#ive done too much worldbuilding for it not to have one

[rodibee]

MegaRod Week 2023 Day 7: Free Day / { AU : Pacific Rim }

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“This is your last chance Megatron. We have a Jaeger for you, but if you can't find someone you're drift compatible with in this next batch of pilots, you'll be dropped from the program and sent back to prison.”

Starscream's words continued to echo through Megatron's head even hours later as she laid supine on her too-small bunk and stared at the bare concrete ceiling above her. When Megatron had first been offered the deal by Optimus to work off her life debt to society at large by fighting back against an enemy that mattered, she'd leapt at the chance. The thought of spending her remaining days rotting away in a cell block before eventually being executed was bad enough before, but after the rift had begun spitting out kaiju at a rate that was no longer feasible to counteract? The idea was intolerable. That left her with only one feasible path before her: finding a new co-Pilot.

-

Starscream sighed and dropped into her chair with enough drama (and momentum) for it the wheel around into Bumblebee's desk. Bee didn't look up from the paperwork it was staring at (and actually pointedly swiped to another page, the nerve) which prompted her to sigh again, louder this time. When that still didn't evoke the proper reaction Starscream desired, she decided to rectify things by lashing out with a stiletto and kicking Bumblebee's cane from where it was hanging off the edge of its desk to send it skidding across the floor.

“Look at me.”

Bumblebee instead put its face in its hands for a long moment before tiredly lifting its head to glare at the lawyer that it swore was responsible for half of the issues that took place on this base. “Yes?? What is it, what could possibly be more important than—”

“I have a solution for the two thorns in our sides.”

...That was absolutely important enough. Bee's mouth shut with a click at the speed it was silenced, but it tried for Starscream's ego's sake not to look too pleased or relieved. Keen-eyed as she was, the attempt meant nothing to her, and Starscream's smug aura instantly multiplied by four. Bee tried to salvage the situation by squinting at her dubiously.

“...Both of them? You don't mean—”

“—I certainly do.”

Bee narrowed its eyes at her more seriously this time. “The last time Megatron piloted alongside an Autobot—”

“—They had exemplary teamwork that benefitted all of humanity in the fight against the kaiju right up until Optimus' noble sacrifice-- may she rest in peace— which frankly put, had nothing to do with Megatron.”

Bumblebee's expression crystallized into something icy, as it always did when someone brought up the previous head of the Jaeger Program that Bee now headed itself or the circumstances around her death.

-

So that's how Megatron found herself standing off to the side in partial shadows, watching as what could possibly be the last group of rangers in the world filed into the room, all desperately looking to be chosen for one of the few Jaegers that remained.

A sea of faces that seemed infinitely younger than Megatron's own swam before her; introductions and reunions between strangers and old friends alike all taking place at the same time as everyone waited for Colonel Bumblebee to arrive and begin the trials. The Autobot rangers had always been a colorful cast of characters, which ironically led to none of them standing out at a glance when they all grouped together, and it was only the gravity of Megatron's position and the choice she would have to make here that kept her eyes from glazing over. Unfortunately even that couldn't entirely stop her thoughts from wandering.

Their governments had never once suffered from a lack of firepower in the war against kaiju— no, the problem had always been a shortage of capable rangers who were both capable of fighting as well as drift compatible, and while there may have been plenty of the former, the latter was a harder trait to find by miles. It was no easy task to step one foot into someone's mind even as they took a step into yours. Megatron, in all her years of (exceptionally) piloting jaegars, had successfully initiated and maintained a drift with half a dozen of co-pilots. That was more than every other ranger in the Jaeger programs— both sanctioned and unsanctioned— except for Optimus Prime.

Optimus had been the one to first lay the foundations for the program that had eventually lead to multiple imprisoned Decepticon paramilitary forces working off their life sentences alongside the government-sanctioned Autobot program in the war against the unknown, and had done so with Megatron has her co-pilot— two old enemies now fighting together, side-by-side, leading the way by example.

While Megatron's days of using the chaos of a new and unknown enemy to steal Jaegers and raze capitals to the ground in the name of establishing a new world order were behind her (and something she now regarded with no small amount of shame), she did not relish in the governmental leash she found wound around her neck, and struggled constantly against the urge to tear and break until she was free.

Drifting with Optimus Prime changed everything. For the both of them— and for the better, she liked to believe. It was something she would begrudgingly admit about herself, but in regards to Optimus, she couldn't say for certain. She had never asked, and the other had never offered. There had been a lot of things between the two of them that went left unsaid— they'd never felt the need to, and she'd thought that that had been proof of the strength of their bond. The drift had revealed all.

Maybe that's why Megatron had been blindsided by the cancer diagnosis, and everything that followed.

Optimus hadn't been the first person that Megatron had drifted with, but there was no denying their compatibility had been the best. For Optimus to have hid it for so long, for Megatron to only find out when—

Clack-clack.

Silence fell across the crowd like a shroud and Megatron's eyes focused on as Bumblebee as it entered the room, Starscream a smug parody of a shadow that stood only just far back enough not to be immediately labelled as insubordinate, but close enough to its side to spark ire in some of the more loyal Autobots present. Starscream made sure to go out of her way and seek out Megatron's gaze just to lock eyes with her and shoot her a scornful glance, as if she were some disobedient child that needed minding. She couldn't help but suck her teeth, but any other uncharitable thoughts directed towards her wiley and traitorous ex-second-in-command-turned-federal-lawyer were dashed across the rocks before they could fully form as a third figure, somehow previously hidden behind them chose that moment to break away from them and attempt to dissolve into the crowd, shooting a nasty look at the two makeshift leaders of their apocalypse-stopping cause as she went; a difficult mission to accomplish when one looked like a living flame, crowned with bright vermillion hair that was shorn close on both sides and styled into a gravity-defying mohawk that stood out even amongst the rest of the Autobot eyesores.

Something about the ranger's appearance tickled at old and secondhand memories, but Megatron could only wonder at how the ranger expected to maintain such a hairstyle underneath a helmet without having to consistently and immediately style it upon suit removal, which seemed to Megatron to be an almost a ridiculous waste of the luxury of time in their current situation.

As if she could somehow sense the weight of judgement upon her, the potential pilot found her eyes from across the room and levelled her with a look so unexpectedly hostile that it made her pause emotionally even as she made her way from the wall towards the training mats where their gambit of tests would take place. Megatron was used to the typical distant, impersonal anger she received from the rank and file Autobot forces, and this was not that. This pilot knew her, or someone she had killed, and was now taking part in the same selection that would make or break the rest of Megatron's life-- or what little she had left of one. Somehow, from the embittered look in that flaming stranger's eyes, she knew the other was aware of the same.

-

“The last time that Rodimus piloted a jaeger—”

Starscream loudly stomped her heel against the bare concrete floor and then promptly crossed her legs once more, as if she were simply repositioning herself and didn't just do something as petty and childish as stomping to interrupt someone. Bee could hardly believe at times that this was how it was spending the height of its military career.

“...We lost Deadlock,” Starscream conceded, and she did actually manage to sound contrite about that particular loss, even as Bumblebee rolled its eyes and corrected her, “Deadlock, Drift, whatever she called herself— the point is that she was an incredible asset to the program and her loss was massive blow to the cause. Add in the fact that their jaeger was turned into scrap, and the fact that Rodimus managed to somehow finish the fight on her own and pilot the damned thing back to shore herself is the only that kept her from being booted entirely— well, that and the fact that Optimus named her as her successor. In everything but name, of course— she only left her with the jaeger she piloted, while you got the kingdom stretching as far as the eye can see. Not that there's much to see, nowadays, but still a much better deal, in my opinion. Not that you seem to agree.”

Bumblebee didn't flinch, but it was a damn near thing, which it knew Starscream was looking for. Bumblebee tried to take a calming breath and internally begged for its voice not to crack as it often did when it was stressed. “...Optimus saw that Rodimus was better suited for fieldwork than a leading position, and I'm honored to have been chosen by her to—”

Starscream made a mean little humming noise in her throat and interjected once more.

“See you say that, but I don't really get the feeling that you are honored, though, is the thing—”

—which is as much as she managed to voice before Bumblebee finally snapped and picked up its cane and began shaking it at her. “We don't even know if they're drift compatible!”

