#though i guess that doesn't really matter given that I'm learning

[spiderfunkz]

SEND YOU MY LOVE ON A WIRE!

pairings. cho hyun-ju x f!reader

cw. fluff, reader is alternative and plays the bass, no games au.

author's note: guys i don't know anything about instruments okay💔💔 i'm not sure if i did justice for this one, my knowledge for the subculture is very limited but i tried my best.

wandering through the streets of seoul late at night wasn't exactly the plan for cho hyun-ju.

after a long day at work, all she wanted to do was to eat at her favorite restaurant. she could already imagine sipping on the warm hearty soup. unfortunately though, the place was closed for the rest of the week.

now she has found herself staring into the window of a local pub. the music playing gave her a sense of nostalgia and starstruck-ness. the tunes brought a small wave of relief to hyun-ju, no matter how loud it was, it felt empowering.

a band was putting on a show there. hyun-ju was mesmerized by the melody, the genuine emotions it stirred, and also the cute bassist.

but to her luck the band stopped playing rather abruptly.

a rush of muttering and soon shouting came along with it. the band left the pub silently, walking towards the old van parked nearby.

the bassist followed behind them.

this could be the time to start a conversation with her, hyun-ju thinks, she could come up with many topics. it has been a long day, some small talk with a girl couldn't hurt, right?

"excuse me?" her hands awkwardly fidgeted, she wonders if you were even in the mood to talk. her worries were soon brushed off as she was met with a friendly smile.

"hi!" the light reflected on you, hyun-ju noticed your makeup. it looks flawless, everything seemed to compliment your features very well.

"could i help you with something?" your voice was just as angelic as the singer— well, you were in a band, that talent must've lingered for all the members.

hyun-ju's mouth began talking faster than her head could comprehend it, "is it okay if i ask why you stopped playing in there?"

you laugh, "oh yeah, i guess the guy, owner, whatever- was expecting we play something.. softer? i don't know. i'm assuming he didn't read the list of songs we were gonna play."

hyun-ju nods, "i thought it was really nice."

"the guy thought otherwise," you shrug.

"you played very well there, i only heard a bit of it. but you looked very skilled." hyun-ju's voice made it sound like it was more of a statement. she was genuinely in awe of your talent.

"i'm just the bassist, credits should be given to the guitarist or singer if anything."

"but the bass ties it together, no? it controls the rhythm and pace, i think it enhances the tune of the song you were playing," hyun-ju smiles, she hopes she doesn't sound too sheepish or weird, "you brought a nice sense of energy and aura."

her words definitely struck a chord with you.

"what's your name, pretty?" your words caught the woman off guard, "oh, hyun-ju, cho hyun-ju."

"well, hyun-ju, do you want to grab a drink with me?"

"what about your band?" she gestures to the van that has been waiting for you this entire time, "i can handle it. they won't mind too much, besides, we're not gonna play anything else tonight."

hyun-ju nods, excited.

"okay then, i know a spot."

you motion to the van to leave without you, the bass still strapped on your back. hyun-ju's eyes focused on you before giving a small wave to the van driving away.

hyun-ju was wrong. wandering the streets of seoul late at night was the perfect plan. to meet someone as talented and gorgeous as you, she was able to ease off for the night. forgetting all the worries that laced her thoughts earlier today.

the night felt more lively than ever. you got to tell her many things, such as; your love for alternative rock, how you eventually learned the bass, how you met your friends slash bandmates, and how you discovered yourself through the art of music. you got to share your views and perspectives, your makeup routine, your favorite places to play at— hyun-ju listened to every single word that came out of you.

you noticed it. "say, hyun-ju, would you like to go out sometime? grab another drink maybe, or go to a place of your choice?"

"i would love to."

"okay then," you grab a piece of paper and pen hidden in your pocket, you had this planned all along, did you?

"here, give me a call, pretty."

[dreamchasernina]

The live action writers hate Aang

I have given myself a lot of time to think about the live action, and reached the conclusion that the writers hate Aang. I dare you to read read this and tell me I'm wrong.

Let me start this by asking you a question? What's the most badass scene Aang has in the first season of the OG show? No matter what you answer is, I know for sure, that scene doesn't exist in the live action. Aang does absolutely nothing to prove the audience he is the right person to be the Avatar, he learns absolutely nothing throughout the show, he doesn't need to look into himself and change his way of thinking. Nothing. Most of the fundamental lessons Aang learns throughout the first season are gone.

The first mistake Aang does in the OG is staying at Kyoshi island too long, letting the attention go to his head, getting too comfortable. He realises he brought destruction to the island and tries to fix his mistakes by jumping onto the Unagi to help the village. That's how he learned the responsibly he holds as the Avatar and finds a unique way to help the village. Well that doesn't exist in the LA. Instead, Kyoshi takes over Aang's body to fight the whole fire nation for him. Aang, himself, does literally nothing.

The spirit world. In the OG show Aang is forced to face his Avatar duty for the first time by trying to save the village that's beeing attacked by Hei Bai. This is his first test as the Avatar and he fails. Not only that, he loses his friend. So Aang has to figure out himself how to get Sokka back from Hei Bai. He figures out who her bai is, himself, understands why Hei Bai is angry and gives him hope, the way Katara gave him hope. So we see that even though Aang failed at first, he kept trying and was smart and compassionate enough to realise what the problem is and solve it. This does not exist in the LA. Aang sees Hei bai in the spirit world, within a second realises who he is and just gives him the Acorn, without having to face him at all!

Another reason I'm convinced the writers hate Aang is the way all the avatars + Bumi treat Aang. Everyone is mad at him for disappearing for 100 years. And look, I get that, you can be mad at him if he ran away from his duties...but he never did! He went to clear his head on Appa and got caught in the storm. And if he hadn't run away he'd be dead, so why are you all so mad at him?! Bumi being mad at Aang could make sense, because in the OG show Aang did spend a significant amount on time of goofing around before he finds out about the comet. But here, it makes no sense! Bumi is mad for no reason. As soon as Aang got out go the ice he took his duty seriously, so please, make it make sense! And the show just glosses over the fact that if Aang hadn't run away he would be dead with the rest of the air benders. Instead of letting Aang feel guilty himself, which he does in the OG show, they just get these characters to hate on him, because they're incapable of making their characters have any emotional depth.

Aang doesn't learn water bending. At all. And there is no logical reason for that. I guess they thought it wasn't that important but please explain to me how you want to make Aang more serious and focused on the Avatar duties but not make him learn water bending? The literal next step Aang has to take to becoming the Avatar?? That is the only clear goal Aang has from the second episode of the show - to find a master and learn waterbending! Make it make sense!

Taking away Aang's talk with Koh. So I assume if most people didn't answer my question above with the Koi fish, they probably said Aang's journey into the spirit world and his meeting with Koh. In the OG show, Aang has to find a way to figure out how to save the water tribe. He does so by going into the spirit world and talking to Koh the face stealer. So Aang had to talk to Koh showing zero emotions so he doesn't have his face stolen. That scene is so creepy and so badass and shows that Aang is really capable, even though he is a kid, he is facing the creepy ass spirit and is doing an excellent job. So when Aang finds out who the moon and the ocean spirits are, it feels deserved, it feels like an accomplishment. In the live action he doesn't have to show zero emotions because Koh is not stealing faces, he's just stealing random people for whatever reason. Koh tells him exactly what to do, bring me a MacGuffin so I can release your friends, Aang just goes to see Roku, no problem, no obstacles to overcome, brings the Macguffin to Koh and he just releases his friends. Wow, really shows us how resourceful Aang is by making him...get an object and give it back to Koh...

And the very last point that I absolutely hated in the show. When Aang goes into the Avatar state and becomes the giant koi fish and wipes everyone out, the live action show goes out of its way to emphasise that that is not Aang in there. Aang is gone. The Koi fish is just rage. and that's that. Taking away ANY agency Aang ever had. Look, I know in the OG show Aang is not in control of the Avatar state either, but we know that's still Aang in there, that's his power he's showcasing. He might not be in control but that's him doing it all, being all powerful. But in the live action, they tell us Aang is gone, that's just his body the spirit is using. Plus Aang does no watebending himself, no gestures like the original where you can see aang in the sphere water bending, controlling the giant Koi fish, showing us how far he's come as a water bender. But in the LA he's just in the sphere...doing nothing because he never learned water bending so of course that's not him doing all this cool shit.

I am so angry over all of this. This is you MAIN PROTAGONIST. and you made him nothing but a vessel to progress the plot. You gave him no character, no growth, no struggles, no power! So no, you cannot convince me, at this point, that the writers of the live action don't hate Aang. Probably as much as they hate Katara.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I doubt I’m the first person to come barging in saying this, but I’m not happy with how Malleus’s consequences played out. Obviously we don’t have a full translation to work with so this should be taken with a massive load of salt, but he’s really getting off with just the temporarily broken horn?

I understand why the writers did it. You can’t take one of the main cast out of the game for an extended period of time lest you impact the gacha money. And the rest of the overblot guys had but a slap on the wrist too so nothing was ever going to happen.

But still, isn’t it too convenient that there just so happens to be a precedent for Sage’s Island to excuse this exact situation because Malleus feels bad? At least the other guys had the argument that their overblots were relatively contained.

