#man i wish that they would go into deep lore and plot like this in the game

[treatmelikeasmut]

Redemption of the Herald

MASTER LIST

PAIRING: Viktor x GN!Reader|| Isekai/Modern!AU

CW: Light season 2 spoilers

WORD COUNT: 2.1k

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've had this floating around in my brain for a while. I finally starting writing it at 5:30 this morning. Reincarnation is an AU I go back to a lot, so it was only a matter of time before I wrote one.

LISTEN ALONG [YouTube]

~*~*~

There was silence as the final credits rolled on the last episode of Arcane. You both just stared at the screen. A digestion of information. A silent understanding. A reckoning and acceptance of reality.

“It is strange,” Viktor started, his voice startling you out of your stupor. “Watching your descent to madness from the outside like this. A truly humbling experience.”

“You said it was…different in the other universe,” you recalled.

Viktor leaned back against the wall. You both were sat on your bed, watching Arcane in a long marathon. He had finally got up the courage, and you were there to help him process the information. You’d already done a deep dive into the lore of League of Legends, trying to scrape together anything you could.

“Not as much as I thought.” He shook his head. “There are a few things, of course. And there are parts of my life you did not witness, for narrative sake. This is not the descent of the Herald, afterall. Then, of course, there is the fact that you graced my life. And this Viktor, he was not so fortunate.”

You met his eyes, which struck you everytime, a jolt straight through you like lightning. It was so strange to have him here, in your space. For him to be real. His long hair tied back, falling out of the bun. But his features were just as sharp. His stature long and lithe. Those unforgetable liquid eyes that just didn’t exist outside of stories. Yet were watching you now as the result of some twisted isekai.

“Here,” continued Viktor, “I do not have such terminal illness. Only the deformity of my leg, which I have long been accustomed to. - I am much the man I was in the first act of the first season. Before…”

Viktor turned his face from you, shoulders rigid. He’d been carrying a lot of guilt, that much he’d told you.

He drew in a deep breath. “I’m still not exactly all I would’ve liked to have been. But I am better than the fate that befell me - us. The one that brought you here to begin with.”

Viktor turned back to you then, reaching out his hand. His thumb brushed lightly over your cheek. It was like he had to keep checking you were real just as often as you did with him. He’d hardly been able to stop touching you since the first moment you met.

Jayce had rearended you with Viktor in the car. The look in his eyes when he first saw you - there were no words for it. Viktor told you later he had to get back in the car because he started tearing up. He was so sure it was just coincedence that you looked the way you did. Until you exchanged information with Jayce, for insurance reasons (even if neither of them had any idea about how insurance worked at the time). When he saw your name, he knew without a doubt.

You had make a joke about how they looked like their Arcane counterparts. Neither of them had heard of it, which initally surprised you. Now it made perfect sense why they hadn’t. You never would’ve thought getting rearended would lead to the biggest plot twist of your life.

“Why do you think you remember but I don’t?” you asked. There had been a few inklings, tingles of memories - voices, smells, colors, sometimes faces. But a solid one had not yet come back. “Is there a way to bring the memories back?”

Viktor frowned. “I am not sure. - Do you truly wish them back? They are not all good, especially toward the end. I was not the same man you fell in love with, and very different then the one that sits before you now.”

“You and I - we had a life together. There must be a reason I look the same, why we were brought back, why you found me.”

You wanted so desperately to remember. Viktor carried the memories like a burden. Like a scarlet letter. You found it so unfair that nothing had wriggled out yet. Your memories were just far away dreams, forgotten on the edge of sleep. You wanted to remember everything - the good, the bad, and the ugly. To know who you used to be.

“Perhaps it is so we may have another chance. No magic aside from the scarce remnants I carry. No hextech.” Viktor paused, staring out the window. “This world is different than ours was. There is no Zaun, no Piltover. No shimmer, though there are a great many substances just as harmful. I have learned the lesson that road leads to. At the very least, it brought me back to you. Of which, I am grateful.”

You moved closer, scooching until your shoulders touched. The warm sense of comfort and familiarity startled you every time. “Will you tell me about it?”

“I -” Viktor searched your face, then sighed and sagged against you. “Very well, take us back to the first.”

Doing as he asked, you scrolled back to the first episode of season one. He insisted on watching every bit, even playing the opening and sitting through all the credits for each episode. Maybe he was digesting it. It couldn’t be easy, seeing an alternative version of your life that was so scary close to your own.

“Now I only know these things from the little I could find in Vander’s mind,” Viktor started, “but this is all very much true. The girls lost their parents, and were taken in by him. He lead the rebellion against Piltover and many paid the price for it. I believe much of the foundation was the same. Again, I cannot speak for this part of it. Only my own role.”

You watched as Powder and Vi escaped with their brothers from Jayce’s decimated apartment. Viktor nodded. The first episode’s credits ran, then the second started. You watched the first meeting of Jayce and Viktor.

“And this?” you asked.

“Our Heimerdinger had the same arguments and reservations. However, he was less cautious. We had banter, a thought experiment about what hextech would mean. How we would do it. In the end, the conclusion was the same - that all of Jayce's things were to be confiscated and he jailed. I stole the book. Things went very much the same, until…”

“Until?”

“You were there with Mel that night. You helped us in our efforts to prove what hextech could do. In fact, I very much doubt that we could’ve done it without you in our world.”

You shrugged. “I doubt I did that much.”

“You, darling, were instrumental to our success. Don’t ever doubt.”

You continued to watch. There were some parts that Viktor frowned deeply at. Other parts he scoffed and rolled his eyes. He’d already expressed that your relationship had started during the timeskip. In those five years that were there and gone in a single episode. The happiest years of his life, he said, because of you. Then came the episode you had dreaded rewatching. Viktor paused and rewatched the scene where he collapsed three times. A hand going to his chest.

“I will never be able to unhear the sounds of your sobs, no matter how many universes we end up in,” he whispered, “I was hardly conscious but I could hear you, wailing as if you could see the future. As if you were grieving for every possible instance of our life together. Jayce tried to help, to calm you. But you were positively inconsolable. I don’t think you knew I could hear you. You put on a brave face when I finally regained full awareness, and never took it off until the end.”

Viktor’s bottom lip quivered. He swallowed, breath shaking. You gently took his hand. It seemed to pull him out of that far away place.

“We aren’t there anymore,” you reminded him softly. He squeezed your hand and cleared his throat.

“We worked,” Viktor continued, voice rough now. “There is so much in this time gap that you do not see. So many things that were not even a possibility here. I cannot tell you them all.”

“Can you give me an overview?”

“How can I tell you a lifetime's worth of memories?” Viktor chuckled, “We laughed, we argued, we fucked on the work table until the sun came up, which Jayce walked in on more than once. We screamed and cried and loved, and worked ourselves to the bone. In the end, it wasn't enough. The rocket still came, I still died, and you and Jayce put me in the hexcore. I still became the Machine Herald. I was the villain, at the end, but worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“The man you see here is tame. He thought about what he was doing, how he could change things. But I came back angry. I ripped through Piltover and Zaun like a wildfire. That colony that you see in Arcane, that is but a sample of the havoc I wrought. I thought I could not be opposed. And that, were I to be, I would consume them. Make them part of the evolution, whether they wanted it or not.” Shame was etched into Viktor’s face. He covered it with his hands. “I know now how foolish it was. How power hungry I became. A vengeful god, and you paid the price. It was you who gotten taken into the hexcore. Who broke your leg, spent gods know how long alone and scared. Jayce got sent elsewhere, suffered another kind of torture, and he saw this…thing that I’d become. You worked together to end me. But you were the one absorbed into whatever was left of me after. I suppose Jayce must've been too, though I don’t remember.”

“Do you think that’s why the three of us are here? We got absorbed then slingshotted somewhere?”

Viktor uncovered his face. “Perhaps.”

“But why here?”

Viktor leaned into you. “In the end, as we were swept away into the cosmos, all I could think of was the things we had not been able to have. The people we weren’t able to be. How happy I was that you were there and how I wanted to stay with you always. How much I wanted to redeem myself in your eyes. - So perhaps this was the answer to my anguish. My redemption. A different life, another chance. Jayce woke up the sole heir to a tool company empire. He had no recollection of any of this new life. I was his roommate in college, apparently. I’m not sure if I truly lived that life and, when the awakening happened, I forgot about it. Or if we took the lives of other people. I am glad to see you, at least, got to live a full life.”

Silence stretched between you as you digested this information. You chewed it over, like fat off a steak. So things really were that different where you’d come from. Perhaps it was better that Arcane was just a show to you. But would it always be? It was all so big, so may possibilities.

“How long do you think we’ll have? Will this happen again?” you rushed, the existentialism of it all washing over you. “When we die will we be sent to a new world, forced to live new lives -”

Viktor wrapped his arm around you, pulling you close. His familiar scent calmed you immediately. It was so strange that your body reacted like you were already in love. Like Viktor was the safest person in the world who brought you the most comfort. You could see yourself falling in love with him in this life too, in fact, you already were.

Just a month ago, you had been a different person. With a different life. Now a man you’d thought only to be fictional was real. And he was yours, right down to his core. How strange a concept was that? What sort of fate had been designed for you?

“We will have a lifetime or more,” Viktor said, “I’m not sure how this will work. If we get this life together, then we have to find each other again in the next one. Or if this will be a repeating cycle. Where it is I who has to find you as penanace. I’m fine with anything. I’ll find you, no matter what it takes or where we go. - Would you mind?”

You sat up just enough to look at him. “Would I mind what?”

“Would you mind if I chased you?” Viktor leaned his forehead to yours, and your heart gave a little flip. “What is it that the fandom says? - Every universe, every timeline?”

“Something along those lines,” you chuckled, “I think I’d like that.”

~*~*~

[smaller-comfort]

For the blorbo ask: Let's go with Resh'an and ohhh, give me your thoughts on Sephiroth. As for which questions: 1, 6, 7, 13, 14, and 24.

1. who’s the Blorbo that you’ve never posted about on your blog?

I'm trying to think if there's any secret deep lore blorbo to unlock here, but I do periodically froth at the mouth about the Imperial Radch and Locked Tomb characters that I love. There's the Active Blorbo Roster and then there's all the characters sittin' on the bench in reserve, right?

And there are a lot of those- all the part 5 JJBA kids, Shanks from One Piece, Hakkai from Saiyuki, Mustadio FFTactics.

6. if you could talk to your Blorbo, what would you say to them?

I used to do a lot of 'interview the character' writing exercises when I was younger, but it's not really something that jives with my brain these days. So the boring answer is, I wouldn't say anything. I'm a bad conversationalist.

