#to interact with other characters and not each other for at least the next 5 years

[wall-maria-around-ba-sing-se]

🎉✨Baby Chrobin!!!!!!! 💜💙🎉

[endless-ineffabilities]

chemical override

Ewan Mitchell x actress!reader

a/n: i caved and did an actual Ewan fic! Given that the lad is more of a public persona nowadays, I reckon it's fine (?) This is pure self-indulgence for all my Ewan loves. May have a continuation but idk for now, enjoy!!

series masterlist ▪︎ main masterlist

The reader and Ewan are paired for press interviews. Despite barely having any scenes together and only knowing each other in passing on set, the chemistry they share cannot be denied...

Your first round of press takes place in a primped up hotel suite in Paris, thanks to the team at HBO.

You are an up and coming actress, much like some of your costars in the show, but the pressure is heavier on you because you were entering in season two, whereas everyone was already well-acquainted with one another.

Your few scenes were mostly with Jace and Baela, so you grew close to Harry and Bethany.

However, the media team decided to pair you up with Ewan for the day. A little fun initiative was set by the team that a character from the Blacks would be do press with a counterpart from the Greens - hence, yourself and Ewan.

You're nervous as you walk down the hallway, unable to fully pay attention to the instructions your lovely assistant gives you.

She tells you about the different interviewers for the day, bloggers and magazine writers from all over the world. She reminds you that each one will only be for a maximum of 5 minutes, so it shouldn't be too complicated. She smiles and eagerly says, "Take a deep breath, you got this!", as you reach the suite doors.

But in your mind, all you can recall is your first interaction with Ewan, almost a year ago right after the table read. You had nervously blurted out to him that Aemond is your favourite character, after he just asked, "How are you?". He laughed, said thank you, before he was pulled away in conversation by Tom.

You pray to the fictional Westerosi gods that things will fare better today. That you won't get all tongue-tied when those steel blue eyes land on you.

Upon entering the room, the team is quick to fuss over you. Sometimes you forget that you're actually an actress now. A celebrity, some might say. It all feels surreal and you have a inkling it won't ever stop being this way.

Ewan is already seated in front of the camera, and he stands to give you a hug as you finally walk over.

"Hey there, how are you?" he smiles widely, smelling like cigarettes and something muskier as he wraps his arms around you.

Unroll your tongue. Rework your brain. Calm down.

"Hey, Ewan!" you respond. "I'm doing great, happy to see you again."

"Well, I only wish we could have had more time together on set." Ever the gentleman, he gestures for you to take your seat before he does the same. "But next season perhaps? Who knows?"

"Oh, sure." You settle in, pleased by the fact that your chairs are only about a foot apart. "We can both look forward to my character giving Aemond the arse kicking he deserves."

He laughs, eyes glinting with mischief. "Come on now, I was thinking our characters are actually quite compatible, no?"

"Well, I sure wouldn't want to step on Alys' shoes. She'd probably curse my character all the way to Yi Ti."

"Hmm," he hums, biting his lip. You can't help but hear Aemond when he does that. "I say you can always count on Aemond and Vhagar to come to the rescue of a beautiful maiden such as yourself."

Well, you'll be damned. Ewan, while still an introvert of his own sort, is as charming as can be. If he's turning it on to get himself hyped for the press, it's working.

It's definitely working on you, to say the least.

The media manager gives the signal for the first interview to begin, and a reporter walks in, all ready with prepared script in hand.

"Here we go," you mutter, facing forward.

"Good luck," Ewan replies.

You both shake the reporter's hand, and he introduces himself as Jared.

"So guys," Jared begins. "Why don't we start with you telling me a little bit about what we can expect from your characters this season?"

The question is easy, and it doesn't take long for you and Ewan to think it through. Jared asks a few more basic questions, before drawing the attention more to you.

"When you watched season one, did you have a favourite character?" he asks you.

You smile, "Oh, I mean, I have to say - and Ewan already knows this, by the way - that Aemond was my favourite character."

"Was?" Ewan says, feigning shock. "Unacceptable."

"Was... Is... " you shrug, rolling your eyes playfully, earning a laugh from Jared. "I think I might be more a Daemon girl now."

"Oh!" Jared exclaims happily. "Does Matt know about this?"

"I'll be sure to tell him - "

Ewan interjects, shaking his head at you, "There's no need to tell him, because I'll convert her back to Team Aemond in no time, trust me."

"Daemon is awesome, though," you say to him, smiling.

"Sure." Ewan makes a face like that fact doesn't matter. Wasn't he the one who said that Daemon would be the character he would most like to play if not Aemond?

"And Caraxes is my favourite dragon." You share a look with Jared, hoping he would agree.

"Yes!" Jared says. "Caraxes is the best dragon in the show, in my opinion."

"Ah, you're both wrong," Ewan says. "My Vhagar is the oldest and baddest dragon in all of the land."

"My Vhagar, he says," you joke. "Seems like someone still hasn't shed Aemond for this press tour."

"And I never will, darling." His gaze is intense when he turns to you, and you clear your throat to fight the warmth rushing to your cheeks.

"Alright, they're giving me the wrap-up," Jared thankfully breaks the tension. "It was a pleasure talking to you guys, congratulations on the new season!"

One interview down, and your nerves have already considerably subsided. Ewan tapping your arm to start up a conversation once more surely helps in distracting you.

In the best damn way possible.

"How do you think we did? That wasn't too bad, was it?"

"I think we did quite well," you casually offer a high five, but your heart skips a beat when Ewan interlaces your suspended hands for just a moment.

"I'm glad they paired me with you," Ewan says, after releasing your hand. You hold on to the armrests to keep your fingers from twitching.

"I am, too," you admit. "I am a fan of you, after all, but I think you already know that."

He blushes, "Well, that's not a bad thing. I think you're a fantastic actress. I must have seen your first film a good ten times."

"You mean my first and only film," you add humbly. "But thank you."

"Only film for now," he affirms. "No doubt this is only the beginning for you, darling. With your talent and your charisma, I'm sure you have potential scripts piled up already."

"I could say the same for you! Have you seen what your fans say about you online? You're the internet's new boyfriend, Ewan Mitchell."

The media manager announces the next interview, but Ewan follows up with a response for you under his breath, "I have seen some things. But when I have a girlfriend, I'll make sure she won't have to share me at all."

Oh, so apparently he is single. But wait - why is he telling you this?

You don't get to mull over that thought. For the time being, the next interview starts and you make sure you do a good job at what you're paid to do - promoting the series.

Not daydreaming about getting with a costar, for heaven's sake. Stay professional.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

You feel lightheaded after finishing the seventh - or had it been the eighth? - interview.

Your assistant delivers a coffee to you during the twenty-minute break. Ewan had stepped out to the balcony to have a smoke, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

He certainly is everything you expected him to be, and so much more. Insightful, cheeky, dedicated. An artist, through and through. He was in the business for all the right reasons, passion and respect for the craft.

If he had any flaws, you weren't privy to them yet. If there are any reasons for you not to be attracted to him, you didn't know what those were yet.

And with every flirtatious remark and pointed smile, you can't deny the hope blooming in you.

"Hey," he reappears, pulling you out of your musings. "I hope you don't mind that I smell of smoke."

No, you didn't, not when it's him.

"Don't worry about it," you reassure him. You tilt your head forward to take a sip of your coffee, but a lock of your hair falls in front of your face. Annoyed, you think to reach for it, but Ewan beats you to it, tucking it back in place.

"There you go, darling," he croons, gesturing for you to proceed in drinking.

"Th-thanks." His eyes don't leave yours as you take a slow sip.

"So," you say, desperate to break the silence, "which interview did you enjoy the most so far?"

"How can I possibly choose? I mean, I really liked the one with ComicSociety, the guy that said our characters have a lot of chemistry and should get together next season. He's right, I already told you!"

"Ohhh, sure, that will go down really well with the Blacks and Greens."

He smirks, "I don't see why not?"

"For one, Aemond is ensnared by Alys, and my character will never give up fighting for Rhaenyra. I just don't see it happening, Ewan."

"Right," he mutters thoughtfully, "there is still Alys in the picture."

"Still in the picture? With the amount of steamy scenes you two have lined up for season three, I'd say she will be Aemond's entire picture in and of herself."

"Hmm," he glances at you once, then looks down. Dare you think it, does he look disappointed?

"But hey," you add lightly, "maybe we can talk to Ryan and he can flip the entire script just for our characters."

"Yeah," his cheeky smile resurfaces, "maybe you can take Alys' place."

Take the place of Alys? Of Alys. Is he insinuating...

"Next round of interviews, guys!" The media manager announces to the room.

"Here we go again, darling," Ewan squeezes your hand once, before putting on his professional face once more.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

By the end of it all, not even caffeine can perk you up. You were exhausted, you and Ewan having finished four full hours of press.

Your assistant comes to your aid, ready to direct you back to your own hotel room.

"This has been such a pleasure, Ewan, really." You stand, this time initiating the hug.

He squeezes you gently, humming in your ear. When you pull apart, he says, "I honestly wouldn't mind trudging through hours and hours of press with you."

That's sweet of him. You're too tired to mask the warmth that rises to your cheeks. "And I feel the same. Today couldn't have gone any better."

"Truly, and listen, maybe we could - "

"Ewan!" The manager approaches. "I'm so sorry to rush with this, but we need to film just a quick soundbite with you for Aemond. Just two to three questions for the Max Tiktok account?"

"Oh, okay - " Ewan is reluctant to turn away from you.

"Perfect! If you could just stand there by the windows please..." The manager already has him by the arm, directing where he has to go.

"We have to go," your assistant says. "Still have to prep for tomorrow."

"I'll see you soon, Ewan!" you call out to him. "Thanks again."

He gives a half-hearted wave, dejected as he watches you walk out of the room.

"That wasn't too bad," you share with your assistant as you enter the elevators. "Not bad at all, actually."

"Oh, you did so well," she compliments. "It definitely helps with the press that you and Mr. Mitchell have such insane natural chemistry."

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

In the calm of your hotel room, you get ready for bed.

Just when you're about to finish with your nightly routine, your phone rings from your bedside table. You're quick to rush over, thinking it could be your assistant or your manager, with an urgent update about work.

But no - it's an unknown number. A UK number, as it appears.

Confused, you click answer anyway, putting it to your ear with a tentative, "Hello, who is this?"

"Hi, darling."

"Ewan?"

"Yeah, uhm, I hope I didn't disturb you - "

"Not at all," your answer comes out in a rushed breath.

"I also hope you don't mind that I got my assistant to ask your assistant to give me your number? It's what I wanted to ask you before you left today."

"Oh." You feel fully awake now, by some miracle, butterflies finding home in your stomach. "I don't mind. I... I should have given you my number, anyway. I have most of the cast's, in case I need to get a hold of you guys."

"Hmm, right," he says from the other end. You hear him calmly breathing, the sound strangely comforting, and wonder if he can hear the same from you.

He says, "I just wanted to keep hearing your voice. Didn't get enough of it today," and your heart just about stops.

"Oh. Okay," is all you are able to respond with.

"What are you doing?"

"Just... just getting ready for bed." Phone pressed to your ear, you shuffle around the room, putting some things back in place.

He says nothing for a few seconds, but you still hear his breathing, and some shuffling in the background. It occurs to you that he might just be as nervous as you are now.

Maybe.

"Listen," he finally says, "do you want to hear my pitch to Ryan about why our characters should get together next season?"

A genuine laugh escapes you. He sure is persistent. Playful, sure, but you're definitely willing to play along.

"Let's hear it."

"First," he says, "you have to renounce Daemon as your favourite character - "

"Not a chance."

" - and swear your love for Aemond."

"Keep dreaming."

