#this is actually more of a character study from a certain pov

[jujus-bizarre-blog]

Some of my favourite Crooked Kingdom quotes :)

So I finished Crooked Kingdom and this post is gonna be a lot less articulate than my last one about the series because...

Who the actual fuck let the last 100 pages of that novel happen???

They were so entertaining but aside from that they had some of the most beautiful sentiments and prose. So I am going to share my favourites from each character's POV in Part Six: Action & Echo :3

Nina: Page 455

"But she hadn't been made for shame."

"Nina had grieved for her loss of power, for the connection she'd felt to the living world. She'd resented this shadow gift. It had seemed like a sham, a punishment. But just as surely as life connected everything, so did death. It was that endless, fast-running river. She'd dipped her fingers into its current, held the eddy of its power in her hand. She was the Queen of Mourning, and in its depths, she would never drown."

It's such a beautiful sentiment and moment to watch her fully come to love herself again and her new power. I love Nina as a deeply relatable character and this was just so perfect to see her come back to loving and finding herself.

Inej: Page 460

"But what about the rest of us? What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren't chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway."

This gave me chills. Everything about this is utterly gut wrenching and feels incredibly relatable. I reread that line probably 4 times before moving on.

Jesper: Page 471

"It's not a gift. It's a curse. But when it came down to it, Jesper's life had been full of blessings. His father. His mother. Inej. Nina. Matthias leading them across the muddy canal. Kaz--even Kaz, with all his cruelties and failings, had given him a home and a family in the Dregs when Ketterdam might have swallowed him whole. And Wylan. Wylan who had understood before Jesper ever had that the power inside him might be a blessing too."

Jesper realizing that for all the shit luck he has at tables he has been lucky enough to have amazing people in his life. It's just very sweet.

Matthias: Page 483

"Unnatural, said the old, determined voice. Beautiful, said the voice that had spoken the night he'd helped Jesper and Kuwei escape Black Veil. It was newer, less certain, but louder than ever before."

I love this part because it shows just how much Matthias has changed through the two books. It's beautiful and sweet and heartwarming.

Wylan: Page 427

"Wylan summoned every bit of bravado he'd learned from Nina, will he'd learned from Matthias, the focus he'd studied in Kaz, the courage he'd learned from Inej, and the wild, reckless hope he's learned from Jesper, the belief that no matter the odds, somehow they would win."

Okay... I cheated with Wylan's it's from his chapter just before Action & Echo... BUT, I think this sentiment is much more telling than anything in his Part Six chapter. I love this quote because it shows just how much his found family taught him. They're messy, they're brutal, and they're awful, but they are everything to each other. They teach each other, they help, they care, they tease, and that's way more than Wylan ever had at home.

Kaz: Page 480 & 529

"'I also had her stop at the Menagerie.'

She smiled then, her eyes red, her cheeks scattered with some kind of dust. it was a smile he thought he might die to earn again."

"'That's the laugh,' he murmured."

The second quote isn't from his chapter, it's from Inej's final one, but it conveys the same thing as the first quote. It shows what Kaz could have been, that somewhere in there he wants to show Inej can take his armour off, that he is willing to do it for her and I think it's just really gratifying to see.

That all being said chapter 42 was so evil. It had me going from sobbing of joy to sobbing of sorrow and back to joy in the span of 3 paragraphs istg. What the actual fuck Leigh Bardugo???

[brainjvice]

Kaisae "ficlet"/scenario, getting together; featuring: Kaiser's typical insanity, established background ryusae and implied ryusaekai ending.

Kaiser goes to Re Al and tries to get closer to Sae to learn his patterns so he can manipulate/tame him on the field. He fails.

It's not the first time Kaiser finds himself staying till late at Sae's apartment, but every single time he gets surprised at how fast the day goes when they are in each other's company. They drink tea or coffee together almost daily, sometimes chatting about the day's training, most of the time just basking into each other's presence without actually making the effort to socialise.

Kaiser has read somewhere in his psychology books that this behavior is called "parallel play", but he hasnt given much thought about it. Just that, sure, human interactions feel way less tiring when you don't have to mask all the time.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, though.

At first, this was supposed to be a way for Kaiser to learn about Sae's patterns, a way to enter in the midfielder's mind to get a better grasp of what was going in there, especially since Sae always seemed to know somehow which buttons to push to rile him up.

Unfortunately for Sae, Kaiser doubts the midfielder is aware of what his actions actually bring to the table.

An example? That one time Sae called him good boy after Kaiser received one of his passes, to which of course Kaiser had reacted in a totally normal, balanced, not insane way... by spending a whole week doing nothing but fantasising about committing the perfect Sae-cide.

(One morning he finally decided to look at himself in the mirror and tell his reflection that it did not mean anything and it was not that deep. He was very normal about being called good boy by Sae Itoshi, in fact he disliked it a normal amount.)

((He also did not need to address the weird emotion that had been sitting uncomfortably warm in his chest since it happened.))

He hates it.

Anyway.

The initial plan, which consisted to convince Sae to train together, was quickly discarded after realising that Sae was a natural at both football and magically disappearing after training, which made Kaiser's attempts to reach out completely futile. When he finally managed to tell Sae about his idea, all the midfielder had to say was that "If you need more time after training then you have been doing it wrong".

That, of course, led to more homicidal thoughts.

So Kaiser needed to change his plan. Since Sae wanted to play hard to catch so bad, Kaiser decided that it was more than fair to play dirty.

Literally.

In the meaning that Kaiser casually slips his dirty jersey shirt in Sae's training bag while Sae is still in the shower, carefully hiding it so that it won't show up until Sae gets back at his apartment and put his stuff in the washing machine.

What happens next plays out exactly how Kaiser had imagined it: Sae texting him about his jersey, Kaiser insisting that there's no need for Dabadie to be the one to bring it back and that Kaiser himself would gladly retrieve it at Sae's apartment.

Except when Kaiser gets there, already tasting victory in his mouth, he finds out Sae is definitely not alone in his house.

Shidou Ryusei is sitting at the kitchen table, tea mug in one hand and phone in the other, mindlessly scrolling his feed as he relentlessly bounces a leg under the table.

Kaiser is already hating this, but he does not even have the time to reply or find a quick excuse that he somehow finds himself sitting at that same table with a fuming mug in his hands. He secretly curses Sae for letting the Mediterranean typical hospitality to rub on him and curses himself for not having a plan B.

The next interactions are some of the weirdest Kaiser has ever witnessed.

First of all, Kaiser has always been sure he was good at following certain scripts and at reading certain patterns. But this. Whatever was going on between Sae and his ugly... boyfriend...? was beyond his comprehension of human behaviour.

Why the fuck are these humans not humaning. What is this. What the fuck.

He hates it. But hates not being able to read them even more, so he stubbornly sits there, studying them from afar. One thing he understands: neither Shidou or Sae are kind people. He sees it in their voice tones and demeanor, and, now that he thinks about it, even when Sae invited him in he was using a colder tone, one that you don't use if you want to appear welcoming.

When Kaiser retrieves his jersey back and finally gets home, he stares into the wall for forty-five minutes. What the fuck.

He definitely hates it.

Next week, he is back at Sae's apartment to get his socks back. They are alone this time, but the encounter plays out in a similar way. Sae barely welcomes him home, makes him tea, then proceeds to ignore him.

Rinse and repeat for the following week as well. And the next one too. Kaiser has stopped hiding his stuff in Sae's bag, Sae has started to be more chatty, although only when it came to soccer.

Sometimes they go out together. Sae likes to go for long walks at the beach in the late afternoon and Kaiser finds himself sticking around at Sae's place long enough to eventually join him.

"I need to study him so I can tame him on the field", Kaiser keep telling himself. Yet there he is, lounging on Sae's L-shaped couch, with Shidou's weightened blanket enveloping him and Sae watching tv sitting right next to him.

Kaiser has no idea when his brain has started to consider Sae as part of his comfort zone, at the point of letting the midfielder's stay this close to him.

Kaiser is still lost in his thoughts when he feels a gentle weight on his shoulder. He looks down and sees Sae fully relaxed against him. His eyes are closed, and his long lashes lie prettily on his cheeks.

In normal circumstances, Kaiser would physically recoil at someone touching him. Only Ness had ever gotten this close beforehand, but that was different and whatever was going on between him and Sae did not taste the same. There was no power dynamic to keep Kaiser safe from this.

To help him distance from... whatever.

This was not the time for self-reflection.

Kaiser wrapped an arm around Sae's shoulder and decided that, maybe, he did not hate it that much anymore.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #26 – The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor

This was my monthly dose of high literature, chosen because I subscribed to the author’s substack for a while and generally liked it. After somehow accidentally grabbing historic fantasy and dystopian sci fi, this time it did was actual proper adult contemporary litfic, even! So y’know, horizons successfully expanded.

The book is honestly a caricature of what an outsider would guess contemporary litfic to be. Meandering and plot light, eight different POVs whose chapters’ are largely character studies of their own interiorities and relationships, deeply preoccupied with the process and structures that produce Fine Art, about a bunch of miserable queer grad students in Iowa City. It did at least refrain from having a character actually be an author attending the Iowa Writers Workshop so like, not totally free of restraint here, but it’s still nearly overpowering.

Saying ‘plot light’ is still almost overstating it, really. Each chapter is a vignette from the perspective of a different character, with varying levels of personal connection to the other protagonists. Some individual characters have little arcs, but none exactly undergo a profound transformation – the book is largely just a study of them, their relationships, their damage and their neuroses as they drift through a year of their lives.

The characters themselves are all resolutely unexceptional. No prodigies, no savants, no stars in the making – they are all talented and dedicated, but in ordinary and unremarkable ways for their milieu. It’s precisely that ordinariness that Taylor seems most interested in – how people conceive of their relationship to art when they’ve devoted everything to a craft that only barely seems to love them back.

The relationships between the characters is the other real driver of the book. They’re all..kind of dicks? In the thoughtless, inarticulate, emotionally-illiterate-lashing-out way of incredibly stressed people in their mid-20s (though exaggerated a bit for effect. Or at least, I hope so). Everyone is broken and jagged, and rubs up against everyone else only with violence and force – resentful friendships, unhappy romances, comfortable enmities. No one ever makes a clean break with anyone – no one shows much sign of being able to even if they wanted – and what character growth there is is a matter of compromise and accommodation, making peace with the people you love around you whatever their shortcomings.

