress over novelty too much. (i find, if i'm still returning to a particular form/theme/character, it's because i feel like i still have some interesting new perspective on it that's genuinely worth exploring. if i have actually exhausted a topic, i'll know it because i myself will get bored, but anyone else's opinion is irrelevant!)

* ursula k le guin's steering the craft is more focused on craft & nuts n bolts than plot-debugging-type-things but i thought i'd give it a shout-out here because i've just found it so perpetually useful over the years. in particular we could all stand to read our stuff aloud more often; that fixes a lot of problems and she goes on about that in detail in chapter 1 haha

* oh, also, re: my "put more pressure on the characters" advice—you've probably already intuited this, but i think i found that framing more useful than the kinds of "raise the stakes / make sure every character has Stakes / Wants Something" advice you're likely to find in screenwriting workshops, because this framing feels like a more... abstract... way of talking about the same thing?

like, often those two types of advice are addressing the same problem, but when i start off thinking about "where is the pressure on these characters," i don't just have to think "time to heap more pressure on them," i can also, like. observe. where the pressure points in my work are. i'm not presupposing a solution. maybe there's a ton of pressure but it's the wrong kind of pressure. maybe there's a ton of pressure but there's nowhere satisfying for that pressure to go. it's very woo/fuzzy but yeah i use the general principle of "pressure" to frame a LOT of how i think about story construction; maybe that'll be useful to you!

* FINALLY, i don't have a nice packaged heuristic/tidbit/tool-shaped thing for this one yet, but i've been thinking a lot about how much perspective really Changes Everything about a work. your choice of PoV should be exceedingly deliberate; you should be taking maximum advantage of your choice of PoV at all times (what do they know? what don't they know? how do they think about the world? etc); also if you're editing something and you're noticing a lot of unconscious perspective breaks, that's a warning sign something's going badly wrong in how you're approaching the story overall—perspective should just be unconsciously correct if you're hitting stuff right imo

OK WOW SORRY THAT GOT SO LONG but hope at least one of these lil bullets are useful for ya! happy writing~

[olderthannetfic]

AO3 going "we shouldn't just have a MCU Captain America category, we need a Chris Evans one and an Anthony Mackie one" is so weird to me as a Doctor Who fan. We have way more stuff. We get by with the categories we have just fine. All you have to do is put in a tag for 9th Doctor or, in this case, Sam Wilson Captain America or something. Why does this need a second category? And why are the categories named after actors? Nobody calls them that. My MCU friends call them Sam and Steve.

I don't go here but this is just so weird. Like. What is the point, genuinely? Whatever happened to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? And Sam's movie isn't even out yet. Who's to say we're even going to get enough Sam-centric fics for this to be an issue?

I try never to assume bad faith but this looks so, so out of touch. It's like your mom coming into your room and rearranging things without your permission, then telling you she cleaned it for you because she knows you're going to go shopping and buy new stuff. And then you go, "I wasn't planning on that, and I didn't ask you, actually?" and she shrugs and says you can't move your stuff back to where it was.

I really hope they don't do this to the Doctor Who fandom. I don't want separate categories for every actor who has played the Doctor. And I don't even want to imagine what a clusterfuck this could be when applied to comic characters. Especially since AO3 is willing to split categories for something set in the same continuity. Even canon doesn't split the second Captain America into a different category than the first. It's not "2nd Captain America: Brave New World".

The vibe here is "I don't go here but I think I can help!" when nobody asked for that. It's like my cat trying to help me by knocking ornaments off the tree.

--

Ah, I see we're descending into Did Not Look At The Tags on this one.

Disambiguating with actor or director names isn't new. I'm skeptical that it will be useful here, but it's something AO3 has done for years.

In what sense do you have more stuff? More Doctors? Yes, that's true, and on Teaspoon, everything was organized by them. But if you mean AO3 works, you don't.

All of Doctor Who currently has 91,281 works.

The old Captain America movies tag (now synned to the Chris Evans one) has 114,257.

I guess if you go up to Doctor Who & Related fandoms, you just squeak through with more at 114,874, but come on, dude, the sheer might of stucky dwarfs anything in Who and even exceeds the total works for new Who, and that's the issue going on here.

From the sound of things, people are trying to figure out a way to let works be more findable when they're more about later developments in the continuity. I suppose people are tagging too much past or background stucky for just filtering the ship to work or there's too much where a cap!so-and-so additional tag doesn't indicate what people wish it would. (Personally, I think this is an unsolvable problem, but I see why people are trying.)

Frankly, this would all be better solved by a return to reccing culture and more Sam-centric bookmark collections and recs lists, but wranglers don't control that.

[esamastation]

Gamer girl gets transmigrated into a farm boy Chapter 6 [<<Prologue | <Chapter 5 || Chapter 7>>] Ao3 link

-

Tutorial in Age of Tales goes like this:

The main character is woken up by Janelle, who calls him a sleepy head and tells him to get the cart ready, because her daddy wants to go to town. The game teaches the player how to move, climb, jump, and interact with objects there.

The main character drives the cart to Westbrook in a cutscene and gets a chance to explore the town for a moment before Mr. Gylcross concludes his business. It's implied that it's a rare visit for the main character, and he's still new to town. He's given only enough money to buy a few health items maybe, just enough to learn how to interact with shops.

The main character returns to the farm with Mr. Gylcross and there's a time skip to the next day where, after they're done with their various farm-related duties, Josel approaches the main character and says…

"Hey, Van - there's some rabbits in the field again. Do you think you could take care of them?" 

Which then teaches the main character the very basics of combat, specifically long ranged combat, seeing as the beginner weapon for the main character of Age of Tales is a sling. In the game, there's auto aim you can turn on, which helps with long ranged weapons, but they were never a particularly well designed part of the game.

In this sort of real live version of the game…

"How the hell are you supposed to use this damn thing," Van mutters, trying to fit a pebble in the sling and figure out how to spin it in a way that didn't send the rock flying off prematurely.

Unfortunately it's not one of those slingshots with a y-shaped piece of wood and elastic band, no, this is the much older kind with a woven cord and a small pouch in the middle where you put the rock and then spin it around before releasing. Which is, it turns out, pretty tricky to master.

Katie had kind of loved the sling thing, though. It was very historical, she felt. Traditional weapon of commoners. Very cool that they included it in the game. You could even do some real damage with magical ammunition, though it was never as good as just specialising in magic, or even being a ranger. Still, with auto aim it was a cool beginner weapon for ranged combat, and considering that the early fights were all about running away…

It never made much sense for the main character to have it, though, because Van wasn't actually a commoner.

Van tries to spin the sling, and the stone slips out of the nest, landing in front of him with a thud. He grunts, frustrated. "System can't you help me out here? There's the automated chore thing - why isn't this automated? I should know how to do this, right?"

The System opens up his character window, which is not very helpful.

[Farmboy] [Van] [Lvl. 3 Commoner]

[Status:] [Constitution: 10] [Strength: 10] [Dexterity: 1] [Intelligence: 1] [Wisdom: 10] [Charisma: 1] [Luck: 1] [You have 4 unused Stat Points.] [You have 2 unused Skill Point]

"That's not very helpful - wait," Van says and peers at the list of stats. Intelligence is highlighted. "Huh - I need intelligence to figure out how to use a sling? Wait, wait, wait," he pauses, coiling up the sling. "Say I wanted to become a… rogue. I want to sneak around and assassinate my enemies. What would I���?"

The status screen shifts, and it's dexterity that gets highlighted this time. "Huh," Van says again. "Okay, that's actually really good to know." It's nothing he didn't already know - he had played as a rogue before, but still. It's neat that the System is giving him this kind of info. "I didn't need intelligence to use a sling in the game, though. Also, why are chores automated but this isn't? It makes way more sense for me to know how to fight, doesn't it?"

System just highlights intelligence again.

Van really doesn't want to spend any stat points yet, not before he decides what class he's going for - also, who knows what will happen in Westbrook. He might need a sudden burst of charisma to persuade the bad guys not to kill him, or dexterity to avoid being skewered, or any number of things. Intelligence is only good for Wizards, and Katie did not enjoy Wizard build all that much. It was too slow, and the combat didn't quite have the oomph of getting up close and personal with a big sword.

Shaking his head, Van closes the System window and continues working on the sling. He does figure out how to get the stone to stay in the sling, but trying to get it to fly even to the right cardinal direction…

Hm. Maybe he could put one point in intelligence? Just to see what it would do?

… No, he will not be tempted. He'll save the points until he needs them.

At any rate, the rabbits have been dealt with - he might've not hit any of them, but he definitely made enough of a racket to scare them off. Shaking his head, Van puts the sling away, his ammunition pouch five pebbles lighter. Whatever. He's got more important things to figure out right now, anyway.

Like how to make a spear.

-

The tutorial goes on to then try and deepen the main character's relationship with Josel and Janelle - giving the player a chance to eavesdrop on them during a cute moment. Van gets that opportunity too.

While he's doing a little bit of gathering in a copse of trees, figuring out how to get a Wooden Pole as opposed to mere Branches he's been finding, Van happens to spot Josel, picking up flowers out in the meadow just beyond the forest's edge. And then Janelle just so happens to come across Josel, greeting him cheerfully with, "Hey there, Josel - what are you up to?"

"Well, uh, I just, um," Josel stammers, looking between her and the sorry bunch of flowers he's holding. Then he tries to, comically, hide them behind himself, as though they haven't been fully on display already. "It's - it's nothing!"

"Oh?" Janelle asks, instantly mischievous, and skips forward. "It's nothing, is it? What's that behind your back, Josel, what have you got there? Hmm?"

