#writing tragedies no one asked for

[defiedfate]

I feel like Charlie wasn't Lilith's only pregnancy. barring any RP canons with future partners, Charlie is certainly her only baby. But I do hold the belief that Lilith was probably pregnant before and after Charlie was born and those pregnancies all ended badly one way or another.

[sandushengshou]

to defeat monsters: become the greater monster | m.a.w

(requested by @highwarlockkareena for my 1 follower celebration)

[sea-buns]

Never did I expect myself to be mourning the absence of english essays and writing exams and theatre class critiques. Do you understand how fucking amazing of a grade I could get on an analysis of trauma in Critical Role? On Lou Wilson and Emily Axford's finesse in portraying the heavy expectations and double standards placed on children? On Ylfa Snorgelsson's relationship to death? On the journey of a man's relationship to violence? On an analysis of grief in Dimension 20? On the pitfalls of youth? On the dynamic between humanity and religion? On the journey of self-discovery and acceptance? On love in all its forms? On the nature of choice? On everything Brennan Lee Mulligan has to say about capitalism? On the tragedy of im/mortality? On Gerard and Elody's divorce? On the unfeeling and aimless happenstance of the universe? On the role of fate and destiny? I'm not saying it would be easy. I'm saying can you imagine how fucking cool it would have been to turn in 5 pages about a dnd show, feeling good about it?

[lightbulb-warning]

You are so cool

Let's discuss shuichi and the possibility of bisexual shuichi

*cough*

"possibility"?? uhh- *calculation noises* ...VERY HIGH.

[necrotic-nephilim]

I started in DC by reading fanfics, but as I began to read actual comics, I started to be unable to read the actual fanfic that got me into it in the first place because it's so out of character.

But there are still some stories that I love to read because I love the found family trope so much, even if it isn't really accurate to the source material.

As a comics purist (sometimes), are there tropes that you like enough that you'll still enjoy a fic even if it's not accurate to canon?

oh my god this is SUCH a fun question. bc while i started with the comics, there were certain characters and/or character dynamics where i was exposed to the fanon before the canon (just bc it's hard to read everything when you start out just to read some fanfic) and so i've definitely experienced the fanon to canon transition. (*especially* with Jason Todd. i had only read 80s/90s stuff where he was already dead or the New-52 bc that was on-going when i got into comics and man. the fanon misunderstandings i had about him before i got frustrated and sat down to read all his pre-Flashpoint stuff were absolutely bonkers.) and aside from that, whilst i tend to prefer canon over fanon, i'm not past giving fanon its flowers for occasionally having really interesting insights. occasionally. so some of my fanon "guilty pleasure" tropes would probably be

Morally Grey Tim Drake - this is one where if you try to back it up with canon, i *will* get salty about it. of everyone in the Batfam aside from maybe Bruce and Cass, Tim has the *most* black and white morals. often his internal conflicts are routed in such an inability to compromise his moral views and it can cause him to clash with other characters. he's *very* stiff and rigid in his beliefs and is *rare* to compromise in even the smallest ways. i mean, DC has repeatedly used Tim Drake of Tomorrow/Savior/Gun Batman!Tim for a reason. it's to demonstrate that of everyone, Tim *cannot* have his morals compromised. there's no grey area for him. he's zero or a hundred, so if he tips over the edge of "too far" he tips *all the way*, and doing so is one of his worst fears, how he could go "too far" if he let himself. a couple panels out of context from Red Robin (2009) (which was a grief spiral for Tim to begin with) don't change that. now that said. if it's done *right*, i sort of love Tim being morally grey in fanfic. it takes a specific flavor for me, and it's incredibly important to include that mental spiral along with it, of him struggling to justify it. i don't have any interest in "Tim Drake is loosy goosy with Bruce's morals and has the highest kill count and no one knows teehee" bc it doesn't play with the interesting parts of making Tim morally grey, which are fracturing his psyche. but all in all, i think it's fun to put Tim in a morally grey area and i will read it in fanfic and i enjoy writing it a lot

