#this is so obscure that i'm not really expecting any engagement

[taffycandyqt]

I was rewatching 2003 TMNT and I was suddenly reminded about Mikey's Turtle Titan persona. Imagine him having a back and forth thing with a femme fatale thief!Reader. They see their little thing like batman and catwoman but everyone else sees it as what it really is; two comic dorks doing a flirty larp.

OH BOY THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FUN TO WRITE! (She said before realizing she has to write flirting and has no idea how to do that) Still, anon, you're a genius. This is beautiful.

Masterlist

Request Rules

Villain to my Hero

While Michelangelo prefers to stick normal turtle ninja self Turtle Titan still makes an appearance whenever boredom hits. What he didn't expect to encounter was a beautiful seductress of a thief while on one of these expeditions. His brothers regret seeing you two interact.

2003 Mikey x fem reader

Oneshot

Fluff, crack

After his excursion with Silver Century Mikey decided to retire his Turtle Titian persona.

...mostly.

Look sometimes his brothers are BOOOOOORING okay?

Today was one of those day. So Mikey decided to suit up and hit the town. Might as well make the most of his alone time right? Protecting the citizens and all. Passing a small convince store is when he noticed her. A black sleeveless hoodie, hood up to obscure the face, black fingerless gloves, black jeans, and black sneakers. Duffle bag in hand speed walking away from the establishment.

That... was suspicious. And as the city's protector it was his job to investigate. He followed her on rooftops to avoid detection while she scurried along the side walk trying to get to her next location.

She swiveled into an alleyway, form still hunched over the bag. Mikey decided this was the time to engage. Leaping downward he corners her in the alley.

"HAULT THEIF! THE TURTLE TITAN IS HERE TO SAVE THE CITY!" He shouts.

She flinches. Quickly switching from spooked to confident she turns around to face him. Rolling her shoulders back and switching to holding the bag with one arm.

"Hault? What is this 18th century Europe?" She teases with a smirk.

"HA! You'll be happy it's not when your behind bars!"

"Mmhm. You sure you're allowed to do that?"

"What? Yes! I'm a super hero!"

"You don't look like any hero I've ever seen."

"That's because I work in the shadows," he tells you using his hands to frame his eyes while emphasizing 'shadows' with a deep gravely voice.

She hmms before walking up to him and carefully inspecting this 'hero'.

Mikey takes a step back.

"I will not fall victim to any of your tricks!" Mikey blushed

"No tricks," she told him, "just... THIS!"

She immediately took his cape and wrapped it around his head before making a break for it. By the time Mikey had composed himself she was no where to be seen.

"You may have gotten away this time villain. But the Turtle Titian won't go so easy in you next time."

And with that he returned to the lair.

The rest of the night Mikey couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned but she stuck to his brain like one of those impossible to remove paper stickers. Her pretty eyes as they inspected him. Her soft voice floating in the air as she teased him. And oh how she teased him! It gave him butterflies. The confidence in her body language. The smirk playing on her lips.

Her lips...

AND THATS WHERE THAT TRAIN OF THOUGHT ENDS!

After that night Mikey continued to go out every night as Turtle Titan. And every night he failed to catch her. Right as he thought she was within his grasp she's slip away with a wink, and more recently, a kiss on the cheek.

The others were getting a bit confused by Mikey's behavior. The way he insisted to go out every night. The amount of times he'd been caught leaving or returning in his Turtle Titian outfit. How he would skip movie nights just to go out for a couple of hours.

Splinter tried to talk to him but Mikey deflected. If any of his brothers confronted him about it he'd just tell them it was for extra training. It was clear to them they weren't getting anything out of him. So they decided to follow him one night. Close enough to not lose him, but far enough he wouldn't be able to detect them.

"Do you really think we need to follow him? I mean, what if it's private?" Asked Donny.

"What's private about going out in public dressed like a dork?" Raph turned to him.

"I'm just saying what if there's a reason he doesn't want us to know?"

"And what if that reason is that he got himself in trouble and he can't get out of it?" Leo stated, turning away from Mikey to look at Donny and Raph.

"Mikey has never acted like this before. Leaving every night, keeping secrets, skipping movie nights. Something is up and I'm worried it's not good," Leo told them.

Raph and Don stayed quiet about that and turned to each other.

"Well... whatever it is it probably has something to do with that store. He's been staring at it for a while now," Don told them.

They both agreed and looked to the store, and then back at Mikey.

"Do you think you can get anything on it Don?" Leo asked him.

"Way ahead of you Leo," Donny told him turning his laptop around for Leo and Raph to see, "It's a food pantry. They get a bunch of volunteers to help donate, sort, and package food that they hand out to anyone in need.

"Anything sketchy about it?" Leo said.

"Nope. I searched everywhere, even on crazy theory websites. Nothing," he told them shutting the computer and putting it in his bag, "This places record is cleaner than April's kitchen."

"Wow! That clears everything right up!" Raph snarked.

"Do you think he comes here every night?" Leo asked them slightly concerned.

"By the fast pace, short cuts, and carefully calculated movements he took to get here, I'd say it's a plausible theory," Donny answered him.

"Hey, guys, someone's coming out!" Raph motioned for them to come look.

They all gathered to watch as a girl clad in all black exiting the building. Large duffle bag in hand.

"What do you thinks in the bag?" Raph turned to Leo.

"I don't know. Donny?"

"Couldn't say. On the one hand there isn't much to take. On the other there is a lot that could be brought in."

Before they could come up with a plan of action though they heard Mikey screech. Just for a moment but loud enough that anyone near by could hear. Somehow the girl had left the bad at the entrance disappeared and then snuck up on Mikey, who now had his back facing the establishment.

"Donny, go check what's in there before Mikey notices us," Leo instructed.

Donny nodded and headed to the streets for the duffle bag. Raph and Leo however, had found themselves witnesses to a very bizarre (and frankly uncomfortable) interaction.

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

"Another night, another failed attempted at arrest," you sauntered over to him checking your nails, "it's getting quite sad you know."

"The only thing sad here is you when I finally put you behind bars!"

"Uh-huh. And whens that gonna happen?" you questioned with a smirk on your lips.

You moved closer invading his personal space and looking right in his eyes.

"T- tell me what you're planning and it can be tonight," his voice much softer then before.

The closet proximity was making him weak in the knees. It always did. And you knew it too. You would always toy with him to see just how far you could go to get the best reactions. He always thought of what he could do or say to make you just as flustered as you make him but he was always scared he'd make a fool of himself.

"Stuttering doesn't make you a very intimidating hero you know," you sang in his ear before dragging your hand along his chest and walking away from him.

His skin prickled at the motion but he used everything in him to not show it. you took a seat on the edge of the building, feet dangling just barely above the roof floor.

"Well you should be a little more intimidated regardless!"

"Oh?"

"Yeah! For a criminal you don't seem very concerned with the super hero literally watching your every move!"

"HA! Maybe I would be it you actually took a swing at me."

"Took a wha-"

You walk closer again. Invading his bubble again.

"Go on. Hit me. Hit me and arrest me like you would a real criminal."

He stared at you. Mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Should he? That was his whole reason for coming out here every night. Wasn't it? He didn't want to hit you though. Not with the way you looked at him. He wasn't expecting you to say that! Now he doesn't know what to do!

"But you see I know that no matter what I do or say, you won't," you told him as you slid both hands around his neck interlacing your fingers behind his head.

"You're too much of a good boy," you told him before punctuating your sentence with a kiss on is cheek and disappearing into the night.

Mikey stared awe struck at where you once where.

"..."

"What a woman," was all Mikey could say.

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

As the girl bolted to the roof entrance door to leave, Donny returned to his brother's.

"I checked the bag and there was nothing suspicious at all in it. Just a change of clothes, water bottle, wallet, and some snac- wow. What happened up here?"

Raph's face was nothing short of applaud and Leo looked like he wanted to poor bleach in his eyes.

"I don't know and I don't wanna talk about it," Raph told him, "What else did ya get from the bag?"

"Oh. Okay... well, I checked her wallet and found her id. Her name is F/N L/N. I did a background check on her and turns out her dad owns the place and she helps out regularly. She closes up most nights."

"Well that was a huge waste of our night," Raph sighs.

"Well at least we know Mikey's not getting into any trouble," Leo told him as he started leading the way back to the lair.

"What HAS Mikey been getting up to though?" Donny asks him.

"Flirting." Raph deadpanned.

[wing-ed-thing]

Chaotic Best Friend Headcanons with Hidan

Tags/Warnings: No Reader Pronouns, Canon-Typical Themes and Violence, Partying, Mutual Physical Violence, Name Calling (bitch/asshole/bastard)

𓆃 It quite literally doesn't matter how many brain cells you have on your own. It doesn't even matter if you have a completely different demeanor to Hidan.

