#xena's share day

[dyrewrites]

For @xenascribbles's share day, the theme is 'desperation', and I hope this counts because it's what popped into my head first. >.>

->Spoiler warnings for those who care about Before Deluca as this is part of the end (it is also rough draft so could change maybe)<-

We reached the hotel in time to see the light within it...wasn’t. It was a reflection of something distant, something behind us, growing with likesame glow.

Soft, at first, it reminded of sunrise and left our thoughts singing together of a forgotten parasol—or hat, as he’d taken to wearing. I lost him with it, sliding off me to seek where shade would be. But it was not sunlight rising over the horizon.

It was sunlight walking toward us from between the buildings.

And I remembered then, the words of the werewolves decades prior, those we spent but a night with who tried to warn. To offer aid.

A terror of silver and sunlight, I recalled as Lucient rushed in front of me for the sudden shakes in the ground beneath us.

Bright moonlight shined at me, wet and glittering, “it can’t be, treasure. So long we’ve been safe, free, it can’t be that, not for us.”

“The city is hollow, my love,” the words sputtered more than I meant, uneven on my lips, “and whatever comes shakes the ground and...and brings the sun. What else could it be, and who else would it be for?”

More the ground shook and Lucient conceded, narrowing his eyes for it he conceded and turned, arms out to shield me. To wait, mind swirling with ways to fight.

But there would be no fight.

I kept my hands firm on his waist, to grab and run.

But there would be no running.

The Holy Warrior was a thing of deepest terror. Alien, other, more monstrous than any could claim them to be. Stomping, slow and slouched, it stalked the city, all its bright as fierce and yellow as an afternoon sun. It towered above the trees, the buildings, dragging sunlight, radiating it.

Hissing for the touch of that light, the virulent burns it left in seconds, Lucient wouldn’t leave his position. Snipping at me with sound more than words, he fought to keep it but I shoved and held him behind me—both arms fighting to keep him there.

We run, I told the grumbling fear at my back, you in my arms for that bright, we run and we do not stop.

No, pressed so close, so cool against me, the heaving breaths of subdued sobs near broke me into my own, it’ll keep coming. If it is...what it appears...it will not stop until it has what it seeks. We can’t run, husband.

Nor could we fight. I wouldn’t speak it, or think it, and had no need to.

It made such a hope impossible by virtue of its appearance. Beyond its size, the terror was...familiar. If distorted. Memories of angels were difficult to keep from fluttering at the sight of it.

Vaguely man-shaped, the Holy Warrior bore six sets of gleaming white wings branching from six shoulders—six arms, six hands dragging six curved and shining blades. And each wing watched with six ever-twitching eyes but none from the face.

Wretched thing that face, smooth but for the mouth...a vertical slit stuffed with bladed teeth. A mouth that spoke with words understood yet impossible to hear, impossible to ignore.

SUBMIT OR PERISH.

My love did not speak, but slid in front of me and screamed for the burns as he warned with terror I’d never felt from his thoughts, run. I cannot, but you can. It wants me, surely. So run. Let it have me, treasure...run.

After all we’d been, all we were, all we ached to remain—how could you ask such a thing, expect such a thing.

I would. Not. Run.

I’ll not see you taken, not be apart from you. Not again. Never again, I insisted, with thought and hands as I shoved him further behind me andaddressedthe Warrior, “Sottomettiti al mio cazzo.”

Fool I was to provoke it—but I would do so again.

It rushed, with all its gleaming swords and burning sunlight reflecting so perfectly off the ocean—one so terribly close. The Holy terror barreled towards us and, as Lucient prepared to meet it, I picked my beautiful dream up and threw him into the sea.

I’d not see him again.

--

→Before Deluca Taglist<-

// feel free to ask to be added or removed ^.- //

@watermeezer @starbuds-and-rosedust @thespacelizard

@your-absent-father @mr-orion @cowboybrunch @olliexwrites

@rowanmgrey-author @the-golden-comet @wyked-ao3 @leahnardo-da-veggie

@lychhiker-writes @aziz-reads @mthollowell-writes

[illarian-rambling]

Not a horror writer specifically, but I do pride myself on some scary monster :)

"Mashal!”

Astra screamed as she watched the monster toss her friend about twenty feet back like he didn’t weight a solid ton. Mashal’s shriek, along with the lights of his eyes, was cut off as he impacted the water. She held her breath, waiting to hear him surface, only, he never did.

For a moment, it was just Astra, the beast, and the devouring dark.

Suddenly, there came a hissing swish from the side and Astra dropped on instinct. She was blind without Mashal to provide light, so all she could do was curl into a ball and hold her breath as she felt the beast trample over her. A yelp escaped her lips as its foot came down on her free-floating hair, ripping out fair chunk.

Lungs burning, Astra kicked off towards the surface. She felt around in her coat as she did, drawing her trusty pocket knife. It wasn’t much of a weapon. Mostly, it found its use as a nail-trimmer and vegetable chopper. Still, this wouldn’t be her first time wielding it in a pinch.

Astra surfaced as silently as she could. The darkness here was like that of the deepest cave—no light for her eyes to adjust to, no matter how long she spent in shadow. She did her best to breathe quietly, no matter how much she wanted to gasp for air.

Somewhere nearby, she could hear the beast sloshing around. Every time it moved, a low groan spilled from its chest-mouth, pained and bassy. Astra knew unquestioningly that it was searching for her.

The witch crouched low in the water as she worked her way closer to the wall. The slimy feel of the stone on her back was comforting, in a way. It meant no attack was coming from behind. She glanced to the left, hoping to see something, anything, but finding nothing.

Where the hell was Mashal? He didn’t need to breathe, it was doubtful he’d gotten caught on anything. Astra stared intently in the direction he’d disappeared, yet the lights of his eyes never resurfaced.

Had he gotten knocked out somehow? If his heart rune had been jostled the right way, she figured it was possible. Or maybe the water was deeper where the beast had tossed him.

Either way, Astra currently had four fire, two shadow, and one ice rune, a bottle of galura toxin that was nowhere near fermented enough to be functional, and a measly dagger to work with. She also couldn’t see the damn thing she was fighting. If she didn’t want to die here, she needed to find Mashal.

Astra began to feel her way through the water, moving as slow as the rolling fog. She could do this. Her battle now wasn’t one of confidence and magic, but one of simple survival. Get Mashal, light up the area, kill the fuck out of the—

The witch froze as her outstretched hand met clammy flesh.

Goosebumps traveled up Astra’s arm in a wave as she took in the repugnant texture. The flesh shifted as well, rippling like maggots were moving beneath. Fingers probed up Astra’s sleeve, inspected her palm. For a second, the beast seemed about to interlace its fingers with hers.

Xena’s Share Day

this one is for my lovely horror writers :) show me something scary. make me shiver and cringe! i wanna be unsettled!

*this is a horror prompt, so there may be difficult subjects included in shared snippets. read at your own discretion.

[girl4music]

Happy 29th anniversary to the pilot episode of XENA.

Original air date: September 4th, 1995.

Directed by Doug Lefler. Written by Robert Tapert.

Lead starring Lucy Lawless as Xena.

and Renee O’Connor as Gabrielle.

I will watch and write meta about other TV shows.

I will watch and write meta about other TV ships.

But nothing I watch or write meta about in this world will ever come close to matching my fan passion and loyalty to the TV show ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ and the TV ship Xena and Gabrielle. They are my one true love.