The *funny* answer- okay, so you remember the era of geocities websites with goofy "under construction" gifs and entire pages dedicated to script-style interactions between the site owner and their favorite characters, right. I had one of those. It was where I posted my multichaptered mary sue self insert oc/Sephiroth fanfic. I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called- no, wait, fuck, the title was "To Shed a Tear" holy shit I wish I hadn't remembered that-the oc was Rufus' sister and a member of the Turks, and look, it was 1998, I had to teach myself html somehow-

Uh. Anyway. So, ultimately, I would probably be apologizing to Sephiroth for all of that, and then maybe just asking for a swift death or something, idk.

I'd have nothing to say to Resh'an because in the ARG he's explicitly stated that he doesn't want to talk about his personal life with the rest of us, and I would attempt tobrespect that boundary. (Really, most of what I might say would probably get me banned from the Sabotage discord.) (I'd probably have to apologize to him for all the fanfic, too. *cough*)

7. what’s the one thing the fandom gets wrong about your Blorbo?

Sephiroth was not involved in some kind of well adjusted five person SOLDIER polycule pileup before the Nibelheim incident. That man has never looked at another human being and experienced a sexual thought in his *life*.

(This does not prevent him from walking Zack on a leash when the occasion calls for it, but like. That's just being a responsible friend. Sometimes Angeal is busy.)

I'm open to a lot of different interpretations of Resh'an right now- the fandom is so small, I'll take whatever I can get and be happy about it, honestly. I'm sure there are people who think *I'm* the one getting him wrong, though, and on some level this idea pleases me in the blackened, contrarian corners of my soul. Sorry, I've taken your mysterious mentor character with a tragic past and turned him into a sopping wet rag with erectile dysfunction. (I'm not that sorry.) (technically it's not ED it's anorgasmia *is shot*)

13. is there any crime, any wrongdoing your Blorbo could commit that would make you stop loving them and remove them from your hyperfixation entirely?

me, sitting on the front porch, sipping a shitty cocktail while watching Meteor about to obliterate the solar system: ...nah.

This kind of gets into like...Doylist/Watsonian characterization, right? The character is just going to do what they're written to do. So is there anything Square Enix could do to make Sephiroth stop being my blorbo? I guess they already did Crisis Core so like...It really doesn't get much worse than that. (I say this, but I haven't finished Rebirth! I am only vaguely aware of the major plot divergence stuff.)

All that said...Squeenix can't take the OG away from me. I'm stuck with the general background radiation of the Compilation, but the things that made me love the game, and the experience of playing it as a child, are always going to be mine. My particular take on Sephiroth exists largely independent of canon and the current fandom at this point.

For Resh'an- let him war criminal even harder! XD

Really, though, I'm steeling myself for inevitable disappointment around his canon backstory and the ultimate resolution of the story. This is not meant to be any shade on Thierry Boulanger's storytelling skills- but being part of the fandom for an ongoing story is always a unique experience, and it tends to leave you with complicated feelings towards the actual conclusion of the story, no matter how good it ends up being.

But if he and Aephorul turn out to be stereotypical anime rivals pre-immortality, I will be *extremely* annoyed (I say, as I write them constantly bickering and antagonizing each other). But I don't think that would even be a deal breaker for me at this point.

14. have you ever distanced yourself from your Blorbo / have you ever left a fandom because people in the fandom were being too toxic?

Maybe back when I was more active in fandom in general? My memory is too fucky to answer this properly, I think; I know there absolutely were people in AC fandom who made me want to eat paint, but I don't think they were why I left. Most of the time when I leave a fandom, it's because I get bored or lose interest or fall into a depression hole for half a decade. (The depression hole is what makes this hard to answer. From 2018-2023 I wasn't on tumblr or fannish twitter and I wasn't really reading fanfic or "doing fandom" at all.)

I've left/avoided certain fandoms because of non-fandom interpersonal blow ups with specific people- I've had several friend groups explode messily over the years, and avoiding some of those people meant avoiding fandoms we used to share. (FFVII was briefly, tangentially one of those for me back in 2009.)

Now, I'm more likely to distance myself from a fandom if I find it annoying, honestly. I spent like ten minutes in the In Stars and Time tag and very quickly determined that it was Not For Me, and that's totally fine! It's a perfectly lively fandom, it's just not my thing. Same with Baldur's Gate and Arcane (and to a lesser extent TLT); I just get the curated content from my lovely mutuals, and if there's anything else going on, I pretend I do not see it.

24 if you could change one canonical thing about your Blorbo, what would it be?

Lemme just- *slam dunks Genesis Rhapsodos into the trash* And look! Nothing of value was lost. Nothing changes in the story that needed to be changed. The tragedy still unfolds, and it's 50% less idiotic! Angeal can stay. He's fine.

Maybe they've fixed the idiocy in Rebirth. I doubt it, though. Sephiroth's appeal initially comes partly from him being a bit of a blank slate- the players get a very limited window into who he is and what his whole deal is, and that vast *potential* is where some of the best (most unhinged) fanworks develop. The OG is very deliberate about how it treats Sephiroth as a villain- he's literally the shark from Jaws, hovering under the narrative. Twenty five years later he's one of the most recognizable video game villains in the world, so I understand *why* Remake went a different direction. But it's still a little disappointing. Sometimes leaving things vague and mysterious is good, actually!

Anyway, other than setting Genesis on fire- I don't know. Put him in one of those slutty turtlenecks with the boob window. It's what we deserve. (The serious answer- sort of- make him 2000% more body horror about the Jenova cells. Give him tentacles to go with the fucking angel wings.)

As for Resh'an- we've got three more games to go. He's sitting firmly in that sweet spot of unhinged potential; we don't know enough about his backstory yet for me to want it changed. So, really, the only change I'd make at this juncture would probably be to give the Great Eagle more tail feathers. It just *bothers* me, okay. Why are there only three.

[trappezoider]

Niiiiiiice how about Rookwood/MC?

Oh, this one is interesting. Honestly, I don't even know how to categorise this ship because I feel like the whole MC situation is so versatile since each MC can be so different. You could even argue, if you're not into the age gap, that some MCs are grown ass adults and they just ended up in the fifth year for exam reasons. But if I had to choose, then honestly,

Ship It

What made you ship it? -The versatility. You could have MC be anyone. Canonically, it probably doesn't make sense since Rookwood *spoilers* dies at the end but if you want to write fanfiction of it, I think you could make up literally anything. Rookwood is an arsehole but he's quite charismatic, I just wish he was written to be a bit more multi-dimensional than how he currently is, kinda same with MC. But that's what fanfiction is for, right? Also, he cursed Anne which, man, that is some twisted shit right there. A glorious plot point and a reason for more conflict never hurt nobody :DDD

What are your favorite things about the ship? -It could go in so many directions. It could be a redemption arc, or they could make each other worse, or it could go dead dove or it could be actually wholesome. It has so much potential in so many ways that it doesn't really matter who picks it up - it's still bound to be different and unique. I do think the more fucked up aspects of it are what intrigues me most, though. I do like to read about darker themes here and there, even though I prefer fluff, so this could tickle me in the right way if the story was built well.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? -I'm talking about this ship as if I actually have made or read anything of them :'D I kinda hate this about myself because of FOMO but I think I haven't gotten deep into is because it includes MC, so I'd have to learn too much, and there would be a crazy amount of lore I'd probably have to get into in order to understand the story. But my stupid dopamine starved self would just want characters that are pretty much set in stone and who I could visualise immediately. This was also my issue with Blaunt at the beginning lol And I understand why it would be for anyone else. Why are brains like this. It's why I struggle to get into original fiction so much but in order to get into fanfiction - you guessed it - I would have to get into original fiction. Go figure. Also, I had this one MC since the beginning who was a lesbian, and I am so stuck thinking about everything from her character's perspective that it definitely couldn't be her I shipped with Rookwood if I had to write about it. But any other MC that had the possibility for it, yup, it's free real estate. I think most of my issues lie with the fact that there are so many MCs, I would have trouble grasping the character and that's why I don't often read MC fics. But if it was this one established MC, probably male too because you know how I am :'D Then maybe I'd be even more into it. But as a concept, I do ship it and I think it's a valid ship, as is any ship, really. Additional end note: Really hope that everyone who is into this ship continues to thrive and prosper and enjoy themselves with it! It's a bit of a rare pair but I have seen people ship it so at least there's a community for it.

[laurelslegacy]

Inoli’s on her shit again with Zeb’s backstory/lore

Getting on May’s idea of anti-whomp February and started to write shorts now so I can post properly later.

However I had to share this spoiler

No beta, rough draft

Looking back now, perhaps that had helped his career. As a young Commander of the High Honor Guard he was tasked often to watch the Princesses as they would play, be their body guard when on social outings. His captain, Garthal, was tasked with watching the King and Queen. Those three little dears, bound by social expectations and edicate, hardly able to be just kits. Behind closed doors when he watched them- things became different.

His hunkering form, dressed in his silver Armor, blue and Red uniform all squished into a chair that hardly fit one of his butt cheeks, with a tiny porcelain tea cup in his thumb and forefinger, sipping lightly, pretending to be their gentleman guest. The three girls would giggle,share sweets and typically invite “delegates” to join us, Mr floppy ears, Madam blue eyes, Lord Fastie, and one could and would not forget Duchess Karwath Jewlish Rallinton car’rashthan the 5th- the family Pet, a Torag, which was a native to Lasan. Comparatively it looked like a rabbit with a pugged face, long legs and a shaft pelt which would have a minimum of 3 bows in her fur at all times.

The oldest Princess, Heir to the throne, Princess Elana a full 16 two moons old. She lost interest in these tea parties and would insist on watching or listening to the latest Theatrical performances of Lasan’s premier performance group “Melpa-Thalida”. Zeb had found his attention being divided between the two younger Princesses and their older Sibling. It wasn’t until her 17th Two-Moon Celebration the King and Queen decided it was acceptable for her to proceed to one of Melpa-Thalida’s performances with only a chaperone- It was He she named.

Looking back had pains of regret pulling at his stomach, he loathed the experience at first, the first act was TWO HOURS! It was just a bunch of frillies just bouncing about on stage singing and acting with such drama Zeb was hard pressed to not march down there and slap the lot of them! He must have been wearing his thoughts on his shoulder for at the break Princess Elana brought him to one side, a small glass of Rushalian berry wine in her hands.

“Are thee not enjoying thyself?” She asked in high Lasanese, looking at best disappointed.

Zeb had drawn himself up with a deep breath and at that penetrating yellow eyed look from the Princess he had watched over for nearly a decade now he sighed “It’s… a touch over the top for me My Highness.”

“I would be happy to explain a few things to thee if thou wishes.” She looked hopeful- oh Karabast, Alanna was only 4 and had the same look.