He laughs, and you can only picture the corners of his eyes crinkling.

"Aww darling," he teases, "don't you love me?"

💌 part two - part three

The OGs will know that the final line is a nod to my first ever Aemond fic! 🖤

Did this slightly delay my series works? Yes, yes it did. Do I regret it? For Ewan frickin Mitchell, I would never ~

[crystalrabbit246912]

Group Dynamics in NRC

I think that Group Dynamics in Twisted Wonderland are the funniest things ever.

Spoilers for the Stitch Event, Glorious Masquerade, Book 5, and Book 6 under the cut.

There's the obvious ones, like the first-year crew and their friendship, with them constantly making quips and having fun at each other's expense, and the dorm groups, like Azul, Jade, and Floyd, who are hilarious to watch together, or Kalim and his tired babysitter Jamil.

But then you get to the events, which introduces dynamics that we haven't seen before simply because there's so many characters and each pairing has so much potential together.

Like in the Stitch Event, where we see Floyd and Lilia being chaos buddies together. I think that if they were left alone with Stitch, they could have blown up the whole island and laughed while doing it, and we hadn't seen that before because Floyd has had no reason to interact with Lilia prior.

In Glorious Masquerade, we first see a bunch of different groupings, such as Azul with Deuce and Epel, which is hilarious because we have the two innocent freshmen and Azul, who's trying to say things with subtext that goes completely over the duo's heads. Of course, we already know that Deuce and Epel are cute together, but seeing Azul frustrated at their naivety is something new.

The other groups contain Idia, Ruggie, Silver, and Rook for one, which means that Idia's always-fun dialogue paired with Ruggie's desire to get a good deal paired with two sunshine children, a.k.a two of the light magic users.

The third group is made up of Riddle, Jamil, Malleus, and Sebek. The first three possess a certain maturity that the other first-years, not counting Jack, don't have. Sebek being the shouty crocodile that we all love adds some excitement to them. We've already seen a bit of Riddle and Jamil interaction with Book 6 and Riddle and Malleus are both Housewardens even if the latter doesn't get invited to meetings much.

Yuu, Grim, and Rollo drift among the groups, which adds some extra spice as Grim is... Grim and Yuu is friendly with basically everyone so there's not much animosity there. The friendship is something that would be boring anywhere else, but the amount of animosity between most NRC students makes it refreshing instead.

Later, the group has to split up to deal with the firelotuses and get at least one of their members to the top of the tower to ring the Bell of Solace. They drop their members in groups of two, leaving fascinating pairings, with Idia, Malleus, and Azul making it to the top.

The first pair to drop is Riddle and Epel. The two of them are somewhat commonly shipped in this fandom, but we don't actually see them together much in the actual game. Riddle is immensely talented with magic and Epel has good flying skills, so the two of them act as a diversion so the rest of the group can make it past.

Riddle obviously wants to be a good upperclassman and protect his junior, Epel, but Epel also wants to protect Riddle, which leads to a spirited conversation between them, at the end of which Epel uses his UM on Riddle to protect him and manages to divert the firelotuses until the main group rings the Bell.

Next are Jamil and Ruggie, who get separated from the main group and are forced to be left behind so the Bell can be reached. The two of them share a common willingness to dirty their hands so they can survive, which means that they're willing to use other students as bait so they can survive the night. Their UMs make this possible, and Jamil states that he's glad that he ended up with Ruggie, since the hyena beastman was the only one he could pull the trick off with.

Beyond that, Deuce gets injured in the ballroom and Rook stays behind with him so the group can progress forwards without them. The two of them interacted a little in Book 5, but it was mainly Vil speaking and I don't think they had any individual interactions, though I may be forgetting something.

This is another upperclassman wants to protect their underclassman situation. There's a cute scene where Rook is on the verge of giving up, but Deuce keeps going and Rook says that Deuce's inspired him, in the classic Rook way.

Sebek and Silver clear the way so that Malleus, Idia, and Azul can make their way up the tower. These two are together a rather lot, both in the actual game and in the fandom, either as a sibling relationship or ship, but Silver feeds into the competitiveness between them, whereas it was previously assumed that it was a one-sided thing from Sebek.

Malleus, Idia, and Azul are hilarious together.

Malleus, despite being a Housewarden like the other two, isn't seen much with them. Idia and Azul are seen together often, as members of the Board Game Club, but Malleus not so much.

Malleus' manner of speech and unique quirks are new to the other two, though Azul is quite used to Idia's social anxiety and dialogue while Idia has had plenty of time to get used to Azul and his way of working. When both Rollo and Malleus think that Azul sacrificed himself, Idia is the one that knew that the Octavinelle Housewarden had something up his sleeve.

Idia and Azul both struggle with physical activity, so while the physically and magically powerful Malleus can climb the tower with ease, the other two are struggling immensely. There's a line of dialogue that says that he couldn't carry the two up the tower because there wasn't enough room for him to carry them under his arms, which I found really funny.

I think I derailed this post somewhat, but my conclusion is that group dynamics are funny here, and if you put two people who would never in normal circumstances be near each other in the same room, I think the result would be great.

(Example: Deuce and Idia. Idia is terrified of Deuce, as he is of most people, yet shocked by his determination and also a bit thankful towards him for being Ortho's friend. Deuce initially has a high impression of Idia because of Ortho's praise, though the impression just downrails into confusion.)

[bichietozier-s]

🕷️Catch You On The Web!!🕸️

An Itafushi spiderman socmed au ❤️

In which Yuuji Itadori, newly a sophomore in college who still has not a clue what he wants to do with his life, gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gains new abilities, stats and powers. He's coasting on his raw athletic ability, a full-ride scholarship handed to him despite his less-than-perfect grades, when he realizes he's got way more ahead of him than he'd ever imagined. Including, but not limited to, a newfound crush that also throws him for a loop.

you are reading: Prologue | Part 1 | Part 1.5 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 5.5 | Part 6 | Part 7 (coming soon!)

notes:

Established nobamaki, inuokko, a smidge one-sided itajun :') + other background ships here n there. Non curse au, only some know each other prior! Timestamps do NOT matter (unless specified), nobara and junpei go to a different college from everyone else, and this starts from the VERY beginning (so, no spidey yet). It's a mainly twt-based au bc this is my favorite way to see characters interacting 😋

That should do it! I hope everyone enjoys 🥹

Accounts!

OKAYY everything's set up!! i have learned tumblr formatting ommmmg. I have the first 4 and a half parts or so written already (active over on twt but i find myself over here more lately!) so part 1 should not be far behind this post!

Last but not least, pls pls pls lmk if you'd like to be on a taglist!!! :3c don't be afraid to ask, i'd be happy to start one 🤗

Thanks for reading + interest all 🫶🏻🥰

jump to:

Next

[artsy-waffle19]

Rating dynamics between characters in Dead Boy Detectives that never actually interacted that much or at all, for absolutely no reason.

- Starting off with probably the most reasonable as number one: Charles and Monty.

I absolutely adored the quiet bitchiness between these two. Not a word was said and everyone could see they can't stand each other now make them solve a case together. Bonus points if they actually bond over shitty parents or the fact that they're basically different flavours of the same person. Solid pairing I give it a 7/10 and I would love to see more of them in s2.

- Up next we got number two: Jenny and The Cat King.

I genuinely don't know why everyone is sleeping on this pairing, this is a comedic goldmine and i will not take any criticism on it. I mean...goth & slut is such a funny concept for a duo and I REALLY want the two of them to be forced into solving some kind of minor case. If we want to ramp up the chaotic energy we should absolutely add Maxine into the mix (bonus points if she's a ghost and becomes besties with CK) 9/10 i love it.

- After the strong one let's go with a chill one for number three: Tragic Mick and the dandelion sprites

Just imagine them, in their silly jar on the counter of the shop and trying to insult him and cussing out his customers. Imagine people entering the shop, trying to buy something and being forced to listen to his tragic backstory while getting roasted for their haircut at the same time. Fun concept but not my fav so I'll give it a 5/10.

- For number four we've got: Edwin and Kashi

I feel like this could actually be an incredibly funny combination. All-time-trauma-olympics-winner and Guy-who-got-swallowed-by-a-giant-fish-and-refuses-to-let-it-traumatise-him. The more thought i put into this, the madder i get that this wasn't actually in the show this could have actually had some super interesting influence on Edwins character development and it's a comedic goldmine. Confident 10/10 would love to see it.

- Next up is number five with: Monty and The Night Nurse

Either they would get along great or one of them would start crying. Generally I think they would be a team that Gets Shit Done and I, for one, would love to see it. All in all it's pretty similar to the Niko and NN dynamic tho so I give it a 7/10.

- Number six iiiiisssss (drumroll pls): Night Nurse and The Cat King

I know both of them were mentioned before but fr this is hilarious. Either he would end up dead or she would quit her job immediately, no inbetween. They don't have much conflict besides annoying each other to the death so there aren't that many possibilities to elaborate on the dynamic but it would have been a funny side dialogue in the show. I give it a 7/10 (bonus points if we throw crystal into the mix, simply because she would enjoy frustrating the shit out of the other two and I need that kind of content in my life).

- Last but not least with number seven, we've got Esther and Maxine

I feel like they would become best friends. They would get along ✨flawlessly✨. Not necessarily because they have much in common but simply because they match each others freak and would feel very validated. Imagine them, having a girls night and gossiping about crazy shit they did due to a relationship gone wrong. Honestly flawless I would have loved seeing Maxine as an evil goon. (Bonus points if she ends up getting a crush on Esther, who thinks it's incredibly entertaining). Can't find any minus point in this so I'll give it a 10/10.

feel free to add ur own to this

[luminoustarlight]

"Slut!" | Modern!Anakin Skywalker

a miss americana and the heartbreak prince story

(modern!au / high school!au)

High school culture in this series is extremely dramatized and fictionalized. As mentioned in the series masterlist, the characters are 18 years old. Padmé is very out of character in this series as well. There are lots of nods to Taylor Swift lyrics in this, too. So it's really fun for swifties and star war babes.

Slut

noun

a woman who has many casual sexual partners.

The definition of “slut” more accurately describes Anakin rather than you. Afterall, he is the Heartbreak Prince of Lucas High School. But men never pay the price for sleeping around. They’re awarded a higher social status. Or in Anakin Skywalker’s case, you become the Senior every Freshman boy wants to be. 

Anakin Skywalker used to be a player. Anakin Skywalker used to go through girls faster than the news could spread around school. He had no qualms with one night stands or taking a girl’s virginity because she asked him to. He was honored to be a girls’ first time. 

He dated Padmé Amidala exclusively from January until June. When the new school year began, everyone wondered who would be the next one to get their heart broken by Anakin. Nobody could’ve guessed it would be Miss Americana. 

The crowd at the Homecoming game nearly quieted when Anakin spun you around in the middle of the field. When he nuzzled his sweaty face into your neck, kissing your warm skin as if it was a greater reward than winning the football game. It took you by surprise, to say the least. You’ve only been seeing each other for about a month and had yet to interact or show affection at school. It was quite the announcement. And the message was loud and clear. Anakin had a new girl and she’s nothing like his ex. 

Padmé had watched you and Anakin with a fire fueled by jealousy in her stomach. You had a stupid, naïve smile on your face as you walked off of the field with Anakin’s varsity jacket draped over your shoulders. That should be me. Maybe it’s all an act to make me jealous. 

So that’s how the whispers began at the Homecoming dance. Padmé had rallied her cheerleading friends to start spreading rumors. By the time you walked through the gymnasium doors attached to Anakin’s arm, everyone had made up their mind about you. You’re nothing but a slut and a man-stealer. 

It’s unnerving having so many eyes on you at once. It’s like they all have a radar when Anakin walks into a room. He’s just that magnetic of a man. And he’s used to it. But it makes you uncomfortable and Anakin can sense it. 