What ‘Sins Of The Past’ does once you’ve seen the whole TV show and watch the episode back over is it shows you how intertwined these soulmates already are as the event of them meeting saves their lives and once you are aware of the wheres and whys of this - the show itself completely changes into something more valuable than you initially saw and understood. I recommend people go back and watch it and only view it as a love story from the very beginning because the way it hits you when you do is just mind-blowing.

They set up a beautifully complex and layered WLW love story between Xena and Gabrielle without really realizing that that’s what they were doing because it’s such a very natural and authentic queer storytelling of two strangers that find home in the soul of each other.

"There’s not a word yet, for old friends who’ve just met” is a lyric in a song written by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher from ‘The Muppets Movie’. Writer and co-executive producer, who wrote many of the most formative episodes of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’, Steven L. Sears affectionately ascribes that lyric to Xena and Gabrielle because he believes it perfectly describes the incredible soulmate connection that the two main characters share right from the very beginning of the TV show. And I would have to say that I agree with him on that because no matter what alternative Universe, Uber timeline, reincarnated lifetime or afterlife it is, they meet each other and they develop an attraction to and affinity for each other that seemingly goes way beyond basic friendship and romance and they have a dynamic that is so strong, so substantial and so damn profound that the studio gave up on censoring them. It’s a dynamite chemistry that can be felt so viscerally that you can watch the episodes countless times over and still pick up on fresh new things about the way these two characters are with one another and how they balance and complement each other so perfectly that they’re basically the human representation of yin and yang. And you can read my Xena and Gabrielle: Character study thesis to learn what I mean by that.

Their relationship is incredibly well-written in that it’s so carefully and conscientiously slow-burned and evolved from friends into lovers that it will make it impossible not to ship them together. Believe me - even if you’ve seen Xena before, you haven’t seen it like this. You haven’t seen it as a WLW love story from the beginning to the end. But once you do, you will be attached to it in ways that will make you just like me.

That is… Lifelong dedicated to and enamoured with it.

This is a TV show that finished airing in the year 2001 but it’s been my everything since I first discovered it at 5 years old just flicking through the UK channels bored out of my mind or so my parents have told me.

I cannot even begin to imagine of who I’d be without this TV show and TV ship in my life and I know no other will ever come close to it or them for me for the rest of my life. So all day today I am spending my time celebrating not just the TV show’s anniversary of its pilot episode but also Xena and Gabrielle’s anniversary of meeting and becoming the greatest love story ever told in TV art/entertainment history. They’re iconic and legendary in the LGBTQ community for a reason. That reason is that they’re the first and, honestly, still the best WLW/queer representation that can ever be witnessed and engaged with on the TV screen. The factors as to why that’s true are many,… but mainly… it’s because they were allowed to exist and evolve together as the only lead main female characters in such a way that no other WLW ship on TV ever would or could do so again. They may have been severely censored as an explicit romantic and fully maintext confirmed and committed couple on screen but the creators never let that prevent them from providing a depiction of an all-encompassing love that was much like a romance and still went beyond a romance. Xena and Gabrielle’s love went way beyond the boundaries of romance. I’m not ever saying it’s not that. I’m just saying that it’s more than that and that’s exactly what makes it even more romantic than anything else ever created at least in the TV format and paradigm it was.

Since then, the landscape has changed so drastically that TV WLW/queer ships are never given what they got. Which was a 6 seasons, 22-24 episodes-long epic journey of them just being each other’s absolute EVERYTHING. You can see, hear and feel every single moment of that in who Xena and Gabrielle are as both individual main characters and as a main character dynamic because they do not ever neglect any real and raw aspect about them. The only thing you do not ever get to see between them - although it is heavily implied often - is sexual intimacy. That really is not a loss because everything else that should or needs to be there is there way more than it is with any other WLW/queer TV ships in any other TV shows because they’re lead main characters. In fact… they’re the only lead main characters that are credited throughout the entire run of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ and, honestly, sometimes I do wish TV ships in other TV shows would censor themselves every now and again so that they would be forced to dig deeper into the nuances and details as much as they did with Xena and Gabrielle.

I know many would disagree with me here but I’m adamant that the censorship helped them more than it hindered them because what you got instead with them was such a powerful representation of true love that didn’t have to rely on sex to represent it. I know that they couldn’t be shown to be sexually intimate because it wasn’t allowed to be sexual. Nowadays it can but I find that sex is used too much now when it shouldn’t be because a real life WLW/queer ship is more than sex and that’s why Xena and Gabrielle is still better representation even in this day and age.

It’s a combination of queer censorship, unbelievably strong chemistry between the leads and the creator/cast/crew’s sincere intention with queer storytelling that gave us the truly EPIC WLW love story that we got with XENA and I wouldn’t have it any other way because, for me, that is everything I could ever want.

So if you love this TV show and TV ship, please join me in celebrating the timelessly magical experience it is by writing meta about what these things mean to you.

XENA: “You know, I’m sending you home in the morning.”

GABRIELLE: “I won’t stay home. I don’t belong there, Xena. I’m not the little girl that my parents wanted me to be. You wouldn’t understand.”

XENA: “It’s not easy proving you’re a different person.

*Gabrielle eyes her curiously, Xena throws a bundle of blankets at her, gestures to the other side of the fire*

You can sleep over there.”

XENA: “You know, where I’m headed, they’ll be trouble.”

GABRIELLE: “I know.”

XENA: “Then why would you want to go into that with me?”

GABRIELLE: “That’s what friends do. They stand by each other when there’s trouble.”

XENA: “All right, friend.”

[mejomonster]

Guardian really set my expectations of "censored bl cdramas" and man that was a high bar and probably not fair of me to expect.

Guardian really opens with Zhao Yunlan asking Shen Wei "are you married? You're such a catch. Can I take you out to eat? Here's my number A-Lan call me" which like even on face value id say thats called flirting (unless I guess ur so straight Straight blinders on that 2 men have to physically fuck in front of u to consider something gay)

Then of course there's shen weis pining shit but like, that's not Hammer down obvious to I guess the most oblivious person in denial

But Zhu Hong saying she likes Zhao Yunlan, Zhao Yunlan repeatedly refusing her and feeling bad about it, Zhu Hong repeatedly acknowledging he picked SHEN WEI over her (making it fairly clear it was a romantic pick and she Lost it to a guy) and shen Wei, brick that he can be at times, tells her it will only take a few years for the feelings to fade when she'll get over Zhao yunlan. The guy in love with him, instead of her. Yeah shen wei, she's definitely not wishing she could stab you for that insensitive remark. But she's too good of a person to.

Which. I'd say the above two points establish fairly overtly that: Zhao Yunlan is into men, that his colleagues assume he's also into women (if Zhu Hong thinks she has a chance), and that Shen Wei is Zhao Yunlans romantic pick. So Shen Weis sexuality? Well he doesn't dispute being Zhao Yunlans romantic pick, and Lin Jing assumes they're lovers with dialogue (yes he's saying opposite day stuff but his opposite day is just not being a liar and spy). So Shen Weis sexuality includes Zhao Yunlan.