But maybe it is a fitting punishment that Malleus lost the usage of the one thing he used as a crutch. That he needs to learn how to use more than brute magical force to handle his problems. I guess I’m just bitter that Malleus always seems to get away with much more than the other characters, and here he seems to be doing it again.

Sorry if this is repetitive.

[You can read my thoughts on the book 7 finale here!]

To be fair, they did say the broken horn would take an estimated 100-200 years to grow back + would require monitoring. In his current state, I believe Malleus isn’t able to use his UM or similar “disaster-level” magic. It seems he can still use the rest of his arsenal of spells?? It looked like he used magic to mass deliver invitations and to help Lilia use his UM for the party. But we’ll have to follow-up to see for ourselves what the true range is, since we didn’t see Malleus use a lot of different spells at the end of book 7.

But yeah, other than that 😅 Seems like all is fine? Malleus is going back to school, Lilia’s still alive and returning to NRC as well, his grandma seems to be handling diplomatic matters + smoothing over foreign relationships, fae fixed the physical damage to buildings, other countries are settling back into their own daily lives, etc. I guess we should’ve expected this, given the medium and the pattern of letting OB boys off easy. It’s all for the sake of keeping the marketable characters present and still lovable. (Though I do want to point out that, because the story ended sort of quickly, Malleus may not have been granted enough time to show us how he's dealing with the aftermath or what other consequences there were. This could be something covered or expanded on in a future update, or perhaps in the manga, light novel, or anime.)

I think that maybe the new lore surrounding Sage's Island could connect with a future update (there's many theories that it could tie with Mickey or Grim), but its placement here is... I don't know, the framing of it reads as very convenient for Malleus. I'm not saying that Malleus shouldn't be forgiven or granted a chance at redemption (he certainly should, especially if we're giving this to the other OB boys). His OB may have been on a far larger scale than the others' were, but that's no reason to deny him or to think that there's 0% chance he can change for the better. What I am saying is that telling us, "This other powerful mage also did an oopsie and wasn't exiled for it, he only got scolded" feels like we're redirecting attention to someone else instead of focusing on Malleus :/ which doesn't sit right with me.

This really is not helped by the narrative bringing up all these additional details which only seem to minimize Malleus's impact on the world. No one died, no major areas were affected (save for Sage's Island), the only injuries sustained were those of some NRC students, the only physical damage sustained was mainly the Diasomnia dormitory (which was easily patched up with fairy magic), Maleficia + the headmasters are handling the press coverage of the event, there's now a group (the Fairy Dream Life Association) that adore Malleus and want to stay in the dream world, etc. I understand that the point of the big fight against Malleus was to prevent him from doing more harm--and it seems like they were successful, so good for them. I also understand that Malleus's absolute power allowed him to control space and time within his briar barrier (so I guess any deaths that would have resulted from people falling asleep while swimming, driving, cooking, etc. didn't happen?). But that feels... again, too convenient, and gives Malleus another "out" of being forced to realize he's done something truly horrible (since apparently no physical harm resulted + what little harm that did happen was easily fixed), that he potentially has blood on his hands. Does he even truly comprehend the emotional and mental turmoil he put his victims through? Maybe not all 20,000 residents, but definitely a non-zero amount of them. I don't pick up any of that based on how he's acting. Malleus doesn’t talk about or acknowledge any of that.

It doesn't even seem like his classmates hold any grudge toward him for what he did??? Even though NRC students are the exact type of people who would do that??? Yeah, Leona and a few others express shock when Crowley says Malleus is coming back to school, but I didn't see a SINGLE person protest or put up a fight or consider not showing up to Malleus's party. In fact, the first years seem oddly excited to be seeing Malleus again after all of that. It weirdly seems like there was more resistance to going to Lilia's farewell party at the beginning of book 7 (because at least there Leona expresses WANTING to leave early) than there was for Malleus's party at the end of book 7. Is this supposed to show us that the NRC students are now so pro-cooperation they don’t mind Malleus being back?? Even though those same dorm leaders were surprised at the meeting where it was announced? It’s also strange that we heard nothing about upset parents, just that parents conferences were held. You’d think there would be significant uproar from a small portion of them??

On top of all that, he also conveniently gets what he OB'd over: Lilia not leaving, not dying, and reenrolling at NRC. Malleus isn't forced to reconcile with that loss, isn't made to confront mortality for longer. It just gets pushed off to a later date. None of the other OBs are magically given what they got mad over to begin with. They had to work to overcome their own issues, but Malleus seemingly doesn't have to (because he no longer has to currently grapple with the distress of Lilia leaving), so it seems unfair that Malleus is the only one that gets it all. This could be something they tackle in like… book 8? Like I’m sure he must have feelings around him killing Lilia—but right now, he can still enjoy a happy ending and doesn’t indicate having any complications around it.

One of Malleus's horns being injured might be a physical symbol of change and may limit his magical powers (no UM, no disaster-level magic), but he's still a powerhouse seeing as he seems to have helped amplify Lilia's UM for the party + sent the invitations to everyone by magic. He can still have his power, I’m NOT saying he should have no magic or that he should be physically harmed further. But if he's to learn to use more than brute strength or magic to resolve his problems, then why not start with words? Words like, "I'm sorry", and "It was my fault", and "I shouldn't have imposed my will on you", etc. And not just to NRC, which happened in canon, but to the world.

If the story won't commit to actually assigning consequences to the world for what Malleus did, at LEAST let him handle the social repercussions of it all. Show us other students being wary around him so he has to earn back their trust instead of it being handed back to him. And why not have Malleus be the one going on TV (after he has recovered, of course) to apologize to the world instead of having his grandma handle it for him? Malleus apologizing just to those in attendance at the party isn't enough, because that insinuates his actions only affected the guests present, when, in reality, his actions scared so many other people and had them intervening. Have him say sorry to S.T.Y.X., to RSA, to all the other countries he endangered. At least do RSA (since Ambrose is also being interviewed), S.T.Y.X. (since they were largely involved in the containment), and Foothill Town residents. I would have liked it if Malleus told us how he is going to make amends. One party's nice and all, but it doesn't tell me what he is going to do in the long term to make things better.

To be clear: To reiterate, I don't want Malleus to be physically harmed or "further punished". What I want is for Malleus to actually understand that everything he did was wrong, acknowledge that he broke the trust of countless people, and actively take steps to learn and to prove to everyone he is worthy of having their trust. I'm disappointed that it seems like Twst skipped these crucial moments in favor of having a rushed happy ending. If there isn't space to do it now in book 7, give us some lines that imply he's got a plan or some ideas in mind for next update or something OTL He has maybe one or two lines tops at the party, and that's it. We really needed more to close off book 7 in a satisfactory way for his arc of learning to accept change.

Here’s to hoping that book 8 (?) can show us the things book 7’s conclusion didn’t deliver on.

[moashdeservedbetter]

It's difficult for me to understand how much Fitz gets thrown under the bus--especially in Royal Assassin--while the Fool is just presumed wiser and more benevolent. The Fool may have a crush on Fitz by then, but he loves King Shrewd wayyyy more and it shows. The Fool is like, why ever don't you personally see to it that Shrewd is taken care of and wait on his many needs even though you've raised this issue with Chade multiple times and you have extremely little power over the situation? As if King Shrewd is a benevolent figure in Fitz' life. Considering that Shrewd probably gave Fitz away to Regal so that Fitz could *die,* and considering that Shrewd very nearly had Fitz killed as a young child, and considering that Shrewd is singlehandedly responsible for taking every kind of agency away from Fitz (making him become an assassin, making him court Celerity, dictating his many assignments) I think Fitz loves Shrewd a damned lot. And yet the Fool has the gall to repeatedly guilt trip Fitz about King Shrewd, EVEN IN THE VERY CONVSERATION where Shrewd pointedly reminds Fitz that if he was "dismissed," he might have made sure Fitz never grew up at all. wtf man. The Fool looks up at Fitz with tears brimming his eyes in this look of huge betrayal because Fitz has been avoiding Shrewd, who has decided that Fitz--who does not get any of the deference of being royal--has to wed Celerity (a fourteen year old girl he had to politely interact with on an assassination mission for Shrewd). The Fool is hardly there for Fitz during hard times (like? Almost never besides the time Galen tries to kill him, and then just to lead Burrish there?) and ALSO the Fool basically told Fitz to consummate his relationship with Molly in his song (something like "you hold back your passions when you should be consummating them instead?), and then his big personal reveal is "hey! The whole Fate of the World rests on your shoulders and I'm going to use you to fix everything!" which actually *is* a wild thing to say in fact. Actually. And would terrify anyone. Honestly I just don't read the Fool as *actually caring* about Fitz very deeply on an emotional level during first era Buckkeep. Like he cares as the prophet, and he cares as a friend-ish, and he's probably developed some Feelings, but he doesn't really look out for Fitz beyond a tactical capacity. (Fitz, I think, looks out for the Fool rather more in that respect, and takes great care with what the Fool might be feeling and why. And he actually apologizes a few times). I guess half of what I'm feeling is that Fitz cares so much about people--even those he shouldn't care about (cough cough Shrewd, Chade after taking Nettle), and so many of his decisions come from trying to do the right thing while facing impossible choices. And he gives up so much in the way of personal justice (ie any reparations or safety or revenge concerning Regal). I just love Fitz. I really love Fitz. I think his choices make sense, given the experiences he's had and the information he's given and the options before him. And when the Fool loves Fitz, I love him too, but when the Fool sides with Fitz' oppressors and abusers (Shrewd, Chade in AQ) it hurts all the more because the Fool should be in Fitz's corner. When, at least in the first trilogy, the Fool just isn't. His first loyalty is always to something else (the Farseer throne and line, dragons etc) and in the first trilogy especially, he hasn't learned to try to balance that first loyalty with Fitz' needs and lived experiences. In fact in the first trilogy (or at least up through RA), he doesn't even seem aware that such a thing should matter much in the first place.