𓆃 When you're together, you pass one (1) brain cell back and forth, and the base of your friendship is mutually doing stupid shit together.

𓆃 Hidan will suggest ditching an Akatsuki meeting while someone's mid-monologue, and all it takes for him to start heading toward the door is a nod and a shrug from you.

𓆃 You're constantly dip from places without warning. It's become common knowledge to keep an eye on you, but then again, if someone's keeping an eye on the both of you, it'll only encourage more of your antics.

𓆃 You're constantly hitting each other, or at least trying to. If Hidan says something stupid, it's within the nature of your friendship that you just slap him. Punch him if it's really stupid.

𓆃 He's not afraid to break out the weaponry if you're having a serious fued. All kinds of injuries are fair game.

𓆃 But no matter how heated your argument gets, they never last for long. You're making up pretending nothing happened almost an hour later, if that.

𓆃 If anything, you'll talk about the injuries you gave each other in a half-complaint and half with admiration.

𓆃 You're almost never separated, and the time you spend together is usually spent playing made-up games with obscure rules.

𓆃 One of these games, most commonly played on missions, includes the highest kill count per outing which includes bonus points based on where the kill shot landed.

𓆃 This game has been outright banned by the leadership, because oftentimes to even the score, you make kills that are outside of the target demographic.

𓆃 Not to mention how at least Hidan tends to call out his points loudly.

𓆃 He oftentimes needs his calculations corrected, and will turn combative when you imply that his numbers are lower than they actually are.

𓆃 It's likely that you'll end up engaging in combat with each other until you inevitably realize that your catch got away. Then, it's an even more insufferable game of chasing the same target.

𓆃 The survivor will meet their end while you're fighting over them.

𓆃 You'll also bicker constantly over information, whether it's right, and what the details are. Doing tasks together is almost impossible given how often Hidan misunderstands basic information.

𓆃 But for as much as you fight with each other, no one should dare fuck with either of you and expect to survive.

𓆃 Sure, Hidan can call you an asshole and a bitch, but if that random guy at the bar dares call you names, Hidan isn't wasting any time making a killing blow.

𓆃 "Hey! I'm the only bastard who can call that asshole a bitch!"

𓆃 Hidan's also down to roll with whatever idea you ever have. If you want to go burn a whole village down because your date stood you up, Hidan is picking himself off the couch and grabbing his cloak because, "What else is he going to do?"

𓆃 He's also 100% ride or die and willing to go along with the longest plans if it means fun. 3 day bender? Hidan's not doing anything else.

𓆃 Don't want to go to the club alone? Hidan already knows the bartender and can get you free drinks.

𓆃 Want to make your ex jealous and pretend you have a new boyfriend, Hidan is down for a photoshoot.

𓆃 He can be a little too ride or die. He's bound to get arrested at some point for picking fights, but it's undeniable that he makes plenty of exceptions for you and your word.

Thank you to all who liked, reblogged, followed, and supported. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

Notes: The soundtrack for theses headcanons is "Aliyah's Interlude - IT GIRL" on repeat. I had to find this song to write these headcanons to and I set it on loop until I was done.

[xoxoemynn]

omg you watched kevin can f**k himself! I was obsessed with that show when it was airing, definitely due for a rewatch. what did you think? the breaking of the sitcom with allison and kevin in the last episode has stuck with me since I saw it almost 2 years ago

YEAH IT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD. I've wanted to watch it for years but was too lazy to figure out how to and now it's on Netflix so there's that issue sorted!

I wanted to take my time watching and ended up binging it because I could.not.stop. so I know I missed things and I want to go back and rewatch, but I also want to let it simmer a minute.

Going to put some incoherent ramblings behind a cut just to be safe for spoilers (and yes I know it's been years but I know a lot of people are just hearing about it for the first time now that it's on Netflix).

The last 15 mins of the show HAUNT me. I had a feeling that was coming but actually SEEING it was terrifying. We all KNEW this was Kevin, we all KNEW the sitcom filter was obscuring how abusive his behavior was, but when we actually see him the way he REALLY is and how everything about him changes, it's just HORRIFYING. And it puts everything we just watched into a new perspective because the way he corners her, his tone when he asks her what she said to Molly, when he starts listing off things that happened in the show that even knowing all along that he was a narcissistic, abusive asshole you still might be tempted to think "oh, maybe he's just clueless to the fact he's being awful" and you realize no, he was AWARE and he knew exACTLY what he was doing to control Allison and keep her down...literally I cannot get that scene out of my head.

And then looking back on the series as a whole...

Just how JARRING the contrast was between the sitcom world and the real world? And how it faded away so slowly you almost don't even notice it at first until you get closer to the end of the series and you're mostly in the real world? How the sitcom filter obscures the bandages Allison wears. How dingy the house looks when it fades. How the women's appearances change, looking cute and put together in the sitcom world but in the real world we see Allison's roots are showing and her clothing is in worse condition and Patty's hair looks less TV ready despite being a stylist. How we start to see all the characters differently once Kevin begins to lose his grip on them. How we never actually see Pete in the real world?!

One thing the show does really well, and a reason why I'm so eager to rewatch it, is not outright revealing everything that's happening. Allison wears long sleeves for most of the show; when we see her in a hospital gown there are bruises on her arm that are never commented on. We'd never had any reason to suspect Kevin's abuse was physical, but especially after seeing the finale, I think it's fair to believe that. And then you look back on all the other times Kevin "accidentally" hurt Allison, like the time he slams the door into her face and we see her simply cover it up with makeup... yeah.

Just all the LAYERS to the show. Analyzing it from the lens of how sitcoms treat women, the wives in particular, who are shown as humorless, nagging shrews who are just expected to put up with their husbands who act like children and are engaging in all kinds of antics to the delight of a laugh track that would be horrifying in real life. (And the fact they brought in the actress whose character was killed off in between seasons of Kevin Can Wait and then barely spoken of again was a BRILLIANT bit of meta commentary.)

But then also what it's like to be in an abusive relationship with a narcissistic, charismatic alcoholic, and how isolating and desperate it can feel when nobody sees what you see, nobody understands what you're experiencing, because everyone else is content to live in this world where he's the goofy life of the party. And at the beginning you may be going "okay, girl, just LEAVE," but then as you learn more and more about just how controlling Kevin is, and what he's capable of, and also Allison's own childhood, you start to see why she was SO desperate she'd go so far as to fake her own death because she thinks it's the only way she can ever escape him.

It's just so. good. And intense. I wish they had gotten one more season because while the ending was brilliant, I felt like some parts in S2 were a bit rushed, particularly with Neil, but it was just SUCH compelling TV and I cannot get it out of my head.

[roobylavender]

something tangential to the enforced motherhood post i reblogged but while dc's contention with this concept is pretty horrid and distasteful in general what i find worse is the fan reaction in batman circles, specifically with regards to talia and selina. on one hand, you have the very obvious projection of a racist and xenophobic trope onto talia where she is stripped of any and all personal agency and to the point her character can never be severed of motherhood or even worse only viewed as an abusive party within the concept. fans not only project their own experiences of abuse onto her despite these projections being contrary to her own ambitions and writing prior to her character assassination; they also, in the event they don't want her to be an abusive mother, decide to relegate her to a static concept of motherhood where she has no existence outside of raising damian and where there isn't even a possibility of toying with the idea that she may not have actually acquiesced to the concept of motherhood to begin with. i'm always so surprised by how little people seem to contextualize the life talia led as lex corp ceo with her potential role as a mother. how would she be able to live that kind of isolated, purpose-driven life where she could set every personal desire aside for the sake of her duty to the world if she was expected to parent a child first? this is a rare viewpoint i've never really seen expressed but one reason i find morrison's portrayal of bruce and talia as parents to be really ironic is bc i think the roles are nearly reversed. at that point in her life and with the slew of burdens and responsibilities on her shoulders i honestly think talia (regardless of what immense affection i'm sure she would have for her own child) would be the one who had trouble acclimatizing to her role as a parent, versus bruce who made it his intent for several years to parent various children and when he found out talia was pregnant impliedly committed to shielding that child (and her) from violence and a vigilante life at all costs. it's a narrative thread i really would have loved to see explored but on a practical level would likely be impossible to do not only bc of dc's handling of asian mothers and their racist degradation due to their juxtaposition against white fathers, but also bc of dc and dc fans' constricted view of motherhood to begin with. either you're a good mother or you're a bad mother. there's no room for the in-between nuance of possibly loving your child but not knowing how to balance that responsibility bc of what you view as important responsibilities you have to others

