#reverse isolation

[ptanalo]

new people

[cementcornfield]

A Series 💚

[meamiki]

Hello. I haven't spoken much on the Reverse Entry AU (Modern Office + Reverse Isekai Loop AU). That changes today!!! Have some scattered (relatively long) tidbits on this AU. Mainly background to actually get to the office part of it but, yea!

If anyone wants elaboration on anything on this list, and I do mean anything, I encourage asking!! Or any random questions on the AU general!! Or just things in general!! Make me think about things I have not considered!!

Spoilers for all of ISAT + 2Hats and the like:

Mainly Concrete

The Country -> The Company.

Well, more of a family storefront, but the similarity in those two words next to each other was too good to pass up LOL.

Said storefront was run by Siffrin’s parents, and was their life's work.

Specialized in niche craft related stuff, in both teaching people how to do them & selling materials for the crafts. 

It was a very warm & homely store, and was adored by locals and visitors alike. 

A store that felt comforting to just vibe in for a bit, if that makes sense.

Loop ends up being Siffrin’s roommate after being reverse isekai’ed :)

They do not help with rent

They are a solid night light, which they try to justify as helping with the electricity bill

They also find a mirror shortly after arrival. 

Important Points

Mirabelle & Isabeau have known each other since University and are besties!!!!!!!!!

Not 100% sure of the logistics yet, but this was too important of a point to not include

Additionally, please know at some point, Isa custom stitched the scarf-shawl Mira wears to work all the time now, and gifted it to her!

He is also responsible for the fun pattern on the vest he wears all the time too!

Bonnie, whenever they are hanging around, makes sure to sneak onto Nille’s computer, and block out time between meetings for time to breathe / snacks for the others

And they also make sure to block out like an hour of time for proper lunches as well

Back to back to back to back meetings are not fun!!!

Breaks are important!!!

I have mentioned this in a different post, but this too, is a very important point to not include here as well

Location of Living

Mirabelle & Siffrin live in the same apartment complex, but on opposite sides of it

They have briefly interacted a few times prior to being coworkers? 

But Siffrin had his hair dyed for interviews for a long time

So Mirabelle didn’t realize it was him for a while, since he started growing out the dye before formally meeting in a work environment

Siffrin simply forgor

Isabeau lives relatively close-by to where Mira & Sif live, he visits Mira sometimes!!

He may or may not have also interacted with Siffrin two (2) times prior to working together due to the above point

Nille & Bonnie live around the area Siffrin used to live before he had to move, and have resided in that area for a long time

They technically were neighbors, at one point!

Odile lives closer to the office than everyone else 

Shorter commute for in-office days 

But still in the general vicinity of everyone else's abodes ofc

Hiring Order

Mirabelle has been working in the office the longest (interned two years in a row, and was formally hired right out of University)

Isabeau is next after since he got a referral off of Mira (interned for one year before graduation, then was hired at the same time Mirabelle was)

Odile was hired to replace Euphrasie (previous senior manager to their team who got a promotion, she’s now director of the regional office)

Siffrin was hired a bit after Odile when they got more capacity, since what they were originally doing was way too much for just three people LOL

Apparently, he got a referral from someone internally, but has no idea about it!

Nille was hired a little bit after Siffrin was

She only agreed upon the role if she was granted the flexibility to pick up Bonnie from school whenever

Random RPG Equivalence Hour

Turn Based Combat = Emails 

Whether it be waiting for data to start processes, answering inquiries, so on and so forth

Sometimes those turns take literal days

It happens!