He surrendered “I would appreciate My Princess’s enlightenment.”

The way in which the Princess described what was going on, the interactions and the woven plots amongst a tapestry that was a story had Zeb watching with new eyes. Not to let his young and brash self admit that after all she was correct, it was rather interesting. Zeb was catching on, the one man was poor, unable to provide for his family or others. He had stolen a small loaf of bread. The head of the local Authorities ruthlessly sought to put an end to the main character’s supposed rash of terrorsim. Amongst that chaos were a few love connections between tertiary characters and the main, all just causing more chaos and drama.

It was after that, Zeb’s sole purpose was to accompany Princess Elana to these shows, always pretending that he was put off or making side commentary after the show. Much like he did now with Sabine, yet however- he really did enjoy watching the plays and began to appreciate the skill and artistry put into the productions.

His current life, he would sit with Sabine if she was around and watch her holo dramas or plays with a similar feigned disinterest while loving watching something both he and Sabine enjoyed- and that they could find some sort of comfort in each other's presence. Sabine was far more his little sister, well more accurately she was as rouge-ish as his 4th little sister, smart as his 2nd elder sister and brave as his oldest brother. They would have liked Sabine.

[pastriibunz]

have i ever told you all how wild i think it is that Kai has a fandom?

like, the fact that people are consuming my writing and enjoying it and INVESTING themselves in the story?

thats so fucking amazing to me

kai as a concept started when i was around 9, when i listened to my first batim fansong, “gospel of dismay” by DAGames. i attached to the bendy character so much, i created this character that acted as his daughter like the cringe little freak i was.

around the same time, i had listened to “why did i say okie-doki?” by the stupendium, and attached to the monika character in the same way.

as i grew, kai grew with me. her story slowly became an amalgamation of fandoms i enjoyed, all set in the town of unington (which i stole from “peggy suave”, a music series uploaded to youtube by sim gretina). there wasnt really an overarching plot, some angst scattered here and there, but in my head, it was a semi-episodic series that revolved around Kai and her friends, and her adventures as ‘the savior of the multiverse’.

it wasn’t till i started writing ‘showstopper’, a bnha x oc fic, and uploading it to wattpad in 2021 before i started seeing intrigue for kai and her story.

before that, kai only existed as comics in my sketchbook that i showed to friends, or nobody at all. i was into mha, and i didn’t like the insert character’s personality in most x readers, so i decided to write my own. with kai.

people loved kai. i had consistent readers, commenters, and as of now, it sits at 7.5K reads. people felt for her, kinned her, and slandered any characters who didn’t like her.

eventually, my interests faded. and showstopper remains unfinished.

other than showstopper, Kai still didn’t really have a bunch of deep lore. she still was her little fandom amalgam, with her bits of angst.

but that all changed when Hatchetfield came into the mix.

in mid 2023, early 2024, @local-soda-can (and @chillibeanos somewhat) introduced me to the starkid original musical, ‘the guy who didn’t like musicals’. they loved it, and so did chilli, as they had been doing some oc insert stuff with it (btw, go check them out, their character Bean Sprout is so awesome!,).

I, however, wasnt too keen on watching.

I’m a very hard person to get to watch anything with an hour+ runtime. longer time commitments spook me, and with TGWDLM being over an hour, i wasn’t planning on watching.

until we had a sleepover, and i did.

and i fell in LOVE.

immediately, i had me and fizz start rping through The ‘Kai’ Who Didn’t Like Musicals, as i dubbed it.

the rp finished on September 14, 2023 and that was that.

that was all TKWDLM was supposed to be.

that was all Kai In Hatchetfield was supposed to be.

a series of RPs with a friend.

that was, until, one fateful wednesday, September 20th, 2023, i was watching TGWDLM after school.

earlier, i had the RTC script printed out to read, and i had thought: ��man. i wish i had the script for this show.’

and then i thought, ‘wait, i have a laptop! what if i just typed out/downloaded the script?’

and as i sat there, on my laptop, i had another thought.

‘Wait, i have the rp, that’s practically all in script format, it has almost all the parts, what if i just turned it into an actual script?’

and thus began a two month long journey of transcribing the musical/rp into a script.

when i uploaded TKWDLM to tumblr on November 27 of that year, i honestly wasn’t expecting people to actually read it.

of course, i had hoped people would!

but honestly, she was 130 pages, she was kinda cringe, and she was honestly just meant for me.

I did NOT expect fans.

I did not expect people like @androgynous-sack-of-flesh-3 (hi there!) to go through my blog, scrounging for every last drop of Kai I made

I did not expect people to invest themselves into Kai’s story, and cry at her death during the ending.

Most of all, I did not expect people wanting more.

The Kai in Hatchetfield series was supposed to end at TKWDLM. I wasn’t planning on transcribing the nmt rps I did with my friends. I wasn’t planning on doing more scripts.

Until one anon in my inbox made the brilliant pun:

‘Nightmare Kai-me.’

With that post, I uploaded a poll asking if people wanted to see an actual NMK series.

And to my surprise, people did.

And thus, I started writing.

And that was a catalyst.

From there, I have gained so many followers, so many fans, all wanting more of Kai.

I have people like @raspberrysmoon (hi pooks :3) theorizing about the overarching lore of nmk, and even writing their own fanfic series revolving Kai (shoutout to sotbaw!).

I have people invested.

I have people who want more.

And that is so shocking to me.

I never expected my silly little story to reach so many people.

I never expected people to be touched by it.

I never expected to make people feel.

And, honestly?

I can’t help but say thank you.

You all are the reason I keep writing.

You all are the reason I keep publishing Kai’s story.

Without you, there would be no nmk. There would be nothing more than a script sitting in my google docs, one that I’d eventually forget about.

All I can say is thank you.

Thank you for giving me a space to share my writing.

Thank you for giving Kai a chance.

Thank you for giving me a chance

Thank you for making a silly little 9 year old girl’s dreams come true.

Thank you all so much.

I can’t wait to see where Kai goes next :]

[beevean]

🔥 °^°

Most of my enjoyment of the Castlevania lore comes from finding the blind spots left by the games, that usually didn't have the necessary room or means to go deep into their plots or characterization, and filling them. I like thinking about it, I like looking for hints of characterization, I like scouring down for themes and elevating what most might see as shallow excuse plots.

... I can't do it for the Sorrow games.

They are immensely popular, especially AoS, and I get why. Not just in terms of gameplay, but I see people loving Soma, Mina, Arikado and Julius (not the same love for Yoko and Hammer tho), and thinking about how Soma's nature might influence him, and how Arikado might see him, and look at the found family and all.

And I can't really get invested. I can only think about how the games wasted such a cool concept of Soma being Dracula reincarnated and having his powers but being free of the burden of being the Dark Lord. I don't have it in me to headcanon anyone of the cast, although I do feel bad for Yoko and I wish she got more attention. Julius' popularity feels overrated to me, since his best feat was offscreen and there's not much about his personality that sets him apart from a Belmont like, say, Simon. Hammer is even my least favorite character in the series, especially in DoS because man shut up about your crush already. Graham could have been a cool villain with his delusion/desire to be Dracula but he feels so bland and generic, and I realized recently that Copy X had the same concept but much more intriguing. Even the futuristic setting is not really used like it could have, except for having cars in the Lost Village and Soma being able to find guns (which okay is hilarious).

I don't know. There is something about this duology that doesn't appeal to me and doesn't make my imagination spark. I would like to think more about Soma and his nature and his relationship with his own soul and destiny, or even his character since I don't think he was written very well (the translation of AoS feels... off). But somehow I got more invested in the magic Belmont and his ninja bf who are way, way less relevant than Soma lol

[pickypickypeak]

The kind of Wish criticisms that annoy the hell out of me are the ones where people unnecessarily compare the film to other movies released at the same time and even Disney's older works. There's nothing wrong with comparisons as a "what to do, what not to do example", the issue I have is that these are often be hella biased.

I like the classical and renaissance Disney movies but I would be lying my ass off saying they don't have problems (the racism, characters of color being played by white actors, outdated stereotypes and gender roles). Some people dismiss these issues because they prioritize on their own nostalgia more than improving them. Hell, they say Snow White was the worst princess but when Disney announces a live action remake, they defend her largely because a mixed race latina actress as casted to play her.

Some of these comparisons can be nonsensical if one were to pay attention. They say Trolls 3's villain song is better, even though Mount Rageous a pop cover mashup while This is the Thanks I Get?! is an original in a poo style. They say Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a better movie about wishes even though TLW's theme is about appreciating life and the family and friends you have while Wish's themes is about encouraging and supporting each others to pursue their dreams. They use Bruce Almighty as a comparable movie yet they let Bruce off the hook despite he misused of his powers out kf laziness and causing the town into brief chaos before fixing it while they villainize Asha for Magnifico's own actions and the non existent "consequences" of returning people their wishes as if Magnifico allowed the non existent "bad wishes" to be in his hoard in the first place (he deemed Sabino's wish as bad because he didn't like knowing people other than him getting attention and he flat out spites Asha and Sabino during the ceremony).

THIS!!! Here’s an example (I probably used it before but it really fits now): some people are like “why have the forbidden book in the first place? It makes no sense the writing for this movie is so bad” well where the hell did the beast get the enchanted mirror?? How does the evil queen have a talking mirror in her castle and no one questions it? Where did the genie’s lamp come from? In frozen we just had to believe elsa was born with ice magic for no reason (they invented lore for the sequel but it wasn’t planned. They were gonna leave it with no explication hadn’t been for the incredible success). Theses are NOT plot holes; they’re just things you’re supposed to not ask questions about in a fairytale. It’s literally not that deep. Or better, you CAN ask questions and maybe imagine scenarios, but a movie isn’t inherently bad for not explaining it all to you. We’re not required to know how the queen got the mirror, or how magnifico got the book. It’s not “bad writing”; you’re just evaluating a disney fairytale movie through average mcu youtuber’s lens (everything needs to be addressed, otherwise it’s poorly written and “it makes no sense” (so what? Does a singing lion and warthog make sense in the first place?)).

Not to talk about the other problems you’ve mentioned; the stereotypes, the gender roles… as much as we love them, ANY movie has its issues. Many things wish gets blamed for, I can find them in other movies too. And actually, some of them aren’t even bad things, or at least they weren’t until wish did it. I’ve seen someone go “asha’s friends are just for the sake of diversity🙄” but like… is that a bad thing? Big hero 6 members were diverse too. Gee, winx are 20 years old and they’re all diverse. How am I supposed to take that criticism seriously? “They’re just forcing diversity on kids” my man I’ll tell you something. Remember when pocahontas (with all its issues) had a whole song about painting with the colors of the wind. Well I know this is shocking news to you but. It wasn’t actually the wind. She was talking about skin colors. The song was about racism. It’s from the 90s.

