#this ended up being so rambly i just love sequel potentials

[willexmagic]

ok what if i came back and asked more of those fic questions. like 8 and 9. if you should desire to answer?

i would LOVE to answer more!!

8. if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for…

this is SUCH a tough question because i love sequels (and epilogues) and i have so many i’ve toyed around with. i have always wanted to write one for my polo au because a friend of mine suggested the funniest title but i have tried to draft it many times and it ended up being awkward…someday it’ll happen. the sequel for my murder gays au has always existed in my head and it is very much a comedy (that sounds wild if you’ve read it but i strongly believe that it needs to be crack). my library au actually has an official sequel that i have mapped out and have simply never started writing, but their story does not end there and i have a whole cast of characters i want to introduce!

i answered 9 here!

send me a fic writer ask!

[stupidlittlespirit]

Cutie patootie again 🥺🥺

Lmao I'm sorry I'm always bringing Ford discourse but like !!!!! You're one of the only people online who like sees the bad in every character!! So many fans have been saying how Stanley has never done wrong and fuck Ford but like it's only cause Stanley is a guy who shows very obviously he loves his family and we got 2 whole seasons with the guy

This is probably why I really am hoping Alex gets the go ahead with a sequel! Stan and Ford show to flesh out their relationship more. Like I know Stanford really shows his feelings in the journal but I swear most of people's literacy is fucking dead 😭😭😭 showing will probably be a lot better than telling

I guess I feel really bad for Ford cause he's a victim who isn't uwu I am traumatized. Like there's NOTHING wrong with traumatized people being very teary eyed and soft spoken individuals. Fuck it honestly that's me to a fucking t. But other victims are rude and they do get angry easily. Ford reminds me a lot of Steven from the Haunting of Hill House. They just express their grief and trauma in a much more anger and sarcastic emotional response than others. And like it pretty much confirms in the Book of Bill that Stanford was gonna keep the book a secret also!! He says at first it's to protect his family but later admits it's because he still feels shame in having Bill trick him. In believing all of his lies. He still feels shame for almost causing the apocalypse and letting his pride separate from his brother for 40 years at this point!! Idk idk I'm rambling again but I honestly really love characters like Ford that show that victims don't always act the same but they deserve just as much respect and love all the same. They deserve a second chance and they deserve to be happy. 💜

No it's okay anon! I love having these conversations! I'm sorry it took me so long to answer, I've been really busy.

I have no idea if any of this makes sense but I hope it does because it's taken me like 2 and a half hours to write....

TL;DR - In my opinion, the entire show is about cycles of abuse. Ford and Stan are both imperfect victims for different reasons. They suffered abuse differently. Don't look at and judge them from the place that they start at: Do it from where they end up.

TW: Abuse, suicide, discussion of personal irl abuse.

All below the cut:

You're right about us having more information to work with with Stan v. Ford, but I also think people have a tendency to put Stan on a pedestal because he is, ultimately, the more relatable twin. Not many people are on Ford's wavelength in the sense of intelligence (I'm certainly not) and I would venture to say not many people fell through a portal and spent 30 thirty years in different dimensions running from/trying to defeat their arch enemy....

Alongside that, the twins experienced abuse and reacted to it very differently, and it can be hard to examine those differences fairly, and to see why both types are as bad as the other, especially because one is more obvious and likeable than the other.

They remind me a LOT of my familial situation in interchangeable ways.

My life ran parallel to Stan's for a long time (ironically enough Gravity Falls came out when I'd just been kicked out of home) and I had a sibling who was the 'golden child' for my family. I was the screw up black sheep and they were the one with potential.

That designation is neither mine nor my sibling's fault. It's the fault of my family for putting those labels on two kids who really had no chance, right from the day we were born, but who were forced to adopt them regardless. I think Stan and Ford are the same.

Where I suffered more direct abuse (physical, psychological etc) because I was reactive and was left in the firing line as the scapegoat (Stan), my sibling was held close by my parents and 'protected' because they were seen as well behaved and offered my parents what they wanted: Someone to control and push for success (Ford). They were still abusing my sibling, just in a different way.

I spiralled and went on to live a life where I was only ever in danger and at risk. I made my peace very early on in life (I think maybe before I was about 10?) that the people who were supposed to love me unconditionally, couldn't stand me, valued me as lesser than my sibling, and didn't want me. But I wanted to Be Somebody and prove my value and worth to everyone else to make up for that, which meant I fell into the wrong hands and did all I could to try and be that ideal for others in the hopes they wouldn't see me as my parents did.

I separated from my family early and went off alone, despite really always being alone, and was 'okay' with that (spoiler, I was not!). I also suffered abuse in the way Ford did and my sibling in the way Stan did to varying degrees too. We're all rarely aligned with one specific character because abuse is, unfortunately, incredible versatile.

My sibling, however, stayed with my mother (our whole family abused us, but I'll stick with parents now because it's most relevant. Our parents divorced when we were young and my dad was our 'primary abuser', but only because he was more blatant with it) and my sibling went to an excellent school because my family saw their potential and submissiveness as an opportunity. A meal ticket.

Their career and life was facilitated because I suppose my family also wanted them to 'make up for me' and get the kid they'd always wanted out of my sibling, which is a lot of pressure to put on a child. They went on to be successful (still are, I'm very proud of them) whereas I couldn't/can't keep a stable job and turned to sex work to survive (there is nothing wrong with sex work blah blah but being forced into it at a young age does have negative consequences, no matter what anyone says).

My sibling was emotionally and psychologically manipulated but also treated in a way that could be misconstrued as being loved. I would think that for them, that was hard to understand that that wasn't truly the case. I think Ford was the same in that respect, especially when he craves acceptance so much.

Those are both types of abuse but in different ways. My sibling lives with the guilt and shame of being 'the one who didn't get it as bad', and can't quite accept that they were never really loved (which is embarrassing to admit and I think/hope they will come to terms with that one for their own sake), and I live with the childish resentment of them being 'the one my parents never wanted' and with the absolute hatred of how unfairly I was treated by people who were supposed to love me unconditionally.

You can see where this is going, right?

Stan and Ford suffered equally in that same way, all throughout their lives in varying ways, and in my other response to you we talked more in depth about how Ford specifically was manipulated his entire life. I think Ford was made to be responsible at a young age and forced to carry this weight on his shoulders, and then as an adult had that insecurity worsened and coaxed by Bill.

Stan deep down knew his father hated him, and despite still wanting his love, eventually knew he wasn't going to get it. I mean, no one even came to his fake funeral for god's sake. Image how that must feel?

Stan grew to spot the signs of abuse and avoid it to the best of his ability. He was still vulnerable of course, but he was more street smart and clued up after a while. He didn't fall for Bill's flattery because he looked at Bill and saw his father. He recognised abuse.

Me and my sibling are the same.

Now, because of the differences in our abuse, my sibling and I turned out to be very different people. They still interact with my family (although they don't enjoy it but do so out of a sense of guilt and duty, and that they have to take care of them). I have nothing to do with any of them because fuck 'em.

