#Should I tag the others? They aren't the main focus though

[headacheschasingme]

I honestly play phighting to much, my screen time on my tablet has decreased so much it's like 30 minutes now per day

Uh Idk how to make the quality better

9 time out of 10, ban hammer immediately runs into the enemy team thinking he can 1 v 5 (he cant and I have to follow him everywhere so he doesn't die)

And when ban hammer, bio and katana are all on the opposite team you just know yours gonna be targeted the whole game (ESPECIALLY BIO)

[finnlongman]

I'm not going to keep going on about this, because I didn't really mean to make a whole Thing of it, but there are two reasons it really bothers me when people say my books should have had a romance plotline/love interest:

They're saying they wish my protagonist's sexuality was different. When somebody says, "I wish this gay book was straight instead so that I could relate to it more," or whatever, we rightfully recognise that as homophobic. When somebody says, "I wish this aroace character had a love interest," people call that a personal preference and make excuses for why that's not the same thing. Given that my protagonist's sexuality is something she shares with me, it feels particularly unkind, because it's essentially saying, "Lives like yours aren't interesting to me, I wish you had a different sexuality." Ouch.

I may have been exaggerating when I said 99.9% of YA books have a romance plotline... but not by much. It is everywhere. If you want a YA book with romance, you don't have to make any effort to find one, because nine times out of ten, whatever book you pick up will have one. It might be the main plot, it might be the subplot, but it'll be there. I was told repeatedly that I would have to have romance if I wanted my YA books to be published, because the category insists on it. So if you want YA books with romance: basically every other book is for you. It's not like it's a rarity that you were hoping I would finally give you. You have the entire cake; leave us our crumbs.

Like I said in the tags on my original post, this wasn't about one specific person or review. Please don't single anybody out if you've seen them say something similar to this. If it happened once, it wouldn't bother me; it's the pattern, and years of being told before publication that I would have to compromise on this element of the story if I wanted to make it, and social media marketing trends that focus almost exclusively on romance tropes and make it hard to engage when you don't have them.

And, on top of that, it's the weird anxiety of knowing that my next book, the Bisclavret retelling, is more romance-heavy, and while I want it to succeed, there's a bittersweetness to the idea that my yearning book might succeed where my aroace books didn't, purely because romance is marketable and friendship isn't.

(Even though I know there are so many other factors -- different genre, different category, different format, different publisher, different style, and a retelling that can appeal to an existing audience rather than my own characters and story that have no prior fanbase. It still feels like the romance will be what makes the difference.)

As I said on Bluesky yesterday, talking about both my fiction and my academic work:

Okay. That's all.

[emylilas]

Ladies of WOT - a potential community ?

Hello fellow WOT show enjoyers!

I am deliberately not tagging the show because I am aiming for a very specific demographic. Among those who watch WOT and are talking about it in different spaces (discord, twitter, here), I've noticed that people are having very different experiences watching the show, depending on what they want the focus to be on; to the point it might sometimes feel like we're in very different fandoms.

I realise the show is a book adaptation and I understand why people would expect more attention to be given to Rand, or Perin, or Mat, because those are the names who often come back, rather than some of the Aes Sedai who aren't as fleshed out in the book (I'm looking at you, my beloved Liandrin), but I have no interest in developing a sense of community with people who are watching the show for very different reasons than I.

I am absolutely not here for the men of the show, it's fine if you are, good for you but don't come at me. There are some men whose stories I enjoy following, but I'm here for the aes sedai, the forsakens (I can't wait to really meet Moghedien next season), the younger girls, the seanchans... and I would very much love to be able to share my love for the show and those characters, and to enjoy the show with people who share a similar enthusiasm.

Here's my issue, though, I find it hard to build a sense of community on Tumblr, interactions are limited by a very poor comment section, which is a shame.

I don't believe Twitter should be the main place for fandoms, because there's no room for in-depth conversations and everything has to be done quickly, It's more about posting and liking than engaging together.

I enjoy Dreamwidth and it would be, I think, a lovely place to build a community (besides, there is some WOT content over there) but I know it's not the most popular place, and it works more as a forum, which might lack the spontaneity of conversations.

Then there's Discord, and I am conflicted about Discord, on the one hand, it's convenient to chat and it can be well organised, on the other hand... I have wandered on quite a few fandom servers and they weren't for me, except for one. They're usually too crowded and I found that, in some places, the conversations are overwhelming in quantity but there aren't any real discussions.

As for that ONE server that worked for me, that one is quite special. You see, it's a small fandom of a show with a lot of wasted potential, but it's also the best fandom I've had the pleasure to join. People really interact, most of us know each other at least vaguely, we have a general idea of what are people's likes and dislikes, even when they aren't people we've chatted a lot with, and the mods always come up with fabulous events to keep the community living and it does keep on living, even after the show got cancelled in 2022. This discord doesn't have that many people in it, we talk a lot about the show, we also talk about specific characters, talk about ships in their dedicated channels, chat about our progress in our fic/gif/edits and support each other... people are interacting and we're all loving it. And those same people participate in fandom events because what unites us, even if we don't love the same characters or ships, is our love for that same show.

This is this sense of community built on the common love for a show and its potential that I would like to find for WOT, and more specifically in this case, about the women of WOT (but of course, talks about the show as a whole are always welcome and encouraged, it's just that watching with a preference for the female characters really change the conversations ones might have...) Especially with the new season coming in March, with all those new intriguing women that joined the cast, it would be lovely to have our little corner somewhere to chat together, as a small part of a bigger fandom, rather than individuals floating in the big WOT show tag and struggling to connect.

(And maybe those places already exist and I just haven't found them yet and I'm the only one struggling to connect. In this case, if you know places, please fill me in, I am dying to connect with fellow ladies of WOT lovers.)

So I guess that's it. I would love for us to get a chance to better connect, as show lovers (book readers are welcome, but please, be really mindful of spoilers, I am sick of being spoiled things even though I muted tags because people believe using emojis to talk is good enough to prevent spoilers, like we don't have functioning brains enough to put 2 and 2 together...).

To sum up my wish list: I wish we, those of us with similar interests (I don't care which women you enjoy in WOT, I love them all and they're all interesting, even if I have my own preferences I will gladly chat about any of them with you), could create a little corner in this big fandom so we can start acting as a community rather than separated individuals scrolling through tags. But a community who takes its time, to have nice little chats about the show and its women, to discuss our ideas and hypothesis, to share our thoughts and headcanons about our favourite ships (and yes, please, let it be plural and not just one ship) and characters, to support each other's in our writing, drawing, giffing, editing... all that, free of the drama that too often seem to happen in fandoms. A little place where we could always find someone who's up to chat a little about the show, and its women.

(Little place, because I really think once you're over 100 persons in a discord server (and probably less) it becomes nearly impossible to really get this feeling of a community).

So I'd love to know your interest in building such a place, and where you think it would be the most convenient for you!

[the-inkwell-variable]

author ask tag

thank you so much for the tag, @the-golden-comet! ooh this is gonna be fun!

i'm going to focus on my current wip, Why Should I Be Careful? I'm Going To Die Anyway! because it's still very much in the planning stages (despite how much I'm writing for it) and I have Thoughts

What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?

I'll be honest, I haven't really thought that far ahead. I suppose, if there is a lesson to take from WSIBC?IGTDA!, it might be that you should always chase your goals and desires, and screw what other people think. Maybe put a little more thought and planning into yours than Aura does hers, though. I mean, she almost dies due to her recklessness. Don't be like Aura.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

Well, it's a zombie book - I love zombies, in case you can't tell - so the world is an amalgamation of zombie stuff I love. The zombies are based off of the Train to Busan zombies. This is a self-insert mess, so I'm using the town and people I know in the town as location and characters. Little tropes here and there that I love in movies and books alike. It's just a big chimera of stuff that I grab from stuff I remember and shove into it. It definitely needs polish when it's done, but I'm having a blast so far, so I'm'a keep doing it :3

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?

Uhhhhhh this is a tough question. Right now, Aura is trying to make it to Roger's Grocery Mart to save her girlfriend, but most of the time, she's just trying to have a good time in the zombie apocalypse and hopefully not die. She does eventually grow into a character that (mostly) thinks things through and takes other people's situations into account, so I suppose the lesson is "the world doesn't revolve around you - be kind and helpful to others"?

As for what I'm trying to achieve... mostly, to be honest, I just want people to pick up my book and have a good time reading it. I want to write a zombie book because it's my passion and because there aren't enough zombie books out there. I guess I'm trying to inspire others? To show them that you can survive an impossible situation if you work hard and think things through?