The characters are all very well-drawn, their neuroses and struggles believable and mostly compelling. There’s probably one or two too many of them – at a certain point I did start having trouble with whose tragic childhood (they of course all have tragic childhoods) or insufferable emotionally unavailable boyfriend was whose – but in the final analysis they all mostly worked for me. That said, the two female POVs seem almost..tangential? Less connected to everyone else, less richly examined, less grounded and dirty and vicious. Which is a bit unfortunate, both in terms of the novel’s overall strength and because almost literally the only other women with lines in it are a bunch of deeply unkind caricatures of poetry/literature-as-activism types in one of the character's seminars.

Speaking of relationships – if you don’t know what the stereotypical litfic sex scene looks like, this book overflows with examples to learn from. Partially just trying to be true to life about a cast of horny gay guys in their mid-20s – if you draw a chart of who fucked who I’m pretty sure it connects every man in the main cast – but the book also just tries to get a lot of characterization and symbolism across through sex scenes, and ends up devoting more word count and flowery prose to them than anything I’ve ever seen besides outright erotica. All the sex scenes do have a fascinatingly vast variety of valences and tones, though – some are passionate and romantic, some flagrantly exploitative or transactional, some are just something to do on a boring break in the middle of nowhere. The sex can get a bit monotonous, but at least it’s never one-note.

Taylor’s very interested in the culture of like, capitalized prestigious Fine Art, its production, and the relation of the university to both. The book, broadly, seems to take the point of view that the whole edifice is one great machine for chewing up and spitting out hopes and dreams. It’s a recurring theme that even among these people who have dedicated their entire lives to poetry or dance of the piano are unable to spend it making the kind of art they want. And that’s not even getting into how all the people you’re supposed to be making art with are the most insufferable pieces of shit to ever see the sun.

And on the note of insufferable pieces of shit – there’s also just a very strong recurring theme of class. Getting a MFA is largely the province of people who don’t really have to care about a near-future paycheck, and the cast is divided between those who fit the description and feel varying amounts of repressed guilt and awkwardness about it, and those that have to work some job to pay the bills and display a remarkable amount of restraint in not decking at least one classmate a day. The irony of art imagined as activism or world-changing being near-exclusively the result of elite educations and trust funds is bitter and plentiful, especially among the poets.

It’s, I think, a very sort of subtle humour that across the first half or so of the book the really poetic prose and most evocative imagery is used near-exclusively to describe the vulgar, low-class survival work that the less fortunate half of the protagonists do to support themselves – meal prep in a hospice kitchen, preparing cuts of beef in a slaughterhouse, recording porn of oneself to post online – while the actually art they create isn’t much described at all. This doesn’t last, but it’s a very funny joke while it does.

The book is, on a sentence-to-sentence and page-to-page level, really quite beautiful. Unfortunately, it ends up feeling like less than the sum of its parts. There’s a bit of a running narrative connecting half or so of the protagonists, who really are major parts of each others lives and enrich each others narratives with an outside view – and then the rest only appear outside their own chapters as cameos, if that. Exactly one characters gets two chapters from his POV – the first, and about halfway through the book – and he’s one of the people who barely touches the rest of the cast, so it’s not like he’s actually the protagonist or propelling the narrative. You end up with a novella and a bunch of short stories that, put together, are both constantly hitting the same beats but also lacking any real through-line tying them all together and pushing things forward. Which really isn’t helped by the fact that the ending reads like someone gave Taylor a maximum wordcount 5 pages before he hit it and he just did the best he could.

[oh-shtars]

RFTS!AU AskBox #4

Me to @signed-sapphire for the legendary number of 50 Questions Galore they sent me:

Heads up though, you might notice there’s certain questions skipped. I’m either not able to answer some of the asks at all OR they’re either some art requests that I haven’t finished and will post in future posts. So I had to skip them for this post unfortunately…. I apologise as such. 😅

Anyways, let’s get speeding through them shall we?

1. How do you plan to show the songs?

It should be question 6 of this post here. :)

……

2. How many songs do you plan to have in RFTS?

4 or more. Depends on what I come up with.

……..

3. What ‘vibe’ would each song have?

Uhhhhhhh, idk tbh. I’m really just going with the flow of what this story brings me. You can’t wait to see what the RFTS!plot has in store? Yeah, me too.

……..

4. Who’s voicing Valentino and the main cast?

For Valentino, I’m not sure. I’m debating whether it should be younger Bambi or Ronno’s VA. But he basically has an actual kid’s voice this time rather than a deep-sounding one. (Because honestly, I found that a bit weird personally). For the the other characters, I don’t really mind the voices they have canonically.

And I think I’ve mentioned this before, but even though Sueño can’t speak, I could hear him singing this in this voice hypothetically.

………..

5. Write or draw any cute interaction between Ashueño!

Mk :3

………

6. I know Asha will have a different outfit by the end, but do you have different designs for anyone else?

Yeah, I do actually. Some characters have a different outfit to better reflect their current context. (Like how Sakina would have work clothes similar to Asha.) But I don’t want to reveal most of them at the moment since I would like to keep them a secret for now.

……

7. Some Gabo doodles, if you don’t mind. I rarely see the short king in any Wish Art.

Fiiiiine.

His design makes a lot more sense if you were me and you knew the context. Take this art with whatever theories you guys can throw at me 😂

……. 10. What made Amaya fall in love with Magnifico? What changed?

Amaya had a family who greatly discouraged her interest in studying magic and potions since it’s against what their family has done for generations. Meanwhile, Magnifico who was adopted as Rosas’ prince, is expected to learn magic but COULDN’T because he struggles to do so since he hasn’t moved on from his trauma.

When these guys were around 16-15 years old, they were mutual best friends. Mag offers Amaya to read from his magic books while he finds comfort in just having a genuine friend who doesn’t remind or push expectations onto him that he hears everyday in the castle. She’s like an escape from the stresses he has in there.

In their future years, Amaya grew to fall in love with someone who promised her the world if she only asked for it. She finds bits of herself in Mag, as both were people with crushed dreams that deserve better. (In their POV anyway.)

Falling in love was not at all what she expected since she used to believe sympathy would only hold her back from exploring the limits of magic. But you know, Amaya’s as much as a tragic character as Magnifico is.

…….

11. Who fell first and who fell harder between those two?

Is it possible to say that RFTS!Magnifico is both?

……..

12. Any fun fact about the Royal Couple? (You can tell who I’m most invested in. lol.)

The only reason Espino, the royal cat, is in the castle is because Amaya wanted him around. Otherwise, if it were up to Mag, that cat is out to the streets. He’s not very fond of animals and he considers them as pests. Though, Espino gets small bonus points from Magnifico just because he keeps the castle clear from mice which he especially hates.

(Good to know you’re enjoying ‘Grand Despair’ while it lasts :)

……

13. This may be weird but…Body Swap! How would Hopes and Dreams react?

Asha would have zero idea how to get star magic under control. Meanwhile, Sueño finds an interesting realisation.

……..

14. What’s your favourite fanart piece of your AU?

I LOVE all of them so much!! They’re all made by very amazing artists!! I’m so happy to see these silly characters I’ve made be brought to life in someone else’s style. 💖💖

Mere words can’t express this joy enough. I hope you all would love the final chapters once they do come out as much as you loved seeing content of them now. X3

……..

15. Are you telling your story via writing or art of word dump?

I’m planning to share it in chapters like how Anny and everyone else has been doing. Plus some more sketches I would keep making of them obviously.

………

17. Draw Ashueño dressed as another Disney couple!

Hehehehehe guess whooo~ 🙃

………

19. Young!Sueño!

Which one? 🙃

Awww, good times back then when the little guy is still figuring out the forms he likes….

…… 20. Young!Royal Couple!

Mini Magnifico would rather drown himself or drink snake venom than call Oliver his dad- ………

22. Give some more lore on Asha’s father. Are you keeping him as close to the source material as possible? Will we see him in flashbacks or something?

You’ll definitely get to see Tomás at certain points in the story. Either in the short prologue, mentions and flashbacks. He’s generally a friendly guy but at the same time, is also assertive to defend what he thinks is wrong. But even though his life was cut short, Tomás ended up inspiring more people than he thinks. Especially his old friend, Sabino, who hasn’t given another wish or attended any more wish ceremonies after his death.

I don’t think we really knew much about Asha’s father at all in the canon movie, but I’ll pretty much be close to what is depicted there already with some more detail on how he made an influence in the lives of those he loves.

………

23. Give Sueño a stuffed toy for him to cuddle with. He deserves it <3

He adores it so much 💖💖

……….

24. More lore about the Astral Realm!

Not all Wishing Stars have the strong desire to venture down into the human realm someday and that’s completely fine. They can still guide their wishmaker from above. But for those who do want to, they need to answer one important question first:

“Why do you grant wishes?”

Since they would be going down to earth by themselves ALONE with none of their elders to guide them this time, their answer to this question serves as their anchor in case they get lost or distracted. Answers do vary and some may be the same among stars, but that’s fine. As long as they’re sincere with all their core on their answer. Some examples may be: “I like to see them reach their very best and reap their deserved rewards.” Or “I like watching them journey and discover themselves.”

……….

25. SNEAK PEAKS!!

This scene is one of my dotpoints I came up with but I’m not so sure anymore if that would still fit in and whether I should scrap it. Regardless, I thought this would be a nice little thing to show you all. Proof that I’m indeed working on it 😅

(Actually, this sounds so cute to draw. Feel welcome to try and do so if you want to, my fellow artists ^^)

…… 26. How does Magnifico’s magic work?

I made a whole post on this :3

………

27. Where did Amaya learn potions?

She’s self-taught mostly. But I also did mention that Mag generously lets her borrow what is meant to be his books of magic soooo, he played a role on that as well.

……

29. What’s Amaya’s opinion on the other Wish AU Mags?

I’m not exactly sure how different her opinions would be on each of them since I think we all decided to have our fun with Magnifico just being a shameless show-off and fun evil villain. I’ll try though.