I'm very emotional and can be unstable or rude (I have BPD), but love deeply and am sometimes overtly considerate of other people's feelings to my detriment because no cared about mine. I struggle with needing to be loved and being a chameleon who adapts their personality to those around them in order to be most liked and maximise that. I don't have a real identity, just the one I craft in the moment. I even worked/work in sales because having that ability makes it easy to pick up on people's emotional state and manipulate it, for better or worse. I have also done bad things and been cruel to others, I've also had an inflated ego and sometimes still do. I'm the Stan, for the most part, but I've experienced Bill-like abuse too and been the Ford.

My sibling can be spiteful and often acts like the things that happened me didn't actually happen the way I think they did and they minimise my feelings. They struggle to apologise and also behave in a way that is similar to my abusers, but I don't believe they do that maliciously. I think they don't know any better and haven't had the space to mature and come to terms with that. They have a bit of an ego, too. They're the Ford, mostly.

(This isn't to say I'm none of those things, because I can be and my sibling can be all the things I am at times)

I have to remember that they're still in contact with our abusers and were heavily manipulated against me growing up. They still get the Wormtongue treatment, as we said about Ford. They're still affected. They are also the only person I still see because we're in this together and they genuinely love me (as I do them). They're funny and cool and they love as deeply as I do.

My sibling and I, and Stan and Ford, were both raised in the same barn and we're from the same stock; of course we have the traits of our parents. It would be impossible not to. My sibling and I just learn to smother those parts as best we can as we mature and the process of doing so never really ends. I would say I'm a little better at it than my sibling is, but I'm also older and realised my abuse far sooner than they did. I've had longer to come to terms with it, like Stan did.

Stan was aware of his father's abuse much earlier and although I think he struggled to accept it, he eventually realised much sooner than his brother that he was being abused.

Ford wasn't able to mature because he was so busy working and then surviving. He eventually was forced to come to terms with his abuse by both Bill and by others, and it must have sucked to have that realisation so late in life. I have another family member that that exact thing happened to, and the shame we all feel at being taken advantage like that is immense. That's why post-portal Ford is so different in my mind. It breaks or makes you and it is very embarrassing to accept.

But both of them exacted their resentment and sadness and insecurities out on others: Stan literally scammed people out of their money because he wanted to be rich and committed other crimes That's a really bad thing to do!

Yes, Ford was manipulative and tough on others because he'd been taught to be, and I think he truly believed in his youth that he "turned out fine!" (a favourite one-liner of mine from people who are in denial about their abuse) because he couldn't accept it.

It was wrong of both of them to do the things they did, and there is no excuse for it, but we can understand where that behaviour came from if we examine them both fairly.

What matters is that eventually both Stan and Ford matured into people who recognised why they were in the wrong. They stopped that cycle of abuse by finding love and forgiving one another, and by finding their their family.

Stan and Ford were able to redeem themselves. They both have a plethora of faults but an absolute encyclopedia of positives, too. It just took them a long time to unlearn and they have to continue to unlearn those until they die.

All victims are imperfect victims because there's no such thing as a perfect one. Victims carry shame, victims can be aggressive, victims can repeat the mistakes of their abusers no matter how much they think they don't. Maybe they don't respond to their trauma 'the way that they should' (which is bullshit, by the way. There is no right or wrong way to be a victim).

When I suffered (a different, non family related) major trauma, I wasn't believed (by that same friend I talked about in the other ask) because I hadn't, in their opinion, reacted in the way I supposed to react. I wasn't sad enough or traumatised enough, when in actual fact I was all of those things but was too ashamed and afraid to show it to others until it got so bad that I couldn't hold it in anymore. I protected myself through jokes and being blasé about it.

Ford is a great example of a more obvious imperfect victim. He is a product of his environment and he protects his vulnerabilities with egoism. The most egotistical of us are the most insecure.

Stan is also an imperfect victim, just more obviously so. He was portrayed from the start as likeable and funny, but he is the same as his brother.

Initially Stan was as cantankerous and mean as he was silly, remember. But he changed over time. We get to see the toll his abuse took on him because he learned to come to terms with that shame and told the audience about it through his actions and behaviours. We actually saw his backstory in detail and saw how he learned to love the kids. We saw his vulnerability whereas Ford refuses to and struggles to lower that guard and show his soft spots.

Ford is portrayed in a very specific light that I think does him an injustice at times and contributes to the misunderstanding of his personality.

Ford's vulnerability is hard for him to reveal (to those around him and the audience) because he couldn't afford to be vulnerable during his time in the portal or with Bill. Vulnerability kills when you're not showing it to the right people and when he did show his vulnerable side to Bill (he didn't have the answers he thought he was so capable of having and had to swallow that bitter pill and ask for help), he was betrayed and hurt really awfully.

Ford then went on the exact same journey Stan did when Stan was kicked out of home, except Ford was 30 plus and in an interdimensional nightmare instead of the USA. They both suffered. (And also, the US might as well have been a different dimension for Stan at his young age because it was just a foreign to him as space was to Ford. Earth is cruel no matter where you are).

Anyway.... All of that is to say, nobody comes out of abuse clean.

Some of us become unlikeable and unfriendly, and sometimes even abusive ourselves. A lot of us learn to survive in any way we can and sometimes that is at the detriment of others.

But what really matters is how we unlearn those behaviours and how we grow.

Don't look at and judge Ford or Stan from the place that they start: Do it from where they end up.

I'd also like to add that just because you might be a dick, it doesn't mean you deserve to be abused and I see a lot of people say that Ford deserved what he got, and that pisses me off so fucking badly.

Again: disclaimer these are just my own feelings do not come for me thank u

[unlimitedhearts]

I’m dreading the third game of Spiderman might kill off Harry :/ either he’s goblin (solo or probably along with daddy-o) and dies a la Hero Sacrifice. Or kept comatose and in the end with grim results the decision is to pull the plug on him. idk I feel Harry’s fate is doom and gloom. But they could have killed Harry at the end of this sequel giving a strong motivation for Norman to be the Goblin and hatred for Spider-Man…yet they didn’t. idk rambling thoughts. What do you think?

Personally i can see both options. I saw someone in the tags of my last headcanon post say that it wouldnt make sense to save him from death in this game only to kill him in the next. On some level i get that, why wait when you could do it now?

I have two worst case scenarios in my head:

Harry wakes up from his coma w amnesia a la the third Tobey Maguire movie. Hes unaware of Pete being Spider-Man and Peter, thinking hes protecting Harry, wont tell him. This may cause a rift in their friendship when Harry finds out - or if Norman ends up going goblin and dies - Spider-Man is to blame in Harrys eyes and he'll go after him then. To me this is a tired trope of Harry getting an intense hatred for Spidey and wanting to kill him over his father. It always felt out of character for me and i truly TRULY hope they dont go this route.

Harry becomes the Kobold. In the comics, Kobold is essentially Harrys way of making the Green Goblin a good guy. If he still wants to fight by Peters side, he'll find a way to do it. Kobold would make a lot of sense to me personally, as it kind of continues their dynamic from this game. Then at the end theres a heros sacrifice to be made and Harry goes for it despite Peters protests. This would be lazy to me too though because he essential already did the heros sacrifice in this game. Seems like theyd just want us to have more time with him to love him even more, just to make losing him hurt worse. I wouldn't put it past an intrepid writer to think they could make it work, but it just seems lazy to me.

Actual best case scenario for me though? Harry wakes up as the g-serum is being injected. Hes against being his dads experiment all over again so he runs and finds Peter. Hes not aware of his pseudo-retirement, he just goes straight to the place thats always been his safe haven; Peters home. He asks Peter to hide him from his dad. Tries to explain everything but hes exhausted and frantic. Peter agrees and they take him into hiding.