[apollabarnes]

part two

thanks to @beanarie and @fiyaerrigan for cheerleading for more — hopefully this scratches that itch!

tommy's not sure how it happens, but he and athena start grabbing food once a week. sometimes it's dinner, sometimes breakfast, rarely it's lunch. they're both shift workers, so the changing schedule doesn't bother him.

it means that he has to keep going to the meetings, but… it's not so bad. if he talks, he talks around evan, because athena is close to evan and there's some things that she probably doesn't want to know. it's not as if he doesn't have a whole lifetime's worth of bad relationships to talk about.

he doesn't mention abby by name, either — that's a whole confusing mess that he just doesn't want to get into it with a member of evan's extended family.

mostly he listens, remembers, tries to use some of the reframing that they suggest.

"my dad was a real shithead," tommy says one night when he's halfway through a stack of waffles. "joining the army was just a way to get away from him."

athena makes an understanding noise, snapping her bacon in half.

they've both learned that if she talks, tommy's likely to clam up and drop the subject.

"he wrapped the car around a tree three years into my deployment," tommy continues. there had been a whole thing involving bereavement leave and a hardship transfer stateside because his mom couldn't cope afterwards. he doesn't like remembering that part, either. "it's probably the best thing he ever did with his life." tommy's still not sure whether he means killing himself or doing it in a way that meant no one else got hurt. the damage was limited to tommy and his mother, but that's been a hell of a shadow to deal with.

"i've met a few of those," athena says, after a pause to make sure tommy didn't want to add anything else.

"i'm not surprised." tommy methodically cuts a waffle along every raised imprint, popping a square into his mouth.

it's kind of like having a sponsor, he guesses. if that was something the family groups actually did. athena tells tommy how may's classes are going, that harry wants to stick around for college after he graduates. she tells him about a fire at an animal shelter that bobby had dealt with, and that buck — evan — had fostered a dog for a few days.

tommy wonders how that worked. evan had told him about hoover one night over dinner.

athena pauses mid-sentence and tommy stops her from apologising. "i can hear his name, it's fine." he's not sure how to explain that he's managed to… silo off evan from buck. evan is his ex. buck is one of athena's coworkers. hearing about buck doesn't make tommy sad, because he never really spent time with buck.

she gives him what he's dubbed the maurice stare. (he saw it a lot in the six months between bobby arriving and transferring to harbour. sees it more now.) but tommy is unflappable and therefore not bothered by it.

the standoff is broken by her phone buzzing. "that's my ride," athena tells him. "my car's in for service."

"i could have given you a ride," tommy offers before he can think better of it. "you didn't have to call an uber."

"that's cute, but i called my husband."

tommy breathes in. doesn't react. can feel the tension coiling around the base of his spine. "tell bobby…"

"he's not coming in, tommy," athena reassures him. "i told him i was grabbing food with someone from work."

tommy thinks about that. they're not in front of the windows, and his back is towards the door. the chances of bobby seeing or recognizing him are definitely lower than they would be if tommy showed up in his truck to drop athena off. and if bobby looks around the parking lot, well, how many grey trucks are in los angeles?

he'd still prefer the drop-off option.

"it's not like you need to keep this a secret," tommy says instead, even though every fiber of his being is screaming that he doesn't want anyone to know. that he doesn't want bobby, specifically, to know, because once he knows it's only a matter of time before the rest of the firehouse finds out.

"of course i don't, tommy. same time next week."

part one // part three

[justnamedjosie]

i'm honestly so relieved to see so many people actively defending ragatha due to the latest episode.

after watching ep 5 i immediately had the feeling people were going to hop on the ragatha hate train, she's a well written female character who has normal human flaws just like the rest of the members of the circus, she slips up and says something insensitive to jax about whatever incident that caused jax to lose his friend (which by the end of the episode she owns up too and apologizes for by the way), yet people saw this and instead of being like "wow this character made a mistake and apologized for said mistake because nobody is perfect and everyone slips up and says something mean every now then, wow she's such a real and complex character!". we got "she's the devil incarnate".

like please get me to understand why you guys HATE this girl, these fans are literally repeating the same behavior that they showed towards pomni and gangle. it's a very uncomfortable pattern i'm seeing in this fandom of female characters being ripped to shreds for simply having flaws, like any well written character would have. and then seeing the male characters (mainly jax obviously, though i have seen the same behavior with caine a bit) be excused of literally any fault of their actions because of whatever reason they can pull out their asses at any given moment.

like no, jax shouldn't be justified or in any way excused for his behavior towards the other members just because he has issues. if that's the way these fans think then i'm honestly surprised they don't give ragatha the same treatment. like i'm not saying that any of the characters shouldn't be held accountable for their mistakes just because they have problems, hell no. i'm saying after learning that ragatha grew up with an absolutely awful mother, which would definitely explain her people pleasing behavior towards everyone, that those fans would be a lot more empathetic towards her, but i guess not.

i truly don't understand. like i love jax as much as the next person, but i can acknowledge that he's not a good person and his treatment of the others is wrong, no matter what he's internally dealing with. his issues that are slowly being revealed to us EXPLAINS his behavior, but absolutely doesn't excuse it. so it truly boggles my mind that ragatha can make these mistakes (which are so much smaller than what jax has done to others) and she's immediately deemed horrible and unforgivable. make it make sense.

at best it's simple favoritism over their favorite character that can do no wrong in their eyes (which in the process they completely mischaracterize them) and at worst it's blatant misogyny. i truly don't know what else could explain the influx of hate towards ragatha. it's okay if you don't like ragatha, not everyone will like the same character. it only gets frustrating (to me at least) when these people hate a character for something that isn't true in the slightest and that they completely made up.

the silver lining to come out of this is personally i've seen more ragatha defenders than these fans. i'm glad there are people who actually understand her character and can appreciate how well written she is! ragatha has made her way into being one of my favs on the show, and i can't wait to see where her character will go from here.

(also this isn't supposed to be a jax hate post or anything, like i said i love jax. i just really dislike how the fans have been treating him and by proxy ragatha as well.)

[kurosstuff]

Some preening headcanons with any of the angel girls please?

Take this for now~ hope you like it!

I'm very busy this week BUT- here's my attempt

ALSO I KINDA DID MORE HEADCANONS THEN KIST PREENING- IM SORRY I KINEA- WENT OFF

Gonna do three girls with wings- sera vaggie and lute(surpise?/j) idk how to write Emily yet-

Warning(s): some angst? Insecurities(in lute and veggies parts), fluff, wing stuff, established relationships in each ones(lovers for vaggie reader is a female, drabbles(some nsfw) slighr nsfw stuff

Never wrote vaggie. Hope she's good

ALSO I DIDNR REALIZE. LUTES IS SO FUCKING LONF.

Preening headcanons(sera, vaggie, lute)

Sera

• I'm gonna say it. Out of all three ladies? She KNOWS how to preen her wings the best. Sure with six wings its more time-consuming and a pain but she knows how important it is.

Which also means she's the most willing to accept your help. Of course, only if it's you two, and she knows you enough- cause wing preening? Is a mate/very sensitive thing for angels

• and it doesn't matter if you have wings or not- shell sit patiently guiding you through how to handle her wings. Given having six is even more work. BUT also much more sensitive

"My love~ please be careful how you touch them" Sera hummed, wings flapping from your touch one eye popping out, watching you closely making you smile at it- humming in approval she closed the eye closing her main ones at the itching pain vanishing "it feels nice~" she purred out softly feeling your hands dipping between her feathers before jolting

"My love- please- you know how sensitive my wings are-" she huffed face flushed dark turning to you huffing at your knowing smirk "guess this.. will turn into something more huh sera ~?" You hummed kissing the wing closest to you

• not all the time but every now and then does it turn into a spicy preening. (Not when her wings genuinely bring her pain) cause as she does keep good track of her preening. Sometimes, she forgets. Or gets to distracted from work. So you step in to help.

To remind her of what she needs.

• she couldn't ask for a better mate to help her preening. To help her wings in general. She's a tall woman so even though it takes a much longer time given she has more then two wings.. she's lucky you stuck around, more to help.

Bonus points if you have wings.

Cause then she'll help preen you no questions asked. Hell shed even offer the help.