How many chapters is your story going to have?

The only time I've written a full-length book (sorry, the only two times, forgot about Zero: ALPHA), it had about twenty-odd chapters. Z:A had...uh...thirty? That was a long time ago and I sadly no longer have that draft. This one is going to go until it's done. Hopefully more than thirty though!

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original content! I have no idea where I'm going to post it. I'm torn between Draft2Digital (originally Smashwords) or Substack. Thing is, I'm really bad at marketing and keywords and all that technical stuff that goes into publicizing, so I'm really hesitant to share it at all. I'm the type of person that gets absolutely morally devastated if my own self-inflicted goals aren't met, and I'm not sure if I can handle that kind of crushing heartbreak with this one lol

So yeah. Might publish, might not. Unsure right now.

When did you start writing?

My dad set up a Windows 95 computer for me in his office, his old one, and taught me the basics of using it. I was five, about to turn six. I immediately sat down and wrote a story about unicorns. I've been writing ever since.

I didn't start writing fanfiction until I was thirteen and had just binge-watched Lord of the Rings for the first time. We don't talk about those works. They were awful.

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

Write it. Oh it's cringe? Who cares? Write it. Oh, it's a rare pair? Write it. You're worried people will hate it? Fuck the haters. Write it. Writing is about having fun. Writing is about pouring your soul onto the page. Writing is about getting those ideas out of your head so they don't drive you insane. It's about reaching that one person that finds your work and loves it. Even if no one reads it - you still accomplished something. You still wrote it. And no one can take that from you.

I have so many writers in my follow list. Uhh. I have no idea how many are still active, so I'm just going to tag who I know and hope for the best lol

@idyllicocean, @keeping-writing-frosty, @bloodtiesnovel, @asher-writes, @kitswrite, @theink-stainedfolk, @karkkidoeswriting, @lavender-gloom, @orphanheirs, @aquixoticwrites, @alinacapellabooks, @marlowethelibrarian, @flock-from-the-void, @dyrewrites, @storycraftcafe, @writer-imagination, @toragay-writing, @inseasofgreen, @stephtuckerauthor, @thatndginger, @finickyfelix, @eternalwritingstudent, @drchenquill, @paeliae-occasionally, @the-golden-comet, @talesofsorrowandofruin, @watermeezer, @goldfinchwrites, @winterandwords, @badscientist, @clairelsonao3, @i-can-even-burn-salad, @leahpardo-pa-potato, @mjparkerwriting, @rowanwriting, @oliolioxenfreewrites, @emelkae, @rita-rae-siller, @rebelxwriter, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @stesierra, @francineiswriting, @sunset-a-story, @chauceryfairytales, @hollyannewrites, @jaydenswaywrites, @captain-kraken, @violets-in-her-arms-writes, @romy-thewriter, @pure-solomon, @writingmaidenwarrior, @koiwrites

go, go follow them. they're all so good and make my timeline glow.

[insertmeaningfulusername]

Fanfic writer interview

Thank you for the tag @sinvulkt 💙

What fandoms do you write in?

Literally just various Star Wars media atm. The main focus for 2024 was the prequel era, mostly The Clone Wars and some Bad Batch.

How many words have you published in 2024?

172,387 according to my stats. I wrote more than that though, and I still plan on posting and backdating approximately 5 one-shots I wrote in 2024 but never got around to post.

What are your top three fics you’ve written this year?

I despise/love them all equally I guess if I had to choose, I'm still really happy with these three: Wanted, a gift for @omaano in which Dogma gets morning snuggles from Tup and Fives. Idk why this pairing is so rare, they're underrated!! The Meaning Is Ours, the first fic I ever wrote that's entirely original characters, for the 2024 Trans Clone Week. Both Hunter and Prey, my fic for the DinLuke mini bang in which Luke is a vampire and on the hunt for a certain Mandalorian. I just think it's hot sklfjadlksfj.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

Oh boy... maybe writing the gift fic for the Star Wars Rare Pairs exchange. It just kept getting longer and longer!! Which, really, I should have probably expected, because among other ships my giftee requested Polybatch with a focus on Echo getting railed and I just couldn't resist, and of course all the Batch members wanted a turn. And the fic kept being a thorn in my eye even after it was posted because people would request another fic based on a flashback scene that's maybe one paragraph long, all without complimenting the 13k I'd already written 😭 like, you really expect me to write more fic for you when you can't even comment on the fic that's already there??? Idk what to tell you but fanfiction writers aren't content machines where you can just press a button that says "Next story, please!"

What have you learned?

That people will love the fics you think are hot garbage and entirely pass by the stories you put a lot of thought and energy into. It's an old lesson but one I have to keep re-learning.

Did you beta any fics? Any faves you want to shout out?

I betaed or cheerread two or three things but I don't know if they've even been posted...

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

I have to admit that I don't read a lot of fanfiction, but these three I've found in my bookmarks: Ready Room by countessofbiscuit, in which Fi and Corr make out - ultra rare pair content from the Republic Commando novels and so sweet and silly (like Fi) and just a tiny bit bittersweet! Nine-Seven by Trudemaethien, with some platonic Sev & Niner. It's just so refreshing to see aroace headcanons finally arriving in fandom. Save an AT-RT (Ride an ARF Trooper) by BilbosMom, WaxerBoil, containing both smut and humor - my favourite combination!!

What ideas are percolating for next year?

Nothing concrete so far. Maybe finish some of the WIPs in my pile, try to write more than one fic for the Codywan First Kiss Bingo so I'll at least get a bingo, and try to write something for the @cloneshiprarepair monthly ships (go check out this event btw, there are some crunchy ships getting served up!). Probably try to sign up for fewer exchanges because I can feel my interest in Star Wars slipping.

No pressure tagging @lesbiankiliel @wolveria @loverboy-havocboy @violentcheese @bilbosmom-belladonna @forloveofcodywan @anxiousotters @five-oh-thirst @the-starry-seas @hastalavistabyebye @theproblemwithstardust @violetjedisylveon @elimaryholmes @rooksunday @ladylucksrogue

[ask-returntale]

INTRODUCTORY POST

Welcome to @ask-returntale! This blog is run by @wiltedsystem, though my UT/DR blog is @stained-glass-spirit.

You can begin the story HERE. It will be told in a partially interactive format, with asks serving as filler entertainment in the downtime as well as other driving forces of the story.

You can view the soundtrack HERE.

Please read the Q&A under the cut for more information about my UT/DR AU and what will be put on this blog.

"What is RETURNTALE?"

RETURNTALE is an AU focused on a particular timeline based on Undertale, post-True Pacifist, where Frisk 'saved' Flowey from being stuck in the Underground - though, unlike most other takes on this premise, nothing special happened until approximately ten years later.

It was an extraordinarily boring affair til then. Understandably, Flowey hadn't been happy about being trapped in a flowerpot for the last decade or so. Something had to change...

As for more details, well. Everything will be revealed in time. Many years of torment and suffering will be unfurled before you, layers peeled back until you reach the CORE of this world. I hope you're ready to join me on this journey.

"What characters are central to this AU?"

Flowey/Asriel, Frisk, and a new human named Ash will be the primary focus, with secondary focus given to the Dreemurr family as a whole. Additional lore and depth will be added and explored surrounding the baphii (boss monsters) as well.

In contrast, meta-narrative elements such as Gaster's presence will be considered, but mostly ignored in favor of some other things we have planned for you. Besides... for a story like this, a different puppetmaster is more appropriate, don't you think?

Fret not, your other favorites will probably RETURN in some capacity too - they just aren't the stars of the show, so you can't ask them questions. Only the main three can hear your inquiries.

"How should I refer to (Character)?"

Ash, bodily, uses any pronouns and is genderfluid, so that one is up to you and your preference. You may depict those stats on type or paper or whatever else as you please.

As Ash is a plural system, for individual alters, things may be more specific. This section is in hell so come back later when I've iced it.

As for the ones you Actually came here to see...

Not unlike canon, Frisk uses they/them and is otherwise unlabeled. This will not change.

Flowey uses exclusively it/its when I refer to them but doesn't actually give a shit, Asriel will respond to anything masculine or neutral, and...?

Oh, you'll have to wait for the rest of those names. I've come up with them, but I don't need you to know them quite yet.

Check back here later.

"Why does AshSys look like a chibi version of you?"

It was made in my image. I don't think they're all very happy about it.