Josel squirms and backs away while she tries to sneak a peek past him and it's very cute until he finally gives up. "It's stupid, I didn't -" he says and then holds the flowers to her. "For you, Miss."

"Oh, for me? Why, thank you, Josel!" Janelle says cheerfully, accepting the flowers with a little bow. "You are most kind, sir. You didn't have to."

"I thought it would - that it would brighten your day," Josel says, flushed bright red all the way down his neck and wringing his hands with embarrassment. "It's nothing, just a bunch of flowers."

"Well, I think it's very sweet," Janelle answers warmly, hugging the flowers and then grinning. "Say, have you ever made a flower crown?"

It's almost unbearably saccharine, the whole thing, but Van can't help but watch, leaning onto a tree trunk and grinning fondly as Janelle gently bullies Josel into learning how to weave flower crowns, before plopping the one she made on Josel's head. The whole thing is so blatantly wholesome that the first time Katie saw the scene, she'd shouted out loud, "Oh, they're definitely going to die!"

Van is half impressed that the developers refrained from including promises about the future and how they'd make flower crowns for each other until the end of their days. Or reminisce about their past as childhood friends, or something. Honestly, Janelle and Josel didn't really have much of a background beyond their roles as cannon fodder for the plot.

Still, it is pretty cute.

Janelle finishes the flower crown Josel can't figure out how to tie properly and puts it on her head, smiling. "There, now we match," she says with satisfaction, making herself comfortable amidst the flowers. "It's been ages since I did something like this."

"You're very good at it," Josel says earnestly.

Janelle laughs, hugging her knees. "Thanks! I used to make wreaths for the Flower Festival, you know - I won the first Prize and everything!" she says and then her smile fades. "We haven't really gone since Momma died. I thought maybe next spring would be different. With you and Van here, Daddy is in much better spirits these days."

"I'm glad we've been able to help," Josel says, adjusting his crown. "If there's anything else I can do to help out, you just let me know."

"Thanks," Janelle says with a chuckle and then looks at him. "Van's not going to stay until the Flower Festival, though, is he? I don't think he's even going to stay over winter."

In the shadows of the trees, Van folds his arms, interested.

"What makes you think that?" Josel asks. "Did he say something?"

"Not really. He's just acting a bit weird, isn't he? Like he's waiting for something," Janelle says and sighs. "I think he's remembering stuff from before."

"He hasn't said anything to me," Josel says, frowning.

"Me neither, but he's all… I don't know," Janelle sighs and looks away. "I just think he's getting ready to leave. It's funny, he's not even been here for that long, but I was kind of hoping he'd stay longer. Daddy's been a lot more active since he appeared, you know? Like with more people around, he has a purpose again."

"Yeah. Mr. Gylcross has seemed more energetic."

"Yeah," Janelle says with a sigh.

Josel looks at her like he's not sure what to do or say. For a moment it looks like he might put an arm around her, before awkwardly refraining. "Well, I'm not going anywhere," the farmhand promises earnestly. "Even if Van leaves, I'll always be here, ready to help you out."

Janelle laughs. "I know I can count on you, Josel," she says and rocks back and forth before rolling up to her feet. "Come on, let's head back - you can help me catch a chicken for dinner."

Van watches them leave, leaning his head against the tree trunk and frowning. He still doesn't feel any particular attachment to these people - it's hard to, really, after Katie had watched them die over and over again in the exact same way. Even the most sympathetic NPCs stop looking like people when you can see their strings being pulled. Even so…

It would be nice if he could save them this time.

Glancing up at the sky, Van tries to gauge how long he has until sundown. Then, shaking his head, he heads back into the forest, to find poles for his spearheads.

He got maybe three hours until the Rift would open and no proper weapon yet.

He really needs to get a move on.

-

And then, the Rift.

In the tutorial, it's not expected of the main character to have a proper weapon when the Rift opens. That's why the farm is littered with low grade farming tools - though they barely had any attack power, they could be used as weapons in a pinch, usually to comedic effect. The whole point of the Rift is to mess up the farm, kill everyone there - except the main character - and send the main character running to town.

Most of that happens in cutscenes, of course. There was no way to stop the Rift from appearing, or close it once it had, and there wasn't meant to be a way to stop the demons coming through, either. You could kill a few of them, maybe, but they kept coming and coming in an endless, steady flood. The whole thing was meant to be a hopeless fight.

Of course, no good set piece survives contact with players, and it took less than a day after Age of Tales launched for people to turn the traumatic Rift event into a mob farm.

For a Gylcross Mob Farm you need at minimum two things, plus a weapon to kill the mobs with. You need one of the carts, parked in a specific location before the Rift opened, and a barrel, set down just a little to the right of it. Because the rift opens right next to the barn, the demons coming through can move only in three directions, and the cart and barrel block two of those, creating a bottleneck. If you do it right, the arrangement cuts down the number of enemies you have to fight to a single one at a time.

And the Rift never stops spewing enemies at you. So, in effect, you can just stand there, for hours, for days, killing imp after imp after imp, just collecting exp. Add to this some better gear and those sweet, sweet Draughts of Memory… and it takes you approximately eight hours and fifty four minutes to boost the player character up to level 100.

Van might not have those potions - but he still intends to take advantage of the Rift's mechanics as much as he can. Without the Draughts it would take literal days to reach the same effect - but right now, he'll settle for ten, twenty levels at least. Just something to get him started properly.

Assuming, of course, that the Rift worked the way it did in the game. If not, well, it still wouldn't hurt to prepare.

"Uh, Van - what are you doing?" Josel asks, watching Van push the cart into place.

"I'm going to clean up the barn. Getting the place set up for the harvest, you know," Van answers, huffing while turning the cart around, aiming to get it just below the window. "Just… getting this… out of the way."

Josel looks at him, at the cart, at the barn, and then scratches at his cheek. "… Okay, you need a hand with that?"

"Sure - grab that barrel in the back, will you?" Van says and then thinks better of it. It wouldn't hurt to over prepare. The game mechanics haven't exactly been on his side so far. "Actually, let's move the other cart first."

In the game once you're done with fighting the Rift, however long you take, the player character escapes in one of the carts that's, mysteriously, ready to go with Bell strapped in and everything. It's very dramatic and convenient, and Katie could even forgive the plothole there - here… here Van doesn't think he can trust the plot holes to be on his side.

Better get the cart in place for easy access.

Josel gives him a weird look at the very precise way Van wants to position the cart once outside, conveniently close to the stables and nowhere near the barricade. The other farmhand says nothing, though, confusedly helping him situate the cart just so that Bell could be easily strapped on in a hurry. Van makes sure all the necessary straps and such go in the cart as well.

The barrels and boxes and other things from inside go to and around the first cart, with Van carefully situating them around to box in the spot where the Rift would be, enclosing the space as much as he can.

By the barn doors, Josel pauses. "Did you make these?" he asks, taking one of the spears Van has lined up against the wall.

The shafts Van had made for them are pretty rough - they're basically just trunks of young oak trees, which had been the only things to register as Wooden Poles to the System. Cleaning them and attaching the spearheads to them had taken some effort, and Van can't say he's particularly confident about his woodcraft skills - but after he'd sharpened the spearheads, the System had approved his craftsmanship by re-designating them as Rough Spear, lvl. 2s, each with 15 Attack power, so Van's satisfied with them. The enemies he's about to face are only lvl. 1, and with his strength stat lvl. 2 weapons would be more than enough to handle them.

"Yeah - just leave them there," Van says, hauling another barrel in place and testing its stability. Yeah, that wouldn't go anywhere. "I'll deal with them."

Josel gives him a rather concerned look but leaves the spear where it is. He goes to pick up the barrel lids sitting in a stack beside the spears instead, but Van tells him to leave them, too.

"I'll need them for something later," Van says, inspecting his Rift barricade, trying to fill in the gaps

"... Okay," Josel says slowly and then shakes his head. "I guess I'll get a broom and start sweeping then…"

Van lets him do it and finishes up his barricade, leaving just the one opening for the imps to get through - the one he'd be covering with a spear. With his mob farm ready, Van brushes his hands together and then heads inside to join Josel in "cleaning".

Another hour or so until sundown, and his preparations are just about ready. Now he just needs to wait.

-

"Van? Van, my boy, are you in here?"

Van, who's sitting on the hayloft just in case he needs to be in a specific position to trigger the Rift, peers down. It's his boss, peeking into the empty barn. "Yes, Mr. Gylcross?"

The farmer looks around the empty barn and then outside at the Rift barricade. "Would you like to explain what's going on here?" he asks, baffled.

Van goes down the ladder. "I just thought of doing a bit of cleaning," he says. "Before the harvest, I mean. I, uh," what would be a good explanation, "I heard some mice or something the other night, and I thought we should close up all the holes before bringing the harvest in. I'll put everything back tomorrow, I promise." Nailed it.

"Mice, hmm? I see," the farmer says, anxiously twiddling with his moustache. "And the - the spears?" he asks worriedly. "What's that about?"

Van looks at the spears and the various barrel and pot lids he'd gathered to serve as shields. "Uh," he says. "A new hobby?"

The farmer looks at him, looking very concerned indeed. "My boy, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Van assures him. "I'm just trying new things, that's all."

"I know about your visit to the tailor - Ms. Arbury sought me out," Mr. Gylcross says slowly. "As I understand you ordered something quite expensive, and she was a tad concerned. Where did you get all that silver from, Van?"

"Uh," Van says. Well that explains how and why Mr. Gylcross knew about the gambeson. "From the inn?"

"Van, surely you didn't just… take it?" Mr. Gylcross says, anxious.

"No, no, nothing like it - I gambled," Van says quickly. "And taught a gambler a trick about how to play Echo better - she paid fifty silver for it."