Norman, ever the expert deflector, doesnt see this as a failing on his part. Hes convinced spider-man had something to do with his son escaping so he puts out a hit on him. Hes ready, willing, and able to capture and kill at least one of the two spider-men it doesnt matter. We see him pardon Wilson Fisk for this job, and when Fisk cant do it, he has to. Normans going to go Goblin. I know it, i can feel it in my bones.

Miles asks Peter to get back in action and he does. Fisk, plus potentially Otto again, plus this brand new villain in town is too much for any one person to handle. Heres where i see Harry becoming a "Guy In The Chair" for Peter like Ganke is for Miles. Two Guys in the Chair helping the spider-men is definitely better than one. I could also see Harrys goblin powers start to emerge but he keeps pushing them down. Last time he gave into power it didnt end well for anyone.

In an effort to not write out the entire plot of the game as i see fit (because itd be long and there are so many moving pieces and characters and IDEK WHERE THEYRE GONNA PUT SILK IN-), i think if Harry does take on the cowl he'll be doing so against his father. I think i see Harry becoming Goblin/Kobold to fight against Norman and ultimately try to help Peter/Miles. This is where i see Harry either accidentally killing Norman or Norman killing his son (and of course, blaming Spider-Man)

There is also room, in my mind, to bring back Venom a la Lethal Protector/Agent Venom. But tbh if they do, i would much rather Venom go to Eddie Brock or Flash Thompson. But thats just the separate Venom Fangirl Entity within me.

Ultimately my hope of course is that Harry not die and they dont go down that all too tired and hackneyed trope of Harry growing to hate Peter dor whatever reason. I truly TRULY hope they dont go that route it is just SO tired and lazy. I want them to stay close and loving. Whatever route they go with will be SO MUCH MORE IMPACTFUL if Harry Osborn lives and doesnt make a full 180 on his best friend for no good reason.

[ravelights]

So finally read the final chapter of MHA so here are some of my thoughts on it.

Although I saw it coming it broke my heart when deku lost OFA, I was hanging on to the idea that he could get something back. However like I said a million times I still think it good writing, especially how it was handled in the end. I was almost going to think this would be an bittersweet ending for izuku just becoming a just a teacher and never getting his hero dream (an ending I wouldn’t have liked) but then All might swooping in and giving izuku an iron might suit just saved me from thinking this literally I think hori plan on that as well. There could have also been a slight hint I that OFA might not be fully gone since we saw the figure of tenko at the end but that’s up in the air.

I was right about the time skip, eight years. I also expected that as deku was narrating it from the future. I’m not the biggest fan of timeskip but that’s just a personal preference I didn’t mind it too much and I like that we finally got the adult designs and of course deku is exactly the same just taller.

I like the theme it sold on the end of being a good person doesn’t mean being the strongest, but just helping out when you can and doing what you love. I believe that is a core theme and I’m glad hori stuck with it to the end.

Now when it comes to the future of MHA I still think we will be getting a continuation at some point. But that’s far in the future and I also think it more likely we will get a prequel more than anything else. The lore of MHA and many characters goes deep and there’s a huge untapped potential to write something there. But like I said should that happen I believe we will have to wait a few years till we get something like that.

Finally no hisashi, little surprised we never got him, but I guess that mean no theory was wrong or right in the end. At least for now. I am interested to know what the original plan was for him since he was being kept a secret for a reason for a good while there. But oh well maybe in the possible prequel/sequel we might finally get him.

Overall I didn’t hate the ending it was definitely a bittersweet one but I still like it in the end. For a series that been going on for as long as MHA there were a lot of things to tie up in five chapters, some plot threads got tied up and others didn’t but the ending is just one part of the story and as long as you like the story then it all good.

I’ve been reading MHA since I was in high school the series will always have a place in my heart. it wasn’t my first anime, but it’s definitely the one that stuck with me the longest. It been a heck of a ride, but i will forever be grateful that it got an ending, there are a lot of shows, comics and manga that never get that something Horikoshi experienced in the past. so I alway celebrate when someone does get to finish there story even if it was rushed.

Thank you to everyone who read MHA and like my occasional rambling on it, I still intend to stick around in this fandom until the next muse whisk me away.

And thank you my hero academia you will always be the best!

[sharpth1ng]

Will Stu ever talk about his neglectful unloving parents? What do you think that would that look like? What if it’s a particularly bad day and that just cuts a little too deep and spills out in a very ugly messy way. OMFG after the Debaser season one ending and between season two that would such a golden opportunity for this particular thing to take place. Imagine it after everything. The world believes Stu and Billy went through a fucking nightmare because of Sidney and the massacre. Ya know being sole survivors and all. The damage done to both of them both physically and mentally because of it. Yet Stu’s parents immediately fall back into their own neglectful borderline downright cruel ways. Meanwhile all Stu has truly left is Billy and potentially somewhat Nancy by default. Billy’s family situation improved, but poor love Mutt is still stuck in his. HNNNG. Sorry for the messy ramble. Just came to me while writing this ask.

Some spoilers for Wave of Mutilation (Debaser sequel) below

Yeah, some of that is going to get touched on in the sequel, although its more something that Stu and Leslie will talk about. That said I think what he experiences is more of a grim acceptance. It's been like this forever. It hurts but he's more disappointed than heartbroken.

Its uhhhhhh........ bold of you to assume Billy is sticking around though 😬 I know he was there when he woke up but now that he's awake Billy has to actually confront shit. Like he thought he lost Stu, but now that he's alive? Billy thinks this is his chance to "fix" himself. He might have admitted that he has feelings, but he still believes that those feelings are weakness that he shouldn't have, and he's taken his own reaction to Stu's near death as proof of that. He thinks it's a wake up call.

Billy doesn't trust himself. He didn't feel in control during the finale, and that almost cost Stu his life

Billy thinks that Stu being alive is a second chance for him to get over it, so he's not completely fucked up if/when Stu dies for real

I WAS NOT LYING WHEN I SAID THE SEQUEL WOULD BE ANGSTY.

Don't worry they wont stay broken up forever, they will still be fucking, but the relationship needs a renegotiation and theyre both going through shit

[good-realtor-bad-realtor-dynamic]

First thoughts from just one watch under shitty circumstances with bad internet and worse sound:

RAMBLING FRANK vs RUSSIA THOUGHTS

I was very worried about this episode with how sacred the S5 DENNIS System episode is to us all. Didn't want a Thunder Gun 4 situation on our hands and thankfully they avoided it so hard! I think having the plot with Charlie, Frank, the mums, Uncle Jack and chess really helped out to make it feel more than a direct sequel.

SINNED -> DENNIS -> SINNED -> DENNIS — I'm so impressed with this. How did I, a wholeass Sunny fan, miss this for so long?! Three cheers to whoever came up with that inversion, really! Definitely something that happened in the writer's room and made everyone lose their shit for sure. I wonder who it was, could be Meg or another writer too, given how collaborative they all are!

And can I just say, Dennis the Restaurant Manager... oh how I love you so much! The Waitress is Getting Married is a personal favourite of mine and I wasn't expecting a bit of a redux of that whole situation.