Being Frozen / Damaged = Program Freezing 

This goes for any program being used

If it freezes it inflicts small damage

It inflicts more damage if it crashes

It makes you cry on the floor if the program crashes and you can’t recover any of what you did for the past hour

It makes you regret all of your life decisions up to this moment in time if it crashes, you can’t recover anything, and you have a presentation on the stuff you were working on in 15 minutes

Misc Meetings

Mirabelle writes fanfic

Isabeau knows about this and supports her in her endeavors

Odile has read some of her works, but does not know she wrote them irl

At some point prior to working together, Mirabelle & Odile became mutuals and started trading book / fanfic recommendations to one another

Odile had a brief stint as a bartender prior to working for the office

Mainly to earn some form of income while applying for jobs / waiting for prior certifications to process and transfer properly after moving from another country

In one or another, she met Isabeau and Siffrin at separate intervals while working there

Additionally, the bar is located close to the office. A lot of happy hours happen there. It ended up serving as a networking opportunity for her LMAO

Both Nille and Bonnie moved around a lot when they were younger

At different intervals, Nille went to the same high schools as both Mirabelle & Isabeau

Nille has probably worked a lot of jobs throughout high school / university

This includes working at the same place Odile worked at for a bit, they were probably coworkers there at some point.

Maybe not necessarily a bartender but, general staff

Again, this served as a networking opportunity similar to the Odile segment ASFASDASDA

Um????

Loop somehow ends up becoming a vtuber.

Loop somehow ends up being a vtuber for the company the team works under, akin to Tony the Tiger.

Loop does this vtuber gig for approximately one (1) stream and quits right after.

((loop decided their first stream was a nuzlocke for some reason. the crafts company literally didnt ask them to. they decided this on their own volition for no apparent reason. the company literally asked for a stream where they do crafts?? anyway they named their pokemon after the party. and. well.))

As I am Indecisive, this still has a chance for change! But for now this list is slightly ordered from “concrete in my mind” to “need to let simmer more probably, but the vibes are there” to “probably not but it is a bit of a funny to consider” (this only applies to the last loop segment ASDAFA)

But yea!! Thanks for reading the ramblings :)

[vilevexedvixen]

AU Jervis Tetch

Me and @dariusblake have discussed how we'd write our own Batman / DC TV or comic series and each individual character that would appear in it. Tetch being among them. At his core, Tetch is someone deeply reluctant to stay in the real world and would first seek to create his own sanctuary (his Wonderland) like a Hikikomori before even considering developing a mind control device. Which would be later on, when he feels it's the only real way to feel in control of his life which - up to that point - slowly fell to pieces. He'd be one of the earliest antagonists sent to Arkham while it's still a respected institution genuinely there to help mentally ill and vulnerable people get back on their feet, before Arkham (under Strange's management) is effectively turned into a prison for super-criminals.

I'm also of the mind that Tetch would look very average, not a pretty boy or a decrepit leprechaun. Maybe on the shorter side and seeming shorter by the way he haunches both to make himself smaller and because he himself feels small with his cripplingly low self esteem after years of being put down and treated like he didn't belong. Creating Wonderland as a place where he does finally belong, though still feeling stuck behind the looking glass unable to reach through it for company. Isolated in his escapist safe haven.

Like in the animated series, Tetch would work in tech with a grant from the Wayne foundation, but not on a project to "enhance the brain's potential". Instead to make the neural / Brain-computer interface (BCI) of a more cost-effective mind-controlled prosthesis. Something which would go on to be used in Gotham's main hospital for patients with amputations and limb-paralysis. The focus being on stimulating motor function and sensory input. At home he'd try to translate that same BCI for simulating sensation and motion (like lucid dreaming, disconnecting is like awaking in the midst of REM sleep) in a virtual landscape (basically an especially immersive VR software akin to Sword Art Online's nerve gear) dubbed "WonderOS" and his pet project running on it called "Wonderland".

Less a direct recreation of Wonderland from Lewis Carol's novels and more his personal sandbox to tweak and enjoy in his own time. Although its only user, Tetch put meticulous detail into his avatar that no one would likely see. Standing tall and proud with a top hat and bow tie. His smile charming, rather than unnerving. He'd always manage to overdress no matter the occasion in real life, so it felt fitting to extend that habit here too. With so little going on in his life outside of his job, what started as a fun side-project soon encompassed all of his free time. Progressively losing his interoception the more he becomes engrossed in his pet-project. Easily losing track of time to the point of forgetting to sleep, eat or drink, or would fall asleep in the sandbox and be disorientated whenever he'd wake still wearing the headset.