Mr. Gylcross doesn't look quite convinced, eyeing him with grave concern before turning to look at the spears again. "And - and then spears?" he asks. "What do you need spears and a gambeson for?"

Having no better explanation to give, Van tells him what he told Janelle. "It just… feels like I need them?" he says awkwardly. Hooray for amnesia as a convenient excuse for weird behaviour. "I can't really explain. It's just a… feeling."

That doesn't seem to quite soothe the farmer's mind, though his look of worry turns into something more serious. "You know you can always come to me if you have concerns, right?" the man says earnestly. "If you remember something, if you have issues. I know waking up here the way you did was quite traumatic."

"Um, yeah," Van says, awkward. "Thank you, Mr, Gylcross. I'm grateful that you, um, took me in," he adds, which feels like something the character would say, had this conversation been in the game.

"You looked quite rough, when Janelle found you - like you'd been in a fight," Mr. Gylcross says sadly, shaking his head. "Have you remembered what happened?"

No, though Van knows about it from the game. The player character had been hit over the head with a hammer while trying to escape assassins. Very creative of the developers. "No, I haven't. Sorry, Mr. Gylcross."

"That's quite alright," the farmer says and looks at the spears. "I didn't really expect you to remember much, not after all this time - though it looks like something's getting through anyway," he mutters, considering the weapons. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with having weapons on my homestead, Van."

"Oh. Um. I'll put them away tomorrow, then," Van offers. If Mr. Gylcross still objected to their presence by the morning, he'd be pretty surprised. "You won't have to deal with them, I promise."

"… Very well," Mr. Gylcross says and then gives him a look. "You'll still stay for the harvest, though, won't you? I planted a lot more than I would've without you here - we'll need all the hands we can get, to get the fields harvested in time."

"I won't go anywhere just yet, Mr. Gylcross," Van assures the man, and smiles. "I'll see my job here to the end."

"Good, good," Mr. Gylcross says and clears his throat, looking at the makeshift barricade before peering up at the sky.  "Well, at least it doesn't look like it will rain tonight… I suppose it's fine, this once," he then says, moving to leave. "And you'll put the spears away?"

"I will," Van says - as soon as they wouldn't have any more use, he would. "Have a good night, Mr. Gylcross."

"You too, my boy - sleep well."

Van smiles at the sentiment, nods and then watches as the farmer heads back to the house, making sure the man is inside before going to double check the barricade, just in case. Everything is where he put it, nothing has been moved. Good.

There's maybe another half an hour until the Rift opens.

No one would be sleeping in Gylcross Farm that night.

-

Proofread by @nimadge [<<Prologue | <Chapter 5 || Chapter 7>>]

-

Cue suspenseful background music...

Gotta say guys, not really seeing point in posting this on tumblr anymore. Might just post on ao3 after this.

[pieflavorpie]

OK so I have thoughts and feelings and a LOTTA them. Here's my list [which is arbitrary and could change tomorrow in all honesty]

1. Percy.

Taliesin put so much love and attention into this character, that it made Caleb & Nott feel cheap to me for a WHILE. Taliesin literally told Sam how guns were constructed in rather extreme detail meanwhile Sam barely used basic chemistry knowledge & Liam was only using the Keen Mind feat instead of taking notes. I had to sit to myself and remind myself that these people each have their own strengths and weaknesses and research clearly wasn't either of those [which probably why I couldn't get into their characters but oh well].

While I'm not on the "Critical Role has to follow writing techniques" train due to the fact I'm into this because it's an unconventional story. But. Percys arc is ridiculously satisfying. I know he was supposed to die, but the entirety of VM being him learning how to cope with [&live with] the grief of his family and all the mistakes he has made. I've never felt prouder in a fictional character than when he talked to his wife instead of calling in on a Devil's deal and selling his soul again. Breaking his cycle. And then the subsequent "i think I wanted to be a clockmaker once" and him choosing a healthy pathway forward!!! It's so rewarding after we see this man break himself into so many pieces continuously, just to find the point he initially broke. He learns that maybe that doesn't matter.

And then there's the actual personality of Percy. That man is a perfect depiction of darkness and pompousness. Able to take the mick of himself sometimes, and able to communicate. Having the rare issue where it wasn't trust issues with other people, but trust issues with himself. He trusted the people around him so much, and had so many lighthearted moments with seemingly no hint of darkness. And it made his Moments hit harder.

2. Mollymauk/Kingsley

Grouping these 2 together as joint 2nd because I view these 2 as intrinsically linked. I can't bring up why I like Molly without mentioning Lucien/Kingsley, and vice versa. I love the analysis of what makes a distinct soul, I love how open the interpretation of what Kingsley IS is. Is he just the rememnants of a severely traumatised & scrappy Mollymauk after spending too much time as the neosomnovum? Is he a different fragment of Luciens soul? Is he a mixture of different parts of Lucien and Molly? Is it fair to say that as Molly IS a part of Lucien?

And the book, oh gods the book. So many things Tal just randomly blurted out that were wrapped in so well. I will never get over Brevyn's kiss to the forehead. "Long may he reign" being a song the tombtakers sang. "Empty" being repeated due to Lucien's worst fear being puppetted just like his brother.

There is not a week i don't spend contemplating what would've happened if we kept Molly. If something would've happened with the Hag, how Vess Derogna would've acted (if we even met her), how he would've impacted the direction the M9 went, or how he would've reacted to the forced amnesia on Rumblecusp, and the subsequent Thing With The Moonweaver at Traveler Con.

And Kingsley, oh how I want Kingsley to be explored more. His 2 episodes in the specials were GREAT. How he is the guy to Get Shit Done, and how he's so button-pushy. I will never forgive the cast [/lh] for pushing him to the side so much. Having him be the only one not mentioned in the BH finale and only talked about above-table to seemingly reduce what Ashton had just been through. It feels like Tal has to force other characters to bring him up outside of "yeah we tried to bring out dead friend back and It Got Weird."

And they don't have the excuse of him being the pirate king either, cause Veth made it canon that Kingsley helped gather Luc when he ran away up north. He is contactable. Im fairly sure Jester said she was in contact with him [like she is with literally everyone I love that girl so much].

Anyway, also love him being a rogue. Go, buddy, get that self confidence.

And also I personally relate to the way identity was talked about during both eras by both of these characters during different parts of my life.

3. Asha

Honestly would be further up but we did not get enough screentime with her to justify that. There are sooooo many ways to interpret this 1 version of the Wildmother and it has kept me thinking for days about the nature of Nature and change and possibility.

She has convinced me to play a druid for my first campaign, a changeling druid who grapples her identity to the nature around her by covering herself with thorns and brambles. All inspired by how Asha only seems to show 2 strong negative emotions besides hunger. Guilt, for the pain her discovery has brought to her family. And anger at her wife for leaving her to face this mission with a substitute. These emotions are what ultimately anchor her to her mortality.

Nature never really feels guilt for the hunt, or anger at the prey. And yet, to us those emotions are perfectly natural. So in this case, where does the domain of Nature stop? Melora/Asha is the goddess of the Wild, so it's probably safe to assume natural human emotions don't come under her purview. But in the grander scheme, are we natural? As human beings? Are the buildings we roost in natural, as they are made from the dirt and mud that are processes made possible from what we had in Nature? Is being a God with Nature as your domain also make you a God of progress and potential?

And isn't that an incredibly interesting concept.

4. Ashton.

Would've been higher than Asha, if he had had a better finale. It felt like he had narrative progress, with people coming to save him as he died, but he came out without much of a change in mindset since The Shard. He literally martyred himself, intending to die for good and no one really bothered to emotionally check in on that afterwards. If he has finished with his martyr complex, I don't think its done through actual help, it feels like it was done because he's realised that his friends will fight through thick and thin to bring him back. But that doesn't mean anything for someone's mental health in a world like this. It could make people feel trapped, or could make them too reckless with the "I'll be fine my friends will get me if I die." Like No?????

And i love his parallels with Laudna, even outside of his probing. They are both stunted beings, perpetually childish. Laudna because she never got the chance to grow up, being ostracised since before the Briarwoods came up and ruined everything [and then Delilah wouldve purposefully kept it that way for Manipulation Purposes]. Ashton because he never really got to be a child. Laudna coped with her loneliness by making a shit ton of dolls. Ashton had never had a doll until Laudna gave him one. And neither of them really get the community they deserve within the group.

I think the best example of this with Laudna is Swordgate. Marisha said on 4sd that Laudna was upset about Orym using the sword anyway, and then Delilah got into her head. I was also immediately off put by Orym using the sword due to the fact it had killed so many of the Bells Hells and had literally sent Laudna to her own personal hell for an indetermined amount of time for her. A sword does not have to be possessed to be Evil. But it was the fact that noone responded to her actual, valid reasons it was all pretty much the message of "you can't be trusted, this is all Delilahs machinations" like WHAT. Which, mini tangent here, i feel like is why I also prefer VM to BH because it seems like BH had so many completely impossible moral quandries that they seemed to completely dismiss the complexities of their own friends situations after 1 conversation. I feel like they should've had a few more [and I mean only like 2] sessions that was just BH getting to be a mercenary group because for like 100 flat episodes they were Not A Mercenary Group. Maybe getting to explore Marquet a lil more.

Anyway, tangent over. I just think its sad Laudna got dismissed due to her being manipulated and Ashton often got dismissed because of his brash attitude and low Charisma. Before the Solsitice he was continuously getting drunk and even said he'd started shouting at seemingly nothing and no one bothered to explore it. Besides Laudna. Anyway.