Vaggie

• ok first things first. Vaggie? Is very insecure about her wings. Before falling she kinda knew how to handle preening enough so it wouldn't like- cause issues? But. She'd miss some. She'd miss the cloest ones to her middle of her back-

Only time she allowed Adam to help. Given she couldn't do it herself. Didnt trust the others too.

• but now in hell? She regrew them or- whatever.. it hurt. Like hell. Them ripping through her scared back- bur now she needs to relearn how to live with wings like she learned how to live without.

"I got it- I got it" vaggie growled out, giving you a pointed look on instinct as her wings flapped around, hitting yet another plate, sending it flying off the counter shattering as she tried to relearn how to fold them. To relax them.

"I really think-"

"I fucking Got it" she yelped out

• stubborn. She's a good lover awkward given her upbringing. But she never once meant to upset you. Never meant to take her temper out on you. But, she just didn't know how to properly react to this annoying pain again after all these years of no wings. Now it's here and she needs to preen? Again?

Asking was just as uncomfortable for her. Knowing you always offered to help? Made her upset. For two reasons- her stubbornness from her past to ask for such help pinging in anger at the suggestion she needed help. And two. Because of her snapping at you. Her girlfriend. Yet here she is doing what she was uncomfortable with.

She knew deep down as much as you could turn her away- send her off. You won't. So she? Asked

And you of course. Agreed

"Come on love~" patting in front of you, she stared. Her one good eye glancing at the cushion in front of you on the bed silent. To uncomfortable- unnerving to speak. Stepping too put od her comfort zone to ask. To allow you to touch her and know she's safe. She cant help but be uncomfortable. "When your ready? Let me see your pretty wings?" You hummed as she finally sat down. Tense infront of you.

Finally releasing her wings she allowed you to do your job. The second your hands touched her wings- touched her? She relaxed against you. Feeling safe. Which even now after all these years is..

Odd

• every time you preened her- shed be a more cuddly mess- nuzzling into you hiding into your chest or neck wings flapping puffing up.

It wasn't until you read up on wings to help her that you learned why. How it was like an intimate courting thing to do.

• didn't really understand, but. If it made her happy? You were happy. And imagine your surpise when she handed you her feather

Lute

Lute? Is not insecure about her wings. No she's very prideful of them how strong they are how soft and all the stuff she'd do to court you(despite her not needing to) she is COMPLETELY prideful of them. Showing them off all the time to you- she didn't care for anyone else's opinon..

But she is insecure. About her lack of knowledge of how to properly care for them. All executioners have this issue. Their all taught to be fighters killers. Nothing else. She's still learning to be a good lover- a gentle lover with you. But the basic stuff she knows how to preen.. but it hurts still.

She almost asked Adam for help but. She's to prideful. She can't accept help. That'd mean defeat for her. Mean she can't do it. Mean she ISNT the best. Mean.. she's not the perfect mate. Mean she isn't right for you- asking for help on anything sends her into a freak out. Makes her panic cause what If you leave her?

She can't even cook nor make nests completely right. So why would you want a mate that CANT even preen? Something all angels know. Doesn't matter executioners are.. exempt from this. Doesn't matter to her.

Lute is like vaggie. Stubborn. Unwilling to accept help even from her mate- her lover. She'll throw a fit- if you oh so mention her needed to be preened. She's just way to prideful.

Youll know when she needs to preen. Its the only time youll see her more.. phycially emotional rather then just her words. Oh, she'll yell. It's already well known how.. angry. Lute generally is other than her more... stoic persona.

If it weren't for her wings flapping or her having them at all- you'd call her a rabbit. Given how she stomps her foot like what rabbits do when angry(I know birds do as well when upset/uncomfortable)

"...lute" you cautiously called out. Watching as she stormed around your shared room wings puffing stretching as she roughly plucked herself. Glaring at you she huffed watching you closely as you swallowed

"May i help-"

"no" she cut off, snarling loudly feet stomping in that familiar way when.. she got like this. "Think I can't fucking take care of MY wings? I'm fine. I got it."

"But i- I can-"

Snarling she stormed off slamming the door roughly

"-help-"

Lute? Will stomp her feet. Wings puffing flapping in an annoyed anger cause of her wings irrating her. And that- you know you can jump in- asking yet again- cause she'll break at some point.

She always did. Always broke. Hinting for you to ask. And shell.. "reluctantly" agree and accept your help. As if you pushed her too. God heaven forbid she asks for help herself.

Stopping, you glanced up, seeing Lute again in front of you showing off her wings how it needs to be preened. Humming you blinked in thought. This.. was the third time she did such a thing

"...lute?" Her head tilting to you slightly, almost uninterested. But you saw that look. The look of panic but.. hopefully "do you need..help?" You asked once more unsure how she'd take it.

"If you insist so much. Fine, " she grumbled out, not even waiting, moving to sit in front of you. Smiling, you sighed. Of course, she wouldn't have actually asked.

She may not understand exactly how to preen but- her wings as always are like super soft- comforting as she sighed in relief as you preened her.

But if you asked? Oh, shed reject. How would she be happy for this? She is not. Nope. Nuh uh. Not at all happy her mate helped her.

She does surpise you, though. Even though she does it each time. How she piles her feathers you preened of her feathers. How she won't let you touch a single one, sending a glare your way if you so much as do.

Going through each and every feathers inspecting them as if searching for something. Then, the most acceptable ones she'll put a smaller pile wings puffing as she looks for the single best feathers.

She accepts no less than perfection after all.

Then once she finds it? She'll go to you- presenting it to you- insisting you inspect it for yourself and wait. Wait for you to accept or reject her feather.

Of course you accept-

Then she's all pridful. For getting the best feather for her mate. How you approved of her choice.

Of course if you have wings? Shell insists on preening you herself. She knows it's an intimate thing. How sometimes it does lead.. to more but. She thinks it's more special if she herself does it for you... ironic since she hardly accepts your help but. She does her best

You do have to show her- tell her if she's being to rough. After all? She doesn't know how to be gentle with anything much less wings

[still-a-morosexual-help]

When they start off a devilgram with "this story is a little different than usual..." and then pull out the most insane AU that rattles around in my head for the entire year and beyond...

Prince and Knight!!? Are you fucking kidding me Prince and Knight!?

The inherent trust and dedication that comes with that AU. The inherent unspoken "I will kill and die for you"

The way all of MC's dialogue options are more serious than usual because this is their job, and they need to protect Mammon because the kingdom needs him, but also he's their friend and they want to protect Mammon because they need him

The fact that they've probably known each other for years because they train to fight together and work well together during fights - did they grow up together? Did they play together? First learn to sword fight together?The little prince and the commoner child who eventually rose through the ranks to become his personal guard?

The fact that they know each other so well? But also the trope!!! The "escaping from my room to get out of doing work only to open the door and find you've been waiting out there the whole time just to catch me in this moment"

The fact that they're both exasperated and proud of him

The fact that they try to dissuade him from doing "The Foolhardy Reckless Dangerous Brave Thing of The Week", realise as they probably have time and time again that it wasn't going to work and then immediately switches to well I guess this is what I'm doing today

The fact that they have banter that speaks to how long they've known each other, a level of comfort and familiarity, an easy way of talking in spite of their differences in status

The fact that he says multiple times that he trusts them above everyone else and how he wants them to always be by his side no matter what they're doing

The way he could have had a dragon for a companion but he immediately shot that down because that slot's already been filled by MC

And the way that all of this is platonic until the very end, they say all this stuff and do all these things for each other because this is how they are, this is what their dynamic has always been like in this AU. When MC kisses Mammon it's almost like a revelation to him that he can have them like this, as a lover (it wasn't like the other prince and right-hand man AU where they were in an established relationship and able to get married if they wanted) - so when he was saying all those things, when he was using "my [name]" to describe them that wasn't him saying it because they were his lover but because they were his.

Because that's what he's always known, that's what they are- because they've always been his - his friend, and his companion and his partner and his guard and his knight and his mage and there's no other way to more accurately describe them than his.

What's that tumblr post that's like "submissive like a guard dog" ????? That's their dynamic here. They're his guard dog and his attack dog and his loyal companion and he's their prince and their master and their friend and they're in love with him and he doesn't know because to him it's a given that they'll always be by his side forever and beyond that to the next life and it doesn't really matter if they're in love, though that's an added bonus of course, what matters is that they'll always be right next to him

And does he know that this particular dynamic means if push comes to shove they'd die for him and do so gladly without a moment's hesitation

The fact that this is also somehow technically a soulmate AU

bonus because ASMO!!!!????? :

[torakowalski]

Swimmer Steve Part 10!

I think it's time to start apologising to the real life athletes whose medals and finish times I'm stealing for Steve.

Today I learned that there were no semi finals for these races in 1988. The fastest 8 went through to the A Final to compete for medals and the next fastest 8 to the B Final to compete for 9th to 16th place.

(part one | part nine)

Eddie thinks his ass might have left a permanent dent in one particular seat on the second tier of the Jamsil stadium.

It's a good seat, close enough to the action to still be able to make out Steve's expressions before and after every race but not so close that Eddie will be tempted to shout anything out to him, specifically.