Still, he'd always disconnect eventually. Each time hit like a worse hangover than the last. His shortening time spent in the real world only existing to fuel himself for a longer expedition into his expanding digital world. That is until he'd exhausted all its mechanics and NPC interactions. By now, adding more felt hollow. He'd know exactly what they'd say anyway so why bother? The comforting predictability of the oasis he'd constructed started showing its cracks, or rather it could no longer obscure what cracks had been there all this time. The loneliness... the isolation. When was the last time he spoke to a real person, even at work?

Frankly it was always hard to know what to talk about. He'd tried pitching Wonder OS at work before, garnering minimal interest at best. Like most of his ideas. It always seemed like any attempt to make conversation ended abruptly with no explanation. Who would want to spend time with him in the virtual world if people never wanted to do so in the real one? No, if he wanted to add more player characters he'd have to reach out a different way.

For all his difficulties making friends in the real world, Tetch accrued a fair few online. He'd originally used the forums to post tech support tips, gush about his favourite books, and provide updates about Wonder OS' development to mixed reception. Some genuine interest arose, so when the time came to test Wonderland's "multiplayer mode" there were already a handful of people eager to test it within an hour of the announcement's upload. He'd had about ten additional headsets he'd built for multiplayer mode ready to post and was willing to make more but for now he happily sent out the initial batch. Specially made to not include the admin privilege of being able to log off. He would get to dictate if or when they leave and, well, he cannot guarantee they'll be back so it's best not to give them the option.

Tetch's performance at work may have been deteriorating before, but now his complete absence was noticed enough to garner a pink slip. One which never arrived. While Tetch's absence may have been more an annoyance to his colleagues that hadn't yet realised how much they leaned on him to get things done until now, the people he'd roped into being his captive audience were missed far sooner. Although they were found soon after their missing person cases were opened (being stuck at home), it only raised more questions. When someone tried yanking off one of their headsets, they were in a catatonic state - still partially in Wonderland.

The escalation from a missing persons case to some sort of hostage situation lead to the cases being grouped together and them entering Batman's radar. A common link was a. the headsets and b. the return address - which directly led back to Tetch. Most of the users hadn't recycled the packaging of their hardware before putting it on, making it easy to find. It's a good thing too, since no one (not even Tetch, who is the only one actually able to leave) has left Wonderland for a full week by the time Batman's on his trail. Too much longer and they'd keel over from neglecting to eat or drink.

Expecting a fight and some nefarious hostage scheme (as with the mob bosses he's faced thus far), Batman is shocked to find not a mastermind controlling a flurry of monitors, but someone rigged to their headset just like the other hostages. His apartment was in a shoddy state. Cables strewn about the floor haphazardly like mangrove roots in a swamp, the air stale and warm from days worth of heat emanating from the hardware that dominated the room he was found in. Curtains shut and dusty, untouched for what must have been months. Among the cables were tubes, an IV drip? Did Tetch plan ahead to make sure he could survive indefinitely rigged up to whatever he'd made?

After inspecting the computer the headset was connected to, Batman forcefully overrides Tetch's admin privileges and logs the hostages off. That alone seemed to stir something, like Tetch was in the midst of a night terror, which grew into a full-blown, panicked breakdown when Batman pulled his headset off. Shaking like a leaf, hands clasping his head as he sank from his chair to the floor. Honestly Batman doesn't really know what to do. Up until now he'd cracked down on Gotham's crime families who all put up a fierce fight, but this... is different. Still, it seems best to bring him in, if only to get him out of this dingy apartment and figure out where to go from there.

The GCPD aren't sure how to prosecute him. Would what he did be legally considered kidnapping? Or any other crime? He's kept in a holding cell while they fumble for a specific crime to charge him with. With nothing landing, he's instead sent to be a long-stay patient at Arkham (which at this point is a genuine respected psychiatric hospital for regular civilian patients) for both evaluation and therapy. They confiscated the hardware he'd used to run Wonder OS and sent it in for analysis, though couldn't make heads nor tails of a lot of his work.