And so like that's just. Fairly overt explicit stuff about their relationship. There's also the "a very oblivious person could argue its only implied" flirting. (And everything going on with Lao Chu and Xiao Guo, the side couple... oh my heart ;-; when they almost froze... the family dinner at Xiao guos... Lao chu admiring how kind Xiao Guo is, scaring him trying to say he's a cannibal and Xiao Guo not running away)

There's the coat sharing macho trying to be the man helping the damsel both of those fuckers do galore, shen wei moving in across the hall (which is either stalker or deeply in love or - as is true, both), shen wei implicitly moving in (this one's vague ill admit to be fair), the fucking "You're good with your hands" line from Zhao yunlan which is absolutely a porn line, every villain in the show viscerally aware Zhao Yunlan is who Shen Wei wants to protect, Ye Zun pretending to be Shen Wei by calling Zhao Yunlan cute names and asking if his outfit looks nice (and all of That), Zhao yunlans romantic ass hit me through the heart line of "if you're trouble I want a lifetime of you" at the wedding (not ever over it), the fucking lollipop scene in ye old haixing. Just a bunch of flirty type scenes, romantic tropes galore. And that's not even covering the actual genuine subtext of ALL the cases paralleling how shen wei and/or how Zhao yunlan feel implicitly (which are just subtext to be fair... how shen wei thinks he lost kunlun, how Zhao yunlan ISNT him so it hurts he's a stranger or he IS in which case he's a liar and shen weis grieving, the case where a dixingren and human love each other and Zhao yunlan notices he wants to be close to shen wei even though shen weis lying etc).

Like. They felt as canon as Tara X Willow in Buffy. Or at least as much as Xena x Gabrielle, the center relationship of the show where all stories of the episodes are always at least in some way about them.

[reysdriver]

Remus Lupin Masterlist

✩ - Fluff ☾ - Angst 𖦹 - Smut

♡ - Xena's Favourites

Series/AU

Dad!Remus

Dealer!Remus

Rockstar!Remus

Headcanons

Remus in December - ✩

Drabbles

Nothing But The Necklace - ✩♡ - Your first Valentine's Day after Hogwarts with Remus

Favourite Jumper - ✩ - Remus can't find his favourite autumn jumper

Somnophilia - 𖦹 - Remus can't help himself when he wakes up after a wet dream next to you

Sunday Roast - ✩ - Remus fixes you a plate at dinner and you get heart eyes

Oneshots

Treehouse - ✩ - Remus shows you his secret hideout, his safe place

Chocolate Cake - ✩♡ - Spending the first night in your new flat eating chocolate cake on the floor

Drunk Walk Home - ✩♡ - Bringing your drunk boyfriend up to his dorm after a party

Piggyback - ✩☾♡ - Remus gets jealous after you spend an afternoon with James, but you sweetly assure him he has nothing to be worried about

Reminiscence - ✩ - You and Remus confess your feelings for each other at James & Lily's wedding, but it's never too late

Book Club - ✩♡ - You and Remus share a love of reading, and one of his books reveals his feelings for you

Hospital Wing - ✩ - You visit Remus in the Hospital Wing after a rough full moon

[jenxwp]

Is There a Doctor in the House? Script

Hey all, it’s been a while but I thought I would have a look at another production script and see what details I could find! So lucky dip off the shelf was… *drumroll* ...Is There a Doctor in the House!

So, this is production #76925 and was probably filmed around March 1996. It first aired in July 1996 and interestingly enough, Altared States was production #76926 meaning it was intended to be the finale. I don’t know about you guys, but I think that would have been a let down compared to ITADITH as the finale. Glad it happened as it did.

The first thing I wanted to point out was that this episode happens over 2 days and 1 night. I don’t know why- I just found that interesting.

So minor detail difference when the first find Ephiny- in the script she is sitting against a tree whereas in the episode, she is lying flat under scrub. The episode also has an extra line that isn’t in the script where Xena acknowledges the wound.

Our first description of Marmax- apparently ‘think General Patton’. I had no idea who this was but google tells me a US army officer from WWI and WWII? Maybe someone with more American military history can fill in any relevance around this?

Also interesting to note- in the episode, after Marmax disperses his troops he sees a Thessalian foot soldier and begins chasing him shouting “Thessalian scum!”. Xena knocks him off his horse with her chakram sharing a nod to the Thessalian. She then draws her sword and wounds him as the teaser fades. This is not quite what is in the script…

I will share a snippet of the first time Xena saves a life in the hospital. There are a few differences in dialogue compared to what was eventually filmed and aired. A few standout points is that in the episode, Gabrielle gets involved in the procedure a lot sooner than was originally scripted. Also, it was scripted a lot more ‘bloody’ with Galen being sprayed with blood. In the episode, Galen does jump back but we don’t see blood everywhere. _90s TV censorship_

We also have a small deleted scene interaction between Democritus, Hippocrates and Galen right after…

Now here is an interesting one! The man’s son that Gabrielle goes to find was originally scripted to be an adult friend. There were also a few extra lines where Gabrielle promises Democritus that she will be careful. This isn’t in the final cut.

This description of Gabrielle’s wounds 😫

Another deleted scene…

Okay I don’t know what to say here… I am glad Xena didn’t hold the baby up by its legs and give its ‘rump a slap’…

Aaand I will just leave this excerpt here…

What script next?

[shivadh]

Per a discussion in comments, here's a bit of a facecast gallery! I had more than I thought, once I sat down to make a list. Left to right, top to bottom:

Michaelis: When I shared some photos of top tier football coach Jose Mourinho ages ago, someone called him the King Emeritus and the idea stuck, although there are other visual influences as well. Mourinho is excellent visual shorthand, anyway.

Jes Deimos: In my head, Jes is based on someone I went to college with, but early on in the books someone linked me to V Spehar, nonbinary journalist and podcast host, and I love their look for Jes. You just have to imagine the ice white hair.

Noah Deimos: I never had an image of Noah as a teen, but the first time I saw stand-up comic Moses Storm, I went "oh, hello adult Noah." (He's super funny, watch his special "Trash White" if you get the chance.)

Gregory: Fellas, is it weird to base a protagonist's look on a statue of Hadrian's lover Antinous from 1800 years ago? He has such good hair, is the thing. This is a photo of a statue of Antinous I took myself at the Art Institute several years ago.

Eddie: Eddie is one of those characters who I find so compelling to write as a personality that I find it hard to visualize him, but I would be infamous if I left Guy Fieri out of the lineup.

Alanna: okay what you have to understand is that she looks like Natalie Portman but like, very specifically the straightened hair, no frills, Plain Jane phase Portman went through in the late 1990s.

Gerald: This is a photo of a University of Chicago polo team member from 1926 and that's so hilariously specific as an image that it makes me laugh. If it wasn't this dude it'd be JFK, though. Again, the hair is doing a lot of the work here.

Monday: it's time to admit that the amount of Xena reruns I watched while writing my master's thesis may have permanently impacted me. Lucy Lawless was all I could think of when describing her.

Simon: I based Simon in the first book heavily on the mannerisms of Colin Fox as Fritz Brenner in the A&E Nero Wolfe miniseries, because he's perfect, I am not taking questions.

There are a number of people I don't have a facecast for -- Georgie probably most notably, but also pretty much all the Galian contingent, Joan, and most of the Ramblers (Ephraim has a touch of James Dean about him but none of the photos of James Dean look quite right). I do have casts for Caleb and Buck but I couldn't cram all the images in so I'll do that one separately in a day or two.

[etaindelaserna]

Can I ask from this ask game : https://www.tumblr.com/toomanyfandomsthings/749729499738996736/send-me-a-ship-and-a-number-and-ill-tell-you?source=share

No. 2, 10, 11, 12, 15 for Dramione, KakaSaku and SukuIta....Thanks 🌻

Dramione

No 2. Draco's love letters are written on the best pergament one can buy with gold. In addition he has made an effort to charm them to smell like freshly mown grass, because he knows how much Hermione adores the smell. His impeccable handwriting and phrasing are meant to turn these letters into literary pieces of grandeur about the nature of love and how obessed he his with Hermione and when she is finally going to marry him BUT in reality they are discussions about charm and potion theories, books they think the other should read and A LOT OF arguing about the practical application of said theories. There is still a lot of flirting and teasing on Draco's part, which never fails to either make Hermione almost explode or smile with the hint of a blush on her face. Hermione takes her responses very seriously and thus they are always too long, which in return causes Draco to point out, that she had made her point already 3 pages earlier. Since Hermione doesn't really get the hint that Draco is indulging her with these discussions, he at one point had started to include book pressed flowers with his letters. He even extended that to her most read books in the library.