I was so worried about all the "Mac getting a boyfriend and it being Ryan Reynolds" theories and I absolutely wanted none of that. Everyone had speculated it to death and it wouldn't have been fun anymore (not to mention I do not care for RR in my Sunny, I'm sure he's fine, but I don't need his and Rob's PR relationship filtering through into my dickandball show no I don't "find them cute" and I won't elaborate here anymore).

I know we'd guessed that Johnny could've been Dennis catfishing Mac, but it definitely felt like we were doing an Insane Fan Speculation more than anything — and for it to turn out to be correct! And in the best way, because we never could've seen the vibrating anal beads coming!! That's the best kind of "called it but it's still unpredictable".

It really broke my mind, this episode did. And don't even get me started on the Macdennis and queer Dennis of it all! As a longtime believer in Bisexual Dennis, I won so hard! All of us Queer Dennis Truthers won so fucking hard!

[Unpopular Take incoming] This is the first Sunny episode credited to Meg for writing that has felt so wholly "Classic Sunny" and super fuckin hilarious to me. I always appreciated her understanding of the characters and she's always a very solid writer, but this is the first time where I felt myself thinking ok, you she write RCG/Hornsby/Marder-Rosell/Chernins-level of an insane chaotic Sunny episode with multiple belly laughs and not just slightly Community-fied versions of the gang.

The closest her writing has felt like true Sunny to me before this was Dee Day, so I'm glad to see her grow and improve too, and I wonder if the podcast rewatch has helped in that regard! Must also help to have a classic S5 structure to play off in The D.E.N.N.I.S. System! (And ofc writing is collaborative, so well done to RCG and all the writers who pitched ideas and rewrites that ended up shaping this episode!)

I knew Heath Cullens directing meant a good chance of some interesting camerawork (and I've gotta say that even The Gang Inflates had some more dynamic shots than we've been getting in some of the later years and it's got to be the Cullens directing), but I wasn't expecting a whole visual callback to Being Frank! Loved it.

And the editing! The DENNIS System has always been great for cutaway gags and fun little inserts, so I loved seeing that carried out here with the cuts to Mac and Dee fucking up their dates and then finally pulling out the Magic Tissue of Mummy Issues (oh the potential for meta especially with the twins!). The pacing was so good!

Sunny pacing needs to feel like Mac crashing Dee's car into a wall while we are all Charlie watching it in real time and screaming when it's over.

Random strings of words because I'm too excited to be coherent:

Glenn's acting. His faces. His eyes. His range in this episode. Glacting. Juilliard. All the hits. All the big ones.

Mac and Dennis have canonically had sex in two different ways now, and yes, I'm including their sex tape/porn viewing sessions where they both masturbate together

Did Dennis pull out Mac's anal beads when he was asleep?

Vibrating fucking anal beads what the ACTUAL FUCK!

How many people did the gang drug again?

Danny DeVito with a vibrating asshole comedy acting 12/10 he's an international treasure for a reason

Dee stealing people's phones she's so stupid and bad at men. Never change Dee.

Uncle Jack though, pls change plz, I'm an IASIP loving degenerate so I laughed in horror at his creepiness ofc as I have since 1x7 but fucking hell man, can he be in his jail era already! Poor Charlie!

Hey, Charlie's got new America's just as we were promised on the pod

Oh I should make a post about everything we saw in this episode and that episode of the pod where they gave us all those hints, especially Meg talking about struggling with this cold open — added to the never-ending list of drafts and posts that will hopefully one day make it onto the blog yeah I'm lying to myself now

Parental issues everywhere this season, especially with the mums. Reynolds kids, I can't wait to lovingly put you under my microscope. Once I've rewatched this episode with good sound.

Also just in general, the SINNED system just says SO much about our babygirl's psychology, does it not? Why did so much of it sound like self-insert speeches, like he's been doing this to Mac or smt? Don't even talk to me about The Gang Chokes!

What does r/iasip have to say about— no, I'm in my happy place, I'm not even gonna go there.

Mrs Mac and Mrs Kelly watching TV together like that, they really are lesbian life partners.

Dennis blue shirt with top-stick between those buttons, my beloved. I am looking, respectfully.

And can we talk about the "opening the ketchup bottle" scene? We have to take about that scene! Dennis... he's ruining me... need to gnaw on him and suck on his fingers wait I'm browning out...

Sidenote: I love whenever the show references news stories which were super fucking big at a very specific time in a very specific niche, especially with my whole family being so chess-obsessed. The cheating scandals and anal bead… never thought I'd see a Sunny crossover but can't say I'm not loving the shit out of it!

[fantasticharmonymiracle]

Let me say that I have infinite respect for @thelastaerie for providing us with a ton of fantastic and masterfully written fics about Kay and Marc's love story, truly. However, the entire fandom needs to be true with themselves and realise that if Freier Fall was irl Kay would never, EVER even consider getting back with Marc.

Let me elaborate:

Marc was definitely in love with Kay especially towards the end of the film but that doesn't mean he loved him because he never made the effort, as we know, and never saw Kay as his first choice. He technically was Plan B in case Bettina, which she did, didn't take him back. As romantic as we want to paint it, it doesn't put a good foundation for yet another toxic fling almost fifteen years after.

Also, very problematic is the fact that Kay pursued Marc in a questionable way like in the woods. I didn't hear any consent being given for that hand job or whatever happened (haven't seen the film in a while) and also, Kay clearly saw that Marc was basically married and with a baby on the way. It's not ethical at all to go after a taken man, regardless of the fact that you think he's a closeted gay man and you feel the itching urge to play the saviour angel and drag him out of the closet. I feel like both of them would realise it was certainly a heated time of their life but also not the best to jump back into and bring back chaos into their existence.

Bettina, she's a boss BUT that shower scene I cannot stand to watch, it feels way too violent and if a sequel happens I'm not sure how they should deal with the whole co-parenting deal without addressing that bit.

On top of this all, they may be both men but the punches they threw at each other are not acceptable whatsoever irl. It's not sexy nor a sign of true love. It's plain violence and a cheap substitute for grown-up talk. I get it, in films one has to emphasize emotions to draw the audience in but if I was Kay and I had Marc beg me to get back together... Like fuck I would after that and after I was literally thrown under the bus to save his sorry ass.

In terms of character as well, Kay comes across as a weirdly crafted excuse to drag the plot cause a wannabe cop smoking weed and taking ecstasy is surely "attractive" on camera but doesn't make sense in the real world. Why would you pick police as your career choice? Conquering the enemy from the inside is surely not gonna last that long, innit? This being said, considering the wild nature of Kay I doubt he'd fit well with Marc, even after his potential development and acquired emotional intelligence. I see older Kay as an accomplished something in whichever field having the time of his life in Berlin, or just a deranged junkie somewhere in Germany. Certainly, if we go with option 1, not one that would lower his standards for Marc, still. He wouldn't slow down for him again after being treated like shit.

Irl Marc would probably see the experience as an awakening but it wouldn't do a 180 on him, he'd still be the Stuttgart cop who now admits to himself he likes blokes OR would have a massive identity crisis, drop out of police and have a very hard time for the next 10/15 years, still not good unless we want a Trainspotting kinda love story (meaning the hopeless, scum of the earth vibes).

To end this rambling, not a good match but good entertainment. Certainly magical to read fiction about them because they allow so much freedom for the imagination.