Starscream danced out of the way of its swings on too-light feet for someone who was wearing six inch heels and cackled in the face of Bee's outburst. “Do you hear yourself? This is Megatron we're talking about. With Optimus and 'Drift' gone, she's the best in the business. Megatron does not ride the drift, she steers it with an iron fist. If there's anyone left on this planet that can put up with your red-headed problem pilot, it's Megatron. Honestly, I can't believe you hadn't thought of this already.”

With that, Starscream reached out and caught the end of Bee's cane on the next swing, and despite the air of levity she steadfastly mantained towards their situation, the white-knuckled grip she held on its cane belied her seriousness on the topic. Not that Bumblebee ever doubted her for a moment— if there was one thing Bee could always rely on, it was Starscream's unthwartable, unshakable desire to not just survive, but to live.

The two of them held eye contact for a long moment before Bee finally sighed the kind of sigh that left one half-curled in on one's self from the weight of the responsibilities bearing down on one's shoulders. Its cane was released and Star closed the distance between them, tracing the round curve of Bee's cheek with a carefully manicured hand before resting it under its chin, tilting its head up with her fingertips to resume eye contact between the two once more.

...It was a good plan, even if Bumblebee desperately wished it wasn't.

“...Fine, put Rodimus on the roster with the other candidates— but don't mention it to either of them. The last thing we need is for them to make things more difficult for us on purpose now.”

Starscream's featherlight contact shifted to a firmer grip as she patted Bee on the cheek in some mockery of pride and approval. “Already done. I had Rodimus added to the list before our meeting; I knew we'd see eye-to-eye on this—”

—Which is perhaps also why Starscream didn't see the cane coming that time until she was already yelping as it made contact with her shins.

-

Fighter after fighter fell before Megatron.

It was a strangely familiar sight after so long. She hadn't gone through this process when she'd first joined up with the Autobots— her co-Pilot had never been up for debate at the time— but it was one she had experience prior, when her Decepticons first formed. Here and now, however, with winded Autobots at her feet instead of once-loyal followers, the scene was perhaps more reminiscent of the jaeger-on-jaeger violence once wrought between their factions instead of a friendly spar meant to determine drift compatibility.

Either way they fell to her staff, one after another; their prides wounded, but otherwise unharmed.

Not to say they were unskilled— in fact, the exact opposite was true. Every single candidate she fought was capable in their own right. Only the best of the best had the pleasure of being chosen to even have a chance at becoming a ranger for the Jaeger program, and they all showed it with every move they made when they clashed with her, but the fact of the matter was that Megatron was better. Better, and burdened by the fact that she had yet to feel that special spark of potential compatibility with any of them. Oh sure, there was a handful of them that she might be able to forge a connection with strong enough to drift, but what she and the rest of the world needed more than a 'might'.

The moment the bouts had begun, Megatron had focused all of her attention on the match at hand, but she could swear that she could feel a mounting tension that caused the ambient temperature in the room to rise. One by one, bodies continued to hit the floor, and with each one, Megatron felt her temper began to waver and fray at the edges. The agitation she projecred only seemed to be amplified and reflected back at her by the remaining potential rangers still waiting for their turn, energy roiling like a volcano preparing to erupt.

“Rodimus, you're up next.”

It wasn't until after the flame-red candidate from before stalked out onto the mat that Megatron realized she had been holding her breath. She could not tell from where the abstract anticipation filling her sprang, only that it was there and intense enough to set her teeth on edge. Rodimus greeted her with an expression that was closer to a snarl than a smile, but Megatron cared not— especially not when the sound of this opponent's name clicked into place in her mind like the missing piece of a puzzle she never knew was there, unleashing a veritable flood of fragmented memories that did not belong to her.

The ghostly imprint of the shape of Optimus' mind inside her own was inescapable; thoughts and sensations once spread across two-become-one now echoed strangely through her hollow body and left her with a strange, lingering taste behind her teeth and an aching hole inside of her grey matter shaped like her that could never be filled. There wasn't a day that went by where Megatron did not miss Optimus, did not miss the brilliance of her conviction, the strength of her will, of her optimistic faith in humanity to not only turn the tides of the war, but to maintain the peaceful unity humanity had found in the face of it, even after the war was won. Because winning was never a question with Optimus, it was something she believed was possible to her very core. She was perhaps the only person in the world who'd had the room in her heart to genuinely call Megatron her friend despite all that Megatron had done to both to her, personally, and the world at large. Optimus was the best thing to ever happen to Megatron, and Megatron was the reason she was dead.

Somehow, the look in Rodimus' eyes said as much the same.

Megatron would later try to claim that unexpected memory cascade was the reason that Rodimus scored the first point against her.

Whether or not that was true didn't matter, because eight hours later found them both getting strapped into a newly rebuilt jaeger made from the wreckage of both Rodimus and Megatron's prior mechs named the Lost Light, where Megatron discovered just how exactly Rodimus went about fitting her hair into a ranger helmet. Sure, the two of them may have snarled and sniped at each other the entire time, but never once did they fall out of sync. Ghosts lingered in the drift between them, but maybe, this time, they wouldn't remain unaddressed. Only time would tell, and time was hard to come by at the end of the world.

“—Time, and maybe a little bit of elbow grease, sure, I'm no easy lay— Well? Actually— Nevermind— anyway, sorry for the interrupt, but you're thinking maudlin thoughts way too loudly and it's completely harshing my vibe. I'm going to be real honest: I'm in a frankly terrible mood and I am absolutely not interested in going rabbit hunting today, thanks.”

Megatron cut a frigid glance towards her new co-pilot, who was still wiggling her helmet around on her head and making a ridiculous show of it. “Apologies only work if your intended recipient knows you mean it. I since I can tell that you don't, you can save that for someone who gives a damn.”

Rodimus snorted something that could have almost been a laugh before grinning joylessly at Megatron.

“Too bad, so sad, you're getting one anyway because I am a paragon of humility and leadership and my jaeger means my rules— and the rules in here are that everyone gets an apology, even if you really really don't want to give one, or even if you really really don't want to receive one. It's about thr principle of the matter, and principles... matter. So! Sit back, relax, and get ready enjoy your trip on the Lost Light because— and I'm going to need you to listen real carefully now— ladies and gentlemechs, this is your Captain speaking, our flight tonight should be around an hour and a half with a tailwind, but we are expecting some turbulence this evening—”

It was of course at that moment that all of the sirens in the Shatterdome began to wail their warning that a new kaiju had crawled its way through the breach and was now making its way to shore.

“—Ah, fuck.”

Megatron just sighed, bemoaning her own inability to even pinch the bridge of her nose thanks to her own helmet being in the way. Rodimus just let out an awkward little laugh and then cleared her throat in a bid to regain any ounce of seriousness she may or may not have held before that moment. It did not work.

“Yeah, me too Megs—”

“Do not call me th—”

“Aaht! Not now, yell at me later. Right now we have a planet to save, people to rescue, and monsters to rip limb from limb— so let's get this show on the road!”

Megatron might have been wrong; maybe prison was the better option.

[kingsmoot]

agot; chapter xxvi, jon iv

1. i never noticed that sam has pale eyes!! tbh i've always pictured him with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.

2. i think it's very sweet that pyp, who lives in westeros, can tell where someone is from based on their accent, while we, who do not live in westeros and cannot ever visit, have to rely on characters' hair and eye color or else the color of their clothes/whether they wear a house sigil.

a few posts of mine defending the hair/eye color theme for great houses as excellent fantasy worldbuilding were making the rounds last year and i just always think it's such a neat and effective shorthand both in-world and at an audience level. it's very sci-fi as well in a way i find charming and familiar.

it's neat to me too how grrm establishes in agot how everyone in westeros (which is a world without photographs or videos and in which travel is arduous and slow, and we don't really hear much about paintings being done of any great lords? it's mostly oral tradition (the songs) or just word of mouth from people who have actually seen someone irl) is able to tell one another apart

compare pyp listening to sam's accent above to sansa naming the knights come to visit cersei in her wheelhouse

agot, chapter xv, sansa i

sansa, a little girl who is being trained to be a proper lady of a great house, has never traveled outside of the north, and wouldn't know what regional accents outside of her own kingdom sound like. i'm not even certain sansa would be all that familiar with various northern accents, since i don't assume she is well traveled outside of winterfell, and i doubt she would have had much face time with her father's bannermen (that would have been reserved for robb)

but she knows her courtesies, which include a working knowledge of recent history as well as great houses' sigils, colors, and living members

it's NEAT!!!!