And the songs comparisons oh my. “Good to be king from journey to bethlehem is a way better villain song than this is the thanks I get” yeah, this is 100% relevant! It totally makes sense to draw a comparison between the guy who killed infants because he was not sure about which one was Jesus, and king magnifico from wish! I’m so surprised king herod’s song sounds so ominous! I’m sure ALL of these people have the journey to bethlehem soundtrack on their playlists and sing the songs out loud because they are SO much better!!❤️

Don’t get me started about the snow white drama, you are absolutely right, people get mad over something they couldn’t care less seconds ago (just like they did for ariel and tinker bell lmao). They’ve been shitting on snow white for years, there’s been ENDLESS youtube parodies and essays about disney princesses and especially snow white being “weak”, “a bad example for girls because she makes chores and settles for a man” and other bullshit but! As soon as the actress playing her (who happens to be not white) says the exact same thing, everyone is like “oh my goddd!!! Disrespect for our snow white!!! A woman can have love dreams!!! Walt disney is turning in his grave!!!” Like wow bro. You suddenly care now. You are so coherent and definitely not racist👍🏻

[variousqueerthings]

I am totally against bantering

this episode is... odd. I don't hate it. I watched it off the back of the third Doctor's "time warrior" which has sort of a similar plot, and which I also was kind of ambivalent about on the whole, and just... dunno medieval settings -- love'em in stories on the whole, for some reason find them odd in time travel. but also... is it a good story?

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 6/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 3/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 6/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 2/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 3/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 8/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 7/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 3/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 50/100 (if I can count….)

this is a lower rating than "deep breath" and I'm not sure that's right, considering how much nonsense was in that episode, but hey, never said this was totally precise and scientific

OBJECTIFICATION: Clara has a couple of "things" in this. and one of them plays into the way I think this episode is constructed quite half-heartedly and it's that she's obsessed with Robin Hood (I can buy this, even if we haven't seen it before) and when they go to meet RH she dresses as random noblewoman (I wrote in a point further down, because I never fill these out in order, that I realised she could have come out as a Merry Man, because it would have made it so much easier for her to have movement + her interest is RH and the Merry Men not "this time period"), point is, it's a nice dress, but then at one point RH makes a grand escape through a window into a moat... pulling her in with him and then carrying her to safety into the woods, where she wakes up the next day

and she wakes up with her hair perfectly waved, the little jewel thing fastened to her forehead still exactly where it was, makeup intact, dress un-muddied and still exactly as pretty as before

Clara in this episode about her enjoyment of Robin Hood Famous Action Hero, is just a pretty damsel who must never be unprettied... it's just lazy, come on. can the dress not be more than just a reason for JLC to look pretty at least? (and she does look very pretty for sure)

it's in interaction with the rest of the episode, which does a less-good version of Robin Hood than many other Robin Hoods, and in which Clara isn't really the point, despite this ostensibly being about her wish to come here and see her hero

we also have the Scene of her "flirting" with the Sheriff of Nottingham to get information, and it's not too bad. Clara is completely alone, the Sheriff has been established as a very very bad guy, the camera seems to make an effort to not box her in too uncomfortably, considering the danger she's in, it's framed more around him being like "oh she'd make a great queen for me," than "oh hey, she hot and vulnerable," so it could absolutely be worse. I think there's other routes they could have gone down, but definitely I've seen more uncomfortable sexual harassment/danger on this show towards women (sigh)

PLOT-POINT: Clara's been brought here for her love of Robin Hood! and after that she Does not matter whatsoever, there's no interaction with how her emotions about this adventure affect her, because it's not well-enough written for there to be any material to draw from. in many ways it's less a failing on the writing of Clara (although that too) and more a symptom of the failing of this whole episode's construction

COMPLEXITY: in some ways quite Doctor Who in its silliness, so I don't hate that. but I think it didn't go far enough. so much of this plot is around the Doctor not believing Robin Hood is real. so much. soooo so so much! it doesn't take until the last big fight sequence to change his mind. either just run with RH being real early on and give space to something more interesting (such as Idk... Maid Marian), or give us a scifi twist, don't untwist the scifi twist when you're building to a scifi twist in a scifi show in which there are a bunch of scifi things happening, I'm here for scifi, not the worse version of a Robin Hood I already know

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: nothing much here to report, which I think is... a bit oof the more I think about it. not one of these?

COMPANIONS MATTER: as mentioned there's a whole scene in this in which Clara flirts with the Sheriff of Nottingham under quite dangerous circumstances in order to get information out of him, that I don't think matters much in the grand scheme of things. and then off-screen she fills Robin Hood and his Merry Men in on who she and the Doctor are, so that they feel compelled to help

she does have a great little scene with the Doctor + Robin Hood where she takes them to task for competing with each other and mocks them both by using their dramatic titles (prince of thieves and last of the timelords), but on the whole she might as well not be there (it's taken this long in my rating system to remember the term "sexy lamp" and yeah, test failed)

this even odder, because Maid Marian also isn't really in this story until the final scene, except she sort of was, because she was the ward of this random peasant that's taken prisoner and nobody recognises her and she's part of a sort of dull peasant's revolt, and then suddenly oh it's her I guess???-- my point is that Clara ought to have had the Doctor's story in this, in doing the peasant's revolt and working with Marian and figuring out who she is, because it's her favourite story and she's just not really in it (also Marian is... undercover? hiding? unclear, but this is going to be a world-building point, it's just that Marian should have been an interesting character and that Clara should have been hanging with her rather than just standing next to Robin Hood and giving platitudes that he'll find her one day, and not much else...)

(and Marian shouldn't have been presented at the very end from behind the Tardis like K9 was that one time)

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: I guess there's nothing really one way or another. I actually also did laugh at a few of his entries -- lines that would have been stupid coming from Eleven have a sort of unexpected enjoyment to them with Twelve, because of the juxtaposition of grumpy old Scottish guy reveals he's going to fight Robin Hood with!---- a Spoon!

also he hated the near-constant merriment and was he Wrong?? but also is that a bit too meta, because the episode is making fun of it to the point that it all seems highly unrealistic, but then the rug-pull that these people... are? just like that???

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: they reference Carnival of Monsters (Jon Pertwee), which makes me wish this was doing Carnival of Monsters, rather than what it's actually doing. also as the "guy who just watched Time Warrior" it's doing Time Warrior (also Jon Pertwee) but worse. and I already don't think Time Warrior is the Third Doctor's best

“SEXINESS”: this episode could have been a lot worse, considering there's meant to be so much jovial male banter in it, it's not doing a bunch of sexy bullshit

I'm unsure what to do with the whole... Sheriff of Nottingham wants to make Clara his queen thing, it's sort of there, it could have been way more uncomfortable, but it's also just... irrelevant. and is most of what Clara's role is doing in this story

I just realised that Clara's dream is Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and I think she should have dressed as one of them, rather than random noblewoman who never gets dirty or can properly do action in this story, anyway...

it all could be a lot worse

INTERNAL WORLD: this is the worse. we know the story of Robin Hood, Early of Loxley, loses his lands for speaking out against Prince John (not in this story), in love with Maid Marian (completely sidelined in this story), does an archery contest (okay that is there... different but there) and.... well that's about as far as the story gets in this one, and then after that it becomes scifi stuff, which does end with a duel between Robin and the Sheriff

my point is, that the actual Robin Hood stuff is simply worse than in the other Robin Hood's I've read and seen, and the non-Robin Hood stuff feels very awkwardly shoe-horned in, so in the end none of it is very well drawn

it's all just set pieces without depth, and it's so out of place that that's even part of the plot -- the Doctor finds it all so stupid and unrealistic that he doesn't believe it's real, except, in the end, inexplicably it is -- at least if it was a science fiction thing it would explain the sparksnotes version of the story we're getting

I keep going back to Maid Marian who's pretending to be a peasant, and the Sheriff I guess doesn't notice her and nobody else knows who she is, and she's not going through the feminist version of her story that I think this episode is trying to do, and the connection between "random peasant woman in a dungeon" and "woman revealed from behind the Tardis as Maid Marian" is so tenuous I needed to double-check it was the same actress

there's this bit at the end where Robin tells the Doctor that they're both just stories, which is one of those M*ffat-era fourth wall winks that I have grown really tired of, and in this case also seems to brush over any lackluster interaction with the actual story of Robin Hood. I don't think that's the intention, but it makes me go "ok what story were we just told here," and it's not one that makes a lot of sense or is particularly interesting

the idea of the Doctor interacting with legend and mythology is actually quite interesting, it's just that this episode sort of dropped the ball on that roughly halfway through, by saying "nono this totally unbelievable set of events straight out of a children's version of Robin Hood is real," when there could have been more freedom to go into other directions, rather than just rehashing a story told better elsewhere, if this hadn't been entirely "real"

there's just better Robin Hood than this, is my point

POLITICS: uhhh not a lot actually, which is a shame. Rob from the rich, give to the poor is not 100% absent in this (it gets mentioned), and there's some pretty intense nastiness from the Sheriff early on in the episode where he stabs a man to death, but as an extension of the world building, the ideas conveyed in this don't hang together very well, because the world doesn't hang together very well

FULL RATING: 50/100 (if I can count….)

overall this episode isn't awful, it's just kind of boring (well, it may be awful if you're a big Robin Hood fan). Idk if there's a curse on medieval settings, or if I'm prejudiced against them, but overall this episode had weak world-building and narrative construction that spread into most other facets of it and made them less engaging too

still not convinced it's worse than "deep breath" though, past me

on the upside I quite like the Doctor's personality -- he's not a nice man these days, and Clara could be getting tired of that? and the Doctor perhaps knows this? we'll see how that goes down/if it has any proper narrative consequences

EDIT: it's called "robot of sherwood" why would you call it that and then just have it be ordinary Robin Hood, that's not a twist!??? it's just a bait and switch, and one that's worse than if he was a robot! this is science fiction, it's okay for him to be a robot!

[sashikouyume]

I used to write fanfics many years ago, I don't anymore ^^u they are just not my thing anymore, things happen when you grow up and even though I never felt like part of a fandom now I am not even interested. I will still fill this out anyways, I lost my magic with writing but I am picking it back up because it's my calling and big momma say "child, you will make great things, I can see it", her last words before going offline (not dead, offline). I am currently writing shit! I still got it! HAHAHAHAHA okay yeah

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

I don't follow the conventions which makes it all standout. It's always like that dream you wish you didn't forget about right when you woke up

THAT'S MY VIBE

😐 What embarrasses you most about your own writing?

I take too long and I haven't proven I can write something in lenght in a short period of time

👻 What is one WIP you think you may never pick back up?