Ps. @thelastaerie PLEASE do a fiction inspired by their other films together (wink wink that military one I can't watch because ffs I don't speak German -yet)

Apologies if this post is utter shite, I'm in the back of a moving car about to chunder and can't put my thoughts into coherent sentences. The main idea is somewhere round here.

[theragamuffininitiative]

5, 6, and 19 for the story asks, for TMFU (series or movie or both, your pick!)

5. do you have a favorite character? who?

I couldn't choose between the three beloved idiots who make up one half of a braincell in the movie version,

but it's definitely Illya for the series

I love absolutely everything about series Illya. He's odd and adorable and feisty and resourceful and doesn't ever give up while waxing eloquently like a fatalist and puts up with Napoleon and genuinely cares and says the most insane things without being asked but doesn't waste time flirting like his partner (usually) and I just love him so much.

6. do you have a LEAST favorite character? who?

The bad guys are deeply unhinged and awful in both. The writers especially love their torture artists, yeesh.[Potential spoilers] Uncle Rudi in the movie and Miss Diketon in the series. Rudi tortures Napoleon, and Diketon tortures Illya. Of the movie antagonists, Rudi is the most revolting for sure, but Rudi "gets his" in a rather awful (and accidental) but vindictive sort of way in the end, while I found it deeply upsetting how Miss Diketon is allowed to essentially get what she wants in the end. The series happily let its two protagonists get captured and drugged and threatened and knocked around at whim, but it much less often genuinely hurt them. Diketon was one of the exceptions, and possibly the only one who didn't even need anything. Rather like Uncle Rudi and his fascination with the science of torture, Miss Diketon hurts Illya because she enjoys it. And I loathe her so incredibly deeply because of this.

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

Movie version, forget a novel, GIVE ME A GUY RITCHIE SEQUEL (you can recast Illya, maybe do something outrageous like cast a Russian actor to play him now. XD) Bring back Henry and Alicia and Hugh and take my money. Please. I'm begging you. Ok, anyways. I would love love love a prequel novel for the series too! I want to know our two silly spy's backstories! Especially Napoleon, we know next to nothing about him! Ugh, idk what the actual plot would be, but basically what the movie tries to do loosely: how they started working together. Or, since that is the movie, maybe some kind of mid-series plot where the Thrush threat has gone after Napoleon's family and so N and I end up babysitting and hanging out with the Solos and Napoleon is constantly put in comical states of chagrin while Illya is having the time of his life until some kind matriarchal Solo winds up getting at Illya's own emotional backstory before he joined U.N.C.L.E. and naturally the whole caper ends with some quality spy bonding.

(^me finally giving up on finding good movie gifs in the search results)

Thank you for letting me ramble about my blorbos, as the kids say!

[baylardian-1]

I don't want to step on your toes or anything so feel free to ignore me, but your WD AU has my mind all running in circles of excitement! What if Seven is from a rabbit breeding farm and the rabbits there are so depressed and without hope, that they just give their children numbers instead of names? 😭 But then of course she escapes and joins the group and gets to live free!

^^^^^^^^ me getting a WD AU ask ^^^^^^^^^^

omg YES thats what i was thinking!! i was definitely set on her being a bred blanc de hotot and that she’d just be named Seven (whether by her mother or by humans) and keep it. (considering Fiver was named for being the fifth in the litter 😏)

lemme ramble my messy ideas for a sec HOLD UP-

i think the initial idea i'd had was that Seven and Doc would be lab rabbits from the "Caretaker" and when they all end up escaping, they join the party. that seems like the EASIEST way of going about it at least to me lol.

coming up with quirky yet realistic ways of getting these bunnies together is what i struggle with haha. like i figured Doc would be a human-raised lab rabbit, spoiled and pampered and Large, but maybe craves adventure (also maybe a bit of a hypochondriac). one idea i had (if Seven was a rabbit that joined them later on) was like mmmmmaybe Seven is a kit when they find her either having gotten lost or ran away,,,,, so theyd be more inclined to take her in (or Haven would at least 😏) but idk if ill go with that haha. i feel like Seven joining the "crew" is potentially more reluctant on her end than Doc would be. 🤔🤔🤔 or at least different somehow, like why would she leave what she knows, etc. i see her as being kinda moody and stuck with this group of rabbits like she is in Voyager, eventually coming around to thriving in and preferring that environment but it takes time.

in the kinda sequel WD book it establishes that rabbits who smell of humans “by law” are to be attacked and killed for some reason,,,, (idk if rabbits really act like that lol i felt like the “sequel” dramatized the rabbits a lot more) i dont mind working with this semi-canon idea a bit in that the human-smelling rabbits need to be vouched for when requesting they join their “crew” and i think Haven would 5000% go against the norm for Seven at least but maybe Doc proves himself with his unconventional (to rabbits) health practices so they keep him around.

long ramble to say I LOVE THE ASK HAHA ive been quietly curdling on the AU for a while only 'cuz i dont have everything straightened out and pretty in my head yet lol. and i was stuck on designing fur patterns for everyone but i THINK im satisfied now...... i dont have names for a few of them still. :^)

[ultrapoppet]

My long and incoherent AMoL ramblings (I went through the series super fast and skipped chapters) :

Lol at Rand spending 10 books angsting over his prophecized demise (even though it technically wasn't and he should've realized that after hanging out with Moraine for so long) only to walk out of there with a body upgrade (ginger to brunette). Also thank god that Sanderson made sure to mention he didn't lose any height in the process. I'd have to unstan if he had gone below 6'4".

Love that Rand used his angsty dramatic shenanigans to make the nobles sign a peace treaty and made them pay for free college.

The ending was heartwarming until I realized Rand is going to be a deadbeat dad? My man you're going to have quadruplets in a few months what do you mean I'm going to see the world? Maybe he can pull a Mrs Doubtfire to see his kids idk.

I still don't know if I like Sanderson's writing. He got us out of the slog but I don't like his interpretation of most of the characters and his writing is so YA CW cheesy. I'm grateful that he finished the series but I don't know if I want to read any more of his books.

I thought Rand was going to be one of my favorite charachters ever but his arc in Sanderson's book left me unsatisfied and I'm sad about it.

The battle with the dark one was cliche and kind of anticlimactic but I guess it makes sense with zen Rand's arc, which I also don't love. I expected more from the dark one. But the twist with Moridin was good.

How did he light the pipe??? Did he complete his Jesus arc by being reborn and power up? Idk I don't like that he can't channel anymore but I think Jordan left that for a sequel.

I thought Min would be the one to figure out why they can't destroy the dark one (their banner is literally the yin-yang symbol) but they cut her philosopher arc short so the dark one himself had to info dump it. I didn't like how Rand tells him you're nothing at the end and can seemingly easily kill using the power of friendship and positivity or something. I don't like when the big bad is undermined after being hyped for the whole series. Also, this was just after Rand realized he was a necessary force of the universe so it makes no sense.

I don't like that Min got stuck with Tuon. She deserved better but maybe she'll help the Sanchean stop being tyrannical slave owners.

Egwayne came through with putting Tuon in her place and trying to free the damane (I'd have loved to see Tuon get collared at some point) and Mat is there like girls and their catfights about human rights am I right! Fuck you Mat. I understand they had to make peace with the Sanchean but I don't have to like it.