Joker Junior!Tim Drake - i've not written it on this account (yet) but on my main ao3 account one of my biggest fics surrounds this concept. this is one of those "well *technically* it's canon but only in a specific very divorced from the comics universe and would not work at all in the main timeline" so, i categorize it as fanon in that 95% of fics exploring the concept are not doing so within the Batman Beyond universe, but the main timeline. i just love it. I'll take any excuse to whump Tim, but this concept is so fun. psychologically breaking Tim will always be my favorite pastime. there are so many ways to explore the long-term effects this could have on him, how it could affect the Batfam. i'm not a fan of it being used as a "gotcha" to Jason or Babs' trauma with the Joker to paint Tim as the Ultimate Victim, but it is fun to see how their relationships would be affected by being mutual victims of him. (i have a vague JayTim idea where TIm fully retires from being Robin after being Joker Junior and killing the Joker, making Steph Robin for most of his typical Robin era and Jason still tracks him down out of curiosity bc he wants to know what happened and all. very underbaked but i've got thoughts.)

Renegade/Apprentice of Slade!Dick Grayson - this is another one where yes, this happened *sort of* in canon, but i highly doubt most people writing Renegate!Dick have read or are actually pulling from Nightwing: Renegade. it's just an exploration fo the concept fo Dick being Slade's apprentice and i will always eat it up in any capacity. whether Dick grows up with Slade from a young age, or chooses Slade for whatever reason later in life. it's not anything that works in canon bc it compromises Dick morally (similar to the above with Tim) and therefore will always come across incredibly fanon in most fics. but i can't say i don't enjoy it. it's fun to make Dick a little morally fucked up and see what you can make him under Slade's tutelage.

Jason & Damian Meeting in the League -there's no world where i believe this could work in the canon comics. (maybe in the Young Justice cartoon i suppose, but even then i think it's iffy) i would go as far to say it's wildly unrealistic. i don't see a world where Ra's would let Jason anywhere *near* Damian, bc Jason was Talia's pet project that he didn't approve of. that all said, there's something very interesting about how they *could've* met and them potentially bonding during that timeframe. them being somewhat brotherly during this time because Jason sees Bruce in Damian and sort of latches onto the kid and Damian is full of wonder hearing real stories about Batman and Robin, then that getting violently ripped away by Jason leaving the League is fun to me. it's fun how that could affect them within the Batfam and all. it's super fanon to me, but i do not care. i will eat it up

Bad Dad Clark Kent/Good Dad Lex Luthor - i will admit as a late, i've been less and less kind to this particular fanon bc of everything i've argued with people about, *this* one seems the most pervasive as misunderstood fanon. i don't mind when fanon exists, my gripe is when ppl try to claim it's canon. and the *arguments* i've had over this with people who can never seem to cite an actual comic are... frustrating. but that said, i think there is something fun to this strictly in fanon. the duality of who you expect to accept Kon and who you expect to hurt him being flipped is just sort of fun for the occasional guilty pleasure fic. it can make Kon's internal conflict a bit more interesting. the same goes for the Jon favoritism from Clark, it's not a canon thing (and i rlly wish ppl understood how complicated the timeline of Kon and Jon is and any distance from Clark toward Kon isn't malice, it's that Kon is from a timeline that Clark does not remember in the current canon so Clark just straight up doesn't know the poor kid.) but it's sort of fun to give Kon that complex of being overlooked and forgotten sometimes. making Kon just a *bit* more Luthor than Kent will *always* appeal to me in fanfic, especially if he *knows* it's wrong but craves approval from anyone who will give it.

Good Dad Bruce Wayne - i'll die on the hill Bruce is canonically a shitty father. maybe not to the extreme some people write him as, but he's not great at it. that said, i enjoy it in fanfiction. sometimes, i just want silly fluff or hurt/comfort where Bruce finally gets it right and manages to comfort whatever Batkid is in the fic. one of my favorite fics of all time is hinged on Bruce being a good dad, so i think it's just fun to explore how good the relationships *could* be, if Bruce was slightly less of an asshole. i usually prefer him as an asshole, but there are times i want low stakes nonsense.

Gotham Rogues Having Soft Spots for Robin(s) - just about every Rogue in Gotham has done something absolutely irredeemable, and most of them don't like or care about anyone in the Batfamily. but if there's a fic where one of the Robins inexplicably is sort of close with a Rogue and they have a cute silly relationship out of it? I'll eat it up i fear. Steph and the Riddler are besties? I'll believe it. Tim and Scarecrow get along pretty well? give me ten of these. Rogues protecting Robins just hits a spot. the unexpected nature of the relationship, as well as the fact they see each other regularly, can make a lot of good fodder.