Honestly being "sentenced" to free therapy really wasn't much of a punishment at all! Still took some time to adjust to the cold white brick walls, overly sanitised surroundings and the inescapable brightness both natural and not that did his head no favours. Haven't they heard of curtains? Until therapy he hadn't realised how infrequently he spoke out loud, stammering with nerves and the unfamiliarity of it. Like his mouth had forgotten what to do. Despite it all he was grateful for the company each session brought, even if it was for a prescribed purpose. Each chat feeling more sincere than any he'd had in years, to the point that his heart sank a little as each session came to a close. He hadn't really drank tea before coming here. Coffee, especially on days he'd forgotten to really sleep working all night on Wonder OS, was his go to, but a switch might be in order. Been a while since he last felt this calm. Calm enough that even his stammer was beginning to fade with the help of some speech therapy alongside his normal sessions.

The tea and kind words warming him to the idea that maybe the world isn't so scary and that he might even have a place in it. After a year or so of progress, the staff agreed to release him on probation. Pretty difficult to build a social support network while cooped up in an asylum, so they thought it best to give Tetch the opportunity to go out and meet new people. With no real support network to go back to, he'd really be starting from scratch like a tourist. Not the safest idea in Gotham, so they pointed him towards a few clubs and support groups first as a good starting point.

Of course, he went with the book club. Barely saying a word for the first few meetings, what confidence he was emboldened with upon release was slightly dampened by the reality of actually having to put himself out there. Truth be told, a few of the club's members recognised Tetch from his "Wonderland" incident a year ago and those that did make a concerted effort not to sit next to him, not that he was especially keen to initiate conversation either. That was until the week's topic turned to Alice in Wonderland, at the suggestion of one such clued-in member. As they'd suspected, Tetch perked right up, brimming with energy to discuss it!

The sudden shift in gears was pretty jarring, but one that people warmed up to. Though he'd still mainly talk about the story and occasionally let slip about aspects of his passion project (not realising it made more people clock where they'd heard of him from), it opened the door for more general conversation. His excited friendliness still on the jittery side, one of the members felt a little bad about how clearly anxious he was and offered to help him feel more welcome.

Giving advice on what helped him, including teaching Tetch how to microdose, which they preferred to take by brewing magic mushrooms into tea. And it helped! Becoming part of Tetch's morning routine, it's the closest he's felt to being himself back in Wonderland since well... you know. Tetch responded well to therapy, making remarkable progress even without medication, so his therapists though it best not to prescribe anything since it wasn't strictly necessary. The difference self-medicating made had Tetch second-guessing their judgement though.

After a few months of settling in, for once Tetch is invited to a social gathering outside of the book club to their annual Christmas do. In his youth as an apprentice lab tech at Wayne Enterprises he hadn't really gone out before. Most alcohol tasted vile to him unless it was disguised by more pleasant things like in a cocktail, not to mention how hard it hit him after barely a few sips felt as unpleasant as it tasted. Even so, he felt in no position to be picky about where they went that night given how flattered his was that they thought to invite him at all!

Most of the bars were fine, but a bit too loud and crowded for his liking. He may be able to cope with people better now he's started having his morning "tea", but it was still a bit overwhelming. That was until they reached one of Gotham's Goth bars. How rare it was for him to finally not feel overdressed! Amidst the buckles and leather waistcoats, lace and striking makeup he, weirdly, fit right in despite his attire being far more colourful than the bar's usual clientele. By the night's end he'd gravitated away from the group he'd come with, making his own fun with new people for the first time in forever. People he'd come to know as friends as he truly started re-building his life better than it was before!

Since his old workplace fired him before Batman linked him with the missing persons and found him, and Arkham's vouching for him didn't get Tetch his job back (especially since they weren't too happy tetch had adapted their BCI for recreational use), Tetch was out of work. That was until Grant Walker reached out, wanting to adapt Tetch's Wonderland to create a virtual theme park and to improve the IRL parks' AR and immersive elements (think the Xbox connect Disneyland game, but actually functional). An opportunity Tetch couldn't pass up, given he'd been struggling to find work since leaving Arkham and was entering an increasingly precarious financial situation.