Love the concept that Being Broken isn't a wrong thing to say. Most of the time it's all like "oh no don't say that!!! You're wonderful!" But no this guy is just fundamentally and mechanically broken. They are someone who's had to be reformed so many times that some pieces just don't fit anymore, and there's nothing to replace them. And maybe you don't have to be a rock guy who was literally shattered to have that. I personally relate in all those times that I failed tests as a gifted kid that, upon reforming myself afterwards, I lost the piece of me that cared about working. Later, being shattered as I'm told by my college that I'm flagged for undiagnosed ASD and need 25% extra time and loosing that part of me that felt I could trust adults to understand me. But it's not always bad. I felt part of me break away when me and my friends turned 18, and we went out and I realised I didn't have to treat my friends like glass physically. That i could hold them and hug them and they will reciprocate.

And I think where the term "broken" comes into play is when you actively start to grieve those parts. In BH we watch Ashton mourn the ability to trust. Idk. I hope we see more of him in future.

5. Caduceus.

Look, I love Cad, I just also love every other Tal character I've seen. And Cad just narratively and as a complex character comes up that little bit short to me. I love watching his clips. But the rants I did about the others' themes and how they get me to think? I don't get that with Cad so much. I get him, honestly I do. I love him repping the aroaces in that wonderful gossipy way. I love how he only ever silently panics and won't call attention to himself [I only realised how much of myself I saw in him in that moment when they stole a ship and I was like "...oh."]. I love how he canonically did drugs just to try and connect with what felt like a dying connection between him and his God [again something that wasn't really touched on but Holy Shit]. I love how he only apologised for being weak when he asked his Goddess whether his family was OK. He does have depth. Depth that never seems to be taken much deeper than surface level with the Nein and I can honestly only hope that Cad and Kingsley are treating each other well cause they really both need somebody on the outside to Talk To.

I don't actually Know the other 2. So this is it:)

[luzyuvu]

Thinking about Anaxa.

First time writing in a long time! Also I did this because I couldn't sleep, tell me if is trash, thank you and maybe should I do a part 2?

------------------------

Everyone knows how Anaxa is. Logical, calculative, rational.

Just even thinking about it is redundant. Extremely. Maybe to an offensive extent. And you know it, he knows you do, and even if you didn't he would still treat you like anybody else. Because you are. A random girl that somehow and some way got involved with the Chrysos heirs, by mere chance, luck, or like you like to call it, destiny.

One thing let to another and you two regularly talk, mostly because of how people use you as a messenger when it comes to tell things to Anaxa. You are easy going, quiet, and don't get offended easily. Or at least, you don't seem to show it when it comes to him. Silently dealing with his judging gazes and all the list of reasons why people don't like him in the first place.

You don't mind. Well, maybe you do. It's not like you liked having to deal with someone like him, but you felt bad for the people who asked you to talk with him for them, so you would do them the favor.

After so many times and talks, you tried to get closer. Key word, tried, but it always ends with uncomfortable silences, cold words, emotionless or in best case, judgmental gazes... It's not like you didn't try, you did. Kind words, patience, even trying to crack a joke, but after you tried the latter a few times, only to receive the most awkward silence you ever had, you gave up. It's not like you wanted to, but you weren't dumb. You can't beg someone to befriend you, you just can't. That's why, if Anaxa doesn't like you, you won't push it any further. There's more people in the world, after all.

Anaxa didn't think much about, too focused on his own research and problems. Something someone like you couldn't understand, so he thought.

You don't know how much you treasure something until you lose it, typical, so typical he wants to puke.

He doesn't mind when you start to slowly make more distance, somehow even more than there already was, he tells himself. He curses the humanity on his heart, and he also curses the destiny for making him feel this way.

It's so cliche, so, so cliche it feels disgusting. Is this the karma for all the times he dissmised this kind of behavior? For how brutally he rejected this part of himself and everybody else? He doesn't believe in karma, but this is what comes to his mind right now.

He doesn't understand why he feels this way, and the more he thinks about it, the more reasons pop up of why he does feel this way. Much to his disgust.

Was the way you looked at him? With so much patience and kindness even with his sharp tone and glares?

Maybe how much he got used to you after seeing you over and over for such a long time? The possibilities are endless, and the more he finds, the more he gets angry at himself.

Soon enough, his mind start to wonder, and he thinks of the endless ways he could lose you.

You are a hopeless romantic, he knows it, it's probably one if the first things he noticed. How you daydream about finding the perfect husband, about a romance out of the most cheesiest fairytales that could ever be made, how you fell in love with this fictional characters, dreaming about how happy would you be with them, about finding your knight in shining armor, how you seem to have a new crush every now and then...

It makes him feel sick. Because as soon as he thinks about it, his mind starts to wander.

Aglaea is out of the list of people you would date. She is your idol, your goddess. The way you look at her reminds him of a young child looking at their hero, their patents. With so much admiration and care, as if they were the most perfect and incredible person in the world.

You had looked at him with admiration in your eyes, but it never matched the way you did when it came to her. And it makes his fists clench.

Castorice is out too, she is your best friend, your sworn sister. So much, people often find themselves mistaking you for real sisters. Even when you don't share blood or the same physical features like biological ones do, the bond you have and the way you know each other is undeniable. You even sew, with Aglaea's help, clothes and another accessories to match her in special occasions, or maybe when you feel like. You even have a matching bracelet that you never take off. The only day you lost it, he never saw you sadder, and when you found it, he never saw you happier.

He is not as special as Castorice is to you, not even remotely, will he ever be?

Phainon... He is a particular case. He is kind and the perfect man, in the eyes of the people. The man of your dreams. Only thinking it makes him sick. But he has a lot secrets behind his kind and charming smile. Things no one knows, hiding his own loneliness and revenge. He doesn't think Phainon has in mind love and relationships right now, or if he is willing to expose the secrets he so much dearly keeps to himself.

Anaxa feels relief.

But then... Mydei. He is probably the one you'd least be into a relationship... at first glance. He doesn't have the most approachable personality, and is in general more grumpy and angry than Anaxa. But, he has something Anaxa doesn't, a softer side that can be seen if you reed between the lines and pay enough attention. Something Anaxagoras never showed you, something your sharp eye could notice, and you definitely did.

That's why you were closer to Mydei than you were with him. You are not best friends like you are with Castorice, don't see him as a god like you did with Aglaea, nor appreciate him the way you do with Phainon, but you are in good terms. Anaxa also knows that his softer side defenetly gained a special spot in your heart.

He also noticed the sneaky glances, according to you, that you couldn't help but give Mydei. Sometimes to his chest, others to his arms and others to his back. You were at least a little attracted to him, it was obvious. But now is when Anaxa cares.

You were also aware that he trained kids, and that he had a sweet tooth, it makes you more drawn to him that you ever were to Anaxa, and now, he never felt more jealous.

As he thought about it, his mind started to think more and more about you and Mydei.

It would certainly be difficult and a slow burn but, what if Mydei developed feelings for you? What if you also had a crush on him? The scenario starts to develop.

Out of the two of you, Mydei would ave to do the first move, you are shy and probably wouldn't notice Mydei's affection. In this hypothetical case, unless Mydei properly decided to court you. Then, it would be over.

He can see it so clearly, the two of you, slowly getting closer and closer. How even with Mydei's straightforward nature, he would definitely conquer your heart, like he did many battles. How he could hold your smaller frame so easily, how you would burry your face in the chest you already like so much, hearing his heartbeat, looking for comfort in his warmth. How even if he is a warrior, he would hold you with such tenderness, look at you with so much passion. His love would definitely out burn the sun, and consume you until yours burn as bright as his.

You would be his queen, and him, your king and world.

He doesn't know what love is, but he knows what it's heartbreak.

He thinks of another possibility, and then, his thoughts go back to Phainon.

If you somehow got Phainon to open up, and he decided to be genuine with you... As he thinks about it, Anaxa notices, if thinking about you and Mydei was a slow torture, like a knife in his stomach, slowly sinking in and twisting as he gets more and more immersed, then, thinking about you and Phainon it's like and entire mountain fell over him.

The thought disgusts him.

At least, Mydei is kind of like him, and the possibilities of him falling in love with you and actually doing something are low, so low it makes Anaxa feel better, but if Phainon were to do so... By the time Anaxa tried to reach you, you'd already be in Phainon's arms, whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears and kissing in a way only in dreams could ever happen.

He is helpless.

Phainon is perfect, so perfect it's insulting. He got everything, the appearance, the personality... All Anaxa doesn't have, all that you love and ever could dream of. He is a knight in shining armor, a prince, a golden retriever kind of guy, he can't compare.

You'd be so perfect for each other, like a match made in heaven. You are so sweet, so caring, yet with a little twist of sassynes and dark humor. If you ended together, he knows people would think how lucky you would be for being with Phainon, Okhema's hero. But all Anaxa can think is how lucky Phainon would be for being the one who has you, and it offends him how people wouldn't see it, even if it's in front of their faces.

He can even picture a wedding, how beautiful you'd be, in a dress made by Aglaea herself, with Castorice as your maid of honor and Tribios giving you your rings.

He wouldn't even bother to attend it, as much as he doesn't even bother to imagine how Phainon would propose you, it would be as disgustingly sweet as this what if wedding he is imaging right now. And if somehow someone, Aglaea, got him to go to the wedding, he would be sitting in the very end, watching with a gaze that could kill, never leaving Phainon's frame.

He wishes his mind stopped there, but he imagined how he could lose you to every one else and every single person in Okhema, because love is a war where everyone is your enemy.

-------

Phainon noticed how someone was watching him, it was not like the usual gazes he receives when he is walking around or saving someone. No. This one is deadly, and sinister in a way that makes his whole body shiver. He wonders if he did anything to get Anaxa so angry, he never saw him this way, not even with the people he despises. But he chooses to ignore it, even when your happy face can't eliminate completely the hole that Anaxa's eye is leaving on the back of his head.