No. 10. They are united by their love for adventure and fantasy shows that have either a certain storytelling or entertainment quality to them. They watched Game of Thrones, Vampire Diaries (of course comparing these vampires and werewolves to the real deal), Westworld, The Walking Dead (but only till season 5), Once Upon a Time (they're both intrigued by how mystical magic is portrayed), Stranger Things, Charmed, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Xena, The Witcher and American Gods. They tried to watch Outlander but Draco was annoyed that Hermione seems to get awefully quiet every time Jamie smiled or smirked or was shirtless, so Hermione watched Outlander, Spartacus and Rome on her own. Draco on the other hand was hiding from her Band of Brothers, Homeland, House of Cards and The Pacific.

No. 11. Draco's first impression of Hermione was, that she seems to be just as snotty and aristocratic in the way she carries herself as he was but without the name or reputation to back it up. She thought too highly of herself, her opinions and seemed to think she was better than anyone else. She seemed to only help others if it benefited her. Hermione thought Draco to be just another rich brat, who thinks Daddy's money is going to solve all of his problems instead of working hard.

No. 12. They don't talk about it, athough Draco is dropping hints and he wants to negotiate what they are going to do for their anniversary, but Hermione says, she's too busy and whatnot. In the end Draco kidnaps her. They are visiting Versailles and the Louvre and he schedules an interview with one of Hermiones favourite authors. Hermione feels guilty for not realizing how much this day means to him and allwos him to take her to a fancy restaurant. Afterwards they take a walk along the Seine and they dance and laugh and drink a bottle of wine. She tells him, she loves him and kisses him and in response he asks her if they now can start working on "Project Baby".

No. 15. Sometimes Hermione whised Draco wasn't so high and mighty but then he wouldn't be Draco and she wouldn't be able to tease him about it. Draco sometimes whished Hermione wasn't so god damn selfless all the time, he whished she would take more care of herself instead of sacrificing everything for everyone.

KakaSaku

No. 2. Kakashi's love letters are basically just post-its or random torn-off pieces of paper which Sakura finds EVERYWHERE: on her desk, her drawer, the fridge, among her medical supplies, sailing out of her clothes or stuck to her backpack. They mostly contain one or two sentences, sometimes just a word or a doodle. But the most emportant thing: they always make her smile. Sakura's love letters are at least two pages long and contain detailed reports about a new medical jutsu she has mastered, a new food item she has tried or the complete mystery of why all of her plants keep on dying. In between she slips sentences about what he would have said or done in these situations. One of Kakashi's ninken has been put on mail duty and is to stay with her until Sakura has finished her reply.

No. 10. Sakura would never admit it but she actually enjoys watching rom coms, period drama or soap operas with Kakashi. Not because she wants to use them as ammo to tease him about it but because they are lighthearted entertainment with some analysis or commentary about the hardships of relationships sprinkled in every now and then. They ease her mind and she adores how invested Kakashi is. It's kinda cute. They watched Bridgerton, How I met your Mother, Ugly Betty, My Secret Romance, True Beauty, Downton Abbey, Poldark, Tudors and Outlander. The more teenage-targeted shows like Vampire Diaries, Never Have I Ever, Reign, Riverdale, Smallville and One Tree Hill she keeps to herself. Kakashi doesn't watch anything if it's not with Sakura.

No 11. Kakashi's first impression of Sakura was that she is just another kid who hasn't figured out life yet and who is still too focused on herself and on superficial things that won't matter in the long run. He tries not to judge her too harshly for her perspective because just like all genin, she'll have to grow up faster then she thinks. Sakura had a hard time believing that this man really was an elite shinobi with a widespread reputation that makes him known, respected and even feared by s-class criminals. He seemed too goofy, yet bored to be their teacher and not really interested in teaching, which enraged her.

No. 12. Sakura debated with herself for a long time whether she should bring up the "anniverseries" topic at all with Kakashi. Not because she thought he was indifferent to it. The contrary: she knew him to be a hopeless romantic. So she felt a lot of pressure to deliver something profound. Kakashi noticed within a week what it was that put Sakura under this much stress and decided to plan little things for them before the actual date: they tried the new ice cream flavor in Konoha's one and only gelato shop, he bought a new board game for Saturday nights, they went to take pictures of them with silly little hats and mustaches, they took a dance class together and tried to paint a portray of each other, which caused Sakura to laugh so hard, she almost peed herself. It made Sakura realise that they didn't have to do anything super extraordinary. So when their anniversary came around, they spent the better part of it assembling a new kitchen cupboard. Sakura cooked Kakashi's favourite dish and in the afternoon they went to the book shop and challenged each other to find the funniest romcom title books. They read them out aloud and whoever laughed first, lost. Sakura lost and Kakashi decided to drag her to a karaoke bar. Afterwards they sat down in the park and watched the stars together.

No. 15. There are times when Kakashi wished Sakura had abandoned Sasuke earlier. Not from her life but from her heart. A lot of her training and strength was a result of not wanting to put the burden of dealing with Sasuke on Naruto alone. Some of her heart was broken and it took a long time to fix the damage. Sakura wished Kakashi wouldn’t try to handle everything by himself all the time.

SukuIta

No 2. Yuuji loves to write love letters. He spends hours deciding on the perfect paper and what kind of colours Sukuna likes or doesn't like. When it comes down to the actual writing, Yuuji isn't a man of huge or many words. He likes to ask Sukuna silly questions such as "Would you still love me if I was a worm?" or "Do you want to be my boyfriend? Yes, No, Please don't check both". Yuuji decorates the letters with little hearts or flowers, sometimes slipping in one of the fotos he's taken of Sukuna while eating or napping with a commentary on the back of it. Sukuna would rather die than admitting that he kind of adores Yuuji's innocent, silly displays of attachment. He still thinks they're a waste of time. If he didn't like the brat, the brat would know. But he doesn't want to be an asshole so he either writes Yuuji beautiful poems or paints something in return. But he never answers Yuuji's letters, which bothered Yuuji at first, but then he read the first poem and still tries to recover from that.

No. 10. Yuuji always thought it would be such a headache to persuade Sukuna to watch ANYTHING with him, let alone comedy horror, body horror or horror with some romance or strong friendships sprinkled in it, but no. Sukuna does complain a lot about the nonsensical plotlines or the lack of gore at times but for the most part he was down to watch What We Do In The Shadwos, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Last of Us and The Walking Dead. Since Sukuna wanted a little bit more suspense and psychological horror he blackmailed Yuuji into watching American Horror Stories, The Hounting of Hill House and Hannibal. Ulterior motive here being to make Yuuji snuggle up to him. Sukuna doesn't bother watching anything without Yuuji but Yuuji tries to hide the fact that he likes to watch Jane The Virgin, Sex Education and Young Royals when he feels down.

No 11. Sukuna's first impression of Yuuji was that he thought him to be weak and overly concerned with the safety of others to the point of it being not entertaining anymore. Just an annoying brat who lets himself be easily manipulated and who would break under the slightest pressure. And yet said brat was able to control him, which angered Sukuna beyond measure. At least his vessel had a great physique if nothing else. Yuuji on the other hand felt indifferent about Sukuna at first. He didn't know who or what he was only that he wasn't about to surrender his body to him.