Rip Gawyn you'd been a Darwin award winner. Egwayne deserved better.

I wish we'd seen Rand and Galad interact. And more of Tam and Rand. Galad could use some Tam in his life.

I expected the fate vs choice thing to be more interesting. We have all these prophecies that have to happen plus Taveren so where does that leave personal choice? I don't think the pattern is literally forcing them (despite what Mat fans say) but all the prophecies and Min's visions seemingly come true so the pattern is set at some points at least and it did strategically push them all to the right points to defeat the dark one. Also what happened to Cadsune teaching a lesson to all the Ashaman? I think they just forgot or I skipped it idk.

Nynave living her best life with her dilf husband. It's what she deserves.

Moraine's arc has the potential to be so much better in the show if they ever get to that point which I'm not sure they will. Their views or ratings are not very good. And no it's not just because of the book fans who don't like the changes. I hope they do because I want to see more Rosamond Pike and Moraine/Rand interactions. I'm still worried about Rand's arc but his book arc was already disappointing to me so.

[kitkatt0430]

What’s your favorite episode of Leverage/Leverage Redemption so far? You’ve inspired me to re-watch it for the 3rd time and it always blows my mind that every episode is SO GOOD.

It's really hard to choose a favorite for Leverage and it's sequel because, as you said, it's just SO GOOD. All of it. Even the 'worst' episodes of this show are light years better than a lot of shows 'best' episodes. It's amazing.

I rambled about the OG show and episodes here. And might do a similarly rambling post once i'm in S2 of Leverage Redemption and refreshed my memories of the newer episodes a bit. I've only watched them once, after all, while I've watched the original Leverage... a lot.

Like you said, the episodes are all SO GOOD. While I might skip around a bit while watching Star Trek or an Arrow-verse show or Stargate... Leverage? Every episode is watched. There isn't a single episode that makes me even go 'meh' because they're all '!!!!' types. Which makes it so hard to pick favorites.

However, if I had to pick two episodes from the two shows - one from each - that tie into each other extremely well, I'd have to go with The Van Gogh Job and The Jackal Job.

The Van Gogh Job from S4 the OG show was unique when it first aired, though S5 did a similar type of episode with The DB Cooper Job. While the main plot of the episode in the present was being told, there were events in the past that were pertinent to their job in the present being told in flashbacks where the actors who made up the main cast played entirely different characters in the past. Of the two flashback style episodes in the original show (not counting the Rashomon Job which was a flashback episode, it was just that all the flashbacks were to the main cast's own past so it was a different flavor of flashback ep) this first one was definitely the superior of the two.

There was so much going on in the episode that it was pretty unflinching about discussing. Racism and interracial relationships is front and center in this episode. Leverage has a pretty prominent interracial relationship going on between Parker and Alec Hardison already, but this episode was pretty frank about how these kinds of relationships have been historically treated in the United States. How black people have been historically treated.

While Beth and Aldis are still playing a very likable couple who are very much in love, the episode really plays with expectations about the other actors. Christian is put in the position of Charlie's supervising officer who treats him well enough but still makes racist decisions because they're easier on him than doing what's right. Timothy plays a sheriff who protects Charlie when he sees injustice in front of him, but refuses to stand up to the status quo that would potentially see Charlie lynched for just falling in love with a white woman who loved him back. Gina plays their one ally, who attempts to help Dorothy run away with Charlie. And in the end, it's fear of navigating that prejudiced world which holds Dorothy back from taking that final step to run away with Charlie.

The whole episode is an unflinching look at how bad prejudice towards black people was in the forties and fifties... but also how bad it still is today, though that part is subtler. The whole episode is heartbreaking because Charlie and Dorothy never get any resolution to their parting. Charlie traveled the world and returned too late. Dorothy who never left her home town had already passed away. And while they can speculate about her actions regarding the Van Gogh and the Wurlitzer, Charlie will never be able to hear it from her directly that she still loved him as he still loved her.

The Jackal Job is a similarly themed episode. Like the Van Gogh Job, it features flashbacks to a secondary plot where the main cast actors play new roles. Most notably, Gina plays the part of the legendary grifter they're trying to help in the present. A woman who fell in love with another woman, who was in an abusive situation. These two woman run away together and raise a child together. And if not for the prejudice of the times, would have no doubt chosen to get married. As it was, they gave one another power of attorney over each other. As close to legal marriage as they could manage at the time.

It's prejudice and abuse that drives them apart and keeps them apart for decades. And once again the episode is unflinching in it's examination, juxtaposing a much maligned queer relationship alongside an abusive but 'acceptably heterosexual' relationship. And while, yes, queer relationships can be abusive too, the question the episode subtly asks is if the abusive relationship is more acceptable for being a straight one than the loving one is for being queer... then the problem isn't really with the people in the loving relationship but the ones who judge them for loving 'wrong'.

The Jackal Job doesn't just tackle bigotry towards queer people, however. It also tackles ageism and ableism in the form of the abuse that Stella is facing from the conservatorship she's been placed under. Her alzheimers has made her an unreliable witness in crimes being perpetrated against her by the very person who was appointed to take care of her. And she was being gaslit over her mind playing tricks on her during a time when her mind was essentially playing tricks on her. It's a horrifying position for her to be in with no one on her side until Breanna discovers what's going on and brings the team in to help.

One of the inspirations for this episode was likely the fight over Nichelle Nichols conservatorship, which was making headlines at the time. Given the show's close ties to Star Trek, it seems extremely likely that this episode was written specifically to shine a light on Nichelle's circumstances at the time.

[here-be-bec]

20 QUESTIONS FOR FIC WRITERS

thanks @commanderfoxdeservesbetter for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

105! hit 100 over febuwhump.

2. What is your total AO3 word count?

167,182!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

star wars: the clone wars is the main fandom, but i've also written some stuff for alex rider! and a few gift fics for jedi fallen order, marvel, and doctor who.

4. What are you top five fics by kudos?

no. 1 is 'connection is what saves us' (which makes me happy, because it only recently overtook second place and i like to see a fox-centric whump fic on top).

no. 2 is 'the food's too sweet'.

no. 3 is 'an acceptable loss'.

no. 4 is 'no stranger to guilt'.

no. 5 is 'dead men feel no guilt for dying'.

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

yes! sometimes it might take a few days, but i always love the opportunity to ramble about my fics some more!

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

given that 99% of what i write is whump, this one is a tricky one. if you hate major character death then i recently started writing a few fics for the 'kill a character bingo' prompts. but if you, like me, believe in fates worse than death, then i would probably say 'cut abruptly short' had the angstiest ending (lining up with canon in terms of the tragedy of order 66, with an added element of angst from the theme that i used for the fic - "force sensitivity as horror").

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

another tricky one! because despite everything, i've realised that i've actually been pretty good with at least writing a hopeful ending into my fics. so with that in mind i'm going to take the opportunity to plug my favourite (only slightly angsty at the start) crack fic of all time, 'follow the leader'. perhaps the happy ending is more implied than explored, but still, :D

8. Do you get hate on fics?

nope!

9. Do you write smut?

not at the minute, i suck ass at writing romance so it would probably only ever be part of some depraved angst bs.