Ghosts are better than transgender people.

IT WAS A TRICK BECAUSE GHOSTS CAN ALSO BE TRANSGENDER SO YES THEY CAN BE BETTER BECAUSE THEY CAN BE BOTH AHAH! SURPRISE, YOU CAN'T WIN AGAINST ME IN AN ONLINE ARGUMENT

It was a response to a convo, I never finished it T_T too ambitious and I am so rustyy maaan. I wanted to make them cry! make it deep! Be so wholesome. Best friends type of story!

I still haven't dropped it. I will make this happen, even if that means I will necro the commenter 3 years later. IT WILL HAVE PAGES AND A TOTAL AMOUNT OF 10 VIEWS AND THAT ONE COMMENTER SOUNDED VERY NICE SO THEY WILL LOVE IT AND THAT IS ALL THAT IT MATTERS (and if they don't well, HALF-WINS BABY OH YEAH! I still did it and I like it!)

It will come out before the legendary sex update for my game, which should come out after yandere simulator's full release (it's important for the lore).

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

Jhon. Cringe GI-Joe type fiction story with explosions michael bay style and I made a minecraft pe map of it too. A couple of brothers

Also, I guess the original version for my transgender character? Not related to the one above, this came first and it's not wholesome. It sucked, basically the anime trap but it's a guy, that's just canned for obvious reasons. Mistakes done as a child. I can fix him. I already have the art so it's a shame if I can't fix him, I shall untransphobize this character! yeah.... this is embarrasing. I hate my old approach. Man why did this memory have to come back to me?

📥 What is your fave fic to receive comments/messages on?

I wrote one on happy three friends, "flippy and flaky", it was romantic but I think it was so bad I don't remember the plot

I need to learn why people liked it.

✏️ Do you write every day?

I will eventually -_-, and not fanfics, I want serious cashmoney now. It's gamedev first! and then writing. Will start with greatest most epic rpg maker comedy adventure, then will peak at "vtuber idols that are extremely relatable and their lore is a bigger deal than the stream!" maybe sailor moon inspired.

Technically I do write almost every day, just not narratives.

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

uuuuhh.... oh. This is embarrasing, it's all ideas now, so okay, here, shut up, baka

basic RPG most purposelly generic stuff. For players who can't follow instructions (I hate you)

and (not fanfic, just anime analysis-ish)

I am currently not excited about the first one, the gaming one about cults and all. It's boring. After this one, I want to move on into things that are funny and things that I am passionate about.

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

mmm..... maybe my azumanga daioh thing? It was like a "I still got it!" moment? and I also pushed myself to be better at it and speak in more detail. With my game, there is nothing. I am just excited for the future, I want to learn to make my own sprites and make music

With fanfics, there is no fics, I am not planning any fics. It's only possible for me to write one on the spot if I feel passionate in the moment, but they are probably dead by now, I have original ideas now.

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

I like to troll. It's tempting but I try not to. I always have a big temptation to ruin the whole story or put something fucked up on it, therapists aren't real so it can't be helped

Sometimes it's spite. It bothers me in any ways (anger, sadness, annoyance, hopelessness) the state of people online today, sometimes it's mockery.

I never do it because it doesn't help, but it's on my mind. If I really want to change things, I either become jesus, or I make party week real and big time and create a whole community of people. Healthy communities are a cure.

🌙  What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

Afternoon, I am magically just more effective for no reason. Maybe I am fully woken up by then

👖 Are you a planner, plantser, or pantser? Is it consistent?

I guess plantser? But outcome is that of a planner because I stick to only release it when it's finished.

The exception is when I share it with friends, and then sharing it with friends accidentally becomes the official release because of unexpected attention :') fuck! now I can't change anything!

📊 Current number of WIPs

uuhhh.... 1 narrative, maybe 2 others

There is another narrative where I am just a collaborator but I had only played a small part. I am responsible for writing how a corrupt dictatorship runs, but mainly review the writing, quality control. the best rpg game of all time comes first.

👨‍👧‍👧 Do you tell people in real life that you write fic? 

yes, and no one cares, I like that they don't care. I always lie about what I am writing about.

I am secretive, but if your life is too far from the truth then you are going to have problems keeping it up. I had lied about multiple professions and careers, and I had been involved in all of them they are just not my job.

🌝 Who is one character you haven’t yet written for that you would like to?

uuuh.... I don't do fanfic anymore. It would have to be one where I see missed potential that a fanfic could take advantage of since they can take it in a different direction.

I guess Blue Archive, black souls, or vtubers or touhou. I think my little pony is a really good one if I really get into it, but I can never get into it, it can't engage me, I fall asleep. Despite of that, I don't have to watch the show to know it's excellently developed.

I lost my love for sonic, but if I liked it as much as before, I would. It's a crime I had never written one on sonic. The only reason I didn't was probably because of school.

📝 What is one growth area you have for your writing?

I thought I said it before but I guess I didn't? Better conversations! disco elysium style and slice of life, create a situation that feels too real.

📚 Do you read your own fic?

Yeah.

I read everything. All the past fairy tales that I had written, all the people that I have lost, all the waifus that I had loved, and all the platforms that I have visited. It is all archived, and it is all revisited :) Ogata Rin where are you~ I lost your tumblr

🌈 What inspired you to write [insert fic here]?

art.

OMG I FOUND MY COVER

I think also love

for anything I wrote before it (not fanfics), I guess naruto, sonic, and megaman.

🤔 What is the hardest part of writing fic?

Writing the parts that suck? But I guess today I learned to say fuck it and don't? just work around it or throw that part that sucks. The boring parts. or come back with a new breath. Thing is, here I am :) my own advice isn't working. I HAVE TO WRITE ABOUT CULTS, IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS DIFFICULT, AAAAAAA

Being lore/character accurate too, it gives too many restraints, that's why I never try to be. I had probably written fanfics of media I haven't seen

I think revisiting it after putting it on hold for so long is also terrible.

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

nothing

💻 Do you do research for your fics? What’s the deepest dive you’ve done?

NOW, CULTS.

I ALREADY KNEW ABOUT IT, BUT I HAD TO REVISIT RECKLESS BEN'S VIDEOS

ITS NOT THAT DIFFICULT, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME, ITS SO SIMPLE "oh man you want one thing? here you go" "oh my gosh thank you so much" "nuh huh don't thank me, thank lord sandias" "OMG LORD SANDIAS I WILL GIVE YOU MY LIFE" SEE, THERE YOU GO, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?!?

well. Now I have to get the adventurers to talk to these people -_-, initiate a back and forth. Now I get in depth on what's the cult about? It starts to SUCK. Why did I do this to myself? Can I please don't do this to myself never again?

✨ Choose three adjectives to complement your own writing.

what's an adjective and why does it have 4 syllables? so weird, ew, imagine being adjective

💭 What is a headcanon you have about your own work?

I just don't want to answer this today because nothing I am writing today is a fanfic, and my past work? feels like a big reach to answer the question that will end up without a real answer

🍰 Name one of your fave comfort fics (doesn’t have to be your all time fave).

none, unless my old friend brings back theirs on fnaf.

👩‍��� If one of your fics was going to get you arrested, which one and why?

why would I tell you that lmao? I will write one on blue archive now. I had grown motivated to start one after reading this question so I am able to successfully answer it

There's actually one on blue archive about pregnancy and abortion and crimes that is more messed up than I could ever write. Thank the japanese people on twitter for that one.

⏰ Do you spend more time reading fic, writing fic, or do you do both equally?

writing. It's not like before, I never sought it, I just read it when it appeared in front of me. now, it's never in my face

💋 [Freeform - what is something you want to know about one of poster’s fics?]

who are you? don't answer. This is also 3 years old so I don't want to bother you, you probably don't write fanfics anymore

This post might be confusing because I keep referencing things I can't clearly remember from how old they are, and I am too secretive about what I work right now -m-, maybe in the future I can work on something I can be more open right now, but I don't see that happening yet. Social media today is a different vibe

Fanfic Ask Game (the movie, the sequel)

In celebration of me actually working on a fic, I made y’all an ask game instead of continuing to work on that fic. Pls enjoy.

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

😐 What embarrasses you most about your own writing?

👻 What is one WIP you think you may never pick back up?

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

📥 What is your fave fic to receive comments/messages on?

✏️ Do you write every day?

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

🌙  What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

👖 Are you a planner, plantser, or pantser? Is it consistent?

📊 Current number of WIPs

👨‍👧‍👧 Do you tell people in real life that you write fic? 

🌝 Who is one character you haven’t yet written for that you would like to?

📝 What is one growth area you have for your writing?

📚 Do you read your own fic?

🌈 What inspired you to write [insert fic here]?

🤔 What is the hardest part of writing fic?

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

💻 Do you do research for your fics? What’s the deepest dive you’ve done?

✨ Choose three adjectives to complement your own writing.

💭 What is a headcanon you have about your own work?

🍰 Name one of your fave comfort fics (doesn’t have to be your all time fave).

👩‍🏭 If one of your fics was going to get you arrested, which one and why?

⏰ Do you spend more time reading fic, writing fic, or do you do both equally?

💋 [Freeform - what is something you want to know about one of poster’s fics?]

[roleplaymadness]

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (ROLEPLAY AD)

ALL CHARACTERS ARE 18+ PAIRINGS: M X F

TAGS: KEN, BARBIE MOVIE, 18+, NSFW, SLOW BURN, FRIENDS TO LOVERS

Deep in the heart of LA, something is stirring…two realms are connected by the slightest shifts in the space time continuum. But a small, harmless 'wish' in a shopping mall wishing fountain disrupts this fragile balance. On one side of this portal, there is the utopia that is Barbieland. Here, there is no hunger, no thirst, or any reason to give into any intimate desires, for all of these things are suppressed. No one knows much about how these 'Barbies' came to be, except they are humans with repressed emotion and physical needs. Sometimes, the Barbies find their way out of the portal connecting their worlds, but oftentimes they return. However, a Ken rarely passes through unless summoned…

A young woman, looking for love in all the wrong places, has just about given up on finding true love. A harmless wish, for true love in the form of a man or a friend, starts an entire crazy adventure when Ken is pulled through the portal. He's a beautiful man that needs help navigating the real world, her world. The two of them become fast friends, and while there are mutual feelings of attraction, the romance itself takes a bit to form. But once it does, it's beautiful and wonderful and far greater than anyone could have imagined. The question remains: will Ken be willing to throw away his chance to return to a perfect utopia to stay with her in the real world?