"What content warnings should I be aware of?"

I would consider this blog to be rated somewhere around late T or early M, probably. Consider it for older audiences but non explicit.

Most topics presented within Undertale - as well as many aspects pulled from Deltarune - will be touched upon, including the absolute eldritch mindfuck that comes from living in a video game world, or something adjacent to it anyway.

There also will be sexual topics and violence discussed or portrayed (gasp! the horror!) because it's been ten years and sometimes adults like sex and violence. Hopefully not in the same breath without prior consent, though. This will include gore in the future, though again, not graphically so.

But yes, generally assume this blog will end up sort of strange, at times upsetting, and relatively unhinged. I will try my best to make this story intriguing in tandem.

"Can I dub this / make fanart / etc?"

Yes, please just link to me either here or @wiltedsystem for credit if you use any of my assets or designs. If you post a video to YouTube, please tag @/WILTEDSYS (no slash).

[dumping-ideas]

hi! do you have any kasa fic recommendations? i don't mind anything rlly hehe^^

Sorry for the late reply!

Actually, I don't read any English fics (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠) It feels like... They're very romance? And also very American lol. Dunno, it just feels really weird, I dunno, maybe western vibes aren't vibing with me. My go-to is usually pixiv even though the tagging system is horrible. But I think the ones with like over 500 likes/bookmarks are usually very good. I haven't checked the new Tsukasa fics for months now, maybe I should look around again...

Also, do you know how many good fics in pixiv that are tagged 腐 but the romance is almost close to zero??

My top three with more than 80k words (not in order)

事故にあった司をまふゆがセカイへ攫う話

Tsukasa got into an accident from saving Mafuyu, Mafuyu who feels Tsukasa is just keeping up a mask to make everyone cheerful even though he's the one with paralyzed legs kidnapped Tsukasa and brought him to empty sekai. I think this one is very good for DashoKasa and NiigoMafu lovers too, and also NiigoKasa. Almost everyone appears, too, and the characterization study in this, especially for Niigo and Tsukasa, is really good.

星結神話

Warning, this is a death fic. Can't say much or I'll spoiler stuff, but although very sad, it feels really hopeful too. Also almost everyone appears.

我が王に万雷の喝采を！

One of the first wxs fics I've read, the premise is that Tsukasa's consciousness got swapped with a new plushie that appeared in Sekai. It's tagged RuiKasa, but the focus of this story is about Tsukasa and why the plushie stole his body. This one also got tagged 'Movie Wandasho' and I agree wholeheartedly.

The three of them are the dramatic ones but have one of the best light-attributed Tsukasa I've read. Yeah, Tsukasa goes through some angst in those stories but he is, at his core, a shining star and it really shows.

Some that I'm not including in this list:

I forgot the title and can't find it (probably got privated) but the premise is amnesiac!Mafuyu and amnesiac!Tsukasa got trapped in another Sekai and got saved by their respective mikus in the end after a long time of soul searching. This one has 2 kiss scenes, I think? One is R15+ though. There's also that one fic about Tsukasa and Mafuyu going on a one-night trip to the farthest station, very thought-provoking.

Hinomori Shiho of Kamiyama Class 1-A series. The premise is what if Tsukasa and Shiho supports each other when they're still middle-schoolers? Tsukasa is still his ridiculous self, but he somehow becomes so ikemen lol. Lots of ocs, and somehow believable ways of Shiho slowly falling for Tsukasa.

Lots of DashoKasa and RuiKasa long (20k+ words) fics. Seriously, the fact that even though they're tagged as rotten I see them not as romance but affection, and even if there's one that focus on the romance the other characters were given so much love? Like, there's one about Rui asking pianist!Tsukasa to join WxS, the one where Tsukasa acts as the fairy godmother of WxS, the steampunk!au adventure one, WxS performing night on the galaxy railroad, WxS performing a story about snow storm and spring breeze spirits one?? Lots of very good long fics.

anyway, I usually look around the Tsukasa main ones, DashoKasa (including RuiKasa, NeneKasa, and EmuKasa but good ones are usually tagged with RuiKasa), MafuKasa, and Tenma Siblings. Note that pixiv is very picky about the order of the names, and because I'm also very picky about that lol. Character dynamics is very important to me, and I think western-based fans don't really understand the subtlety about why the order is important (⁠*⁠・⁠���⁠・⁠*⁠) it's not just about position in adult scenes....

[tiktowafel]

Headcanons for Neito Monoma?

yup here you go! tagging @fabpops1 because she also asked for Monoma headcanons

no coloring today because the one i made two years ago sucks and i don't feel like remaking it :'D honestly i feel like Horikoshi and I both half-assed his casual clothing sketch lol

him and his parents were all born in Japan but he has some relatives in Belgium, whom he really enjoys visiting. it's the main reason why he seems so interested in european culture (his profile page states he likes french cuisine and franco-belgian comics)

he can also speak french very well thanks to that

he's also fluent in english (though he has trouble understanding Pony sometimes - he's much better at reading and writing than he is at listening) and has a basic knowledge of several other languages. he doesn't really expect it to come handy at any point in the future, he just learns them because he finds it fun

besides that he also likes history, classic literature, theatre... yeah this guy is a huge humanities-leaning nerd and i don't accept criticism

nor do i accept the fact that he's supposed to be a bad student in canon?? like, he's so smart and also competitive, no way he isn't top of the class... he may not be as good in science and math as he is in japanese and history, but nothing an all-nighter can't fix

in middle school he was part of the drama and debate clubs. and while hero course students aren't supposed to join clubs because they should focus on hero work, he managed to argue his way into the same clubs in UA by saying that his theatrics and speeches are an important part of his hero persona. Kuroiro joined the drama club alongside him (didn't contribute to the argument at all, just nodded wisely every time Monoma presented a point)

class 1-B's culture festival performance being a stage play was actually his idea! it didn't really go the way he intended (he did NOT expect it to turn into a four-way crossover more ambitious than infinity war) but he greatly enjoyed performing in it anyway! maybe even too much

his knowledge of quirks rivals Midoriya's. he researches them a lot mostly to help his copy quirk but also out of genuine curiosity

he often helps his classmates with training their quirks and comes up with new techniques to try out. he's particularly good at it because he can actually try other people's quirks himself, which gives him a better understanding of how they function and what their limitations are

^ which is why i believe he'd make an awesome hero course teacher!! (in all might's role - i don't think making him anyone's homeroom teacher would be a good idea, he'd be just as biased towards his class as he is now lmao) it's definitely one of my favorite "future" headcanons

he praises his classmates' quirks a lot and says he considers them all great, but he does have preferences when it comes to copying them

his favorites are Yanagi's poltergeist (somewhat boring, but easy to understand and very versatile both in battle and everyday life), Tokage's lizard tail splitter (he almost died when he copied it for the first time because he barely managed to put his body back together before his quirk's time limit ran out, but that didn't stop him - he always found Tokage's quirk very fun and useful, so he put a lot of work into fully figuring it out and now he uses it pretty often), Shoda's twin impact (Monoma's physical strength.... leaves a lot to be desired, and the second impact always being significantly stronger than the first helps make up for it) and Kuroiro's black (you can move around very fast and it's fun :) )

quirks he does not like copying Honenuki's softening (fun, but quite difficult to control and avoiding collateral damage with such a destructive quirk is a pain in the ass. Honenuki understands that perfectly) and Shishida's beast (just... really not his thing lol)

for some reason i see a lot of people headcanon that he has pet ferrets, and you know what? i agree. he does seem like a ferret person

prefers smart clothing, a polo shirt is the most casual he'll go. he only ever wears tshirts for exercise (which he hates doing lol) and probably doesn't own a single hoodie

in general i think he has a good eye for elegant design... his dorm room is very stylish and nicely coordinated too. i think one of the light novels also describes it as "vaguely french" and yeah that fits

while he tries to keep his room neat and tidy on the outside, all his drawers and cabinets are horribly messy

he's that one kid who has like 17 different allergies and is completely useless if he forgets his meds on a spring day (spring is his least favorite season due to this. i think winter would be his fave)

luckily he is not allergic to dairy so he can eat as much stinky french cheese as he wants 👍

speaking of food i think he's a pretty good cook actually

prefers listening to older (and mostly foreign) music and is a huge snob about it

honestly he probably acts the same about movies and books too

arguing with people on the internet is one of his favorite ways to spend his free time. if there are no 1-A students around, you can always show off your impressive vocabulary by bullying random internet strangers with bad taste in movies!

almost everyone in 1-B considers him a friend despite his... anti-1a bullshit, because he's just really nice and helpful to people he likes + he's a great leader! however he's closest to Kuroiro (friendly drama king rivals! they're constantly arguing about dumb shit using the fanciest words they can think of and they're always trying to outperform each other in the drama club meetings they both attend, but they love each other trust me <3 also Monoma helps Kuroiro with studying because he sucks at school), Pony (when he's not trying to trick her into insulting 1-A he can be pretty helpful with japanese, he also likes listening to her talk about her home country), Honenuki (he's Pony's best friend, so you usually befriend them both at once, but Monoma thinks he's also interesting to talk to by himself) and Tetsutetsu (they don't share many interests but Monoma hates exercising so he has Tetsutetsu force him to do it. his positive energy certainly helps a lot)

ever since they got to know each other during their joint training fight, Monoma's been using 100% of his persuasion skills to convince Shinso to join 1-B instead of 1-A. Shinso is conflicted to say the least

aaand that's all i have for him! hope you enjoyed these!!