-------

Mydei has to resist the urge to comfort Anaxa right there and then. It's getting annoying, but he knows you don't like fights and that you'd rather not have to interact with Anaxa if not needed, at least recently. He respects your decision, not asking why or if anything happened between you two. Instead, he just rolls his eyes and enjoys the sweets you baked. It was a new recipe you were trying and you thought he was a good test subject, it's not like he was going to die or get sick if it was bad anyway.

--------

Aglaea is aware of the way Anaxa is behaving, it's painfully obvious, at least for someone with the Titan of romance's coreflame. Besides, the others already told her that Anaxa was acting weird and his sharp gazes were more deadly than usual, specially since you started recently to avoid favors to talk to him in behalf of other people.

Maybe he could use a little of help to conquer his beloved, even if he wouldn't admit it.

-------

Anaxa is not having it.

It's not like he is surprised that Aglaea herself noticed, he would actually be surprised if she didn't. But at the same time, he doesn't like when people get into his business, especially as personal as... Whatever is this.

He reluctantly listens to her, he still hates the idea of help or even recognize his problem, even in his mind, but he can't help to be slightly curious. He curses his curiosity.

Aglaea really cares about you, more than he thought. It kind of annoys him. She cares so much, that knowing your dream is to get married and have a family, besides your own carrier, of course, she personally would help out into getting the relationship you so much desire.

You are so shy and coward, and also, so oblivious, most people would give up trying to court you. And that gives him relief. A part of himself wants you to stay single for him. And realizing this makes him want to shoot himself with his gun. If he doesn't have you, it's fine, as long as no one else does.

He is possessive, he is jealous and selfish. You don't want a lover to own you, you want one to take care of you and cherish you. It makes him feel guilty of his own feelings, he notices. He feels stupid, he doesn't know if it's because of having the feeling in the first place, or because how much he cares about you in this moment.

Love is stupid.

He just admitted he loves you for the first time.

He never felt dummer.

At half of Aglaea's speech his mind starts to wander again.

In the hypothetical case you could fall in love with Aglaea and she was also in love with you, he doesn't know if it would be worse than trying to fight with Phainon for your affection.

She is mature, elegant and romantic, she has the coreflame of romance for a reason. He imagines, she would make you fell in love with her in such a perfect way, it would be slow, caring and breathtaking, such as herself. He stops himself halfway through, thinking of how superior she would be compared to him in terms of courting you it's humiliating and it feels pathetic.

And she notices his jealousy and tries to talk about it.

Even Castorice crosses his mind as they speak, and thinking of how pure your love for each other already is without being it romantic makes it even worse thinking how much you'd love each other if you were lovers.

So, he decides to indulge Aglaea. Because he wants to love you, and make you love him. And if for that he has to change and follow Aglaea's guidance to gain your heart so it be.

Even though he cringes a little of how cheesy it sounded on his head.

[justwhisperingfantasies]

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Characters: Reader. Jensen. Jared. Mac. Heather. Alex. Kyle. Mike.

Warnings: Language, Drinking, Heartbreak, Fluff, Angst, Couple Fighting. Rough Sex. Unprotected Sex [no just no] Breed Kink, P-I-V , Oral [both receiving] I think that's all if not lmk.

A/n: Sorry this one took forever and I'm sorry. Beginning is sad be prepared.

You guys are amazing. Seriously thank you for every heart, reblog, and comment. I love hearing your feedback. 🫶 Please do not copy my work.

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Series Master List

Special Thank You To: @copperboom82 Thank you beta-ing and listening to all my rambles. 🫶

Jensen

He pulled into the drive way, and parked beside Beau. He huffed, if this went bad, she would probably change his name.

He walked up to the porch, finding her siting on the porch steps.

“Hey, “He said lightly kicking the step her feet were on.

She scooted, giving him room to sit down.

“I can explain.” He took her silence as sign to continue. “She told me her dad was in the hospital. That he wasn’t going to make it. I felt bad, that’s why I stayed to talk, next thing I know she threw her arms around me.”

She stayed silent.

“There’s nothing.”

“So I got a call on my way home.” She cut him off.

He rolled his eyes, “Let me guess.”

“Yep, it was her. “ She sighed. “How did she get my number?”

“I don’t know… What did she say?”

“Oh ya know, how you couldn’t believe people actually thought we were married.”

“I never said that.”

“But you did talk to her that night, and you lied about it.”

“Yes, but I told you the truth.”

“After you lied.” She took a drink of her water. “She also told me y’all have been fuckin this whole time and how much you just loved fucking her in my cowboy hat.”

He scoffed a laugh, “Now you know that’s not true.”

She turned on the screen of her phone and handed it to him. White hot rage bubbled in his stomach as he saw a picture of Heather lying in his bed with y/n’s hat on.

“She sent 4 of different poses. You can scroll through them, if you’d like.”

“You don’t have to be a smartass.” He said handing her phone back.

She swiped and turned the phone back in his direction, “Oh and there’s this one. Of you, her, and some of your band mates, the night we met.”

“She came in, had a beer, and wished us good luck. That’s it.”

She swiped again “And one of you and her at the brewery. Which I just found has a co-owner.”

Jensen huffed, “I am been trying to buy her out since the divorce. She won’t budge.”

“And correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that what you wore fishing last Sunday?”

“Yes, she told me it was for the website, but it’s not like I’m holding her or sticking my tongue down her throat.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Yeah… So that makes it all ok?” Her voice cracked.

“I didn’t say that.”

The cicadas hummed as they sat there. Neither knowing what to say.

She wiped her eyes before the tears could fall. “She also said, that you told her that you hope I’m not pregnant with your kid.”

“That’s not fucking true. You can ask Jared,” He sighed. Kickoff the steps he got up and started to pace. “Why would I do half the shit I've done if I was fucking someone else, or if I didn't want a future with you?”

She stayed silent.

“And do you really think I’d cheat on you?”

“You cheated before…”

“That’s not fair.” He blinked back his tears.

“You really wanna talk about what’s fair right now?”

“Look, I know everything is all fucked up right now” He grabbed her hand and held it in both of his. “And you have more reasons to not trust me right now, but baby the things she said isn’t true.”

“Jensen..”

“Don’t. y/n don’t let her win.”

She stayed silent.

“This can't be over.”

She looked over at him, wiping the tears away from his cheek “I don’t want it to be, but how do we come back from this?”

Jensen

“Hey man,” Jared said as he sat down at the bar of the brewery

“J.P. what’s up bud?’ Jensen greeted, cracking a can of beer open and sliding it to Jared.

“Not much. How are you?”

Jensen opened another one for himself. “Eh, I’m hanging in there.”

“So, have you talked to y/n?”

“Not since Sunday,” Jensen said after taking a drink.

“It’s only been two days, just give it some time, man everything will work out.”

“You remember what I’ve told you about my luck right?!.”

“And what usually happens when I say i have a good feeling about something?”

Jensen rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Jensen lifted his head as he heard a car door, “Motherfucker.”

“Dude. Follow my lead.”

Jensen tilted his head with furrowed brows.

Jared pulled out his phone and began scrolling.

Reader

“Aw Jared.” Mac said as his name flashed on the radio screen.

“He’s probably with Jensen.” You reached for the ignore button, but Mac slapped away your hand and hit the green button

“Jay-rod!” She exclaimed. No answer. “Jared? Hello?”

New text message popped up on the screen.

Padalecki: Trust me. Don’t hang up. Please just listen. And please do not hold anything against us. We are just great actors I promise 😉 you know we love you.

You pulled into the nearest parking lot and pulled your e-brake. Mac turned the volume up.

“Hey! Heather!” Jared shouted

“You need to cut him off if he is happy to see me.”

“I’m just happy, now that y/n is gone we can finally have fun again.” Jared slurred.

Your jaw dropped.

You heard Jensen chuckle. “What are you doing here?”

“I just came to see how you were doing.”

“Better now.”

“I thought you’d be mad.” Heather’s voice got closer.

“Eh, I was at first, but I see why you did it.”

“Jared, can I talk to Jay for a minute?”

“Sure thing. I gotta piss anyway.”

You heard some ruckus and what sounded like a barstool slide across the floor.

Heather laughed. “You really need to cut him off.”

“He would have done that sober” Jensen chuckled again “So, What can I do for you darlin’?”

“Just acting.” Mac whispered as you grinded your teeth.

“Is it true? Did you guys really break up?”

“Yes, ma’am”

“Thank god.”

“Can I ask you somethin’?”

“Anything.”

“How’d you get the picture in her cowboy hat?” Jensen chuckled “Man she was so pissed.”

“Promise you won’t press charges?”

“Now, would I do that to you?” Jensen said in a flirty voice, making your jaw clench again.

“Well, I kinda broke into your house. I was just going to take pictures in your bed, but I saw the hat and I knew it wasn’t yours, so I figured why not.”

“You’re an evil genius, Heather.”

“I know.” she snickered. “Hey, have you heard anything? Is she pregnant?”

“No. she’s not. How the hell did you know about that?”

Heather laughed. “I watched her the night of the pop-up. Nobody goes to a bar and orders soda unless they are pregnant.”

“God, I forgot how damn clever you are.”

“So now that she is out of the way, maybe we could.”

You heard another round of ruckus. “Jensen you need to fix these floors dude.” Jared said in his drunk voice.

“Well i gotta get going.” Heather’s voice seemed farther.

“I’ll call you later.”

“Dude. Are you really going to call her later?” Jared asked in a normal voice.

“Fuck no.”

“Did you get anything good?”