Listen, I know how unorthodox this idea may sound, but it will not leave me alone. My thoughts are plagued by it daily. You would play the female OC, while I play Ken. I want wholesome heartbreak (her choosing to go hang out with Mr. Wrong instead of Ken). I want to feel their journey of falling in love. I want to be screaming at them to 'just kiss already!' as we write the story. NSFW content will be involved, but it will have buildup. There will be drinking and mentions of smoking, because I have this scene in my head of them sitting at the edge of the water, smoking and talking, falling more and more in love. Ken gets a job as a surfing instructor because he's a natural. Maybe jealousy on her end comes into play when she sees other women making a pass at him. Give me all the music, all the aesthetics, all the shipping. Give me the tears (happy and sad) and the outpouring of gushing and plotting together. NSFW content will be mentioned, and when it comes time, I don't fade to black. I'm 28 and female, would prefer for my partner to be female and be 18-21+. USa timezones are preferred. I'm adv-lit to novella depending on the scene. 3rd person POV. I changed some of the lore of Barbieland to fix this story. I will make us a server with designated channels. I have been told I play Ken quite well, so please give me a chance. I put a lot of thought into this, so if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Ain't no wave that could break or define you…

I have a few ideas consisting of: them going shopping to get Ken a new wardrobe; him getting a job as a surfing instructor and being amazing at it; the two of them sitting by the waves smoking and talking about life; their first kiss in an unexpected place; some fun at a beach carnival; and others that I can't type out here.

Dm me, or comment below! I don't respond to likes :) I have written this once before and played as Ken and was told I did a good job. I am also working on a story surrounding this idea. I'd love to write this with someone who will enjoy it!

[pedrocomicreviews]

Star Trek #32 (and, stealthly, Star Trek: Shax’s Worst Day Ever)

“Brother. Even in your cosmic power, you will never be able to make a perfect universe... because every universe you create will have you.”

Jesus Christ, Data, go for the jugular why don’t you. Full spoilers for both books in the title. 

Lore War wraps up with two pretty satisfying stories– one where we follow our main characters as they take the fight to Lore’s doorstep, and a sidebar where we follow the newly restored Shaxs as he single-handedly destroys the entire Starfleet fleet with facts and logic, and also by doing what he loves doing best: ejecting warp cores.

The tonal shift between these stories is night and day, on purpose. Shaxs’s side-adventure has the tone (and words) of Ryan North’s Lower Decks book, but it’s still canon, which makes it very funny when you get to see how horrifying his actions actually are when portrayed in the regular book. 

And North does know his stuff– everything Shaxs does would in fact fit in with a regular Star Trek adventure, even if it’s obviously exaggerated in scope and size, as to allow him to actually do what he needs to do for the purposes of this story. It’s fast-paced, funny, thrilling, and ends perfectly. A little too tongue-in-cheek sometimes, but hey, that’s North’s humor, people seem to like Squirrel Girl well enough. It’s that, again. 

But let’s focus on Sisko this time: the Emissary and Worf plunge deep into Lore’s central station. With the Quadrant Minds freed, the Borgfied Maquis attacking all of Lore’s infrastructure, and Shaxs having destroyed Earth and most if not all of the fleet, it is up to Sisko to open the wormhole he spent all that time building and use it to defeat Lore… only for it to not exist!

This is not a book about an easy way out for the heroes. Lore does what any psychopathic God would when faced with a godkiller who he can’t just wipe away: he tempts him with what he wants. A version of his family he can keep, who aren’t going to go through so much strife like they did in the prime universe.

The character of Benjamin Sisko is, first and foremost, a family man. He is a husband, he is a father, he is a shepherd, and then he is a Starfleet officer; and this exact conflict is what makes him so compelling. When he perceived himself as failing as a husband and a father after his wife died, he became deeply conflicted about who he actually was. 

He was told he was a demigod and that it was his role to guide Bajorans into tomorrow, and he went through all five stages with that one. He was told his son wasn’t going to be a Starfleet officer, and he didn’t know what to do. His best friends started to betray Starfleet; first for the Maquis, then for a failed coup, and he didn’t even know if his uniform meant anything anymore. By the end of the original show, he has compromised nearly every single value he has ever held, or seen them challenged in ways he never really managed to answer to in full.

So to see this conflict brought back, in such a tangible, real form, and demanding an answer in a way his scuffles with the Mirror Universe or Dukat or the Dominion never did, is great. It’s the singular moment Sisko never experienced– if you could stop it, if you could just forget about it all and live the life you wanted, with the people you wanted, would you compromise too? Is this worth it? When your answer to everything else you’ve ever done to compromise your morals was “I can live with it”, could you do it again? Could you do it against the whole of existence? 

And he says no, because of course he does, but Benjamin Sisko, specifically, says no to the thing he wants the most. Because he finds out he already has it. Turns out the Orbs were the friends we made along the way all along!

And it’s… it’s fine! It’s fine, it’s a cute twist, and it’s a fun, saccharine idea. I sure wish Kira was in this story more instead of being relegated to basically cameo appearances, but as far as a 5-chapter plot goes, this is probably the best way to do it. I do love the irony that Lore is ultimately defeated by sheer the emotional weight of a bunch of people he deemed to be too weak to ever really go against their base needs, although I kinda need to wonder about the true scope of his powers if he couldn’t even fight back.

Lore War was a good experiment as far as figuring out whether or not Star Trek can do these Age of Apocalypse-style stories, and I’d say it passes with flying colors. Some of the art could have been better and some of the story beats could have been more expanded upon, but I don’t know if that could have happened without two other books running parallel, or maybe a few more issues than IDW was willing to give them. 

It is ultimately a high note to end a great book on, and I have high hopes that Star Trek: Omega will serve as a good epilogue. I’ll leave most of my feelings on the full book for that review, and since Lore War was mostly an action-packed series of references and cool moments, I don’t have that much more to say on the writing aside that it was very satisfying, and I don’t have anything more to say on the plot aside that it was, well, good Age of Apocalypse. Which, hey– I don’t like AoA, so this already scores higher in my head.

Also, hey, congratulations on getting me to love Worf. He gets the best lines and does the coolest shit in this story. 

What a voice to give that dude who hated sex so much he wanted to destroy Risa.

[chidoroki]

Black Clover ch379 & 380

I saw the new chapters last week but forgot to write something up 'til now.. oops. Anyways, pretty calm and chill double spread page despite all the chaos that continues to go on during this final battle. Everyone will definitely deserve some peace and quiet once the story is over.

I know I probably say this a ton, but I would've loved to see more of the other fights happening between the Black Bulls and the Lucius clones. The bit we saw of Manga & Luck going wild with their temporary anti-magic power up was nice and I wish the others got that sort of attention. I suppose this is yet another hope for the anime to build upon once it returns. I just miss seeing everyone y'all.

My head is so deep into HSR still that Sunday's boss theme started playing in my mind upon seeing Lucius all heavenly and god-like. It's more the threatening aura he's giving off over his appearance than anything, but yeah.

Sorry, was it not clear before now they were all just clones..? like, what else would they have been? These several months in-between chapters really do be messing with my memory.

This man was really just buying time so he could summon power from all the grimoires from every tower across the entire kingdom to use in a crazy frenzy. Never thought it could've been possible, but then again I didn't think we would be getting grimoire lore this far into the story either.

I don't really give a damn about Revchi or Gueldre, but killing off Marx? Damn, Julius ain't gonna be happy if/when he returns after Lucius being defeated. Of course I I have my doubts that these three are truly dead. 90% of anyone who has ever sustained serious damage in this series turned out to be fine and/or return to the fight shortly after, but then again such characters (Asta, Yuno, any Black Bull or Golden Dawn, etc) also had a whole lot more plot relevance than I think these three have, so, we'll see.

Real brief Fujio panel, huzzah! Allowing Asta to hear Ryu's advice from such a long distance is quite impressive. He's strumming away on that biwa so quick to make it happen.

Nah man, c'mon.. using an illusion of Licita is just cruel. I guess I can't be totally surprised to see Lucius pull off this kind of move though since the Silvas did have an entire battle against Acier.

Unfortunately our boys hesitated at the mere thought of hurting mother dearest and paid the price by get yet another nasty slash across their bodies. Y'all are gonna have a collection of scars after all this, I swear.

Using Marx's magic to project their entire brawl across the kingdom so they witness their final hope being put on the ropes and lose faith in their chances at victory ain't grand for us either. But like our captain & Noelle, I'm sure Asta & Liebe will be fine.. eventually. It surely ain't the first time they got slashed up like this.

For fucks sake Lucius, must you revive Moris, Acier & Morgen yet again?? Mereoleona, the Silvas & Nacht have dealt with enough trauma and knocked on death's door plenty of times already in the span of one day!

Oh my beloved Bulls, I pray y'all get more focus during this second round. Go assist your fellow squad members and defeat the three previously mentioned dangers to society like I originally hoped for way back whenever ago!

Yuno dispelling neverland so he can focus more on his own speed and strength is a gamble since it'll leave everyone else a bit more vulnerable, but now getting some anti-magic buffs from Asta, I'm sure our golden boy will be able to finish off Lucius much quicker. Or at least deal some critical hits against this monster until Asta's able to rejoin him.

Ah.. he looks so good with the anti-magic draped on his long coat, crown, and wing. I have the utmost faith in you, Yuno! Go give him hell!

[semper-legens]

19. Celestial Monsters, by Aiden Thomas

Owned: No, library Page count: 404 My summary: Teo messed up. When he refused to sacrifice the loser of the Sunbearer Trials, he managed to usher in an apocalypse - the rise of the Obsidian gods from the depths, who are hell-bent on destruction. Xio, his friend and secret child of the Obsidians, has betrayed them, imprisoning the other semidióses deep in the Obsidian lands. Now Teo, Niya, and Aurelio have to rescue them and retrieve the Sol Stone, before it's too late for anyone. My rating: 3/5 My commentary:

I was looking forward to this one. While I've had issues with Aiden Thomas' work in the past, I've still found his books to be highly enjoyable and an encouraging portrait of what can happen when LGBT+ characters are represented in YA fiction. This is the followup to The Sunbearer Trials, the second in the duology, and when I saw that it was out, I made sure to get it from the library. I liked the first book, though I had some criticisms, and I was hoping that Thomas would at least deliver on a followup with the same promises as the original. This was…not that. This was lacking. I'm so gutted, I wanted to like it so bad - and, in fairness, there was still a lot to like here! I enjoyed the inventiveness and care put into this world, the interplay between the characters, the different angles of the magic system and lore. But there were a few elements that I just couldn't get past, and they shaped my overall reaction to this book.