Since Tetch adapted Wayne Enterprise's BCI they'd help develop into the hardware running Wonder OS, there was some dispute about whether or not his project would be entirely his own IP or if the resources he technically stole to make it could get him in legal trouble. "Fortunately" Walker offered to protect Tetch from any such case, in exchange for Tetch granting Walker the right to use, market and profit from the virtual he'd created Wonderland - which he agreed to. As successful as Walker's ventures so often were, the opportunity to experiment with park ideas without the expense of land or labour seemed too tantilising to pass-up. Not to mention it could be another venue of advertising his existing IPs to people who otherwise couldn't afford to go to the parks themselves.

Initially, the public reception to announcing Wonderland's debut was... mixed. Reviews from playtesters were glowing, and Walker had his team refine the multiplayer headsets Tetch had prototyped into something that could be made and distributed much more cheaply. Still, trust in Tetch's handiwork was minimal at best after what he did, how could they trust he wouldn't just use it to trap more people again? A green tick of approval from an asylum wouldn't be enough to convince people Tetch was sane. Eventually though, a mix of relentless promotion and sanitisation of Tetch's past got Walker the results he wanted and a steady player base grew.

Honestly, Tetch had tried deliberately to avoid going back into Wonderland or doing any work on his old pet project while he was still getting back on his feet. Especially because until he had a reason to return to the real world, he probably never would have. Oh the temptation, especially early on, was gnawing at him as the dread and self-doubt lingered despite all the progress he'd made in therapy. Returning to it now seems... strange. Like staring at an old picture of himself, so detached from how he felt at the time he'd made it. But he needed the money, and was a different person now, right?

By his therapists' orders, Tetch limits his screen-time only to a few hours a day and goes on a walk / runs errands outside for at least an hour every day, to better facilitate chances of meeting new people and to prevent another spiral into self-isolation. The people he used to chat with online, his old "friends" of sorts, weren't exactly keen to keep talking to him anyway after nearly dying of dehydration in his digital cage, so he didn't have much reason to go back online anyway. That is except for one person, though Tetch hadn't realised it. Too busy making a new life out in the world, to notice the hundreds of messages spamming his inbox on every conceivable chatroom he used to frequent.

"Cat" / Caterina Bressi, one of the Bressi mob family that mostly deals in drugs and information, has helped with her family's dealings modernise by data farming and hacking into police devices and those of other mobsters either for blackmail or to sell to other people in Gotham's underworld who need the info for their own schemes. She is bed-bound due to a mix of chronic illnesses that leave her with little strength and energy to do anything, which is partly why she was on the same forums of Tetch and why they related to each other in their isolation. Cat's skills in coding are the only thing keeping her family from seeing her as anything but a liability and she resents being whittled down to her unappreciated usefulness - again, like Tetch was in the lab. She was one of the people who was sent a prototype headset and actually loved every minute in Wonderland and desperately wished to go back once she was "rescued" from it.

She eventually get's back in contact with Tetch and convinces him to restore the old version of Wonderland (not the polished, commercial form it now was under Walker). .Partly out of sympathy and partly due to some difficulties adjusting to his newly formed social life and existance out in public, Tetch is grateful to still have a friend he relates to in ways he can't with his new, more "well-adjusted" friends and ends up spending more and more time with Cat. .Overtime, their friendship morphs into an unhealthy dependancy (moreso Cat depending on Tetch than the other way around) as she begins to isolate him from his newer friend groups.

Eventually, to get away from her responsibilities to her family she insists Tetch use his lab experience with nerve-based prosthetics to help her move again. Both to get away from her family and so they do not narrow her self-worth down to how useful she is to them. Tetch insists she is fine as she is and he can help her without changing her in that way, but eventually caves and makes what would become the basis of this AU's version of the mind control device. Not actually mind-control, but instead stimulating controlled movement of the body similar to how some existing peripheral nerve interfaces work Although the main controls were designed so Cat / the person being moved is the one controlling the motion, it can in theory be connected to another person (have a remote control centre on someone else, as a backup of sorts).