“Yes. Please tell me you were recording that.”

“No, better. y/n?”

You bit the inside of your cheek, “Ow.” You said when Mac nudged your arm.

“Bonnie?”

“Yes, Sasquatch.”

“Did you hear it?” Jensen asked.

“Yes.”

“What did she say?”

“She just admitted that pretty much everything she said was a lie.” Mac told him.

“Not everything.” you mumbled.

“Hey there Mac.” Jared said.

“Hello boys.” Mac said using her Crowley impression, making you laugh,

“So y/n, what do you mean not everything?” Jensen asked

You sighed. “Can we talk about it later?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Reader

Your heart pounded as your finger loomed over his contact. “Come on ” you told yourself.

You hit the green button and brought the phone to your ear.

“Hey.” Jensen said as he answered.

“Hello Mr. Ackles.”

He chuckled. “How are you?”

“I’ve been better. How about you?”

“Same.”

“What are you doing?”

“Sitting on my couch. Having some scotch.”

“Mmmm scotch.”

“Did you take a test today?”

“Yeah.” You murmured

“Well I can tell by your enthusiasm that it was good news.” He huffed.

“I'm sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I don't know I just feel bad.”

“Well don't. We kinda knew it was a long shot anyway.”

“Yeah…” you sighed. “Still would of been kind of cool though.”

“Really? So you.” You heard the beep on his end. “Hey bab-” He stopped himself “Eh, y/n I gotta take this. Gimme a minute.”

“Sure.”

After a couple minutes you got antsy.

Y/n: Do you just want to call me back. Ackles: No. Y/n: Is everything ok? Ackles: Lawyer. Y/n: So I shouldn't be stealing your attention.😂 Ackles: Don't have to steal it. You always have it.

“I’m sorry.” Jensen said,

You jumped a little as his voice came through the speaker.

“You're fine. Is. Never mind not my business.”

“Frank and I, Frank is my lawyer. We have a meeting tomorrow with Heather and her lawyer.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Yes I'm gonna push her to let me buy her out.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Let's just hope she does.” He huffed “So you wanna tell me what you meant earlier with that comment?”

“The not everything one?”

“Yep. That'd be the one.”

“Well I mean she didn't. She asked me why I never came to the brewery and I said I don't know. She said because Jensen couldn't have the 2 girls he was fucking in the same spot. I know now you weren't fucking her. But you didn't tell me about her co-owning the place and apparently always there.”

“Actually she hadn't even stepped a foot in it for a year, the day our pictures came out, boom there she was. That was the day the boys and I went fishing.”

“See I didn't know that. Maybe you should learn how to open up more.”

“And invite you into all this bullshit?”

“Yes, when you are in a relationship with someone their bullshit is your bullshit and yours, theirs. If I would of known about the brewery, she wouldn't have been able to use it against you.”

“I don't know, I just got scared. And then it felt like too much time had passed. Like I was hiding it.”

“But you were.”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

“And she did come see you the night we met, but I guess I can't hold that against you since we weren't technically together.” your phone beeped. “And now I'm getting another call.”

“Maybe you should of just came over.” he teased

You hit the red button as you read private caller. “I need to get my number changed.”

“Let me guess.”

“Yep. I ignored it.”

“Great, now she's calling me.”

You sighed. “She's always gonna be there isn't she?”

“Not if I can help it.”

Reader

“I can not believe you talked me into this shit.” you said walking through the doors of the honky tonk.

“Trust me, I'm just as surprised at you.” Mac laughed as you followed her to the bar. “Bar keep!” She pounded her first down getting the guys attention.

“Omg is that McKinley Jane?”

“Hey Kyle, How are you?”

“Good! Girl i haven’t seen you in months.” He turned toward you. “You must be y/n. I’m Kyle.” He stuck his hand out.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Alex is here somewhere.” He said turning back to Mac.

“You know Alex?” you asked

“Yep, I know Jensen and Jared too. Jensen and I went to school together.”

“Ah, so how big of a dork was he back then?”

Kyle chuckled. “Imagine the same guy with a baby face, no beard or shaggy hair. He’s always been a dork. Great guy though.”

You sighed. “Yeah.”

“So you guys want a beer? Or we have Jell-o shots tonight…”

“Give us one of each.” Mac told him. “Start a tab?” She said handing her i.d and credit card to him.

“You got it darlin’. What flavor?”

“Surprise us.”

1

“Hey gorgeous.” You heard Alex say as he wrapped his arms around Mac from behind. A faint sense of jealous hit you. “Hey there stud.”

You cleared your throat. Alex chuckled. “Hi y/n.”

“Oh. Hi.” You teased.

“The boys and I got a pool table in the back. Y’all wanna play?”

“If you mean kick the crap out of you let’s go,” Mac snickered.

“Thanks Kyle,” she shouted, handing you your beer. The two of you took your shots and handed for the back corner.

You and Mac followed Alex, the balls were racked and ready to go.

“So,” Alex said picking up a pool stick. “I call dibs on y/n’s partner.”

You laughed.

“Ha! I think the fuck not, bud.” Mac playful sneered.

“Did you really think that was going to work?” You asked him

Alex shrugged I thought I'd give it a shot.”

“She can't be that good.” A guy walked up beside you.

“I've known her most of my life and I've only seen her lose twice.” Mac explained. “The first time she was drunk off her ass, the second time.”

“He cheated.” You cut her off with a smile.

“Y/n, Mike. Mike y/n.” Alex introduced him. Mike nodded at you “Pleasure.”

“Same.” you told him. “Mac you break.”

“Why do you get to break?”,

“Did you rack them?”

“Yeah.”

“You know it's bad luck do break your own rack right?”

“Ok maybe you know your stuff. Doesn’t mean you're good.” Mike teased.

Mac took her shot. Nothing went in “you should of broke.” She told you shaking her head.

Mike swaggered over the the white ball. 1

He got 2 striped balls in, before missing a shot.

“Alright sweetheart. Let's see what you got.” He taunted, stepping back.

You strolled over to where the white ball was, sinking 4 balls in.

“Damn little lady.” Mike commented.

“I told ya.” Mac said

You lined up your next shot and your head dropped with a groan when you missed.

You walked over to the table and took a drink of your beer.

“Finally.” Alex teased

“So are you single?” Mike asked as stepped beside you.

“Um. Technically, but I’m really not.” you said as you watched Alex, he got 2 more balls in.

“Y/n!” You turned around finding Matt walking up to you.

“Well hello there.”

“How are you?”

“Good, you?”

“I'm good, where's Jensen at?” Matt asked

“Not sure”

“Shit! I forgot I'm sorry.”

“Your Jensen’s ex?” Mike blurted out.

His words were like a punch to the gut. You nodded, not being able to form words.

“Please don't tell him I hit on you.”

You rolled your eyes.

You and Mac looked up as your heard the commotion coming from the bar area.

“Wonder what that is...” Mac said looking at you

“I’m gonna go get another round.” Alex said. “I’ll let you guys know.”

“Oh, Grab some Jell-o shots too, baby.” Mac called after him.

“You’re up.”

Mac went over and lined up her shot, getting one ball in.

“Well I see why you always partner with y/n.” Mike teased Mac.

“Just shut up and shoot.” She joked back.

Mike got 2 balls in before he missed.

“You’re up Jaws.”

“Harty Har,” you said sarcastically. “I’ve never read that one before.”

You got the last 2 of your balls in, you line up the shot for the 8 when you heard his voice.

“I got next.” Jensen challenged.

You called your shot and made it in.

“I don’t know Jay, she’s pretty good.” Mike said.

“I’ve beat her before.”

“You cheated! And you had help from Steve.”

“Well come on cowgirl, show me what your made of.” He nodded to the empty table

“You’re on, Ackles.”

Jensen.

“So, what are we going to bet this time?” she asked as she started racking the balls.

“Hmm.. I could think of something.” He smirked as his eyebrows raised.

She rolled her eyes.

“I was talking about the next round, sweetheart.” he chuckled.

“Sure you were you perv,” she teased

“Better idea. If I win you have to come to the Dallas con this weekend.”

“Alright, And what do i get if I win?” She asked.

“I’ll take you to the Dallas con this weekend.”

She laughed, “Or…” she bit her lip as her eyes scanned him up and down.

“Alright, kettle.”

“Just shut up and break already,” she taunted.

He did sinking 2 of the solid balls.

“Damn, small balls again.”

“God, I forgot how much shit you talk when you play pool.”

She giggled as she lined up her shot.

“Yeah, but I can back up my shit talk,” she said after getting 3 balls in, making him laugh.

He lined up for a jump shot and got the ball he wanted in. “So can I darlin’.” He winked at her, he laughed again as she rolled her eyes. Jensen put 2 more balls in before missing a shot.

“Son of a bitch” She exclaimed.

“Alright, Dean calm down!” Jared said as he approached.

She let out a belly laugh. “That’s my man.”

“He has really pretty eyes.” Jared said in a high pitched voice.

“Oh my god! And those muscles.” y/n added.

“Oh and those bow legs.” Jared said as he started fanning himself.

“Alright! That’s enough,” Jensen groaned with pink cheeks.

“So, Bonnie you whooping his ass?”

“Not at the moment.” she walked around the talk “About to be though.”

“Less talkin’ more shootin’.” Jensen teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him, making him and Jared laugh.

They watched as she got 3 more balls in.

“Damn, Ackles, I think you’ve met you’re match.” Jared commented.

“I know.”

She cleared her throat when she got the last one of her balls in.

“Oh, look I’m down to the 8 ball, Jensen.”

“So much shit!” He chuckled, “Hold on, what did we settle on a bet?”

“I’m about to win and your going to change it now?”

“Were you serious?!”