He'd sat closer to start with, near a group who turned out to be the friends and families of a couple of the other swimmers. But when they'd clocked him as American, they'd wanted to know who he was here to support, and he'd had to make up some bullshit about being an exchange student with a swimming obsession.

Now, he sits between some Canadian and French supporters, who are either too polite to ask why he's there or don't give a shit either way.

Steve's heats are going well. He's through to the A finals in all the strokes that have competed so far. Eddie's been watching as the roving press get more interested in him, sticking microphones and cameras in his face while he's still wet and breathless from a race.

Eddie got a postcard from Mike this morning, that just said, For the love of God, make him put on a shirt, so Eddie guesses at least some of the interviews are making it onto TV back home.

Tonight, Eddie's back in his favourite seat, waiting for Steve's first final, the 100m backstroke, and all of a sudden, he can't breathe quite right. This is it. Shit. If he's nervous as all fuck, he can't imagine how Steve must feel.

"Don't expect too much," Steve had said last night, sitting barefoot on Eddie's bed. "Dave, the other Team USA guy? He's the world record holder."

And Eddie's not expecting too much, he swears he isn't, but shit he hopes Steve doesn't come last. No matter what Steve says, that'd hurt him.

Eddie tries to cheer like a regular fan, when Steve comes out, not like a besotted idiot who got given kisses seventeen through thirty-one last night.

It's hard though, because Steve looks really, really good. He slides into the water, all graceful and strong, miles of skin and inches of swim suit and takes up position, feet and fingertips on the side.

Steve's in lane seven, so on the opposite side from where Eddie is sitting. Eddie slides forward in his seat, then a little further, then a little further more. If he goes any further, he's going to end up breathing all over the dude in front of him, but at least he can see Steve better now.

The whistle blows, the guys kick off, and Eddie finds himself saying, "Fuck," without any input from his brain. He's pretty sure it's loud enough in here that even the guy he's breathing on doesn't hear him.

Eddie can see David Berkoff, the one Steve said is gonna win, out front followed close behind by a Japanese dude and two guys from the USSR.

Steve's in sixth just before the end of the first lap, which is great, it's not last, but somehow he's in fifth by the time he actually makes the turn. Heading into the second lap, the final one, he overtakes one of the USSR guys and suddenly he's in fourth.

Eddie jumps to his feet, leaning all the way forward so he doesn't miss a stroke.

Twenty-five, maybe twenty metres to go, Steve pulls level with the other USSR swimmer. Eddie is gonna throw up. Fully puke out all his tension.

Steve's joint third. Right this second, he's joint third. Even if he falls back now, he's gotta be happy with this race.

Except. Except he doesn't fall back, he pulls forward. The guy from Japan takes gold, David Berkoff takes silver and Steve takes the motherfucking goddamn bronze.

Eddie screams. He doesn't care if it's not subtle or if anyone is turning to look. He couldn't keep quiet if he tried. That's his guy down there and he's an actual, honest to god, Olympic medalist.

Down in the pool, everyone is congratulating each other. A few people swim over to clap Steve on the back, but Steve's eyes are locked on the umpire, like he won't believe it until he hears his scores.

"Sakuzi: 55.05; Berkoff: 55.18; Harrington: 55.21," booms over the tannoy, first in Korean, then in French, then finally in English.

Steve's whole face breaks into a smile, and Eddie watches as he laughs to himself, incredulous. He pulls off his swim cap, shakes out his hair, and looks up at the stands.

Eddie wonders, for a second, what Steve's looking for, then he realises that it must be him. He waves, both arms over his head. He should be too far away for Steve to see, but Steve's smile widens, and he waves his cap in Eddie's direction.

What the fuck?? he mouths.

Eddie, who is also thinking, what the fuck, can't do anything but send him an exaggerated, over the top kiss in reply. It'll look like a joke, if anyone sees, but he means it with all his heart.

(part eleven)

[ni-kidaily]

NI-KI's interview with News1

Part. 1

👤: please introduce yourself

🐥: I'm ENHYPEN Ni-ki. Our team doesn't have official positions, but I'm called a member who cares a bit more about dancing than other members. (laughs) I'm the youngest of the team, also the maknae.

👤: You're well known for your dancing skills. How did you get started with dance?

🐥: When I was little, my dad played Michael Jackson music videos for me, and that's when I first became interested in dancing. I started by copying the dances and learning on my own, but then I really wanted to learn properly, so I went to a dance academy near my house for about 10 years. I learned various dance styles there. Dance just became a part of my everyday life since then. Later, there was a choreographer I really wanted to meet in another area, so I went there, and I guess they saw potential in me. Fortunately, that choreographer was working as SHINee's performance director at that time and looking for SHINee Kids dancers. They chose me, saying I matched well with Key sunbaenim, so I was given the opportunity to perform with him.

👤: Were you also interested in K-pop back then?

🐥:Being part of Shinee Kids was the turning point. I was in 6th grade at that time. Afterward, I started looking into K-pop more, and the more I looked it up, the more I realized how high-quality the whole genre was; it really caught my attention. I felt like this was something I just had to do. So in 8th grade, I took an audition, decided right away, and came to Korea without any hesitation.

👤: That's an impressive decision for someone so young. How did your parents react?

🐥: They have been supporting my dancing since I was little. Their mindset was that as long as I didn't give up, they were okay with whatever I wanted to do. They never once opposed it.

👤: Moving to a foreign country at such a young age isn't an easy decision. Was there a specific reason you wanted to become a K-pop idol?

🐥: My personality is kind of all-or-nothing. (smiles) If I want to do something, I want to do it right away. If I don’t, I just don’t. I'm pretty extreme like that. Haha. At that time, I was so focused on this career path that it felt like if I didn’t take action then, I'd miss my chance. And when I heard that the audition program I-LAND was being prepared, I thought, “I might not get another opportunity like this.” Even though I was still inexperienced, I felt like I had to go for it.

👤: After coming to Korea, you trained for only eight months before joining I-LAND. Was there anything particularly difficult about that time?

🐥: I practiced alone when I was a trainee. The rules even said we weren't supposed to talk to other trainees, so even though it was only eight months, it was tough. Watching the other trainees motivated me and made me want to push myself, but once I got there, I had to do everything on my own, find what I lacked alone. No matter how many teachers I had, it was hard because there's a limit to how much I could learn without any breakthroughs. Once I entered I-LAND, the language barrier became an even bigger challenge. If I had been with other Korean members when I was a trainee, it would have been easier, but just going to classes wasn't enough; I struggled with communication. Jay hyung was good at Japanese, and there were other Japanese trainees too, so they helped me a lot. That was probably the hardest part. Also, I had to lead the other trainees through dance on I-LAND, and that came with a lot of pressure. There were moments where I needed to teach or guide others, but my Korean wasn't good enough back then, so communicating wasn't easy.

👤: What was it like living in Korea, away from home?

🐥: Honestly, the trainee period was the hardest. It was just a routine of commuting back and forth every day, and since I couldn’t really talk to anyone, I felt pretty lonely. But after debuting, the members started to fill the emotional space my parents used to fill, so I definitely felt less lonely than I did as a trainee. We debuted during COVID, so I didn’t see my parents for years, but now we go to Japan often, and whenever we do, my parents come to see me to make up for the lost time, so it’s fine now. At this point, I don’t feel lonely at all anymore.

👤: Your Korean is really fluent! Since you mentioned struggling with the language barrier as a trainee, how did you study Korean?

🐥:After I started as a trainee, I went to a language academy for about eight months, but, to be honest, I didn’t really feel like I was improving much. I learned the basics like reading Hangul and some grammar, but not enough to talk naturally. So, when I joined I-LAND, it was really tough at first, but that’s actually where my Korean improved a lot. We weren’t allowed to use the internet on I-LAND, so no Papago or anything like that. (smiles) I had to figure everything out on my own, so I ended up learning Korean naturally. If you’re interested in K-pop and want to connect with Korean people, I think that kind of environment is really helpful. When you’re surrounded by the language, you pick up words and expressions even without realizing it. You want to understand things fully, and if you’re genuinely interested in the language, you improve quickly.

👤: How has life in Korea been? Is there anything about Korean culture you really like?

🐥: I really enjoy Korean entertainment shows; they’re so funny! It’s a different vibe from Japanese variety shows. Japan has its own charm, but now that I can understand Korean a bit, I find Korean shows hilarious. I love Korean-style variety shows and end up watching them a lot. I also watch YouTubers like Choo Sung Hoon and laugh a lot. I think learning Korean through variety shows or song lyrics is the fastest way. And Korean food is just amazing. There are so many flavors and dishes you can only experience in Korea, especially in places like traditional markets. I’ve been living in Korea for about five years now, and honestly, it feels just as comfortable as Japan. Haha. It’s been so long since I’ve been to my hometown, so except for my hometown, Korea actually feels more like home now. That’s how I got used to it.

[deepdreamnights]

Hey there, saw your post re: harassment around artists using gen ai and thought it was great esp with the debunking of data usage myths. Would you share your thoughts regarding concerns that models are being trained to copy specific art styles and thus pose a direct threat to the artists whose art styles are being used?

Well, there's several levels to that.

The main one is that on copyright grounds, styles are explicitly non-copyrightable. Moreover:

No one's style is unique

No one's style is unimitatable by analogue means.