on the other hand, you have dc fans' engagement with selina's relationships with younger orphans and sex workers in her community. this is a really interesting one to dissect in light of ship wars specifically bc while i agree that there isn't any sense in having selina act as a mother-figure to bruce's children i also don't really agree with people's justification that she's not a "motherly" character. it's once again a very striking example of the restricted perception people have of motherhood or of behaviors commonly associated with that role, bc i don't think people who say this are really criticizing her ability to be a mother at all. what they're actually criticizing is her capacity to care. there's oddly all too many people who believe selina's anarchy or more self-serving nature is antithetical to any expression of compassion. so what you end up having is a phenomenon where one group of fans is eager to see her co-parent with bruce and another group of fans is eager to see her severed of any significant connections at all bc it somehow fits her "villainous" nature. and all-in-all, from both sides, her relationships with kids like holly and arizona are completely obscured. there's no room made to discuss how selina can possess deep empathy for young people whose experiences she identifies with and that she can care for them and even take them under her wing without necessarily wanting to adopt them, but that if she wanted, maybe she would adopt them. i honestly feel like that was the direction alan grant and doug moench were going in with arizona in the early 90s had mary jo duffy not abruptly excised arizona bc, like a lot of fans, she thought having significant emotional attachments was antithetical to the catwoman persona albeit there was no actual canon to back that notion on a behavioral level. i don't think selina has to be a mother, but i also don't think it's an infliction of stereotypical gender roles on her to imagine a scenario where she might adopt a stray, esp if that scenario occurs within a context where she is still independent and forging her own way of life and liberty. if anything, taking care of holly and arizona were some of the highest points of her narrative, bc they were a looking glass through which to explore selina's capacity for love and mercy, in spite of all of the trauma and abuse that she had to suffer at the hands of others

to me, the problem with dc's contention with motherhood is not so much that it's attached to these women at all, but that the definition of motherhood used is entirely framed with a heteronormative understanding of the family unit, despite the reams of potential to explore characters like talia and selina as independent figures acting outside of that traditional hierarchy

[thefirstknife]

It's starting to feel like there's an implicit understanding in the community that complaining about the game is one of the main ways to engage with it, and maybe is something newer players pick up as part of the 'haha even diehard destiny players hate destiny' narrative. =\

Im happy to see the playerbase growing, but dang, I wish there'd be a bit less of 'if you love this thing you'll be passionate about criticizing it' among some of the big personalities

Yeah. Destiny always had that whole joke like "The one thing Destiny players hate the most is Destiny." I never understood it. When I mildly disliked Destiny, I stopped playing. Genuinely cannnot fathom playing a game religiously while hating it. Mindboggling. I'm also somewhat salty that a lot of people "criticising the story" and latching onto this whole vibe have never actually been fans of the story or have never really paid attention to it.

Like, it feels somewhat strange to me that suddenly every single content creator, including those that were openly NEVER into the lore and even content creators who literally only play pvp and those that openly play with voicelines and subtitles off, are suddenly great experts on how this story apparently sucks. And of course followed by a million of their fans who have until yesterday only ever cared about meta weapons for Trials, but have overnight become lore masters who understand that the story was "bad."

I know people who ARE into lore and who had issues. I also know that there's a lot of new players who were probably utterly confused, though that's to be expected when you tune into the 9th year of the franchise. I'm totally fine with that and respect people who have a different view of the campaign and how it felt to them. And of course if any new players are super confused and have no idea where to start learning more... I sympathise. Greatly. And I'm happy to help! Obviously a lot of what people are discussing right now is really complicated and draws from super specific lore that might not be easy for a new player to understand right away. It will take some time and that's okay!

But when I see the amount of people blasting the story, I'm left thinking... Really? There were so many lore enjoyers out there all this time? You're telling me that twitter user xxTrialsHunterMain69420xx understands the problems with the narrative and can talk with authority on obscure lore references and how Bungie fucked them up? This is absolutely news to me, as most players have been dissing the story for years and if they weren't dissing, they just weren't engaging with it at all.

Obviously every player has a right to say how they felt playing and how they vibed with the campaign and if they didn't vibe with it, that's fine. They didn't vibe with a lot of campaigns that I would die for, like for example Shadowkeep. But there's a distinct feeling like a lot of these people are just latching onto the hate train for no real justifiable reason of their own. Like, it's popular to shit on the campaign now and people will do it to fit in, even if they personally have never ever had any stakes in what Destiny's story is about.

They've been given not only permission, but encouragement to blast the campaign over something they barely understand and something that a lot of people reacted to out of their basic impulses. And I get it because my basic impulse was negative too. I feel like maybe a huge personality who influences the entire community shouldn't post the first thought that comes to their mind uncritically to social media. Or at least that they should feel like they can change their mind and correct that later. I feel like a lot of them would never do that now because it would mean alienating their audience. "Oh yeah I told you all that this sucks, but actually no it doesn't, just listen." Yeah, not going to happen. Not to mention that outrage brings clicks.

And of course, now the whole discourse has been completely ruined by the outrage so it's incredibly hard to find and filter who actually has decent feedback and who is just riding the hate train. Frustrating and draining.

[akria23]

I took this photo while watching a teaser…It def looks like Zouey to me & I don’t know how to feel about that.

I joke about Zouey being the killer because there’s a number of things I’ve found suspicious about him or moments that have raise flags for me,

Him not wanting anyone else to catch him watching the birthday video of the group with Nant.

The first painting he was ‘engaging’ with - I couldn’t place the subject.

The constant hinting at something having happened to him.

The secret room / the No touch zone items

The side eyes

But most of all it was the question of if Zouey is such the righteous person he presents himself to be, if the bond between he and Nant was as true as the narrative wants us to believe then why did Nant not seek help from him? Why did he go to Prom…

I couldn’t help but think - even if Prom is a puppy dog that would do whatever wouldn’t you go to your friend first? But then when one of the recent episodes shows that Nant had 2 phones and did seem to be in contact with someone that day I thought it had either be his bestie Zouey or my number one suspect Tutor. Maybe Zouey was more in the know than we ever thought.

However even when I added Zouey to my suspect list it was mostly in a loose manner because I don’t want Zouey to be any type of killer not because he’s Xouey or because he’s with Teena and he’s a baddie - no it’s because he’s built as the ‘righteous sweet’ character he automatically because the most suspicious character. Even if he’s not at the forefront of your mind he still swirls at the back because we suspect innocent type of characters to intentionally be written that way so they can be a deception or twist in the reveal. Imo because of that these type of characters are always best as the distraction rather than the real deal.

Granted they could work his motive and give us something crazy. Or this who death of what looks to be Jump could be something else…doubt it tho considering we’re to the wire now with only 2 episodes left.

Or it might not be Zouey at all - it damn sure looks like Zouey to me tho…

Is it possible Zouey wants to kill Jump but didn’t kill Nant? Again I don’t think so because we’re so close to the end I’m expecting the killer (if there is one) to be revealed in this next episode. I don’t get why he’d want to kill Jump tho - I have a theory on why he’d want to kill Nant but Jason is the one who wanted Jump dead and it didn’t seem like Zouey had a connection to Jason, Aob or even Nuth that would lead him to killing Jump.

*Edit - I did lighten the promo photo as well cause the hair at first made me think it was Nont as it did look like in some places. But the length and the highlights wouldn’t be right. I also considered Nant and it being a flashback def since we still haven’t gotten an explanation for the bloody hand print if I recall….But the screen cap I took from the teaser doesn’t look like either of the twins…Crazy that I’d prefer it be one of them 😂 I really shouldn’t want Nont’s ‘kill ‘em’ dreams to come into fruition.

Idk it really does look like Zouey to me but I guess in a matter of hours we’ll see what exactly the episode has in store for us - murder mystery and all….

UPDATE: just finished the episode it wasn't him. The bangs...I should’ve caught that 😮‍💨 - Anyway glad it wasn't him cause this feels like it clears him completely. I'm okay with anyone being the killer but Zouey because like I said Zouey being the most righteous automatic makes him the least likely character and therefore on everybody’s sus list and I think these types should never be the actual villain for that reason alone. I feel like the rule of thumb is never choose the most or least likely choose the overlooked character in the middle - someone whose clues were obscure enough to get lost in the mix but still gives the audience that uhhh of course I saw that why didn’t it click for me there.

[polyhexian]

Nate, my boy, since you know everything and what you don't you make up, do you have any info on Warren Johnson as a writer?

Well he's got a short list of projects but they're definitely nothing to shake a stick at. Wonder Woman is a huge net score. Beta ray bill is too. Working with both marvel and DC is solid credentials.

Dead earth seems to have notably good reviews, which i remembered from extremely fleeting familiarity. I've heard the name before positively.

I found this review particularly noteworthy:

However Chad isn't the only one concerned about it being in character

One of the main complaints people seem to have is that DWJ had a story he wanted to tell and he pushed the characters he was given into the molds to tell it.

Also very highly rated.