No 12. Yuuji thinks anniversaries are important because it’s important to make new memories and also to remember the old ones. Sukuna couldn’t care less but let’s the brat do whatever he likes to do for an anniversary. So they end up in the ice cream shop from where they kissed for the first time and eat ice cream until they feel ill. Afterwards Yuuji drags Sukuna into a nearby park to watch the clouds together. Sukuna thinks it’s silly but he is indulging Yuuji and at least he gets to cuddle with him.

No 15. Yuuji wished Sukuna would stop thinking that Yuuji only likes him for his power. This and that he has zero empathy for everybody else. Sukuna wished Yuuji would finally use his power for selfish reasons and unleash his full potential. That’s something he wouldn’t be able to forgive him.

[roads-rise-to-meet-me]

Coral Island Farmer Questionnaire: Xena

Found this template from @coral-nerd and decided I could definitely use a moment to infodump about my girl Xena! ^^ Anyone else have this weird tendency to give their cozy game OC's backstories that...Really don't fit the genre? No? Just me? Oops.

How Does Your Farmer Feel About...

Farming In all honesty, farming might be the thing Xena finds most draining about being the newest addition to Coral Island. She didn't expect growing plants to come with so much...Expectation. A rather naive perspective, admittedly; but one that blindsided her nonetheless. And after she was caught off guard in her first year by the sheer competitiveness of the Harvest Festival, it took no time at all for imposter syndrome to start to set in. And it's endlessly frustrating for her! She spent so many of her early years on this farm that she's working now. Surely she should have picked up some kind of rough skillset, right? But for the first year or so farming is the one task that Xena seeks to get over with as quickly as possible each day, and she finds it hard to take pride in something she feels she is always lacking at. But as more people start to acknowledge her hard work, she learns to hold her head up a little higher year after year.

Mining Never expected herself to care for it much, but Scott's endless quest to restore the museum's collection is a cause Xena readily takes up herself. Thus, she finds herself blazing a mighty trail through the mines impressively fast. And with Scott's tendency to stay closer to the surface, his gratitude when Xena chooses to share her hard won bounty with him becomes rather addictive for her. Also, gold bars are worth a fortune? Seriously, why is she still bothering with crops?

Foraging Foraging is great! Especially when it's after dark and the other islanders are either asleep or cramming themselves into the tavern, leaving the trails outside town mostly devoid of anyone except for her. The islanders she does run into after dusk are usually the ones she clicks with better anyway, and the island is bountiful enough that even the most lightweight haul makes her feel like she's accomplishing something.

Catching Brings her right back to her years as a child on the island catching whatever critters she could get her hands on. It's nostalgic, and reminds her of the years before her own questionable decisions led her far from the only place she ever really was able to call home. But to outsiders looking in, she simply seems to find it fun. And as long as the museum's insect collection grows steadily, no one really minds that she seems particularly taken by this hobby.

Fishing Not as active as catching bugs and ocean critters, and she's a little too impatient for it most days. But it's slightly more engaging than watering crops. So when she's truly bored out of her skull with no time to really get wrapped up in anything else, she'll throw out a few casts. Becomes quite a bit more intrigued by it when she reels in her first big catch; a barracuda.

Ranching For someone so hyper aware of the way she acts in every social interaction, ranch animals are an unexpectedly pleasant escape. They don't expect a performance; they just want food and maybe a bit of affection. Both of which she is happy to provide in exchange for a place to vent out those frustrations she can't bring herself to talk about with anyone else.

Combat After residing in the city for so long with a job that had the possibility of landing her in the literal laps of some morally dubious people, holding her own in a scrap is something Xena isn't a stranger to. It feels a little more refined on Coral Island though, especially after she's made a member of the Band of Smiles. Learning to wield a real weapon instead of her keys threaded through her knuckles or a can of pepper spray has a positive effect on her psyche; especially when she's using her newfound skills to slay monsters, as opposed to warding off sleazy strangers seeking to overstep her boundaries.

Diving It feels like an obligation, but not one Xena is necessarily burdened by. When Xena returns to Coral Island after so many years away, she returns with lessons learned and quite a few knocks taken. The island itself looks like it can relate, and the sorry state of it is the first thing that starts chipping away at the walls of apathy Xena has put up over the past few years in order to get through every single day. It isn't farfetched to say that some part of her hopes throwing herself into healing the island might help her start to piece herself back together in the process.

Interacting With The Islanders It's stressful, for a good long while. There's so many familiar faces, and to Xena most all of them haven't changed a day. But she most definitely has, and not in a way she feels she can talk with all these quaint islanders about. So she makes up stories about college and a dead end finance position at Pufferfish that sucked the life and soul out of her, remembering just enough lingo from her former clients to keep her ruse convincing. It gets easier down the line when she finally finds her place in the community again, and the one person she finds it easiest to talk to learns everything there is to know about her. (And he still wakes up next to her the next day and asks if they can make falafel.)

Other...

What is their favorite building material? Stone. Sturdy. Gives her peace of mind that at least her structures will stand up to the test of time, and she can free her mind to worry about every single other responsibility she has instead.

What is their decor style? The most unholy hybrid of beach and disco you've ever seen.

Who's their love interest? Scott. There's a simplicity about him that Xena very quickly finds herself clinging to; even when she's still making herself walk on eggshells around the other islanders. She's not intimidated by him like she is most others, and his enthusiasm for his field is both infectious and a welcome distraction from her own thoughts and insecurities that she wrestles with daily.

What's their favorite thing to grow? Cranberries. As previously mentioned, it takes her much longer to actually enjoy farming. But she loves cranberry juice. And to be able to juice her own berries that she grew from seed does give her a small sense of pride, even in the early years.

What's their favorite animal? Outside of her and Scott's canine sons from their childless newlywed millennial dreams era? Probably quail. Their absurdly small eggs amuse her greatly when she sees them for the first time, and there is something so distinctly harmless and fragile about those itty bitty birds that makes Xena sort of obsess over them.

Bonus! What Do You Associate With Your Farmer In These Categories...

Color Burgundy. Her favorite color to wear when work still consisted of catching clients in high end lounges.

Season Winter. A little icy, like her. Little to no crops to worry about, and with everyone else mostly staying indoors she feels like isn't missing out on too much of Starlet Town's bustling social scene if she chooses to spend all day in the mines or the ocean instead. Though everyone seemed to notice her missing from the Winter Fair that first year when she was working her tail off to afford her wedding dress. Won't make that mistake twice...

Metal Silver. Makes for sturdy tools that can get her through most anything. I mean, isn't gold rather soft? Who's bright idea was it to make a solid gold pick axe anyway...