The second point is important, because anyone can go on Fiverr right now and and find someone to replicate any given art style, and every competent draftsperson has to be able to do it to some degree or another. No major animation house, art studio, or comic company has ever hired someone because they couldn't find someone else that could imitate the surface-level aspects of their style.

The first point is just a matter of basic reality. Ex-nihlo creativity either doesn't exist or is so rare as to be a once-in-an-epoch thing. Everyone builds on the influences that they learn from, and if you think someone has a unique style what they really have is a different media diet than you.

For example, Don Bluth. Born 1937, aged 15 in 1952.

Same year Time released this this picture of Burlesque Performer Dale Strong.

Someone made an impression.

Marilyn Monroe was also a national sex symbol when Bluth was a teen, putting some context to most of his other ladies, but especially Goldie Pheasant (or maybe she's more Jayne Mansfield, hard to tell through the bird-ness). His art style has obvious roots with Tex Avery and I would guess he read Mad Magazine a lot as a kid.

And Not to hang the guy out to dry alone, I was a teenager in the 1990s, and most of my sexy fictional ladies are 9/10 some combination of Dana Scully, Peg Bundy, and Rhonda Shear.

The point being that style isn't something you create intentionally so much as an accumulation of influences, drawn from the commons. Attempting to claim ownership of such a thing is by itself an act of theft in my view, and allowing them to be protected under the law would mean a judge being shown exactly how many pieces of prior art the Walt Disney Corporation owns that your work superficially resembles. Why, they'll even run it through a style recognizing AI to make sure they catch them all.

But let's talk about style matching.

It just takes one image now, and doesn't require training.

Which I'm sure sounds frightening, but this has been the situation since February for Midjourney, and it was available in the Stable Diffusion ecosystem long before that. If the threat were as pronounced as feared, we'd have seen the impact by now. And we haven't, and we're unlikely to, for several reasons, several of them listed above.

The largest is that style isn't even close to the be all/end all of what an artist brings to a given project. And the kinds of execs who are making a 'replace 'em with a robot' kinda decision aren't the kinds of people who care about art style beyond how much it looks like the most recent successful thing. And nobody's ever needed a robot to ride coattails.

But the next largest part is that AI style imitations aren't really accurate because the robot doesn't see style in the same way we do. It's all just math to the robot, and it prioritizes what it notices, not what we do.

I'll demonstrate.

Jack Kirby will be my example, for several reasons.

He has a bold and identifiable style, he's arguably the most famous artist in western comics history, and he has many analogue imitators and homagers.

Using Midjourney and prompting "an illustration of dana scully by jack kirby, 1968, in the style of 1960s marvel comics --ar 3:4 --s 15"

Using the base model, on the first roll we get three complete style mismatches and one that's kinda close, though I'd say that's way more Sal Buscema or John Byrne.

Kirby's women had a certain, difficult to describe oddness about their faces that the robot doesn't seem to grok, and it doesn't touch on the kinds of wild patterns and bold black/white swatches that make Jack's work feel 'jack'.

Tom Scioli's take on Kirby is a sort of lovingly flanderized parody, but it captures the spirit of Jack's art much more directly even if a lot of individual details aren't period-accurate. He draws Kirby the way you remember Kirby from your childhood, but I don't question whether the page above is trying to be a Jack Kirby homage or one to Sal Buscema.

But Midjourney has style reference, so we can inject the Kirby right in. Using the picture of Sersei dancing from above with the same prompt, we get:

Well, the work is more convincingly period, but again, we're not terribly close to being on-point. In fact, they're not very consistent between each other. Top left is any 80s marvel fill-in artist. Top right is maybe Kirby-esq. Bottom Left is flat out Jim Lee, bottom right is very Byrne-y.

Using three reference images to give the best shot, I'm also moving to using images of a similar color style, and all with a woman as the central focus. I have included the infamous Crystal pin-up shot because as I said, Kirby women have a certain oddness to them (fondly).

Results (MJ 6.1 on the left, Niji 6 on the right):

It all says 60s-70s Marvel, but I don't think Kirby would be the first guess for any of them. Maaaaaaybe the lower-left Dana in image #2 if you squint.

And that's Jack Kirby. Massively popular and prolific with a career spanning decades. If anyone in the comics space should be impersonatable by this thing, its him.

I'm sure you could train a LORA to get closer, and sure, the tech is only going to get better from here, but by the nature of how the system works no generation pulls just from what is referenced. Every generation is both blended with other concepts and emphasizes only what the machine catalogs as relevant, not what we might.

There's not much to stop someone from imitating your style with a machine, but there was nothing stopping them from doing the same with an underpaid freelancer. The results are likely to miss the mark regardless.

If the client wants you, they'll try and get you. If they just want something kinda like you, they've always had an avenue to that.

Fortunately, you're more than your style, and whatever anyone can do with the machine, you can do better because you've got access to both.

[fmajorenthusiast]

I remember you mentioning at some point that you liked Repo! The Genetic opera...

How do you think characters from RHPS would interact with Repo characters?

OMG TYSM YES I AM A REPO FAN I LOVE THIS SO MUCH 2RFIRD22IRDO3D

Frank: First of all, Frank tries to fuck every adult in the show! He fails pretty badly however! Amber Sweet definitely screws him and maybe Graves as well, but I even think that Graves would probably pass on it! Frank is pissed! I feel like he'd either be best friends with Amber Sweet or they'd get in MASSIVE fights over who gets to be in the spotlight!!! They both want that damn stage!!! Also, I think that he confuses Rotti just a little bit too much to make Rotti think of getting Nathan in on the action. Plus, the outcomes of attempting to Repo Man Frank could have some pretty devastating consequences no matter who wins! Safe to say, that's not an option! I feel like he'd also steal Shilo's meds just to see if they get him high and in doing so discover the mystery/reveal the plot twist to everybody and would feel like shit himself for a little while until they wear off! Basically, he wouldn't really be able to rise to stardom in the way that he wants to, but he'd DEFINITELY make an impact on all of these people!!! And it'd be amazing!!!

Brad: I feel like everyone who's got enough of a moral conscious in Repo would take one look at Brad and be like, "Alright, I guess we have to protect this one." With the combined forces of Graves, Shilo, and Mag, he'll probably be fine! In his wise age of early 20s he tries to impart wisdom on Shilo and doesn't do a fantastic job of it!!! He's literally still her peer at this point!!! He'd also be absolutely fucking TERRIFIED of Luigi. Like, out of his MIND scared of Luigi. He'd learn his name, say something along the lines of, "Ah! Like the Mario character!" And do a little impression of Luigi from Mario, given that Repo Luigi doesn't know Mario, he's going to hear an Italian accent and think "He's telling me that I'm like Pavi and mocking me!" And go STRAIGHT for the throat!!!! This results in Graves needing to fight off Luigi! All in all, Brad is adorable and scared and it is in fact a high order to keep him alive!!! It's worth it, though, because he really is that awesome!!!

Janet: I feel like Janet would be the most afraid of Pavi. She'd just find him offputting and very much run away!!! She's also in need of some pretty big protection!!! Her and Shilo get along really well and shockingly relate to each other on certain aspects of their lives a whole lot!!! They've both been "good" and compliant all of their lives only to realize how painful that compliance actually is! They're quite different, but they're also the same!!! Also, Janet would fully adore Mag!!! She'd find her to be so warm and kind and exactly what she needs in this situation!!!! She'd also love to hear her sing!!! I feel like those two would be the only two people that Janet genuinely really likes in Repo! I think that the rest would scare her a bit! Though she'd probably warm up to Graves after a while and find him to be pretty hot actually!!! He'd kind of develop into a hero figure for her, and who can blame her? He's amazing!!!

Riff Raff: As Janet fears Pavi, Pavi fears Riff. Pavi is like... actually terrified of Riff and his capabilities! On the other hand, Luigi would be like, "I can take that freak!" And then very much not be able to take that Freak! I feel like he'd get along with Shilo pretty well and relate to her feeling of being controlled! Also I think that he and Graves would definitely do LOTS of drugs with each other!!!! I can picture Rotti getting really upset that there may be a scientific genius in his midst and considering getting Nathan to go after him and then Riff finding out, laughing his ass off, finding some kind of news platform, and calmly announcing to the public that if he gets Repo-Man'd, there's gonna be a MASSIVE recall that's gonna wreck the company! He'd go on to list every drug that he regularly takes and how frequently and then go on to list every brand and kind of alcohol that he regularly drinks and how frequently!!! He'd then go on to state how massive the biological sex drive levels are for Transylvanians and finally say, "simply put, you'll be getting nothing other than drugged up libido with my organs," and then fully disconnecting. It then becomes impossible for the business to get him without risking the fuck out of the business and therefore he's safe because he's that much of an icon! He really is!