So, the first issue I had was that the tone and stakes felt somewhat…off. All the other semidióses have been captured, the world could be about to end, and yet Teo and the gang spend a fair amount of time dawdling and acting as though they're not in any real rush or anything. It felt like they should have been making a bee-line to their goal, not waffling and wandering and doing everything except rescuing their friends and finding the Sol Stone. It just felt out of character - for Teo, who has a good amount of empathy, and Aurelio, whose sister is among the missing. I also had issue with some big elements of the world being brought up but not really discussed in the kind of detail I'd expect. The gang stumble across a city outside of the gods' domain who don't respect the gods the same way they do - this should have been more thematically relevant, but ends up being just sort of a weird narrative aside? It doesn't really go anywhere. Similarly, Xio is forgiven really easily, and never really succumbs to influence by the Obsidians - we never get the sense that Xio is that bad a person. Xio is so clearly being set up to be redeemed that when it happens, it's just kind of. There.

The other issue I had was that some of the LGBT+ aspects felt kind of clumsy. Teo and Xio are both trans - Teo is a trans man, and there's a few very pointed references to his top surgery scars or the fact that he used to bind. Xio struggles with his newfound Obsidian father seeing him as a son, but there isn't any real pushback or transphobia there. Then Xio decides they want to try out they/them, and casually brings it up during a confrontation with the hostages for some reason and everyone's like 'oh yeah my bad lol'. Why put that revelation there? Xio wasn't friendly with any of them, why would they suddenly decide to reveal their new pronouns at that time? And we don't really see a lot of Xio's gender struggles before then, it's barely a dramatic plot beat, it's just baffling. I wish these things were handled better within the book, there's like a germ of a good narrative here, but it's hampered by this absolutely baffling framing. Sorry, Thomas. But I was not enamoured with this one.

Next, a young woman returns to the house she grew up in to find her best friend bound in chains.

[aureatchi]

ᡴꪫ aka reverie’s history lessons for ‘til death do us part we do art !! any lore/historical info i want to share for anyone who is interested. <3

⟢ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓. SUMMARIES. SERIES PLAYLIST.

+ any asks concerning the series = # ꫂ ၴႅၴ ‘TDWDA .ᐟ

i have like 10+ tabs open every single time i’m writing for this series for research, so this is mostly me to refer back to but i thought i’d just share some of the things i’ve learned that i incorporated into the story! (she just loves history lol.) excuse typos; not proofread.

includes my intentional historical inaccuracies, inspo, & easter eggs ;) also, prev. chapters may be updated too towards the end, to reveal other facts that would’ve spoiled the ending.

i. SHE PAINTED THE HIGH RENAISSANCE ONTO HER BLANK CANVAS

ART HISTORY REFS MENTIONED: stanza della segnatura (rooms in the pope’s palace raphael painted), the sistine chapel, nicknames (da vinci- renaissance man; michelangelo- il divino) madonna del granduca (raphael), statue of david, tragedy of the tomb (michelangelo)

INFO INSPO :

TAILORS would actually incorporate a person’s personality & family style into the clothes that they made. i found that really cool—everything was more custom!

speaking about clothes—dazai mentioning that fyodor was probably irritated because the pope forced him into a suit? fyodor keeping the same outfit…up until he turned into bram, and also, michelangelo was the same way. he dressed like a peasant, not bothering to go above that.

LA VOLTA (literally "to turn") really was the most controversial dance during the renaissance era! previously, men & women would touch palms at most; this dance changed that. there were disputes from the church, dance defenders arguing it wasn't good for health (because of the fast pace and turns), etc. anyway, dazai's entire scene is actually inspired from elizabeth (1998; i never watched the movie, but i came across it while researching the dance)—the scene where queen elizabeth dances w/ sir robert. i also think this was a nice touch because the scene in the movie was inspired by a painting of just that. (coining the dance being described as “scandalous”.)

THE “TRAGEDY OF THE TOMB” was a real thing! michelangelo indeed was assigned to create pope julius ii’s tomb, but they kept disagreeing so much until the designs for it dwindled down extremely, compared to what it was originally. michelangelo then abandoned the commission, calling it the tragedy of the tomb, and proceeded to leave rome entirely. the project was handed to other artists after.

HISTORICAL INACCURACIES :

FYODOR & DAZAI WEARING SUITS. i’m sorry, i just think the renaissance/medieval doublets are soo ugly imo :’) + wtv they call those puffy trousers…i haven’t even looked up the term to call them LOL. “suit” is a broad term in general so you can still definitely imagine it as them in a historically-accurate outfit if you’d wish !! (but in my mind, they’re wearing suits as if they were princes from a completely different timeline shh)

EASTER EGGS :

the lady with dark curls in a deep red dress who briefly danced with dazai? she’s none other than red (redamantiya) :) thank u darling for watching me struggle & panic while writing this installment + helping me a bit out with osamu + the playlist.

the big three !! dazai and fyodor being love interests ofc, so i had to make ranpo reader’s right-hand man. ;)

to be continued…

reblogging the chapters are cherished; they are what support me the most <3. ﾉ dividers + support banner by cafekitsune. header graphic mine; DO NOT save.

© AUREATCHI 2024 — no reposts. do not steal/modify or take inspo from TDWDA + its plot w/o asking. no translations.

last updated: 7/12/24.

[marzipanilla]

I feel like I've already forgotten so much tbh lol

Umbrella Academy was a show that so many people recommended to me and I honestly barely made it through the first season if that. The general concept was interesting to me, but... could not stand how the characters interacted with each other. Sorry it crapped out at the end for you though : /

I liked the BBC Musketeer shows from a little while back, it was just campy fun- but their third season was like.. a new crew/producers I believe but same actors, and it just... had a completely different vibe to it and the writing was so wonky it definitely was sad. I feel that when a show seems like it's getting saved so they allow folks to have access to it only for you to go 'oh wow you should have died before this could happen to you'.

Not me just now remembering us talking about Dana Terrance in the tags of a previous thing xD Yeah I just felt like ppl were annoyed that Owl House stomped a dictator to death, why didn't SU. Had no idea the fans were so insane while it was airing though. I honestly am not sure I even started watching until it was either over or nearing its final seasons though.. and the people I talked about it with were just irl folks so I wasn't around any internet nonsense.

The truncated ending for Owl House was so sad, but it definitely at least still had an ending. (I feel like you have to have seen Pushing Daisies, and though that had a speed run the ending bc we got cancelled its still an overall enjoyable show) Would have loved to have actually been able to see all the clearly well established world building have a chance to shine and come to fruition !! (the witch who married the brother clearly being a clawthorne.. how that all tied into things, all the other coven heads !!) but no. extreme cuts to get an end. At least it was a fun send off. Honestly a show I think gets too much credit for 'having a master plan' was Gravity Falls xD like I still enjoyed that show but aside from the one major twist it... definitely had an ass pull feel to most of its plot, which worked ! but c'mon. I could have had 2-3 more seasons of Owl House to fully get into the deep and well establish lore and plot, while GF would have struggled to exist past its second season even if it wasn't contained to just the summer time frame imo.

I love writing that Nolan stops breathing every once and a while, bc like, he clearly doesn't need to. Like the sleeping thing. I feel like he only starting doing that after he got together w Debbie bc then he had a place to sleep w someone he actually wanted to be around lol I also headcanon he can't ride a bike or swim bc once his feet are off the ground its instinct to fly so he just starts doing that. It looks like he's on the bike, it looks like he's swimming, but he's balancing/propelling himself in a completely different manner. his 'party trick' at normo human events is 'balancing' on a bike without peddling and they are all so amazed at his clear intense core strength to manage it.

Now I'm wishing we had more stuff about how animals reacted around Nolan. what does that dude smell like to them anyway.

The GDA trying to hunt down/recruit spidey to their roster and him just being like EVEN MORE PEOPLE AFTER ME WTF Donald just having to be like : / sir I believe we are achieving the opposite intended outcome of our goals. and Cecil just being like -.- no shit. Peter seeing the fishing trip pics off JJ and Cecil on a boat with Nolan and that just doubling him down on the 'don't let this guy be alone in a room w you' so he starts avoiding the GDA harder even after Cecil stops trying to send goons and actually talk to him himself lol

Poor Auny May just like you seem really stressed Pete why don't you take some time off and hang out w your friends : / him losing it further bc now Mark is around all his normal human buddies at the 'help peter relax' party aunt May set up.

Hm. I think I sorted easily why JJ would love Omni-Man but now I'm trying to figure out why he'd hang w Nolan and like.. did Nolan just publish something in one of his travel books that JJ liked ?? like I took your recommendation for a travel spot and genuinely enjoyed it, you're the last honest salesman in existence and so Nolan was just like bet wanna hang out. Then JJ is like Must Protect Silly Author from Crazed Goons Who He Hangs Out With (Clearly in Ignorance) while Art and Cecil are just being lil shits for different reasons

Mark asking his mom when little why dad fights bad guys but she's nice to bad guys and she's all 'well sweety when the giant magma man lives in a place unsuited to his body and it explodes and levels the entire neighborhood, it's important to remember it was avoidable if someone just helped him settle into a nice cave system where when he gets mad not only does he not get hurt, but no one else gets hurt as well! there are clearly posted do not enter danger signs, and when ppl come to attack him they are actually breaking the law' and Mark just being like Huh.

Mark being a borderline punch clock hero is fucking amazing. I have vacation days guys. why don't you? also come hang out at my mansion, my mom got a new jacuzzi (..alright have to share my comp wants to spellcheck that to ejaculate) installed next to the waterfall pool it'll be fabulous. it's not that crime pays guys, she's not a criminal everything she does is above board- it's just that most villains tend to have a lot of money to spend. Yeah Mark bc they stole it ??? why are you guys being mean to my mom : /

Mark being so intensely embroiled in hero and villain shit to the point he is arguably true neutral and him having to learn to actually make choices through that rather than just living in this weird middle ground pit would be amazing xD

In the middle of a fight him just being like 'heard you were moving again : / lost the house in another divorce huh?' yeah kid... when you get married make sure you get a prenup. And TT off to the side like bro what ?? And Mark just being like, guys, he's going through a divorce just let him smash up the bank a little bit and then go home, he wont take any security deposit boxes, just the cash- and them being like NO ??

Make Mark actually give a speech to people about what he believes in NOW pls yes. God. Cecil trying to put him in charge of the GoG just made me roll my eyes. sir. this kid has never done anything like that ever. you literally replaced Robot for turning himself into a kid even though he was doing a better job than Immortal for a while apparently. you think Mark can't figure shit out or communicate to anyone Grayson is going to be a GOOD leader?? all because you've suddenly decided someone telling you no was a good thing ?? please. make him actually work with other people first ffs.