Amaya would think KOW!Mag reminds her a lot of her own husband, also short-tempered and a disgustingly sweet romantic at times. She’s kind of a play-hard-to-get girl though 😂. One thing she does notice is that what WRTS!, Wish Granted! And KOW!Mag have in common is how loud they are with their ceremonies. Is that a universal Magnifico thing? Eh. There sure is a lot of interesting knowledge to learn from these universes. Hmmm.

TKoRaT!Maggy has that same pained look that falls on RFTS!Mag whenever he’s sulking by himself and needs time alone. Usually it’s because of his old village trauma. It’s an intriguing but ever so familiar cycle she recognises well.

Meanwhile. TFS!Mag is……different, she would say. Not exactly good different. I kinda imagine her eyeing this guy like a cat. This Mag just gives off a very different vibe of non-ruthlessness(?) that she’s not used to.

……..

30. Same for Mag, but vice versa.

RFTS!Mag gets very very very familiar vibes with KOW! And Wish Granted!Amaya. He finds it slightly amusing since it feels like his wife just became a part of some triplets. (He jokingly asked RFTS!Amaya if she had any sisters she never told him. The woman wasn’t amused. She doesn’t really like being reminded of her family.) I’m sorry TKoRaT! And TFS!Amaya, but you’ve made the decision to adopt Asha as your daughter and so he thinks lower of you now. Although…the TKoRaT!couple might just get to redeem themselves for that since they sound interesting enough. They’re going to have the ditch the girl though at some point.

WRTS!Amaya just feels off. He doesn’t know what exactly though? Is he losing his mind or something? Ugh, I think he could use devouring another Wish Bubble just in case…

……..

31. You know what, for Asha and Sueño too!

Oh boy, here we go. 😂

Asha will NOT be able to handle Wish Granted!Star’s energy. It’s so different from the silent but still lively conversations she has with her Starboy. Star just can’t bring himself to stop talking, can he? 😅 Asha thinks WRTS!Aster and TKoRaT!Star are adorable. Cielo may be a bit much at times with his light teasing and flirting, but she’s aware he means well.

I could see Asha’s non-hesitant empathy, patience and genuine concern to Haedus would be a huge comfort for the poor guy. (Trust me, she’s done this plenty before.) She’s a bit surprised to see Naos and Nembus but I think they’d get along just fine. She’s pretty good with playing with kids from her experience with a mischievous Valentino. And lastly, KOW!Aster is a total sweetheart that she jokingly comments could rival Sueño’s. (That comment caught Sueño’s attention quickly lmao.)

MEANWHILE:

Sueño is more hesitant and unwilling at first to approach humans by his own accord. He’ll still keep a short distance buuuut… if they’re just another version of Asha, it can’t be that horrible, right?

KOW!Asha’s drawings are a familiar sight for him and he’s impressed that she could bring her own drawings to life. Same goes for WRTS!Asha with her magic wand. Maybe they’re friendly… Maybe they could both do that together :D He’s neutral with Wish Granted! And Aled’s Asha for now until he gets to know them better.

Sueño recognises that same shyness and timid nature in TKoRaT!Asha. (It’s weird how she does the same thing RFTS!Asha does of turning their head away and hiding behind their hair when he innocently just looks her way.)

And then there’s…….HER. TFS!Asha. Cielo talks about her a lot….😬. But you know, that girl scares him.

Unfortunately, Sueño is staying a relatively farther distance away from the last two Ashas I mentioned. Why? Idk, probably the fact that they’re the daughter of Mag and Amaya-

……….

32. *Gives Sueño an iPad with Duolingo on it* Here my child. Learn Spanish.

I have a feeling you did this so he could finally find out what his name, ‘Sueño’ translates into. Lol, nope. Not yet he’s not.

He still appreciates the gesture though, but the guy got distracted by the other cool features and apps this weird magical mirror-tablet thing(?) had and completely forgot all about the Owl app.

……

33. Will Asha ever attempt to learn Celestial? Maybe with a candle? Like Morse Code? Idk.

Idk. Speaking Celestial is really just stars exchanging screechy sound waves to each other telepathically like words, while their glowing sequences indicates the mood and tone of what they’re saying. Maybe if Asha comes to learn how to harness light magic on her own, she’ll be able to at least convey emotions such as happiness in it by controlling the brightness and duration of each flash.

…….

35. How are you planning out your story?

I usually think of what main message I’m trying to get across first and build the story around it. After some character and world-building stuff (that I keep adding to because procrastination), I put the key scenes I could think of in bullet-point format and then just think up some in-between scenes that could occur between those points.

Usually though, the most usual process is that a random concept/idea pops into my head and then I immediately type it down so I won’t forget it. It’s basically my thing now to organise the giant mess of reminders into comprehensive plot lines.

I’m not writing the story at this point. The story is choosing to expose itself to me XD

Another main thing I do is listen to my Spotify playlist of this AU, read the Wish Artbook, or rewatch a movie that has inspired the RFTS! plot in some way.

……..

36. Are there any kisses in your story?

Hmmmmm….. *glances at Ashueño and Amnifico*

Oh well, since you’ve asked me, I gueeeeess I’m unfortunately now going to have to remove all the kisses I had included since y’all are so desperate to know….. (/jk)

……..

38. Will the Royal Couple have villain transformations?

………..

39. What’s your take on the ‘eating wishes’ thing?

As I’ve mentioned in my last post on how the magic system works in the RFTS!AU, Magnifico eats wish essence to reverse the costly effects of using Curse Magic. To put it simply, he uses them to make him more mentally stable.

.,,,,,,,,

40. What Easter Eggs are you planning to put in your story?

Awwwww, where’s the fun in that? Find them yourselves >:)))

And who knows? Maybe certain fellow creators in the Wish Rewrite Fandom will make a reference in some of the chapters. Keep an eye out 😉

……..

42. What exactly does Asha’s job entail?

Being a king’s apprentice is a way to gain experience and learn how to use magic by the king himself, so you could use the attained knowledge as to however you want. Share the talent with Rosas or Go out into the world.

However, when Magnifico’s reign started, he forbade magic usage other than he and his wife with the claim that it’s for the greater good and safety for Rosas. (He kinda had a point since criminal activity and accidents did decrease in number after that rule.)

Since Mag doesn’t really need an apprentice, Asha is more of an assistant now, following in her dad’s footsteps before her. She’s tasked to do help with whatever Mag might need around his study such as keep the fire going or organise his papers. But Mag doesn’t really like having her around a lot, (since she asks a lot of questions about his wish-keeping system) so he purposefully tells her to go carry out outside tasks such as go into the garden and help the gardeners or something.

……..

43. Did Magnifico make Sueño’s bonds?

If I told you, would that make you more blood-thirsty enough to gather pitchforks and torches for his head? Because if you are, please don’t. I still need this guy to stir up conflict in my story :((

(You can have him all you want though once I’m done with him. Lmao.)

………

44. How was Rosas founded?

Nearly a century ago, the kingdom was first built. I’ve read in the Art book that Rosas was apparently named to reference ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

Like, ok….?

Anyways, I found that roses are meant to represent love, rebirth and beauty. So I decided to add more onto that than just have it as another reference. The kingdom’s founders wanted Rosas to be a place where people who are wary and feel outcasted by their homes can find and start a new beginning. To ‘Rebirth’ and have a second chance to find the ‘beauty and love’ in their lives again,

Blue and white were made the royal colours because the blue was meant to stand for trust and reliability and white for new beginnings. Symbolising the past kings and queens’ responsibility to have their talents in sorcery be used to serve the people who come here. Thus, Rosas’ citizens all are in a variety of different cultures.

……..

45. Over how many days does your story take?

I’m thinking within one month. It’s a race-against-time sort of thing where Asha needs to find out how to confront the Royal Couple before they do something horrible on Rosas’ celebration of its 100th anniversary, which is literally just a month away.

…….

46. What was your favourite part of Wish? Are you translating that to your AU?

I really really loved how Mag’s magic looked and how he went all evil-ish green as a tribute to past Disney villains. If we ignore the awkward transition he had from sympathetic to just plain psychotic, it’s a cool magic display. I kinda wished they went more full out on the final battle because it just felt so underwhelming asf.

I’m keeping the magical final battle but with more magical funsies. :D

…….

47. Least favourite part?

I’m frustrated how bland and empty the character interactions and emotional beats are since those kinds of moments are usually my favourite when it comes to movies.

Magnifico’s tragic loss of his village? “Pfft- What tragedy? We don’t need that in the movie’s 2nd half.”

Asha’s dead father? “Eh. We only needed him for a few mins and he’s non-existent from that point on.”

Valentino claims to be Asha’s helpful animal sidekick. “Did I mention I have a deep voice? Oh, and my butt’s a funny thing too. Did I already mention that my voice is loud and soooo deep??”

Simon’s betrayal? “Oh wow, that was a shock…. Anyways, wanna start a rebellion?”

OMG, Sakina’s wish is back!! “What was the wish about? Idk who cares.”

Asha’s friendship with Star doesn’t even feel that special to me?? GUYS, I felt more chemistry between Rapunzel and Pascal. COME ON, BUILD IT UP. DON’T JUST SAY ‘Awww, you and I are thinking the same thing~’ AND EXPECT ME TO BUY THAT.

……….

48. What’s your favourite aspect of the TFS!AU?

Idk why, but I like how there’s a unique twist in your AU on how Wishing Stars don’t have the best reputation to humans. It’s a nice subversion that makes it stand out a little more. :)) Because usually, the idea of wishing on stars is always seen as a positive thing but that’s not the case in this story. It’s intriguing to watch characters slowly realise that not everything is what it seems.

That, and the hilarious dynamic you’ve got going on between Cielo and Asha and how deep in denial they both are, even though it’s clear as day to the other TFS!cast. 😂

(Wouldn’t it be funny if TFS!Mag and Amaya also noticed? They may be going down a dark path but they’re not blind, girl.)

……..