[giga-queen]

can you tell us more about the tower of souls au? if you haven’t made a post on it already

HI!! i havent talked abt the au at all yet so this ask is very appreciated, gives me an excuse to yap >:] (TY BTW!!! it makes me very happy to see that people are interested! <3)

Im going to wait until i make a specific animation so i wont be talking about spoilers for now, but i can give you some worldbuilding:

in this au, gardenview center is a HUGE tall tower called Gearview center with a biiig elevator in the center of the building. its steampunk themed with a purple and yellow color palette👍 its also FILLED with wacky silly looking machines, like doohickey invention type shit

its an educational center intended to teach children abt technology and machines and how they can be used to help humans in a variety of ways - each floor of the building is a different classroom, and theres a pair of toons that teach these classes based on their subject of expertise :] (these are the "souls" in the tower, ill be honest i changed the lore since i came up with the name so the souls part doesnt make that much sense anymore but i feel like ive used it too much to change it atp VDKFKFHFLJG)

the founders initially wanted to create animatronic shows that would educate children through pre-programmed song and dance, though after discovering a new mysterious substance underneath their construction site (cough ICHOR) they began to harvest the stuff, and after a few experiments, one of the founders (delilah) realized they could use it to give their animatronics the illusion of sentience. now the animatronics are living, breathing beings which they call toons, and the shows are done live, with hands-on activities!! the toons also have paychecks because its funny

the scraps of lore ive put in my animations so far are that dandy and astro were in the elevator when it suddenly BROKE and they began to plummet to their doom... oops!!!! what did dandy find down there ?

im down to answer any questions about the characters/gearview center so long as it doesnt spoil anything abt the plot >:] TY AGAIN FOR THE ASK!!!

[skythealmighty]

haha i love when i struggle with multiple hyperfixations at once. i am a coward for not making a crossover between allnof them but like. worldbuilding hard stfu

#rocket talk #the hyperfixes: #tmnt #inanimate insanity #bfdi #dsmp #the last one mostly spurred on by the stupid shit dreams doing #love clowning on that fool

(0 notes)

🤍 notalwayssecondplace Follow

i love how people are reblogging gi's hit post like it isnt a sign of his crippling inability to deal with change or to come to terms with his own self

anyway on other news i have a bunch of ideas for a new d&d campaign!

#i love my cousin but he really really needs therapy #like REALLY really

(12 notes)

🔧 warp-pipe-sfx Follow

I just realized... why do we call it "humanity"? Shouldn't it be "objectity"? IS it that in some universes? Can we claim universes that use "humanity" all once had humans???

⛳ bossy-bot Follow

Hello! Golf Ball from the BFDI universe here. I can confirm we use 'humanity' because we have, and also have had, humans. I cannot say for other universes though.

💥 fans-fantastic-features Follow

Fan II at your service! we use both- humans are kind of a myth for the most part. depends on how religious you are sometimes

💊 the-cringe-one Follow

Cringe Pill, TDOS- 'objectity' is the main term we use. Hadn't even heard of humans until Real Life Battle, honestly

👓 the-nerdiest-glasses Follow

guys, you're way overthinking this. here one sec

add in the tags what universe you're from (and if you picked humanity, if you know why add that too)

🔧 warp-pipe-sfx Follow

Oh, hadn't even thought of that...

#Goes to show you can be as smart as you want and still be stupid 😅 #Very curious to see the responses

(351,294 notes)

🎩 not-a-magician asked: Hi, I've been seeing people ask you for advice on auras and mental wellness and things... do you have anything for sleeping? I don't know if I have insomnia, but I've definitely had some trouble sleeping lately. I'm tired as hell but can't seem to just. Do it. Any advice at all would mean the world to me, really

🕯 litwick-in-real-life Follow

(Reminder to all: my advice on here is not meant to replace professional help by any means. If this is the cause of underlying trauma, please turn to therapy and not Tumblr. I'm not licensed yet.)

Thank you so much for the ask! While I'm sorry to admit sleep habits are not something I'm particularly versed in, I will give advice to the best of my ability as always. Best wishes on your journey to heal ^-^

Full advice below the cut to save space, as always!

Keep reading

#mental wellness #sleep habits #sleep #candle's light advice #not-a-magician

(14 notes)

💥 fans-fantastic-features Follow

ive come to a realization

you're welcome

#tpot #gravity falls #bfdi #one bfdi #bill cipher #i spent way too fucking long on this #if anyone's done this before me don't tell me please #also please dont come after me one THIS ISNT AN INSULT

(931 notes)

👿 darkness-reigns-supreme-3882 Follow

WHY THE FUCK AM I GREEN NOW?!

👿 darkness-reigns-supreme-3882 Follow

GREEN ISN'T INTIMIDATING. GREEN IS STUPID. GREEN IS ~nature~ AND ~healing~ AND PEOPLE WHO GET STUCK UP ON MOUNTAINS!!!!!

👿 darkness-reigns-supreme-3882 Follow

there will be hell to pay for this.

#i SWEAR if who i thought did this did this.

(2 notes)

✅ marker-the-green Follow

Ummm why did I just get a bunch of hate dms after I changed my username? I thought these were over :[

#It's the same guy too.... #oh wait right I unblocked him since he stopped

(7 notes)

📱 phone-guy-not-fnaf Follow

Finally getting therapy ✌ unfortunately my therapist says it's not productive to be literally dancing on my dead father's grave. that beign said tune into my next stream where we do dares at his gravestone

(374 notes)

🗒 meme-pad Follow

how to stop water in pot from burning? tried to cook ramen and failed

🗒 meme-pad Follow

i did not mean to type this in google im crowdsourcing

🎩 not-a-magician Follow

What the hell did you do?!

🗒 meme-pad Follow

NOTHING

#wait u have a tumnlr?

(1,279 notes)

📛 loud-and-proud Follow

i know this is ironic because of my username but uh. does anyone have any advice for being in love w your best bro and not knowing how to say it

🎚 all-about-dat-bass Follow

bro... im right here...

📛 loud-and-proud Follow

bro... so... is that a yes?

🎚 all-about-dat-bass Follow

hell YEAH, bro!! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

📛 loud-and-proud Follow

no way... i love you dude ❤

🎚 all-about-dat-bass Follow

love you too man ❤

📕 imnotafuckingdiary Follow

Fucking finally

#They were SO BAD off screen #Definitely didn't expect this on Tumblr of all places though.

(72 notes)

🥧 threepointonefourwhatever Follow

time sensitive question: is it possible to get sued by algebraliens

🥧 threepointonefourwhatever Follow

this was posted literal months ago why are you idiots still reblogging it.

1️⃣ theoneandonly Follow

I mean~... if you want help not getting sued, I could always lend a theoretical hand?

🥧 threepointonefourwhatever Follow

no soliciting

1️⃣ theoneandonly Follow

That's not what "no soliciting" means, you know.

🥧 threepointonefourwhatever Follow

suck my dick

1️⃣ theoneandonly Follow

Haha, rude! I'm only offering help, you know.

🥧 threepointonefourwhatever Follow

go away you bill cipher wannabe or ill bite into you like a stale dorito

1️⃣ theoneandonly Follow

I can find you, you know.