[litgreadersroom]

How To Use AO3 Tags

Want to find a fic but have no idea how to get started? Are you writing a fic and don't know how to tag it? Don't worry, you aren't alone. Tagging is hard and people don't always follow the same rules. But hopefully this will give you a place to start!

Relationships

Character/MC: romantic or sexual pairing with the fic's main character, may be named or referred to by pronouns or MC

Character/OC or Character/Original Character: romantic or sexual pairing with a named individual created by the author

Character/Character/OC: romantic or sexual relationship containing three individuals all involved with each other (note: this is not the correct tag for a love triangle, in that case, both relationships should be tagged separately)

Character/Reader: romantic or sexual pairing with an unnamed main character (you or Y/N), meant to feel as though the person reading the fic is in the story

Character & MC: platonic or familial relationships with the fic's main character, may be named or unnamed and referred to using pronouns or MC

Character & OC: platonic or familial relationships with a named character created by the author

Character & Reader: platonic or familial pairing with an unnamed main character (you or Y/N), meant to feel as though the person reading the fic is in the story

General: there are either no relationships of note in the fic or the fic does not focus on any relationships

Multi: often used for one-shot series or multiple POVs, should be used when there are 3+ pairings essential to the fic

The big question is always 'how many relationships should I tag in my fic?' Especially in villa fics, there are multiple pairings and the relationship tag can get convoluted. There is no set answer to the question, but the general rule of thumb is that if it's not a key plot point of the fic, don't add it as a relationship tag. In a villa fic, there are going to be multiple relationships, but other than the main pairing, tagging those relationships doesn't add anything. There's nothing more disappointing than looking for a fic for a specific ship only to learn that it's a background pairing you rarely see. This includes one-off sexual relationships and villa couplings that aren't romantic (and if you want to include those, additional tags are your best friend!).

Rating

General: very rare in LITG, but basically, any fic you'd be okay with a child reading

Teen and Up: fluffy, romantic fics with NO smut

Mature: implies the presence of sex or violence without going into detail

Explicit: detailed description of sex or violence

Not Rated: author did not select a rating, could be any of the above ratings

A lot of people get tripped up on the difference between M and E. When it doubt, think about the envelop analogy: a mature fic tells you that the character sent a letter in an envelope. An explicit fic goes into detail about how the character did it including describing putting the letter into the envelope, the taste of it as they licked the seal, etc. These lines can blur when it comes to chaptered fics; some authors may chose to rate a fic as mature but include explicit scenes, so be sure to check the additional tags.

Archive Warnings

Graphic Descriptions of Violence: gory and descriptive violence, it is up to the author as to what exactly falls under this category

Major Character Death: one of the main characters dies, does not have to happen 'on screen' (note: just because this tag isn't there, doesn't mean that there isn't death, just that the author doesn't consider that character to be a major character in the fic)

Rape/Non-con: pretty self-explanatory, does NOT include consensual rape play (although that SHOULD be included in additional tags)

Underage: any sexual activity in which one or both characters are under the age of 18, does not include kissing

Author Chose Not To Use: one of the above warnings might apply, either the author isn't sure if their content qualifies or wants to avoid spoilers, PROCEED WITH CAUTION

No Archive Warnings Apply: none of the archive triggers are included in the fic, does not mean that there are no triggers, but does not have any of the ones listed above

Characters

This is a section for you to include any characters included in the fic. The parties to your pairing should be included here, as well as other characters they interact with. General rule of thumb: if they're just mentioned in passing, you don't have to tag them, but if they have a conversation, it's worth a tag. The big exception to this is villa fics: obviously in a S2 villa fic, every S2 character is going to be mentioned, so you might not need to tag every S2 character unless they contribute to the plot in some way (and there is a tag for 'other love island characters' that exists to capture this). This is entirely up to the author's digression, but as a reader, please remember that just because they're mentioned in the character tags does not mean they are necessarily in a lot of the fic.

Additional Tags

Any tags that don't fit under the other categories. This is where an author can truly tell you what is going to be included in their fic, including any additional triggers that don't fall under the AO3 archive warnings. The nice thing about AO3 tag searches is that it is not exclusive, if you want to filter your search for an alternate universe, AO3 will include all variations of the tag in your search (i.e. AU, alternate universe, and alternate universe-sports AU will all come up on a simple AU search). This is the space to include tropes, triggers, setting, smut/kinks, etc.

Fandom

For the most part, the LITG fandom contains exclusively Love Island The Game-Video game tagged fics. But you will run into the occasional crossover or fusion fic. Crossover fics should be tagged with both fandoms as they contain characters from both. Fusion fics should be tagged with only the LITG tag as they contain exclusively LITG characters in the world of another fandom.

[mydisenchantedeulogy]

Candy Coated [Chapter Nine] Shining Confidence [Buddha]

A/n: I want to draw these fights out a bit to avoid catching up to the source material which will eventually happen, but that's the plan. The picture above was drawn by the talented Somanoko from AO3.

Warning(s): confidence, teasing, minor blood, Buddha is up to something, support, Gods and Goddesses, female reader (though I've yet to state pronouns).

Tag list: @useless-potatho , @tojibreedingme , @quinloki , @yingxian, @2lottie2, @lunas-nova , @anduinandwrathionlover, @tiredfairy, @the-queen-of-sorrows , @alientee, @lawlietliet, @hanaibea, @69your-best-night-mare69 , @bradshawwannebe

"I'm ready to go," you announce with a confident smile. 

As soon as the sun rose, you got ready; showering and dressing in the outfit that Buddha had given you. Breakfast had been a bit lonely, considering the fact you ate alone, but once you were refreshed, you hurried to the main hall to meet with Buddha. 

He, like the moment you first met him, was in his chair. And after your statement, he smiled.

"You look confident."

You nod in agreement. 

"I am confident…or at least I am trying to be."

Buddha hums and saunters down from his chair. 

"That's the way to be." He skims you over and grins. "Looks good on you."

An embarrassed heat spreads across your face. You aren't sure if he means the outfit or the confidence but you will take the compliment. 

"You're sweet." 

"Am I?" He asks with a raised brow. 

You know he's teasing you, so you ignore the question. 

"When do we leave?"

"As soon as Brother Jataka gets here," Buddha answers. "He wanted to take a short walk before we left."

You hum in response. It's not a bad idea. Though you wonder how he feels about this? You don't want to leave the realm either. Taking a deep breath you remind yourself of your confidence. It's best not to dwell on what-ifs anymore. 

The sound of quiet footsteps brings your attention to Jataka as he saunters into the room. You offer him a smile, which he offers back. 

"Did you enjoy your walk?" 

"I did," he retorts. "And now I am ready to go."

Turning his eyes to Buddha, he hums in question. 

"No sweets or junk food?"

You are honestly a little surprised that he isn't taking any with him too. Buddha merely grins, sauntering over to his chair to retrieve his staff. 

"I don't need to take any."

You raise a curious brow. That's a bit unlike him. Before you can question it, however, he rests his hand on your back; Jataka sets his hand on Buddha's shoulder and the staff activates. 

When the scrolls disappear back into the staff, you note that you are in the Observation Room that Brunhilde had shown you before you met Buddha. It feels as though you've come full circle. 

 The faint glow of the flatscreen catches your attention and you sigh, viewing the Earth again, but there's something different about it. The images of twelve people are spread across it, one of which you recognize. 

Kintoki? 

Could this be the Einherjar he had mentioned?