“Are you alright?” 

You swallow and plaster on an unconvincing smile. “‘M fine.”

“Hey,” Anakin says gently. He cups your elbows and rubs his thumbs over your arms. “We’re all dressed up, you look stunning and I’m having a particularly great hair day. They might as well look at us. I want you to enjoy yourself tonight. Do you think you can do that for me?” 

Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger thrumming in your ears makes it difficult to think or to argue. Anakin is right. You didn’t spend $120 on an aquamarine dress for nothing. “Fine,” you concede. “But if I hear people talking about me, can we leave and go to Denny’s?” 

“They’re going to talk about you, angel,” Anakin kisses you on the cheek. “It’s just how it is. But none of it means a thing. C’mon, let’s dance.” 

You dance for about twenty minutes before needing to get something to drink. Of course it’s the same time Anakin meets up with his football friends, leaving you at the snack table with a target on your back. Serena and Molly, Padmé’s closest friends slither up next to you. 

“Hey, Slut,” Serena jeers. That insult was bound to reach your ears sooner or later. It’s by no means true or accurate but they don’t care. They’re not about to bad mouth Anakin. 

“So… you and Anakin, huh?” Molly begins. “He’s a bit out of your league, isn’t he?” 

“Don’t worry, Mol. She’s just his rebound. He’s gonna get back with Padmé when he realizes what a loser she is. No offense,” Serena adds insincerely. 

“That definitely felt like something you wanted me to take offense to,” you say. You scan the gym for Anakin, hoping he’ll see the situation you’re in and rescue you. But when you put it like that, you sound so pathetic. You can get out of this yourself. “And I’m not his rebound.” 

“No?” Molly puts her hands on his hips. “That’s not what I heard…” 

No, you tell yourself. Don’t indulge her. Whatever she has to say isn’t true. 

Serena laughs at you. “You don’t honestly think Anakin actually likes you, do you? He’s just using you to make Padmé jealous. You’re all part of his plan to get her back.” 

Even though you know Serena is lying, her words still manage to plant seeds of doubt in you. But they don’t know anything about you and Anakin. There is something special kindling between the two of you. Anakin cares about you. It’s in the way he drops off a Dirty Chai latte on your porch before going to school. It’s written in the notes he stealthily slips into your locker when he says he’s going to the bathroom in the middle of class. It’s the sweatshirts he lets you borrow and the sleepless movie nights eating buttery popcorn and stale Red Vines over the last two weekends. 

“You’re wrong,” you say with a slight quiver in your lip. You hate how Serena has made you question everything with Anakin. If it’s all just for show then why does he kiss you when no one is watching? Why did he insist on keeping your new relationship private if not to nurture your budding romance without prying eyes? 

He’s ashamed of you. 

Then why did he ask you to the dance? 

To humiliate you in front of the whole school. 

This is just a game to him. Your embarrassment is the prize. 

“Aw, I think we hurt Little Miss Americana’s feelings,” Molly feigns a sad face, dragging her finger down her cheek as if it’s a fallen tear. “I hate to make it worse but it looks like he and Padmé might be making up right now.” 

Molly and Serena point in Anakin’s direction, where he is indeed speaking with Padmé. It’s the first time you’ve seen her all night and she looks breathtaking. Her chocolate hair is curled to perfection, bouncy locks cascading over her shoulders. A plunging neckline draws your eyes down her chest and seriously, she was allowed to wear this to a high school dance? 

She’s throwing her head back dramatically, as if Anakin just told her the joke of the year. And then— dear God, you want to throw up— he’s hugging her. You count the seconds. 1…2…3… you can’t watch it anymore. You turn away from Serena and Molly abruptly and make your way out of the gymnasium. 

“So long, slut,” Serena waves. 

The brisk October air assaults your skin and invades your lungs, but it’s welcomed compared to the betrayal you feel coursing through your veins. Is this the end of Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince? You’ve only had a month with him but you want a dozen more. You’ve barely had time to discover what your relationship could become. 

Perfect pearls of salt begin falling down your cheeks. How could you have been so lovelorn? How could you have gotten it all wrong? You were too blinded by Anakin’s charm to see that it was always meant to be temporary. 

“Y/N!” Anakin calls for you. He spots you sitting on the curb with your head in your hands. 

A little piece of him crumbles. Someone has hurt you. Little does he know it was him who did. 

He rushes over to you and lays his arm over your back as he sits down. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing.” You let yourself relish in the feeling of having his protective arm around you. It might be the last time. “Go back inside.” 

“No,” Anakin replies, tilting your face toward him with a finger beneath your chin. “You’ve been crying.” 

“What an astute observation, Anakin.” 

Okay, so apparently you’re going back to the days when you hated each other. Right. Great. Why? 

“You’re… mad at me…?” Anakin thinks out loud. 

“I’m-” you stand abruptly, making you dizzy as all of the blood rushes out of your head. You wait until you can see clearly before continuing to speak. “I’m confused, Anakin! I’m angry at myself for falling for you, I’m angry at myself for being so naïve in thinking this was as real for you as it was for me. I can’t believe I was so fucking stupid-” 

Anakin stands as well. Clearly, something happened in the gymnasium. Someone said something to you. Or you saw something that wasn’t what it seemed.  “What are you talking about?”

“You and Padmé.”

“Are over,” Anakin emphasizes. 

“But…” you close your eyes, replaying the scene you saw before you. Padmé laughing, Anakin bringing her in for a hug… it was all so friendly. 

“But you saw us hug?” Anakin asks calmly. You nod. “But you didn’t hear me?” 

“No,” you reply shamefully. 

“I told her that I don’t want to get back together with her. My relationship with her was the first real one I’ve had and it taught me a lot, but it is not what I want. It’s not what I need. She is not who I want or who I need.” 

“Ani…”

Anakin shakes his head. “I’m not done. Look, I know we’re only 18 and I know we have our whole lives ahead of us but let’s not think about that. Think about right now,” Anakin grabs your hands. “This is real for me. You’re my favorite person to spend time with. I’m so fucking excited that everyone at this fucking school knows we’re together because now I can kiss you whenever I want. I can push you up against the lockers and make out with you until we get yelled at by Mr. Windu.” 

That makes you giggle. You can totally hear Mr. Windu telling you to get off of each other before he gives you both detention. 

“I don’t have to be so fucking sneaky with putting notes in your locker. You can wear my Varsity jacket at games. We can actually go out to a restaurant and go on a date. Don’t give up on us, baby. We’ve only just begun.” 

It’s not a proclamation of love or anything, but it’s enough. Everyone wants Anakin Skywalker and that seems to be your crime. You stole him before anyone else had the chance. 

remember to reblog and leave comments to support authors!

◂ series masterlist ▸ anakin masterlist

[robocatfan]

An angry summary of Speak the Ocean by Rebecca Enzor -Part 2

Part 1 , Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Chapter 2- Erie

This chapter introduces us to Erie, our magenta- haired mermaid protagonist and the youngest daughter of the king of the underwater Seadom - yes that’s its name. At least it doesn't go by Atlantis like many other stories do.

As stated before, she’s the youngest of seven siblings (only two of which we see in the story and learn the names of. The other five meanwhile don’t even get a mention) - just like Ariel - and also the one who’s been neglected the most due to resembling their disappeared mother, Queen Manistique. We learn that she was the first mer captured by humans - which the mers and dolphins call “landfolk” - and that her dad’s still wallowing about his dead wife. Just like Ariel’s dad.

Erie’s been trying to find a pattern and reason for the abductions of her people, each one represented by a shell which she’s tasked to stain with squid ink when they get taken, with the most recent victim being one of her older siblings, Clair. However, the events are so irregular that she’s unable to find any answers.

As she ponders her sister’s shell, she’s visited by a blue-haired mer called Huron, who’d just snuck past a surfacing Niku - her dolphin guard - and immediately suggests they go out hunting despite the danger of the landfolk. Also it’s pretty apparent by the way he’s interacting with her that he wants to do way more than just get food.

While Erie is tempted to go out, especially since none of them have been hunting much due to the fear of boats, she has doubts about it… for just a brief moment since of course, it doesn’t take long for her to agree to come with him.

In the next two paragraphs as they sneak away, the text gives us a look (or rather, a sort of broad description- and the only one we ever get at that!) of their home, which is essentially a big underwater city surrounded by a dead sunken forest that is somehow enough to hide them from modern human technology, because none of the human characters have any idea of its existence.

There are also other sea creatures living within it like fish and crabs, but Erie notes that they are illegal to eat… Even though it’s also noted that everyone is starving due to being unable to hunt as frequently as they used to, so why prevent them from consuming these very accessible meals? It’s like placing a bowl of food just out of the reach of a chained dog!

Anyway instead of doing… Whatever they are intending to do, in a hidden corner of their home, these two fools decide to go past the dead forest to do it in what’s essentially a danger zone just so they can have their “fun”. Brilliant!

After getting to the open ocean (aka the danger zone), Erie feels a sense of freedom due to the vastness of her surroundings, something she hasn’t really felt since her sister got snatched.

When she thinks about her fate however, she starts having second thoughts about venturing this far due to the danger… which are immediately dispelled when Huron brushes his tail fin against her stomach and it becomes very apparent that they are both thinking with their second head.

But just as they are making out and in the middle of justifying why this book has an adult age rating (again, while in a danger zone. Oh and its also noted that female mer have breasts) they are interrupted when they both notice the rumbling of an approaching boat. We don’t get to have a moment where it dawns on them that one of the main tools the landfolk use to capture them is coming in their direction, or even get a glimpse of its shape. Erie just hears it, and bolts.

A literal sentence later, a net is thrown and hits Erie’s tail, bearing her down against the ocean floor. Which makes me wonder just how shallow their part of the ocean is for the net to get there so quickly. Actually, how long are those nets to be able to do that in the first place?

In any case, her trapped state only lasts two sentences before she “easily” (due to the text barely showing her struggle) gets free - ripping her tail fin in the process. Which should be painful af, but the text barely dwells into how it affects her mobility and later presents it more like a minor inconvenience later on.

Huron on the other hand, isn’t so lucky as he ends up getting - surprisingly easily - trapped in the net, and his companion’s attempts to free him last for about ten words before it becomes apparent that there’s nothing she can do to free him. Like, girl, you and the rest of your kind are human sized, and while these nets are strong, they are for fish way smaller than you. And since it’s your boyfriend that’s trapped, at least try a little harder!

So Huron tells her to get help, and even though she knows she won't be able to find aid in time, Erie still tries. A sentence later, the narration destroys any tension by telling us that he’s essentially a lost cause now.

(I still can’t believe all of this happened because these two idiots wanted to have mermaid se-)

And it becomes very apparent in moments like these that the writing style is one of the greatest weaknesses of the book - as well as the reason that just reading it feels like an exhausting chore to me. Because what’s supposed to be a tense and terrifying scene for both the readers and the characters….

Ends up falling very flat due to how quickly everything happens (seriously this scene takes just one page to finish) and due to how matter of factly everything is written.

When Erie reaches the dead forest, she has a miniscule flare of hope upon noticing the shadow of a dolphin before she sees its back scars and realizes that said dolphin is a rightfully pissed Niku.

Still, she tells him where Huron got captured and that she has yet to find a pattern for the boat’s appearances - and Niku oh so helpfully tells her that “perhaps staining the next shell may enlighten her”. So much for a scolding or comfort.

Two days later, Erie feels guilt for causing her boyfriend’s abduction, even though he was the one who suggested they go out in the first place. And what does her father do about this recent kidnapping? NOTHING.