50. What’s a boring fact about you?

Uhhhhhh…. I like organising stuff by colour for fun...? Like, I used to pour out a box of legos and sort through them as a kind of pastime. I still organise coloured pencils in rainbow order if I could too. 😅 ………

@annymation @uva124 @your-ne1ghbor @ficsinhistory @rascalentertainments @gracebethartacc @spectator-zee

It’s a long read, but I think you guys would enjoy going through it regardless. I hope so anyways.

Btw, thx for all the fun questions Bo! 💖 Might post some more regarding your other doodle requests that I’ve put to the side for now if you don’t mind. :))

[meraki-yao]

WIP Ask Game

Tagged by @nocoastposts!!! Thank you dear <3

Haven't gotten around to actually writing that much these two weeks because of school and also me working on my little rwrb animatic project instead, but here's some of what I have at the moment!

Ask me anything about my WIPs!

Works Started:

The Word of Your Body (RWRB):

Song fic of the movie Paris scene using "The Word of Your Body" from Spring Awakening, Chapter 1 in Alex's pov completed and uploaded, Chapter 2 in Henry's pov with the Reprise of the song (that supposedly Nick sang when he was in the production at 19) currently planning

Enchanted to Meet You (RWRB):

Reverse Cinderella AU: Alex is the son of the town Mayor and is holding the town's harvest festival, Henry is the repressed prince of the kingdom who snuck away for a break, but then stumbles across Alex. Loosely based on 2015 Cinderella. Chapter 1 uploaded, currently planning (*cough struggling *cough) with Chapter 2

I know better (but you're still around) (RWRB):

One-shot song fic based on Taylor Swift's "Marjorie", exploration of the Hanover-Stuart Foxs (Movie verse) finally learns to deal with their grief and reconcile. Just started writing

Take Me Out and Take Me Home (Malec)

5+1 Fic: 5 times Alec called Magnus his boyfriend and the 1 time Alec called him something more. 4 chapters done, 2 left, and currently sort of in writer's block for this fic

Ideas:

I'll See You In My Dreams (RWRB)

Where the only way the insomniac Prince Henry can fall asleep is to the ASMR videos of a certain ACD, who's later invited to a discussion/panel for one of Henry's mental health-related programmes (or some other social issue? I'll have to think about it)

Book Tok Fic (haven't thought of a name yet) (RWRB)

Inspired by some tik tok reuploaded to Instagram reel I saw ages ago: Henry is an author who's struggling to write the physical part of romantic scenes in his novel and Alex, his roommate who he has a massive crush on offers to help by demonstrating it with him. Kiss kiss fall in love :)

The Little Prince (RWRB)

Movie Verse Expanded: Taking the campfire scene monologue and telling the story each part shows, ex: "His grandfather, the King, sent the prince a suit of armor and told him that if he always wore it, nothing would ever happen to him." = the King's talk with Henry on his 18th birthday

I know you (I walked with you once upon a dream) (RWRB)

Sleeping Beauty + Soulmates AU with Henry as Aurora and Alex as Prince Philip, the dreams actually being a soulmate connection (the mechanics of the soulmate aspect inspired by one of my favourite Malec fics)

 The Dreams That You Dream (RWRB)

Henry's POV of the Buckingham protest, one on book and one on movie

Song Fics/ Character Studies (RWRB)

At All Cost from Wish and You Matter to Me from Waitress

Identical (Qi Ye/ Tian Ya Ke)

I don't think any one of my tumblr followers would know this one but Qi Ye and Tian Ya Ke is a duology of Chinese BL ancient drama novels, with the latter adapted into the TV Show Word of Honor. There are two characters in the book that although only met once, have a very similar trajectory when it comes to their relationships and unrequited love, only one already moved on and found someone better while the other hasn't. Had this idea to expand upon their connection because in the novel, the one it's implied that the one that moved on immediately recognized their shared experience. But I never got around to writing it, it has been lying in my drafts for a year now 😭

Tagging @typicalopposite @luainthewild @england-would-fall @pippin-katz and anyone who wants to join in!

[garrettwrites]

Warning: discussions of homophobia; extremely negative rant over a popular lgbt book.

Post context: I waited a decade to read a certain retelling book that focuses on the development of an lgbt couple, one which has been discussed over the centuries. I'm doing my best to censor its title and characters, so this post doesn't show up in the tags for people who genuinely love this story. The title, one I now view as overrated, is something along the lines of a song about a certain popular greek hero with long blond hair and a particularly fragile heel. I wanted to read the original, the Iliad, first. I was so excited... and finally, I read the Iliad and other classical texts, I studied ancient history, and I was finally in the mood to start, paired with good knowledge of the characters that would feature in it AND the historical context... Only to find out I shouldn't have waited. 14/15 year old me would have loved this. Current me cannot. I find most reviewers must have either been high while reading, or have taken this book as teenagers, because there is no way an adult over the age of 25 with some degree of reading experience would have not seen the glaring problems with this book.

Disclaimer, if you care - I have no problem with story alterations. I can be critical of them, sure. But even that won't stop me from enjoying something. I think Percy Jackson should have followed a more greek setup, and I don't particularly fancy some of the worldbuilding choices, but those books were and still are among my favourite fantasy stories. Even though they're for children. Even though I've read Tolkien. I'm no elitist, nor do I believe shit can't be changed to make a compelling story. What I do have a problem with is how you present information, and how you distort it.

For instance, if you wanted to write a story about Ariadne and her godly husband set in the year of 1850 for some reason, and make opium play a role? I think that's a fucking weird setting. But it could work, if you stuck true to what characterises them, their relationship, and had a story with a beggining middle and end that tries to show something.

Going back to the retelling that inspired this "rant review". I'll let others more qualified than me to talk about the sexism. What shocked me here was the gay lovestory that reads so homophobic in how cliché it is that it hurts.

This story reads as "when you're so progressive you gotta turn a gay couple made up of two masculine, warrior like, war drowned men into "the hot warrior and his healer who hates fighting" so it fits into (the already sexist/misogynistic) heterosexual couple role".

Because god forbid you have a gay couple where you actually need to deconstruct masculinity without villainizing it. God forbid you actually need to write men into a gay story. God forbid these men are not good, and you need to get into their complexity. God forbid the pov character, who is written as a love struck maiden, has a life outside his strong warrior that helps contextualise his love for him.

Listen. Feminine men are amazing. Gay feminine men are too. I have plenty of original characters that fit within these labels. What I do not do is turn two ancient greek warriors into an early 2000s seme uke yaoi dynamic where one of them is a fragile maiden war tent housewife and the other a very hot but detached strong soldier god man. This is not the story to do that. And even if you play with gender roles and have a man take a more "womanly" role, it's not enough to just genderswap - a character is still badly written regardless of wether they're male or female.

If the housewife character here was a woman, I guarantee everyone who praises this book would be losing their marbles. A woman with no personality outside her lover? Afraid of fighting, of standing up, of speaking up, and this never changes? Who becomes a healer not because she studies it, but because her fragile soul has no other option? Who is passive as all hell in the story until the author remembers she has to die in an impactful manner to trigger her male love interest? That is two dimensional and no way to write a girl, and it's not suddenly okay just because this girl has a dick and is a him.

Yet cause it's gay it's okay to write such an insipid character. Praised even. Which is made even worse, because the original version was a man who yes - indeed - was kind to others yet an absolute beast on the battlefield. Who had opinions and gave counsel. This is not even an original character - I wouldn't criticise an original character as harshly, but this author changed a fighter with incredible skill, who killed a son of a god and was a hero in his own right, into this. A character who yes, was kind and beloved. But touched by war regardless. A character who was loved by those around him, but in this book is ridiculed by these very same people.

Why do you think that is.

And no, trying to make the story more anti war is not an answer. The Iliad is anti war. The Iliad literally comments on how war corrupts what it touches, how it fucked up the lives of everyone involved. This is not a modern take on an old story, because the old story in question already talks about it.

But what can I expect, here. I could call this a work that doesn't know how to write gay men without adhering to (already dated even for straight people) gender roles... but truth is? Author doesn't know how to write women either. The moment you unironically think Helen of Troy is just a vain little hot chick you should not be allowed to write an Iliad retelling, me thinks.

Oh, and let's not get into the fact both main characters are meant to be gay. They're not bisexual. Yet this book - a GAY ROMANCE - is not shy about shoving straight sex scenes onto you. Sex scenes with really no purpose, for they're never brought up again later, and have no story impact.

I am not kidding. Character A gets D pregnant, Character P barely reacts to it, and when D gets upset at P for whatever reason THE TWO OF THEM HAVE SEX TOO. NOTHING AS GAY AS FUCKING THE WOMAN IMPREGNATED BY YOUR BOYFRIEND, UH?! And it's never brought up again! Nobody forces Character P into this yet he willingly goes? Excuse me, if you wanted these characters to have sex with women so casually, why not just make them bisexual and open to banging outside their relationship?

It reads as so disgusting, to have an author clearly lean into a soulmate trope, then just pull some of the most uncomfortable to read sex scenes ever outside that soulmate couple (I love purple prose. Purple prose is probably the only reason I didn't hate this book - the writing was beautiful. But the way the sex with Character D goes... good lord it's written in such a puke inducing way). I'm not against poly in books, what I am against is leaning into monogamous tropes for a gay couple, where you write neither of them as bisexual (which, btw, bi-erasure of the original characters) but then have them bang outside their relationship EVEN when nobody is forcing them to. Never have I read a gay book where straight sex is pushed forward so much. And it's not just even weird for the gay couple, it's also written in a really odd way for the women involved.

"Oh you just don't get the theme! It was out of pity! It was-" turn this into a straight romance and tell me, with a straight face, that this story is well written. Bad character development, bad usage of tropes, terrible pacing, and the use of sex outside the main romance purely for reader self insertion (for it contributes with nothing but shoddy erotica, in a book supposedly about AxP) should not be excused just because a book is gay.

Honestly. "Let people enjoy things" well I propose let me be a hater. I went above and beyond to block the book and character names, let's hope it's enough. But I'm against not criticising things just because they're diverse. It's 2024. There's plenty of authors writing good stories with marginalised people.

