#twas a lot of fun to write though

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Valicer In The Dark (the Blades In The Dark AU)

Yes, finally, actually doing a PROPER POST on this AU that I’ve mentioned in passing a couple of times! How it came about is like this:

1. I’m a fan of Outside XBox, Outside Xtra, and their DnD stuff, Oxventure

2. While perusing the Funny Moments section of Oxventure on TV Tropes one day last year, I found that they had a side series where they play “Blades In The Dark” (where you and your friends play a daring criminal gang in a world that used to be a fun fantasy setting, but then the apocalypse happened, the sun exploded, most of the continents got sunk/flooded, the seas are now like liquid space full of whale-demons, there are ghosts everywhere because something happened to the afterlife, and they hunt the whale demons because you can make electricity out of their blood).

3. Intrigued, I read the TV Tropes page on BitD, then went over to the official website, and eventually got so into it I ordered a PDF of the book so I could get to know the setting and the mechanics properly and do what I always do in these situations -- stat up Victor and Alice, and in this case Smiler (as I was getting into that around the same time as the Valicer stuff took off in my brain)!

And yeah, this has been a little side project I’ve poked at from time to time ever since! It’s a fun little AU, and I’ve been enjoying adapting the trio to the setting of the RPG. Here’s the basics of what I’ve come up with so far:

Alice was the daughter of Dean Arthur Liddell of the prestigious Doskvol Academy (located in Whitecrown, THE fancy bit of Duskwall, the central city of the setting -- the Lord Governor lives there, away from the riffraff) and his wife Lorina, and the younger sister of Lizzie. The family had a happy life living in Brightstone (the next-fanciest district) -- up until one Angus Bumby entered Doskvol Academy and became obsessed with Lizzie. When she rebuffed his advances, he broke into the house, had his way with her, and set the place on fire to both cover his crime and try to destroy the bodies so they couldn’t let out ghosts. Alice was the sole survivor, and after a year in hospital spent convalescing from her burns, got sent to Rutledge Asylum, here situated right next to Duskwall’s freaking PRISON. This Alice is probably the only one who had a WORSE time in there than in canon, as psychiatry is basically an unknown art in Duskwall, and I imagine a lot of lunatics are just locked up to rot or have their souls ripped out so they can become slave labor -- a fate Alice avoided solely due to being a minor. She still had her Wonderland in this world, though, and was able to use it to lever herself out of her catatonia and eventually deal with her grief enough to join the waking world. . .and promptly ended up sent to the Hounsditch Home in Charhollow (one of the “poor but honest” districts), where she was to help the owner, Dr. Bumby, as general dogsbody. As per A:MR, after about a year here, Wonderland kicked her in the pants and helped her realize Bumby was the one that killed her family -- but unlike canon, by the time of the main action of the AU, she has NOT pushed him onto any train tracks. Mostly because that would likely result in him leaving a ghost, and a spectral Bumby is the LAST thing she wants to deal with. Her playbook is the Cutter, the fighters and heavy hitters, and she starts with the Not To Be Trifled With special ability, which allows her to push herself to perform superhuman feats of strength and fighting prowess (including taking up to six people at once!).

Victor is the son of William and Nell Van Dort, fish merchants living in Nightmarket (one of the main shopping districts, and where the “new money” tends to live). William invented canned fish when Victor was young, which the public pounced on, and his canneries easily made the Van Dorts the wealthiest family in Nightmarket. Nell wanted to eventually make the transition to Brightstone, though, and thus when Victor came of age, she started trying to arrange a marriage with one of the noble families living there. She got lucky shortly before the beginning of the AU, as the Everglots (an old noble family whose fortunes were on the downswing -- noble families control the ships that hunt the whale-demon “leviathans” in this world, and their ship was coming back dry more often than not, meaning their power, prestige, and most importantly coin was running out) consented to let Victor marry their daughter Victoria in exchange for some of that sweet sweet Van Dort fortune. As per canon, Victor and Victoria met right before the wedding rehearsal, and while they liked each other, it wasn’t enough to calm Victor’s nerves. Three hours of failed practice, one dropped ring, and one burn on Maudeline Everglot’s dress from a forgotten candle later, and Victor was banished into the streets to learn his lines. He wandered around for a while, trying to get them straight in his head, and eventually got them right down an old forgotten alley. . .only for the wandering ghost of a bride, Emily, to hear them and think they were meant for her. Victor was promptly dragged into the “ghost field,” the spectral echo of the city where ghosts live, and held captive by Emily (whom he did feel sorry for, but ghosts are bad news in Duskwall -- they tend to lose their minds quickly due to not being able to pass on, and Emily was showing a few signs of “going feral,” as it were). The main AU is actually kicked off by him finally escaping her and finding his way back to the material plane by falling out of a wall in front of Alice and Smiler. . . His playbook is the Whisper, the arcane and magical ones, and he starts with the Ghost Sense special ability, which allows him to sense the presence of all supernatural things in his area and have an easier time getting information on them.

Smiler was the “son” of one Dr. Kellard Kelman, owner of The Sanctuary, a refuge for people who have “lost their smile” -- in actuality, a horrible hellhole of a “mental hospital” where Dr. Kelman conducted experiments on the patients and threw failures in the basement. Smiler and their father clashed about a lot of things (including Kelman’s brutal methods for ensuring “social compliance” and his refusal to accept Smiler as nonbinary), and eventually Smiler just ran away at about twelve years old, rather than be a part of Kelman’s nonsense any further. They ended up in Silkshore (the “red light” district), where they encountered Carol and Matthew Alton, members of the Advocates cult, who worship Mar-Mal, the Unending Smile. Matt and Carol took in the young Smiler and told them what the cult was all about (basically, maximizing happiness however possible, from genuine kind acts to straight-up selling drugs and hypnotizing people) -- Smiler thought it all sounded better than Kelman’s deal and joined up, changing their name from Marmaduke Kelman to Smiler Alton. They proved to be a very eager little cultist, developing a knack for hypnosis and -- as they got older -- a talent with chemical concoctions, eventually making a drug that induced a heavy state of bliss that they called Joy Serum. The invention of this drug caused Mar-Mal to mark them with its favor, turning their previously green eyes a glowing yellow (Matt and Carol were so proud!). At the start of the main AU, they spend most of their time brewing up and selling Joy Serum in Silkshore -- not far from The Mangled Mermaid where Alice’s old nanny now plies her trade as a prostitute, meaning Smiler and Alice are at least somewhat acquainted just from her visits to see Nan there. Their playbook is -- well, it’s mostly the Leech, the tinkerers and chemists, but they also share some stuff with the Slide playbook, the smooth-talkers and manipulators. They start with the Alchemist special ability, which gives them bonuses to any alchemical concoctions they craft and a free recipe (like their Joy Serum).

How they meet -- Well, as indicated, Smiler and Alice were already acquainted from Alice’s trips to see Nan in Silkshore, with Smiler being a friendly presence who’d helped Alice out a couple of times in the past (spotting her money for meals and suchlike). As a result, when Alice fled the Houndsditch Home looking for help with her Bumby problem (either a way to bring evidence to the Inspectors, the only members of the police force known to be incorruptible, or at least not subject to bribes, or a way to kill him and make sure he didn’t come back as a ghost), her first instinct was to go to Nanny, and along the way she encountered Smiler. Her attempt to tell them what was going on was interrupted by Victor’s attempted escape from Emily, however, and the two ended up helping him over to the Mangled Mermaid to just get some food and water in him and help him calm down after his experience. Unfortunately, Emily managed to follow them there and got rather annoyed at finding her husband in a brothel -- fortunately, before she could do any damage, Smiler managed to talk her down (mainly by reminding her that humans gotta eat). Victor took the opportunity to finally explain to her what he’d been doing and that he was already engaged --

But when he mentioned Victoria’s name, Nanny commented that she’d heard that she’d already gotten married that day, to someone named “Lord Barkis.” And Emily recognized the “Barkis” name, as that was the name of the man who killed her. She and Victor agreed they had to go see Victoria for her own good, just in case she’d gotten married to a murderer, and Smiler and Alice chose to come along as back-up. The three took a gondola over to Brightstone (as Duskwall is part Venice as well as being part Victorian London, and is cut all over the place by canals) and crashed the Everglot-Barkis wedding reception, where Emily did indeed identify Barkis as her murderer. Barkis attempted to take Victoria hostage as the guests fled, but the group was able to free her -- Victor sending her away to get help or at least find a safe place to hide -- and Emily ended up destroying herself to possess Barkis and kill him, thanking Victor for at least helping her get revenge on her killer. The local police, the Bluecoats, finally arrived once the deed was done, and searched the corpse while the trio tried to explain what happened --

And then one of the Bluecoats found a fancy brass mask on Barkis. Marking him as one of the Spirit Wardens, the group that goes around collecting corpses and burning them in electroplasm to make sure that the city isn’t entirely overrun by ghosts. A group of people bankrolled by the Immortal Emperor himself.

Yeah, that’s not good. The Bluecoats, already not really believing the gang’s story, decided they’d murdered Barkis (or, at least Alice and Smiler had -- Victor got added to the list when he refused to just run off back home or bribe them) and were prepared to take them in, but Alice managed to hold off the entire gang with a butcher’s knife just long enough for them to start running. Through various means (like Smiler just straight-up injecting a purser with joy serum and using a homemade flash bomb, and Victor managing to accidentally lead a couple more into a very angry, very electric ghost by using his new Ghost Sense to help his new friends avoid it), the trio was able to escape into Six Towers, a previously rich neighborhood fallen to ruin and squatters in recent years. They found shelter in an abandoned building, which proved to be the old home of one Elder Gutknecht, a former Whisper who had managed to keep his senses after death and become a genuinely friendly ghost. The three began wondering what to do next, and Alice finally told Victor and Smiler the full story about Bumby. . .

And either Victor or Smiler was like, “Well, we’re already accused of murder. . .”

And so the group became a crew, with their first scores being to take care of Bumby and to get Victor’s stuff back from his family house! I picture them as a group of Shadows, spies, thieves, and saboteurs, though there’s a bit of a Hawker element because Smiler is of course still selling Joy Serum (and is working on an inhaled drug called Giggler Gas). And even though they are criminals, they’re trying to help where they can -- Victor, after figuring out how to infuse insects with ghost stuff to make glowing moths and stuff to help plants grow, wants to make a community greenhouse for people; Alice still looks after the kids at Houndsditch as best she can from afar, and is only too happy to kill other people hurting children for free; and Smiler of course does want to spread happiness, even if it’s in a bit of a bizarre way sometimes. They’re my chaos crime morally gray group and I love them. :p Hopefully I’ll be able to flesh them out even more for you in the future!