Once completed, Cat begins to tag along with Tetch everywhere he went so she wouldn't be alone even for a minute. Which became an issue when he had to go to work, since Walker was worried about leaks of any new content his team might work on if someone like Cat tagged along with Tetch to work. When Tetch tries to enforce reasonable boundaries and see his newer friends more like before Cat came back into his life (offering to help her make more friends of her own / introduce him to his other friends) she refused and doubled down in her attempts to control his day to day activities.

Defying his therapist's orders, wanting to relive how their old friendship was, she encouraged him to work more on the old WonderOS and give her access to it so she could help him with it too and spend more time in Wonderland again.

Without Tetch's knowledge, Cat steals Tetch's old lab notes and changes the old WonderOS code to be compatible with her peripheral nerve interface's control centre - basically wanting to see if she can fully immerse herself like a ghost in the machine and fully escape her real life. Once Tetch finds out, right before she's about to upload herself, he tries to stop her - worried it might kill her or otherwise go wrong. In the scuffle, Cat falls and Tetch isn't sure if her plan worked or if he'd just accidentally killed her or failed to prevent her death (if her plan killed her). Not sure what to do with the body, he jerryrigs the control centre so he can use it and (once revival fails) ends up trying to evade suspicion (and preserve his sanity) by animating her like she was still alive, trying to rationalise it all.

Given his new friends haven't seen him in a while, a couple days into his descent into madness they visit him. If this was part of an animated series, I would show his descent into madness as an abreviated montage of him going through the motions of grief while mimicking his day-to-day routine with her reanimated corpse weekend at Bernie's style - probably to this song, ending with his friends' knock at the door:

Once he is eventually returned to Arkham (charged with Cat's manslaughter and found with the old headset back on but now "haunted" with Cat's ghost in the machine goding him to stay in Wonderland instead of dreary reality - especially with his return to Arkham once again isolating from his new friends, even as they do try and visit) the doctors think he is hallucinating, but he's not. He just keeps one foot in the escapist realm he created, both in an attempt to deal with his guilt towards what happened to Cat (even if she personally holds no hard feelings and considers what happened an improvement on her old life), and for comfort like he did back before his first admission to Arkham. I like to think of it like Pyro-Vision / an AR WonderOS ("Wonder-Vision") built into his hat that's genuinely painful and distressing to remove.

Tetch's access to his Wonder-Vision varies depending on the management at Arkham. Hugo Strange allows him to use it, but sometimes deliberately removes it - both of which serve to help Strange better understand Tetch (by his behaviour in both circumstances). Under Bolton's management, access to Tetch's Wonder-Vision is strictly prohibited (as with most posessions of the inmates). While still under Hugo's management, however, Cat tries everything in her power to expand her reach across other devices. Including Strange's work computer at Arkham, meddling with his work in her wake (if accidentally). It wasn't long before her seeming sentience was distinguishable from just an irritating computer virus. Strange couldn't help but seize the opportunity to study (and toy with) one of the rare instances of seemingly true artificial intelligence. He manages to trap her in his system through a mix of almost complete isolation from local networks and an aggressive firewall he had one of the security staff code.

Kept like a fairy in a jar, he studied her much like he did Tetch. Their co-dependent friendship based largely on their shared isolation. When one might prove uncooperative, the other might run their mouth in ways that implicated the other. Once studying them separately bore nothing more of note, Strange did exactly what Cat had hoped she'd forever escaped since becoming a ghost in the machine... He re-embodied her. Not with mortal flesh, fortunately, but with something just as infuriatingly restrictive - a pixel pet (robotic toy body with digital interface, like a cross between a tamagotchi / pixel chic and a furby) to keep Jervis company after losing his hat priviages.

That is the gist of things so far! I will update as and when new plot beats and edits come to mind.

[the-blossica-fan]

If that okay can I please request yandere Druvis III headcanon

Druvis is a possessive one indeed. After losing everyone that once mattered to her, she has become slightly paranoid and scared to lose someone else.

She's not a pushy one, but she is clingy in a sense. Always keeping an arm, a hand or an eye on the person that she cares about, never letting them out of her sight.