We are not told if he punished her for going out, nor if he has increased security because one of his remaining children nearly got taken. He just doesn’t do - and hasn’t done for these past six years - anything to help his subjects even though they and his very own family are being constantly kidnapped. And you would think his inaction as well as their current situation would cause civil unrest or make them more eager to fight back against the landfolk (like that unseen mer who attacked a tourist in the previous chapter), but nope. Everything goes on as usual I guess.

While she stares at her ink stained fingers so she doesn't stare at Huron’s and Clair’s shells, her grandmother Dowager (which is the name used for widows who hold the titles or properties derived from their deceased partners), comes to visit her, and Erie notes that her scale colors have dissipated with age and that she has a few string of sea glass around her neck which her sister declared would never be hers due to being the youngest.

Anyway, the grandma isn’t that important to the story.

And instead of coming to comfort her granddaughter, she warns her that she may have to stain another shell soon since there have been recent sightings of boats.

When Erie asks her why they are still out there - since normally they just take one mer at a time - she responds that according to the king’s landfolk advisor ( who doesn’t seem to do his job well because six years have passed and nothing to help improve their situation has been done. Oh and he’s gonna be important - for one chapter only.), it might be for research, and none of them have any clue as to what it means.

To seemingly provide some sort of levity though, her grandmother tells her that her father has declared a hunt to restock their fish pens in spite of the danger, and that the dolphins and all able bodied merfolk (which doesn’t include her because rip her tail fin - but doesn’t amount to anything as you will see a few chapters later) participate.

Erie then asks her if she knows if there will be any boats nearby since she’s one of the wisest mers she’s known. and she replies that while that is impossible to tell, the area they are planning to hunt in has clear waters as of now.

And as she reassures her that Niku will keep her safe during the trip (pretty much saying that her dad’s restrictions mean shit even though her grandkid is injured), Erie grabs one of the few clear shells and swears that she will do whatever it takes to figure out the schedule of the boats and the reason for the kidnappings.

…. Don’t expect her to take the route most characters go through after making such a bow.

Chapter 3- Finn

We are back to Finn’s perspective as he immediately enters Delmara’s office to proclaim himself the trainer of the new mer - aka Huron - who was caught while he and Serge were disobeying the doctor’s orders in chapter one.

When he enters, Delmara introduces him to a red-haired woman called Jennifer/Jen, who’s been recently hired as a new employee in Oceanica and who greets him warmly but also warily, and is also notable for being the sanest character in the story and the one that, frankly, should have been the human main character instead of Finn.

Speaking of him, while he happily shakes her hand, he’s caught off guard when his boss says that not only will he be her guide for the week, but they will also have to clean the tanks that used to belong to Bismuth and the twins.

When he asks why that’s the case, since she previously promised him that the next mer in line will be his to train, Delmara reminds him that the doctors have forbidden him from interacting with the mer until his next checkup, and that the new arrival will be placed under the care of Mia and Laz, the trainers of their current stars Radon/ Ray and Potassium/ K.

Speaking of her, according to Finn she’s probably going to kill the new mer (the reasons for that? we are never told about it), and it took weeks with the electroshocker™ to get her to behave. And as we later learn, she’s actually Clair, Erie’s sister.

However, and despite the fact that she’s essentially the murderous mermaid this book oh so claims to have, not only is she underutilized, but her tank companion and trainers matter so little to the story that they essentially vanish without reason later on (and you’ll later see that I’m not joking.)

Finn is aghast at her decision. But while he’s worried that the new boy won’t last more than a day thanks to K/Clair, he’s more pissed over the fact that he’s not allowed to interact with the same creatures who nearly sent him to the next life a few days ago for his own safety. As well as the fact that he has yet to train one in spite of his long time helping Delmara.

So he essentially throws a tantrum - in front of a new hire, no less! - and tries to throw Maddy under the bus by blaming her for the fact that he tripped (like a fool) and fell into the tank due to his own clumsiness and stating that due to this, she should be the one on cleaning duty instead of him.

Ultimately his boss makes him stand down and dismisses him and Jen, not before telling them that she will be sending the fishermen out to find another mer soon - which seems to be her only response to the financial loss that the death of their previous stars certainly caused.

Finn is far from happy about this, but knows her enough to know he won’t win this argument. So without having the decency to at least hide some of his current frustration, he goes to give Jen a tour of the place.

What could have been a way to also show the reader how the main setting of the story looks like only consists of a sentence where Finn points to the break and locker rooms before they arrive to the room where they hold the tanks, which the text does bother to describe.

It has four sets of double tanks - each one about thirty meters in diameter and connected by tubes to the point that Finn compares the place to a giant hamster room. All of them connect to the practice tank we saw in the first chapter, as well as the “arena” - an outdoor tank where they hold their shows and that is colored way more aesthetically than the room they are in.

Still bitter about being put in his place, he points to the empty tanks and explains that they’ll scrub them over with diluted bleach, fill them back and then let them cycle over a couple of days before putting a new mer in.

BUT according to a friend (and a quick google search) these sorts of tanks should be cycled for, at the very least , 2 or 8 weeks! Which means that either the author got information wrong, or they are intentionally cutting corners! Either way, Finn hopes that by the time the process ends he will be allowed to train a mer.

Jen is unsettled by the tank sizes, but he tells her that they are actually three times bigger than the previous ones, in which the creatures could barely stretch… It doesn’t help much.

And instead of thinking that maybe the new employee is concerned about the mers’ welfare, this guy assumes that she - like previous new employees- is disappointed by the fact that dealing with these creatures isn’t as glamorous as they first thought. And still, he admits that nothing would make him quit the job.

They walk up to the next set of tanks and Finn introduces her to Ray and K/ Clair, who are floating in the middle of the tank while their trainers check the water parameters with long poles - which is the only time we see those being used to keep the mandated distance from the creatures.

Huron meanwhile is huddled in the second tank, and while Ray is indifferent to everything (which is the only trait we learn about him), K/Clair glares at him - most likely due to recognizing him as her younger sister’s boyfriend, and Finn does admit that his blue accents will go well with the orange and bright red of the pair.

Jen is fascinated at first by K/Clair due to her colors reminding her of Ariel, but Finn stops her by telling her that K/Clair is a lethal predator. And due to feeling that she needs a healthy dose of fear to work with the mers, he tells her that the first thing she did on her first night in the tank was rip the gills out of her current tank companion -something that, as stated before, we never get an explanation for.

And just to hammer it further, he goes on to remind her in the most dramatic way ever that while “one can cage, shock, and teach the mer tricks, they are still clever as shit and will always look for a way out, a weakness they can exploit”, before warning her to not become said weakness.

Which is ominous and all, but-

It presents them as more dangerous than they actually are - regardless of him overdramatizing stuff.

To my utter disappointment, just like with the “perfect predator” statement, we never get any scenes that give credence to his words.

Later Finn, Serge, Maddy and Nat go to a place called The Porch, an establishment they frequent to drink and in this occasion, bet on how long Huron will survive being with K/ Clair. You would think they would take his potential fate more seriously considering they - again - recently lost two of their most important stars.

On their second round, Jen joins them, wearing an Oceanica polo and a dolphin- shaped sea glass necklace that will be important later. After everyone introduces themselves (we actually don’t get to see it), Finn takes her over to order a drink for her, but as they do he notices Maddy scowling at the two of them, which confuses him since the two are only friends with benefits.

Btw this jealousy and attempts to get closer to him are the only personality traits Maddy shows for most of the story, and the fact that she attempts to get closer to Finn - who constantly diminishes her feelings and who paragraphs before blamed her for his own clumsiness almost getting him killed - is presented as her being in the wrong for some reason.

And if his thoughts on her didn’t make him sus enough, when he calls one of the bartenders over to serve Jen and she gets flustered around him, his first thought is that of course she’s acting like this, since he thinks that the other guy looks more attractive than he is, and when Jen tries to tell him that he doesn’t have to pay the tab for her, he compares her to the mer and “gets the sense that she’s a predator hidden in sheep’s clothing, storing everything away to use against them later.”

… Dude. You two have interacted for a day! What on earth made you reach such conclusions?!

And as he’s amused at the fact that she’s also a lightweight, for some reason we get a scene where Maddy takes Jen’s phone (since when did she pull it out?!) and laughs at the fact that Finn looks like… Colin Morgan?

Finn is offended by this comparison and attempts to make a joke about guys with big ears but no one listens (as they should).

That and the fact that he recognizes a Merlin actor due to his sister watching the show ain’t important. What is somewhat important is him complaining to Serge about Aunt D not giving him a mer for the millionth time… before Maddy makes a joke about him using idk what to get a tourist to sleep with him, then Finn makes it clear that tonight he will get in bed with her, and Natalie calls them both “pity fucks” for it.

… deep sigh.

[silviakundera]

Did a speedrun through modern cdrama Everyone Loves Me because I'm a fan of both leads. A fairly well constructed romcom for a specific trope, AND also one of the most valid examples of the critique that cdrama storylines are pointlessly over-extended. This would have been a great modern drama at 12 episodes. Unfortunately, it's at least 10 episodes too long. The literal gaming (characters interacting while playing videogames) is very light - it's an initiating plot device piece but doesn't consume much actual screen time. The real genre is IT workplace romance with Hidden Identity trope.

Do you like:

* Capable & ambitious female lead x male lead with a competency kink whose turn-offs are white lotus & green tea girls and turn-ons are brash ladies who can cuss you out; dressing up to impress is not required

* Romantic dynamic of equal partners (2 strong personalities, not active/passive)

* "We don't know yet who is going to be the breadwinner. My goal is to be a CEO."

* Low heat (just a few kisses),

* modern workplace dramas (so much working)

[heavy spoilers below]

The actual set up & outline are:

* Online friend group who casually game together, in the last days of university. One of the guys starts catching feelings for the girl, our FL (let's call him Gamer Friend). FL isn't romantically considering Gamer Friend at all, because she has a crush on a guy from her uni.

* This crush is Gamer Friend in rl! 😮

* ML isn't open to being crushed on by anyone at rl uni, because he is already hung up on FL (as his online friend) 🙈

* FL asks for advice from her gaming buds on how to pursue her rl crush. Gamer Friend doesn't want her to succeed, because he wants to win her heart, so he keeps giving terrible advice to chase him by acting out the soft-spoken innocent maiden archetype (the opposite of FL's real boisterous & brash personality)

* This creates a comedy of errors where ML in rl is being pursued by the woman he's in love with, but he's shooting her down left & right. This culminates in her confessing and he publically rejects her in a harsh manner. When she comes crying (and vengeful) to the group, the guys all realize the identity confusion. Appropriately horrified, bros have no idea what to do. (This whole scene is gold tbh.)

* This plotline covers 7 episodes, but should have been dealt with in 4.

* Next 5 episodes (should have been 2!): Gamer Friend, toiling under karma, tries to be virtually supportive of his beloved while in person desperately making gestures to show remorse & have her less willing to obliterate his RL person. (this is all complicated by them both hired into the same company post-grad; there's a whole gaming dev & art design subplot - like in Lighter & Princess, the writers did the research so the setting is reality-based). This arc ends with identity reveal: she finally knows irl crush = Gamer Friend

* Next 6-7 episodes lead her from being (rightfully) furious and humiliated to them finally becoming friendly & supportive of each other. He waits to ask for more until he feels truly forgiven for the shakespearean hijinks that kept them apart. Includes work drama and fake-dating For Reasons. This arc, again, could have been 3-4 episodes.