[aroaceleovaldez]

What is the PR disaster in question that made Rick announce TSATS? I wasn’t active in the online fandom at that point

Of course! This was awhile ago so it figures people don't remember it/aren't familiar:

Basically a couple years back (2020) the fandom had some posts circulate discussing the ways different characters in the Riordanverse were written poorly or offensively. There was a masterpost that went around tumblr but the two major points people were particularly focusing on were Piper and Samirah (particularly because Piper had featured prominently again in Trials of Apollo recently and the third MCGA book had further emphasized and discussed Samirah being Muslim, since it was supposed to take place during Ramadan). Basically each had multiple posts breaking down the ways they were depicted incorrectly or offensively. The entire fandom for a little bit was VERY intensely discussing this (and it's around this time the "RR crit" tag got very popularized on tumblr - it did exist before, but suddenly was being used VERY frequently - cause it was that wide-spread - though the discussion took over basically every side of Riordaverse social media on different platforms). People really wanted Rick to respond to these criticisms, so he did!

He made two blog posts, one about Piper and one about Samirah. He has since deleted both so the links are to archived versions. The short version: he essentially tried to justify his poor research and double-down that he hadn't written them offensively, actually, people were just being mean to him. The fandom, of course, reacted poorly to this.

[Further elaborated events under the cut since this got a bit lengthy]

(Fun fact, this all happened within a month or so of the time i posted an open letter on aphobic tropes in the Riordanverse that Rick replied to, and then he immediately followed with announcing that Reyna was intended to be ace-coded [which cause a LOT of fandom debate] before Rick dipped for a couple of weeks, and then came back to post the blog posts in response to Piper and Sam stuff. So I like to jokingly refer to this as "The time I imploded the fandom/drove Rick off of twitter." Twas I that set the house ablaze.)

Rick fully left social media after this and the LT Musical social media manager became Rick's social media manager for the time being.

So this all happened June/July of 2020. Tower of Nero would end up being published in October of 2020 and a few months after that Rick would state that he was done with the series and wouldn't be writing any more series installments involving Percy, and also that he wouldn't be writing a Nico quest following Tower of Nero as it "wasn't his place to" and encouraged the community to write their own versions of Nico's story.

The community continued to circulate the tumblr posts and discuss the topics of Rick's offensive character depictions, and this is also where we see the dramatic shift in how the fandom depicts Piper in fanwork (though in most cases it is admittedly not an improvement 😬) because of all this discussion. This is also around the time when the fandom brought Viria under scrutiny claiming that she was whitewashing Piper as part of the same discussions, through the justification that she was drawing Annabeth as having tan skin (which she does canonically), and if Annabeth has tanner skin then Piper then that's whitewashing Piper? Except they were using completely separate images of not fully rendered Piper art versus Annabeth in dramatic lighting, so it's all very awkward and poor logic, and did actually get kind of racist. A lot of people were calling it "Tannabeth Blackchase" (yeah, i know) or similar and a common sentiment you'd see repeated is "Don't draw Annabeth as having darker skin than Piper, because that's offensive/racist/whitewashing." (Note: it was not phrased "don't draw Piper as having lighter skin than Annabeth" - we also won't get into certain offensive depictions of Native Americans, but I digress). But yeah, the Annabeth stuff in all that did not age well at all.

Anyways, in October of 2021 however Rick would announce that he was co-writing The Sun And The Star - with a lot of heavy emphasis on how Mark Oshiro works as a sensitivity reader, and some false advertising from the official social media that Mark Oshiro was the first time a non-Riordan author would be collaborating on the series (disregarding the ghostwriters completely). One of the big criticisms in the breaking down of issues in Rick's writing was his lack of ever seeking a sensitivity reader, and fans claiming that a sensitivity reader could solve a lot of the problems. This was basically Rick's "look! I totally listened!!!!" (though it did little to actually improve things, based on the book) and in TSATS as well Piper gets a large cameo at the end where the text very directly addresses a lot of points made in criticism of Rick's writing of her.

We also then of course got the CoTG trilogy later, explicitly stated to be for advertising purposes for the show.

So basically, short version: Rick came under scrutiny for a lot of offensive writing within the span of two months, made some bad blog posts doubling down about it, left social media. TOA ends. Rick says he wasn't going to continue the series/write what would become TSATS. Community celebrates the end of of the franchise but also continues to discuss Rick's poor writing and the blog posts at length. Rick suddenly announces TSATS and Mark Oshiro's involvement. Everybody gets distracted from being mad. Show announcement stuff also happens and the discussions peter out.

[slvt4felix]

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Pairing -> Dad!Bang Chan x fem!reader WC -> ~3,300 words Includes -> lots of fluff, so domestic, dad!Chan with twin girls, Christmas activities, implied female reader, brief mentions of pregnancy, baking fights Summary -> Now that your twins are 4 years old, it's time to pull out all the tricks for Christmas morning. The memory making for Chan and you starts when the kids go to bed, the two of you preparing for the morning to come. Author's Note -> I couldn't help but write a Christmas Chan fic. He was the perfect one for it. I'm a big softie for dad Chan. He would be so sweet. So, I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I did! I spent all Christmas morning writing it! Happy Holidays! ♡ Masterlist ♡

You close the pink painted door softly behind you and immediately smile at your husband. He's standing beside you, hand covering his mouth, trying his best to hold in his giggle. His eyes sparkle with excitement. You guys have had this night planned for weeks, wanting to get it right. Your twin girls are turning 4 this year, and that means it's time to step it up. You guys want the Christmas magic to stay alive for as long as possible, so you need to start strong. There has obviously been lots of presents from Santa during previous years, but you both decided that it's time to really go all out now that they are starting to become more aware of the festivities of the Christmas season.

The whole thing had been Chan's idea, of course. The poor guy had been absolutely smitten with his daughters since they were born, and now they truly had him wrapped around their fingers. In fact, you guys have just managed to put them to sleep after reading not 1, not 2, but 4 stories to them, Chan eventually helping them beg you for the fourth one; it was his favorite, too, after all. He loves to read it to the girls, making them laugh at all the silly voices he creates for the different characters. He even softly sings some of the lines to them, which always results in your babies falling right asleep. They try to deny it, but their dad's voice always manages to put them right to sleep, their eyes falling closed and soft snores leaving their mouths. At that point, you practically have to drag Chan out due to him always wanting to curl up right next to them and make sure they are safe while they sleep. It's one of the things you adore most about your husband. He would do anything for your girls.

The two of you tiptoe away from the door, in hopes not to wake them up for it takes an awful long time to put them back to sleep. Chan reaches down and grabs your hand, pulling you to the living room even faster, unable to wait any longer to start on the Christmas fun.

Your house is decked out in decor from floor to ceiling, both of you in love with the festivities of the holiday season. It had been another night a few weeks before when the two of you had stayed up until the early hours of the morning, decorating the entire house for your kids to wake up to in the morning. Chan had been so excited when hearing their little feet pitter patter on the hallway outside their rooms that he had immediately sprung up to see their reactions. Just like you had expected, their little eyes lit up and they were amazed by all the lights and tinsel strewn around the house. Chan had made nearly the same face the night before after everything had been set up. You adore seeing all the little characteristics they inherited from their dad. Even though it was quite annoying hearing people mention how much they look like him after you carried them for 9 months, but Chan was never too cocky about it.

When you get to the living room, you pull away from Chan, plopping down on the tan couch covered in fuzzy Christmas blankets and throw pillows. You let out a large content sigh after a long day of seeing different family and friends for the holiday. Christmas day is reserved for your small family and grandparents. You had managed to come home by 7, but there were still many things to do; this included having to bake cookies, which lead to an unfortunate flour fight and the kids staying up way past their bedtime. Now, it's 9:30 pm, and all you wanna do is cuddle up with Chan and put on a silly Hallmark Christmas movie. He complains every year, but you know he secretly loves them.

Feeling you let go of his hand, Chan looks at you and gives you sad puppy dog eyes and pouty lips.

"But we need to set up all the stuff for the morning," he reminds you, eager to get started.

"I know honey, but it's not even 10 yet, we have tons of time. Plus we still need to clean up the kitchen from your little baking fight."

Chan laughs at the memory of your two children, absolutely covered head to toe in flour. They sneak chocolate chips from the bag as the two of you finish up, sticking the cookies in the oven. Bath time was a whole event today.

"I know, I'm just excited," he tells you as he approaches the couch. He lays his hand on your cheek, tilting your head up. He leans down, placing a kiss on your forehead.

You blush slightly, as he whispers, "I love you," his words still having the same affect even after all these years.

"i love you too."

He pulls away and turns around, heading into the kitchen.

"Wait, where are you going?" you ask him, confused. All you wanted was to rest a minute and maybe have a cuddle or two.

"I'll clean up the kitchen, you just close your eyes for little while. It's been a long day. I'll wake you up when it's time to start getting everything ready for the morning," he explains, sending a wink your way. You laugh at his antics and let him go clean up the kitchen.