🥧 threepointonefourwhatever Follow

lol

#im about to do whats called a pro gamer move

(240,163 notes)

🥧 threepointonefourwhatever Follow

i blocked her 🎉

[sapphicflower-ao3]

what are ur personal favorite fics? i can be a bit picky and have a hard time finding fics but i love ur writing and i feel like we might have similar tastes based on that :3

i'm sorry it took me like a week to get to this!! i wanted to compile my faves and write notes for each of them... and i went overboard LOL. but thanks so much omg, i'm flattered that you would trust my taste based on my writing!

these are all bkdk obviously :)

i. 'In Case of Fire' - passengerside

post-canon // complete // 11K // E

an absolute MASTERPIECE!!! this author has become a recent favourite of mine, i love the way they incorporate little details into their work and make the mundane so beautiful.

highly recommend all of their other works, especially 'Pacemaker'! so freaking beautiful and fun and the lead up to the confession was a genuine holding-my-breath moment

ii. 'Sun Hands' - yesthisisnarumi

snowboarding AU // complete // 5K // T

i've re-read this one so many times it's SOOOOO good! so fun and so classically bkdk it's insane. everybody say thank you OP for giving us the rival olympic champions to lovers story we needed

iii. 'all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing' - maxisnotokay

UA compliant // complete // 11K // T

i dont usually read a lot of whump but this was brilliant, im a sucker for this specific trope and for LOVE CONFESSIONS YEASS!!! obvi it has a happy ending bc i wouldnt have it any other way. a good length too :)

iv. 'Spinnin' On Our Feet' - sage_and_cinnamon

High School AU // ongoing // 47K // M

UNDERRATED AS FUCK and my favourite ongoing fic right now. i usually dont read jock x nerd AUs but this fic is so brilliantly funny and charming and heartwarming and it blew all my expectations out of the water and then some. i've been following it for ages and it's been on hiatus for a good while, but it updated recently and when i tell you it was the best day of my freaking life...

v. 'In Perfect Rhythm' - chalk

Band AU // complete // 50K // E

yes how surprising, a band AU fic in my faves list. anyway shut up, chalk is literally godlike in their writing and this fic was SO FUN and scratched all the itches. nothing gets me going more than awkwardly endearing izuku n rockstar katsuki

vi. 'Last Days of War' - antisora

Pacific Rim AU // complete // 44K // M

GENUINELY ONE OF HUMANITY'S BEST PIECES OF LITERATURE???? fuck. i never have the proper words for this fic, but it is SO gripping and the worldbuilding is so tight and their relationship development is so good and the CLIMAX OF THIS HAS BEEN MORE EPIC THAN HALF THE BLOCKBUSTERS I'VE SEEN. i beg you to read this even if you have never watched Pacific Rim. or maybe go watch the movie and get EDUCATED and then read this! i'm begging you, dear reader!!

vii. 'Ingenium' - crandberrycrush

Astronauts AU // complete // 85K // E

guys i love sci-fi sorry lol. this one is another brilliant fic. OP put so much blood, sweat and tears into research and it shows, it is just very intelligent and the plot itself is HEART RACING and GUTTING and THRILLING. there's a lot of POVs and it really fleshes it out, tho ofc bkdk is the main thing. happy ending obvi! it is the space/astronaut drama that i love and adore, just BKDKified now!

viii. 'The Magic in a Mirror' - totallyrottentomatoes

Magic/Circus AU // complete // 80K // E

oh how surprising, a totallyrottentomaoes fic in my faves list. anyone who knows me knows that i rec this fic all the time. it's one of my all time favourites, if not my favourite of all time lol, and it's really because of the writing and the imagery and the characterisation and the relationships b/w all the characters. it's all just so well done and MAGICAL. no joke, if i could print and bind a fic into a book, it would be this one. no notes. perfection. caters to my tastes so specifically. i could go on about this fic forever but i'll shut up for now

also highly recommend 'The Distance Between Suns' by this author - it's a high fantasy epic with TIGHT AS FUCK worldbuilding, brilliantly written, the romance is BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, the payoffs are amazing, etc... this deserves to be published and revered

ix. 'Battle of the Bands' - roadtripwithlucifer

Band AU // complete // 168K // E

look i know i always rec this fic, i just can't help that it's like my favourite thing ever. roadtripwithlucifer and totallyrottentomatoes my BELOVEDS. the humour in this fic is so fucking yummy and brilliant, the writing is gorgeous in typical roadtrip fashion, the stakes are gripping, the climax is thrilling, the romance n yearning is INTENSE, the sex is hot as hell, the ending is so satisfying, just..... the whole package.

and while you're here, read other roadtripwithlucifer works like 'Nothing Else Fills' if you feel like destroying your heart :) an angsty and beautifully written time-travel-to-save-my-kacchan-gone-wrong war AU fic. i love OP's works but her more recent fics (eg. after battle of the bands) have had some of her best writing. i adore it when you can feel how an author has poured their soul into their work, you can always feel it in a roadtripwithlucifer work and it's just the cherry on top

x. 'Scar Tissue' - Loriqod

canon-compliant // complete // 18K // E

loriqod is another author with a characterisation that i fuck with so hard... this one was so full of that Yearning and Tension that i so vibe with. bonus points to the plots focus on bkdk's scars like yes pls more of that <3

anyway i might make a part 2 some other time, these are just the ones i grabbed from my public bookmarks. i have a lot of private ones and some of them i forgot to make public oops

hope u find smth u enjoy!

[chatblancofficial]

"too many sequels they dont wanna make anything original" "nobody asked for this" like, yes, toystory 5 and shrek 5? nobody wanted those. Megamind 2? havent watched it but I know it was poorly done. and Moana was kinda already a completed story, but let's wait to see where they take that one. but people are lumping in Inside out 2 and Zootopia 2 which like?? I've ALWAYS wanted those wdym. Inside out 2 is out already obviously, and it's a hit as I knew it would be, but like, ive been hyped for zootopia 2. im SO excited. I've been wanting that since I watched it. there's SO MUCH you could do with that whole world. the worldbuilding for just ONE CITY is SO COOL in just the movie, and adding the shorts they made to that? YES. PLEASE. I fucking LOVE the rodent crime boss guy, he's such a family man, and he isnt evil or anything! he's a good guy that had to do some murder. everyone has to do a little murder right? (no? just me?) honestly, Inside out and zootopia are concepts that have SO MUCH potential, that like, I wouldn't mind 10 more movies. and the best part is, you dont have to follow the main characters! there are SO MANY lives in these stories that we get small glimpses into. hell, there are CAT EMOTIONS IN THE CAT BRAINS! I wanna see more animals! gimme! gimme! and these movies can cover more serious topics in child friendly ways. inside out covers your mind and individual lives, while zootopia would cover a more societal view. and together they can cover SO MUCH if we just let them run with the concepts! there is SO MUCH you can do. TL;DR: if you say that zootopia and/or inside out shouldn't have gotten sequels, you're wrong, and fuck you.

[wildwren]

wip wednesday

thanks for the tag @brynnmclean! ive been excited to share a bit from my dystopia au . who knows when ill be ready to post any of this, but honestly working on it has been getting me through. anyway, the set-up for this fic is kind of complicated, and due to a recent unfortunate comment i received, im having some doubts about whether my writing is comprehensible at all sooooo

general wip notes: galadriel is missing, saubrand is under investigation for it, they're exes.

general wip worldbuilding notes: This fic takes place in the aftermath of a major cultural conflict, much like the Second Age of Middle-earth. After a technological arms race, the Noldorin system of geoengineering proved dominant over (and destructive to) the resource-intensive Melkorian industrialism. Now, the Noldor organize their society into great towering havens where they may rule over the sky, known as the Beacons. The people on the Ground survive in a state of post-industrial informal feudalism, closely surveilled by the bureaucratic Noldorin system.

here's a snippet of Saubrand and his complicated criminal bestie Thuringwethil (who i decided is not a butch lesbian, but a high femme tgirl lesbian. in case you were wondering.)