* Final 5 episode arc is dating era and culmination of the gaming dev plotline. Heavy emphasis on work drama. Only 2 out of the last 5 episodes had significant romance material for the main couple, which was the major flaw in the drama. Avoided the separation cliche but also no marriage scenes at the end - we just see that they're still close, supportive partners a year later. Should have been 3 episodes ;)

The structure is right for a simple rom com set up of: one party pursues, gets rejected, then the other party pursues & corrects their mistake. The misunderstandings are logical enough; FL is assertive and we see evidence of her talent (not just told); ML likes her for herself & doesn't want a childish, obedient woman like the idol dramas represent; they are shown to make a good team & respect each other; the wronged party isn't a push over and their forgiveness has to be earned. It's clear why they like each other and that they work as a couple. (Though the emphasis is on compatibility & domesticity rather than sexual heat.)

The showrunner just needed to compress each arc and spend a lot less time on corporate minutiae. The way I engage with this type of drama is to binge, skip all 2nd couple scenes, and liberal use of fast forward ⏩⏩.

[thevulturesquadron]

Hello! 👋 Could you list some of the best comic books that explore the Rogue/ Magneto relationship?

Hey there!!! 👩‍🚀 Oh gosh! With pleasure! I might be a bit rusty because I haven’t gone through older Marvel comic books in a while and also because I am not up to date with the recent years of X-Men comics BUT there are still a couple of issues that are very dear to me when it comes to Rogue & Magneto, so happy to share:

It all started in the year 1981:

1. Uncanny X-Men #269 ; Uncanny X-Men #274 & Uncanny X-Men #275 (1981, Written by Chris Claremont) [The story is pretty self-contained to these 3 issues and it all starts with Rogue realising that her Ms. Marvel powers are gone and Carol Danvers somehow has her own body now. (a very simplified context of what was going on in that era with the X-Men) I absolutely love Rogue in these issues. She has sass and personality, and she still carries a lot of her energy from the 80s.]

2. X -Men Volume 2 (Issues #1 - #3) - (1991, Chris Claremont) [They meet again after the events in the Savage Land, now on opposite sides.]

3. Magneto Rex: Issues #1- #3 - (1999, Joe Pruett) [This miniseries… is a bit weird and needs some context. It’s at a time where Marvel really wanted to have Magneto return to his evil ways and be a villain for the X-Men (regardless if it made sense or not). Not one of my favourites and generally can live without but it’s a ‘next stop’ in their interactions, so adding it to the list.]

4. Then we have X-Men Legacy! ( 2008, Mike Carey) [This one is a chonker, and to make things worse it is connected with other series running at the same time. It has pieces of Rogue and Magneto through the entire run but all in all, the story sees them reunite under the same team in Utopia (starting with Legacy #231). The full run of Legacy can be difficult to follow up on but if you have the time, it’s really worth it. It’s also the first story in YEARS where Rogue is allowed to shine and do her own thing. If you need a more detailed list of what issues are really worth reading, in what order and what is happening in between them let me know and will be happy to write down a breakdown!]

5. Memorable mentions in the main series: There are quite a few tiny bits about them in the comic books but here’s a list of issues that give more context to how they interact and how they feel about each other:

a. Marvel Fanfare #33 - (1982, Chris Claremont. I love Rogue in this one and it’s such a nice example of what a good and powerful duo they can make. Something that is later explored in Legacy as well. b. Legacy #223 (during Rogue’s journey to control her powers) we have a glimpse of how she remembers and sees Magneto’s presence in her life. c. Magneto #10 (2014, Cullen Bunn) - Similarly, a glimpse into Magneto’s mind on how he remembers Rogue and the impact their connection in the Savage Land had on him. d. Mr & Mrs X #6 (2019) - there is a page between Rogue and Magneto where, in all that mess, at least Magneto’s honest feelings for her and his care for her happiness shine through.

And last but not least, Age of Apocalypse. [This is a completely separate timeline that the comic books liked to visit from time to time. In this universe Rogue and Magneto are pretty much in love and married but… it’s a very tragic universe. Original series started in 1995; then it got revisited in 2005 and again in 2015… I think? The series… is far from perfect, there are so many things that can be described as unhinged (dialogue included) but, there is so much love for these two characters and I absolutely recommend it if you are ok with investing some time into reading it, and most of all if you are ready for a real heart break (again and again).]

Hope this helps! Happy to go into more details or put aside a cleaner list if interested! 💜

There are a couple other mentions in the comics so in case I missed something important I will summon one of the gods of endless knowledge when it comes to X-Men to correct or add to the list: @maedelin

[animaticbattleconfessions]

i love how most of the confessions here are just theories at this point /silly

anyways i’m gonna share my theory as well cause they look fun! :33 (why does tumblr not allow images on anonymous grgrgr)

so if im expanding on this theory i personally believe that every show that Greeny makes, along with shows that are owned by his friends are all connected, cancelled or not. some characters know of Greeny’s existence, while others don’t.

but where do these shows reside?

GREENY’S HAT

not only is Animatic seen, but also Happy Star & possibly a Quaddy Quarrel character, judging by the square shape (QQ is gonna appear in this theory a lot *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*.) other than those two, everything else that’s shown are just a bunch of scribbles.

BUT! the lore gets deeper, because these shows are capable of interacting with one another by the use of portals, it’s unknown how many portals there are however there are 3 portals that are shown.

the first, & most obvious one is DON’T, it’s seen in OF 9 when it’s revealed that when Bowling Ball disappeared he “went somewhere & then went through there.” this sounds like nothing, however another possible QQ character (maybe window square??) is seen next to Bowling Ball while he’s saying all of this stuff as seen by their square shape, so it’s likely that Bowling Ball traveled through shows.

the second portal that’s known was seen in “The OBS x Animatic Battle x ITFT x BFDI x PPT2 Experience” on Sacri’s channel. This further confirms that characters from shows that are owned by Greeny’s friends can also interact, even if the show has been cancelled. OBS is related to Happy Star (both made by Sacri) & Happy Star appears in Greeny’s hat.

the last, & the least known portal is actually ambiguously a portal, or at least not a normal one. unlike the examples shown above where you go from one place to another, this is one place that can take you to multiple different places & is described by Microwave as “going in between the cracks, metaphorically but also literally.” it’s seen in Battle for America 5, & it’s unknown what places it can lead to, however it’s been seen taking Microwave to (not in order)

1. OF, most likely after Cane’s Cup’s win

2. a red void with a loud ear piercing sound

3. a BFB AU where Deodorant (another BFA contestant) is featured as one of the characters

4. a white void filled with “Smile, You’re on camera!” posters

5. minecraft.

6. the main area of Thanksgiving Throwdown (for the challenge)

7. a place that SEEMS to be a normal object show, only the contestants aren’t objects (one being a black rhombus with a blue face & the other being a white tall thing with rainbow teeth.) idk how to describe the scene it’s just so odd + tumblr only allows 10 images on mobile

BUT THE STORY DOESN’T END HERE

i’ve mentioned QQ a lot during this theory, & that’s because AB & QQ have a lot of similarity’s.

number 1: the hosts are both common 2-D shapes, with Animatic being a circle & Awesome Square being a square

number 2: they both eliminate their contestants using squares, which could imply that the eliminated QQ contestants & the eliminated AB contestants end up going to the same place

but most importantly,

CHEEZ-IT.

the ONLY difference between these Cheez-Its is that they have different recommenders (AB Cheez-It being recommended by Eclair & QQ Cheez-It being recommended by ShirtyXD’s IPad) & one has arms while the other doesn’t. but it’s still only a couple of differences, so I predict that the Cheez-Its know each other & therefore they’re aware about Greeny as well.

thats where these three theories come in, if both Animatic & Cheez-It are aware of Greeny & the other shows he made, then this leads us with SO MANY questions. what will the Cheez-Its do with this information? what will Animatic do with this information? does Animatic know about QQ Cheez-It?? does QQ Cheez-It know about Animatic?? do Animatic & Cheez-It have a plan?? do the Cheez-Its have a plan?? WHAT IS THE PLAN??? DO THEY NEED THE GREENYGUY2 FOR IT???? IF NOT THEN DO THEY NEED WHATEVER THE PRIZE FOR QQ IS???? WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY WIN?????

anyways that’s like,,, my first theory that i wrote ever so i’m sorry if it sounds confusing!!

.

[suffarustuffaru]

interesting details about otto + a few other miscellaneous stuff in season 3’s op and ed (may have vague spoilers)

hello :3 i love yapping so real quick im gonna talk abt some fun stuff i noticed in the op and ed in regards to otto (+ a few other things) under the cut :3 i wont be explicitly mentioning spoilers but i will be alluding to spoilers so read at your own risk!

woo so lets start with these shots from the op!! these are subaru and otto's introduction shots (at least, the first shots focusing solely on them) in the opening - these show off more of the background work in priestella (with the intriguing detail of putting subaru beatrice and garfiel otto in pretty specific places...) but also they do pair subaru and otto off with beatrice and garfiel often in the ed and op.

which makes sense - those are their respective emotional and fighting support blondes with pinkish red outfits!! theyre both pairs who've become closer throughout post arc 4 (and they are paired together often in canon, such as when roswaal in ep1 notes to emisuba to bring ottogarf along with them), though its interesting to note how much these shots of subaru and otto parallel each other. backs turned to the audience - and then they turn around to look at you for a moment with soft, neutral expressions... though while subaru and beatrice hold hands as they usually do, otto stands behind garf.

beatrice and subaru are of course paired again in this shot of the entire emilia camp together, and its fun to note that emisuba and ottogarf are put in paralleling positions here too!! (also i always forget how tall otto is especially with that damn hat until you put him next to his camp members lajdfls) (and, of course, in true rezero fashion both the op and ed loop right around back to the beginning! its seriously so cool to me that they keep doing that.)

speaking of the ed, these shots actually completely slipped my mind the first several times ive watched it - it took me seeing a screenshot of this to finally notice that otto is actually right there, sitting near anajuli. and thats because the ed does a lot to hide otto.

in general, the op and ed both have otto facing his back to the audience a good amount, and hes also the main arc 5 emilia camp member with the least eye catching screentime in the op and ed. which makes sense both bc he doesnt need more screentime than he warrants and also bc he is very much a side character thats well aware that he is a side character. hes the supporting role, the quiet support, and it shows very cleverly in both his writing and screentime. if youre a novel reader youve probably noticed this; the anime does a very interesting job of handling his screentime this season.

so in the ed, the ana camp and emilia camp are paired together, most likely bc of their growing relations and their intertwined interactions from here on out (such as garf and mimi getting paired together, hence extra triplet action in this shot). theres a lot of light and dark interplay in the ed (more on that in a second) and the light catches our eye here, especially with the triplets being the most active players in this scene - emilia sitting outside, the triplets running around which makes you more likely to look at them and less at the right side of the shot.

it's interesting how ana, julius, and otto are put together at the same table here. ana, partially in the light, but ana, julius, and otto are in the shadows here. julius, partially obscured by otto, then otto, partially obscured by plants thatre suspiciously the color of his cloak, along with flowers thatre purple and blue....

then subaru walks on screen, drawing our eye more to the right side, but subaru also overrides otto and julius in the process.....

the ana and emilia camp shots also echo the other camp intro shots in the ed - the priscilla camp + liliana on a boat going underneath a bridge, the shot cutting right to felt and crusch camp right as the shadow passes over pris camp + liliana... and then the crusch camp in shadow, their faces purposefully obscured as felt and reinhard walk towards them, into shadow... and of course, the group pairings here are done very purposefully.

in general like i said earlier, theres a lot of interplay between dark and light in this ed. the establishing shots of priestella, for example, make the contrast stark.

the archbishop shots in the ed go from light to dark, at different points in the day - we see sirius and regulus in daylight (as they made their first appearances in broad daylight), capella at dusk, gluttony at night, and of course, regulus at night again as reinhard and subaru rise up to fight him. sirius and regulus in their daytime shots are purposefully in shadow as well - and the bright white light comes back with subaru's final portion of the ed (calling back to stuff like rezero s1 op and ed 1!).

the ed is also called "nox lux". which...