You start to get comfy on the couch, excited to take a few minutes to yourself during the busy holiday season. You hear muffled music start to come from the kitchen. You smile upon hearing the familiar tunes of traditional Christmas music. Chan can never work or clean without music playing, but you guess the love for music aligns well with his career. You've never been one to say no to music, although it did take a while for your love for Christmas music to grow. You have Chan to thank for that one. Your eyes fall shut, the soft sounds lulling you to sleep.

~~~

You start to stir due to fingers lightly threading through your hair. You open your eyes to see the same excited, brown eyes you wake up to every morning. He smiles when he notices you're awake. You can tell he has something to tell you simply from his body language. You have gotten to know everything about each other and there's little you don't notice. He shifts slightly as he kneels next to you, anxious to get the information out.

"I cleaned up the kitchen, but I've got a great idea," he says. You roll your eyes in fondness, as you sit up to make room for him on the couch. He sits down next to you, pulling your legs into his lap. He can't keep things from you for long. You're his favorite confidant. He often comes home from work and spills everything that happened. You're always the first one to hear new songs, your kids always the next in line to hear their dad sing with his band.

"It'll be messy, but I promise it'll be worth it. The girls are gonna be so amazed," he says, trying to convince you. It doesn't take much for you to agree with him, since your kids are easily impressed.

"Okay, I think it's been long enough, I doubt they're gonna wake up any time soon. Show me what you got Christopher," you say, sparking an instant reaction in the man. He shoots up from the couch, rushing to your shared bedroom. You laugh as you notice him slow down to tiptoe past the kids room before going back to his mission. He comes back, just a couple minutes later with a large pair of boots he must have dug through your closet to find. They are probably from a concert he had years prior. Chan had probably liked the boots a little too much and begged the stylists to keep them.

"What in the world are you gonna do with those?" you ask him, genuinely curious. This was one of the few times where you had no idea where this conversation was heading. That wasn't too surprising though, considering how creative the man is. He sets the boots gently on the floor, careful not too make too much noise in fear of waking the girls up. They aren't necessarily light sleepers, but a chunky pair of boots hitting the wood floors would definitely make them rouse from their beds. He heads back into the kitchen to retrieve God knows what.

He comes back out with a giddy smile on his face, and the culprit for the earlier mess in his hand. Flour. You chuckle, immediately realizing what his idea entails.

"You're a genius," you say, shaking your head with affection.

You stand up, taking the flour out of his hand and placing it on the coffee table.

"This is gonna have to happen last though. We don't wanna mess it up before morning hits." He nods his head in agreement.

"Let's get the presents out and then let's worry about the cookies," Chan suggests. You head into your bedroom together, heading to your secret hiding spot for the presents. You open your closet up, a place your kids don't normally get into. You immediately take notice of how some of the presents have been shuffled onto the one side of the closet. You hold in a laugh upon realizing Chan had to shove the presents aside in order to grab his black boots. You carefully grab a few of the presents and Chan grabs a few more, always eager to show off the muscles he works hard for in the gym.

You head back into the living room, placing the presents under the tree. You had made sure to wrap each of the girls' presents in different wrapping paper so it would be easier for the four year olds to tell which present was theirs.

Eventually, the both of you have stacked up the presents under the tree, resulting in an impressive sight of gifts. Your little girls will be unable to contain their excitement at all the wrapped toys. A lot of them had to be similar due to their tendency to fight over toys. You are still trying to teach them sharing, but they tend to struggle with it a little bit. Chan has gotten good at sorting out the fights, being able to pick out the right words to say in order to stop the arguing. Unsurprisingly, he just has that leader quality about him that makes people listen to what he has to say, especially his two kids.

As your admiring the plenty of presents, you spent more money than you'd like to admit on, you barely notice as Chan leaves the room. He comes back with something behind his back and it quickly draws your attention. You notice the small wrapped gifts behind his back and smile. There had been a year where you guys had decided not to get each other anything, but you have been unable to ever go through with it. Chan tends to go all out for Christmas gifts and so do you, so there was no shot at trying to hold back. He simply goes to the side of the tree, pretending like he doesn't know you had seen him. He sets the three variously sized boxes down behind the gifts for the children. You decide to grab the gifts you had gotten for Chan in the morning, knowing there is bound to be a time when the girls will be distracting him enough for you to sneak them under the tree. He had been complaining about his computer lately, groaning in frustration when it would glitch or run out of battery too quickly. So, you had gotten him a nicer one for Christmas, especially since he uses the thing so much. You know he'll love it and you're excited to see his reaction. He'll thank you for days, even weeks, after.

Since the presents are all settled under the tree, you head into the kitchen, grabbing the plate of still warm chocolate chip cookies the kids left out. They were getting overtired, so you had promised them you would place the cookies where Santa could see so he could have a treat on his journey across the globe.

You make your way back into the living room to see your husband swaying gently to the Christmas music, still playing from when he had been cleaning up the kitchen. He's texting on his phone; you assume it's one of the boys considering he always seems to be texting them about one thing or another. You set the cookies down on the coffee table and walk behind him. You wrap your arms gently around his waist and go onto your tiptoes, hooking your chin over his shoulder.

"Who are you texting?" You ask with no malice in your tone, just simple curiosity. He smiles, leaning back gently into your touch.

"Felix was asking about what our plans were for tomorrow. He wanted to come over to see the girls and give them their gifts," he says. You're sure that by the end of the night tomorrow, a few of the boys from his group will have stopped by. The girls love them, especially Felix and, surprisingly enough, Seungmin. He entertains them little, but the man has somehow caught the kids' hearts.

You nod against his back as he turns his phone off and places it back in his pocket, giving you his full attention. He places his hands over yours, and you hum in content, completely and fully happy with the life you're living. One of Chan's hands grips your wrist and he spins out of your hold. His grinning face now looking back at yours. He pulls you in gently by the waist, his body still swaying to the beat of the music. You wrap your arms around his neck, quickly catching onto his aim here. In the background, "White Christmas" plays, one of your favorite Christmas songs, a fact Chan is all too aware of.

He starts to gently lead you in a slow dance, a tradition the two of you have followed since the first year you were married. You had still been in your honeymoon stage when it had started, getting married just a month before. It was your first Christmas Eve together as husband and wife, and in the middle of baking cookies for a family gathering the next day, Chan had asked you to dance with him. Since then, you have slow danced every year on Christmas Eve to various Christmas songs. It has slowly but surely become one of the main things you look forward to within the holiday season. He dances with you on other occasions, but for some reason, it feels so much more special when the only light comes from the soft glow of the Christmas tree, muffled Christmas music fills the room, and the smell of cookies wafts throughout the house.

You spin slowly around the room, ensuring not to step on Chan's feet. Your fingers gently play with the hair on the nape of his neck as your head lays on his chest. His fingers have found their way to your slightly raised shirt, softly rubbing the exposed skin along your waist, causing goosebumps to erupt on your skin. He never fails to have the same effect on you even after 6 years of marriage and two children.

You hear Chan start to softly sing the tune, and you get lost in the sound of his voice. Your eyes closed, appreciating the delicate moment between the two of you.

However, as the song nears it's end, you are quickly thrown out of the calmness. Chan runs his hand up to the dip of your back, holding you gently there, as he attempts to lean you back in what he hopes to be a romantic dip. It turns out to be a dramatic fail, as you lose your footing due to the surprise and he tumbles to the ground with you. You both land on the soft rug which blankets both of your falls, keeping either of you from getting hurt. Chan immediately panics, terrified he hurt you. You quickly reassure him, knowing how worked up he could get over this.

Before long you're both in a heap on the floor, unable to control your laughter. You giggle softly in his neck as he hugs you, still trying to keep relatively quiet, not wanting to wake up the girls who are sleeping in just a room over.

"Alright we have to get started on everything else. It's getting late," you whisper in his ear, aware that Chan would lay here with you forever if he could.

He slowly gets up before grabbing your hand, helping you to your feet. You make your way back over to the cookies.

"Alright, do you want a bite of the cookie, or do you want me to?" Chan questions.

"You can take the bite," you say, remembering how excited he had been for this whole thing. Not to mention you had snuck a cookie when Chan had tried to gather the girls up for bedtime.

He takes a bite, humming at the taste. He sets the cookie back down on the plate after making sure the perfect amount had been bitten off. It has to look like Santa had taken a bite of it the night before. Next, your eyes land on the glass of milk next to the plate. He nods to you, and you drink half of it so that it is noticeable that someone drank some.

Once you set the glass down, Chan excitedly hands you the flour and grabs his boots from where had set them down earlier. He only puts one on at first, but you remind him that Santa would make footprints with both feet and he rushes to put the other one on.

You bring the flour over to the fireplace and dump a tiny bit on the brick that extends a little out from it. You spread it gently with your hand, rubbing the excess on your pants. Chan steps straight onto the flooring, pushing down, to ensure a footprint will appear. He steps away and just like you had expected, a pair of big boot footprints show in the flour, facing away from the fireplace. The two of you make a path of footprints leading to the cookies, then to the tree. The flour looks as if it were snow brought in from outside. Chan's boots made nearly the perfect replica of Santa's footprints.

You stand back, admiring your work, knowing the girls are going to freak in the morning.

"You're definitely cleaning that up in the morning," you tease him with a laugh despite knowing he would do it without you even having to ask.

You work quickly as a team, putting all of the evidence away, before getting ready for bed. You were both already in your matching Christmas pajamas, you had bought for your family this year. The girls were just as eager to wear them as you were. Chan had pretended to hate it at first, but you knew he was just messing around. He secretly adored doing all the silly, cringy family things you asked him to.

After brushing your teeth and washing your face, you crawled into bed with him. You lay your head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat rhythmically in your ear, lulling you into a deep sleep.

Before you slip into unconsciousness, you whisper out, hoping your husband is still awake, "Merry Christmas, Channie."

"Merry Christmas, Darling."

[imanes]