“Anyway,” Wethil says, before Halbrand can start. “I didn’t even know you’d been picked up until yesterday, and by then, they'd let you go, right? Or close enough anyway. I was at a gathering.”  Halbrand’s curiosity snags on her evasive tone. “What gathering? Where? Did you make any useful trades?” “No. You wouldn’t have enjoyed it.” She studies the beds of her milk-white nails. “It was down at Udûn.”  “Eurgh,” Halbrand says, not shocked but disappointed. “You haven’t joined that cult, have you?” He imbues the words with as much disdain as he can manage.  “Oh, stop it. They’re not that bad.”  Halbrand makes a face. “What sort of self-respecting Melko makes his disciples call him ‘Father’? That’s Noldo bullshit.”  “Maybe he’s not an old-school Melkorian,” Wethil says.  “I rest my case.” “He’s much less your enemy than some others who you hold more dear.” Wethil raises her dark eyebrows meaningfully.  “About that.” Halbrand turns, pours a shot of his own, and shoots it back in the time it takes Wethil to crack each of her shoulder joints, and her jaw. They both know they’re getting to the business. “Friend,” Halbrand says, turning back to her with a smile. “Do you remember, by any chance, whether we saw each other on or around the night of February 18th?” He lifts his empty glass once. “You’ve always had a keener memory than mine.”  Wethil’s not immune to flattery (he knows this), but her eyes narrow now. “Why are you asking?”  “I have…a gap, that’s all.”  “A gap?”  “I don’t remember what I was doing on the night of the 18th. Or the day after. Or the day after that.”  “I don’t understand.” “For – fuck’s sake! That’s the night the missing Noldo disappeared! And I don’t have an alibi.”  Wethil stares at him for a moment, then snorts. “‘The missing Noldo.’ Listen to you. Who cares if you don’t have an alibi? They’ll get you for it one way or the other, if that’s what they want. I’m not about to present myself at a Beacon for testimony.”  “What if I did something to her?” The words explode from his mouth, too long buried, chewed over in silence. He should’ve done another sweep for any plants before spewing off about this topic. Either way, it’s too late now.  “What if I…hurt – the Noldo.”  “Oh, Sau,” Wethil says, tilting her head once to the side, using that name that sets Halbrand’s skin crawling. “You’re worried about her.”  “I’m not, really. Galadriel can take care of herself.”  “Galadriel!” Wethil exaggerates each syllable with a sadistic sort of glee. “Your girlfriend.”  “She’s not my girlfriend.”  “She was sort of your girlfriend. And now she’s your ex-girlfriend, who you may or may not have murdered. You have to admit, it’s a little bit funny.”  Sauro – Halbrand throws his ceramic cup at the far wall beside Thuringwethil’s head. It explodes in a shower of clay dust.  “Alright then,” Wethil says, nonplussed. “Not funny. Wasn’t she obsessed with you? Who’s to say she’s not fucking with you now?”  Halbrand is in better control of his emotions, now. “The thought has occurred to me.”

tagging @mirdaniaa because i need to see more snippets from your eregion fic. and anyone else you wants to do it!!! please let me know if you'd like to be tagged in future! i just try not to be annoying lmao

[mihai-florescu]

Putting a message i sent earlier under a read more, it has some thoughts ive expressed before tho. ES, of course

My thoughts as an EichiP... i view ! and !! as different stories in the way they're approached tbh, what i fell in love with enstars for was the character driven storytelling of one event seen through different perspectives, where you see the antagonist in one perspective become a protagonist in another story and can empathize with the entire cast like this. I fell in love with eichi's story of second chances, getting what you want and regretting your actions in the process, redemption, desperation, overcoming fate and asserting one's self into the story, saving a school in a dying industry that saved your life by giving you a dream; i consider it an arc fulfilling to the reader at the end of ! era. But we still had to continue... and it's not like we didnt get inklings of eichi's dreams of idol utopia, the idol soldier idea goes back to main story 1, but !! loses the charm of the original series through expanding the worldbuilding so much and shifting to a plot driven story that opens 10 cans of worms instead of offering resolutions. There's not really room to breathe if the stakes just keep getting higher and higher...

As for the colonisation plotline, it's been here since the beginning of ES2. The SS arc makes it obvious, but i remember even before, the talks about ES taking over from local businesses, trying to be seen as the standard, it was always the direction ensemble square as an institution would take. But the "antagonist in one story, protagonist in another" approach doesnt work anymore with such subjects. The guys responsible for this are your coworkers you share dorms with. I read the stories but cant empathize anymore, so i've been feeling disconnected from eichi for a while. I see enstars with eichi at its core but i didnt care for his center event, i read it, didnt like the ending, and overall felt off. Eichi becoming the villain of ! to attone for the war kind of loses significance if a year later he is a cartoon villain idol colonialist you can't even sympathize with anymore because of the magnitude of events. However i do think !! has done good things for some characters pushing them further or developing them in a way ! didnt. But for others...

I also have my issues with sci fi elements becoming the norm, even taken metaphorically or as hyperboles, when one of the central themes i love about enstars is humanity. Then again, i am a war era fan that relied on manipulating human desires and perceptions, and the fact that there were no monsters or gods, just humans framed as such, playing on people's fears and beliefs, it's a bit jarring to me to have them introduce AIs forming from escaped comatose brains (im minimizing the switch climax rn, i didnt even hate it as a whole, just this resolution im unhappy with)

It also feels like we've lost some of the meta aspects of the writing i liked, a certain awareness of being characters in a story and there being an audience. But im still struggling to word my thoughts on this matter. I felt it present in main story 2, even if it annoyed me at parts in its obviousness ("good thing we're not protagonists, no one would want to read about us" youre right aira you are not interesting to me. And yet i'll read your story to try and empathize nevertheless. I have other thoughts on aira too, perhaps for another time). I wish we explored a bit more what it means to no longer be the central protagonist, from trickstar's perspective...and brought back the successors topic. But i havent read every ts story yet so i'd be foolish to complain before really making sure i've checked everything. To me ! ended satisfyingly with room left for elaborations and imagination, but i dont feel like !!'s ending is really ending anything at all. Not necessarily bad since it's not like the game is shutting down, but overwhelming worldbuilding wise while underwhelming character wise...

Let's see... im not sure how to end this. Just a bit of a stream of consciousness as a ! fan who still loves enstars despite my critiques. Mainly, well, no one's gonna take away the stories that already exist that i do love and impacted my life greatly. And i do think !! had some really good things too it brought, or at least stories i hold dear too. Change is scary and i don't think it's always for the best, but it's also fun to see where it goes next...

[wizisbored]

Hi Wiz :)

I wanted to know more about the netherworld in your netherborne au, like, what's the hierarchy there? Are there people in power? How about laws, rules and customs

I understand that it's not the focus of the story, but I just wonder about this kind of stuff. Especially in stories I really like, such as yours

<3

yesss i love talking about my worldbuilding lets goo. ive got shit to say im putting headings in this bitch

general (lack of) structure

so the netherworld in netherborne is what i think is called anarcho-capitalist. theres no government, no official positions of power, and no official laws, but there are very much unofficial ones. demons stick to a strict ettiquete because even demons dont want to piss off demons, and playing nice with each other is the only way to keep their society running. i kinda explain the basics of it in chapter 4 when beeltejuice and lydia are talking about why he cant take the tags out of lydias ears:

“Looks like a pain,” Beetlejuice admits. “Not my call, though.” “How is it not your call? I thought that was how this whole slavery thing worked.” “There’s certain standards, kid.” “From what authority?” “‘S just how it is.” Lydia grumbles, folding her arms. “Sick of this demon etiquette shit,” she spits. “Yeah, well, it’s etiquette or getting ripped to shreds by stronger demons. This whole place is only held together by us pretending to respect each other. Y’ don’t think I’d tell all those shitheads I hang out with that they’re shitheads if I could get away with it?” “You should. I’d love to see you get your head torn off.” “As much as I’d love that too, it’d probably come with a side of lost connections. And I hate to break it to ya, kid, but I need to stay in business to feed you. Speaking of-”

the thing to note here is that this system is fragile. the respect demons show each other is often an act, and sometimes a very thin one. they are constantly on the verge of that facade breaking.

debts

the most important aspect of the demonic social contract is debt. nothing is done for free, every favour must be repaid, and any slights must be compensated for. beetlejuice pays the guy who gave him the name of a doctor for lydia and refuses to let the maitlands take her out for a walk for free, because then he'd owe them. its agreed that ogrien owes beetlejuice for messing up lydias vaccinations and also somewhat for overvaluing her at the start. when takta punches her the argument is essentially wether lydia biting was the initial slight and the punch was repayment, or if the punch was the initial slight and takta now owes beetlejuice. that whole social group is formed of business connections who are in a constant state of owing and repaying each other, so their get togethers are partially just to ease the tension there a little. kind of a display of trust.

identifiers

demons have three identifiers: name, signature, pattern. names are mostly important for deals and contracts, signatures are symbols used for signing contracts and for brabds, and patterns are for recognisability. the three may or may not relate to each other, for example beetlejuice's signiture is a beetle which relates to the pronounciation of his name, and appero's signature is a small segment of his damask pattern, but in both cases only 2 of the 3 identifiers relate to one another.

territory

most if not all demons' houses are completely isolated. this is because theyre territorial as fuck. and because of that theres a lot of money in netherworld real estate because youre pretty much in control of the territories. i dont have that much to say about this but it will be relevant later so i thought id mention it.

currency

money in the netherworld is assorted defunt living-world currency. its original value doesnt matter, just its physical properties. in coins, bronze or copper are one, silver is five, and gold is ten. for anything else id need to go and actually research some defunct currencies so thats all ive got on that for now.