:)

anyway - emilia and beatrice right next to subaru, ottogarf being put near each other again - its a cute little detail :D !! i love garf's big grin pfft.

and lastly....... of course, we can't forget this blink and you miss it shot from the op.........

[wheelsome]

Klub Outside QnA (701-800).

Important Questions/- (Updates Weekly)

Q701.

2024.11.18

When Hitsugaya and Aizen faced each other in the Seijōtōkyorin (Immaculate Tower Grove - Central 46), Aizen defeated Hitsugaya, but instead of attacking Unohana and Isane, he moved to the Sōkyoku Hill. Was this because Aizen had no chance of winning against Unohana?

A701

2024.11.18

I don't think he felt that he couldn’t win, but he was certain that he will be exhausted.

Q704.

2024.11.25

It’s known that Uryu has been living alone due to the conflict with Ryūken, but do they spend important days together, such as Uryu’s birthday and Kanae’s death anniversary? Also, after the Thousand-Year Blood War arc I don’t care if they still curse at each other, but I want them to at least share a meal from time to time.

A704

2024.11.25

The place where Uryu is seen working at in the final chapter, is the Karakura General Hospital.

Q705.

2024.12.02

I’m a fan of the unfortunate stud that is Shūhei Hisagi. I want to know more about any unfortunate events or sad aspects of his that haven’t been shown/mentioned in any material so far. What do his subalterns think of him? Do they admire him?

A705

2024.12.02

Regardless of whether they admire him or not, there’s no subaltern that dislikes him.

Q706.

2024.12.02

Was Genryūsai Yamamoto never invited to join the Zero Squad? Isn't just founding the Gotei 13 not considered to have "created something"?

A706

2024.12.02

The establishment of the Gotei 13 by him is not regarded as an “invention” or “creation of something new” in the sense required to be evaluated as a major achievement for the Soul Society.

It’s not to say that there hadn’t been any “organized military forces” before Gotei 13, so its establishment was not a unique or unprecedented innovation.

Q709.

2024.12.09

Did Shino and Ryunosuke had more moments planned during the draft stage? In particular, Ryunosuke has color illustrations and even a shot on the front cover where he appears to be standing back to back with Ichigo, so when I was reading Jump at that time, I felt there was a possibility of him taking on the role of the “next generation”.

A709

2024.12.09

In the beginning of the TYBW arc, I wanted to portray Ichigo as the “previous generation”, so I drew Ryunosuke in a way to symbolize the “next generation”. However, in terms of content, Ryunosuke is not the type of character that could inherit anything from Ichigo, so he wasn’t in the position to represent the “next generation”.

Q710.

2024.12.09

Does Urahara’s Shop make good sales? Does the store survive more due to its trade relationship with Seireitei rather than as a candy shop?

A710

2024.12.09

In the past they barely survived on local business, but lately they’ve secured a trade deal with Seireitei so now they’re swimming in money.

Q711.

2024.12.16

Please tell us what Askin had in his sandwich that he was eating while he watched the battle between Kenpachi and Gremmy from a distance.

A711

2024.12.16

Ham, cucumber and mustard.

Q713.

2024.12.16

The release command of Tsuchinamazu is “Good morning!” while the release commands for all other Zanpakutō’s are in the imperative form (order phrases). Is this because Kurumadani is still in the conversational and synchronization stage with his zanpakutō?

A713

2024.12.16

Kurumadani is a rare case of Shinigami who couldn’t subjugate his Zanpakutō and instead inquisitively uses it as if they are friends.

Q715.

2024.12.23

Quilge didn't seem to have much interaction with the other members of the Sternritter but I wonder if there was anyone he was close to. I'm curious about his relationships and whether he was admired.

A715

2024.12.23

Quilge was strict with his students but great when it comes to taking care of them. So, even though he was eccentric and difficult to deal with, he is regarded as someone with great skill and reliability. Most of his students would at-least address him as “san (Mr.)”.

Q716.

2024.12.23

I’ve loved both the past and present Squad 5, so I’d like to ask a question! Since Hinamori is said to be a Kidō master and Aizen is capable of using high-level Kidō in the 90s without incantation (I guess he was hiding his true strength, considering how surprised everyone was at his chantless casting). So, was the 5th Squad originally established as a squad specialized in Kidō?

Also, is Hirako good at Kidō? He was able to spot Aizen through his disguise so, I assume he’s good at sensing reiatsu, therefore maybe he’s also good at Kidō? He also asked Hinamori for treatment so maybe he’s not actually good at it? I feel like I’m in a loop so, please let me know!

A716

2024.12.23

There’s nothing decided on in particular but within Squad 5 there’s the “Kidō Recovery Room”, a facility tasked with the recovery of a certain type of Spiritual Power that is consumed when using Kidō, so it’s rather common for people who are good at Kidō to enter.

Hirako himself is also good at Kidō. But Kaidō requires a special kind of talent, even among Kidō users, which Hirako himself lacks.

Q718.

2024.12.30

I’d like to know about the library system in Seireitei. Does Seireitei use the Nippon Decimal Classification (NDC)? Or does it have its own unique classification system, such as creating special classification for Shinigami skills like Zanpakutō or Hakuda?

Also, are books published in the World of the Living and those issued in Seireitei separated in the library, such as by label colours or similar methods? On that note, do libraries or bookstores in Seireitei even carry books from the World of the Living in the first place? I’m very curious about this!

A718

2024.12.30

The classification system is unique, as it is neither the Nippon Decimal Classification nor the Dewey Decimal Classification, but the classification method itself does not have a name. 

Books published in the World of Living are kept in an annex, and even those found in smaller libraries are stored within separate rooms. Previously, books had to be bought from dedicated bookstores and were expensive, but nowadays, thanks to Kisuke, the distribution volume has increased, making them cheaper and it is becoming possible to read them digitally.

Q719.

2024.12.30

I have a question about the past Squad 9. What was the reason Captain Kensei Muguruma appointed Mashiro Kuna as his Vice-Captain? Considering Kensei’s personality, I can’t help but wonder what qualities of Mashiro he acknowledged that made him choose her as his Vice-Captain.

A719

2024.12.30

Talent. Mashiro is an individual who lives on talent alone.

[skambigbang]

SKAM REVERSE BANG 2025

INTRODUCTION

In 2025, the SKAM Big Bang event will be back… with a twist!

The SKAM Reverse Bang 2025 will continue the tradition of the annual SKAM Big Bang event. But this year, we will invite artists to create one or more pieces of fan art to inspire writers. With this role reversal, we hope the event will celebrate all things SKAM in a new fun, collaborative and fan-centric way.

Interested? Read on!

A FEW THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE SKAM REVERSE BANG 2025

The SKAM Reverse Bang 2025 celebrates all things SKAM.

This means that your work needs to be SKAM-centric. It can be an AU or a canon compliant, but it needs to focus on characters from the SKAMverse. You can place SKAM characters in a cross-over world (e.g. situate Fatou and Kieu My in Hogwarts), or retell a story with SKAM characters (e.g. give Isak and Even the story arc of Nick and Charlie from Heartstopper), but you may not have them interact with Hermione Granger or Tori Spring, as cool as that may be. You can, however, have characters from one SKAM universe meet characters from another SKAM universe. For example, Mayla meeting up with Crisana is perfectly fine.

All genres, ships, pairings, settings, tropes, and ratings are welcome.

The SKAM Reverse Bang 2025 celebrates original fan creations.

All works created for the Reverse Bang must be original and complete. Artists may create as many pieces of art as they like, but writers will only need to write one fic, with a word count between 5 000 and 30 000 words.

The SKAM Reverse Bang 2025 celebrates collaboration.

We encourage artists and writers to stay closely involved in each other’s work, as soon as they are paired. Often, this may lead to mutual inspiration, and works may grow and evolve thanks to feedback and suggestions from your partner. Beta readers, too, are often invaluable with insights and interpretations to early drafts. We hope the collaborative spirit of the event will lead to a fun and engaging experience for all. And who knows, you might even end up with a life-long friend and an invitation for a re-watch… at the other side of the world!

Read on under the cut for the timeline, and some more detailed rules and FAQ.

TIMELINE

ARTISTS

SIGN UP

15 NOVEMBER 2024 - 15 JANUARY 2025

Sign ups open on November 15th 2024 and will remain open until January 15th 2025. Sign up here!

2. CREATION

15 NOVEMBER 2024 - 01 MARCH 2025

You will create one or more pieces of art to inspire a writer.

During this time, you will be asked to check in once or twice to confirm you are on track for the next step.

On March 1st 2025 you will share some or all of your artwork, so writers can pick who they would like to collaborate with.

3. CLAIMS

MARCH 2025

At this point, the writers will get a chance to choose artists they would like to work with. You will be asked to provide some information on your preferences for the fic. At the end of this period, you will be paired with one writer, or possibly more, who will create a written work inspired by your art!

4. COLLABORATION

01 APRIL 2025 - 15 JUNE 2025

In the final months of the event you will finalize your artwork(s). You will also collaborate with the writer(s) you are paired with, leading to a written work to accompany and boost your art.

During this time, you will be asked to check in once or twice to confirm you are on track for the next step.

We will also ask you to provide some information about your work and your experience with the Reverse Bang to promote the event by May 15th.

5. CELEBRATION

21 JUNE 2025 - 01 AUGUST 2025

Time to share the finished work and celebrate all things SKAM!

WRITERS

SIGN UP

15 NOVEMBER 2024 - 15 FEBRUARY 2025

Sign ups open on November 15th 2024 and will remain open until February 15th 2025. Sign up here!

2. CLAIMS

MARCH 2025

Writers will get to pick at least three artists whose work inspires them to write a fic. At the end of this period, writers will be paired with one artist to create a fic based on their art.

3. CREATION / COLLABORATION

01 APRIL 2025 - 15 JUNE 2025

You will write a fic of minimum 5 000 and maximum 30 000 words. Ideally, you will do so in collaboration with the artist you are paired with, leading to a written work to accompany and boost the art.

During this time, you will be asked to check in once or twice to confirm you are on track for the next step. We will also ask you to provide some information about your work and your experience with the Reverse Bang to promote the event by May 15th.

By June 15th 2025 you will need to provide us with information on word and chapter count.

4. CELEBRATION

21 JUNE 2025 - 01 AUGUST 2025

Time to share the finished work and celebrate all things SKAM!

BETA READERS

SIGN UP

15 NOVEMBER 2024 - 15 APRIL 2025

Sign ups open on November 15th 2024 and will remain open until April 15th 2025. Sign up here!

2. COLLABORATION

15 APRIL 2025 - 15 JUNE 2025

As agreed between you and the author you are paired with, you may be asked to beta read chapter per chapter, or the complete work in one go. Be sure to communicate well to manage expectations on both sides.

3. CELEBRATION

21 JUNE 2025 - 01 AUGUST 2025

Time to share the finished work and celebrate all things SKAM!

RULES & FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

GENERAL

What is a Reverse Bang?

In a reverse of a more traditional ‘Big Bang’ fan event, a Reverse Bang is a fan-centric collaborative event where writers write a fic based on art created by fellow fans.

Both the ‘Big Bang’ and ‘Reverse Bang’ type of event can be traced back to the tradition of fanzines, which often combined visual and written fan art.

How can I be part of the Reverse Bang 2025?

There are three ways to participate: as an artist, as a writer, or as a beta reader.

Artists will create original artworks to celebrate SKAM. Writers will then create a written work specifically inspired by the artwork. And beta readers will be cheering on the authors, and helping them polish their work.

If you cannot be part of the Reverse Bang this year, we invite you warmly to enjoy the art and the fics starting on June 21st 2025, and give the finished works your love to keep the fandom alive!