“Guess you’ll have to play the game and find out.”

She called her 8-ball shot and missed.

“Wah-wah-Wah.” Jared teased her.

“Don’t you have a forest to go frolic in or something sasquatch?”

“Damnit.” She said when Jensen got his last 2 balls in.

“Which pocket you going for Jensen?” Jared asked.

“Top right.” He looked up at her, lined up his shot, and missed.

She called the 8 and made it in. She gasped. “Mac!” y/n ran over to her.

“Damn Ackles, I thought you had it,”

“Yeah, me too” He smiled as he watched them celebrate.

Reader.

“I know you threw the game.” as you approached him, playfully kicking his boot that was sticking out as he leaned on the pool table ankles crossed.

“You can’t prove it.”

“I don’t want to.”

His head lifted slightly as he laughed.

“So, how was your meeting today?” you asked standing in front of his long legs.

“Well, that’s actually why I’m here,” he sighed, “This place is for sale.”

Your jaw dropped. “So, what’s going to happen?”

“Well, since Heather and I couldn't come to an agreement. We are going to sell and spilt the offer.”

“No way!”

“Yea, It will be on the market, Friday.”

“And there’s nothing you can do?”

“Nope,” he looked down. “She won. That was the last thing she could take away from me.”

You placed you legs on either side of his and waddled over them, wrapping your arms around him. He sat his beer down and pulled you closer as his arms wrapped around your waist. You heard him inhale deeply as he nuzzled into the crook of you neck, sending shivers down your spine.

“Jensen, I’m sorry.”

“It will be ok, It’s just a brewery.”

“Just a brewery?! That place is your baby.”

“Well that’s two I’ve lost this week…”

“It’s my fault.”

“How in god’s name is any of this your fault?!” He reared his head back with bewilderment in his eyes.

“You were doing fine until I came along. Now everything is fucked up.”

“You didn’t fuck anything up sweetheart. She did.”

“But if it wasn’t for me she wouldn’t.”

He pressed his lips to yours, cutting off your words. He rested his forehead on yours.

“I wouldn’t trade this,” he gestured to the two of you, “for anything in the world.”

You pulled his lips back to yours, his hands gripped your ass and pulled you closing. Your lips parted your lips inviting his tongue. you heard a small groan as he rolled his tongue against yours.

His nose nuzzled yours when the kiss ended. “From now on you have to be completely honest, and stop shielding me from the bullshit. I’m a big girl. I can take it.”

“I promise.”

“I don’t care if I’m not gonna like it. Hiding it or lying about it is gonna make it so much worse.”

“I know.”

“Like for real Jensen Ross.”

“Wait.. Does that mean?!”

You nodded your head with a smile.

He gasped and you were off the ground in seconds, spinning around as your arms held on tight.

“Ok Jensen stop. Or I will throw up on you.”

He chuckled as he stopped spinning.

He kissed you again.

“You wanna put me down?”

“Nope.” He nuzzled your nose again.

“So you’re just gonna walk around like this?”

“Yep.”

“And how long do you really think that’s gonna last?” you asked

“For the rest of my life.”

Jensen

Somehow she managed to still kick her shoes off at his door, her lips never leaving his.

His fingers found her ass, he heard a small yelp against his lips as he lifted her off the ground.

He plopped down on the closest couch in the sitting room, He heard a light moan as her core bounced off his hardening bulge making it thrum.

Her fingers knocked his hat off as they twisted in his hair, she moaned into his mouth as she rolled her hips, making him do the same.

She broke the kiss, her fingers pulling at the hem of his shirt. He lifted his arms and leaned. Her eyes danced across his chest as she threw it behind her. He smiled, his hands gliding up her sides pushing her shirt up, Jensen threw it and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her chest to his face, kissing and nibbing at the exposed skin. He found his favorite spot. Although there wasn’t a mark there anymore there soon would be.

She inhaled sharply as he sucked and raked his teeth across her skin, just above her right breast.

“I should probably just get a tattoo of a hickey there, at this point.” She teased, making him chuckle.

“Don’t act like you don’t love it,” he said then raked his teeth against the sensitive skin again, making her whine.

His fingers found her bra clasp next. He watched as the cool air hardened her nipples as he pulled it off, Her hips began to roll as he flicked his tongue against one, kneading the other in his palm.

A growl left his lips as she quickened the paced of her hips, making his cock throb.

She kneeled on the floor in front of him, pulling his pants down once she got them unbuttoned.

He felt her hot breath on his cock, making it tingle.

Breaths turned into pants as he watched her pretty mouth wrap around his cock.

“Fuck baby.” He cried out as she slid down his shaft.

His head went foggy as hers started bobbing. Pulling her hair out of her face he twisted it around his hand. Her eyes flashed up to him, sending shivers all over his body. He noticed the tears well in her eyes as his cock hit the back of her throat. “Baby...” he whined again. She moaned, the humming vibrations making the tension start to build in his spine.

“Damn baby.” He said trying to catch his breath. She grinned as she stood up, unbuttoning and pulling down her jeans. She straddled him again after she kicked them off her ankles.

“Um excuse me?” he exclaimed.

“Get me back later,” She whispered “right now I want you inside me.” her words making his cock throb again. He grabbed her hips as she lined his tip to his entrance.

Her pussy enveloped him as she slid down, making them both moan, as his cock stretched her tight wet walls.

His fingers tightened on her hips as they started to rock, pleasure coursing through his veins.

Heavy pants and moans filled the room as her pace quickened, making her clench around him.

She leaned back, her hands on his thighs, moaning his name as he watched her tits bounce. Fuck she was so hot.

“Baby, I'm getting close,” he warned her with a groan.

“Jensen. “ She cried out as he walls clenched tighter.

“Babe. Babe,“ he said head foggy.

He felt her cum trickle down as her pussy squeezed him, making his balls tighten. He tried to buck her off , but she pushed back down.

“For real?” She nodded as her hips started to bounce again.

He wrapped his arms around her and went a loud grunt the tension released as his warm seed coated her walls.

His muscles relaxed, as she put her lips to his.

“I love you.” he said as her forehead rested on his

“I love you too.”

Reader.

You woke to the smell of burnt bacon as the smoke detector wailed. Pulling his t-shirt over your head you made your way to the kitchen

“Jensen?!” you yelled

“It’s fine, It’s fine. I just had the stove too high.”

“Are you sure? Where’s your fire extinguisher?”

“Not necessary,” He looked over at you, doing a double take as he noticed his shirt. His eyes scanned lower as he bit his lip. “Whatcha got on under that?”

“Can you focus on the food before you burn your house down?” you quipped pouring yourself a cup of coffee.

He flipped off the stove. “I’m done anyway, mouth.” he smiled as he swaggered over to you and too the mug out of your hands

“Um, haven’t we covered this already? Taking my coffee equals violence.”

He chuckled as he sat on the counter.

“Yes but speaking of mouths, I believe I owe you.”

You gasped as his arms caught you and tossed you up on the corner. His hand glided up your thighs as his lips captured yours.

Trailing kisses down your neck, he pulled the shirt up to your collar bone. You leaned back on your hands as his mouth moved down to your breast. His tongue swirled around your nipple as his fingertips found your clit, making you cry out his name.

He lifted your ass and scooted you back to the middle of the island, Spreading your legs his head dipped down “Baby,” you moaned as he ran his togue up and down your slick sending pleasure through your veins.

Finding your clit his tongue swirled around it as he slid 2 fingers inside you. You could feel the tension start to build as he started pumping his fingers making your walls clench around them.

“Fuck Jensen.” You moaned out as he curled his fingers, hitting the sweet spot just right.

He slammed his fingers deep. “You gonna come baby?”

“Yes.” you moaned as he slammed his fingers again.

“Come on then.” He flicked his tongue against your clit. “Let me feel it.”

The tension got tighter as his tongue lapped faster.

You shivered as your climax coursed through your veins, his fingers slowed as you pulsated around them. Grinning at you he grabbed your hips and pulled you back to the edge. He pressed his lips against yours.

“You know I love you right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

He spun you around once you feet hit the floor, bending you over the counter.

Pulling his sweat pants down he unleashed his already hard cock, He pushed his t-shirt up your back, lining his tip up to your entrance

“Fuck.” He moaned as he pushed inside you, grabbing your ass as he stretched you again. “You good?”

You nodded, feeling a sting on your across your backside. He drew his hips back, making you moan his name as he slammed back into you. Pleasure started coursing through you again as his pace quickened, his fingertips so tight around your hips you swore you could feel the bruising start.

You could feel the tension start building, faster than it had before as your walls squeezed him.

“Oh. So close already?” he taunted

“Yeah baby, don’t stop.” You cried out as his hand dipped between you thighs, finding your clit.

His hips went even faster, bring the tension to it’s peak, You moaned his name as waves of orgasmic bliss course through you again,

“You gonna let me come inside again?”

“Yes.” you moaned, causing him to pound harder.

“Fuck.” he groaned as he pushed deep inside you, filling you with his hot pearly cum.

He spun you around again as you stood up, weaving his lips with yours as he pulled you against him.

Reader

“But babe, look at this one.” He picked up the phone off the display rack, “And it’s blue!”

“Jensen, I don’t need a new phone. Just a new number.”

“Howdy folks. Sorry about your wait. What can we do for you?”

“But, Its bigger than the one you have now.” Jensen protested.

You sighed. “Please ignore him. I don’t need a new phone.”

The sale associate’s eyes looked over to Jensen as he stepped beside you.

“Holy crap! You’re Jensen Ackles.” the young man gasped. “Oh my gosh I just love Supernatural, and you as Soldier Boy was just absolutely amazing. Oh! and Beau Arlen Just Ah.”