The sound of rushed footsteps breaks your focus on the flatscreen, as Brunhilde and Göll pace into the room. The former sighs in annoyance.

"I told you to arrive near the arena with the others, Buddha."

The said man grins. 

"I must have over-calculated."

"I doubt that," Brunhilde retorts. 

Buddha laughs in response. Does he want to see the Einherjar for himself? You can understand Brunhilde's annoyance. 

"Should we not go to the arena for the tournament?" You ask Buddha. It's best not to demand him to leave; it's obvious he does what he wants. 

"There is a waiting room for you on the God's side, Buddha-sama," Brunhilde mentions. "It should have all of the accommodations that will make your wait enjoyable."

Buddha hums. 

"My wait, huh? Are you insinuating something, Bu-chan?"

"Me? Never," the woman retorts with a confused look. 

Something about this is odd. You glance between the two unsure of what is going on. 

"But humans aren't allowed on the God's side," Göll states. 

"We will make an exception given the tether," Brunhilde mentions. Her green eyes turn to Jataka. "I'm afraid that is as far as I can extend my gratitude."

Jataka smiles. 

"It is no issue. I will watch the tournament from Humanity's side." 

"Which is starting soon," Göll claims in a slight panic. 

Brunhilde sighs. 

"I trust that you can find your waiting room on your own, right, Buddha-sama?"

The said man grins and though he seems reluctant to listen, he leaves the Observation Room. You join him in the hall, standing beside him as Jataka says his farewells. 

"Do try to behave," he mentions. 

Buddha laughs in response. 

You know better than to assume he will, but it's nice of him to worry. The three of you part ways; you walk beside Buddha down the hall toward the God's side of the arena. 

"Are we going to your waiting room?" You ask. 

"Once we see the opening of the first round," Buddha answers. 

You hum, a bit curious as to who the two sides will start the tournament with. You reckon the Gods will want to make a statement, so they will most likely send out someone strong. 

Thanatos…or perhaps Zeus himself. 

You have to admit, it's a bit exciting.

On the stairs overlooking the arena, you take note of the thousands of spectators, Gods, and humans alike. It's nerve-wracking but you had expected as much. This is a significant event. 

"The chatter is a bit loud," you admit. 

Buddha hums. 

"The who's who of Gods and Humans is here." He pauses a moment and points straight into the air. "And right above us is the VIP box. I bet the old man is up there giggling under his breath because he thinks this is going to be easy." 

"That's an amusing image," you admit with a grin. 

The God beside you laughs. 

"Not as amusing as the look on his face when he tried those jelly beans."

You raise a curious brow as he hunches over and positions his arms behind his back. His eyes grow wide and he makes a series of overdramatic gags that make you snort in laughter.  

"That tastes horrible. Like moldy cheese and barf. You youngsters and your weird candies. I will have to pass," Buddha states, mocking Zeus the best he can.

"That was a terrible joke…but he certainly deserved it," you admit. "I wish I could have seen it." 

This would have to do. If only the other Gods and Goddesses had been included. 

"I was merely sharing your gift," Buddha claims.

He would be the type to kill them with kindness; a gesture of friendliness that had turned sour because he was a bit biased.

This means he left the good ones in the box for our next game.

You smile, happy to have spent time with him. At least for a short while.

A piercing sound similar to a microphone echoes around the arena as a short God with a robot-like face walks onto the field. He lifts a golden megaphone to his mouth and clears his throat.

"This is the moment that I've been waiting for ages! The moment to blow this Gjallarhorn!" The God states in excitement. "The time to open the curtain of the Ragnarok is drawing near! Are you rrready for this?!"

A chorus of cheers erupts from the crowd, making you tighten your jaw. Covering one ear you turn your eyes to Buddha, leaning close to him.  

"That's Heimdall, isn't it? He certainly knows how to work the crowd."

The said man pouts. 

"Do I not look like my textbook counterpart?"

"Not exactly," you admit with a snort. "But neither does he. His horn though is notable; that's how I knew."

Buddha hums and averts his eyes to the arena. You follow suit, missing the rules, though you are certain it's pretty clear how this works.  

"The first bout," Heimdall announces as he directs the crowd to a doorway beneath your feet. "Introducing the vanguard from the God's side! This man! Everyone knows of this God. Everybody wants to see his maximum poweeer! His Mjölnir can even–"

Your eyes widen in shock. No way! From the platform leading to the arena walks an extremely tall and muscular man with long red hair. The hammer he's carrying is massive, even bigger than his body. Before Heimdall even announces his name, you utter it in awe. 

He's intimidating. 

For some reason, you had expected his movie counterpart to walk out, spinning his hammer in the air. The thought makes you grin.

The Gods made a good move. 

"And then his challenger!" Heimdall shouts. "The vanguard from Mankind's side…is this man!"

The sound of a gong permeates the air, followed by the bang of drums and the swish of symbols as hundreds of armored men surround the opposite doorway. Their chants of 'no' as Heimdall questions their will and power bring goosebumps to your skin. 

Then from the gate springs a beautiful black horse and upon it is a figure bound in blood-red bandages. As the horse approaches the arena, the bandages begin to rip, uncovering a muscular tattooed man with long dark hair. 

Your eyes widen in response. He's more intimidating than Thor.

"The most powerful of all Chinese heroes! Lü Bu!" Heimdall introduces him as.

Lü Bu? There isn't much you know about him, but you have heard of him. Based on the aura he's radiating and his appearance, you feel as though he's a good match for the God's heavy hitter. 

A warm hand on your shoulder turns your attention to Buddha, who motions for you to follow him. You do, a bit reluctant to leave the arena, however, you do want to watch the match from the comfort of the waiting room, at least until you want to.

In the bowels of the arena, minutes later, a piercing nose like the sound of a horn permeates the air. You glance at Buddha in question and he hums. 

"Sounds like the match has begun." 

You take an uneasy breath, merely nodding. It's fine. You trust that Brunhilde knows what she is doing. Focusing on Buddha, as he once mentioned, you continue down the hall to the waiting rooms, finding a door with an ornate lotus on it. You've always found it impressive the length the Valkyries go to make the Gods feel comfortable. It's a bit strange that Buddha has a waiting room, but you dismiss the thought and walk into the room. 

The ambiance is ideal. It's laid back and painted in shades of blue and green. A large bed sits on the far side of the room and instead of a couch, there is a swing chair with a plush cushion situated in the middle. It's gorgeous.

"They spared no expenses," you utter. 

Buddha hums. Sauntering over to a side table near the bed, he takes a lollipop from a lotus-shaped bowl and pops it eagerly into his mouth. 

"Bu-chan is trying her best to butter me up, isn't she?"

You raise a brow. What for? 

"I think it suits you."

Buddha grins. Also from the table, he picks up what appears to be a tablet and shows it to you. 

"So we can watch the matches."

You hum in understanding and close the gap to take it, turning the device on. The first scene that pops up makes you widen your eyes in shock. Thor is wearing some sort of black gloves as he weirdly positions his body, almost like he's trying to rest his back on the ground while standing up. 

"What are these gloves?"

You realize the tablet has a rewind option, so you take it back to see Thor materialize them once he and Lü Bu clash. A small bubble pops up on the screen with an icon of the gloves on them, so you tap it.

"Járngreipr," you read. A list of facts appears on the side of the screen. "These gloves are rumored to be able to withstand any attack. Worn by Thor to protect his hands from the heat of Mjölnir, though this is a misunderstanding." 

Your brow rises. A misunderstanding? You have no idea what this means. 

"It seems like he's already taking this seriously," Buddha remarks. 

"Because of the stance?" You ask. 

Buddha agrees with a nod. So, he's preparing to attack. Another fact pops up moments later, stating that Thor wiped out 66 Jotun with this attack during the Asgard-Jotun battle in ancient times. You feel doubt creep up your spine but a comforting hand on your lower back soothes it away, at least for the moment.

Can Lü Bu withstand this much power? In horror you watch electricity fill the arena, emanating from the hammer. And with a single strike, the image on the screen is shrouded in blinding light. You groan and avert your eyes, turning them back quickly once it's over. Another fact pops up on the screen, making you widen your eyes. 

Thor's Hammer, an instant kill technique. 

There's no way that it's over. What hope does–

"Breath," Buddha orders. He helps you to sit down on the bed. "It's not over."

To your shock, once the arena clears, you witness Lü Bu standing unharmed with his spear aimed down. What surprises you more is that Thor is bleeding from a cut to the chest. He did it. He managed to cut a God. 