Chad didn't like this one, but apparently the characterization issues were absent this time. Scrolling through other reviews, I didn't see any other complaints about characterizations-- I saw lots of comments about how great the characterization is, actually. Perhaps that is because beta ray bill has a lot less history than wonder woman and perhaps people are more open to seeing more diversity and exploration of who this character is. If you don't go here, beta ray bill is not a HUGE character, but he's been around since the early 80s and has plenty of media to draw from. He has plenty of ardent fans, so plenty of people who already have an idea of who this character is when they went into this story.

All of his work has reviewed really well, nothing dips below a 4 on Goodreads.

Reading reviews and summaries of each book, it seems like DWJ really likes action, blood, hyperviolence, and, specifically, mad max. I see people being up mad max in so many reviews I can't not mention it. he does a lot of stories with fighting, with big action setpieces, wrestling, heavy metal, grit and gore. Pretty much all his stories are gritty.

I strongly suspect he is going to write a very "gritty war story" version of transformers, which is... Something we have seen before. It may not be bad, but idw definitely already did that. So did wfc siege. Grimdark kind of hyperviolence and war and action is pretty par for the course with tf. I don't see a lot of people talking about his stories being particularly deep or emotionally engrossing. I see people say some are very FUN or very engaging or even that they have interesting commentary. But... Mm.

Having not read his stuff and only having just studied these reviews, I'm expecting some really pretty war violence. Seeing as he's clearly not as familiar with the property as your average tf fan, he's still a little shaky on his tf stylization, I'm predicting he's going to focus on a lot of mainline G1 characters, the pop boys people recognize. Megatron, Optimus, soundwave, prowl, Jetfire, starcscream, the seekers probably, ultra Magnus, grimlock, hot rod maybe, arcee definitely. I think it's a lot less likely we will see more obscure characters like we did with idw2.

Tho if I had to drop money I would bet windblade is there. Hasbro has been pushing her hard. I really suspect they will have asked him specifically to make sure she's there.

[miralines]

Before I say anything, I just want to inform you that I just randomly came across your post browsing the discourse tag for something else. I don't know who you are nor what's happening with ao3 users here. I don't know if you wanted a deep(ish)dive into someone's thoughts and reasons for choosing fics based on kudos and hits ratio, but 100% ignore if you didn't! Sorry if I am intruding by doing this!

I come from multiple giant fandoms and when there are multiple fic choices with tags and summaries that I like, I do choose to go by kudos and hits ratio. Just to pick which one to check out first. I did notice however, that in smaller fandoms or tags this couldn't be applied because there's not enough fics, so I just read what I'm interested in most.

Why? Kudos signify how enjoyed the fic is to me, because usually the more kudos it has the more talked about it is on other platforms. Why would that be important? It's just that I enjoy exploring content made by others after I'm up to date with a fic. It's really fun to see people talk, theorize, make art and speculate or scream over things that will or did happen. It's giving me an opportunity to find people with similar interests and see what they make overall!

Sometimes though, if fic in a fandom or a tag that's incredibly popular gets hundreds of hits and very few kudos, I choose not to read it. This is based on a few bad experiences I had giving those fics a chance, where something in them made me uncomfortable or hard to read. I don't have any very specific needs when I'm reading fics, I just enjoy reading as a part of enjoying the fandom, so when I see the general readers avoid giving kudos in fandoms where it's very usual to have a lot on fics, I don't want to read that fic for my enjoyment.

I really don't know much about this, I'm sorry! But yeah, I basically use kudos to hits ratio to oriantate myself and avoid something I wouldn't like based on previous correlations I made. I don't know if that's wrong or upsetting for others, but if you find it that way, I would like to know why too and improve! Sorry for any grammatical mistakes I made!

Oh hi anon! I wasn’t expecting anyone to reach out like this, but thank you for taking the time to write out your thoughts! (Also. Please do not feel the need to apologize for grammatical mistakes. I do not believe in ‘correct’ grammar; as long as I understood you, which I did, I think you’re absolutely fine and using language as it’s intended!) (I am. A particular kind of nerd and not policing grammar is something I have Opinions about hence this tangent lmao)

This got terribly long, so I’ve put a tldr above the cut and divided the rest under headers for ease of reading.

Tldr: I see your points with regard to differences between large and small fandoms, and with the specific goal of finding “sub-fandoms” for particular fics. I still disagree that kudos-to-hits ratio is the best way to decide what fics to read, both because it isn’t an accurate metric of engagement and because I dislike the idea of using engagement as the primary metric in the first place. When I use A03, I prefer to sort by what’s recent and use the tags and summary to decide what to read, or to use the (excellent) search function to find what I’m looking for specifically.

I’d also like to note to anyone else reading: I doubt this will be an issue, but if anyone is rude to anon I’m going to turn off reblogs on this post. I know this is something some people feel strongly about, and discussion is fine, but this is absolutely not worth being mean to another human about.

Size of fandom

To begin my more thorough response: This is an interesting perspective– not one I entirely agree with, but I can certainly see how in larger fandoms with a lot more content it would be valuable to be more selective. For context, my main fandom is an obscure storytelling band with under 3k total works on A03, and these days I mostly occupy a niche of that fandom (one specific album) with only 128 works. The largest fandom I’ve been active in currently has 37k works on A03.

I don’t know what your fandoms are, but as some examples of bigger fandoms, Star Trek currently has over 100k works, Supernatural has almost 300k, and Harry Potter has nearly 500k. That is a big difference! I’m currently working on a goal to read every fic in my 128-fic niche (with some exclusion criteria), but in larger fandoms it’s impossible not to be selective. This is all to say– I definitely agree with you that the size of a fandom impacts how a person can and does interact with it.

Fans of fics

Your point about wanting to interact with other fans of a particular fic also makes sense! There was a particular fic series in my largest fandom that had a pretty decent following, and I still have friends from that sub-fandom several years later. If this metric helps you find fics that match your goal of having that experience, I can see how the kudos-to-hits ratio could function as a potentially useful metric, though I still think its usefulness is a bit limited for reasons I’m about to go into.

Kudos-to-hits isn’t accurate

I have two reasons for thinking that kudos-to-hits ratio isn’t the best way to determine what to read. The first is purely numerical. If you’ve been watching this discourse, you’ve probably already seen people discussing how users can only leave a single kudos, but may be responsible for 20-plus hits on a work. This is especially applicable to multichapter works, which in my experience are the fics that are able to develop their own following. If you want to sort fics by engagement, it seems like at the very least, using comments for the ratio is a more accurate measurement.

Using engagement as a metric at all

Secondly, though, I (and I believe, a lot of people) dislike the notion of using engagement as a metric to measure fics in the first place. I think the current discourse is partially due to some regrettable phrasing on the part of the OP of the post I was vaguing– if I recall correctly, they said that they use this metric to determine if a fic is “worth reading”. I think this phrasing was hurtful to a lot of fic writers who may not have large followings or a lot of engagement, but who work very hard on their fics and feel frustrated that this person implied that they aren’t worth reading. I have fics that are personal favorites of mine, but that I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback on.

Of course, this is just part of writing, and it’s an important skill for any writer (of fic or anything else) to learn to handle rejection or just lack of feedback. But I also think that particular post was phrased in a thoughtless way that interacted poorly with pre-existing insecurities (this is part of why I suggested that post was bait– the phrasing seems to me like a perfect storm to make writers upset and defensive, but of course this could also be due to the OP just being a bit careless with their words, and not expecting to have hit quite nerve they did).

There’s an excellent post here on engagement on fics and what a realistic assessment of “successful” engagement metrics are based on professional standards (which includes a stat about how Harry Styles, one of the most popular and successful current celebrities, only gets a 1:30 ratio of likes to views on his social media. I don’t know what ratio you’re using, but iirc the post I was discussing suggested 1:10). Personally, though, I worry about both authors and readers depending too much on statistics, especially in a broader cultural context when it feels like everything is performed, measured, and monetized. Most social media platforms have gone from a place to share with friends to a place to compete for attention and make money and fame off it. There’s a lot of cultural anxiety around that at the moment, which is another reason I think this discussion has gotten so big.

Why I disagree with using engagement

I think this discussion, at its heart, is a debate about what fandom should be, and I feel focusing overmuch on engagement statistics contributes to a fandom culture uncomfortably close to the commercialization of everything else on the internet. I feel that fic should be enjoyed as art (whatever art means) and not as a product. I’m not saying you’re personally approaching fic that way, but unfortunately there does seem to be something of a broader trend towards that, which troubles me.