Jensen gave him a diffident smile and stuck out his hand “Nice to meet you…”

“Tony.”

“Tony!” Jensen repeated.

“What can I do for you sir?”

“We both need new numbers and she needs that phone over there.”

“No, I don’t.” Your argument fell on deaf ears as they ignored you.

“Alright, I just need your current phone number,” Tony said typing on his tablet as Jensen rattled it off. “And it looks like you are eligible for an upgrade. And if we were to add her line to your account you would get a discount on the phone. With the special we are running you would also get a free pair of air pods.”

“Absolutely Not Jensen!” you objected

He gave you a mischievous grin “Do that both with new numbers.”

“Alright, Let me go grab those. Did you want the pro max’s?”

“The biggest and the best.”

“This is ridiculous!” you said crossing your arms.

Jensen looked over at you poking the tip of tongue past his lips.

“Alright I will be right back.” He turned and went to the back.

“I’m paying for my phone and my line!”

“We'll see. “ He turned toward you

“We ain't seeing shit Ackles I'm telling you!” you growled turning to him.

“Oh you're telling me?” his hands slid onto your hips.

“Yes sir, I am,” You kept your arms crossed as he pulled you to him.

“You think you're big enough to be telling me?”

“Please I could take you”

“You think?” he chuckled. “Or should I bend your ass over again?”

Your eyes followed his as he looked at the table in front of you.

Your eyebrows rose as you hands slid up his chest. “I just might have to take up on that doll face.” You taunted as you stretched on your tip toes pressing your lips to his cheek.

““You missed.” He said pulling you back. Capturing your lips with his. Deepening the kiss as he hand grasped your hair.

Tony cleared his throat, startling you. “Um, Mr. Ackles?”

You cheeks got warm as Jensen chuckled.

“Sorry, she just can’t keep her hands off me.”

Your pursed your lips as your cheeks got warmer.

“We just got to out the sim cards in and get them set up. Do you need help moving your files and accounts?”

Jensen looked at you and you shook your head. “Nah, we got it.”

“Alright. And then are we terminating you service ma’am?” They both looked at you. “Since you are being added to his plan?”

You sighed. “I guess so.”

Tag List 🤍

@litpicks @muhahaha303 @mayafatimakhan @idk6505 @whimsyfinny

@nightxcreature @impala67rollingthroughtown @mariahoedt @manicjk @kr804573

@quietgirll75 @nancymcl @amberlthomas @hobby27 @deans-baby-momma

@perpetualabsurdity @redneckyachtclub @kamisobsessed @wonderland2022 @barnes70stark

@jackles010378 @foxyjwls007 @mqdhvtter @perpetualabsurdity @barnes70stark

@madebyhappymeals @deanwinchestersgirl8734 @deansimpalababy @mandee7 @roseblue373

@n-o-p-e-never @iloveeveryoneyoureamazing @1313diana @lmg14 @spxideyver

@aand13b @phoenixqueen @amberlthomas @mochminnie @spnaquakindgdom

[nyxunderwood]

Reddit asked me to sell them on my favourite Marauders ship...

I just spent my commute home writing my Sirius/James treatise for a post on reddit. I'm copying it here too because I'm clearly obsessed and want everyone else to be too. Feel free to jump into the Reddit thread and share your sales pitch for your rare pair/crack ship.

Prongsfoot sales pitch

There is a saying that love is friendship caught fire - and I think that is why my mind/body/soul belong to Sirius/James - my beloved Prongsfoot 🦌🐾

It is difficult to summarise their appeal, but here is a short list: 

Best friends to lovers: the connection, the loyalty, the unconditional acceptance, the slow-burn angst of not wanting to ruin the friendship - amplified because of the vulnerability of Sirius relying on the Potters after he ran away from Grimmauld Place. Even people who don’t ship them recognise the soul bond between them and I love exploring that dynamic. 

Sirius as a complex character: I HC Sirius as someone deeply complex, who is both confident and self-loathing, someone who fundamentally believes - due to the trauma of his upbringing - that he is unworthy of love. Now imagine how much a person like that would struggle with accepting that confident, big-hearted, sunshine smile James Potter could want to be with him. And then add to that the pure healing of accepting his love. And you basically have my long-form slow-burn love letter of a fic: Object Permanence. 

Adventures and shenanigans: The storytelling potential of these two is unmatched. At school you have their general capacity for mayhem and back chat. As adults you have their role in the war and the fact they basically compete over who gets to save the others life. 

The angst: the tragedy of the canon story is already insane. We all know Sirius never got over James - if he looked into the Mirror of Erised he would see himself and James together again. There’s the angst of Sirius pining for James while he pursues Lily, the angst of James realising he has feelings for Sirius and struggling with his sexuality. Any force that separates them is going to be inherently painful. I’ve taken it to the next level in Shooting Stars, Falling Objects by having Sirius ostensibly “die” in a Death Eater attack just before graduation, with only James believing he’s still alive. Exploring James’ grief and love for Sirius in the flashbacks has only confirmed my love for this ship. Also it’s fun to have four-year-old Harry obsessed with Sirius when he returns. 

Side dynamics: the pairing also gives the opportunity to explore broader dynamics in an interesting way: 

Interactions with Harry: now I’m writing a fic featuring a happy, cheeky Harry with living parents it’s so much fun having him be the tiniest but biggest fan of Sirius Black and Sirius growing into his role as protective, loving future step father. After all, Harry loving Sirius is canon.   ️  

The end of Jily: I tend to have James/Lily together at some point in the fics and never like Lily bashing so it’s interesting to explore how their relationship ends when James realises what he truly wants - to be known by someone who loves him unconditionally. 

Reluctant brother-in-law Regulus: I love exploring the complex dynamic between the Black brothers of course but the snarky, reluctant allies vibe of Regulus and James is particularly appealing. I also enjoy the idea of prickly Uncle Regulus being utterly unhinged when it comes to dealing with school bullies who give Harry a hard time. Sirius pretends to disapprove when James gets complaints from the parents but he secretly buys Regulus a gift basket. 

Traumatised Remus: poor long suffering Remus having to wait for Sirius and James to wake up to themselves - and then getting traumatised by their PDAs. This will be in every fic I write for this pair. Now that I've started getting into Remus/Regulus (Moonwater, my beloved) I feel like there's even more angst potential. 

Canon basis: I don't think this is a dealbreaker for ships, of course, but I like that the ship is canon divergent but is not fantastical from a canon perspective given the close relationship between Sirius/James. Even people who don't ship them romantically acknowledge the platonic soulmate status. Although they should ship them romantically too ����

That’s honestly the tip of the iceberg. I invite everyone to put me out of my rarepair misery by writing more fics about them. 

Thank you for attending my TED talk.

[hekateinhell]

"He tells lestat 'your eyes passed over me as if i don’t exist' and it’s like lol armand he thinks about you so much? and how he writes about armand?" omg, exactly??? I never understand some comments about lesmand because I'm like, have we read the same books? I just feel like Armand is more direct and active about it, while Lestat is like, I won't say it to his face, but let me write 747585832 lines about it on all of my books and always list Armand as one of the people I love the most. And for me it doesn't matter if he actually voices it out loud or not, since the feelings are there for every single book Armand is mentioned. Even stuff like Prince Lestat or TTOTBT where he doesn't appear much or at all, Lestat talks about him with love. Like, it might not be part of the dialogue that much, but the inner thoughts are always there for us to read, c'mon.

yeah, i don’t really get it either! you have to very intentionally be omitting a lot if you want to claim that lestat doesn’t love armand. and then you get those same people insisting “oh but lestat loves everyone it doesn’t count!” 🙄 okay sure, he does and that’s huge part of his character actually! i don’t think you understand him at all if you’re discounting how he feels just because he feels a lot and often.

but even with that in mind, as you said, it’s not just that he says he loves armand multiple times, it’s not that they embrace and kiss multiple times, the clear distinction comes with the fact that lestat mentions armand alongside gabrielle and louis. that is what confirms to me that yes, lestat does love armand more than he loves most. and it’s not even a “read between the lines” kind of thing… it literally IS in the lines. and you can read that as platonic or familial or romantic or all three, because they’re certainly has always been an overlap of all of the above in most vc dynamics, including lestat’s relationships with gabrielle and louis.

i get the feeling that some fans just want to feel superior to others, as if there’s a list of prerequisites to meet before you’re allowed to ship something? as if it doesn’t simply come down to our individual personal preferences and the life experiences that informs those preferences and we’re all just having fun here? last i checked nobody is handing out gold trophies and gift certificates for “shipping correctly” 🤷🏻‍♀️

there’s definitely both canon and fanon ships alike that i don’t ship or see myself but does it matter what i think? no! do i give a single fuck if people ship those ships? absolutely not! lmao it’s so goofy, that’s not what fandom is about! it doesn’t affect me and how i read things at all so why should i care?

and like from the doylist perspective, with the exception of tva, wouldn’t armand would HAVE to be more direct with how he feels because then how would us readers know what he feels since tva is the only time we get his unfiltered point of view? as the audience, unless it’s in tva, we don’t know anything about armand’s inner thoughts except for what he shares directly and even then it’s framed in how anne chose to have him convey it and the context therein. so it makes sense anne had to have armand be more direct to express his needs and wants versus lestat who gets multiple books with his pov, this is reading comp 101 😭

anyway sorry i went off on a tangent lmao i’m ignoring my big girl responsibilities rip to conclude i can’t decide if armand ever read past tvl or perhaps qotd. maybe he did and he’s frustrated like “put your money where your mouth is!”

but i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, lesmand for me really is the epitome of: “if i loved you less, i might be able to talk about it more” etc etc 🩷