wealth and power

the most physically powerful demons are often also the wealthiest, but there are also a few cases of weaker demons gaining influence through wealth. money is power and the rich are on top. shocking, i know. as a general rule wealthy demons are far from humble and tend to flaunt their money and power via the entertainment industry with big bets, gambles, and sponsorships (again this will be relevant later)

entertainment

speaking of the entertainment industry, its a big one. the two main aspects ive put thought into are racing and bullfighting, with bullfighting being the main one since it has some story significance whereas racing is more flavour. its pretty much just horse racing, except the 'horses' are predatory beasts and so it involves the occasional mauling of the breathers generally used as jockeys. bullfighting is more significant because its something charles was forced to partake in before he met emily. its more or less jusy fighting with the only weapons being along the lines of brass knuckles, and theres very few rules or regulations. various forms of magical doping are fairly common. 'bull' here is a gender-neutral term, in fact lydia herself is technically a bullcalf being the daughter of a retired bull.

ghosts

demons may be the dominant species here, but the netherworld is still the human afterlife. plenty of ghosts around. most newlydeads will find themselves talking to demons who make their money processing - basically doing their best to steer clueless new ghosts towards the services of other demons who will pay a comission, and offer loans. the number one rule of being a ghost in this netherworld is to not piss off any demons, because demons have a habit of being quick to banish any ghost that annoys them enough back to the living world. hence, the majority of ghosts that are still around have either bought into the system or hide their distaste of it.

what happens to the ghost of a living slave after death is dependant on their slavers opinion of them. best case scenario, they might be offered a paid job. worst case, theyre banished the moment they manifest.

breathers

non-netherborne humans are enslaved by demons via decieving them into signing contracts that trap them into servitude. those contracts then act as proof of ownership, and are almost always written to include the ability to transfer them to another demon so that they can be bought and sold. netherborne have no contracts and at birth belong to the birthing parent's slaver, with that slaver paying dues to the other parent's slaver, if their identity is known. when appero found out emily was pregnant he explicitly told her not to tell him to the father was, which is a pretty common way of dodging those dues.

there are also three identifiers for slaves, which are sort of an extention of demons' territorialness. brands, nametags, and ear tags, the latter of which are netherborne exclusive. brands are the signature of the demon who first trapped them, or for netherborne the demon they were born under. theyre done via magic rather than branding iorns, through skin to skin contact with a demons hand. theres no standard for placement, though the hand or arm are fairly common as a handshake after signing the contract is often taken advantage of. mediums are also given an additional brand of an eye symbol.

nametags' exact appearances vary but are always some kind of band bearing the name of the persons current slaver. for non-netherborne they are partially another expression of demons' territorialness and partially an easier item to reference than contracts, but for netherborne they are the only proof of current ownership. an untagged netherborne is technically fair game, but owners will generally still be pissed about theft. nametags also indicate a slave's status. pets wear them around the neck, personal assistants/servants or favourites wear them around the wrist, and the rest wear them around the ankle.

netherborne tags are essentially a pedigree, another expression of territorialness as well as indicating that the slave is netherborne and there's no contract. the actual piercing is above the lobe, through the cartilidge of the ear, with a thick stud that has to be cut off if its ever removed. a cord is attatched to either side of the stud to make a loop, which is what the tag hangs on. the left tag shows the birthing parents brand, and the right the other parent. if either parent was a medium the eye symbol will be put on the back of the tag. im yet to figure out the system for if either parent was netherborne themselves (second generation netherborne are uncommon but not unheard of).

one thing about live humans in the netherworld that im unsure if i have a way of including is religion. obviously most living-world religions did not predict the demonic void, so pretty much all of them have a netherworld sect

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

since ive been really obsessed with it I was thinkin about making a post thats like "Rhysand is like what if Count von Krolock of the tanz der vampire musical was a swagless cishet man with no self awareness who didnt even have a weird gay son" but then I was like, honestly how come neither Tamlin nor Rhysand ever had kids from their dillydallying before they met Feyre. yeah yeah I know bc fae are supposed to be borderline infertile but 1) thats not true, points towards Beron and Tamlin's Shit Dad 2) theyre both like 500 years old, even if the odds of having kids are astronomically low if they were just fucking around without protection, they would both atleast have one. And yeah, i know about the fuckin Safe Sex Tea too but idgaf about that, the worldbuilding of acotar is bland and unimaginative it makes me wanna cry, these fae should be like quiverfull family levels of weird about having and absolutely refuse the notion of birth control except it would be less horrible an damaging by virtue of them only having like 2 kids a century, if that. Also, even with the Safe Sex Tea I feel like if you knew that you were borderline infertile and you didnt have to worry about stds bc you lived in a world without actual disease, you would be wayyyyy less careful about protection during sex anyway

Anyway, sorry about that rant, I have terminal worldbuilders disease and it flares up when I encounter this kind of thoughtless bullshit, back to my initial thought of "how come those ancient horny bastards didnt have kids before Feyre" beyond the possible in-uinverse justifications of how they could have them despite the bullshit worldbuilding, it would just be interesting. and fun. Yknow, maybe not for the first book since that would maybe ruin the romance a little but from acomaf forward its like, why shouldnt they aside from the fact that sjm did not at any point stop to consider the implications of making her characters this fucking old

Oh man, speaking of sjm not considering the implications of things, given her track record of writing the contrasts/parellels between Rhysand and Tamlin, I feel like if she had actually done this she wouldve made Tamlin be like, not present in his children's life at all, he just pays them the fae equivalent of child support and maybe they exchange letters or some shit and Feyre would be like "thats so cruel and cold of him!!" but then Rhysand would tell her about his kids and he would be like "pshhh, I would never pay child support! But I give them positions of power in my court and take the boys (and girls hashtag feminism) out for a game of faeball every month" and Feyre would be like "oh, thats so much better my bestest and most handsomest highlord <3 <3" but all us Rhyshaters would forever make fun of him for it. Feminst King Rhysand Who Doesn't Pay Child Support 😍

[acelestialcraze]

what are your hot takes?

im assuming this is monsterverse hot takes considering thats what i post most about it and thats what most know and follow me for, here i go!

- anyone who thinks the titans are just animals with animal level intelligence needs to pay more attention to the films and extended media, i think ghidorah and godzilla are the biggest examples of species displaying human-level intelligence such as when ghidorah deliberately targeted graham and godzilla deliberately sparing serizawa’s life.

- on the topic of serizawa, i honestly think hes an insult to the character of 1954 serizawa.. never do we see him have anything close to the conflict that led 1954 serizawa to his decision, his sacrifice was purely for nolstagic purposes and moreso because his actor didnt wanna be in the movies anymore 💀 i think serizawa is deadass the most glazed human character of all time, and im not saying that bc ren is my favorite, but serizawa is hardly a character outside of being godzillas hype man and a driving force for mark and ford respectively.. he was a shitty dad and i think that speaks way more volumes than anything he did.

- the monsterverse needs WELL WRITTEN original kaiju, otherwise the monsterverse wont be remembered for anything other than the hollow earth. i mean well written because the mutos were awesome, but shimo and skar king— while interesting, are awfully oversaturated and about three steps away from being a rehashed godzilla and kong.

- destroyah is deadass the most overrated kaiju, i dont think he has any genuine fans because every destroyah fan ive met only likes him because of his title as the ‘strongest kaiju’

- the monsterverse has a huge problem with inconsistency and im tired of it being swept under the rug, i want worldbuilding damnit 💀 we should get more comics that are set in between the events of a film, more average joe characters, and the whole deal w monarch?? i want to see monarch as the bad guy more, monarch is so painfully inconsistent.. in the span of a decade (in universe) they’ve gone from a scp-style organization to.. i dont even know what to call what they are in gxk i js know i dont like it.

- the fandom is overrun with angry neckbeards slamming their cheeto-dust infested fingers against their poor keyboard going ‘THERES TOO MUCH HUMANS!!’ uhm yes no shit! you need humans to move the plot forward and tie the films together, these movies cost a lot of money to make so there will never be a film where the evil kaiju wins..