[thegracefulvikingprincess]

ℒ𝒾𝒹𝒾𝒿𝒶 ℳ𝒶𝓇𝓁𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒱idarsdóttir

Lidija Marlene is the daughter of Marlena and Vidar, twin sister of Ranva and younger sister of Ragnar Ivain and Princess of Scotland. She is the granddaughter of Ivar the Boneless and Xenia and Hvitserk and Caya, the great-granddaughter of the great Ragnar Lothbrok and Flóki the Boatbuilder, niece of Illian, Ellinor, Baldur, Cailan, Edda, Iwan, Finan and Caye and cousin of Xena. From birth, she is often compared to her father, whom she looks exactly like and often reminds her of him, which she is often told. From an early age, Lidija has had a keen sense of her family's feelings and offers her mother comfort and support. The little princess quickly learns to stand on her own two feet and matures quickly, taking on responsibility early, which is why she seems very wise and grown-up for her age and knows early on what she wants. Although she had a close bond with her twin sister back then, they now have a complicated relationship, while she shares a loving, close bond with her older brother, whom she loves very much and confides in everything. Unlike her twin sister, she is considered the kind-hearted, gentle side of her father, has the same big, open heart, his good nature and the innate ability to lead and rule. While she has her mother's inner strength, natural elegance and grace, as well as her calm streak in the face of the storm that Lidija could unleash at any time with words or actions. She also carries her mother's majesty and courage within her. Lidija always attracts the attention that she neither seeks nor wants and knows how to charm men with her beauty and demeanor. On the outside, the princess appears unshakable and self-confident. Her strength and her ability to act quickly make her a favorite in Scotland and the new heir to the throne. In addition to her authority to lead like her father and the strength of her mother, she is blessed with the head of her grandfather and the brilliance of the women in the family. Lidija does not negotiate with her decisions, has a good sense of friends and enemies and tactics and plans and knows how to strictly enforce her will. Since her mother recognizes the strength in her daughter, the only one who knows how to handle the burden of carrying a crown on her head, her mother teaches her everything from an early age and chooses her to be the future, first hereditary and female heir to the throne of Scotland. Lidija is conscientiously aware of the task she has committed herself to and is always ready to face it. Lidija is absolutely loyal to the gods and her family, stands by them, advises them and bears their name with pride. She fills her family always with her light and strength, even in dark times, with their good faith and love and, like her mother, is considered to be a cheerful person. Despite her gentle, good natured and open nature, the princess also has another side that should not be underestimated and certainly not awakened. The true Viking princess is a woman of the north, ready to strike, to fight and is prepared to take brutal and, if necessary, bloody action and carries the toughness and assertiveness within her. The Viking and princess also carries a coldness within her that could freeze anyone to death. Her good nature and fighting spirit should not be put to the test. Like her father, Lidija cares about nothing more than her family, whom she loves more than anything and for whom she is always there. Lidija does not let anyone talk her into anything and puts her trust in her strength to achieve her goals and not disappoint her mother, her future country and people. The gods themselves have intended for her to act and rule as a great queen one day. ( » Vikings )

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

My Fanfiction

Gallifrey One-Shots

I am President of Gallifrey - Romana's experiences on Etra Prime

Torture of the Daleks - more Etra Prime

Recovery, Expedited - Romana dealing with the aftermath of Pandora

Sleep That Never Comes - Romana and Leela sharing their trauma

The Worst Timeline - Romana is traumatized (on the axis)

It's Midnight Somewhere - Romana is disabled (on the axis)

Easy Way Out - Romana dies (on the axis)

Twenty Years - Romana finally feels at home (on the axis)

What's Left of Me - Leela is lonely (on alt!Gallifrey)

Touch Telepathy - Romana is disabled (psychically)

5 Times Romana Didn’t Regenerate and The 1 Time She Finally Did - Romana is disabled (in every body)

Gallifrey Multi-Chapter

Halfway to Anywhere - AU where the Doctor rescues Romana from Etra Prime (3/?? chapters)

Inhuman Nature - AU where Romana fobwatches herself on Earth post-Etra Prime and misses the whole Time War (1/?? chapters)

Brittle - Romana and Narvin are both disabled (on alt!Gallifrey) (2/?? chapters)

Doctor Who

Doctor Who? - The show but if Romana left Gallifrey on her own and then lived her version of the Doctor’s life (3/38 chapters)

500-Year Diary - A series that is just various Doctors' diary entries

The Mechanisms

Can You Be Real - pre-tbi Sigyn leads a mission to stop the completion of the train and discovers Loki, broken and incoherent, in need of rescuing (2/?? chapters)

Xena

The Long and Winding Journey - sort of a fix-it that lets them have a family, and sort of just playing with the timeline because I'm autistic like that (2/?? chapters)

Liveblogs

One: The Time Meddler, The Ark, The War Machines

Two: The Curse of the Cybermen, The Enemy of the World

Three (and Liz): The Ambassadors.........of DEATH

Three (and Jo): The Daemons, Day of the Daleks, The Sea Devils, The Mutants, The Green Death

Three (and Sarah Jane): The Time Warrior, Invasion of the Dinosaurs

Four (and Sarah Jane): The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars, The Deadly Assassin

Four (and Leela): The Invisible Enemy, Image of the Fendahl, The Underworld, The Invasion of Time

Four (and Romana I): The Ribos Operation

Four (and Romana II): Destiny of the Daleks, City of Death, The Horns of Nimon, Full Circle

Five: Four to Doomsday, Black Orchid, Earthshock, Arc of Infinity

Gallifrey (Series 1): Weapon of Choice, Square One, The Inquiry, A Blind Eye (in progress)

Gallifrey (Series 6): Renaissance, Ascension

Gallifrey (Echoes Through Eternity): Damned If You Do

[fazedlight]

7&8 for kara and lena please! :D

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I was going to talk about a couple of small things (eg pulling from comic canon), but in thinking through it, I'm just impressed/in love with how this fandom exists at all.

This is the largest wlw ship on AO3. It's one of the largest wlw ships ever (not sure how many beat it out, aside from Xena). The sheer talent of all the artists and writers who spend time creating stuff for these two is astonishing to me. The amount of love that goes into each work is astonishing to me.

So something I love with the fandom... is that it exists at all ❤️

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I don't think there's anything I despise (that is really common, anyway). So I will use this instead as an excuse to share an extremely unpopular headcanon that I don't think I've talked much about before 😌

I headcanon both Kara and Lena as bi most of the time. I'm not sure what we'd get if we went around polling the fandom, but the vibe I get is that a lot of people headcanon Kara as bi and Lena as a lesbian.

My probably-unpopular-opinion is that I feel like Kara is much more likely to be a lesbian than Lena. I feel like her relationship with Mon-El could pretty easily be viewed through the lens of comphet - and while her dynamic with James was decent in S1, they never progressed into a relationship, and so it's hard to tell what that would've looked like.

She reminds me a bit of Gabrielle from Xena (who producer Steven Sears has said was dealing with comphet, though he didn't use the term). Like, Kara - for most of her Earth life - is trying to hide, trying to be Normal, trying to pass, and I think that can easily translate into a sexuality thing. The way Kara crushed on cute guys felt qualitatively similar to how Gabrielle crushed on cute guys.

Lena, on the other hand... yeah, she had basically no chemistry with James, but I totally buy/bi her chemistry with Jack and the intensity of their relationship. That felt very real to me, and sometimes on other Earths that's why I have her end up with him in the (like on Earth-X).

I think some of this dynamic has to do with people's thoughts on the actors' sexualities. But that's just a guess. At the end of the day, anywhere on the sapphic spectrum works for either of them, but I think some of my leanings are different from the common ones in the fandom.

Thanks for the ask!! ❤️

character ask game

[imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese]

For context, Eris Morn and the Drifter are characters from the video game Destiny 2. Both are 'risen' which means they were resurrected with no memories of their past by small magic drones called 'ghosts.' Eris lost her ghost in the Hellmouth and is now mortal. The Drifter still has his ghost, but hates it. He's around 900 years old at this point and hasn't been the best person for most of that time. Miri is my own invention: a regular human who was found at a young age and raised by one of the Drifter's previous crews: smugglers and pirates and generally bad people. Miri is a pirate herself now and, despite having adopted several of his mannerisms, loathes the Drifter intensely. In this scene (from Road Trip, an ongoing series I'm writing) he's only recently rediscovered her after she let him believe she was dead for 30 years.

“Would’a been pretty awful wouldn’t it? If you’d gone to clean up after the match and found me? Dead ‘cuz of you?” She flicked some glimmer into the centre of the table.