[bisexualamy]

Your take on Power of Three is sooo good and correct! Underrated ep!

Thank you! "Power of Three" is another ep where I believe that I could Fix Her with minimal rewrites. I really think it's remembered poorly because the villain is underwhelming and underdeveloped. I think if they'd just simplified the villain, or turned the episode into a non-antagonist episode like they did with "Twice Upon a Time", more people would give it the credit it deserves. The point of "Power of Three" is not the villain.

Power of Three is an episode primarily concerned with what happens after people leave the TARDIS. Modern Who did this earlier, with Sarah Jane in "School Reunion", Jack in The Utopia Arc and later in Torchwood, and pretty much all of the farewell sequence in "End of Time." Chibnall did it later as well with the companion support group. But I think "Power of Three" is unique in that its tone is markedly more positive than previous examples. It's a lovely slice of life episode and a lovely ode to Amy and Rory, who've at that point were our companions the longest anyone's been a companion in Modern Who.

We get the Team TARDIS domesticity that many of us love. We get glimpses of Amy and Rory's friends back home, and the joy they take in "boring" things like weddings and dinner parties. It has the introduction of Kate Stewart and a lovely homage to the Brig. It has my favorite scene with Amy and Eleven by the Thames, where two people who have such difficulty being emotionally direct and genuine are able to now, after years of growing together, admit plainly that they love each other and they're terrified of losing each other. The episode is full of references to how the Doctor's fingerprints are all of Earth and its history, some good and some bad, but ultimately he is loved. His impact isn't just dramatic, be that saving the Earth or bringing about terrible tragedy. The Doctor is Amy and Rory's friend. The Brigadier's friend. Kate's friend. That's it.

I love "Power of Three" because, for the first time since the revival, we're seeing companions who grow beyond the Doctor, whose relationship grows and changes to include the Doctor less or differently, without tragedy being the catalyst. Amy and Rory aren't traumatized like Martha. They don't have their memories wiped like Donna. They aren't forcibly ripped away like Rose. They just built a life they like, and as they're growing up they're finding a lot of joy in all the different ways they can live their life.

Amy has learned to appreciate a life that is slower and simpler. Rory has grown confident both in his relationship with Amy and his career. Amy and Eleven explain the episode's point right at the beginning:

AMY: To think it's been ten years. Not for you, or for Earth, but for us. Ten years older. Ten years of you, on and off. ELEVEN: Look at you now. All grown up.

This is Amy's character arc, and Amy/Eleven's relationship arc, in a nutshell. This is the end of their story. And as much as I love "Angels Take Manhattan", I feel like really, in "Power of Three", Amy and Rory demonstrate that they're already ready to move onto the next phase of their lives. Maybe it could've ended less tragically. Maybe the Doctor could've visited them for decades and decades in the future. But they were never going to travel again like they did back in Series 5 and 6. And that can be wonderful.

[crossbackpoke-check]

it’s all the rest of what i want with you

connor dewar/brandon duhaime :: 8k

Summary:

“Brandon,” Connor says with a sigh. “There’s no baby in there.”

“Not yet,” Brandon says. Connor feels his stomach twist, almost like what he would imagine a baby kicking to feel like.

in these trying times of dewvorce, may i offer you 8k of pwp inspired by @stillfertile’s wonderful art which i had. several breakdowns about 🫶 anyway please enjoy!!!

[megamindsupremacy]

I reread my baby obi-wan fic last night and now im having feelings again

[incorrect-koh-posts]

You said "which is a tragedy in its own right as far as my tastes are concerned, but I digress", but I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. I hope it's okay to ask, but what kind of fics/pairings would you like/prefer to see emerge from the fandom?

Of course it's okay to ask, dear anon!

Personally? I'd love to see more variety. One of the chief reasons why I enjoy reading fan fiction is finding new things I like - perhaps some pairing I hadn't considered before, some batshit premise or crossover that turns out to be actually brilliant, or maybe a cool genfic that explores previously unseen sides of a character or character dynamic that people don't write about very often. I'm not really the kind of person who seeks out fic based on specific tropes. Once I've read a story with a certain trope in a fandom, it's pretty unlikely that I'll go and read another one with a very similar premise, unless I really enjoy the author's writing.