And let's talk about LGBT+ worldbuilding, shall we? In the beggining of this book - set in Ancient Greece by the way - it's stated men could take male lovers on the side. Then it's not brought up again, until later a woman tells P many married men take lovers on the side. This girl was originally a sex slave by the way, and here she gets Stockholm Syndrome and falls for P. But then another character tells P he's too old to be into men? So, which is it? It's not even a thing about ancient greek men having that thing where it was accepted for an older man to be sexually involved with a young boy, because here the problem brought up is P being too old, not his lover being too old too.

Oh, and the love interest's (A's) mother. She hates their relationship. We are told she hates their relationship because P is mortal and she doesn't want a mortal to be with her son. Yet later on she arranges a marriage between her son and a MORTAL woman. So is the problem really mortality, or homosexuality?

Why is there modern day homophobia in a story that many praise for historical accuracy?

I honestly hate how people care about representation at the cost of quality. It is mind boggling to me that a woman in this century wrote a book more homophobic and misogynistic than greeks almost 3 thousand years ago did.

[sflow-er]

for the writing asks: 4, 16, 23

Thank you kindly for the ask, friend! <3

Coincidentally, @redleavesinthewind also asked 4 and 23, so I hope its okay I split those between you!

4. was answered here.

16. Favourite place to write

Sadly enough, I don't have much of a choice, because I don't currently own a laptop or even a tablet. I only have my desktop and phone, of which I infinitely prefer my desktop haha. I don't actually like spending time in my home office when I'm not working, but it's my only alternative at the moment.

23. Pick three keywords that describe your writing

This is a really tough one because my first instinct is to self-deprecate and start with something like wordy, but I'm going to try to pick positive words.

Backgrounded. I realise the English word isn't as commonly used to mean 'furnished with background (information) and/or considered in context' as the Finnish word taustoitettu, but I can't think of another one-word equivalent so please humour me! I like to think it shows that I put a lot of time and effort towards studying both the canon and the relevant real-world concepts and details. It's labour-intensive, but I think it helps to ground both me and the reader in the world of the fic and the character's perspective in said fic (informed by my understanding of their world, which may differ from fanon takes the reader has encountered before, for example).

Evocative (in terms of prose). I guess most writers aim to evoke feelings, images, and other experiences in the reader, but specifically in my own writing, this shows in word choices and passages that lean into the character's emotions, memories, sensory observations etc. Sometimes it can even show in the general style of prose or structure of the story, which can be used to give the reader a certain feel of the POV character or to reflect their development. I wouldn't say those play a significant part in the narrator's characterisation in all my fics but they have done in some. (Other people's secrets is the most notable example of the style thing and Bright ideas of the structure thing.)

Organic (in terms of dialogue/internal monologue). This can be a tough balancing act when I'm writing characters half my age "speaking Swedish" in English, neither of which is my native language. So I would not necessarily say my dialogue is realistic; the characters are often too mature and they don't speak like real teens, and while I try not to put in too many things that couldn't conceivably be there if this was a Swedish source text that I was very freely translating into English, I always prioritise fluency in English.

However, I do try to make the dialogue organic in the sense that it flows easily and uses words and concepts that feel innate to my version of those characters. I let them be unclear and awkward at times, and I try to steer away from words and phrases that they definitely wouldn't use. (One good example is Walter's internal monologue in The real deal, where Henry's hair is always ginger or a blondish red and never 'strawberry blonde' which definitely isn't in my Walter's vocabulary.)

Thank you again for the questions!

I'm still open for more if anyone wants to send them - list here.

[laura1633]

About the ask you got about Max being written as the unattractive one so often, I think it’s worth remembering that in the bulk of fanfiction and fandom, complicated things are very often boiled down to their simplest tropes! The general public’s perception is that Charles is one of the most attractive drivers on the grid, so that means that Max is usually relegated to the “ugly”/self-conscious role because that is the easiest way to write it.

I think it’s kind of the same as the way Charles is often the hyper-feminized character while Max is the more boyish/masculine one. Not to say that any of these takes are objectively bad because obviously writers should write what they’d like, but I think these types of basic concepts just make it easier to jump in and get going.

Personally, I do love a real character study, and I love it when they both are written with their own insecurities that just baffle the other one because it’s like “what do you mean???? You’re the hottest person I’ve ever seen!!!!” 🥰

Some really great points anon <3

You are definitely right about some fan fiction being boiled down to tropes. I'm not saying that as a negative because I love reading and writing lots of the popular tropes. It's funny because things that might put me off certain films etc draw me in in fan fiction, I think fan fiction just hits differently. I will read the same trope over and over and love it each time.

I sometimes wonder if a little of the perception of Max also has to do with the fact that Max came into this sport so young and sometimes when you are still growing and getting comfortable with yourself you can come across as more awkward (not always but sometimes). I think people still think he is that younger Max and have completely missed the fact he has grown up in to this really hot man! (In much the same way as how people like to go on about things he did on the track 10 years ago as some sort of statement for the type of driver he is)

I guess when you have a story idea that requires one of them to be the less attractive one and you are writing about Max and Charles it's a struggle ! I just find it really difficult to try and think about Max being the 'less attractive one' because I just look at him and think he is the most attractive on the grid. Not that I am going to try and describe Charles as unattractive 😂

To me it all just comes down to which character's POV I am writing from because Charles is going to go crazy over how attractive Max is and vice versa. So I definitely agree with you anon, I love it when they are both so confused and just can't get over how the other would be insecure because they are just perfect.

(I am also sure that there are some people who write fanfiction about Max who actually don't like him and are using him as a plot device and in those cases they are quite happy to describe him as ugly, I personally avoid anything that even seems like it is going in that direction though!)

[majorsoapfan]

re: wip game

hello! can you share more about the mentor swap au & victor au?

Hi! Yes I can!!!

Mentor Swap

This was based on the post that I saw on here about how the tributes might have fared had their Mentors been swapped and the kind of relationships that they might have had then and well, from there, I just kind of started to explore different scenarios there.

This fic is more of a character/relationship study thing almost, as I'm currently exploring the relationship between Coral and Persephone and Sejanus and Sabyn in particular and how it develops in the lead-up to the Games and how they also grow to care (or still care in Sejanus' case) for their canon tributes. I'm also planning on touching briefly on the relationship dynamics between other characters like Arachne and Tanner, Felix and Clemensia with Reaper and Dill and even Pup and Lamina's changing relationship now that there is no Mentoring her to make Pup care for her.

And I suppose it wouldn't be one of my works if there wasn't a break-out of some sorts being planned . . .

Victor AU

This one is actually a planned series not a fic so to speak, based on the idea that all of the tributes in the 10th Hunger Games are now all Victors in the modern times for the Games, dealing with the struggles and horrors that the Capitol forced on them after they became Victors.

The idea for the first few fics in the series is to be told from Coral's pov, beginning from the 65th Games and following her pov mainly from there for the first few years. Then in the years following, to expand to other povs as Coral learns about and experiences the dangers in the Capitol, while Rebellion is simmering under the surface and other characters such as Treech, Lamina and Teslee go into the Games and eventually leading up to the 75th Games and the 2nd Rebellion.

This one is slower going as I don't want to publish anything for it until I've planned out in detail how things are going to go with certain characters, in particular the Rebellion, plus making OCs for the first bit of it for people in District 4 so it's slow going for now, but I'll start publishing eventually.

[nihilnovisubsole]

the writer interview game

tagged by no one, but i saw @arthoure doing it, so that's as good an excuse as any

when did you start writing?

when didn't i?

are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

i mainly read nonfiction, because i'm always getting myself into some mess where i have a cool idea that i can't execute properly without research. i just finished mary beard's twelve caesars, which is about how roman emperors have become the blueprint for how the west depicts power in art. you know, AK-brand stuff.

if i'm reading fiction and i like the genre, i always want to write it myself at some point. reading and writing are kind of an audience-participation thing for me. i'd love to do more spy stories, or something like elizabeth peters' egypt mysteries, or some sea-soaked victorian intrigue. it's all a love letter to something i read or watched or played.

is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

i'm alone in the middle of the ocean in the splintered fishing boat of third-person objective that hemingway left behind, and that's where i'll stay. nobody's been wild enough to actually compare me to him, because i'm not one-fiftieth as skilled, but i'll always wish i were. in brief, he gets to the point. he tells you what happened, because his stories are about humans doing things that result in consequences, which is basically, to my mind, how the world works. i simply believe that if i'm not able to convey how a character feels without dipping into internal POV, i'm not doing a good enough job. movies only have a script and music and visuals and the body language of the actors, and they pull it off all the time.

i mean, okay, i'm being dramatic. i don't hate internal POV. use it! be excellent at it! i want to see how far i can get without it. let me do my one-armed push-ups here.

can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

it's my white wood childhood desk in my tiny bedroom with my 11-year-old desktop on it. very romantic, i know. my work-from-home machine is in the dining room. i fantasize about having one of those book-lined studies one day, but i have to be able to afford a house in the place where i want to live first!

what’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

i've been telling the same old joke about my method for years: "i don't have a muse, i have a hundred sooty workers in a coal mine." writing for money as an adult has not given me the luxury of waiting until i get inspired or feel like doing it. inspiration is one percent. the other 99 is knuckle-down discipline. anything i've ever finished, i only finished because i grit my teeth through it.

for work writing, it's easy. "they're paying you for the privilege of contributing to this project." for personal writing, it's more existential. "what will you have to show for yourself?"

are there any recurring themes in your writing? do they surprise you?

here's another, fresher joke that i told a teammate yesterday: my method for creating characters is to take some deep, personal neurosis or question, then give it a hairstyle and outfit. make of that what you will!

what is your reason for writing?

when it comes down to it, i just think it'd be a shame if i didn't. i'll be 32 next month. i have probably 27 years of ideas kicking around, and i would be disappointed if all of them died with me. in that respect, it's really childlike. i want to be heard. if somebody hears my voice through my writing, i'm less lonely. i feel connected to them.

i wish i could tell deep truths about humankind, but maybe that'll come later. it'll have to come later if i want my work to mean anything, right?

what do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

i don't know! if nothing else, i have a lot of fun carving out characters with fully-formed, distinct identities. of course they have things in common, because my taste leads me to certain places, but i want them to stand apart from each other. they should have their own discrete atmospheres and themes.

how do you feel about your own writing?

no time to dwell on that. if i start thinking about whether i'm good or bad, i'll get too self-conscious to continue, and what am i gonna do? not write? back to it!!

also if you see this ur tagged, sorry i don't make the rules

[elves-gone-wild]

I will promote my Fanfic here a little too

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57164794/chapters/145397629

Its a Valentino POV (Character Study) Staticmoth Fanfiction that Shows my HC for Vals Past (also lots of Vee interaction)

Valentino can't remember his past, at least not like the other sinners in Hell. Why should he? His current life is the best he’s ever had. Reminiscing about the past seems totally irrelevant, right? That is, until a new Overlord steps onto the scene, claiming to know Valentino. What does this Andres know about Valentino, and more importantly, will he change Valentino's reputation? Will he endanger the life Valentino has built for himself? Will Vox start looking at him differently?