The title of the ep being 'you used to be my hero' made me so nervous they were going to try and pull some 'I always thought highly of you immortal!' shit out of their ass, but at least they didn't do that. bc genuinely most of Mark and Immortal's interactions have been so shitty. still want Mark to be super petty and mention to Kate that Immortal has no fucking idea who she is in the future xD you're utterly irrelevant to him in the long run byeeee him getting over popping that guy's head off and then just going on his date and it never coming up again is like ? sure kid. sure. makes as much sense as anything else.

While I'm not too familiar with the DCU- your batfam meta posts are intiguing- so in transfering some of the broader strokes from them- I think you tackling a 'Mark isn't Nolan's biological son' fic would be fascinating. Sort of a step to the side of the 'what if Mark never got his powers' fic that sometimes pop up in the fandom

OOOOOO chewing on this currently, hm, the much a distinct flavor of exactly what you’re talking about, but the potential for more family drama depending on WHO knows. Does Mark know?? Is he waiting every day only to be crushed? Does he confused non-Debbie features with Nolan’s? I suppose I’m not the most enthusiastic about non-power AUs, but I think there’s something very fun to explore about Mark having to settle with, if he knows all his life, he will never have powers? I think the trajectory of his dreams will obviously shift, I can see him still having that distinct fatherly idolization, but perhaps embraces being useful to the GDA? Cecil’s number one intern—only intern—curtesy of nepotism, ha! There is something tickling me about Mark taking the Robin Route/Role for the Teen Team in terms of having no powers, just insane skills, BUT there’s something way more delicious about intern Mark when s1e01 happens and Mark tries snooping around to find out the truth about what happened to his Dad.

I wonder if, with Mark having a whole another father, if they’re more or less distant relationship, depending on WHEN Nolan entered Mark’s life? Like if Debbie met Nolan later for this, or just for fun, they dated once, separated (Mark being born during then), then they happened to stumble into each others lives again and Mark’s already been born, anywhere from tween to teenager so there’s a gap in how close they are. I feel like one important aspect of the whole Family Drama is how close they’re supposed to be, a functional, loving family turned upside down? So I wonder what more distance does. I wonder how Nolan copes when his family is entirely human and he can’t project onto Mark.

I love thinking about these, omg.

[kcatta-wodahs]

Making Lore Out of the Angel Event

Im the definition of 'its not that deep but I'm going to dig a hole to make it that deep'

In this case its me making it that deep because otherwise this event is upsetting so I'm making some dark lore theories to make it make sense to me.

I'll have a lot of spoilers below. For the event and everything I know, which is up to like lesson 32 I think.

Basically, TLDR; this was an attack by Michael/their Father on Devildom. Simeon and Diavolo have successfully negated the threat by turning it into a game.

TLDR Thesis; The Celestial Realm is governed through careful mind control. The Demon Bros are not "avatars" because of being demons- they have been cursed by their Father to suffer as no other demon nor angel has to.

First we hear direct from Michael, and he's giving these bangles that appear to brainwash the main cast.

This was an attempt by their Father to bring them back under his control. By control, I mean this literally.

I've felt for a long time that the way the Celestial Realm seems to be run is... shady. It's a utopia to outside appearances only, and those who have been most deeply embroiled in the Great Celestial War know this.

The Great Celestial War was over free will, rather than the specifics of Lilith's situation. She was the catalyst for a long-time-coming revolt against the rulers of the Celestial Realm.

My logic for this:

The reason for Lilith's expulsion goes against the current action plan of the Celestial Realm. Peace between the realms? Sure, but their Father is bound to realize that you put angels, humans, and demons together you're going to end up with more angels like Lilith, who fall for other races. Why would he accept this truce if he lost his favored children over an issue that is very similar? Did he have a change of heart? Heavens no.

Luke's behaviour towards the demon's seems case-and-point. Luke is not the strange one out of the angelic transfer students- Simeon is. Not only that, Simeon is chosen not in an attempt to promote peace, but to protect Luke from being influenced. (Which is, again, the whole point\of the exchange program.)

That time we went to the Celestial Realm for real - Lucifer was worried. Scared, even. This can be explained by, you know, the War and Lilith.. but I wonder if it may be more sinister. Like perhaps being brainwashed.

Diavolo and Barbatos weren’t required to wear bangles to become less “demon-like” for the “party”. This is because the bangles were a ploy to get the brothers back.

My theory is that when an angel begins to show signs of rebellion or questioning the divine order, they are forcibly stopped. Michael is that enforcer, and these 'gifts' are a method of stopping them.

The bangles cause a person to act *perfectly angelic* against their free will. The people affected become all smiles and sunshine, so clearly nothing could be wrong with it, right? They’re happy, right?

No. Very not right, and we can see that through Satan.

Poor Satan is always the exception to the rule of the Brothers, as his circumstances are different from everyone else's.

In this case though, he's the one who provides insight on this mind control. 

Let me remind you of the quotes Satan gives us during this time:

“I feel worked up.” “I don’t feel like myself at all.”

“It feels like something foreign is forcing my heart to be calm.” “Like my heart... becoming tranquil.”

Satan has never been an angel. He has never experienced this before. He has something the other brothers don’t: self-reflection. Satan can tell the difference between his feelings and feelings that are being imposed upon him. He tells you what he feels - “worked up” and��“not like himself” and he is not smiling during this. He’s clearly unhappy, even though an angel might say he should feel unburdened by losing his anger.

He even mentions this.

“Normally, that wouldn’t seem like something bad, right?” “Something isn’t right.” “Maybe you shouldn’t come near me when I’m in this state.”

Satan is under the effects of the bangle, being forced to act angelic, but he can tell something “isn’t right.” He clearly shows that he thinks this is a “bad” thing, not because being calm is bad, but because it’s not “normal”. And can I remind you that he’s the Avatar of Wrath? The Sin that is most likely to be dangerous to be around - and yet it’s only when his anger is forcibly quelled that he thinks you should stay away from him. He knows that this is not something to desire. He knows that it is not happiness.

“I can’t concentrate on reading today.”

I mean, he’s obviously going through a lot, so that’s fair. But I have the theory that if he were to try and research this condition he wouldn’t be able to either. I have a theory about the Garden of Eden. My theory is about Paradise.

Remember when Eve ate the fruit? Do you know what that fruit was? Sin?

No. That fruit was knowledge.

Specifically, knowledge of good and evil. Now, why would this knowledge be something to keep from those under the control of the Celestial Realm? It sounds rather like they might be able to then make their own decisions of what is right and wrong.

Satan has known this from the beginning. Knowledge is power. The Ruler of the Celestial Realm, the other demons’ Father, knows this, too.

Why are there no other Avatars?

Sin was not something inherent to Devildom. Sin is a judgement sent from the Celestial Realm. There are no other Avatars because they are a wholly angelic creation. There are other posts that have examined the Sins as outlets, and how each of the brothers are attempting to find ways to allow themselves to express their sin so it does not overtake them.

From the get-go, we are shown that these Sins are a defining point for the brothers, but we’re also shown that they cause more trouble than anything else. Again, part-and-parcel of being a demon, right?

So why aren’t other demons like this?

Look at Diavolo and Barbatos, or even just the background demons who work across Devildom. Look at No. 2. They are all far more complex, and could even be considered normal. No. 2 is specifically meant to be based off of Mammon and his greed, but is much more rounded when we interact with it.

If Diavolo is meant to be the ruler of demonkind -- the paragon of what a demon should be -- then why would he not be the epitome of all of these Sins in one? What is Diavolo, instead?

Diavolo is accepting.

Hold up a moment here. What? Sorry y’all but it sounds to me like Mr. Demon Daddy King trusts his son enough to pass the kingdom on to him... so that must mean that Diavolo is behaving as a demon should.

Barbatos doesn’t question Diavolo’s choices. Nobody does. He’s an all around popular ruler. Devildom seems to be quite.. the opposite of what we’ve been trained to expect, huh? Trained by who exactly?

What are the Demon Brothers?

Cursed. They don’t act like other demons because they’re not like other demons. When they rebelled against their Father, they were punished for this act, but I posit that the punishment and the exile were two different acts. Their Father knew that leaving the Celestial Realm was not punishment to those who desired free will. So instead, he gave them Sin. Something that Demons are not normally bound to.

But how would the brothers know this? They only know what they’ve been taught by angels about demons. Surely these new, pressing desires come from turning into demons..? 

So, why was this not taken seriously?

Short answer: it was. But in the way that aligns with Diavolo’s ultimate goals.

Diavolo wants peace. 

Let’s Talk About Simeon

Simeon is an enigma and a half isn’t he?

Simeon is close with Michael, closer than Luke in any case. Now, I’ll be honest, I can’t remember if it was a fanfiction I read that said this or if it was canon so uh - forgive me. But Simeon was chosen to accompany Luke as an exchange student so that Luke would get some education. Simeon says this is to help relations, as Diavolo wants, but of course that’s what you would say as a sleeper agent?

Now, don’t get sad. Because we love Simeon here and we support him.

Simeon is wise and neutral. He seems to support the brothers, and even still wishes to foster a relationship with them. This could be seen as an attempt to bring them back, or some such, but I like to think that Simeon knows what’s wrong with the Celestial Realm.

Simeon, however, doesn’t think that a revolt can solve it. Simeon is working with Diavolo to create a form of peace - and has been transparent about the fact that Michael chose him to prevent Luke from being corrupted. I like to think he’s also been transparent with Diavolo about Michael’s actual goal. 

Simeon believes that the races should co-exist and love freely. How could love be evil, after all? Whether or not this is a new concept to him (because of his falling for you) or if this is just who he is, I’ll leave up to you and your preferences, but since he is now no longer undateable, it is established that he does not believe love between angels and humans to be bad - as his Father did with Lilith.

What happened, then?

My theory is that Simeon told Diavolo that Michael had given him a task - to give these bangles to the brothers to remind them of the joy they were missing by disobeying the Divine Order. Either that, or to brainwash them into coming back home. 

Simeon’s position would be revealed to Michael if he didn’t give the brothers the bangles, but he does not want to instigate another war either. So he told Diavolo Michael’s plan. 

Diavolo wants peace, and he knows that with time, the brothers can overcome this mind control as they had in the past - especially with his help. 

So thus comes the “party”. 

An excuse to make the bangles seem like a “harmless” gift, that had only gone wrong because of strange magical interference, when really they had done exactly what they were supposed to.

And a wonderful way to maintain peace while leaving the Celestial Realm to stew in their own pots. 

Simeon gets to maintain his facade for everyone - and put on a show for Michael as being loyal. He also gets to show Luke that perhaps being wholly angelic isn’t the way for some people, letting him learn a little more about peaceful coexistence. Nothing happens to ruin Diavolo’s grand plan for peace, and he gets to learn more about the curse that is set upon his friends - One that he hopes to be able to break someday, so they can live their lives unfettered by their Father.