You may join in more than one role, if you’d like… but be sure you can really commit to the tasks expected of you before you do so.

Can I join together with my friend?

Of course! In past events, there have been teams of writers working together on one fic. We welcome artists to do the same, if they like. In that case, you can join as a team - just let us know the contact data of all team members.

Artists and writers cannot join up as a team. The spirit of the event is to be paired up with someone you might not know before. But we hope you’ll join anyway, and meet new SKAM fans to collaborate with!

Beta readers and writers can team up if they wish to do so, but they will need to sign up separately.

Is the SKAM Reverse Bang 2025 open to all versions of SKAM and all ships?

YES! All versions of SKAM, all seasons, all ships are allowed. The more the merrier!

How many people will I be paired up with?

The short answer is: at least one.

The slightly longer answer is that we cannot give any exact numbers yet, because we don’t know yet how many people will sign up as artists, as writers, or as beta readers. It is likely that some artists may get paired with more than one writer. If there are more artists than writers, we will check in with the writers to find out if people are willing to write more than one story. 

A second consideration is that our fandom encompasses many verses, generations, and ships; of which some are very popular and others relatively obscure. The broader the horizon of the artwork, the more writers will be able to write for it.

That said, we will try our absolute best to make sure every artist is paired with at least one writer, and vice versa.

Do I have to keep my creations a secret before the posting date?

Yes, and no.

Unlike previous SKAM Big Bang events, we will not have an anonymous pairing. This means that writers will know which artists have created which artworks, when they choose the works that inspire them. This also means that you can freely talk about your project during the creating period.

However, we ask that you do not share significant parts of your works outside of the event participants. A tease, a snippet, a mention for Six Sentence Sunday, … - these are fine; but we’d like the fandom to enjoy all the new artworks and fics during the posting period of the Reverse Bang. Let’s make it a true celebration of all things SKAM!

My English is not perfect. Will that be a problem?

Not at all! Most of us aren’t native English speakers, and we all make mistakes. Some of us speak other languages too, so we will find a way to communicate - even if we have to rely on online translators.

What do you mean by ‘checking in’?

During the timeframe of the creation of art or stories, we will check in with you to ensure you are on track to be ready by the end date, to help you find solutions to any problem that may arise, to encourage you during the creative process, and to make sure you are still having fun.

Is this event age restricted?

The SKAM Reverse Bang is open for fans aged 16 and over. However, if you are under 18, we will ask that both the art and the written work that you and your partner create, will be non-explicit in nature. Beta readers under 18 will only be paired with teams creating non-explicit works.

Will there be a place to hang out while we are creating and posting for the Reverse Bang event?

Every participant will be invited to a pre-existing lively Discord server with a group of enthusiastic, friendly and helpful SKAM fans. Note that this year there will be no separate Discord server dedicated to the event, but a section of the 21:21 SKAM Fan Content Creators server will be set up to host the SKAM Reverse Bang 2025. Join the server here!

While we hope you will join the Discord server, there is no obligation to do so. 

What will be the main form of communication between participants and mods?

As said, all participants will be invited to join our Discord server full of SKAM fans. 

However, should you choose not to, you can reach the Reverse Bang mods via email, or you can ask your question on the Skam Big Bang Tumblr account.

Where will the art and the stories created for the event be published and shared?

All written works will be posted on Archive Of Our Own (ao3), in a collection dedicated to the Reverse Bang. The author will include the art, a picture of the art, or link to the art, in their post. Artists may choose to post their art in a separate post on Archive Of Our Own (ao3).

If you want to participate, but have no Archive Of Our Own (ao3) account, we encourage you to request one as soon as you register for the Reverse Bang. You can ask the mods for help, if needed.

After the works have been posted into the collection, both writers and artists will be free to post their works on any other site, including their social media. 

Of course, you will need your partner’s permission to post their work. And obviously you must credit your partner appropriately when posting their work alongside your own!

What if I cannot meet a deadline?

While an event like this relies heavily on everybody involved being accountable, we understand there is this thing called life. If something pops up that makes you have to defer on a deadline, or have to drop out completely, please let us know as soon as possible. We are ready to figure out the best possible solution, but we need to know in order to keep the event moving seamlessly for everybody. Communication is key. Do not hesitate to contact us! Better a solution that's not needed in the end, than a problem snowballing into an experience that leaves someone unhappy.

That said, please take the deadlines and timelines into careful consideration before committing to participating. An event like this can only run smoothly if all the parts run smoothly. With that in mind, exceptions to the deadlines must remain rare exceptions.

Can I use AI?

AI takes many forms nowadays. While many of us use some form of AI as a tool while creating, we want this Reverse Bang to reflect the many talents of fans and fan-created works. Therefore, we will not allow any art or stories which were created solely by prompting an AI generator, even if you lightly edit or modify the result.

That said, use of AI as a tool can be permitted, provided it is disclosed. Disclosing will allow people not to engage with your work, should they so choose.

To make the difference clear, let’s consider some examples.

Let’s say your art has a background consisting of a repeated pattern. It might be fine to do that manually, but if you want, you could also use some form of AI to create a repetition of something you created. Or, if you want to draw a female figure in a certain position but have difficulty finding a good reference, you could ask AI to create one for you, as long as you then draw the final artwork yourself.

For writers, you might like to ask a chatbot to suggest some names of fantasy lands if you draw a blank. Or maybe you can prompt an AI story generator to describe the atmosphere of a Mediterranean marketplace, which you then use as inspiration to enhance one short paragraph of your story.

The examples above are meant to illustrate that minor uses of AI to help create a work of art or a story, where the AI generated part is either a minor detail of the final product and/or used as reference or inspiration without it ending up in the final product, will be permitted for this Reverse Bang.

To be abundantly clear: Art or stories which were, at their core, created by generative AI based on a prompt by a human, will not be permitted for this event.

You didn’t answer my question!

Oh no! We’re sorry, and we invite you to please contact us through email at skambigbang@gmail.com. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

ARTISTS

So, what do you mean by ‘art’ or ‘artwork’?

Basically, anything can be art! Most often, artists choose to create some form of visual art, but it can also be a piece of music or a song, if you feel so inclined! Visual art can be analog or digital, and it can mean many things: feel free to create a drawing, cartoon, painting, mood board, banner, gifset, video, photo manip, collage… Or create art that exists in the physical world: hand-lettering, paper art, knitted art, sculpted art, carved art, … You could even create a nicely formatted playlist, social media page, an item of clothing, a game - you name it! As long as it features the SKAM multiverse and inspires a writer, you’re set.

Does my art need to be finished by March 1st 2025?

Not at all! What we need at that time from you, is something you are happy to share with the writers and which represents you and your work, so they can choose what art inspires them to create a written work to accompany it.

Since the Reverse Bang is in essence a collaborative event, we expect that your art might evolve as you talk more with the writer you are paired with - but if you want to have your final piece(s) ready by March, then that’s fine too! The main point is for you to have fun, and for the fandom to get to enjoy your creations.

What if the writer I am paired with wants to write a story I do not want to be associated with?

As an artist, we will allow you to list a limited number of themes, tropes or triggers you would rather not see featured in the works associated with your art.

WRITERS

Do I have to write in English?

No. However, writing in another language might make collaboration with your artist more difficult. If you want to write in another language, but feel unsure, please contact us. We are happy to try to come up with a solution together!

Will I get to choose which artist to collaborate with?

Yes and no.

During the ‘claims’ period of the Reverse Bang, you will get to choose at least three artists you would like to work with. You will then be paired with one of these by the mods. To help you choose, the artists will provide (part of) their art works, and some guidelines about what they would like to see or not see in the fic associated with their work.

What if I want to write more or less than the specified word count?

While we like to read long epic stories as much as the next fan, we want to ensure first and foremost that this event is fun for everyone. That means that we don’t want you to burn out, feel stressed or pressured, or even have to drop out of the event. Hence the maximum word count.

On the flip side, the minimum word count means that no artist needs to feel like they drew the short stick when it comes to the stories and fics created specifically inspired by their art. While you may feel that 5 000 words is a significant number, we really hope you will give it a chance. Working together with an artist and being part of a collective creative challenge might make it a lot easier to reach the word count before you know it!

However, we can definitely discuss the minimum word count if you want to create some other form of written work, rather than a story. If you feel more at ease writing poetry, for example, or maybe a comic combining words and pictures, or a social media fic, feel free to contact us so we can work out the details!

Is the use of a beta reader mandatory?

No, but it is encouraged. You are not obliged to use a beta reader at all, or you may use a beta reader who is not affiliated with the Reverse Bang; but if you like, we can get you in contact with some eager beta readers. If you do use a beta reader, please be clear about your expectations, needs, and wants; and agree with your beta reader on a time frame.

What is the policy about tagging my work?

All works on Archive Of Our Own (ao3) must use the main tags (i.e. Graphic depictions of violence, Major character death, Rape/Non-con, Underage sex) if present in the work. All other tags are discretionary, but please tag for major triggers and/or include them in the author’s notes. 

BETA READERS

What is the job of a beta reader?

Depending on what your author needs, you can be asked to read through an author’s first (or second, third, …) draft to help them point out plot holes, continuity errors, or factual mistakes. Some authors only ask their beta readers to do a spelling, grammar and punctuation check. Sometimes, a beta reader is a cheerleader, or sometimes they help an author brainstorm narrative points, or they can provide tips for a better story flow.

You can let us know what you are willing to do when signing up, and we will try to match you with an author suited to your strengths.

Will I get to choose who I work with?

Yes and no.

You can definitely join the event together with a writer you’ve worked with before; but you can also ask to be paired randomly. In that case, we will check what your limits are in terms of story triggers, story lengths, etc. before pairing you up.

[marrrrss]

The hell have I done?

Otis X Reader

LITLE ANGST BUTT FLUFF

Summary: request

Author's note: so sorry for taking so long!!! Cause app called Character Al (it consumed me for a month). And I had so much fun writing this!!!

word count : 1,230 words

**English's not my first language**

(Gifts not mine!)

You and Otis had... Something strong. That no one could deny.

When you arrived at 51 you were automatically droned to Brian. Why? Blame superior forces. In the question of weeks, y'all were sleeping together here and there. But never had a serious talk about what you guys were.

"Need to tell ya something " herrmann says behind the bar to Otis that's next to him

"what's up" Otis says dropping the towel and looking at Herrmann

"This might be just a rumor... But y/n slept with Antonio..." Herrmann says afraid of Otis's reaction

"what?- here did you hear that?" Otis asks completely stunned 'where did I go wrong' starts going over his mind, already a thousand by the second.

Herrmann sighs "Gabby was talking at the station and mentioned something about it. I had to tell you because of... You know... How you two were... Sort of seeing each other... I guess. And you two are close."

Otis is still stunned by what he just heard "Thanks, Herrmann... Appreciate your honesty"

Silence falls with the two men. Otis's mind is working overtime. 'what happened' 'ain't no way she slept with Dawson' 'I mean we're not official but I thought we were exclusive' 'Gosh why did she do this' 'I need to see her tomorrow at work damit' 'did I do something' 'dam Otis she ain't yours, y'all aren't together'.

"you good?" Herrmann asks seeing Otis getting lost in his mind.

"Don't worry I'm fine. We're not together so it's fine" Otis says with a slightly more low voice starting to clean the glasses again. His mind isn't working normally, at least not for a few days, Goodbye sleep.

The shift the next day was... Weird to say the least.

Arriving at the station something felt off. The squad table was quiet, more than normal. "morning" you say passing by the squad table

The squad all look up "Morning" Cruz says clearly with a weird look in his eyes

Moving to the locker room you find some team members finishing getting ready to start work. Otis alongside them

"Morning Otis" you say opening your locker next to Otis's. But all you receive is coldness. Not the usual 'morning y/n' with his signature smile or a talk about something he saw or did last night. Simply... Closing his locker and turning around leaving without a word.