As a writer, I would hope that when people come across my fic, they give it a chance based on the metatext information I give them in the tags and summary, the quality of my writing, and whether my work matches what the reader is looking for. Judging it based on the numbers feels reductive to me, and makes me feel like nothing about the work or passion I put in matters; just the popularity. My fics aren’t going to be for everyone, and I understand that. If someone comes across my fic and decides they’re not interested, that’s their prerogative. But I hope that potential readers don’t discount my work just because it doesn’t meet a numerical standard that, in my opinion, is extremely arbitrary.

My suggestions for what to do instead

As a reader, I default to sorting by what’s been posted recently, and then using the tags and summary to decide what to read. That’s what those things are designed to be used for, and I think they’re much more informative than the stats. Worst-case scenario, I start reading and then go back to the search. All I’ve lost is a couple minutes.

In large fandoms, this might be an inefficient way to search for fic, and I recognize that. I’d encourage you to try using A03’s (fantastic) search function to find what you’re looking for– you can both include and exclude fandoms, characters, pairings, and tags. I have come across people who don’t realize that A03 has no algorithm, and haven’t realized they need to learn to use the search function. This is understandable, given the state of most of the internet and what these (often young) fans have learned to use before, but I think learning to search and filter is a vital skill to develop. I have no idea if you’re in this boat, anon, but if you are, please check out the search. It is, in my experience, the best way to find what you’re looking for on A03, and can at the very least supplement numbers-based selection.

Conclusion

I don’t think you have a moral responsibility to stop using engagement as a way to determine what you want to read. Frankly, this isn’t that important. I don’t think you even strictly need to stop using kudos as the measure instead of comments, though I think that would be more accurate if you do prefer to sort by engagement. But I do think you could be surprised at the hidden gems you could find if you didn’t limit yourself to only reading fics with high ratios. I don’t know the nature of your bad experiences in the past, and obviously how you use A03 is up to you. But I think there are better ways to decide what to read.

Thank you again for reaching out– you’ve helped me understand the other perspective as well! I really do appreciate your explanation. I hope I’ve been as respectful as you have, and that I’ve helped you understand where writers who share my opinion are coming from. If you’d like to continue talking about this or respond to any of my points, please feel free to shoot me another ask or a message. I hope you’re doing well and that you have a nice day!

[phireads]

My Books of 2023 Ranking 📖

This is a little late (it's the 12th of January when I'm writing this) but I read 18 books this year and I really wanted to just summarise my thoughts on them.

Obvious disclaimer: these are just my opinions and I would love to have a conversation about any of these books, whether you agree with me or not (the beauty of literature is that it's subjective) so please ask me any questions you might have.

Okay, let's get into it!

Re-reads:

The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Simply incredible. This was my fourth time reading this book. It does have a great deal of nostalgic merit for me so that surely makes me biassed and therefore I can’t say it’s definitively the best book ever (however much I might want to). It’s not some sort of philosophical masterpiece, nor does it present any new views on society or culture. But it does exactly what it sets out to do. It is a book written for teenagers and young people which teaches them, through vibrant characters and rich prose, that they are deserving of love and that a true sense of belonging can always be found if sought. I will be rereading this spring. 

First Reads:

16. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

⭐️⭐️

Ugh. This was such a slog. I had only ever read one Dickens work before this - A Christmas Carol, as required by my English GCSE (standard examinations in England, taken at age 15/16) - and I really enjoyed it. Yes, ACC was a novella and therefore, much shorter than Great Expectations and, I believe, most of Dickens’ other novels but I think it also has a spirit to it which just isn’t present in this book. I’m not referring to the “Christmas spirit” or indeed any of the four supernatural spirits which visit Ebenezer Scrooge throughout the stanzas, but rather the sense of movement that tells the reader that a story is progressing and wills them to read on. Great Expectations, to me, felt uninspired and dull. I liked (as in enjoyed reading about them, not solely agreed with them morally) only two characters, Biddy and Joe. The rest of the characters simply didn’t interest me, as they were too trivialised (which seems to be a major component of Dickens’ writing and all I can say is: Bertolt Brecht does it better). I recognise and appreciate what Dickens was trying to do with Miss Havisham having created a monster out of Estella but the way it was conveyed, especially given Pip was telling the story, simply lessened the impact. I didn’t like the convoluted prose, nor did I find the plot particularly engaging. I will be trying another Dickens novel (I own a copy of A Tale of Two Cities but if anyone has a better recommendation, please let me know) but needless to say, my expectations won’t be all that Great. 

15. The Tomb in Seville: Crossing Spain on the Brink of Civil War by Norman Lewis 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a travel piece which focuses on Lewis’ journey, with his brother-in-law, across Spain on an errand for his father-in-law, Eugene Corvaja to locate the Corvaja family’s ancestral tomb in (you guessed it) Sevilla. There were several elements of this book which I did enjoy, particularly Lewis’ way of imparting obscure facts (I had no clue there had been witch trials on the Iberian peninsula). Sadly, a lot of the anecdotal stories felt quite distant and unemotional. Perhaps, because I mostly read fiction, I was wrong to expect such sentiment from a travel piece but I do think there should have been more urgency felt when recounting being in the crossfire of a battle. I do want to acknowledge this book’s value as it demonstrates the rest of the world’s view of the guerra civil. 

14. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one was honestly quite a disappointment for me. I know that seems ridiculous to say, given how I’ve rated it three stars, but I was just so excited to read this. I’d heard that Gaskell was an adept writer who did not shy away from political commentary. That much is true. I was extremely impressed by Margaret and Mr Thornton’s political sparring, as most Regency and Victorian era works that I’ve encountered disguise their political and social messaging so as to not create too much controversy. Gaskell, on the other hand, makes no attempt to veil the more sensitive issues of her time. What did disappoint me was her characterisation, or lack thereof. I did not find myself drawn to Margaret Hale, John Thornton, or any of their comrades and rivals. I’m very much a character-driven reader. To properly enjoy a fiction book, its characters must be at least one of three things:

Relatable - a character acts or thinks like me and therefore, I feel a bond with them and am invested in their fate (see: C. Brontë’s Jane Eyre or Austen’s Elinor Dashwood)

Recognisable - a character acts or thinks like someone I have encountered and therefore, feels realistic to me (see: Alcott’s Amy March or Stoker’s Lucy Westenra)

Compelling - a character acts or thinks in a manner with which I am not at all familiar and may find morally reprehensible  but does so in a way which engages me and encourages me to read on (see: E. Brontë’s Hindley Earnshaw or Golding’s Jack Merridew)

That seems arbitrary to state but regardless, I must be engaged with the characters for a plot or the writing to be worth reading and unfortunately I was not engaged with the characters of North and South. I will still be picking up Gaskell’s other work though and I can see why she is an exalted author and want to give her another chance. 

13. You’ll be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is not the kind of book I usually talk about on here, probably because I rarely read any young adult literature anymore (not for any snobbish reason, my tastes have just changed) and have never been a great fan of mysteries. However, I have an odd devotion to Karen M. McManus books, having fond memories of going to the supermarket after school to pick up her latest novel and trying not to bump into a tree as I read it on the walk home. So of course, I had to read this. It’s simply okay. The crime was basic and its perpetrator was unconvincing but it was an easy and fun read and I like to rate books based on my personal experience, rather than the general academic consensus. Would recommend The Cousins over this but still a good time. 

12. The Return by Victoria Hislop

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had read one Victoria Hislop book before The Return - Those who are Loved, published eleven years after this - and I’m very happy to say that Hislop is not a one hit wonder whose inspiration dims over time. I can see in The Return the ideas that would become her later novels. So naturally, this book was not as emotive or as fleshed out as I would have liked but it’s really nice to see a popular author who is very clearly dedicated to their craft and has improved. I really need to read The Island. Also brownie points for the Lorca mentions! 

11. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m actually sort of nervous to post this on here - particularly because I have beloved mutuals who would sail a thousand ships for this book. I’d heard about all the satire and social commentary in Northanger Abbey so I decided to approach it with a more academic viewpoint (especially since I love gothic literature - yes, even the silly and melodramatic stuff which Jane Austen criticises - so I didn’t want to get personally offended). I really respect what Austen set out to do and this is certainly the most transparent social commentary I’ve read from her. I just didn’t connect with the characters. I understand that Catherine is meant to be almost a parody of herself but she didn’t feel as real to me as Austen’s other heroines. Nor did, I truly regret to say, Henry feel like a leading man. I wasn’t very invested in their relationship and felt that their obstacles were resolved too quickly. HOWEVER, biggest compliments to the author for creating John Thorpe, one of the most timeless and insufferable antagonists of all time. I adored the fact that he’s not comically evil, he’s just awful. Where Catherine hopes she might be a heroine, John Thorpe believes down to his breeches that he is a hero. I also thought it was so well done how he tried so hard to get Catherine to fall for him and ended up directly facilitating her relationship with Henry. All in all, I will definitely be rereading because I’m sure I’ve missed some nuance. Unfortunately, Ms Austen has set my expectations so high, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed. 