doing a lil august reading wrap up because apparently i read 13 (!!) books. in chronological order (bolded are those i recommend):

city of stairs by robert jackson bennett: quite the interesting read. i think the character work in this one is a standout, as well as the world building. the good thing is i have no idea where this trilogy is going so it's exciting. the audiobook for the second book arrives in 2 weeks on my shelves on libby so I'll be reading the sequel soon

braiding sweetgrass by robin wall kimmerer: this one took me a whole entire year to read and finish lol. no comment. or maybe one comment: i think i'd have found this book a lot more eye opening if i had read it three years ago so right book wrong time i guess? i do recommend it i just think it didn't impact me as much as i thought it would

the blighted worlds by megan e. o'keefe: this one hit me like a truck!! i was so obsessed. it's a sci-fi space opera with an element of horror and an interesting romance sub-plot. basically everything i love lmao. i really do recommend this book it might actually be my fave of the month

sanctuary by ilona andrews: i have to stay up to date on all things kate daniels-related to this spin off was high on my tbr. it was a lot of fun but it petered out toward the end

where the dark stands still by a.b. poranek: a bit of a let down not gonna lie. the gist of my opinion is that it felt underdeveloped and in turn i felt under-interested in whatever was going on

shadows of self by brandon sanderson: once again i am begging the protagonists of this series to stop being aggravating

the fractured dark by megan e. o'keefe: continuing my obsession with the devoured worlds trilogy... unfortunately i have to wait on my libby hold to get the audiobook of the next one (i read with my eyeballs and listen at the same time to help with concentration)

the right to sex - feminism in the 21st century by amia srinivasan: i read this book because i know of two people who broke up with their significant other (one of them resulting in a divorce) after reading this book so i had to know what srinivasan had cooked in there and yeah she did cook.

the way of kings by brandon sanderson: just part of my re-read in preparation of the release of wind and truth in December. this month we tackle (again) words of radiance teehee

just for the summer by abby jimenez: womp womp womp. idk what it is with romance authors these days they're in a competition with themselves to portray the healthiest love stories but this one teetered on the wrong side of boring one too many times and the volume to therapy-speech in this one was staggering.

the ex vows by joyce jessica: twas a cute poolside read, it's nothing revolutionary but it was pleasant enough and it didn't make me roll my eyes like just for the summer jdkjgsk at least the love interest had a personality and a life... i mean it's fiction so it's not a life but it appeared as if he contained multitudes or something

funny story by emily henry: I'll go ahead and say it nobody writes a contemporary romance quite like miss henry because she's got the secret recipe for the right balance between heartfelt feelings and amusing situations + her dialogues feel a lot more natural than most (though if i had to nitpick she always has this side character who's a fountain of wisdom and gives you life-changing monologues but i guess such people exist out there)

the thief by megan whalen turner: the megans are really out in full force because this is another book written by a megan that i loved so much. yes half of this book is a fairly episodic journey across made-up countries, yes i ate it up, yes the second half is worth the wait (if you were out of patience, which i wasn't, bc i was having fun) and yes the plot twists are chef's kiss. "gen's ambitions are his own" is the perfect summary. everand has all the audiobooks so you know what I'm gonna do... that's right... listen and read at the same time

as an aside the tandem reads i do with both books and audiobooks happen only when i like the narrators. if i find a narrator i like i stick to them like glue because they're few and far between as far as my picky ass is concerned. i never do romance audiobooks they're the worst...

[alby-rei]

Prologue (IkeVamp; Luigi's Mansion AU, Part 1)

a/n: Heavily (more like, entirely) inspired by @scummy-writes's playthrough of Luigi's Mansion. 'Twas a lot of fun merging the wackiness of that game with the IkeVamp universe! Multiple parts have already been written, to varying degrees of polish, so I'll be posting them on a schedule (Tentatively, one part per week). Without further ado, Enjoyyy ✨

Series: Comte's Ghost Mansion Tags: Humor, Crack treated seriously, Luigi's Mansion AU, Spooky scary spectral vampires, Ghostbuster MC Word Count: 1000 words Characters: You, Sebastian, Comte (mentioned) Next: Part 2

~*~

You woke up in a dark endless abyss with a headache.

"Where...am I?"

You were not sure how long you were out for, but it must have been a long time.

Last you remembered, you were walking around the Louvre museum in the daytime. A handsome man in a three-piece tailored suit had graciously retrieved your earring from the ground, only to drop and forgot his own handkerchief.

You, wanting nothing more than to return the favor, sought to return it to him. Your quest led you to a secluded section of the museum, barren of any foot traffic, and past a set of large double doors that appeared, at the time, as part of the museum experience.

In hindsight, the dwindling number of visitors around you should have alerted you to think otherwise.

Lightning flashed and the hallway blinked in view, like a snapshot captured with a camera shutter. Thunder cracked once, twice, forcing you out of memory lane and back into the present.

In the split-second that you saw the hallway, a line of tall arched windows stood to your left and closed wooden doors to your right. A high-backed chair was stationed between each door, and a framed picture hung above it. A wall blocked the path at one end and extended into darkness in the other. So, not an endless abyss. But it was not the Louvre museum, either.

Slowly, hesitantly, you took a step forward, and another, and then another, keeping your eyes peeled for any signs of an exit. A door creaked nearby.

You scrambled to hide behind the nearest curtains, but you were caught by two firm hands. Your heart lurched in your throat. You turned around to face your assailant, and a second round of lightning gave you a chance to get a good look. It was a young man with grayish hair swept to one side, his eyes narrow and inquisitive.

"Who are you, and how did you get in here?" He asked, though he did not wait for a response. "Doesn't matter, let's get you out before the others notice."

You followed him through the maze of hallways, each turn taking you down an identical path. It was a wonder that your guide could tell heads from tails in the darkness.

"Watch your step," he called out as the two of you descended a set of grand stairs.

Just when you thought you reached the bottom, you were met with more stairs. Blood pumped in your ears as you focused on getting out of here, one step at a time. You sighed in relief when the first sliver of light peeked through the grand double doors at the opposite end of what, you assumed, was the foyer.

Once outside, you gawked at the building you just escaped. It was a three-story mansion. Grapevines crept around and across the walls and into some open windows. Dark clouds loomed over the estate, but the rain died down into a drizzle.  

"Don't fall behind, now!" Your guide called out from the garden up ahead. Rather than continue straight ahead and out the gate, he took a turn going behind the mansion. You stared at the open gate, contemplating your chance of survival. Feeling unsafe venturing out into the unknown, you kept up pace with him along a narrow cobblestone path.

He stopped abruptly, causing you to bump into his back, and asked, "Where did you say you were from?"

You huffed and said, "If you would've let me speak the first time..." You explained your situation to him, and he furrowed his brows. You then barraged him with your own set of questions. Rather than answer any of them, he turned on his heel and talked on the way.

He introduced himself as Sebastian. He woke up in a similar way to what you had described a few years prior.

“I’m sorry, did you say years?” You gaped. What hope did you have of returning home if he had not done so yet?

He continued. "I came face to face with the head of this mansion, a French nobleman who goes by the title, Le Comte de Saint-Germain. He gave me an offer I could not refuse, and so I serve the mansion as its butler."

He stopped in front of a quaint wooden garden shack.

Facing you, he wore a wry smile as he said, "I would like to consider myself lucky, as I haven't seen another human in quite some time. But you, I'm afraid, are out of luck to end up here."

Your eyes shifted. "What do you mean by that?"

"Wait here."

He ducked inside and came out with a backpack that looked an awful lot like a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum tube in his hands only further confirmed your suspicions.

He reminded you of a ghostbuster.

"Unfortunately, I don't know how to get you home. But what I can offer is a means to defend yourself for the night.

"Defend myself?" You echoed. "Against what?"

That was how you ended up back inside the mansion, carrying Sebastian's 'Poltergust 1899' (as he proudly called it) on your back, alongside an oil lamp in hand and an item pouch around your shoulder.

What’s the pouch for? You may be wondering.

After much debate with the butler, you agreed to retrieve "items of interest" for him if he promised to investigate a means of getting you back home. His final remark was to avoid disturbing the mansion's esteemed residents and, contrarily, to report back any interesting behavior you encounter, seemingly of said residents.

The main entrance door creaked open. The mansion's foyer was bedecked with a carpeted floor that stretched up its wide central staircase. White Ionic columns lined the sides. At the top of the stairs, bright moonlight shone through, enveloping the room in a bluish hue.

The door slamming shut behind you pulled your flighty spirit back into its boney prison. Several voices murmured behind the walls.

You caught some of their words, or so you believed.

"A guest?"

"They returned!"

"Oh dear."

"How delightful."

"Go away."

You wished you didn't.

~*~

Back to Masterlist

[takaraphoenix]

I'm curious, how many fandom have you been a part in? How many shows you like that has no fandoms? What are your fandom history?

Oh, that is such a fun ask, thank you! Brace yourself, I am actually giving a way more detailed answer than you probably wanted.

So, first of all, it depends on what one's definition of "in the fandom" is. Because if I'd count every fandom that I have been a part of as a "spectator" - admiring fanarts and GIFs and reading fanfiction - daaamn, that'd make this a very long list, I think.

Generally, I only count myself as part of a fandom if I also contribute to it myself, because that means this fandom really sucked me in, while the ones I only read in are more... passing fancies, I guess? That's how it is for me, anyway.

So, by that metric, have a little history of Phoe.

My earliest fandom was Charmed, though... very much unposted, like, "physically wrote with ink in a notebook" fanfiction. But that was the first show that really consumed me; my walls were plastered with posters, all my friends who bought teen mags always cut the Charmed articles out for me (which, genuinely, so sweet), heck, I had Charmed bedsheets. Also my very first next generation, the kids of the Charmed Ones. But that was waaay before I even knew the term "fanfiction", I just liked writing so I thought "what if next generation though", particularly due to how important family is in this show.

In 2005, I wrote my first fic that I actually published, though... if it still exists on the internet, it's on an account I forgot about. Twas Yu-Gi-Oh! and Puppyshipping. That was when I was actually diving into fandom, as a shared experience, instead of, you know, faning for myself. Reading fics, exploring websites that brought fans together.

Ultimately, I ended up on Animexx (German fan site, hosting forums, fanfiction, fanart, doujinshi and a shit-ton of other fannish delights) and in the Beyblade fandom.

These two, by the way, went a little hand in hand together. Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh! were two of the big anime of the time, airing in the noon-ish block on RTL2 in Germany at the time. That shounen sports-anime genre always got the fangirls.