You shout in triumph and toss your arms around Buddha. The God laughs in response, holding you there against him. The feel of his muscles brings heat to your face and a pleasant tingle to your stomach. 

"There is that confidence."

You grin. It's too early to tell who will win the match, but you are certain now your kind has a chance. The hold you have around Buddha tightens. There is no point in wasting this. It's best if you just relax and take pleasure in the moment. 

And watch the match too, I suppose. 

[eyeris-moni]

thats such a deeply fascinating, fucked up concept that i can grasp the horror of easily. Might consider getting back into creepypasta beyond just lurking in the tags BECAUSE of this character. MAN.

THANK YOU (⁠*⁠˘7˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ !!

I really appreciate Cupid a lot - he's a very genuine, straight forward character in a way. He doesn't lie a whole lot and gives his opinion pretty openly. Very open about his deal, and doesn't particularly care how other's feel about it.

Cupid's arrows already has such an easy horrible element: being shot with feelings that technically aren't your own. In a way, Cupid at least does his homework and makes sure to assign you a love you already had. He just won't ever regulate the bullets. And it's not at all a skill issue - I think he's plenty capable, he just doesn't want to.

!! I'M SO FLATTERED AAH

Honestly you should!! I'm personally very 'on and off with CRP stuff' (big hiatuses haha) but I looove making OC's and seeing other's OC's too! It makes me so happy to see other's getting inspired by stuff that I make :3

I'm glad you enjoy Cupid so much though! Even when I focus on my main world (on my main account), he is frequently still a focal point of my attention (⁠ʃ⁠ƪ⁠＾⁠3⁠＾)♡

[22degreehalo]

aaaaand FINALLY I've finished writing up my next few recs for the Summer @ficreadingchallenge :'DDD Most of these I read weeks ago when I was especially tired and just wanted to lie down and listen to some podfics, as you'll see below~ But I'm still going! I got sooo close to finishing a line this time (and I WOULD HAVE if I hadn't swapped around the squares for some of these hahaha) and if possible I want to complete a full blackout! n.n

A couple of prompt-related rambles: 'Enemies to Friends / Lovers' is highlighted buuut I actually later decided to use that fic for 'Future AU' so. Oh well :') I also swapped a fic from Domestic to Gift Giving even though gifts aren't the main focus because I was having trouble with that square and the gifts ARE still a pretty big part of the fic so??? who cares hahaha. Also somehow I've gotten this far using a different pairing for every single square and I was absolutely tempted to try to continue that, and am knocking myself out of it because I just want to encourage myself to read fic, not force myself into a pretzel trying to track down rarepair fics that SHOULD exist SOMEWHERE......

New recs below!! :D

Canon Compliant

after knowing all, I wonder, can you really say innocent? By Aialize (15.5k, ongoing, Milgram gen)

This is a super fascinating fic and a great example of one of my favourite genres: crack treated seriously! In this one, the music videos exist in-universe and the prisoners (plus Es) will watch them all, reacting and responding in-character. I love how committed the author is to this premise: some of the characters would rather forget all this stuff is even happening, while others (most notably Kotoko) fully intend to learn all they can about the other prisoners from them. It’s still early days, but I can’t wait to see how they all react differently, and what (correct or incorrect!) conclusions they come to! (Also, maybe it seems strange to use an AU fic for the tag ‘Canon Compliant’, but the fic is sticking to the canonically-chosen verdicts which is why it counts!)

Fic With No Comments Yet

messin’ up my mind by Skyrose – a podfic by CailynWrites (5k, 33:47, Percy/Oliver)

Choosing podfics for the ‘No Comments Yet’ category almost feels like cheating heh, but these very important fan works deserve just as much love!!! This is an adorable fic: stories where the characters’ friends/family ‘ship them’ can be corny and OOC, but I love that Fred and George initially just want to give Oliver something to care about other than Quidditch training, and have no clue the cogs they started working in Oliver’s head until they’re ready for that last push. And I love Oliver and Percy’s relationship: not quite close, comfortable friends, but more like very different people who’ve spent a lot of time together and never quite taken the plunge in becoming fixtures of one another’s life – yet. <3

Hurt/Comfort

The Care and Feeding of a Deeply Depressed Vampire [Podfic] by secretsofluftnarp, read by Pandamug (2.8k, 21:16, Nandor/Guillermo

Fics that perfectly capture the absurd black humour of this show are always a treat and this fic is no exception! One of the tags is ‘canon-typical sex talk’ and hoo BOY is that accurate haha, but beneath the characteristic horniness and always-at-least-mild insufferability, Nandor really is just a pathetic sad little vampire, and the degree of care Guillermo has for him – and how much Nandor trusts him in return – is so sweet!

BIPOC Character

[Podfic] The Benefits of Communication written by ushauz, voiced by GodOfLaundryBaskets (3.2k, 27:27, Wyll/Astarion)

I’m still dipping my toes into Wyll/Astarion fanfic, but this was a very nice introduction!! Despite focusing on Astarion’s trauma around sex, it also gets a bit into Wyll’s complicated relationship with it as well, in a way that totally makes sense for them! I can 100% see these two dumbasses having a miscommunication like this, doing something they both don’t like just because they think it’ll make the other happy :’D

Future AU

Recognition by SaraJaye (2k, N/Hilbert)

This is such a sweet fic, and I can totally imagine these two’s relationship going this way post-canon!! By the end of the game they’d both need some time before they’d really be ready to be in a relationship, and though short I totally love how the friendship builds enough here for them to do that! <3

Gift Giving

Tinsel by Lunar_Years (17.5k, Roy/Jamie/Keeley)

I absolutely love and 100% recommend this entire series of RJK fics – they capture the characters and their relationship absolutely perfectly, and the familial interactions ring so true! I particularly loved Roy’s complicated relationship to the holidays; feeling troubled by his own lack of enthusiasm towards what should be ‘his’ celebrations, and only realising in retrospect that he really had enjoyed his time taking part in it all with his partners. Despite being longer than all the other fics I’ve recced here so far, the time absolutely blazed by, because it all flowed so smoothly and once I started reading I didn’t want to stop! <3

Time Travel

Catalyst [podfic] by TheStarvingWriter, read by RavenGranger11 (2.5k, 19:53, Dean/Castiel)

This fic packs in so much for its length! It’s wonderfully atmospheric between the dingy motel room and young Dean’s insecurity and longing, and from the moment Cas steps in his fondness and familiarity for Dean shines right through <3

Time Loop

& home & home & home (or, a timeloop) by decemberista - a Podfic read by Beatificbean (3.1k/20:09, Remus/Sirius)

Ugh, this fic hits so hard. :( With its succinct writing we really get a sense of how hard Sirius tries, over and over, to save everyone. It’s almost like poetry – especially at the end, which really made me cry!! ;__;

[evegoldenwoods]

Book Bingo Roundup

I hadn't precisely planned on doing the book bingo, but it's a nice framing device to talk about what I've read this year, and I do want to do that, so.

@batmanisagatewaydrug since you do ask to be tagged on the image

The Sprawl Trilogy, by William Gibson

Technically, these cover at least 3 categories: Short Story Collection (Burning Chrome), 20th Century Speculative Fiction (Neuromancer/Count Zero) and Science Fiction (all three). I'll try to double up on at least two of those three categories later in the year. (Actually, I know I will for 20th c. sf., but I want to read another short story collection too.) I'm reading these along with the Shelved by Genre podcast, which is really wonderful and I highly recommend. Great way to introduce yourself to different books.

Individual thoughts

Burning Chrome - This book rules. Not all the stories are hits, but when they do hit they're incredible. I think Hinterlands might have ended up being my favourite because it's so strange and unlike the others, but Johnny Mnemonic has one of the best opening paragraphs of all time, up there with your Shirley Jacksons, and Winter Market is strange and sad and interesting and really stuck with me.

Neuromancer - Again, Gibson can just write. I find Case pretty dull as a protagonist but it simply doesn't matter. The book is firing on all cylinders with its prose and style, Case doesn't need to be interesting. And Molly Millions is a great character.