Magenta: Similarly to Frank, I can't tell if Magenta and Amber would be best friends or if them knowing each other would result in murder!!!! I feel like them knowing each other would be a MASSIVE Pandora's Box from the get-go! They could either have massive fun or this could cause an explosion!!! It's all a matter of whether Magenta winds up feeling the need to laugh with her or laugh at her!! I feel like Magenta would find Shilo to be amusing!!! She'd think it's kinda cute the way that she does things!!! She wouldn't dislike her at all, but she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't pretty damn amused by people who struggle with a kind of shyness or uncertainty like Janet and Shilo do!!! I feel like her and Graves would be pretty good friends and I feel like she'd want to set Pavi on fire from the minute that she lays her eyes on him!!! I feel like she'd somehow find out that Nathan is the Repo Man and actually laugh at that fact. She'd then remind him that her brother has a lazer and that hurting her would be a massive mistake! She'd then leave laughing and absolutely dying to tell Riff and Columbia this shit! She's smart enough to know that Nathan and Shilo love each other and that no matter what happens, they'll know that in the end! So she isn't to concerned, and hey, she turns out to be right!!!

Columbia: I feel like Columbia's got some songs written, and I feel like she would love to teach them to Shilo and sing them with Shilo!!! I feel like it'd be one big massive singing party with Columbia, Shilo, Mag, and Eddie!!! She'd also be friends with Graves and I feel like she'd fit in really well with the more upbeat people in the show!!! Shilo would really love her energy and Graves would appreciate what a good time she is!!! I feel like Nathan would kinda see her as a "bad influence" but he isn't about ready to Repo Man her!!!! She'd also have a little contest just for fun to see who can sing higher and who can break a wine glass the easiest!!! They both tie pretty easily and turns out that Eddie can also break a wine glass! That turns out to be incredible and Shilo loves the excitement!!! I also think that Pavi would have a bit of a crush on her for some reason but unfortunately for Pavi Columbia does in fact have a husband in possession of a switchblade knife and so he does not get to shoot his shot! Columbia has an amazing time and doesn't interact too much with the people that she doesn't think she'd get along with too well!!! She's a lot happier that way, and that's really really happy!!!

Rocky: Rocky is not to be left unsupervised in this environment under any circumstances!!! Mag is the one who's mainly responsible for his protection as she is objectively the one who's fully up to the task!!!! Graves is fully able to handle a teenager but he'd really have no idea what to do with a baby!!! Everyone is doing their best to not let word of who he really is get out because the organ market would go APESHIT for his insides and he is NOT to be harmed!!! He'd confuse Shilo a bit before she learns who he is, but then she'd find him really charming!!!! And he'd love his time spent with Mag so much!!! She'd sing him lullabies and he'd tell her that she sings like an angel!.... of music! Ba dum tss! He'd also just be in awe of all the lights and city life!!! It's like nothing he's ever seen before and he's allowed to see loads of it up close so long as he holds Mag's hand!!! He objectively has no clue about any of the drama going on and therefore FULLY loves the experience!!! Rocky has an amazing time and would come back to visit again so fast!!!!

Eddie: Eddie would also go apeshit for all of the music and he'd find a way to get on that stage as well singing some epic trio with Columbia and Mag!!!! He and Graves would also go crazy together!!! I feel like he and Pavi and Luigi could all have massive fights to the death as well!!! Shilo would think that he's kinda cool, but she'd definitely keep her distance!!! By one way or another, Eddie definitely winds up getting Nathan after him, and at some point it definitely comes out that he has been cut wide open before!!! This leads to an incredible conversation between Eddie and Nathan in which Nathan learns the truth! "Your organs..." "Oh yeah! Frank ate them!" "..." It is at this point that Nathan is in a pure state of too much shock in order to do anything and Eddie is able to walk away unscathed! Nathan is afraid to look at him now and he's also afraid to look at Frank! Eddie goes down in history as a name that Nathan Wallace will never forget! Nathan lies awake thinking about those words! He really does!!!

Doctor Scott: Doctor Scott would be really frustrated with the legal decisions of everybody in this show!!! Like, yes, your children don't deserve the business, but you also can't put that on a 17 year old child!!! He'd also just refuse to interact with any of the Largo kids and he'd keep interaction with Rotti down to the bare minimum!!! I think that he'd find Shilo to be really bright and he'd like her a whole lot!!! I feel like he'd adore Mag as well and he'd find her to be so kind and caring!!! He wouldn't have any interest in Graves or the drug community at all!!! He'd appreciate Mag's music a whole lot, though that's the only kind of music in the show that he'd have a real love for!!! All in all, Shilo is the highlight for Doctor Scott!!! There's nothing that he loves more than to meet a bright and lovely child!!!! And he's valid for that!!!

The Criminologist: You cannot convince me that he wouldn't immediately look at Pavi's face and go "fascinating!!!" While attempting to study it!!! He'd also probably just try and get all of the information in the WORLD out of everybody!!! It would be a reprise of Zydrate Anatomy except he's writing all that shit down at RECORD speed!!! Not to try it, but because he's INCREDIBLY interested in all of this!!! He would purchase every notebook in the store prior to this visit and end it having filled up ALL of them!!! He's so interested in all of this and he loves it so much!!! He'd probably wind up figuring out that Nathan was the Repo Man really easily and he'd also try and win Amber's face at the end but then lose to Pavi!!! (He wasn't one of the top three who died his plot armor fully protects him there!!!) But oh well!!! He has an INCREDIBLE time and is so thankful to everyone for giving him all their knowledge!!! He adores it so much!!!

[wetcatspellcaster]

2024 fic wrapped

I was tagged by @cursedhaglette to do this tag-game, but I found the focus on stats made me a little uncomfortable! (also, no one needs to know how many words I wrote while having multiple breakdowns last year, truly).

But, I didn't want to ignore Mia's tag! so instead, I'm going to take @cinnamontails-ff wrapped tag-game, just bc I sympathise with the logic and I like this set of questions a lot more!

Thank you Cin for coming up with questions that don't focus so much on productivity. And thank you again, Mia, for including me in the original game :) hopefully this is an acceptable substitute!

What's been your biggest learning point this past year?

I guess, what it feels like to be a 'popular' author - and the answer is, 'both good and bad, in fact, extremely mixed'. Obviously, many parts of it are wonderful: more people interacted with my work in the height of the BG3 fandom than I've ever had before, I felt like my writing mattered and I enjoyed every conversation I had about it. I also felt under a lot more scrutiny, very hyperaware of how I acted in 'public' (ie. on this blog), and aware of the people I'd disappoint with the directions I took my stories and what I chose to include. I also had to watch the baffling half-life of modern fandom! BG3's 6 month peak and 1yr trough was wild to me, as someone who joined dragon age 8yrs after the game was released. But I've decided I actually really like the middle-road of interaction, with much less noise and dedicated, recurring readers who I recognise and who make me smile and laugh every single time they comment or tag my work. I'll probably never experience whatever the fuck Pieces was ever again, and I'm honestly... ok with that, currently? Not to sound awful, but I'm not sure I liked it lmao.

In terms of my writing, my biggest learning point was "you're good at this, actually". Chanting this to myself in the mirror while I white-knuckle the sink.

How has your writing developed this past year?

I'm genuinely not certain. Pieces was certainly my most ambitious story yet, but a lot of the outlining of that took place in 2023 so it feels like the development happened then... though I suppose landing the dismount was something I worked very hard to do. I guess the main development this year was that a lot of what I wrote was extremely, extremely angsty. I wrote Pieces, I wrote This Is Not A Love Story. and I gave Rosalie to Orin :))))) this doesn't necessarily surprise me, given the way my writing often reflects things I'm dealing with in my life, and I've been trying to both recover from - and desparately stave off a relapse into - depression. I think that I can see why I keep making characters into the worst versions of themselves (this goes for Astarion, Rosalie - bc Pieces Rosalie is NOT in a good place, Gale and my Durge) and then watching them claw their way back to happiness in the hope of proving to myself that that's possible.

But jfc, it all got a little heavy. I've decided that 2025 is the Year of the Rom Com™.

Good writing habits?

Committing myself exclusively to what I want to read and sticking to my guns - which means I actually finish the thing, rather than getting into my own head about it.

Stretching my comfort zone a little (writing something vaguely smutty, writing something very different in style, switching genres for a bit) without losing my own voice.

Not falling into any jealousy/existential crises about my own writing, which I guess is much easier when you're experiencing a bout of 'success', but I've managed to keep it up even after the success began tailing off :)

I wrote a lot of words last year. I'm not putting the stat down but god. It was a lot.

Bad writing habits?

Overwriting everything. Everything. All the time. Party Favours was so short!!! I used to write novellas!!! Why are my chapters so fucking long now?????

Having multiple fic wips when I promised myself I'd wind down fanfic and start writing original work again :')

I wrote a lot of words last year. I think I did this bc I was extremely unhappy, and productivity is how I define myself. when I feel bad, I write and post bc it makes me feel good. And I felt very bad this year. So anyway, I think my wordcount is both a good thing and also a wee cry for help :'))))

Favorite thing you wrote?

Chapter Twenty-Three of Pieces (Mephistopheles consultation and my Ascended!Astarion meta-reveal)

Chapter Four of Cooler Than Me (putting the blorbos in a formal-wear situation)

I also liked my sex scene in Pieces :') it was tame but it was written for me specifically x

Favorite reads?

for fic!

long summer days can lead to lazy vices by @pouroverpaloma

eyes like fire by demonsbanebard

only once by @bearhugsandshrugs

and of course stitched into your sleeve by the bestie (@violacae)!!! my first ever gift fic!!!

for literature!