"what has got into him" I ask Kidd

"don't know " Kidd says, also questioning why she didn't see the normal affection between you and Otis.

The next few days you just receive cold interactions from Otis. The full team is questioning what the hell is happening. No small talk no hugs, nothing between you too. Herrmann's remorse grows day by day for saying it to Otis.

One day after a harsh and long call you decide to confront Otis as the team is leaving.

"Brian" it felt weird as hell calling him that but you had to get his attention "Got 5 minutes?" you ask as you get next to him at the exit of the fire station.

Hearing you calling him by his first name feels like a knife to his hearth. Otis knows he can't keep running away, so with a long sight he stops his steps and turns to you "What"

"The hell have I done?" you ask bluntly stopping in front of him and looking at his face.

"Look y/n..." with a long sight he braces himself for what coming and for what he's about to say. "not here"

"Not here what? That you have ignored me and been cold for days? That even at Molly's you stay away from me as far as you can?" your patience was growing tin.

Otis's mind was burning at this point. Wanting or not, but not hugging you for the past few days was killing him "Let's go to your place so we can talk. We really need to talk..."

"Alright" 'the hell have I done' you kept asking yourself but started moving to your car to get to your place

As you and Otis get to your place, you lock the door and Otis sits on the couch letting out a long exhale not liking that this conversation is about to happen but gosh he missed you.

"If I did something just say it" you say sitting on the couch away from Otis.

"Did you sleep with Antonio?" The words rolling out of Otis's mouth make his stomach flip off the thought.

"How did y-" "It's not important y/n, just say yes or no" Otis cuts you off feeling almost desperate to know the truth.

"yeah, I did. But... it's not like I'm taken..." You answer slowly and with a low voice. A pang of guilt washes over you realizing what this was about, fear of losing Otis finally sitting in.

"Yeah your not taken..." Another knife to Otis's heart, he doesn't know he's still breathing at this point with the nerves.

Awkward silence surrounds you two. Damit.

After a few minutes, Otis desperation wins and he speaks up with a shaky breath. "I'm just gonna say it before I don't have the strength to say it ever again. We're not together. We have slept a few times and had really good times, not just sex. But ...." 'don't break Otis keep on' runs through his mind before continuing "We're not official, we... gosh never talked about it but the thought of you with anybody else, especially Antonio? I don't know if I puke or strangle him"

he earns a small smile from you which is what he needs to keep on.

"Y/n. I- ... I'm just gonna say it before I go insane, I have to say it before but this time I mean it in every sense of the word. I love you and admit not talking to you for days k-"

Before he can finish the sentence you're already up and in front of him kissing him softly. He's taken back but quickly kisses you back and sits you on his lap so he can hug you while you kiss, something you accept instantly. Your hands are on his neck and hair while one of his hands is on your lower back and the other on your cheek.

When you two break the kiss and your eyes meet it's all there. The love the passion and ... something new. Commitment. No more games and sleeping together occasionally.

"Love you, not gonna say the too because you know..." you say with a small smirk

"...I know 'if I say too after I love you it feels like I'm just answering you', I know" He says mimicking all the times you told him that.

At this point, Otis is smiling like a fool pulling you in a hug burning his face on your neck, and inspiring strong scents of your perfume and body wash.

"It's a good time to say you're the one that makes me feel good in bed"

"oh cmon don't kill this moment" he's laughing but happy that he's the one making you feel good on that aspect "And for you're information from now on you're mine, got it?"

"Got it" you say feeling every emotion in the world that finally you guys are together.

and who knows what the future holds for you two

THE END <3

[lovemyromance]

"SJM wrote the Elriel interaction in the BC to show the end of Elriel. She only did it because maybe she had to explain away the feelings and shy glances and moments Elriel had together to pave the way for Elucien. The bonus chapter ended Elriel and set up for Gwynriel"

So you agree? You can acknowledge there was definitely something brewing between Elriel despite everything the antis do to claim Elriel is nonexistent in the books following ACOMAF..?

Interesting. Okay.

Given this knowledge that there has been something between Elriel occurring for the last few books... your argument now is that SJM had to write them "breaking up" and "ending their feelings" ... in a bonus chapter most of the world did not have access to?

By this logic, don't you think the people who open the next ACOTAR book are going to be confused then, to read a story between Azriel & <insert redhead of choice here> or Elain suddenly giving Lucien a chance after ignoring him for a year and a half?

The fact is, SJM wrote the build up for Elriel in the actual books she published. She wrote a tension filled secret moment between them in a bonus chapter nobody really has access to. Most people don't even know it exists. But yet, they would not be surprised to discover Elriel getting together in the next book because they've been built up in the actual series itself, not just one bonus chapter.

Do you really think - the casual reader is going to read ACOTAR, read all those scenes where Elain and Lucien avoid each other, read all those little moments between Elriel, read 5 books about the Archeron sisters and their bat boys, and be so excited to read the next ACOTAR book, and be completely unsurprised with all that foreshadowing when they open the book and it's:

Not about the third and final sister?

It's not even about her mate, who once upon a time, was a main character but now barely is on the page?

It's a book about Azriel, the third bat boy, and his love story with... one of the priestesses he trained? Nesta's friend?

Yeah. Okay. That makes sense.

And if that book is about Gwynriel... then the next book has to be the third sister? Unless SJM decides the series isn't about the sisters or women or choice. But by default, the last book has to be about Elain, at least. And if Azriel, her love interest is already taken now.... that just leaves accepting the bond with Lucien as a last resort. Or being alone.

Wow. What a great love story 😍 MATES BY DEFAULT 🤩🤩

Anyways, carry on lil ship war. We shall wait and see I suppose.

[fumifooms]

Marchil crumbs part 7

Part 1 - Part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 8

They made bonus illustrations for the Blu-ray. Idk what to make of this

Kui don’t do this to me…….. The placement <3

1) Trigger please elaborate. Speak on that. Huh. In the other Bluray illustrations with duos the characters aren’t blushing like this…?? This sure is a choice. Very normal. No tension in the air.

2) Those were assorted fullbodies she did for advertisements for a Dunmeshi cafe event in Shibuya, that she then put in the Complete Adventurer’s Bible… They line up so well that it looks like they’re interacting together it’s so cute.

Chilchuck having torrid tension with Marcille’s crepe Do you think Chilchuck was in Marcille’s shot behind/besides her food… Is he looking at her like that because he’s being sassy about having to wait on her, or is he using his watch as an excuse to steal glances at her… Did Marcille call out to him to be like "hey get in the shot!!" and get pics of their coffeeshop date out in town…

Cooking soap together for the fate of Senshi’s beard

I could have SWORN I’ve talked about this page below in the crumbs post before but apparently not. Ok so first of all this is peak them strategizing together. They seek each other out to plan out their next move- And this is soon after she did ancient magic! It’s after Chilchuck’s most important character moment, where he admits that he cares about the party and things aren’t purely professional, so that helps him move on from keeping her at arm’s length due to the very illegal scary thing she did I think, but besides that! This still shows a very strong bond of trust and respect between the two, that he values her input even still. Also supported in this chapter by how he felt the need to keep tabs on Laios and Senshi to not get them all killed but Marcille letting it slip about what she did or anything didn’t even enter his mind as I went over in part 2.

Okok but more in depth… I’m spoiling a future analysis of mine with this too but remember this panel? And who might be the personalization itself of projecting gentlemanly, heroic good will while having hidden/manipulative intentions? I’ve never known what to make of Kabru smiling at her and more importantly her blushing at him here… Until I realized that he really fits her ideal type from what we can extrapolate: He looks rather feminine and is seemingly very gallant/gentlemanly, very charismatic, and was raised by elves so has a grasp on etiquette. And yet, she only gives his smile a passing glance before going back to strategizing with Chilchuck— Because unlike what her reputation as someone frivolous who idealizes and romanticizes anything like in her storybooks, she can put rationality above aesthetics. Because she values Chilchuck and his input much more than she ever would a pretty face alone, the aesthetic of a prince charming. Because she knows he was right, at least partly, and knows where her actual allies lie. She doesn’t waver, and she chooses Chilchuck. A part of her arc is to judge by acts more than looks, and this is very much a part of it I think, Chilchuck cares and wants to help much more than someone who might look kinder or more welcoming.

Ehem sorry for going off Now that I reread the full scene this might be one of my fave marchil moments as weird as that might be… Chilchuck seeing her hesitance and explaining to her what’s going on without being prompted, sticking together out of everyone on the battlefield, them so easily slipping into strategizing with each other without the rest of the group. I never noticed the whole comedy of corpses falling around them and them keeping talking together lol.

Ok so merch wise they’re making hair clips! And there are 4 sets of two, it’s always Marcille with a different hairstyle and a different party member (for one of the four sets the other is a walking mushroom). Here’s the Marcille & Chil one! You can now have them in your hair yippee

I never put this one in a crumbs part but it’s funny so might as well, for as much as they care for each other and Marcille’s been shown to be very worried for & careful with Chilchuck the dainty rogue™️ the second he becomes a tallman without his cute face suddenly it’s FREE GAME. Their bestieship is so strong for them to be able to brush this incident right off and strategize like they’re close knit so soon after this lol.

Love a duo that will just trip onto their face in the same page. Cringefail.

Matching frog skin fits yayyyy!! <3 (Also stop making him look at her in ads I’ll die)

STOP ITTTTT

I had always assumed in the ‘feeding liver to Marcille’ part that Laios was always the one feeding her because the hands and speech bubbles aren’t clear in the manga scene, but the anime makes it clear that everyone does it after the other. So here’s Chil’s turn. Asking after if she liked it and encouraging to eat more is cute too. There’s also obviously how panicked he is to see her in danger earlier in the ep, but idk if I already showed that manga panel in an earlier comp

And woohoo the anime made this interaction between them even more sus!! Why. Why are you looking at each other like that. Stop people could misunderstand

Protecting her from the monster food

Thank you for the food episode 10. Made me notice a healing/caing moment I’d never paid attention to before!

"Huh your hands seem okay" ARE YOU SURE… They’re so cute when they team up together oml, hassling Senshi instead of each other lmaoo. Love how they made her look at him all happy

I wish I could put the screenshots for the whole sequence here but. How to hook and reel in your Chilchuck.

In chapter 97 cover they took the seats facing each other this time again <3 Like in the golden kingdom. It’s a recurring thing. Seemingly he’s looking at Falin so involved in the same conversation at her? :> Oh it’d be cute if he was the one who made her laugh sob, he looks like he just cracked a wise joke.

Today’s healing touch

Dude you are going to die let her go

They changed the gesture Marcille did to chide Chil here, instead of having her hand on his shoulder and tapping his head she gives him an elbow nudge. Idm the change this is so cute too. Also Chil extending her his sympathies

Not a crumb tbh but the way this was his POV during the Marcille vs Thistle fight is hilarious to me. No wonder he thought she was bonkers

Not the way these quote keychains are set up… Every protagonist has their own EXCEPT Chil’s who includes Marcille, and it’s one of my fav marchil moments I looove being validated that this scene is important

And to finish it up, the manga scene of this exchange in the anime that really stole my heart. They’re so fond of each other aw. Teasing on the job is free, her expression here is so cute, rare reversal of their roles in the dynamic

More crumbs soon! Not many in here yet (edit: at the time of first posting) but I was dying to post it with the modern cutouts art (I have so much fanart planned based on it hehe) but then the bluray illustration came out and fucking one hit KOd me. I am not that strong. I am only human.

They didn’t blush here in the manga guysss