Count Zero - In some ways more interesting than Neuromancer, in other ways less. You can see Gibson learn a technique here that he'll use for the rest of his career, the trick of having a few seemingly unrelated protagonists whose stories spiral together as the book gets to its climax. It doesn't quite pay off here, but it's interesting. I really liked Marly, the art gallery curator, and I think her plotline is the most interesting. The idea of interfacing with this future world through the lens of an art dealer is a really strong one. There's some grating elements to this book, Turner has a weird psychosexual relationship with a 17 year old that doesn't go anywhere or do anything narratively interesting (I'm all for weird fucked up relationships but I want them to be thought about interestingly, and this one isn't). There's also some really embarrassing (for Gibson) use of Caribbean religions in a way that is conceptually interesting but he doesn't actually know enough about to succeed at. But it's still really good. I truly think more people should read Gibson just for the prose.

---

Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang

For Literary Fiction, I think, though it could also be 2024 Award Winner.

Anyway, this book is incredible. It's so lush and textured and interesting and playful and horrific and clever and sad. I think it achieves the thing that literary fiction at its best is always trying to achieve, which is to sit in the unsettling space outside of genre, exploring the space where things don't resolve the way you expect and there aren't clear answers. A book you have to think about, that never gives you an answer but gives you a lot of pieces to draw a conclusion from.

Also it will make you SO hungry.

---

Remember When by Mary Balogh

For Romance Novel.

I'll try and double up on this one too. I like Mary Balogh, but she's not very interesting. If you haven't ever read her, her books are extremely beige historical romance. They are exclusively heterosexual, and involve people settling into very conventional relationships, having children if they can, etc etc. Within that extremely restricted vision of romance they are good, they regularly include people with disabilities, for example, as well as romances between older characters, not just debutantes. In fact, Remember When is precisely that. It's about the mother of the main character of the first book in the series reconnecting with a childhood sweetheart and deciding to marry him. Her books tend to have a focus on people learning more about themselves and working through whatever their psychological issues are. It can get a bit grating if you read more than like, three in a row, but as an every-so-often treat they're very relaxing.

---

The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison and Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

These get to duke it out for the spots of Sequel and Fantasy, since both are both. And I also put them together because they're both kind of "more of the same" books, in that I think you will very much know whether you're going to enjoy them based on the first book.

Emily Wilde is a series about an autistic researcher in what feels like an alternate late 1800s/early 1900s era. She is never explicitly stated to be autistic but there's simply no other way to interpret her, and I think the book does a really good job with her neurodivergence. It is often a legitimate hindrance to her, as she says the wrong thing or alienates people with tactlessness and bluntness, but also she is deeply admired and loved for who she is by the people around her, and even loved for the qualities that she struggles with. She also has absolutely no desire to change who she is even when it frustrates her, which is nice. And because it's written from her perspective, it really brings you into her experience in an elegant way. I think the romance in this series is well-done, and the actual plot is interesting too. My other big bit of praise for it, though, is that it's probably the best fantasy series I've read in terms of the care and thoughtfulness it takes with the Irish language. A lot of faerie-focused fantasy series do a very, very bad job with Irish, both the mythology and the culture, but Heather Fawcett is extremely respectful with both.

The Tomb of Dragons is the third and nominally final book in the Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy (itself a sequel trilogy to The Goblin Emperor) although it seems clear by the end that it won't be the last book about Thara Celehar. I think it was mildly controversial with fans of the series because it kind of features a bait-and-switch romance, but I ended up liking that choice a lot. These books aren't romance, and I think the way this book chooses to play out those relationships reflects that. (I think there's a more substantial critique to be made of the way that she keeps her gay characters in weird non-sexual relationships, but I'm holding off until I know whether we're getting more about Celehar and the Guard Captain before I sign off on that.)

In other thoughts, this book really pushes "Thara Celehar is a sad wet cat with no self-esteem" to its breaking point, to the degree that even I found it a little tiresome and I'm a complete sucker for the way that this series treats its main characters like poor little meow meows. But the worldbuilding and fantasy elements of the setting remain my catnip, and I think I've just accepted that I will in fact read anything Addison writes set in this universe.

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The Power Fantasy 1-7 by Keiron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard

For Comics and Graphic Novels, the square that will certainly tie with fantasy and science fiction for the most titles fighting for position. Anyway, I think this has a little of what I often struggle with in Gillen's work, which is that everything is so clever and pat and visibly constructed that I find it irritating, but Caspar's art really mellows that out, his expression work is truly excellent, and I think the overall concept of the story is enough to keep me interested.

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Les Cookies Des Nos Rêves by Déborah Dupont-Dauget and Géraldine Martens

Back in December I visited Paris with two friends, and on Sunday morning we went to a very cool (chic? ;p) little coffee shop that had a selection of books you could peruse. This was one of them, and I thought it looked interesting, and also that having a cookbook in French would be a nice way to remind myself of the language, which I haven't tried to use in a long time. The book has proven excellent on both fronts, and I've been very pleased with it. Recipes are good reading practice, because the structure is so clear and simple that you can often guess words you don't directly know.

Anyway, the best recipe in the book so far is for tahini biscuits with chocolate chips. The book calls for milk chocolate, but I think dark is much better.

You need:

120g softened salted butter

100g brown sugar (the recipe specifically calls for cassonade, which has bigger grains than say, a caster sugar, but I haven't noticed much difference trying different types)

100g caster sugar

60g tahini

60g almond butter (I used peanut when I didn't have almond and didn't notice a difference, and peanut is much cheaper)

180g t65 flour (don't mind this, I used all purpose and it's fine)

1 teaspoon of baking powder

150g of good chocolate cut into small chunks (or chips is fine too)

sesame seeds for decoration

50g of chocolate chips/chunks to decorate the top

Mix the butter, the sugars, the tahini and almond/peanut butter. Add the egg and mix well. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until you have a smooth dough. Add the 150g of chocolate and mix it in.

Make 12 balls. You can do this with an icecream scoop or with your hands, the only important bit is that they're 70g each. Use your scales, it makes a big difference. Or you can do 18 cookies of 52g. Roll the balls in the sesame seeds (one side only.) Sqiush them a little flat and add the extra chocolate chunks to the top.

Stick them in the fridge for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius. Put the dough balls on baking paper lined trays, well spaced. Put them in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 180 C. Cook them for 15 minutes (if you do the smaller balls, maybe check at 13).

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And that's a wrap so far. I need to read more books.

Speaking of which.

Currently reading: The City in Glass by Nghi Vo. Cool so far, but I'm only 25% through it, so saving my thoughts.

---

TBR:

Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson - Last of the Sprawl Trilogy, reading it along with Shelved by Genre. It sits on the same squares as the other Sprawl Trilogy books, so won't count further towards book bingo, but I'm looking forward to it.

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandasekera - I bought this months ago, I need to finally sit down and read it.

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt - I started this months ago, I need to pick it back up and finish it.

The World is Born from Zero by Cameron Kunzleman - A book about science fiction in video games, by one of the hosts of Shelved by Genre.

Collected Essays of James Baldwin - (That might not be the actual title, it's over on my bookshelf and I can't see it.) Bought this from a cool queer bookshop in the Castro District of SF when I was there last year, the book bingo will be excellent encouragement to make time for it.

Otherside Picnic Volume 9 - Finally out! I'm excited. Love this series.

The Dublin Comic Arts Festival is on the 6th of April, so that'll be a good chance to pick up a zine and then I can make my own. I could probably argue for the Creation of Wonder as a zine, but I think I'd rather make a new one. It will probably be a ttrpg though, since that's where my brain is at at the moment.

[sharenaweek]

Now that Sharena Week is closer (a little over a month away!) I thought it'd be a good idea to do one of these!

(if you have any questions not answered here, feel free to ask, whether in a reply, an ask, or even a DM! If your question is more specific/complex DM might be the best option for it to be discussed)

FAQ

Q: Are Original Characters allowed?

A: Yes! Summoner OCs, Self Inserts, Fan Children, or other original characters are allowed to be included in your prompts — so long as the main focus is on Sharena as much as possible.

Q: Are specific headcanons/AUs/Canon divergences/etc allowed outside of Day 5: Change of Fate?

A: If you want to adhere to a specific AU or set of canon divergent headcanons throughout the whole week/vary through them each day, you're welcome to! As long as it still features the main Day's general prompt & it's Sharena-focused, there should be no issues.

Q: If I'm late/can't post a prompt the day of, can I still upload it later in the week?

A: Yes! As long as you tag your posts accordingly, there's no problem with uploading late, even out of the event's timeframe (though it'd be preferred for most of it to be posted during the specified week, we understand sometimes life happens, or you simply can't finish in time for whatever reason; we'll be sharing everything that's properly tagged to this account!)

Q: Will there be an AO3 Collection for any fics made for the week?