The Drifter picked up his cards but his hands shook. Miri sipped her drink with a vicious smile.

“But as it turns out, your game’s pretty fun. I enjoyed it. Might go back again sometime, next time I’m around in the tower. You really should up your security, though. Just lettin’ anyone in to play Gambit like that… I could’a put a bullet right between your eyes so easy.”

“Why didn’t you?” he asked her, his voice cautious and gentle, putting his own glimmer into the middle of the table to match hers.

“Thought about it. Would’ve been cathartic. Satisfyin’. Your ghost would just get ya back up again though. An’ where’s the fun in that?”

The Drifter nodded in acknowledgement of her statement.

“I realized long ago shootin’ you wouldn’t hurt ya much,” Miri said. “Everybody already done that and it wouldn’t even stick. Nah, if I wanted to get back at ya, if I wanted to hurt you in a way that’d be memorable, it’d be so much more effective to shoot myself.”

Eris put her tea down on the table, looking from one to the other. The game was forgotten. The Drifter stared at Miri across the table, his mask gone. The hurt, naked and visible on his face.

“Miri,” the Drifter whispered.

“But I know better now. You’ve changed. Got all squishy… vulnerable. If I really, truly wanted to break you, I know how.” Miri leaned forward on her elbows.

The Drifter swallowed, staring at Miri.

“If I wanna destroy you completely, I wouldn’t shoot me or you."  Miri pointed at Eris.  "I’d shoot her.”  Miri grinned, still staring into the Drifter’s eyes.

The Drifter blinked and Eris watched him transform in front of her. All softness left him, all empathy. He did not stiffen.  His body became more relaxed, not less, in a manner with which Eris was now very familiar. It was the way he was just before or during a battle. His face became a stone mask. He looked at Miri with changed eyes. Eyes that had turned ice cold, ready to kill at the slightest provocation.

Miri threw her head back and laughed.

Eris stood. “This discussion has become unhealthy." She took the Drifter’s hand in hers. "We are leaving.”

The Drifter continued to stare at Miri, waiting for her to make any sudden moves.

Miri sat back and put one foot up on the table, still laughing. “What? Did ya think all we needed to do was talk it out… Uncle Drifty?” She gave the name a childlike lilt. “Have a conversation? Solve our problems with words? Make it all ok?” She ran her tongue along her bottom lip as she slid her head from side to side, like a snake.

“Germaine.” Eris pulled his hand.

He remained coiled, watching Miri, ready to strike.

“I got lots more words for ya where that came from. Want more?” Miri grinned and took another sip of her drink.

The Drifter continued to stare. Miri laughed harder.

“Enough!” Eris shouted, slamming her hand down on the table between them. A wave of soulfire emanated from her, blowing cards and glimmer off the table, pushing both Miri and the Drifter back away from each other, sliding their chairs several feet apart.

Eris pulled the Drifter to his feet. “We are leaving. Now.”

Eris began chanting and the edges of a portal began to appear.

Miri smirked in her chair, both feet on the ground now. Her elbows on her knees, her drink still in her hand. She raised it in a mock toast to Eris.

“Oh hey, wanna know what the best part about playin’ Gambit was for me?” Miri asked the Drifter. 

Eris stood in front of him so she was physically between him and Miri.

He looked back at Miri over Eris’ shoulder.

“When I sent a large blocker over to the other team,” Miri said, her eyes glittering with malice. “And you told me you were proud of me.”

The Drifter looked away so quickly it was as though she had slapped him.

Eris pushed him through the portal.

The echoes of Miri’s laughter followed them into the Ascendent plane.

Link to the full piece on Ao3

Xena’s Share Day

hatred’s such a strong word, isn’t it? a strong emotion. share with us a passage with that invokes hatred. what draws such an intense feeling out of your character? what or who do they despise?

[girl4music]

There’s also the interpretation by a lot of people - non-shippers of Xena and Gabrielle specifically - that because Xena is so heart-hardened in her nature that she’s not a romantic or that she’s doesn’t fall easily. And therefore - she doesn’t fall for Gabrielle first.

To some extent - that’s true. But just because she doesn’t fall easily doesn’t mean she doesn’t fall quickly. And just because she keeps her heart locked up doesn’t mean that she isn’t a romantic at heart.

She does. She is. She develops love/romantic feelings very quickly to pretty much every lover or love interest she has in the show. Especially if they’re women. She just doesn’t know how to express herself on those feelings. But she’s always sack of hammers whipped pretty much immediately. So that interpretation of her not falling for Gabrielle first is just inaccurate. She falls fast. But it’s not easy for her to let herself fall given her past and her identity and her notoriety. She doesn’t wear love on her sleeve but love still rules her. Even in her warlord days… her anger and brutality to her intimate partners is just her incapacity and recluctance to express her feelings in a healthy way.

Those love or romantic feelings are always in her. They’re just buried beneath anger, pride and mistrust.

Much of that being the cause and effect of falling fast.

Nope. Sorry, but I don’t agree that Xena’s not a romantic. She is. She just doesn’t acknowledge it. And I certainly don’t agree that she doesn’t fall fast. I think we’re given a lot of evidence that proves she does. Especially when it comes to her dynamic with women over men. She’s a romantic with women the most. But regardless whether it’s a man or a woman - she falls fast and she falls hard. How or if she expresses her love/romantic feelings is a whole other thing entirely.

I mean you’re talking about somebody who will choose to drag you across Grecian planes by your feet on horseback or kiss your hand as you share your trauma. Xena is just a three-dimensional character.

It may be more so the case of you not being familiar or used to seeing 3D female characters in TV art/entertainment that you can’t accept the dichotomy of the deep intense love displayed between Xena and Gabrielle. She’s a complex character. They both are.

[thenotebookwizard]

First Fandom

A few years ago, I would have sworn up and down my first real fandom was Star Trek.

It makes sense. After all, I overcame my dyslexia and learned to read so I could read my mother's Star Trek novels. Pocket Books was churning them out back in the day, and i wanted to read them. She'd read me bits of a few of them, and I wanted more.

I loved watching the show - though that was mostly re-runs.

So, sitting on the floor at the foot of Mom & Dad's water bed, trading correctly read sentences for M&Ms, my mother and I battled. Fought. Yelled. Screamed. Cried. I didn't want to (until I did) and she knew I had to. Once we started using a Star Trek novel, I got much better, much faster.

The first book I ever read was The Vulcan Academy Murders by Jean Lorrah, and it's a book I own many copies of for sentimental purposes.

The first thing I remember writing was in elementary school, and it was a Star Trek story. My uncle let me read his old fanzines. I was on Star Trek BBSes. I had a notebook of Star Trek stories and notes and ideas.

Whelp.

A few years ago, the subject of me, fandom, and fanfic came up. My father (rightfully) pointed out my fandom is my mother's fault, because of Star Trek, and that I ship characters is also her fault. (My mother shipped Gabrielle and Xena and would fight you if you argued with her.)

And I nodded along. "Ayep," I said, "Star Trek is where it began. My first fandom and my first fanfic."

Turns out, I was wrong. My first fanfic and my first fandom were Winnie the Pooh. Smol me had thrown a fit at a shopping mall one weekend, and the only thing that made me happy was a stuffed bear.

Something similar to this one, I believe.

Well, my parents got me that silly old bear and he was my constant companion until it was no longer deemed 'appropriate' for a boy to carry around a stuffed animal anymore. (I frankly don't see the issue, but whatever. I'm still kinda salty about it I guess. Huh. Anyway.)