And the Beyblade fandom was where I really... took off, in a creator way. Wrote a total of 39 fics spanning over 200k words in the three years I was a part of this fandom (2006-2008) and drew a bunch of fanarts too. I joined a writer's circle - kind of a club - for the ship KaRe and that hugely factored into my productivity. We gave each other feedback, had fandom events, met up at conventions. Most of them were in their early to late twenties, some older, so I had a lot of mentor figures in my life there who taught me how to be a better writer. But by 2008, the fandom started to fizzle out, more and more of the writers I admired and was friends with dropped out of it and went on to other fandoms, so by the end, I was out too, because being one of the last ones standing was... frustrating.

I was a little... lost, after that. It's weird, when your very first fandom dies, because you never experienced that before, so how does fandom life go on after that? How do you get into a fandom?

I stopped writing for about a year, not really having a fandom to channel it into, when I watched Sky High in 2009. And oh boy. That movie inexplicably captivated me. I mean, not so inexplicable, there's a pretty boy with a tragic backstory in it, like... that's catnip to me, and he even had fire-powers, c'mon.

Which is kind of how I discovered fanfiction.net because a single movie did absolutely not get a huge following in Germany so I started seeking out English fics, even though my English was absolute dog-shit. But it inspired me, it made me write again. One fic, unpublished, in German, but it got me going again and it showed me that hey no it can be that easy, just latch onto something else that brings you joy!

It's also how or why I made my FFNet account; so I could leave proper comments on the Warren/Will fics I read.

By 2010, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief hit theaters and it hit me, personally, hard. I loved that movie, the concept of modern day demigods and Greek mythology being real was just so good. Plus, elemental control, again. I love that stuff.

So I did the very untypical thing of buying the books. All five in one go. And I actually read them. I started writing PJO fics by 2010.

Heck, I started writing a lot between 2010 and 2012, for practically everything that caught my interest - Percy Jackson, Detective Conan (an anime I had been a fan of since the days of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Beyblade, only that this one was still going) were the two biggest, but things like Eureka, Transformers, Entourage, Jungle Book.

I started college in October 2011 and I, uh, well, I wrote my fics during class. Because lectures are just not... nah. They let me have my laptop in class? Hell yeah, I'm gonna write.

I had a good friend back then, a friend I made early on, who at one point noticed me writing during class and asked me if I actually post it online and I went hell no, because English is not my native language, heck, for the majority of high school (German high school spans from 5th grade to 13th grade, we don't have middle school), I didn't even pay attention in English and was fully content scraping by. I only really started paying attention in 2009 when Doctor Who saw the return of my beloved Jack Harness but not the return to the German screens so a girl had to make ends meet by watching it in English. So, yeah, though I shot to the top of my class in high school with the literal power of anime and Doctor Who, I didn't feel confident enough to post my stories on websites where actual native English speakers could read and judge them. But he kept nudging me about it and telling me that if I went through the trouble of writing them, I should share them with others who might enjoy it.

So, yeah, everybody say "Thank you, Andy" for actually making me post my fics by January 2012. Which, I just fully dumped all the fics I had written in the past two years within a short span of time. His motto of "if you enjoy it, others will too" really resonated with me so I posted everything.

And it... took off. DCMK and PJO, there was such a positive response from people, actual excitement for the fics I wrote, and I got that sense of fandom community again, answering comments and starting conversations and friendships with people, commenting on fics that I read and enjoyed. The other fandoms I wrote for kind of fizzled out because the shows ended and movies ended (well... stopped being good).

It was so different, being in ongoing fandoms, where the show still aired and the books were still being released. And I do consider myself someone who helped build up the PJO fandom, on the slash side anyway, because I wrote so much for a ship that was so tiny back then - Nico/Percy.

I'm still actively writing for both of these fandoms to this day, 12 years later.

And then came Teen Wolf in 2013. I started watching it during the hiatus between season 2 and season 3 and got really addicted and devoured all the fics I could and I thought "holy shit, this is going to be my next big thing" and then season 3 just... crushed... literally every single hope I had for the show. Don't get me wrong, 3B is, imo, the best storyline, but by then 3A had already destroyed so much. And season 4 kinda sucked, which put me off. And I straight up hated season 5 so I dropped the show and thought that's that, moving on. This was the closest I have come to actually abandoning a story since I left the Beyblade fandom, including the 10 years after this, because the show's quality drop had demotivated me so much, I put the multichapter fic I had started onto a... long... hiatus. I only continued it about 4 years later, when I started feeling so guilty about abandoning the fic that I said "Nah, I am going to rewatch this damn show for the sole purpose of finishing this damn story" in 2018. And I did! Finish the story, and the show.

Ironically enough, this year, Teen Wolf has sank its claws into me again and dragged me in deep. I mean, really deep. I wrote 30k worth of fics for it this month alone and just started a rewatch again. So, consider me officially back in this fandom.

2014 was when I finally caved and watched Kuroko no Basuke, which was hugely popular in the crowd of former Beyblade fandom members. And kinda got addicted to that. Fully did not write as many fics for it as I wish I would have, but I loved that show.

2015 saw me dipping my toes into DC Comics through the Arrowverse and, mainly, Leonard/Barry. This will, ultimately, kick off my interest in actually reading the comics, we'll get to that in 2021.

In 2016, I succumbed to the MCU. That lasted until 2020 when Endgame kind of, ya know, ended that for me. And, not gonna lie, the fandom experience here didn't really help me want to stay active. Sure, there were many nice people and the response to my fics was overwhelming, but... if your fandom is overly toxic about your favorite character, it's just kind of exhausting and at one point I was just tired arguing with antis too, you know.

But let's go back to what ran parallel to me still being in the MCU.

In 2017, I started watching Shadowhunters. A show based on the books whose movie adaptation I had already seen, and loved, in 2014. One look into Jace's heterochromic eyes and I sold that character my soul. I have written so many fics for this fandom since then, made some truly wonderful friendships (among them my best friend) and am still active in this fandom.

2018 was a bit of an experimental year for me, because I actually got my tumblr account in autumn 2017 and tumblr changed my interactions with fandom again. It wasn't limited to fanfiction and comment sections anymore, you could just... throw your opinions out there, reblog fanarts, GIF sets existed!! That was a game changer. I dipped my toe into a couple fandoms for like... one fic - Musketeers, Star Wars, Maze Runner (that one's fully on Dylan O'Brien btw), Imposters (absolutely fueled by the fact that tumblr gave me GIFs and I started making GIFs for this show and got much more invested than I would have gotten if I hadn't had a tumblr account), Dragon Prince. Honestly, I don't know how I feel about all that. Part of me is always frustrated when I go and throw one singular fic into the abyss and then move on, but at the same time I do enjoy stretching my wings.

Nothing really major to report between 2019-2021, I kind of just... continued on in the fandoms I was in already. I didn't have much space for new fandoms, the pandemic and changes in my personal life were Enough New Things, so I kind of clung onto the familiar.

So Marvel disappointed me by 2020, right. That factored into why, in 2021, I figured, why not focus more on the other side of the two only comic franchises in existence (sarcasm, I am aware there are more), since I was already watching and loving the Arrowverse and continuously writing fics for it. I started reading DC Comics, really diving into it and letting it consume me and started spinning my own Elseworld - creating this patchwork of things I loved in main continuity, many Elseworld stories, cartoons and the Arrowverse. That's still a work in progress, by the way.

2021 is also the year that gave me Shadow and Bone, a show I quickly got addicted to and wrote a couple of fics and still hate that I haven't written more for this show. I know I will, because I know I will rewatch this show and I will remain bitter about my OTP and I predict that I'm going to fall off the deep end and end up writing for it after all. I am reading fics for it though, still.

That's also the year I started writing Buffy fanfiction, because, again, thank you, tumblr. I don't think I would have ever written anything for it if tumblr hadn't shown me that even so many years after the show ended, there is still such an active and dedicated and beautiful fandom, filled with people who create gorgeous GIFs, interesting meta takes and silly shitposts. Love you, BtVS tumblr.

Damn, 2021 was a productive year for me. Because, mind you, on top of DC, SaB and BtVS, I was also still juggling PJO and Shadowhunters.

I also wrote a few Harry Potter fics between 2020 and 2021, though I did not (and still don't) consider myself part of that fandom, those were gifts for my girlfriend at the time.

In 2022, I started watching Fire Country and the show punched me in the face with a really good ship and though only a handful of episodes were out, I wanted to read fics... and there was not a single one... so I started writing them myself.

Honestly, not much has happened in 2023, because I had the most massive writer's block since leaving Beyblade and didn't write a single word in months. I still worked on DC, PJO, DCMK and Shadowhunters though.

And now we're here, in 2024, which sees my Teen Wolf resurgence.

So, I feel like that covers your first and third question. I don't think I can answer your second question though. Because I have truly consumed so many shows over the course of my life and I'm not... interested in "bonus content" - aka fics or fanarts or GIFs - for the majority of them. They're just entertainment that is running in the background while I write fics for the fandoms I'm in. The only times that I watched a show and wanted a fandom and didn't find one were Imposters and Fire Country, both due to having been really new back then. But other than them, I've been pretty lucky by getting attached to things with very active and often times even very big fandoms.

[redfurrycat]

💕Know Your Tumblr Friends💕

Tagged by @callsign-crow, @itshoneywhatever, @mafiatsunafish, @merryandrewsworld, @perishablealex, @renai-chan in different versions of the tag game, so I just took all the questions and answered them all in one post, if ya don't mind, you lovely souls! 💕

*

Name? Starts with a P. It's a pretty common name where I’m from. (But you can call me Red here 😉)

Were you named after anyone? Nope.

Pronouns? She/her.

Where do you call home? Belgium.

Sign? Aries.

Time? 11h49 (I’m HUNGRY.) (Update. I ate and it was fries and homemade burger).

Fav band/artist? Hans Zimmer (composer). But I love many other composers! I don’t exactly have a fav band or artist as it’s not the kind of music I listen to (OST-Forever-Girl).

Do you have kids? No. I don’t want kids right now, I’ll wonder about that muuuuuch later. (Although I’m a cat mom at the moment.)

Use sarcasm a lot? I do sarcastic quips all the time… xD

First thing you notice 'bout people? Their smile. :)

Eye color? Hazel Eyes.

Scary movies or happy ending? Happy Ending FOREVER.

Special talent? *blank* (Too hungry to think of one... xD)

Your hobbies? To talk about something NOT related to fandom, I like Sudoku and Word scrambled games.

Any pets? It may be shocking to all of you, but I have a she-cat. A red she-cat. *grinning*

First pet? Twas a hamster….:D