Valentino has to confront his past when a person from his life before Hell makes a name for himself in his circles. He isn't the best at dealing with it. Mostly because it would also mean addressing feelings for a certain business partner, and neither he nor Vox is good at actually talking about that elephant in the room. Chaos ensues.

[devyuence]

How That One Only Friends Thread Demonstrated How Misinformation Operates: A Case Study (LOL)

Disclaimer: This is not really a case study but an analysis and venting room. Lol. If you are new here, this Tumblr account was originally made for my college majors so woop de woop. I am actually about to sleep but there is this one post in X about Only Friends that made me get up and type this post. I do not want to bring drama from other platforms but yenno.

If you are going to raise your brows at me for writing this, sue me, I guess. On what grounds though? Anyway, I will also not drop names like we only assign aliases akin to psychology case vignettes. After explaining the context, I will also delve into the audience's reaction to the said thread. I may be reading too much into this, actually no, because I made this yawn. I am typing this without a filter.

Anyway, this going to be a long-ass post...

Context: There is this one big account from X who is an avid viewer of Only Friends. As far as I know, big accounts are users who have a following of a thousand and above. Let us name this account user AB. According to the pinned tweet of the AB, they will translate for their fandom--the catch is, they will only translate specific scenes of the couple/ship they support. If they see that it is not related to the ship, they will cut it.

AB's Claims (aka their translation of the book):

Boston is in love with Top. Top got Boston's heartbroken that he started sleeping around and developed commitment issues.

Boston is mad at Top so he pushed Mew to Top because he thought the two would not take each other seriously--particularly Top because he is used to one-night stands.

Boston did not want to hurt Mew.

Boston is just a pookie and misunderstood character--this implies what he did to Top just makes sense

Counter-claims (from the same OF novel)

Boston sleeps around EVEN BEFORE he met Top

It was mentioned in the book that the reason why Cheum, Boston, Ray, and Mew are friends is because they are all rebelling against the standards set by society. Fact 1: It was actually established in the book that Boston hates living in the shadow of his father who is a respected politician. Fact 2: Boston sleeps around and is popular for giving people benefits. As such, he was threatened once to be exposed by the senior with whom he had an encounter. Said senior wanted them to stay for some time so they could brag about dating the politician's kid.

2. Will not argue with this one but come to think of it, Boston knows what he is signing up for. It was mentioned countless times that Top sleeps around and thinks of people as one-night stands. Top even created a rule and once they exceeded that certain time period, bye bye. The same goes for Boston. Even in the series, Boston does not want to have romantic relationships.

3. Boston ACTUALLY wants to hurt not JUST Top but Mew

If you looked for snippets of the novel, Boston actually called Mew bland. BLAND. Idk but calling your friend bland just because you think you are the BEST and is jealous is hmmm...

This leads us to...

4. Boston is not a pookie character, folks, and it is okay to admit it

He actually SAed Top. It was even stated in his POV that Boston forced himself to Top because he wanted to show him that he was better than his bland friend Mew. Yep. He is mad. He is jealous. He called his friend bland at that time because insecurity reared his ugly head.

To be honest, people have favorites and biases. I have one. You have one, too.

What I did not actually like is how AB specifically stated that they would not translate the parts except their favorite ship but cherry-picked translating aka interpreting Boston and Top's relationship.

As such, there are specific parts that are lost: like how AB did not include the part where Boston SAed Top. In the novel, it was much more detailed. Top actually had difficulties breathing to the point of almost losing consciousness. Yep, that is how extremely unsettling it is in the novel. He pushes his lower body to Top even if does not respond to him--because at that time, he is already in love with Mew.

So why am I writing all of this? I mentioned that everyone has biases but why? It is because I disliked misinformation and at the same time, I find it amusing how a simple fan's sentiments of Only Friends is actually a prototype of misinformation operations that can be/is applied in political spaces.

How is it similar to how the dissemination of misinformation works?

ONE: The thread has a deliberate omission of some information. Certain parts of the translation are cherry-picked because of their biases and yes, this is not the first time AB demonstrated their dislike for TopMew. This time, it is done in a subtle manner.

TWO: The thread evokes certain emotions in the audience. Like I've said earlier, we all have biases and certainly, we feel sad for our favorite character or celebrity especially if we think that they are underdog. An exemplary example of this is the way people feel sympathy for underdog politicians.

See how the Philippines voted for Duterte because he is a simple man who had no machinery but an honest mouth (actually just foul-mouthed and straight-up crap anyway). They also reelected Marcos Jr., aka the son of the dictator Marcos Sr., to the position. All because of misinformation.

In Only Friends, only Boston and Nick have no definite endings. Now that the two pairs ended up together but not them, fans of the ship are more vulnerable and easily swayed by emotions.

The comments of the users who interacted with the thread goes along the lines of: "Wow! I hate Top even more!" "Boston is just a baby who is misunderstood!" "He is my pookie. Sadlyf." "They did my baby Boston dirty."

THREE: The said emotions and ingrained ideas by the sources make it easier for people to ignore fact-checking and consume only what is available to them. You might think that I am unfair for comparing fandom reactions and sentiments to much serious world problems but like I said, this is a prototype. A mini reflection. Almost.

The most frustrating part is that some people do not bother to fact-check it--like if AB really has a book and is translating it based on the content OR AB is actually interpreting it, adding and subtracting things.

In addition, AB cannot give the page number of the source material so those who have the novel can check if what they are saying is true.

I mean this is not an isolated case. Even K-POP fandoms and the like are like this.

It just happens that this case unfolded in front of my eyes like wow. I need to write/type that. LMAO.

FOUR: AB's thread is a mini echo chamber

Once a fan/internet user is trapped in their own echo chamber and only sees things they like, they will most likely think that everything is true and what they believe is true is true. This is similar to algorithms used in misinformation and disinformation operations.

Going back, if you checked AB's post, a lot of people liked it and retweeted it. It has high engagements because AB is a big account. Let us face it, not everyone has the money to buy a book and they will consume what is available to them. The very same people are the ones who will engage with the post and retweet the hell out of them to show support.

Those who will correct the information AB has given will be ignored because people choose to believe the source. Like who cares if AB is wrong? It satisfies my ego too. Lol.

This is why YouTube removed the dislike button because it is a way for people to silently agree or disagree on something. This is also true for X.

The said echo chamber makes misinformation easier to spread. What is worse is if the source has a stable following aka large audiences.

I know, people will raise their brows and say that I am in an echo chamber too by liking Mew and to a certain extent TopMew but hahaha. Anyway...

If you are still reading this, wow! I hope you are still okay. Lol. I am sorry that I analyzed this thing way too much (in reality, I do not, I am actually typing the first thing I can think of).

I am sorry not sorry that the thread and the fandom behavior is just something that I had to bring it here and write. If people will criticize me for this, then, please be my guest. Lol.

Like did user devyuance just compare a thread to misinformation? Why not other threads? Why this one? I mean, this is something that I know of soooo. Wild? I mean, I just said what I said. The reason why my username is devyuance is because of deviance.

Sidenote, if you are still a college student in social sciences and searching for a research topic, you might want to delve deeper into this!

Raise your brows. Idc. Bye.

[chososdiscordkitten]

PLEASE GIVE ME SMUT WRUTING TIPS..GOJO BREEDING KINK MADE ME WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR MYSELF. (EVEVN IF U DONT LIKE GS BREEDING KINK, ITS ONE OF UR BWSTS) PLEASE GIVE ME DIALOGUE WRITING HELP. HELPPPPP DONT LEAVE ME HELPLESS

UHHHH smut writing tips... hmmm. (yapping below the cut)

this may sound very wrong and not pc BUT, ive been reading smut for years. Since I was like 10, ive read countless different writing styles, and millions of words of pure filth.

And as I read them I developed a taste of what I like and don't like- I write in a way as though I am reading to the reader- you/your/yours, because I don't like y/n or I don't like using third person pov nor first person.

What I do- is I think of the scene, picture it and if I can't get a body part- or a hand placement correct, I go look at porn videos or hentai- whatever. Not because i derive like arousal from it- but I truly use it as a form of studying. (im asexual)

I also use shows, movies and songs for inspo- certain lyrics I can picture on x character I write down.

I find it helpful to use a physical notebook for my ideas, there are times I don't have access to my computer so actual paper helps.

And as for dialogue, I try to keep a mix of x characters physical state while they speak, an example;

("blah blah blah" she said, and he said "blah blah" and then-) ive never liked this specific kind of writing so I include the way their eyebrows furrow- or the way their nose crinkles after saying something.

with smut I think its helpful for the reader to picture the way x characters face churns, a trembling bottom lip, dilated pupils, it helps make everything seem more intimate and inclusive for the reader.

And when it comes to describing the way something feels- if its something small like a trailing touch- I take a second and do what im writing about onto myself-

example; if im writing about a gripping hand on a hip- ill press the tips of my fingers onto my thigh to see the way the skin indents and how it feels? (embarrassing)

One thing ive learned- just because you write it with a specific image in mind- doesn't mean people will be able to see it the way you do unless you provide details.

usually when im doing laundry or at work a specific sentence pops into my head that id picture x character saying.