A: If people would like that, then yes! We'd create a collection a week or two before the event and share it here so you can submit your fics!

Q: What platforms/social media are allowed for posting of our works?

A: Pretty much anywhere! For the moment, Sharena Week only has social media presence here on Tumblr, Twitter/X (@ SharenaWeek), and Instagram (@ sharenaweek, though we'll admit I we're not sure how/if it's even possible for us to share your content there, as we aren't used to it — we'll still poke around and like posts at the very least!). As mentioned above, an AO3 collection will most probably be made a couple weeks before the Week, but we probably won't be on other fanfic websites (i.e. fanfiction, wattpad). If you make a post linking to your fic on the websites we do have presence on, however, we'll share it! If needed, we can even compile links to posts on other platforms for ease of access.

Q: Are creations outside of drawing, painting, and writing accepted?

Yes!!! Anything goes, as long as you made it — skill level doesn't matter, either. Sprite edits, music playlists, cosplay, collages, AMVs, vine/tiktok compilations... anything you can think of! That being said, AI work (artwork made with AI websites, fic written by programs like ChatGPT, etc) WON'T be accepted.

Q: What do I do if my post doesn't get reblogged/retweeted/shared by you guys?

A: We'll do our best to check the tags as often as possible during the event, but we might miss stuff, be it because it was posted as we took a break, or because Tumblr is held together with duct tape and hope. If we go a day or two or even more without interacting with your work, feel free to DM us a link to the post or @ us so we can share it!

[whumptober]

Okay this is like a general question but it’s related to whumptober

How do a03 tags work? I saw that the info said to use the whumptober2023 tag but I don’t really understand tagging in general?

Please help 😭

No worries, Anon, I shall do my best to explain!

Our tumblr tagging system is for the those posting on tumblr and would like to be reblogged to the @whumptober-archive. If you're not fussed about that, then feel free to use #whumptober2023 for your posts, with any other tags that you feel best describe your work.

Ao3 tags are incredibly useful for finding fics/excluding fics with things you don't want to see. For example, when searching a fandom you can exclude 'smut' if you do not wish to see those kinds of fics. Similarly if you want to find whump (more commonly tagged as 'hurt/comfort'), then you can choose to include those tags in your search.

(AO3 tagging system under the cut)

On AO3, tagging is slightly different as it is put into sections:

I'll start off by saying that you know your work better than anyone else, so use your best judgement when filling out warnings etc. The '?' symbol next to each section title provides some good information that may help your decision making.

Ratings: for whump, 'teen and up' is generally a good place to start, though depending on how mild/graphic it is, you could just keep it to 'general audiences' or rate it as 'mature.'

Archive warnings: (As above, this section can also be hard to judge with whump fics.) Personally, I find 'choose not to use archive warnings'/'no archive warnings apply' as a decent middle-ground for whump. Others may have different ideas of this, but my decision is based on the fact I generally post on the 'milder' side of whump, and I include a lot of tags. If you think your fic contains graphic content, select 'Graphic depictions of violence.'

Fandoms: Here you can search for the fandom you're writing for. It should show up in a drop-down menu beneath the bar. If you're writing for multiple fandoms, list all of them! If you're posting original content to AO3, use the 'Original Work' tag. For a small fandom that may not be listed already, you can just type in the fandom name and It'll create that fandom tag.

Categories: if you have relationships in your fic, you can tag them here. For example if your fic contains a male x male pairing, you'll select 'm/m'. If your fic contains general relationships (non-romantic) or the ships aren't the focus of the fic, you can select 'Gen'. You can choose as many of these tags as you want, depending on your fic.

Relationships: In this section, you can list the characters in the relationship. You can start typing a character's name, and the list of pre-exisiting ships will appear in the drop down. For example, if you type in 'Dean Winchester', 'Dean Winchester / Castiel' will be an option. If your ship is a rare pair, then you can create a tag yourself by writing both characters names with a '/' in the middle.

Characters: All of the characters that appear in your fic, are listed here. If a character is only mentioned, you can tag them as the following: 'John Constantine (Mentioned)'

Additional tags: Everything else goes here: whumptober2023, whumptober, whump, angst, hurt/comfort, injury, illness... any tag that you think fits your work goes here - especially content/trigger warnings. For tagging whump, I recommend tagging the main tropes (eg, 'water inhalation', 'drowning', 'torture').

Tags can always be added/removed even after the fic is posted, so if you think of a tag to add, or think one isn't relevant to your fic, you can always adjust them!

AO3 also has a tag FAQ section: here

I do hope this helps, but as always the ask box is open. If anyone else has advice for Anon or any additional information, feel free to mention in the reblogs/replies!

[vespertin-y]

so hey, *sits down politely in Listening Mode™* what do you think about akasaiou? :} (feel free to go off. going off is encouraged!!) /genuine

DEEP INHALE

IMMEDIATELY FORGETS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER THOUGHT ABOUT AKASAIOU DESPITE THEM OCCUPYING ALL MY BRAIN SPACE FOR MULTIPLE YEARS AT THIS POINT

TAKES SEVERAL DAYS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION (SORRY) BECAUSE WORDS HARD EDITING EVEN HARDER

ough. um. well first of all there's LOTS of tasty hand symbolism and i go bananas for that. with saiou it's pretty explicit (i reach out, but he doesn't take my hand and the bandaging scene in the FTEs, he can't lie about the warmth of his hand in salmon mode, to a lesser extent shuuichi's accusatory finger point but ESPECIALLY in the fourth trial) for saimatsu it's a bit more subtle (kaede reaching out to pull shuuichi up when he falls out of the locker, shuuichi taking her hands over the desk to comfort her even though his own are shaking, a lingering shot of their hands desperately reaching out for eachother that they CUT from the execution and i will NEVER NOT BE MAD ABOUT-) and for oumatsu it's almost entirely in my head (them playing tag COUNTS, it DOES-). it's good food basically.

(small side tangent about that last bit - i want to focus mostly on them as a trio here, but i feel like i need to play a bit of defense for oumatsu because GOOD GOD are people nasty about it in a way they aren't about saiouma or saimatsu. no, kaede does not dislike kokichi - she calls him "hard to hate" more than once. no, kokichi is not "too mean" by pointing out her failings in the tunnel (and yes, he's allowed to be snappish when he's exhausted and injured!). kaede and kokichi are a wonderful duo who both give the other much needed pushback on the faults in their personal ideologies, and they do that while knowing when to stop and just goof off together. half the people who say their dynamic is irredeemably unhealthy are stealing that dynamic and plastering it onto kaito/kokichi because they hate ships with women in them. this has been Soapbox Time With Vesper).

i think the main reason i started shipping them - beyond all three of them just having fun/cute/silly dynamics with the other two sdhnjhsf - is that they are, to me, the core of v3. i've talked about it before (1 2) , but kaede's death is EVERYTHING to kokichi and shuuichi's parallel character arcs.

kokichi is bright, extroverted, and has a hand leading the group (challenging kaede in the tunnel, establishing the first breakfast meeting, leading the charge in convincing the others monokuma is dead even when he doesn't truly believe it) but he's never the same after kaede dies; he believes *any* kind of open cooperation will get him targeted by monokuma and killed. he resorts to manipulations on top of schemes on top of plans in a desperate attempt to never end up like her.

shuuichi is withdrawn, suspicious, and really only cooperates with one person (he suspects rantarou to the point of taking kaede aside and warning her not to ask him any more questions about his talent, he makes his own plot to catch the ringleader with no intentions of sharing it with the group) but once kaede passes on her wish he forces himself to socialize and to trust in a way he never would've before, and by ch4 *he's* basically the group's de-facto leader. if v3 had a movie poster kaede would be big and faded from the back and saiou would be back-to-back in the center with everyone else lining the corners. does that make any sense?? idk.

ough what else...i think the flaws/weaknesses in each pair are helped by their third member (kokichi has ZERO tolerance for shuuichi or anyone else putting kaede on a pedestal, shuuichi is a calming presence to balance out the oumatsu shenaniganery, kaede will simply knock the boys' heads together if they attempt Miscommunication™). i think they should all bond postgame (what if we didn't directly kill anybody but we still had blood on our hands...and then we held them!!). i think they should have one of those bunk beds with a twin on top and a queen on bottom, so saimatsu can spoon and kokichi can cackle manically from his nest of pokemon plushies. i think they should go on a boba date and shuuichi should have to pull out all his acting chops to pretend he doesn't hate the texture. i think that i love them a lot :]