Favorite animal? I love felines and birds of prey VERY MUCH.

Cereal of choice? As a kiddo it was Miel Pops, now I do the healthier version of honey cereals when I do eat cereals. And I occasionally eat oatmeal as well.

Are you visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner? All three of them, depends on what is it I’m learning.

Playing any sport? Used to be tennis. Now I do walking and running, and I’d love to swim again!!!

How tall..? Small bean of 1m58.

Favourite subject in school? Latin in secondary school, and my American and British Literature at Uni, as well as all my Law and Judiciary classes. Instructive, especially because I now understand the related news.

Dream job? I don’t even know anymore… I’m completely lost. ☹

Favorite scent? honey and lavender, and strawberry.

Do you believe in astrology? Absolutely not. "Not in any god, not in myths and legends." (Although it’s pretty cool to read about myths and legends! :D *mythology nerd*)

How many playlists do you have on spotify/apple music? 0 because I refuse to use spotify or apple music. :D

Sharpies or highlighters? Both are good!

Song that makes you cry? Songs don’t usually make me cry. However, OSTs do. I’m HIGHLY sensitive to Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron/The Last Samurai/LOTR OSTs.

Last song? Dela by Johnny Clegg (That’s right baby, GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE SONG! :D)

Last series? still ER! (I mean there are 15 seasons or so, and I’m watching season 5)

Last movie? I was in the middle of ‘While you were sleeping’ but couldn’t finish due to stellar internet connection. :(

Song that makes you happy? Ain’t Worried by OneRepublic, Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins, and the Rickrolling Song! xD

Do you write/draw/create? Don’t EVER ask me to draw. I’ve started to write, which I’m still surprised about, I guess you could say I create some Top Gun content as well? Like silly posts about my fav pilots! :D

Currently working on? My Cheerleading Top Gun Sideblog. I’m still in the building process but it’s been fun so far! I discovered or rediscovered REALLY amazing content!!! :O <3 Writing-related? Dr. Goose Bradshaw Series. YUP. THAT’S RIGHT. 😉

When did I create this blog? Dunno…2013/14?

What I post? I reblog A LOT. And I LOVE adding to posts when inspiration strikes! xD Right now? I’ve posted several Top Gun  Recs Lists. (Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick have bewitched me body and soul!)

Other blogs? The Sideblog I was previously talking about can be found at @timetobuzzthefandomtower.

Do I get asks? Very occasionally 😊 (Though I don’t check it very often, so very sorry to anyone who might have sent something, I promise I’ll get back to you!!! <3)

Followers? 246?! (Holy Shit. When did that happen??????? I’ve never checked before! :O)

Average hours of sleep? 8 hours is the best for me, but I sleep less than that I’m sure.

Instruments? Fuck that. I hated the music class during HS. :O 

What I'm wearing rn? Short & T-Shirt. All comfy clothes.

Dream trip? New Zealand. Seems very far away, almost unachievable! xD And, the Vikings Lands. I. WANT. TO. GO. THERE. <3

Favourite song at the moment? Fake ID from Footloose :D

*

NO PRESSURE TAGS!!!

@auprintempss, @bradleybonkbradshaw, @captainclaudeandthehiddenlogs, @hardballoonlove, @missathlete31, @nanny-sc, @scottishaccentsareawesome, @skiddit, @the-ace-with-spades.

I know there are A LOT of questions, feel the heck free to choose which ones you want to answer, IF you want to of course! Have the sweetest of days! <3

[6okuto]

hi nia, i hope u r doing good! i just wanted to drop by and lyk that to me u r The Keiji Expert, like u know him so well!!! and have such a good grasp on his character and everything i love it !!!!!!

pls drop any and all of ur thoughts for him, i live for them

GUH?! guys every time i write him i'm like wowww... this is kind of ass.. LOL it's the same thing w aki.. don't trust myself... agh. anyway. THANK U VERY MUCH!!! 🙆🏻‍♀️🙆🏻‍♀️ this + bkak + being nice silly and fun are all i need to be known for so i've basically succeeded in Tumblr atp. yeagh. AKAASHI!

when it comes to merch and decor,, he's more likely to focus on walls + figures.. he doesn't know where to put a bunch of plushies BSHSJDJS i don't think he'd get Big figures, except maybe a couple for his absolute favourites.. twas an investment. that shit is expensive. < girl who wanted this aki figure ☹️

^ picture of u on the wall that's always visible while he works. Always.

even if his background isn't a photo of you guys, he'd do photo widgets on his phone !! ^____^

i don't think he does anything with phone contacts... it's just their name and a lot of the time he doesn't put an icon or anything 😭 he'd add a heart emoji next to ur name and of course have a photo for u though!! 🥹

his bag has a dedicated sort of trash pocket that's just a mess a lot of the time BSHSJDJ he throws sticky notes, wrappers, etc. in there if there isn't a garbage can nearby 😭

Cosplayer Keiji 🤯🤯 GELLOOO my god. he could be hirotaka just by putting on a suit tbh. and then i'd explode obviously. but like... cosplayer keiji.... if anypony has ideas for who/what he could cosplay Pls let me know. HAAGHHHH

couple cosplays 😂🤣😂🤣😵 MY LEG. i just keeled over HOWL AND SOPHIE mmmgmynhgsieonHAJAOAN🤯🤯🤯

whatveer. idont even care

tucking him in 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ you do it as a joke but of course he goes with it and lets you wrap him up and take off his glasses and kiss his head and he's smiling the Entire Time ohlymgocxnomymekdjn

going with jokes. yeah. he just goes with your shit a lot of the time because he trusts you LOL. you try couple trends and pranks and he gives you suspicious looks but does what you ask anyway.

^ the lipstick trend ☹️☹️☹️ WHYYY MYGODD WHYYY . YOU. 🫵🫵 Reader. take a breath and imagine him with a baggy t-shirt and messy hair and glasses and lipstick stains all over him and his hands on your waist while you kiss him and him going "another one?" with a breathy laugh WJYYY MY MISERABELLFIEEJEID😭😭😭😭😭

hhahh... Haggghhhhhh......... my chest iscaving ijn

Ok. you know the "his gaze softened" thing. yeah. well. for keiji it's not like. mean cold broody guy who gets soft. it's the quiet but nice guy who evidently feels out of place and is anxiously looking around who relaxes and smiles when he sees you enter the room WHO'S WITH ME!

He likes I Will by Mitski. he's a Mitski Enjoyer. Because I Say So. he's my beautiful boyfailure prince angel loser cat who fell into a bowl of water of course he likes mitski guysplels keiji i thinkzYou'd love a loving feeling and the frost and real men and humpty and pink in the night and nobody and should've been me And

occasional punk/metal enjoyer keiji .? walk with me. someone take my hand. ptv slipknot soad korn orbit culture somebody needs to walk with me here

doesn't have a huge appetite... if he's at hot pot he can probably finish but 1) he's full and 2) he planned what he'd get based on past failures to finish his food. like i love boyfriends who can finish your meal if you can't (< girl who gets full) but i think things may end up a team effort 🫡🫡

just lies on the floor and listens to music sometimes. if you walk in on him he doesn't move but will welcome you to join him with open arms ! 🫂

oh 🥹 keiji working super hard on gifts for you... coloured paper and youtube videos so he can figure out how to make a paper flower bouquet 🥹 he starts getting paper crafts/origami skills because of this fr fr

you get it.

[birdo-is-here]

Naut lore dump below because I can and I love this weird looking squid

I was originally planning to properly write out the scene here but after several days of me getting a maximum of 40 words down, I decided i’d just explain what happens

Besides, the way his backstory is revealed is second-handedly so I wouldn’t usually have to write it anyway

Warning this is quite long don’t feel pressured to finish it immediately lmao, I also ramble for bits of it but I eventually get on track

Well. Speaking of squids, here’s a fun fact: Nautilus wasn’t always the squid man he is right now, did you know?

Actually, he looked like a normal human man at first, kinda long, curled hair with a darker skin tone. Just kinda a guy yk

What happened, you may ask? Well, i’ll get into that soon

Here’s another fun fact: Nautilus was the first Off-Scripter. Ever.

When he first popped up as an Off-Scripter, Birdo wasn’t entirely sure what to do with him. Taking her chances, she kinda just decided to… leave him be for the time being until something happened

Nautilus has always been a pirate. Even before he became the inter-dimensional one he is now, he was a normal pirate then as well. Now, his universe is from the 12th century, but that’s because that universe is what I call an “Early Bloomer”, which is fairly self explanatory. It’s a universe that is aging relatively faster than the others for whatever reason is given.

So currently for Naut’s universe, while it’s the 12th century, it’s really closer to the 17th - 18th century. Early and Late Bloomers are actually quite common in The Birdhouse, and are usually just left to their own devices to develop

Now, back on topic, you may be asking: How did Naut become an Off-Scripter? And my response to that is: No one knows! Not even Birdo knows, it’s a completely random and unknown phenomenon which can happen to anyone for any reason; intentionally or not (though it’s usually unintentional)

And here’s where an issue arises: When it was just Naut as the sole Off-Scripter, it was mostly fine. His own universe had a few… odd moments, but they were usually able to be steered back on course pretty easily.

That is, until more Off-Scripters began appearing over the multiverse. And so, Birdo acted accordingly. Well, only really on Nautilus first as a sort of “test subject” to see how their little method would go. What’s this method, you ask?

Well. While Birdo couldn’t directly get rid of an Off-Scripter, he could make the environment around the Off-Scripter inhabitable. Bring an indirect death on the Off-Scripter through storms, natural disasters, and for some reason, lots of water.

Basically, Birdo sent a storm of flood and fire on Nautilus’s universe in an attempt to kill him, figuring that if no corner of the universe was left untouched, there would be nowhere for him to go, and he’d die.

Fortunately, that did not work. At all. It certainly rendered Naut’s home dimension uninhabitable! In fact, there was not a single survivor in the entire universe. Twas not an infinite universe, that one, and there for it had a finite number of inhabitants. Well, not a single survivor save for Nautilus.

In the midst of the flood and chaos, Naut, still a human at the time, instinctively tried to save his own life in the quickest way he knew how at the time: He turned himself half squid. Well, half squid is debatable, he is some sort of cephalopod-adjacent humanoid creature

Now, previously, Naut did know he was not a ‘normal guy’, ykwim?? He knew he was an Off-Scripter, and had a natural knowledge of the multiverse to accompany that. Honestly, he’d mostly just been trying to live his life as a pirate back then, trying to ignore the big picture and keep to what he’s comfortable with (I get it bestie), but unfortunately, there’s never been a time where a good thing has lasted forever

What I mean to say without rambling is, Nautilus did have a general knowledge of Birdo and the other Founders, but never really paid much attention to them.

Until Birdo of course.

Naut, distraught and utterly traumatised; having nearly drowned in the floods before going squid, eventually spotted the culprit of his universe’s downfall

He confronted them on the elephant in the room that is killing his entire dimension, and Birdo explained the situation. They explained the problem with the Off-Scripters and what they had originally planned, and Naut asked if it was worth it to wipe out his entire reality, literally

Birdo waves it off, saying they can just make a new one and start over, which only pisses Naut off more, asking what’d happen to him and his home. Birdo explains that the universe will likely have to be cleaned up and absorbed by The Null (the Birdhouse’s garbage disposal)

They then go on to say, suddenly disappearing from sight, that they’re gonna give the “execution method” one last try, but do something a little more direct this time

Birdo then reappears in a form a little more menacing; An almost spirit-like, tall figure that looks similar to the small, robed creature Naut saw originally, only this time exaggerated to appear terrifying and divine; like the god they actually were