10. Do you write crossovers?

not yet, but i have a few that i'd like to take a stab at one day, if the inspiration strikes. bioshock, batman, doctor who... many possibilities.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

luckily, not that i'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

i am currently co-writing a fic, but it is a long way off from being published! really really looking forward to sharing it, though, it's going to be a beautiful combination of angst, crack, and time travel :D

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

i don't really ever ship anyone! it just isn't my cup of tea, usually, unless the ship is dangling the carrot of angst in front of me. the only ship i'd say that i ever enjoyed exploring was thoschei (the doctor/the master) from doctor who. lots of potential for a supremely fucked up or fun dynamic, haha. i suppose i should also mention shadowgast from cr2, i was rooting for that throughout the part of that campaign i watched live.

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

well if you want the nice answer, i'll say the isolation au as a whole, but that's because i don't think i'm going to run out of ideas for it any time soon! if you want the less nice answer, then i have been struggling with the long fic sequel to 'dead men feel no guilt for dying' for over a year now. i have loads of cool scenes outlined and fun ideas, but still haven't been able to settle on an overarching plot that i like! it's very annoying. massive kudos to multichapter fic writers!

16. What's your writing strengths?

i think i do well with structuring my fics. i enjoy figuring out how to write things that flow together, or mirror other scenes. one of my favourite fics to write was 'reiterate, relearn', which i think is a prime example of this!

17. What's your writing weaknesses?

hate writing dialogue! very rarely does it come naturally, which i think is because i characterise everyone sliiiiightly different in most of the fics i write, depending on the au that they're in. most of these guys also don't have much in the way of canon dialogue to go by!

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

hahaha, mando'a is really something i should have tried to incorporate more of! i like it as a fandom/legends trait for the clones, but it would require me putting actually thought and planning into my fics.... and alas!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

if we're counting before i knew fanfic was a thing, i guess it would be pokemon mystery dungeon oc fics in a notebook when i was like, 8. if you're talking fic that i've intentionally written, is was for the jse ego fandom; a bit of a niche community surrounding certain arg-like videos by jacksepticeye!

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

oh boy.... too many choices. as a i say above, i think 'follow the leader' was definitely one of my favourites to write, but i think my favourite as a whole has to be 'in thanks they will keep him forever'. not putting something from the isolation au here was a tough call, because those first three fics were genuinely a blast to write, but 'in thanks' was such fun to plot out, and so self indulgent - wait! that means i totally have done a crossover fic, technically! but i won't count it, because 'in thanks' only contains a single monster from doctor who, adapted to star wars for coruscant guard horror purposes. as i say, very niche, very self-indulgent, and i definitely i want to write more stuff like it in the future!

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

okay, this was a bunch of fun, i always like the excuse to read back through old fics! if @stardustloki, or @amberskyyking want to do this, or anyone else who thinks this looks fun, then here you go!

[ursachaoticarts]

"You have so much potential – why do you choose to squander it on a tiny world that will never care about you?"

I really like doing sketches instead of doing completed illustrations now? It's a lot of fun and much more relaxing for me haha, but this one is a concept for the sequel to my comic!

Rambling about story stuff under the cut:

For context, in my comic, Max is the protagonist and Richard is the villain BUT Max ends up isolated from his friends and family because of Richard and is forced to rely on and trust him. I love found family tropes, so this is a twist on that, I guess?

Richard is meant to be a father figure / mentor to Max and actually wanted to be a good father for his own kid, but his selfishness and unwillingness to compromise on his goals make him a very bad father figure.

For this specific scene, Richard is an emotionally manipulative bastard and tries to convince Max that he's meant for "greatness" because of what Max accomplished previously in the story. He thinks that Max should want more than to be "trapped" on a tiny little world and could do great things in the grand scheme of the universe. However, Max just wants to be left alone and be with the people he cares about. Richard was in a similar position that he's put Max in, thinks he's genuinely being helpful, but he's doing all of this for selfish reasons and what he's doing isn't helping Max.

also the cube is super important to the story, but i know it has tesseract from the mcu vibes cause it's a cube lmao 😭

[sturmovik]

Rambling about Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury’s ending

I've been absolutely loving every episode of the season up until Episode 23. After watching that episode, I felt a bit... disappointed? frustrated? It was like ep.23 was trying to cram Gundam Unicorn's 1-hour final battle into a 20-minute episode and it didn't feel as satisfying as the previous episodes. 

I didn’t have any problems with the plot beats, just the pacing really, it felt pretty rushed - that’s where my worries started. The pacing was like they're trying to wrap up as many plot threads in case they don't get another season, while still wasting time introducing new elements to the story (like SAL apparently being massive despite being a non-entity for 90% of the story, oh and they have a giant laser! surprise!), as a result we lost some precious time that would’ve been better spent on the main conflict between. I was bummed Quiet Zero was disabled so quickly, and was totally unconvinced Prospera would suddenly back down after never being able to confront Delling AND possibly losing Eri. Not to mention the time wasted on Lauda’s pointless tantrum.

Then we go to my post-episode 24 thoughts: 

Man did the last 4 episodes felt incredibly rushed. I didn’t notice it much in 21-22 cuz I was still giving the series the benefit of the doubt but after watching 23-24 it becomes apparent these last episodes were really sprinting to the finish.

It feels like they wanted to have an ending that could be considered conclusive - wrapping up as many ends they could - in case they dont get to do more G-Witch, but also they made it so that everyone who's still alive gets to survive to the end so that they can expand into more stories later.

The combination of those two factors are what ultimately leave me a bit disappointed, but I'm still surprised at how well they managed to stick the landing despite all that; it wasn't ideal or amazing but i'm thankful it didnt end terribly. I actually love the forgiveness ending for Prospera and Eri, it's consistent with Shakespeare's "The Tempest" BUT because the end was rushed it doesn't feel completely earned, like there shouldve been a longer period of rage/vengeance and at least an intense emotional confrontation with both Kenanji and Delling. G-Witch needed at least 12 more episodes, preferably more.

Given how great the first 20 episodes were, you can bet they would've had more character developments, conflicts, twists, and major deaths IF ONLY Sunrise gave them 48-50 episodes instead of 24. But I guess they didnt want to take that risk. I kinda hope the success of Vinland Saga S2 gives them some more confidence if they ever decide to do a sequel series.

I mean, they have to do a sequel series and/or spin-offs, right? I'd be seriously disappointed if they don't; the Ad Stella timeline is one of the most interesting and well-written Gundam AUs they've ever created, and my personal favorite AU. So much potential for many different stories in this timeline.

Also, the ending scene w/ SuleMio was cute af, but no kiss? not even on the cheek? booo

Final verdict:

Prologue + Episode 1-21: 9/10, my favorite Gundam AU series

Episode 22-24: 6.5/10, barely sticks the landing to get a good enough ending. Needs a sequel series to become truly satisfying and get some new writers to help Okouchi because he seriously fumbled these last episodes.