10. Ariadne by Jennifer Saint 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This wasn’t really anything new but Jennifer Saint writes beautifully so I would like to read Elektra and Atalanta.

To me, this novel felt like a story of sisterhood so I’m surprised it wasn’t called Ariadne and Phaedra. Due to it just being called Ariadne, I would always have had a sense of Phaedra’s tragic fate, even had I not known her mythology beforehand. I will say, I read this in Crete after having visited the real Knossos so that definitely helped my enjoyment of the book. I would absolutely recommend this to people wanting to get into mythological retellings but be warned - the feminism is really basic and bland. 

9. Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

All men these days know how to do is get arrested, fall asleep, drink wine and steal vacuum cleaners. This is, again, a brilliant instance of a writer developing over years of honing their skills. In Tortilla Flat, we see Steinbeck’s trademark landscape of the hot California deserts combined with the first inklings of his masterful character work. Danny and his friends are instant favourites of mine - especially the Pirate and Jesús María Corcoran. The plot is pretty weak, especially for Steinbeck, but as I said, this is one of his earlier works. Still a very engaging and atmospheric read and made me wish for five friends to share a gallon (or two) of wine with. 

8. The Wedding by Dorothy West 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would 100% recommend this book to anybody who enjoys media concerning high society and decadence. The Wedding marries themes of familial and racial politics with an idyllic island setting. I found the conversations between Gram, Liz and Shelby to be extremely compelling. I wasn’t as interested in the parallel plotline of Lute and his daughters though so the ending fell a bit flat for me. I also wish that we had seen Shelby’s fiance, Meade. I think West intended for Meade to be a symbol of Shelby’s choice between her family/ race and her love and therefore did not need to be developed into a full character but I just felt that if we had got to know Meade, we would have better understood Shelby’s decisions. Also, this is the second book I’ve read recently where a man dies directly after intercourse - is this a common plot point in books???

7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Here we are. The behemoth. It’s not actually extremely long but oh boy, is it jam-packed? I really didn’t know how to rate this because it’s just so different from anything I’ve ever read before. I suppose I should get the negatives out of the way first by saying that I did not enjoy the structuring. I wish we didn’t know that the majority of the characters of the first half of the novel are already dead when Nelly recounts the story to Mr Lockwood. I understand that Brontë might have intended to show how all the first generation were doomed from the beginning and I think telling us of Catherine’s death was ingenious but I wish I’d found out about Isabella’s death in the main narrative. Otherwise, what a masterpiece! The pacing was a little slow for the first 100 or so pages but I honestly enjoyed that because it allowed me to really immerse myself in Brontë’s eerie moors. As someone who spent a lot of time in Yorkshire as a child, I found the descriptions to be absolutely transporting. I thought the first half of the book was brilliant but the second half - concerning Catherine, Heathcliff and Hindley’s children - is what makes this book a deserving classic. I have a lot more to say but I promised myself I’d keep these reviews short and digestible so I’ll move on. 

6. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my fourth Fredrik Backman book (following A Man Called Ove, Beartown and Us Against You). I think if it hadn’t been a Backman novel, I would have loved it even more but you know how it is, I have high expectations. The writing was, as ever, extremely charming and engaging (shoutout to the most consistently brilliant translator I’ve ever read, Neil Smith) and the characters were so realistic and loveable. I just felt the plot dragged. Probably because the majority of the novel takes place in one apartment building and the same story is told from multiple perspectives. I felt a lot of joy whilst reading this but it’s definitely my least favourite Fredrik Backman book. Oh well, onto The Winners (which I know is going to make me cry)!

5. Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was so beautiful. I feel I should start by noting that this book was bought for me by my beloved best friend and neither of us realised it was a sequel until I was halfway through reading it so naturally there were elements of the plot and characters that I did not fully understand but I have tried to not let that affect my judgement. The premise of the book is such an interesting one and, as a complete newbie to Japanese literature and a relative novice when it comes to understanding Japanese culture, I didn’t feel too overwhelmed by the different details. My favourite story was that of Yukio, Kyoko and their mother, Kinuyo. Since we’d already met Kyoko in Gohtaro’s story (and likely in the first book - take what I say with a pinch of salt), I had a fondness for the family by the time Yukio came to the café. I cried on the train because that was the best way that story could have concluded, in my opinion. The other stories were very powerful but it was Yukio’s that shone the brightest. I also LOVED the character of Kazu. I will definitely be reading the first (oops), third and fourth books in this series. 

4. The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My second Greek mythological retelling of the year, The Children of Jocasta was actually quite a shock for me. I’m a huge fan of Sophocles’ Antigone (though I’ve never seen or read Oedipus at Colonus or Oedipus Rex) so I’m very picky when it comes to reimaginings. I found the semi-modernisation aspect to be pretty cringeworthy (not everyone needs a nickname) but I found Haynes’ writing to be so addictive that I could move past those aspects. I was so intrigued by the dynamics between Oedipus and Jocasta and the plague element gave the story a lot more historical grounding (given the Athenian plagues of that era). Such an enjoyable and compelling read. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a good introductory read for those unfamiliar with mythology. If you’re looking for a truly modern Antigone retelling, absolutely give Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie a go. 

3. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was the surprise of the year for me to be honest. A book written in the late nineteenth century by a man about a young maiden and her downfall? Sounds like the most maddening experience. But it wasn’t. Hardy’s portrayal of Tess, and of the women and girls she represents, was incredibly sympathetic. His writing was also remarkably atmospheric - especially during the final scenes at Stonehenge. Even the conversations with Tess and her friends felt like real teenage exchanges. Take notes, Stephen King and F. Scott Fitzgerald - men can write women convincingly and respectfully. Angel Clare also felt like someone I’ve met a million times over, someone who isn’t the epitome of evil but perpetuates so many injustices. Honestly a spectacular read. I’m so excited to pick up Far from the Madding Crowd.

2. Passing by Nella Larsen

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It feels almost strange putting Passing in second place, considering the profound effect it had on me. This book is completely incredible. Larsen’s prose is atmospheric and oddly breezy. It makes the plot feel deceptively light until we, as the reader, understand the stakes. From the second page, on which Clare is referred to as a “pale small girl” (the subversive ordering of adjectives bypassing English grammatical rules and thereby putting the utmost importance on the hue of Clare’s skin), the author puts so much consideration into her choice of wording which really makes this work stand out to me.Clare and Irene are truly two sides of the same coin (forgive the cliché). Their equal opportunities are made all the more clear by the wholly opposite way the two women deal with them. Clare chooses to hide from the truth (that her husband is a racist, that her marriage is founded on lies) whilst Irene cannot bear to live in ignorance when she recognises the connection between her own husband, Brian, and Clare. The two women are shining examples of what literary characters should be. They are complex and flawed and both seem to envy each other. Clare covets Irene’s life and Irene resents Clare for having the power to take that from her. Whilst reading, I considered many possible ways that the story might end but never that. Incredible. I just wish the penultimate scene had been a tad longer but that’s my own critique (barely even that, just personal preference). Also the film is spectacular and a rare faithful adaptation of its source material. 

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Finally! We’re here! Ugh I love love love this book. Is it as socially or academically impactful as Passing? No, not at all. But it’s just a brilliant book. Anne is fiercely intelligent and kind and just an all-round wonderfully written protagonist. I loved Marilla, Matthew, Gilbert and Diana too. The scenes with all Anne’s classmates are just a perfect reflection of being a tween/ teen girl and feeling the joy of being surrounded by friends and being totally carefree. I feel like I knew Anne and all of her friends - I laughed with them and cried with them and watched them grow up and it was truly a magical experience. I want to visit St Edward’s Island because Montgomery paints it in such an enchanting way. I’m so invested in Anne and Gilbert’s relationship, it’s embarrassing. This book also found me at the perfect time - right as I was starting a distance degree. So I felt comfort in studying alone whilst also pursuing a career knowing Anne was too (I recognise that’s a little silly but oh well, it works for me). I wish I could start Anne of Avonlea right away but I know that I want to buy physical copies because I can tell I’m going to read these books again and again. Pure comfort. Pure timelessness.