- i would actually argue there isnt enough humans, and stay with me here.. there isnt enough humans who arent plot devices, take bernie for example, he is the worst possible way an audience surrogate could be done.. they dont bother making the audience care about his dead wife, instead they opt to make him the designated funny guy who somehow always knows something is wrong, but to me he js comes off as loud, needy and annoying 💀

- the monsterverse simply isnt realistic, i know this sounds like a bit of a ‘no shit sherlock!!’ statement but what i mean is we never see consequences for cities being destroyed.. you would think after all the hell china went through to to take hong kong in the real world, they’d be rather upset that the city was decimated, no?? another example of this is madison after getting chased by ghidorah in the stadium somehow only becomes insufferable instead of being good PTSD rep, she is on the go in gvk and again.. serves as a plot device.. so many human characters witness a monster roar right in front of them and somehow dont suffer any damage to their hearing, nobody is shaken up when they witness someone die right in front of them (bernie turned that one guy getting eaten by a plant into a joke and team kong has no reaction to maia getting crushed..) and its js like?? are yall even human?? not every character can be an unfeeling sociopath

- yes, adam wingard did ruin the monsterverse.. to warner bros, its all abt how much money they make and his style of directing has given them the most money, hes a fanboy with his own bias (a very obvious bias, actually!) which is why i think its a good think we have a new director with no prior knowledge, so many franchises suffer from a fan with their own bias directing.. js look at star wars and its infinite discourse.

- the kong favoristim is not only crystal clear but its also SO ANNOYING, everyone ive asked has always said the atomic breathing lizard is cooler than the giant monkey who needs a buff every goddamn movie.. if you have to antagonize godzilla js so kong can be a hero, js leave the writers room atp.. id trade all the kong slop for gamera and co in the mv in a heartbeat without second thought

[wolfsnooze]

cool!!!

anyway, Midnight in gravesfield sound like my AU, Phantom of Bonesborough!

I would LOVE to hear more!

-🪶🐺

under a cut again!

midnight in gravesfield is basically just my excuse to mix together special interests LOL. ive been into werewolves for most of my life ! anytime i have a favorite character im gonna turn them into a werewolf its the rules

i also just love especially stories about tragic werewolves, being something “other” and hiding it, unable to accept what you are but being unable to change it etc . idk why but its just so interesting to me. i think thats part of why i love hunter so much too — he’s different from everyone else and hes hiding it from them, and hes eventually gonna have to come to terms with and accept what he is , that he can’t change it, and that it’s gonna be okay. its so good

so all that being said i think werewolf!hunter just really works lol

for this AU, i have the basic description written on my AUs doc but as with all my stuff its super subject to change! like, i might not have him get bitten at all, it might be at a different point in time, etc etc. i think the most basic things that are staying are “he gets werewolf’d sometime during the second half of season 2 and struggles in the human realm”. that’s the most bare bones structure of the story

ive done a lot of worldbuilding with lycanthropy both for toh and just in general, i might? post about it at some point? but it’s long and IM GETTING OFF TRACK😭

so!!!! okay!!!! here’s how the au goes right now. hunter gets bitten/cursed/Something, but the demon realm moon DOESNT effect him. it would if he had magic, but he doesn’t

he can tell something is off and he is more sick and in pain than he usually is, he’s more disoriented and acting “off”. it’s like a fever almost? he’s more likely to completely isolate himself during his “on the run” phase. just completely freaked out and not thinking clearly

but it’s not until he gets to the human realm that things start really happening to him. turns out, when you’re cloned from a human and end up with lycanthropy, the full moon in the human realm is gonna be the one to mess you up

it would intertwine a lot with him being a grimwalker as well. i think luz would figure out what happened before they end up in the human realm, but she’s not sure how she can even help right away. gus also knows about the grimwalker thing, but not the lycanthropy

the story itself would kind of like .. i take inspiration from my favorite werewolf media, i think it’s just like that in a toh context tbh. i know that isn’t very specific but hey its a work in progress :P i have a lot of ideas jotted down but not in a story-order yet

[guesst]

💖🫘💥~

ask game

💖 What is your primary writing goal for this year?

i wanna get another longish fic or oneshot done and dusted! i know i yapped a lot ab fake grandson au when i was writing it but while it got tiring towards the end it was also REALLY SATISFYING so i want to replicate that this year 😌😌 if i’m ambitious, maybe even two!?

🫘 Spill the beans. What's a new project you're doing this year?

i am going to take this chance to talk about THREE okay so first of all. i did a poll last week and “iruma goes back to the human world” won. so thats one. im gonna do the au where iruma gets sent back with his memory wiped because he got outed (and the other two in the love trio follow). technically this ,, isn’t exactly new, but i don’t like how i wrote it so far so i think i’m gonna scrap the whole thing and start again lol.

next! miss laurence !! again i already wrote a littol bit but its not even that much so it totally counts as a new project !! i just wanna play with her and harcourt you know how it is. and i think the research will be very very fun. i may have to crack open some classics even heehee

finally! original fiction! ive done a bunch of planning and figuring out the worldbuilding blabla but i havent actually started it and anyway it’s about this guy who’s like., 30, and he ends up fusing himself with his pet goat in an awful accident. his old maid now has to try to get this reversed before he DIES of ORGAN DAMAGE. cue running around everywhere with a ten year old and a goat chimera.

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

mmm lets do another wip. i looove the httyd au it’s so funny. dragon kirio is ‘tormenting’ iruma who is just some poor sod living in a village. here’s the start (mind there’s a dead rabbit):

It’s a wonderful day, and Iruma is holding the regurgitated remains of a dead rabbit in his hands.

It was on his doorstep in the morning, the body headless and steam curling off the somewhat mangled flesh. The rabbit was a big one too — even with the damage, it’ll make for at least a week’s worth of stew, and he’ll be able to share it besides. 

He knows where the rabbit came from, of course. Or who, rather. He just doesn’t know where the thing went off to.

Iruma looks to his left, towards the houses a little ways off and closer to the heart of the village, and then to his right, where the Old Wood lies. The vague hope of spotting gleaming eyes or a flash of scale is dashed very quickly; it was a fruitless idea, anyhow, since any dragon worth its salt knows how to make a quick escape.

Azz in particular is of the opinion that it isn’t worth any salt at all, and sometimes Iruma would agree, but — he hefts the bedraggled looking rabbit in his arms. The dragon does make a compelling case for itself.

“Thank you!” he calls out in the general direction of the woods. There’s no visible response except for a sparrow startling away from the sudden noise. Iruma shrugs, secures his grip on the body, and plods round to the back of his house to prep it.

[exonerin]

what part made the upload schedule bad? was it just a lot of pressure or just a lot of writing at once?

Thank you so much for the question!

Oh no. I've done this a few times now, so I knew how much I needed to prepare beforehand. The fic was mostly finished when I began posting. I only needed to wrap up the final chapter and reread each chapter one final time before posting it each day.

My problem was that I didn't like my original chapter 6. And so I decided to overhaul the second half of chapter 6 after posting the second chapter. Then, chapter 7 no longer made sense, so I had to rewrite that one, too.

And to top if off, I suddenly didn't like the end of my original plot outline anymore (if you're wondering why Obi-Wan asks Anakin to go on a walk through the gardens in chapter 8, which is then never referenced again? That's the exact spot where the final plot divergence takes place).

This is also the reason, I needed an extra chapter 8 for this fic.

I didn't take full rewrites into account in my upload schedule. Or DAUNTLESS. I had vaguely pointed out I might skip a week, but I decided against that. Which put a lot of things on my plate. In real life, I've been working overtime, which cut into the writing time!

In Pursuit Of You couldn't wait, though. I wrote it partly to cheer someone up. And this couldn't wait. Moreover, I wasn't going to skip a chapter either after telling there would be daily updates.

I don't typically get the chance to talk about all the takes that don't make the final cuts. So, let me treat you to three times the plot changed drastically:

Chapter 6: Obi-Wan's reaction to Anakin's implicit love declaration. The part where Anakin and Obi-Wan meet with Windu and Yoda didn't exist in the first draft. They went to Ipsol IV immediately, and Obi-Wan kept a careful distance between them. I changed this because it made no sense. Moreover, it would put me in a corner. Any change to Obi-Wan's attitude would be too sudden.