Naut is knocked over by an odd force, and he looks up to see Birdo brandishing a large spear, pointed directly at him. Their eyes are unreadable in this instance; Large, green inhuman eyes.

Nautilus is terrified, of course he is, he’s about to did, but… he doesn’t find himself doing much to fight back. I mean, think about it, he’s just lost everything he’s ever known, what point is there in going on, anyway? It’s best to just let the god get what she wants.

And so, while he raises an arm and prepares himself for his doom, he doesn’t do anything. Birdo watches him, studying his expressions, spear hovering in the air a moment longer… before she sighs, and lowers the spear to her side. She mutters something about how it “probably won’t work anyway”, her form growing slightly less imposing as she glances away from Nautilus.

And then, Birdo seems to dissipate into nothing. They disappear again, though permanently this time, their voice styaing a moment longer, mumbling almost disappointedly “do whatever you want, I don’t care that much honestly”

Naut took a moment to wonder if the god of this world was a teenager in disguise, before he stood again.

He looked out over the burnt, waterlogged husk of a world that was his home, and his brows furrowed. He hated Birdo with every fibre of his being. He hated all the Founders for allowing this.

But he decided to follow Birdo’s suggestion just this once: He was going to do whatever he wanted, and hell, he wanted to be a pirate

End of writing lore dump notes: If you’re wondering, yes he is afraid of water after this experience. Quite a lot, actually:(

[cosmictapestry]

five things you’ll find in my fics

i twas tagged by @mari-wrongway to attempt self-reflection and possibly die in the process

mental illness, specifically mental illness Associated With Trauma, specifically trauma Associated With Superpowers. i love this i think it is fascinating it is Fun for me and also it makes me very sad. i think the horror and the love and the compassion and the terror should all coalesce to make you go Ouch. i think the thing that makes you different/important/Special is more often than not a curse and that it’s fun to explore that. can i please get some cheers from the Insane girlies

kind of sharp, snappy language? i don’t like to slow down the narrative too much even with more verbose characters like lucienne. i get antsy about this actually if i’m reading through and Individual Words are fucking with the pace y’know. for erotica i try to let the prose get really disjointed like, it’s just base sensory input, the heat of the moment stealing all the finesse from the narration. i also use some pretty blunt, perhaps uncharacteristic language, but that’s because it’s what’s Sexy, okay.

i focus a lot on body language, especially stuff with hands and facial expressions and posture. when i write i’m, like, watching the scene in my head? and i guess that’s what i pay most attention to in conversations. if you notice me using the same fucking adjectives every two seconds no you don’t. i can get away with that in porn though there’s only so many sexy words. also i’m just…… not good at writing Things Happening and i don’t especially care to write Things Happening because Things Happen plenty in the source material i just want everybody to sit down and Talk about the Things That Have Happened. now that i say this though a whole bunch of shit happened in “i want to be well” huh? i am an unreliable narrator

dialogue is The Most Important Part to me. i THINK but i’m not CERTAIN that i have a bad habit of making characters talk like me? sometimes? in cadence and in word choice and in humor. i think. but also i’m just simply trying to make characters talk and act Like Real People and i am ostensibly a real person so. matthew’s dialogue in particular is so easy for me to write because i just decided to let him sound like me irl. based of me if i do say so myself. also i KNOW people get on me about making dream too open/nice/agreeable but i stand by literally everything i’ve ever had him say.

relationships that are very old and very deep and that are fundamental aspects of characters’ identities. i really don’t like... care, especially, about meet-cutes or whatever. i care about when two people are so Part Of Each Other that severing them is severing a major artery like <3 lol <3 and obviously this goes for familial relationships romantic relationships fraternal relationships i really don’t care as long as it’s Interesting. this is what was SO fucking funny to me about “i want to be well” because i do not care about klave. so it’s listed as a klave fic with like the least klave focus imaginable. anyway. i love love i love empathy i love Understanding and Accepting and i love when it can lead to healing and i also love when it can’t :)

@aboxthecolourofheartache @the-everqueen @pratchettfan87 @ anyone else i interact with who i can’t remember if you write or not i’m so sorry,,, you guys want to do this sooooooo bad

[twistedroseytoesy]

Hello it's 🎵 anon again! I've discovered songs for the other characters that may or may not fit:

Yuu: Young, Dumb and Broke by Khalid or Gimme Gimme Gimme by ABBA or Money On My Mind by Sam Smith or Hate Me by Nico Collins or Wonderland by Natalia Kills

Grim: Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom by Parry Grip

Crowley: Greedy by Ariana Grande or Money Money Money by ABBA

Crewel: Fashion by Lady Gaga or Fashionista by Jimmy James

Trein: Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty from The Big Bang Theory

Vargas: Physical by Olivia Newton

Sam: Shopkeeper Song from Undertale

Ambrose: Everything Is Not as It Seems by Selena Gomez

Chenya: Twas Brillig from Alice In Wonderland

Neige: Happy by Pharrell Williams or I won't give up by Jason Mraz

The Dwarves: Heigh Ho from Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

Rollo: I'm Sorry I Couldn't Save You by Xinclair

Riddle's Mom: The Family Jewels by Marina and The Diamonds

Falena: Save Me by Not A Robot ft adrisaurus or Lullaby for A Princess

Cheka: I Just Can't Wait To Be King from Lion King

Rielle: Part Of Your World from Little Mermaid

Jamil's Parents: Robot or Good In Me by Jon Bellion ( I feel like it's Jamil singing this to his parents) or Afton Family by APAngryPiggy

Najma: Hey Bother by Avicii or Surface Pressure from Encanto (second one is more of Jamil to Najma tbh) or You'll Be In My Heart from Tarzan (again more of Jamil to Najma)

Vil's Dad- Superstar by CG5

And that's all for now. Please let me know if these are suitable for the respective characters.

HECK YA! nice to see ya again 🎵 anon! I do have to warn you that I don't really know a lot of the side characters that arent staff, so I might not be able to say if they do or don't fit the character. Sorry about that.

Yuu: Holy heck there are so many! But I guess that makes sense due to Yuu/Mc being a self-insert for many.

The first song is a fun and laid-back kind of beat and lyrics. Fitting for the more relaxed Mc type, happily enjoying the chaos and optimistic about the future despite any troubles.

The second song is a fun beat and song. Not really sure how to categorize this one though. Fun and good song!

Third song is really sweet, a nice beat and song with kind lyrics, this is for the Mc's that are out there to help the students of NRC, but struggle due to the financial stuff Crowley puts on them. Amazing choice!

Fourth song gives the vibes of an Mc that is in love with these toxic villains that go to this school. they're down bad despite how cruel some can be.

The last song is very fitting for the whole premise of the Twisted wonderland, using different fairy tales to call out to those they are in love with. Cool song, but didn't like the video due to its erotic nature but I could just ignore that and focus on the lyrics and music.

Grim: Roblox war flashbacks really cute song, but not much I can do with this song for Grim. A cute and fun song so thanks!

Crowley: The first song doesn't really fit him due to the fact that he would never admit that he's greedy. That's the opposite of how generous he always is! good idea but not quite.

The second song has an amazing melody right off the bat! this song is definitely fitting, could change the focus from getting a man with a lot of money to them doing better than RSA. Amazing fit, but I don't plan on writing it out. Good choice!

Crewel: The first song is a bit too intense for how he works in my head. Also, the second language that is used in the song would be hard to work with.

Second song is a lot more fitting of his personality. His commands and the way he talks to his students. PErfect fit for the fashionista teacher.

Trein: hehehe! what a cute and wholesome song for the grumpy old man. Can definitely see him singing this to Lucius when he thinks he's alone in his classroom. heck yes.

Vargas: Wow... It's a good song for him, I would just have to change a lot of the lyrics to make it more family-friendly. I like the energy just way too many innuendos.

Sam: Love this tranquil song, but there are no lyrics to change or song to write, it's great, but not quite fitting. Besides, I think the song he's got already is perfect.

Ambrose: I don't know this character, or any of the side characters much, but this song doesn't really fit his joyous attitude and kindness. Honestly think this song fits Crowley more than Ambrose. Also, A song that I think would be more fitting is "Higitus Figitus" or "that's what makes the world go around".

Chenya: Very fitting to have the Cheshire cat person sing the Cheshire cat song. Apparently, it's a part of a different song/poem, the Jabberwocky. So I might have him singing it and the mc coming into those specific lyrics. very good choice.

Neige: Both of these songs are so good for the ball of pureness that is Neige, the first song gets everyone dancing and will bring a smile to many. While the second song brings a bittersweetness that moves many to smile at times they've had in the past and to look forward to more times of joy in the future. They're perfect for him.

The Dwarves: Of course we have the little dwarves singing the original dwarves' song in the mines. Not much to say or change with this one, just perfect.

Rollo: New character I know nothing about since I try to avoid spoilers. Strange song and has fairly self deprecating vibes. Not sure if this fits him or not. not willing to look at spoilers for now over it anyway. interesting choice, I cant say much about it due to ignorance of the character.

Riddle's Mom: This woman fucking sucks. the song is amazing and shows a side to Riddle that he probably has buried to try and keep the tense peace between himself and his mother. The song shows that he's better than the things his mom demanded of him, that he's better because he strayed. He's made friends, he's happier and he's more beautiful being imperfect than the gemstones the mother expected him to be. Not going to write it since its so perfect.

Falena: So this is the brother of Leona, the king of the sunset Savana. The first song is deep and shows that Falena was aware of Leona's struggle and tried to help. The second song had an amazing MLP animatic that tugs at the heartstrings. Not fitting for the lion brothers but a song of love and heartbreak. I think the first song fits better.

Cheka: Fun childish song of carefreeness for the bundle of joy that is Cheka! also fitting for him to sing his Disney counterparts' songs. Another I wouldn't write due to not knowing him well enough.

Rielle: Apparently he's the twisted version of Ariel from the little mermaid. So that's cool! classic singing of the original characters' song. The longing to see another world, to learn something new and try something different. seems fitting for this excitable prince.

Jamil's Parents: Dang, that Robot song is very deep into the issue Jamil always had with his servitude. He blames his parents and Kalim for his upbringing, having to hold himself back, to seem lesser because he was just a servant just someone inconsequential and only there to help others. This could be an inner soul song for him.

The second song shows just how much Jamil hates that the things he was good at had to be restrained, that he had to hold himself back and never speak his mind. Another build-up to his eventual overblot.

the third song was awesome, but not very fitting to the story for Jamil. Good song and it had an awesome animation too.

Najma: the brother song is sweet but doesn't really capture the banter and the snarky remarks we see between the two, this is that deep familial love that we don't get to see much of due to how Jamil works.

Second song of surface pressure is pretty fitting for how hard Jamil works and puts on himself. During the festival we see how much Najma cares, despite the teasing, she doesn't push him or demand much. She listens and supports her brother. Probably what kept him sane when he worked as a servant for all those years.