📖

Alright, that's everything! Onto a wonderful new year of reading in 2024 <3

[casualtydept]

I think the message or idea you're trying to push about Skull Face is dangerous because you don't know what unwitting person who hasn't read the lore or lore documents would have any idea and thirst over him. Blocking you may be easy but the idea or what he did as a character simply cannot be ignored

"who hasn't read the lore or lore documents" you mean just... played the games??? everything i create about him gets the same like 5 people interacting, are you implying none of them know? does my incredibly niche content really have the power to make people go "haha what a funny harmless character, i want to fuck him now" without prompting them to do any further research? he's called skull face and looks and talks like That, he is the most obviously evil character in the entire series and more people know about his torture and rape of paz than almost anything else about him.

this isn't information i believe in obscuring, of the handful of people on the entire internet who post about him vaguely regularly you're arguing with the one person most willing and comfortable with talking about ground zeroes. anyone unwilling to face the actual truth of the character is not my responsibility - if it's uncomfortable for people to confront directly then fine, but i don't approve of ignoring its existence and if people do i cannot control their thoughts or actions, much like how you cannot control mine.

do you want a banner on every post that says "this character raped paz"? do i need to insult everyone here's intelligence including my own? i do my best to remove followers i know are under 18 on here so i would expect a bunch of grown adults to be capable of knowing and understanding. any hypothetical "unwitting" people who are thirsting over him without knowing anything about him aren't voicing it to me so what power do i have over something that i don't even know is happening, that is happening contrary to my beliefs? i could say "cut that shit out and go play ground zeroes" as much as i want but there's no way to force people to listen. any hypothetical idiots can take responsibility for their own actions without me somehow being dangerously responsible for them.

blocking is easy so you should do it instead of having arguments that will continue to go nowhere because while neither of us have the power to change each other's thoughts and feelings, blocking is the one power you do have to make sure you don't have to engage with me again. i'm not ignoring what he did, you're not ignoring what he did, you are fighting with people that aren't even in the room with us right now.

[loregoddess]

14 and 15 for the ask meme!

14. the ship that always makes you smile Any of my rarepairs, like Faye x Rinea (FE: Echoes). But it's not just my rare ships--for example, Frederica x Serenoa (Triangle Strategy), bc even though that's like, the main eventually romantic relationship of the game, it was written in such a way that I just adore the two, and they just fill my heart with joy.

15. the character that always makes you smile Honestly any of my favorite characters which is...a lot of characters, but especially the more obscure ones bc I don't see as much (if any) fanart of them, so every time I remember their existence I am filled with a sudden burst of happiness. Recently the characters I've been really excited about are Ochette (well, any of the Octo2 characters, but esp. Ochette bc I was not expecting to love her as much as I do and she's not as popular as a few of the other main travelers--also shoutout to Ori and Alrond bc holy shit do I love them a whole lot), and Pandreo (FE: Engage, but again I love basically the entire cast). Oh, but I'm also basically always happy to see Midna (LoZ: Twilight Princess) bc she's been my favorite character for like, half my life, I love her a whole lot too.

[protagonistheavy]

Finished Mario Wonder and yeah, it was an average Mario sidescroller experience. I really don't feel like this is inherently a better "direction" than anything the New series was doing, in many ways it still very much still New with a better coat of paint. It felt like the whole game was lacking something, at least considering just how short it is.

I love all the new enemies but so many of them appear in just one or two courses before never being used again. Many of them have fun and unique mechanics that would have been fun to see mixed together in different ways, but you usually only get just the one course featuring that enemy. I do like the enemies that play-out like standard enemies, like goombas and koopas, but with their own special quirks that mix up gameplay just a little. But beyond that it's more disappointing how often enemies will just disappear from the game once you've gone past their stage.

There's also a significant lack of challenge anywhere in the game. With how easy of a time I was having getting through each course, I was really expecting there to be a hard mode unlocked by the end, or even a whole other circuit of challenging courses to go through. But there isn't. I still have a few stages left to 100%, and a few that I straight-up haven't found yet, but I'm not particularly encouraged to go and finish everything when it doesn't feel like there'd be any real reward for it. Maybe I'm still missing some obscure secret ending...? But I sort of doubt that.

I don't think it's that mean to compare Wonder to Mario Odyssey, and on every metric, Odyssey is the better game. The 3d environment allows for more engaging puzzles and enthralling worlds, the capture mechanic was a superior substitute to plain power-ups, and there were far better secrets to discover that made exploration and replays more valuable. Wonder is a very, very traditional experience, which really stands out with how "wEiRd" it really wants to be -- it's sometimes embarrassing how wacky Wonder thinks it is, when most of the Wonder Seed moments are pretty par for Mario games. The only thing Wonder has over Odyssey is multiplayer, but I'm not so convinced that having friends to goof around with would make my experience any better lol.

So in the end I guess I'm kinda let down. I was hoping Wonder would be a bit braver in trying new things but in some ways it feels even paler to a normal New Super Mario game. Aesthetics have been improved, but core gameplay is still way too simple without any options to make the game harder or more compelling.

[amugoffandoms]

Yuno Kashiki Propaganda!:

So, I think it needs to be said again that Yuno Kashiki is not a character that everyone should just shrug off. After revealing that her murder was abortion during her second voice drama, everyone seems to decide that, "Oh! This is so easy. Her case is not nuanced at all. Isn't it easy to forgive her?"

They essentially degrade her case to: "Oh, wow. Girl boss go get that abortion!! Kill that baby!" I wish I was joking, but the literal phrase "Girlboss get that abortion" has been used in conjunction with her SO OFTEN?? It's most found on Twitter but I've seen a few posts on Tumblr as well that similarly disregard any nuance.

Which is considerably very funny! Yes, MILGRAM, the project known for black and white characters, has a character that's sooo easy to forgive.

So, why am I here? Well, it's because I'm going to tell you, right here, right now: She's just as bad as everyone else.

I love her just as much as everyone else in MILGRAM, but simply undermining her to forgive her is stupid and is literally what we did the first trial. (Punt us, please.)

"Can you not forgive without some extreme reason? Then, alternatively, if there was some extreme reason, could you forgive?"

Let's pretend Yuno Kashiki didn't have abortion as murder. Do you expect her to actually have people look into more of her character and analyze her? Probably! At the moment, people want to disregard her because of how easy it is to forgive someone "like that." Someone who you can say is "pitiful" and "has a reason."

Oh, wait.

"Because she's pitiable.” “There's no mistake that she has some kind of reason." "She might have become like this because she had some kind of hardship in her past." "She's become like this because there's some problem in her home life—because she doesn't know love yet!" "Because of that…I'll forgive her."

No offense, but making up excuses just to forgive a murderer is "analogical."

Imagine doing this to a person, making up excuses just so you can forgive them. Isn't that just wrong? You're inaccurately portraying a person just so you can forgive them, thereby obscuring the actual person and their character. You're just being a little selfish.

Sorry to just say that, but it's kinda true.

Now, I get that Yuno Kashiki is a fictional character, I won't deny that. But, considering how much our choices are viewed to be important in MILGRAM (See Amane Momose being voted guilty just to make her understand??), isn't it wrong to inaccurately analyze and portray a character just to justify your vote?

I'll be honest, I'm not exempt from that issue, literally no one can be. Everyone is biased. But, we should be able to at least analyze a character without degrading them to "girlboss."

Anyways, back to Yuno Kashiki. I got a little distracted lol

Yuno Kashiki isn't some good person. I love her to pieces but she's not that great.

She doesn't particularly care about morals:

Yuno: Ah…I don't have much interest in things like ethics and morals. Doesn't it not fill your stomach*? *This is a pun! She literally says "doesn't your stomach not inflate?" using a phrase that references a term for being full/stuffed. She's joking that ethics/morals aren't emotionally filling while also referencing pregnancy/balloons.

Yuno: But immoral acts that don't cause anyone misfortune do exist, right? Just like sugar-daddying: because it's been deemed ethically wrong, I was hiding it but…is someone being troubled by it? It's a win-win engagement, isn't it?

In fact, her whole thing is that she just wants to enjoy herself, so she will do what it takes to just enjoy herself.

She avoids anything related to her murder ("It was too bothersome to think about.") and answers questions that are supposed to be nuanced with quick short answers as if they were ice breakers.

While she does care about others, it's not like anyone is particularly important.

Yuno: Hmm? Why all of a sudden? Yeah, I'm not really interested. But if someone is about to die in front of me, I'd help out. That's just normal, isn't it? Aren't you the same, Kazui-san? You're not interested, fundamentally.

For me, no one is particularly important. That includes myself as well.

damn that last line still hurts. Anyways, she distances herself from the huge situation that MILGRAM has created because she has deemed it all too bothersome to even deal with. It's not enjoyable anymore, so what's the point, right?

Yuno: Yep! This situation's bothersome-ness has won out over the fun so I am extremely cooled off.

That is all..

Look, seriously, as someone who has analyzed Yuno to bits, she's selfish. She doesn't want to care about things that trouble her. In fact, she quite literally said she's fine with living up to 40, most likely because of the issues that arise after that age.

She's much more than, "She did nothing wrong!" "Girlboss, go abort that thing!"

She's a very nuanced, morally gray character who shouldn't be overlooked because of one facet of her character.

Yuno Kashiki is a murderer.

[megan-is-mia]

How about 4 and 7 on the Fairy Tale Prompt list for Jamil?