[thompsborn]

Hello!!! i’m so interested in the HB2 plot! I feel like we see peter angst way more commonly than Harley—so if you ever feel up for rambling about it under a cut or a spoiler tag this is a free space to do so! He really is my blorbo and you’re my favorite fic writer so I know whatever happens it’ll be amazingly done but I’m dying for hints at more of what that’ll look like! Are we talking, like, caught in the literal crossfire or devastating hostage situation 😂

okay before i do the harley rambles i!? I’m your favorite fic writer??? my guy what the FUCK that’s so sweet but also have u read any of sarah’s fics?? oddy’s parkner fic or oddy’s parksborn fic??? ANY of the Classic Iconic parkner fics circa 2020-2021?

i’m actually very VERY slowly making a parkner fic rec list to post at some point but just. WHAT. there are So many INCREDIBLE fic writers and saying i’m your favorite is BONKERS to me but also so nice i ??? thank you??? oh my god???? ❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙

okay anyway sorry to what the ask was actually about pfkfj, HARLEY!!! i agree it’s definitely a lot easier to come across peter angst than harley angst, which most likely has to do with the fact that there is a LOT of material to draw from for peter’s character—various movies, comics, shows, timelines and universes and the games. it’s a lot easier to come up with angst for peter because there’s a lot of canon angst to choose from AND there’s so much content for him that it’s a lot easier to get a grasp on his character and create angst based on that, you know? but as a fandom we have definitely created many ideas of harley based on when he was a kid in im3 and his cameo in endgame, plus the WEB comics + ride at avengers campus, so harley angst is for sure out there but like you said it is NOT easy to come across lmao

as for the HB2 plot—i have an ask in my drafts from like a month or two ago asking for more information about hb2 and i’m gonna try to finally finish answering that and post it sometime today, so that post will definitely include some insight in what to expect from the sequel, but harley in hb2 specifically? i GOTCHU.

OKAY !!! let's do this!!

so homeward bound, as i've said before, is PETER'S story post no way home, right? but in hb2 it's peter AND HARLEY'S story post homeward bound. the first chapter is a recap of the first fic from harley's pov with a lot of extra bits thrown in, starting on the day that thanos first snapped and ending either where the first fic ends or maybe in the summer between school years. unsure as of now but one of those, for sure. so that's going to offer a lot of perspective about harley's character in homeward bound - his thought processes, how he was feeling in a lot of key moments during the first fic, things he was doing while peter wasn't around, etc etc etc.

but in hb2, after the recap in the first fic, it picks up at the start of their second year at ESU. he might still be roommates with harry. he might not be. it won't be the same room at the very least, so no matter what, there's going to be some changes, right? but also:

everything is different.

there are the small changes - not the same room, harder classes as they climb their way through the pre-reqs, potentially a different roommate, some stuff happened over summer, etc.

but also there are the BIG changes, like his dynamic with peter, and knowing that peter is spidey and now being a part of keeping that a secret due to peter not wanting anyone else to know. he also knows about the spell and he knows that peter is someone tony loved, someone that pepper and morgan and happy and rhodey knew and cared about, and none of them remember him, but they know harley.

with harley's pov comes the reintroduction of the rest of the world, basically. peter has no one, right? his old life was completely destroyed and erased, leaving no connections to the people he used to know, so he's been VERY closed off from everyone and everything.

harley, however, still knows pepper and morgan and happy and rhodey. he still talks to them on a regular basis. he has his mom and his sister. he isn't closed off in classes like peter is, actually having conversations with his classmates, even if he has no interest in befriending them. peter's pov has been very limited because his world has been completely changed. harley's has been changed too via the loss of tony and him being dead for five years while his mom and his sister had to adapt to a life without him there, but it's not been changed to the extent of peter's, you know?

harley is going to have a few struggles in hb2, some centered around peter, some not. there's going to be family stuff. there's going to be this urge to tell pepper and them about peter because he thinks that peter would benefit from having these people in his life again but also he wants to respect the fact that peter doesn't feel ready to do that.

there's going to be some conflict about the people in his life learning that he's involved with spider-man's business somehow. there's going to be people getting angry at spider-man because of it.

a lot of mental and emotional turmoil is going to come out of all this. but, in the physical sense, he's not going to be entirely safe, either. again, people are going to realize he's somehow connected to spidey. he's going to want to do whatever he can do to help peter, to the point where he's going to get a little reckless with it sometimes.

caught in the crossfire? yeah.

hostage situation? no. at least, not in hb2. not that i currently have planned. that could change, but as of my current plans, no.

hope that's enough information to build some intrigue >:)

[danpuff-ao3]

Writing Rambles

...cuz I'm a writer and I feel like talking about writing 😄

Under the cut for easy avoidance!

Fics in the Oven:

Super Secret Mystery Project: closer and closer to being done! I'm estimating I have about 25% left to write? But let's be real...numbers are not my strong suit. I'm not entirely sure words are my strong suit, either, and yet here we are! I'm still hacking away at it. Pulling my hair out over it, the usual. I basically spend the work week sobbing and whining about it on my lonesome so that I feel refreshed enough to actually write on the weekend. So yeah. It's a nightmare but I see the light! (Also: I love it so much.)

Snarry Kinkuary fic: 1 done! To be posted on the 14th if I don't chicken out!

Riddledore Kinkuary fic: rough draft done. Just needs a bit of a shine, but I've got time. To be posted on the 27th!

Snarry Kinkuary/Kinktober fic: potential sequel to Obscene in the works! I'll post it for the nearest kink-event whenever I finish it. With luck that'll be this month, but I really gotta minimize my stress!

Other Kinkuary fics: tentative ideas for a Draco/Sirius fic. The barest scribbles of ideas for Ginny/Gwenog, Ginny/Rolanda, and/or Hermione/Lavender fics. But again, no stress allowed! (Or so I tell myself over and over and over just in case it actually sticks one day.)

Year of the OTP: no firm plans, but a determination to write a Snarry for each month of the year, per the YOTP prompts. If I can't actually manage, I suppose it will be okay. But it's very low stress I think! Surely I can manage at least a drabble a month, right...? (Let me not hold my breath on that one.)

Snarry Bang: a few ideas I need to compile and run by my teammate...cuz I'm not really sure I can resist the allure of Snarry Bang.

smile with sweet surprise: really need to work on chapter 3, but I'm not letting myself think about that too much until I get Super Secret Mystery Project done. This year for sure, though!

Lavmione: I really wanna write a Lavmione fic this year. A work with more character and meat to it than Kinkuary is really calling for. I don't know that it will be long, per se, or what it will be about, I am just having a lot of Lavmione feelings rn and I think they'll have to come out sooner or later. Potentially Maytime for a few events...

Magic in the Stars: need to edit a few more astrology essays to post on AO3 around the start of April! Not a high priority, but definitely on my to-do list. (Realistically once I start I won't want to stop until I finish.)

Other stuff...maybe I'll finish my Dralbus fic this year! And the sequel to The Christmas Prince. Oh and my Scarry fic. And another Yes, Daddy fic that's been a WIP for way too long. And Merlin only knows what other bright ideas I'll have before the end of the year...

Events: Oh yeah I'm running events, aren't I?

HP Chan fest: set to wrap up at the end of winter! It's been pretty chill and it helps to have an awesome co-mod! And on March 7 my 2 very questionable/problematic fics will go out to my poor subscribers, mwahahahaha. 😏

HP Fruit Fest: and as one fest ends, another will begin. Currently working on getting HP Fruit fest set up to run through spring! Doing this one solo (unless anyone wants to volunteer to help.) Another one designed to be chill because we all deserve a nice chill fruit I mean fest, right?

Okay since I have one wintertime fest and one springtime fest...do I need to come up with fests for the other 2 seasons, too? 🤔 Oh no why did I have to have that thought? Someone stop me!