The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by HG Parry

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

Biggest win?

god. I'm endlessly grateful for my gift fic and for my fanart, but... it's got to be bookbindings. I used to daydream, about somebody ever wanting to have my fic bound, but I thought it was impossible and would never happen! I now know of 3 copies of my work that exist in the world :D and the ones I've seen were fucking gorgeous, like oh my fucking god.

I am also very proud I finished Pieces! It was my most ambitious project, and writing the ending presented even more challenges than I expected - as I discovered how much you write yourself into a corner when you resoul Astarion. I still haven't managed to read the completed work in full yet, but I'm proud it exists :)

Goals for the new year?

finish outstanding wips, and then see where my writing takes me next. I want to write original work, but I also don't want to make it a resolution. As long as I continue to enjoy writing, that's what matters most to me!

Your favorite words of the year, aka the words you check each chapter for, making sure you didn't repeat them 788 times?

I think I use '[x character] froze' a lot, but rather than focusing on my repetitions I want to focus on some of my favourite turns of phrase that I managed to pull from the ether! :)

'before her brief courtship with death threatened to become a commitment' - from the risk and the reward

'We can all still be butchered. We cut away the parts of ourselves to make us fit' - from this is a love story.

"He played an androgynous, morally-grey vampire, of indeterminate gender! In a nice coat! Anyone who had two working eyes and a relevant Kinsey Score read the porn, back in the day!” - from cooler than me

What are you excited for in the new year?

act 3 astarion characterisation for honest lie! the first big romance moment in cooler than me! and then just romcoms! 2025 is the year of the romcom! I want to write exclusively happy things!!!!

tagging: @cursedhaglette (as it's a different set of questions lmao), @imscissorbladez, @violacae, @eraserspiral, @scaryanneee, @sitting-in-the-sink, @pricemarshfield, @pouroverpaloma and anyone else who wants to give this a whirl. anyone is welcome, and if you tag me in it I'll share x

[kindaorangey]

the more i learn about TVC the more i realise how crazy a divergence from book canon it was to have armand stay with louis. armand as a character is defined by what is done to him, he is kidnapped, assaulted, groomed and tortured, and his life has been blown up and reinvented against his will again and again. he is sold, he is displaced, he is bought, his life with marius is forcibly ended and he is displaced again, he is positioned as the head of the paris coven, and lestat destroys his coven's faith in him. the stuff with louis in paris is a little more grey, but louis' murder of the entire théâtres des vampires does effectively blow up the status quo of armand's life once more.

and if you read it that way, in the books, armand leaving louis is one of the only times he elects to blow up his own life. and then he chases after daniel and their relationship is legitimately the healthiest armand has ever had and framed as the reason he doesn't end up evil in QotD. it's a very significant moment that, at least for a time, represents a shift towards armand feeling like he has a bit more agency and choosing to do what he wants in his life.

but like... armand doesn't leave louis in the show. the s2 finale is, functionally, someone once again blowing up armand's life (though, of course, he had it coming). and yeah i guess it represents a true clean slate for armand, because nothing is given to him or forced upon him to replace his old life with louis, but armand once again has no say in the matter, and this change doesn't arise from any self-awareness or resolve in him. i'm not sure if s3 will really get into the sort of effect that would have on him, and i imagine his new responsibility as daniel's maker will provide him with some sort of a new system in life, but yeah. cracked decision in retrospect and kind of an L that turned-at-27-show!armand has less self-respect and resolve than his turned-at-17 book counterpart

[puckpocketed]

why is kopitar so underrated? maybe it's bc i'm not a kings fan (and that i'm quite new to the nhl), but i never hear anyone talk about him. as someone who wasn't following the league back in 2012-2014 i'm sure there was more of a buzz then, but he's doing really well right now, especially considering he is the same age as crosby and one of the best players on a (likely) playoff bound team. even if he isn't as good as crosby or ovi, he's still by far one of the best older guys in the league. ofc he doesn't have the same international prestige, but slovenia is a country that has been consistently promoted from and relegated to wc d1a, so he's not going to be winning medals at worlds or the olympics no matter how good he is. i am aware that hockey prestige tends to be focused more on north americans, so does the fact that he's not from NA - and more specifically not from a typical hockey nation - play into it? and how much longer do you reckon he'll play for? it would be nice to see him stick around for a bit longer as i'm quite keen on him (if you couldn't tell)

Why is he underrated? -> Your guess is as good as mine! probably even better than mine since I don't have the data or the expertise. I also just got here. AND im very biased lmao i think he's cool as fuck and so are the Kings... my sillies........

if you put a gun to my head I'd say i think lak play late night games + LA is not a Traditiional Hockey Market + also he is... not flashy?? <- probably why he's aged so well. he's not reliant on a speed/power game.

i dooo wonder how much of QB's emergence as a defensive center this season has to do with being around Kopi and learning from him... ough... i don't have enough of a skilled eye to tell.. i suppose my point is who the hell watching lak games except for me and the 2 moths and 3 dust bunnies that inhabit lak lb.

and I can't speak to NA biases except to shrug and say yeah I'd believe that. people love dismissing foreigners LOL!! xenophobia is all around us!! wheehehee!!!

How long will he play for? -> He's signed for 7M until 2025-26. He'll be 38 by then. He hasn't shown decline. He STILL leads the Kings in scoring (though right now that's by 1 point ahead of Kempe) and remains a locker room stalwart. His leadership, as far as I know, has never been in question. I can't see him asking for a trade or being dealt unwillingly seeing how well the whole team is playing and how he contributes to that.

Furthermore, much as I malign Jim Hiller for it, I do believe the lak youth movement has truly arrived <3 I'm so so so happy for Laferriere, Turcotte, Byfield, Clarke, Moverare, Helenius, Thomas, Lee.... Everything that could go right this season has gone right, with regards to bringing in so many of the Ontario boys (i LOVE home grown talent... love how weirdly attached they are to each other from marinating for years in the AHL)

Byfield in particular is taking on more responsibilities; just in the last couple games we've seen him butt heads with Kucherov's line as a matchup center and get rotated into Kopi's line when the Kings were in a pinch. He's gained Hiller's trust, skating just as many if not more minutes than Kopi. Going into the future this can only be a good thing for Kopi's longevity.

So given the team isn't on the decline, and the fact that Kopitar has remained remarkably healthy, and his game has never been dependent on being particularly fast/strong, and given there are young legs available to insulate him as he slows down... I'm gonna be bold and say if circumstances allow (cap, overall health, role) he plays into his 40 year old season in a reduced role <3

I hope he's a Kings lifer. He means so much to the org, to all the boys he's raised... I'm tearing up just thinking about it... ough...

thank you for dropping by!! A great reminder that i am NOT immune to beautiful goth gf...........

[rollinouttahere-writes]

So like, I've been reading through your one piece aus, and all of them are great. I really like lucky break and solitude in particular, they give me many brainworms.

I'm not sure if the whole deal with thatch and blackbeard goes down like in canon in solitude. I hope not, for menaces sake. All my questions I have here are kinda under the idea that thatch lives and the crew doesnt separate like in canon.

I'm curious about what menace would be like as they grow up. It sounds like given enough time they do choose to stay with the whitebeard crew, and stop running away. So assuming they grew up on the crew, would they change any in a few years time? Become slightly less feral/better at socializing?

What role would they take on the crew, if any? I'm not sure whether I'd guess something cooking related to stick close to thatch, or maybe something for ships maintenance since they are good at navigating the bowels of the Moby dick?

I'm not sure if it's been stated, but do they have any particular weapon/fighting style they would lean towards? I know they have their knife, and probably fight like a feral animal right now (biting and clawing). But would they be interested in learning to use any other weapons or actual hand to hand? Or stick with what they know?

Well, whether or not the story follows the canon series of events depends on which timeline you choose to read, as explained here. No matter which one you choose though, Thatch still gets stabbed. The initial difference between each timeline is whether he survives it or not.

As of chapter 2, Menace is already starting to accept the Whitebeard's, with the exception of Blackbeard who looks too much like their parents' murderer for their comfort (and then goes on to act like him too lol). Thatch being stabbed is what cements their loyalty to the crew. If he survives, they essentially become his second shadow. They take to squeezing themselves into the infirmary bed he's recovering in because they're terrified that Blackbeard might come back to finish the job, or that Thatch might simply die of complications from his wound. The role that they take on in this au is primarily in the kitchen. While Menace does become a decent cook over the years, they specialize in hunting and foraging for food.

If Thatch doesn't make it, they forcibly invite themselves on Ace's revenge mission. They're tired of pirates killing their family, and this time they want to do more than just burn his flag. Since the crew falls apart and disbands in canon, they don't really have a clear role. They just stick by the remaining members and guard them with their life. Honestly, Izou would probably still live in this au because of how overprotective they become of those who are left.

As for their fighting style, they primarily rely on their knife, and later their father's rifle once they get strong enough to handle it. There is another thing they use to fight, but that's a spoiler for chapter 3. You'll have to wait for that one ;)