My father, being my father, decided to read me every story of Winnie the Pooh he could find, including a more modern copy of this book:

I watched all the movies. I watched all the animated movies. I have not seen the 2018 Christopher Robin (yet).

And, at some point, smol me ended up at my Dad's office. In those days, everyone had secretaries, because computers hadn't been really adopted yet, and there was a lot of paperwork to do by hand or by typewriter. Now, my father's secretary was an amazing woman who treated my Dad's kids like she liked us (I'd like to think she actually did) and I know she was very patient with us.

I know this, because she apparently typed a Winnie the Pooh story I dictated to her. Eight pages of Pooh and company negotiating with the bees for fair use and sharing of honey (hunny) and making sure the bees were safe from 'the bad guys' through vague but apparently effective means.

He has this story - my very first fanfic - saved in a file cabinet. In the same file folder I brought it home in.

It appears my mother's frustration with me wanting to be a writer were in vain. I started writing before I could read and had stories in my head before I read my first book.

[inkedroplets]

tagged by @sideguitars Thank you for the tag!

1. What sort of content do you create, and what is the thing you’ve made that you’re most proud of?

I guess I've mostly focused on offramps from canon and expanding the scope of the world that I'm playing around in

2. What fandom(s) do you create for?

Supergirl for the most part but I have a few other fandoms I'm dabbling in: Warrior Nun, MCU and Killing Eve

3. What is your current favourite ship (or brotp if you prefer), and how controversial is it?

Supercorp. I guess it's more controversial than I ever realized? I've somehow been able to avoid or outright not see any of the discourse online which is probably for the best.

4. For your answer to question 3, are they canon?

No but what is canon?

5. What was your first fandom, and how old were you?

I would say either Xena or The X-Files. I think I'd have to give the win to the X-Files because I was much more certain that I would be abducted by aliens

6. What is your most unhinged fandom creation to date?

Unhinged... Probably the MCU/Supergirl crossover I'm writing now. Lena gets yeeted to Earth-616. Not many days you get to see Matt Murdock and Kara Danvers having a conversation or Lena dancing with Peggy...

7. Do you remember what started you off creating fandom content, and if so, what was it?

Funnily enough, I was quite ignorant about the existence of fandom content. I've always liked writing so it was a very short hop to start making stories that I wanted to see inbetween the bad poetry and short stories.

8. Do you let people you know in real life see your fandom creations?

My gf reads my stuff but beyond that I'm quiet private when it comes to my fandom creations.

9. How do you feel about fanworks of fanworks? Has anyone ever made something based on a thing you made?

I feel like at its core that's what fandom is essentially. So to see these offshoots of someone's own work it's for the most part flattering. But I do see the other side of the coin where someone might feel protective of their work and find it difficult to give their blessing to it.

10. What feeling do you most often try to evoke with your creations?

I don't know if there would be a feeling above any of the others that I'm trying to evoke with my writing. I guess if I had to pick I might say I hope that it makes you cry. Angsty angsty tears

11. Has someone ever paid your work a compliment (in any form) that has stuck with you, and what was it?

I've been very blessed to have a handful of people create art for some of my fics and that's maybe the biggest compliment I could ever hope to get. To see it come to life in a different way is really magical. But I would say that every compliment has really meant so much to me.

12. What’s your favourite thing someone else has made that you’ve seen in the last 24 hours (and link it if you can find it again!)

I've been very blessed to get to see snippets from @sideguitars about fics they have in progress and those have all just been so deliciously angsty.

13. Give a small sneak preview of something you’re working on right now (eg a couple of sentences of fic from a WIP, a gif set theme, a small piece of a larger picture, whatever you feel happy to share)

I'll give a grab bag of things in various states of chaos

Snippet from my Lena learns magic from Johanna Constantine fic

“Where the fuck is it?” the woman asked. She advanced on Lena, looming over her. Not content to simply tower over Lena she leaned over her and seized her by the shoulders, hard as if she meant to shake her if she didn’t get a favorable answer. Whatever anger she might have felt at being spoken to in such a way or to have this stranger lay hands on her was nothing compared to the fear that still held her in place. It had robbed her of not only her strength but it had stolen whatever scathing remark she would have normally had at the ready in response to the woman’s question. “Where’s what?” Lena managed to ask in a voice that at least sounded mostly like her own.  “The grimoire or scroll or whatever magical thing you’ve decided to fuck around with that lured a demon here.” The woman examined Lena carefully, a flicker of dull recognition coming alight in her eyes. “Fuck me,” she grumbled. “You’re Lena Luthor, aren’t you? Yeah, it’s you. I’d recognize that jawline anywhere.” The woman ran her hand along her own face in what Lena had to assume was a mocking gesture. “Why is it you rich people always want to muck around with the occult? You can’t be that bloody bored.”

The Lucifer Crossover that I don't feel is good enough to share

"Yes, I remember," Lena said sourly. "When I asked the devil for a favor I was under the assumption that the eventual repayment would come much later and be far less annoying.” "As did I,” Lucifer said, making a hard right that sent a bolt of pain through Lena’s temple. “Usually when I call in favors they’re a lot more fun for me. I’m the devil, not some wish-granting fairy-godmother.” He appeared to shudder at the thought and focused his attention back on the road. “I can assure you that Linda is the best of the best. She’s been my therapist for years now…” “So,” Lena said slowly, rattling the pill caddy before tossing it back into his lap. “This is you after years of therapy?”

and a peek at the MCU/Supergirl crossover brain rot

“You got my message,” Lena said, relieved to have an excuse to put her pen down. “I got your message,” Lillian said. “I also saw the news.” A flicker of annoyance passed over her face and Lena instinctively braced herself for whatever venom would come spilling out of her mouth. “Why?” she asked. She tilted her head at an insouciant angle as if trying to suss out Lena’s reasoning before she could answer. “I didn’t think people would sleep very well at night if they learned that out of nowhere that the sky ripped open and aliens from another Earth destroyed half the city.”

14. Have you ever seen/read anything made by the person who tagged you? If so, what was it and what was your favourite thing about it? (pick a favourite if there are several)

I really really love(d) Aftermath I just love how you brought Andrea into the fold (and called out that stupid nickname they gave her in the show)

15. Do you leave comments on fandom works, and if so how would you describe your comment style?

I'm getting a lot better at it, just as I stopped reading so many fics. I like to pick out certain passages that really resonated with me or just thought were really well-written and tell the author why.

16. How many works in progress do you currently have? Will you finish them all?

I have about 15 WIP's that I really want to finish and a handful more that I'm more iffy on. The plan is to finish them all but if I'll ever actually do it... I hope so though.

17. what’s the longest it’s ever taken you to finish a fandom project?

I'm too embarrassed to look at the last time I updated rich girl. Years. Or Year. Anyway, too fucking long. But I'm just about done. Sorry. Life was kind of kicking my ass majorly for a while.

18. Describe the thing you made most recently in a way that is technically true, but also completely misleading. Link the thing if it’s published!

Define recently. All I See is You Lena's magic derails game night

19. Do you ever engage with fanworks for a fandom you’re not in? Which one(s) and how did you get into it?

I'm quite lucky to get a wide variety of fanart that crosses my dash so I'll engage to the point of gushing about it in the tags.

20. Recommend a fan work from your fandom to your followers

This very recent fic, To Want and to Have and to Hold that's caught my full attention by @eqt-95 Really can't say enough nice things about it and am eagerly awaiting an update

Suggested tag list, but there are no rules here, follow your heart.

I hate tagging people. i feel like I'm bothering them but I will poke @rustingcat since I always want to hear more about what they're working on