Let's use gojo for example, in my head when I think of his dialogue I think of playful, sweet, but with kinda mean undertones. Because in the anime/manga he keeps a playful tone while saying some very mean things.

once ive finished a very rough first draft- I spell check everything and read it outloud to myself- I say the dialogue in the tone I pictured while writing to be sure it sounds correct. and if it doesn't I brainstorm different phrases or words. (use of different words is soo important.)

And once ive corrected any words that don't fit together- or changing certain things that make me squint- I feed it into Siri nd have it read it to me outloud while I follow the sentences.

I do this 3-4 times till the whole thing sounds correct and how I mean for it to be read.

And I do one final skim once I paste the story onto Tumblr.

it's a tedious process, I know, there's times where im on my 4th reread and it seems boring or uninteresting- but only because ive reread it a million times and combed through it carefully.

There are times where I think my writing sucks because it seems over processed it and it's not entertaining- but!!! I proceed regardless.

And remember- you shouldn't write for the likes of other people, write for yourself and to your likings.

The masses shouldn't tell you what you should enjoy writing, pls don't take this as rules or as like a demanding thing- this is just my personal experience and the way I like to do things.

Writing should be a fun hobby and something you do to get the filth out of your mind, nd im not a very big writer on here, so don't listen to me too much

thank u for the question :>>> (I know how it feels to reach out for some help anon, im happy you enjoy my writing enough to ask me this, ily)

[not-poignant]

salut pia!

ive been wondering? how do you handle/change modes when you’re writing across AUs/fics? i mean not only the personality/attribute changes (like role reversal with ef and gwyn) but also change in…oh how do i say this..when a character is a MC in one but side/minor in another? bc they are different devices to different stories, how do you keep an overview of how much you reveal, go into so as to not side track from the main story or change the “flow”. example: whenever theres mentions of gender identity and betas somethin somethin feeling like omegas somethin somethin comes up “casually” sirens go off in my head and then i realise wait faber is NOT the MC in this story this is not about him him but its a little bit about him him. and then i feel like im standing behind a glass wall looking from Utb/Utg to Utr screaming at faber but he is a NPC here so we dont know whats going on in his head. that scene with ef and him eating carrots?…. i would give my right foot and skin tone copic markers to be a fly on the wall in fabers POV (the timelines probably wont align for it to happen but would you ever consider sth like this?? a scene overlapp across stories i mean?)

i’ve mostly read within that universe but ive also read spoils where your characters have completely different..positions? roles? weight? than in rainbow. so yeah how do you keep it all “appropriate” or “fitting” for their roles in different stories. like a puppet master

cheers xx

Hi anon,

So this is going to be not very helpful, but I don't write this stuff down for the most part.

This is the stuff I find so easy that this is why this is my job, in a way. I don't have a list of 'different Efnisiens' to keep track of, or 'different Gwyns.' They become themselves within the story. If I read a chapter of the story I get back into it (actually often I just need to listen to a song or put on the right playlist). Every version of a character is kind of there right now. I know how each would respond to something, and how those things would be the same or vary based on life experiences and the question etc.

I don't do really much at all to change modes. I just...do. There is no overview. It's all in my head. I'd say some of this goes down to how long / how many years I've spent studying character and dialogue overall. But even when I was younger I found this pretty easy, and transplanting characters into different situations to see how they'd react similarly / differently was one of my favourite kinds of exercises even when I was a teenager.

Some of it is knowing focus. Faber's side story is interesting, for those who like Faber and/or Underline the Red, hints about his gender struggles are fascinating, but they can only ever be hints, because I'm mindful that many readers aren't interested in Faber except as a minor character, and haven't read Underline the Red.

The focus is always Efnisien and Gary. Other characters can have their own lives and motivations, but it won't be more than that in the main story. Though I can go into a bit more detail because of the length of the story which is really nice for building out side characters / ensemble cast.

As to crossover perspectives, I don't know! I know we'll see some of Faber's perspective of Efnisien arriving at Hillview in Underline the Red, but obviously things impact characters differently at different times, I don't know what will be most important by the time we get to Faber's side of things. I used to write alternative perspectives as side chapters for Fae Tales though, and that could be a lot of fun.

so yeah how do you keep it all “appropriate” or “fitting” for their roles in different stories.

I saw a video by Hank Green I think once where he said the reason sportspeople are so good at their sports is in part because they're physically often the best at that sport anyway. Like, ballerinas have a certain build, swimmers have a certain build, and any training they do works to support that and make them better, but they were 'built' out for those sports in the first place. Some people have yoga bodies. I have a swimming body and swimming shoulders.

And I feel like this is true sometimes with writing. I don't try to keep it appropriate or fitting, I just know that the ensemble characters can't matter as much as the main characters in the course of the story. That's what a story is. That's what a main character and an ensemble character is. I would say years of experience has made this part of writing mostly easy and fun for me, so I don't have to think or overthink about this stuff anymore. At worst I might think 'was that too much Faber? Eh, it's helping Efnisien, it's still important to the plot and his character arc.'

I'm 'built' for writing big worlds with big ensemble casts where all the characters are important but where the focus is only on a couple of main characters per story. I'm built for character-focused stories and seem to be very built for transplanting characters I love into different worlds (and different roles) to see how that changes things. I started wanting to write these kinds of worlds and characters when I was 10 years old, and had my first sprawling ensemble fantasy series started by the age of 11. By the age of 15 I had a 3 novel fantasy trilogy built out with about 20 significant characters, and it was ridiculous and silly but that was what I wanted to write.

And I guess you could say I haven't really changed, I've just gotten better at it. I hope to keep getting better at it! The challenge now is to figure out how to break down some of these skills so I can share them with others. But...I do think there's an element of 'this is just what I love, it's a special interest, I don't know how to convey that I have 30 years of special interest in reading, writing, and studying this thing across television, manga, manhwa, fanfiction, AUs, and fictional series.' There will be teachable skills in that, but I don't know how much osmosis / absorption / and being obsessed with entangled tapestries of stories makes up what I do.

In some ways it would be 'better' if I was built for more conventional storytelling. My bank account might like that more! BUT, I'm doing okay where I'm at, because I love it, and I try to share that with other people and see if I can tell stories that resonate with them too.

(There are aspects of what I do that are very hard for me - timelines, aspects of worldbuilding, pacing in the first arc, and so on, but the actual characterisation part, and creating multiple versions of the same character is as easy as breathing. I could give you four more different versions of Faber in an hour. Maybe even twenty minutes. It's not hyperbole, it's just...how I daydream, what I think about. And it's fun!)

I'm very very very lucky that other folks are willing to read the same characters across different narratives, because it's a very strange thing to do in writing outside of fanfiction, case in point being that we almost never see any other professional authors doing it with their original works. x.x

[julietasgf]

hey its the plinth family anon! i really enjoyed and appreciated your long answers to my questions! I guess only Suzanne knows why on earth Ma stayed with Strabo... I am curious about whether Ma's parents and siblings would have taken her in if she had left Strabo though. In the book, she had one sister who still kept in touch with her so I wonder if that sister would have been willing to take her in if she had left Strabo? Tbh I'd be pretty confused if Ma's parents and siblings didn't want to take her in if she left Strabo because she may have married a scumbag but by leaving him, at least she kinda sees the light and is escaping him? why wouldn't her family want to help her then? I'm so curious about your hcs for how Ma and Strabo met and why Ma is so loyal/in love with him! you mentioned sejanus and coriolanus and keeping the cycle going, so does this mean you hc Ma and Strabo to have met and befriended each other when one of them was going through a hard time? seeing Ma trying to ignore all of Strabo's wrongdoings is making me think of this tiktok i saw where it said something like "you don't have to lie to women, if she likes you enough she'll lie to herself"...it's kinda mind-boggling to me how tightly Ma is clinging onto Strabo, like did this man save her from certain death when they were younger or something???

hello anon!! I'm so glad you appreciated the long answers bc I'm too talkative and if you let me, I'll talk endlessly about this stuff, I actually have to look back and be like "okay, now I'm talking too much, let's stop here" 😭 but I saw that it got accidentally sent your other thoughts, so I'm going to answer both in only this post, I hope that's okay by you :D

there's some stuff in the book that makes me feel like suzanne collins is the type of writer to make the whole background story of side characters, but not show them bc they're unnecessary story wise, you can't tell me she doesn't know exactly what the hell is the plinth backstory in D2 (I think she did it but I just can't prove it....)

I hardly think her family (except, maybe, the sister that still talks to her) would take her in, imo. D2 seem like a district that it's full of proud people, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but strabo being a dick is not the worst part of this marriage: is that he betrayed the whole district. the plinths are despised back in two. I think ma's family didn't like him from the start, but he was not the worst; he was the worst when he betrayed everyone, and when she chose to not leave him, she made her choice of who her loyalty lays with. it's with him, not with them. and besides, taking back a plinth (even if it's an ex-plinth) and welcoming her in their home would definitely not be seen with good eyes.

(maybe it's a bit of self-projecting, but where I live, it's much more common for the woman to still keep in contact and close with her family, not the man; I grew up with my cousins from my mother's side and I hardly know anyone from my father's side. siding with your husband in a situation like this would be seen as a BIG offense, something that's very much unforgivable. I could see that being the case)

now, from now on, there's a lot of my personal headcanons and thoughts bc I'm OBSESSED with the plinths and their life in D2:

OKAY SO there's a very, very small and discreet line on the ma plinth study I wrote that goes like: "vesta had dreams, even if her father rolled his eyes at most of them." I actually plan to write something from strabo's pov and explore more about this, but basically, I think ma plinth had a not very good relationship with her parents, and most of all, with her father (the cycle keeps on cycling). I think her family was overprotective and she felt suffocated (I think she was the youngest, the baby sibling, and this just made everything much worse). now, I have exactly in my mind how I think they met: ma plinth went with her father to the city center, and her father was searching for a gun to buy to leave at home as a way to protect the family. the plinths didn't have an industry yet; it was little more than a small thing, where they built some modest models to sell. strabo was there. he was talking to her father, and then turned to her and asked if she would like anything. her father made a comment diminishing her, saying that she was too dense to understand about guns, and poor ma was so embarassed even though used to it because her father always do that kind of thing, but to her surprise, strabo plinth didn't laugh. he looked at her father very seriously and said that she looked smart enough to understand about it, and if someone has hands, that person can shoot well.

he was the first person to actually defend her in front of her father from these kind of "jokes" and comments. not even her sisters or her own mother had done that before, all too terrified to say something. and that was enough.

about strabo and his siblings: fucked up shit happened. let's go about my personal hcs about him and his family: he's the only son of his father and his mother, but his mother died and his father married again when he was around 5 or 6. his father and his stepmother had two other kids. he never had a good relationship with his stepmother and he resents his father very much for marrying shortly after the death of his mother (omg cinderella hiiii). strabo was the eldest, he had to basically raise his half-siblings as his father was always at their small industry and his stepmother worked for endless hours. he learned to shoot from a young age to know how to protect them. he didn't hate his half-siblings, but he was tired of having to carry all the responsability on his shoulders, especially when they still had a loving mother while he didn't. it seemed so unfair.