So what I'd be excited about seeing in the AO3 tag would honestly just be: something new. For instance, a sapphic Sibylla/OC fic would be such a fascinating read (as would be anything at all that explores Sibylla's character a bit more). Or a Saladin-centric fic - sign me the hell up. I'd adore finding something for Godfrey or Imad, and we all know a new Tiberias fic would have me foaming at the mouth. I'd also love an interesting and/or wacky AU (and I'd write one myself if I had the time). Make it Jane Austen and let Baldwin have a gentleman suitor, while Sibylla elopes Lydia-Bennett style with Guy, and Godfrey and Raymond grump about in the Navy. Write a daemon AU (as in His Dark Materials) in the canonical universe. Or throw them all into the 21st century and let Reynald send Saladin threatening messages via fax.

I know the KoH fandom is much too small to engender the sort of variety I'd ideally like to see, and it's only reasonable for writers to sort of double down upon the fic premises and tropes that have done well in terms of hits and comments in the past and write more of the stuff the majority enjoys. As far as taste goes, I'm aware I'm the complete outlier here, and I really don't mean to antagonise anybody with this post or insult their writing or reading preferences. I'm glad your fics are doing well, folks, I truly am - it's only that I'm very likely not the target audience for them. Sometimes I just wish I weren't the only freak in the circus, lol.

(The post anon is referring to is this one btw.)

[separatist-apologist]

finally got around to catching up on your recent fics and I would just like to say that I'm obsessed with you and everything you write <3

- 🌌

(Also may I please propose: elain as helen of troy)

Does that make Lucien Paris??

[bumblingbabooshka]

write to me

[the-sky-queen]

Alllllrighty everyone, it's time to talk about the plot for that Sonic Mesmerizer pic I posted yesterday. :D So, first of all, I've decided that the AU is called Mesmerize Me. (If you weren't aware, it's based off the vocaloid song, Mesmerizer.) So! Here's what's going on in this lovely little AU:

Our setting is this mall and we've got two main locations there. First is a restaurant of some kind and second is a movie theater. Shadow works at the theater as basically an usher. He helps people find their seats, sells tickets, and occasionally works the concessions stand. Sonic works at the restaurant as a waiter/server. He takes people's orders, brings them their food, and does the whole thing while wearing ✨roller skates!!!✨ The two hogs are friends.

One day, the two are talking and Sonic tells Shadow that he's a bit unsatisfied with his job. He's kinda thinking of quitting soon so he can get a change of pace. He doesn't really wanna be in fast food his whole life, you know? Shadow is supportive of this decision. If that's what Sonic wants, then he should do it. But things start getting weird the next time Shadow sees Sonic, a few days later. They meet up during their breaks and Sonic has seemingly forgotten all about his plans to quit. He's says he's happy with his job. And he's acting just a little bit . . . off.

Shadow is suspicious and starts to catch wind that something’s wrong here. Sonic is just acting REALLY weird. So, Shadow starts to investigate. He doesn't get much out of Sonic, but one day the blue hedgehog slips and mentions that he's been having a lot of one on one conversations with his boss lately. And who's his boss? Starline of course, who do you take me for? XD

So Shadow starts to look into Starline and discovers that the man has actually been HYPNOTIZING Sonic, along with countless other employees throughout the mall. Shadow actually manages to follow Starline and Sonic back into a secret room and witnesses a hypnosis session from the rafters or something. But right as Shadow’s about to run for help, Starline realizes he's there. Starline says special activation phrase to Sonic, and he's suddenly turned into an insane monster bent on capturing Shadow by any means necessary. Sonic is sent after Shadow and there's an intense chase scene. Shadow runs for as long as he can, but is ultimately caught by Sonic.

Shadow is taken back to Starline who starts to subject him to his own hypnosis sessions. Shadow does his best to resist and manages to do so for many days. He tries to send messages for help during the times he's let out of Starline's sight to go do his actual job. But no one picks up on it. Until finally Shadow's will gives out and he succumbs to Starline’s influence. >:)

[anotherfanaccount]

Episode 14 has been watched. And I can safely say that we are getting the happy ending.