4. “An enchanted beauty that every maiden wishes to be and that every gentleman wants to wed” 7. “You look so beautiful in that dress, from which kingdom do you live?” (Yandere! Jamil Viper x Fem! S/o)

She would be in so much trouble when her mistress found out but for the moment (Y/n) was happy as can be. She was a mere serving girl for a spoiled duchess living in the castle. On this night there happened to be a ball going on and the duchess had been unable to attend due to being bedridden with a stomach bug. With her mistress out of commission for the evening, (Y/n) had stolen one of the woman’s many ball dresses and snuck into the event without raising any suspension. The young woman gouged herself on the fine food and danced for awhile before finally stepping out onto the balcony to gaze at the stars and imagine what it would be like if this night could last forever.

“You look so beautiful in that dress, from which kingdom do you live?” a male voice spoke breaking (Y/n) out of her daydream and making her jump in surprise as she gripped the railing of the balcony tighter. She looked at the source of the voice and found it belonged to a young man with tanned skin and long dark hair tied back into a ponytail. The young woman was so taken in by the stranger’s appearance that she did not answer his question for a long moment. “Oh! Um well you know I’m from one of those small kingdoms nobody has heard about or cares about” (Y/n) lied quickly and smoothly enough. She hoped that her blasé answer would discourage the young man from trying to engage with her further in conversation. “I ‘d care to know, that's why i asked” the male said strolling out onto the balcony to stand beside her. “I'm Jamil by the way” he said then looked at her expecting an answer. “I’m Nadia! From Anatlia” she said, almost tripping over herself to get the words out. Jamil smiled at her and for a time spoke no more. (Y/n) began to relax a little and looked back up at the stars. They looked so beautiful from up here, up where the castle's walls weren’t obscuring half the skyline. “The night sky is so wonderful… I could gaze at it for hours and hours and never get bored” the young woman said with a sigh.

“You don't seem to belong here Nadia, you seem like a fairytale character who somehow got lost in our world. You’re like an enchanted beauty that every maiden wishes to be and that every gentleman wants to wed” Jamil said softly scooting closer to (Y/n) until his hand was touching hers. “Or maybe you don't seem to belong here because you really don't, (Y/n)” he added abruptly, his voice suddenly harsh as he grabbed the girl’s arm and twisted it behind her back.

“How… how do you…” (Y/n) trailed off not wanting to complete her question. “How do I know who you really are? Easy because I've been watching you for a long time. I made sure that you would be attending this ball so I could talk to you one on one” Jamil answered, speaking into the young woman’s ear. “See i don't like your mistress much, in fact i find her to be a bit of a nuisance so I’m having her taken care of” he hissed his use of the words ‘taken care of’ did not conjure pleasant images in (Y/n)’s mind. “And in absence of your mistress you’ll need to find a new master, i can be that new master. Actually I am going to make sure I'm going to be that new master” Jamil cooed, kissing the back of (Y/n)’s neck. “Now all you have to do now is be quiet and play along with me” he added before letting the young woman up and leading her back into the ballroom to dance. Terrified of the man now, she obediently followed and they danced the night away before he led her to his quarters never to be seen again by another palace resident… THE END

[phthalology]

My Year Of Living Quittingly

It's fic wrap-up time again, and despite my efforts to Stop there is a lot under the cut. Some of it is simply navel-gazing, but I do think the experiment had results. I wrote for myself this year. That includes the part of myself that likes making fandom friends, but not the part that throws messages in a bottle onto the dry ground. I also finished a novel this year, and plan to start another one. 2022 seems reasonably likely not to include or require any major life changes after a couple years of moving and pandemic and underemployment (knock on wood), so that's good. There will be TWQ and HFW, too.

No writing goals for next year except for two original fiction things: the novel and a story as part of a workshop application. Half-sick of goals. I am that tweet that says "it is the circumstances turn to improve."

General summary

What’s your personal favorite thing you wrote this year? STM has to win even though it just snuck in to the year.

What’s your least favorite thing you wrote this year? There's nothing that repulses me, but the early-'21 exchange ones I'm least attached to.

Which of your fics was most different from what you usually write? Mirror properties, of course. ^^'

Which of your fics this year was most successful? Excepting STM this time since most of the chatter around that was in 2020, by kudos it's "new gerbil." I guess @seasidh's taste and gen Control hit a sweet spot.

Which of your fics do you wish was more successful? Any of the Prey stuff, really. It's rare pair in a small fandom, though, so I shouldn't make unrealistic expectations for myself.

What’s your favorite piece of dialogue you wrote this year? Somehow, in around November, I started feeling like I could write more naturalistic dialogue. A lot of it hasn't been posted, but there's a good example even in just the summary here.

What’s your favorite piece of description or narration? I like a lot of the Morgan/Dahl stuff for having a sort of clarity and tiredness to it at the same time.

Which fic this year was most fun to write? Mirror properties was so fast and so id.

If you could go back and change something about one of the fics you wrote this year, what would it be? I can't think of anything I actually have control over and would change, as opposed to "won't someone else just write every idea I have at a longer word count than I can manage."

What, if anything, are you going to try to do differently in your writing next year? Maybe we'll find out together. Maybe I'll find out by myself and simply not post stuff that is so specific and obscure I don't think it will get engagement. After all, in that case, the writing is the fun part.

birthright: Star Wars Legends, Jaina Solo, 800 words, rated G, finished Jan 15. Ah yes, this marks a nice clean break from "the era of doing public exchanges" to "the era of not doing that." The Chocobox exchange had potential because the word count requirement was so short, but I won't do it again. And I can write Star Wars with my eyes shut.

Shoot the Moon Between the Eyes: Destiny 2, Eris/Toland, 69K, rated T, finished Jan. 17. You know what it is. STM was in 2021?! Yes, barely. This fic was an exorcism, an argument, a lullaby, a wonderland. I'm very proud of it and feel it's a good introduction to my stuff.

aerie: Assassin's Creed Origins, Aya/Bayek, 500 words, rated T, finished Jan. 17. Another Chocobox thing. Not much to say about my erratic Assassin's Creed fandom except it's meaty enough to be interesting and dumb enough to be fun. Aya/Bayek was so well-served by the game I almost don't feel like more fic is needed, although it would be nice.

Tribulations of the New Gerbil: Control, Jesse Faden & Fra & The Former, 2600 words, rated G, finished Feb. 22. *static* *sounds of a train* *kazoo* Sorry, I'm going through a tunnel.

Routines of Care: Friends at the Table, Stanislaka, 400 words, rated G, finished March 28. This was an exploratory journey into whether I or anyone else would be writing a lot of fic about FATT's fantasy-horror season. The answer was no. I'm proud of my slight contribution to the season's great spooky train content regardless.

Violet and Jade: Destiny 2, Ikora/Drifter, 1600 words, rated T, finished April 19. @synnthamonsugar was a good enabler and asked about my crackship.

mirror properties: Prey (2017), Morgan/Dahl, 800 words, Rated M, finished June 22. IT STARTS. After not writing anything at all in May, that thing happened. I finally played a game everyone was telling me I'd like, and liked it. Although maybe not in the way y'all expected. This year might also be defined as the year of the person I only later realized was steve blum. This is archive locked because of the (gestures at everything). Good practice about writing people who aren't in their first relationships, who aren't trying to prove anything. A bunch of Prey fic happened in the summer, including the long one, the one where everyone dies and the one that isn't about Dahl.

Anacrusis: Destiny 2, Toland, 1300 words, rated G, finished July 25. I missed Toland and wanted to write him being spooky. It got a little long.

Strange Terrain: Control/Alan Wake (the game), Jesse Faden & Dylan Faden & Emily Pope & Alan Wake (the man) & Etc., ???? words, rated T, finished ????. I really wanted to see the Control characters in the Alan Wake atmosphere, so strung together a plot for that somehow. Finishing this was one of my New Year's Resolutions. Big debate on how long to make this versus how many people would read it versus the scenes I really wanted to see making no sense whatsoever out of context. You know how it is. I wish I had an original title for this one, but it does the job.

brave my love but false the king: Control, Jesse/Former, 2k, rated T, finished October 31. In terms of the experiment, this was a conclusive "no, you can't resist posting rarepair stuff or fic on holidays." I had some excellent enablers.

Three Digimon fics: hey what happened in november

I also made seven (eight?) Destiny 2 drabbles, because there's something satisfying about fixing the seasonal events in my mind that way. Crimson Days 2021 was truly my last gasp at writing stuff sort of because I felt like I had to, because I felt FOMO. But this one about Eris watching Override and this one about Caiatl and Amanda really feel like they have some heft to them, and the numbers bear that out. See featured posts. One Horizon Forbidden West warmup drabble did okay once it got on a hub blog.