(the sad part is that his half-siblings did look up to him. they loved him. they saw him as an example.)

his father got sick when he was a teen and he started to work hard on their small factory. and strabo has a lot of flaws, but let me tell you something: that man works hard. he worked enough to make their small shop rather famous in D2, and worked enough to pay for everything his father needed to while sick. his half-siblings never were interested in the industry, and neither was his stepmother, so when his father died when strabo was in his late teens, he was pissed off that his stepmother wanted to inherit the factory. they never worked a single day on it while he kept it going on. his half-siblings tried to reason with him, but he was just so angry, and a lot of hurtful things were said. in the end, strabo got the factory, but he left home and never came back. he said things that were too cruel to his half-siblings, the kind of thing that they could never really forgive.

ma is very family-oriented and couldn't really understand why strabo resented his half-siblings so much (specially because she also had family issues, being close with her sisters was what kept her going on), but she tries to have empathy with it, knowing people react in different ways to different things. I can totally see her one day trying to bring the subject of in-laws and strabo just looking so annoyed and resented that she knows that there's bad blood involved.

(it's so ironic to me that she didn't understand how he was so resented with his half-siblings, but in the future, her own sisters were as resented with her)

strabo is genuinely so interesting, I really wish to know what went through his mind, or just know more from his canon backstory, what made him make the choices he made. he's ruthless and cold, he sold guns to people that hated his guts and hated where he's from. he didn't betray a single person, he betrayed his whole PEOPLE. but he seems to care about ma and sejanus to a certain level, in his twisted way. he moved to the capitol thinking about giving them a better life, and still, he's hated by his own son, the one he thought he was protecting by moving to the capitol. ouch.

[matchstickdolly]

So long, farewell! 💜 I won't be posting from this account anymore. To close it out, here is a roundup of my Lucifer fan works, as I think that's how most came to find me here.

You will need an AO3 account to read most of my stories; it's relatively easy to sign up if you don't have one. Though I'm gone from here and elsewhere in the Lucifer fandom, I will continue to read comments and attempt to reply to them, so please consider sharing these fics and commenting your thoughts on AO3!

LONG READS (20,000+ words)

A Refraction of Light

314k words. My giant post-S3 canon divergence that spans Earth, Hell, and Heaven. If you didn't like Lucifer's Netflix era (the last three seasons) or wished there were more power couple vibes for Deckerstar, you might enjoy AROL. Though I finished it in 2020, after S4 had aired, I think it works quite well as a S4-S6 fix-it for those who'd like one.

In Sorrow Thou Shalt Bring Forth Children

210k words. The 50 female-focused "blip" years Lucifer's finale conveniently left out, also several post-S6 chapters. Heavy angst surrounding family and spiritual trauma but aims to be cathartic by acknowledging pain. All that said, more humor and Deckerstar than you'd probably expect, given the CW tags.

Reins Series: Try My Reins and My Heart & As Certain Dark Things Are to Be Loved

35k words when read together. Porn with feelings/plot. Fun, sweet kinkiness that should be read in order. Dominant!Lucifer because I struggle to see the Devil otherwise and because Chloe deserves a fucking break in the care of her sex god beau.

In a Similar Vein

21k words. Funny, sweet, and absurd S1 divergence wherein Chloe becomes (very wrongly) convinced that Lucifer is a vampire. Alas, it is missing the last chapter.

Chloe KNOWS

20k words. Funny, sweet, sexy S2 divergence in which Chloe accidentally gets a devil reveal when she stumbles upon an ageless Lucifer in vintage pornography. Oops.

MEDIUM READS (5,000 to 20,000 words)

If the Shoe Fits & In the Family Way

14k words when read together. Alternate post-5B/S6. Feel-good, funny, fluffy, even sexy. Godifer and Mrs. G being good partners, parents, and Improvers of the Universe. If you need a sweet, positive fix-it for the end of Lucifer, these fics might fit the bill.

Rebound to You

12k words. Feel-good, funny, sexy AU where Lucifer is still the Devil, but he and Chloe didn't meet as in canon. Instead, they meet a couple of years later, after Lucifer has naturally gotten a phone and Chloe has divorced Dan and is now resorting to dating apps to meet people. Features a fun gimmick of Tinder-like chat logs (used sparingly, I promise).

Something More & Pump It Up

11k words when read together. These two canon compliant fics won't seem like they go together at first, but I promise they do (thematically). Both are pre-canon and about the subtle ways in which Lucifer and Chloe are an amusingly great match. They just haven't met (yet) to know it! The first story is sweet and about Jed and Chloe's relationship; basically a character study of Chloe as told from Jed's POV. The second is a bit of a sex farce about Lucifer watching Hot Tub High School after settling in L.A., but it's also porn with plot or at least a character study.

Not to Mii

10k words. Lucifer sticks around at the end of S3's "The Last Heartbreak." One thing leads to another, and you get strip Mario Kart. I promise it works.

The Fine Line Between Desire and Fear

10k words. Feel-good and silly post-5A divergence featuring a haunted mansion on Halloween. Almost solely Deckerstar-focused but also imagines a future where Michael is trying to redeem himself and earn Ella's affection; the only problem is that he's afraid...of a lot, actually. The irony!

Sweet and Sour

10k words. A comical Michael/Ella fic based on the 5A trailer. Turned out to be rather in-character for many aspects of Michael, so it holds up, I think.

Now That's What I Call Big Devil Energy! Series: Big Devil Energy & Satan's Got a Heart On

9k words when read together. Funny, sweet chaos. Lucifer being a completely over-the-top Devil in love.

All You Can Play

9k words but really more like 3k if you want the finished part of the fic. (First chapter can stand alone; don’t read past it if you don’t like unfinished work.) Chaotic humor, sex farce. Canon compliant missing scene wherein I will tell you not to hate the player (me) but the game (S3). The reason Lucifer isn't there to protect Chloe at the end of 03x04? He's with Lexy, the judge's soon-to-be ex-wife. This is that story. Featuring Chuck E. Cheese.

Bound by Iniquity

8k words. Dark 5A canon divergence from Maze's POV. Her dirty dealmaking with Michael backfires, big time.

Get Thee Behind Me

7k words. Porn with plot/feelings. Lucifer and Chloe try anal sex for the first time. Feel-good comedy ensues.

Baptized by Desire

7k words. Dark but sweet S3 divergence. Lucifer comes to believe he really is a delusional human while he's in the psychiatric hospital in "God Johnson."

Hells to Betsy

6k words. Answering the question of how Chloe afforded a large three-bedroom townhouse in L.A., especially once Maze moved out. Come on! Detectives are paid well but not that well!

Darkest Before Dawn

5k words. Sweet, funny, sexy wing fic. No wing oil, but there's a barrel of crude oil and Dawn dishwashing liquid. This is not an ad.

SHORT READS (<5,000 words)

The Dotted Line

4k words. Porn without plot. Lucifer is attracted to Chloe in anything, even undies from Target.

Checked Baggage

4k words. Porn with light plot. What if Chloe took up Jana's offer for a threesome, partly out of spite? Bisexual chaos that is still ultimately very much about Deckerstar.

Winging It & Made in His Image

4k words when read together. Both are chaotic sex farces that wax on about the Devil's dick. They must be read in order.

Reefer Gladness Series: Flying High & Baked with Love

3k words when together. Sweet fluff. Established Deckerstar getting high together.

Lunch at the Y

3k words. Porn without plot. Roughly set in a better post-5A world where Lucifer eats Chloe out in a dressing room because of course he would. That's a love language.

Those Who Favor Fire

2k words. Porn without plot. Roughly set in a better post-S3 world where Deckerstar have gotten their HEA and have been together for some ten years or so.

My God's House Has Many Rooms

2k words. S6's "happy" closeout is creepily vague to me. This story explores a horrific what-if.

Raising Hell

1k words. Porn without plot. An ode to the blowjob.

Use My Words Against Me

1k words. All dialogue, pure chaos. Caught up in yet another scandal, closeted Republican Senator Olin Graham asks the Devil for a favor. You'll only appreciate this if you know enough about American politics and aren't a fascist piece of shit. Sorry not sorry.

Earthly Delights on Borrowed Time

666 words. Post-S4 reimagining where Lucifer and Chloe are making things work.

The Perfect Help Meets

666 words. Dark, canon compliant one-shot about Lucifer's angst/depression as he tries to make things work with Eve, all while he's in love with Chloe.

Other Stuff

A softness came from the starlight and filled me full to the bone — Lucifer meets the comic A Softer World. Inspired by an old post by @casimania that can be found here.

General Fanvids — Deckerstar being painful and/or lovely, plus some Trixie because I love her character.

S6 Critical Fanvids — Just me making sense of S6's plot, which I cannot read as anything other than incredibly dark and anti-choice.

Crack Fanvids — Pure comedy and chaos.

Lucifer Season 6 Time Travel Visualizations — Lucifer S6 uses time travel without clearly laying out how it works. I made two visualizations to help explain the possibilities: one for the loop existing in a single timeline and another for the loop causing or being a part of many/parallel worlds.

Lucifer S6 Wiki — After Lucifer Season 5B and S6, I started digging into the writers’ interviews to understand what the hell had gone wrong. You'll find their answers to a lot of common S6 questions here. They’re real, er, interesting Hollywood folk, to say the least.