Next episode eun seong bitchass gets caught in the trap hyun woo laid out for him. And Hyun Woo gets out because he got a smart lawyer friend. Hae In is confused but that's okay. Hong family will save baekhong this time.

Soocheol is fine everyone. He's faking it. Remember he learnt the first lesson of boxing is faking it. So this Hong will be fine too.

For the finale episode Seul Hee tries to avenge her son but is struck by Grace's car.

And the show ends with Beomja's fourth wedding in yongduri.

Epilogue. Baekhong go on trips and baby 1031 is incoming soon.

[theangrypomeranian]

What got you into shipping Darryl and Becky? I’d love to hear the backstory of this pairing. 👀💕💕💕

i always wonder if people realize the pandoras box they're opening when they give me a chance to talk about my obscure rare pair lol because i could talk for AGES about these two <3333 so they come from my fic Baby Steps (ps just because i'm linking it i am not asking people to read it, this thing is SO LONG lol). Darryl was in the fic from chapter 3, while Becky actually didn't get introduced until the end of chapter 13. it was throw away line about him bringing her along to the end of the year bonfire that was there because i think i'd rewatched V For Valentine-detta and felt bad for her. then a couple of arcs later i made a throw away line about Darryl having a crush on her mostly just for shits and gigs. i actually had no intention of having them end up together. but then @jimmyjrsmusoems answered someone's ask forever ago saying she shipped them and it was like a switch was flipped in my brain. suddenly i couldn't stop thinking about them and what their potential dynamic could look like. i wrote a one-shot for them and ended up thinking they were really cute. i came up with an angsty backstory for Becky (that's honestly just a lot of projection because that's writing for ya lmao) and how Darryl was helping her and next thing you know i'm obsessed. they've taken a bit of a backseat in my mind recently because the last couple of months took a toll on my mental health and they were partly associated with that, but i miss them with my whole chest. and just in thinking about answering this ask my brain came up with a fun au for them that i might just write lol. sorry this got so long - and sorry it took me a couple of days to answer, i had to gather my spoons for it. please feel free to come chat with me about them if you ever want to! and thank you so much for giving me a chance to squeal over them. <333

[ekingston]

I'd like to request #33 for the writers ask, pretty please <3

33. Give your writing a compliment.

i think it has a very distinctive voice! which is one of the things i enjoy most when choosing something to read, so it’s been a supercool development!

[unexpectedgeese]

Fate is already decided, is the thing. The giants of Gigantomachia have already lost. Secretive Plotter has already lost everything. 999th YJH has already died. Orpheus has already killed his father. And there is no undoing any of that; The stories that unfold on the page are immutable. These people have wounds, and they can’t be healed.

The Star Stream is a system built for tragedy. Again and again incarnations have thrown themselves at impossible dreams of a happy ending; and every time they die for it. There are hundreds of regressions, thousands of victims, a million stories unfolding— Every last one a tragedy.

Is there meaning in a story with a fixed end? The incarnations write their own downfalls, bound into tragedy by an impassive system. Yoo Joonghyuk dies again and again, eventually succumbing to overwhelming despair.

You cannot change the past. You can’t rewrite a story that’s already been written.

You can read it, though. And that’s the point— the entire point of a story is to be read. To read a story is to understand, to love, to pick through a lifetime of suffering and find the good in it; To take that story with you when you write your own.

And what then? What if every story is meant for one reader? What if that reader writes their own story in turn, influenced by their predecessors, bringing those scavenged bits of hope along?

If every story is told and listened to, every failure a building block of some unseen future, are we still writing a tragedy? When that original story is  built on, bookmarked and dog-eared and woven into a final epilogue, is it still a record of hopelessness— or is it a way to survive?

Every story has a flaw. This means that every story can be completed. If reader, writer, and protagonist all band together and just try to reach the ending— 10 times, 100 times, 1000 times, each one compounding on the next— What will happen?

These people can’t be healed. But they can be saved. You cannot change the past, but you can change the future. You cannot rewrite a story, but you can give it an epilogue.

We are not reincarnators, or regressors, or returnees. But if we tell our stories, isn’t it a similar thing?