Elder Winib and the Great Halls of Ipsol In the first draft, Obi-Wan and Anakin went to their chamber after the lunch. Elder Winib was a lousy male representative from the commerce guild instead. This introduced too much politics. So, I had to remove the world building, though I did refer to some life saplings etc. There's still a weird thing to this fic where there's just enough worldbuilding for Ipsol IV to make it feel imbalanced. A lot of information that no longer returns because I axed it (Anakin's affinity with droids). Anyway, the results was that I either had to skip the mission or change it. Since I still planned to write the garden scene and Obi-Wan being jealous with more forehead kisses, I couldn't skip it. So, now you get this weird middle ground where I likely would change it in hindsight. However, at the time, I was still determined to get back on track.

The gardens This is the final and most hilarious one. Obi-Wan was going to help Anakin get the representative/Elder Winib off his back by pretending to be spouses. While Anakin is in the gardens, Elder Winib would follow him. Since Anakin still has Obi-Wan's lightsaber, Obi-Wan would notice he was stressed and come to the rescue. And Obi-Wan would kiss him in the maze to fool Elder Winib (this was the originally planned M rated scene). However, as I wrote it, it felt too contrived. There's a limit to how presistent Elder Winib can be before it turns silly. And this fic is self-indulgent, but I still want it to make some sense. It just didn't flow smoothly. Moreover, I needed them to talk. So, Anakin joined Obi-Wan instead to make a love declaration (as Obi-Wan communicates with Anakin in terms Anakin can understand, Anakin has to do the same.) The main point, however, is that they would be in the gardens. And I have received some light complaints about people dying from second-hand embarrassment when Anakin and Obi-Wan get overly familiar in somewhat public spaces. And I wanted to spare the masses, so I put them back in their spaceship.

TL;DR: I really started rambling about unrelated matters, but basically the reason it was tough was due to me spontaneously deciding to rewrite a big chunk of the fic from scratch.

[kara-knight]

Hiiiiiii I'm definitely not reading your longfic and internally screaming with joy at every weaving metaphor 👀 It is off to such a good start and I am HERE for your rareship, and I love how Tarre (let alone anyone else) has no idea what's happened yet, and I am so interested in the mando'a linguistic evolution, and omg House Viszla has SUCH a different meaning now poor Tarre is in for a shock, and ehehehehe Tarre and Jaster making eyes at each other (with head wounds) and they haven't even interacted yet (desperately telling myself to be patient for Feemor also), and aaaaaaa I am so excited! Thank you for your writing! <3333

Greetings and yayyy you're reading my longfic!!!!!

I love all the weaving metaphors so much and im screaming with joy with you!!! there shall be so many more. there shall also be scene of tarre actually weaving. fun fact i actually got into weaving when i was researching because i wanted tarre to be a weaver and of course then had to pick up another craft hobby and turns out i love it! I havent done much, i did make a frame loom out of an old picture frame though, but i cant wait til i get to do more.

i've got so much worldbuilding about weaving practices both for jedi and mandalorians that i cant wait to share.

yayyyyyy!!!!! all aboard the rare ship ship!!! yes this is key, no one has all the information, no one knows whats happening here and sometimes their guesses are wild.

mando'a linguistic evolution is so fun and thats a good reminder that i need to get together my notes on it to post. so many thoughts!!! oooh now im getting sidetracked with thoughts about the words for weaving in mando'a.

House Vizsla is so different now, thats spot on. people are always going to have a reaction to Tarre calling themself a Vizsla and they've completely lost their community there too.

yessss Tarre and Jaster interacting there was so much fun to write!! they've both already got it bad for each other in their own unhinged ways!!!

Feemor, Feemor, Feemor!!! He is coming and ive written a fair amount of his parts there already :))) im so excited that you are excited!!!!!!

thank you for your lovely ask it means the world and i was so happy to see it, it made my day <3333

[surveillance-0011]

Every HOL 2 + Comic prediction I have

Possible spoilers ahead. Some of these I'm very much convinced about, others are more general statements or spitballing/guesstimates.

In general:

We find out where the hell Lizzie and Kenny are

We see what remains of the G3+ more of how they've impacted space

Funny mission control in the form of Clug's kids + Gene. He was literally gonna blow us up to keep the house.

Maybe seeing Krimothy or Gene's nephew

More stuff abt Gene + whatever he's got going on, too

More Torgs maybe?

Bounty Hunter will probably remain a very self insert-y character and therefore be more of a blank slate while the Gatlians get center stage but we might get more on them... maybe something abt their parents

And. Lezduit. Did you fuck my mom Lezduit?

The Comic

Takes place pre-High on Knife

Follows (at least partially) the bounties that have been done pre DLC (the ones on the screen)

Gurgula plays more of a role or shows up as some sorta easter egg in the bg

Actually shows what's up with Creature

"Redemption" We are totally getting stuff about Kenny

and maybe similar themes with Harper? if the Task Force led to her doing some fucked up shit

And ofc who knows maybe. applies to creature lore. If not that then maybe the "lost love" in the blurb is referring to this... hm...

Though it's not following the G3 I'm going to assume we'll be seeing Merkaloids and other G3 grunts doing other odd jobs and the remnants of the Cartel + power struggles before it crumbles for good

Uh. Maybe bonus G3 chapter at the end? Or at least mentioning them + filling more in for sake of worldbuilding. maybe this is copium but i want moar... moar G3. please. waughh

HOL 2

Lez might come back late game once the parents get back from their road trip. Maybe he'd be used for a challenge mode/bonus gauntlet instead of the final boss.

If we don't see what's going on with Lizzie in the comics we'll certainly know by 2.

Maybe Gurgula got a hold of her or Gene or the BH's parents as a way to play on Garmantuous trying to hurt who the BH "loves most" but it's not a celebrity cameo this time

Either Kenny-Harper dual wielding or Kenny gets an upgrade that's not quite Lezduit level but makes him a more advanced gun.

Alternatively maybe the perspectives switch between BH and Lizzie? BH keeps their guns and there's chapters or otherwise ways to switch perspective to continue to the story with Lizzie, Kenny, and her own group of Gatliens. This would eventually lead to the two reuniting and being able to choose who to play as and what combo of Gatliens you like to complete the game. This is pretty ambitious and most likely too clunky but something like this could be on the table.

And if you don't get to play as them I do like the idea of Lizzie turning up ok with Kenny in tow

May or may not be accompanied by a joke w/ Kenny saying he's got a frog in his throat or some other meta commentary. Then again given the circumstances to why the change would be made this might be in poor taste. We will see.

I mean really after what she did to Tweeg if you follow that path then I'm sure she's gonna end up getting in on the bloodshed. Really thinking she'll fight along side you or maybe against you at some point if she gets brainwashed or something (maybe unlikely but as a splatoon fan I'm Used To This Happening by now)

And by now Gene's legs r probably gonna grow back or be just about enough to walk with?

Knifey keeps the chainsaw obviously. maybe another modification or two to switch out?

Flamethrower + Sniper Rifle Gatliens, sticky + smoke bomb trick hole or mechanism

Being able to meet + save more Gatlien survivors even if they aren't playable

Maybe a shooting range/training room to hone techniques

More standalone bounties while the Bounty Hunter tries to track down Gurgula on their own terms

Gurgula is from Australia III or IV or. yeah just another Australia. Maybe the original first Australia planet... hm...

More Australia in general

More Gurgula also :3c this is a given but I am very much excited 2 see him. I think unlike Garmantuous he's probably not going to try to check in on us or anything and it's more cat-and-mouse-y.

The game will probably be a bit more grim, esp when the focus is on Gurgula. Not too gritty, but certainly more in line with the secret ending and HOK's more morbid/scary moments.

that being said I need to see him lose his mind as he gradually gets totally tired of everyone else's bullshit and comes to the conclusion that he's in a game chock full of nerdy stoner comedy.

There will probably be a joke about/reference to CWC it'd be funny if Gurgula was actually super wowed by all of that. Not disgusted like actually just. wow. the depths of the human mind.

I've said it before but I am certainly thinking they may kill off Gene or Lizzie. Knowing how calculated and cutthroat Gurgs is I'm pretty sure he'll be targeting them eventually and even if he doesn't with some of the themes of redemption we've been seeing here I'm thinking we're gonna see some people we like go.

In general i hope the game does not shy away from more emotional moments and allows shit 2 get real grim. After being thrown for a total loop in the secret ending and the pretty well done bits of horror around the reveal of Mux in HOK i do hope we get some real gut wrenching bits where we see the real depths of depravity with Gurgula :3c and just knowing that. shit is fucked.