The last song is again a bit too sappy for the two vipers, but The sentiment is sweet and they do care for each other in a passive-aggressive (at times) way.

Vil's Dad: Never seen this character, I think. So I don't know if this song fits or not. But if he's proud of what his boy can do, despite some not-so-savory things to others. Then ya that song fits him well.

[wybienova]

GRAHHHH ds/3ds quick recc list may be forgetting some or wording some of this wrong or you may have played them/know of them already but 👍👍👍💥💥💥

DS games (in no particular order)

kirby: squeak squad is one I haven’t beaten to my memory but I have played so much of it and knowing you’re a kirby fan EASY recc. lots of really fun stuff here with the treasure and ability system. if you haven’t played a version of it yet PLEASE play kirby super star ultra I haven’t played ultra myself but I have played super star and it is seriously like so good wybie. I’ve heard ultra adds some stuff too very eyes emoji. a more experimental one but kirby mass attack I have a really soft spot for. such a charmingly odd game, really creative.

super scribblenauts is one I haven’t played in forever so mileage may vary but I still remember so fondly. wacky little puzzle game that brings to life most any noun you can think of, and those nouns can be adjusted by most any adjective you can think of! not art based like little me yearned it to be sadly or luckily depending

pokémon mystery dungeon: explorers of time/darkness/sky is an easy classic of course; good dungeon crawling rpg fantastic story as I’m sure you’ve heard murmurings of before. for straight pokémon game pokémon black/white is also one to check out!! still need to beat it proper but twas my first pokémon game there’s some rad stuff

3DS games (also in not particular order)

kid icarus: uprising can be a little hard to get into with a unique control scheme and gameplay rhythm but the writing/story/characters are sooooo good I love it SO much am always thinking about it.

continuing kirby reccs kirby triple deluxe and kirby planet robobot are SO GOOD. SO GOOD such good kirby games robobot in particular is up there for me with forgotten land and super star I can almost promise you’d love these. soso fun.

contractually obligated as I’m on a big zelda kick rn /silly (and also they’re very good games) legend of zelda: a link between worlds and legend of zelda: ocarina of time 3d is some of the best first zelda games out there. exceptional entries encompasing both the 2d and 3d style of games respectively, really good puzzle/action/adventure games with fun stories and and I like them :]

have fun gameing!!!!

AH THANK YOU !!!!! my evil trick though is ive actually already played a bunch of these >:3c played squeak squad and a little ssu on an emu, played pkmn white on it as well a bit ago, played most of kiu (I NEVER FINISHED AHHH), played robobot and a little bit of triple deluxe but i will finish it . ill check out the others though !!!!

also i thought you liked the umm . spirit tracks ?? i hope it was spirit tracks and not a different one . so im gonna do that also

[whipped-for-fictionals]

🌻 If you get this, answer with 3 random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your notifications, anonymously or not! Let's get to know the person behind the blog 🌻

okay!! so number one, i love to sing! (and i'm ngl sometimes i can sing the lyrics very very wrong PAHAHA)

numero dos, my biggest writing "turn on" in fanfiction, you could say, is in-character depictions of said character! when it's so perfectly on the dot for their personality/humour, or when you can definitely see the character doing the action/saying the words in the fic, i LIVE for that stuff!

and finally! i'm part filipino :)

i know a lot of my mooties are Filipino too and i must admit, i love being able to read the little rants they have in the tags or smth in tagalog, tis a little secret thing i do 🫣 .. unfortunately though, i can only read/understand it, i wouldn't be able to write back in perfect tagalog :')

bonus fact; i do spanish in school and i love it so so much me encanto hablando español (idk if i said that right, if it's one thing i can never get right it's the phrasing LMAO)

haha thank you for this kane! twas very fun <3

[rivi-ri]

I consider myself skilled in the art of rambling, so buckle up for an unnecessary amount of personal history and very old writing lore.

Mine was originally from Rivira, a name I came up with as like, an eight-year-old for the first original character I remember ever making (it also might possibly have been a little bit later than the first one, but it was somewhere around there). I didn't know about the existing name Rivera at the time, and I was pretty insistent on the spelling despite the name being pretty transparently based on the word "river". When I reused or possibly originally used the name in my first longest project for a while, Rivira had water powers, because of course, and was my obligatory most-self-insert character in that book/series. fond memories

I started using Rivira as one of my main usernames from the first time I started having accounts online and interacting a bit with the internet. Riddle was another character name I would sometimes use and was interested in for a while.

Fast forward to whenever I started using RPG Maker a bunch. Somewhere fairly late in my RPG Maker phase proper, I ended up making a character in Game Character Hub, I think, that had blue hair, as far as I remember. I needed to think of a name for the character (the protagonist of yet another RPG Maker game I never got far with making), and after a bit of brainstorming, came up with "Rivi". Yeah, it probably took some subconscious inspiration from "Rivira". I don't actually like r as a letter all that much on its own, but I tend to like it a lot in names and some words, which is interesting. (the Japanese r is really nice though, I like that one pretty much all the time, though I'm not always great at saying it correctly)

I forgot about that project pretty quickly, but the name stuck around somewhere in my brain, resurfacing now and then, and eventually I started using the name "Rivi" or "Rivi Ri" where I'd used Rivira in the past. The "Ri" part was partially just from liking the flow of the names with it, and partially from "Riddle". I do actually use Rivi Riddle sometimes. The full version would probably technically be Rivira Riddle, but I don't like the flow of that as much.

aaanyway, that was definitely longer than it needed to be, but I don't assume it's likely to cause anyone any/much inconvenience, because chances are no one will read this anyway. twas fun to reminisce a smidge.

USERNAME LORE GIVE IT TO ME NOW YOU ALL

[lorekeeper-backset]

howdy! for the fanfic writer asks, 3, 4, 13, and 19?

Oh, hi. I'm, uh, a big fan of your work, actually. Well, your art anyways. Haven't really gotten around to reading your fanfiction cause my adhd loves to act up when I read things. Used to be able to finish a whole book in a day, now I can't get a few pages in without getting distracted.

Back on topic!

[Original Ask Game]

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Oh, Account of Rayquaza's Chosen easily, even though I'm not that far into it. Mare is my favorite OC I've ever created and writing her is a joy. It use to be this one Fire Emblem fic I wrote but in hindsight there's a lot of things about it that I'm kind of embarrassed about.

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

Uh... a few. Some I lost interest in, others I forgot about, others I put on hold to work on AoRC. Wow I hate that initialism. There is one I'm currently working on that was supposed to finish by Christmas because it was Christmas themed but I got distracted by Pokemon Black 2.

Starting to see why my friends call me the Pokemon Guy.

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

I do some planning. I don't meticulously plan out every detail beforehand but I do usually have a few scenes I know for sure I want to include before I even start writing. Though I don't really write my plans down so I have to rely on my memory. Terrible, I know.

19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs.

You know what, lets be fun. Here's a snippet from that Christmas WIP.

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even Meowth. No stockings were hung by the chimney with care, because the chimney was not there. The Pokémon were nestled all snug in their balls, dreaming of captured Pikachu, them all. And the TRio wearing their usual outfits to save on costs, slept on the couch and floor due to lack of a bed… ost.  Having run out of rhymes, the narrator decided to ditch the parody and switched back to standard prose. Suddenly, there arose such a clatter, startling the TRio awake. Jessie fell off the couch and onto James and Meowth, who yelped in pain. The three then sprung to their feet to see what had caused such a clatter to arise. It quickly became apparent what it was. Something, or rather, someone had gotten caught in their ghost trap. It was a short, plump man with rosy cheeks and a beard as white as snow. He wore a red coat, thick black boots, and a red hat. It was… “Santa Claus!?” James shouted.

[countthelions]

✄ what’s your editing process?

✦ what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest?

I am 👀👀👀

Editing process

Ooh gosh trying to word this in a way that makes sense. Well!! A lot of my editing comes from being a rp writer for a longer period than a story writer. I tend to write little chunks, then edit the chunk whenever I get trapped somewhere before continuing on. (It could actually be a fun process to record some day hmm) I am a little jealous of folks who can just bang out whole /chunks/ of stuff without stopping. Cannot be me unfortunately.

But at the end I will go through each section, which I've usually broken up in my head by "beats" (to use the acting term) - shifts of action/tone/etc and make sure they all flow correctly. I am not opposed to rewriting whole sections to capture the feeling I'm really aiming for, which,,, is why my long fics are really taking me quite a while to write. I think the second chapter of champion au has been rewritten at least six times by this point. When I do those rewrites, I'll change the whole section's font to a different color and literally rewrite it fresh. (Another reason why recording a writing section could be fun!!) The colored "old" section gets thrown into my extras at the bottom of the doc to usually just save ;; I dont want to delete them entirely hah! I also love just flipping sentences around. Sometimes that little shuffle is all it takes to make something click. This section - from colored text to this sentence for example - was at the bottom of the answer and got moved up!

This fine tooth combing I recognize is excessive - and man tumblr deleted what this paragraph used to be so I guess we're ending it here >:( but yeah, i recognize my editing is a bit too focused in on little details but given how important flow of paragraphs are to me as a mmm physical feeling you read to (how theatre of me hm?), I don't mind the work if it makes the whole thing stronger.

Easiest fic & Hardest fic

Easiest: honestly, anything that started as a ramble to my serverwerver friends was easy. They're my favorite of audiences, endlessly supportive and I love listening to them as well ;; One of my favorite memories of doing dragon au rambles is a moment where Grillby tries getting Gaster's attention and failing to do so, and all three of my friends put a sad emoji react on the end of that chunk. Twas very nice ;; I think if I had to pick one though? It'd be [nightmare cures], barely edited from ramble to posted - everything from the tattoos to the song came with hardly any thought. I needed some specific comfort and wrote myself the perfect thing

Hardest: a toss up between [Handspun Nerves] and [Till the Magnolias Bloom]. I'm not counting champion au bc it's not even POSTED BUT MAN IT CERTAINLY GETS ME!! Hand spun because I really couldn't bring myself to hurt Grillby and all my friends kept encouraging me to hurt him more, because that's what the hurt is /for/ in a hurt/comfort fic!! Magnolias gained it's title before I was even done with it hah!! I really really really wanted to write just the end, of Grillby waking up suddenly more well rested than he'd been in days, seeing Gaster snore across from him equally as rested - and my brain said: yeah but /why/ are they well rested? So I struggled Very Much with putting to words why they were finally relieved at being well rested and hopefully!! Succeeded. It could be a fic I rewrite some day actually...