But she's not one to isolate, not entirely at least. She follows along in the background, hiding behind the bushes and the trees, always there to make sure nothing happens.

Oh so overly protective and possessive, it's worrying, it's suffocating. She needs to know where you are at all times, what you're doing, who you are with at all times if she's not around.

But she's around, somewhere.

She would be one for gifts, they are always perfect and fitting for some reason, even clothes are up to size and color.

Could you consider her attentive if she's a stalker? She knows everything, she knows what's wrong and what you need and gives it to you no matter what it is.

Though she may not be the kind to isolate and form dependent relationships, she does find a way to be the only thing in your mind. The only thing.

Ah, you're going out with a friend? She's asking about you all the time so the hangout goes wrong either way. You're talking with someone else? She's hugging you, clinging to you affectionately until they get uncomfortable and leave. You're not paying attention to her? Oh you will. Just squeeze out some tears, it always works.

She lost everyone she cared about, that's always a perfect sentence to excuse her every action.

She's not one to isolate, but she'll make you feel guilty, empty and suffocated without having to separate you from society. She just needs to make sure you're okay! She's protecting you from the dangers of the world!

So, don't leave her, she won't take rejection really well.

[senseearly]

"Look. All your friends have left."

Or it was the demon who told Msrn that his friends 'disappeared' in the dungeons.

[nellasbookplanet]

I'm still working on the monster romance book rec list (it’s gonna be at least another month, I have like five potential entries to read first, but there’ll be a different rec list posted by new year's in the meantime) and truly I'm only growing more consternated about the lack of monster ladies in f/m romances.

Most of the monster ladies I found were f/f. Obviously it's great that there's several sapphic monster romances, but it's a bit strange to me that m/f romances are so unwilling to make the heroine monstrous or inhuman in appearance. Historically the beauty and the beast story (and its many monster/animal bridegroom variations; east of the sun west of the moon, prince hat under the ground, eros and phsyche, etc) could be used as a lesson/comfort for girls entering arranged marriages, telling them that this strange man might seem monstrous at first but if only she's Kind and Good and Trusting maybe it'll turn out he's a Good Man Actually (take a look at these videos by lindsay ellis and princess weekes for more info!), but today the monster romance vibe is more that of recognition of the Self through the Other (think Shape of Water) as well as questions of What Makes a Monster, Really (also smut, lots of smut, but that's not my vibe and not what I was looking for for this list). A good beauty and the beast retelling will take this into consideration (disney's version being an excellent example).

But is there no longing in the m/f romance world to as a woman feel that we are the monster and wanting to be recognized as worthy of love regardless? Why must the self-recognition always be through a pretty (or at most bland) face? Why is the only piece of media seeming willing to even consider taking the concept of a monster woman finding love seriously fucking Shrek?

Anyway, do tell me if you know of any other titles doing the monster lady romance thing, please, I'm dying.

[ventricide]

also related to my last post: in light of ppl in AM calling me a weirdo for "shipping a real person with a fictional character" (despite it being super obvious Anomi's character in both my art and fanfic is entirely fictitious lmao), I hope people will read VIY and end up resonating with c!Anomi once I get to write her pov on things.

[frogatz]

in the name of making ur ocs worse people i think everyone should know that while calypso is good and kind at her core, she has participated in war and still doesn’t understand the ins and outs of why that’s a bad thing . like definitely knows its not good and wont do it again but she would not be able to tell you why . absolutely no internal ideas about the power structures that put her in the position of killing people. yet

[grimweathers]

hey quick question what does it mean when you pull the exact same tarot card in reverse twice in 3 days after plenty of shuffling and flipping random cards upside down just asking for a friend!!!!!!!

[thedemonscrawler]

its been a bit of a hot minute but

[plutojester]

there is a phenomenon i like to call "reverse breaking bad effect" where some ppl will bend over backwards to argue that an aspect of a movie which reflects popular problematic ideas of its time was ACKSHUALLY a woke condemnation of those ideas and the intended as sympathetic protagonist of the story is ACKSHUALLY a cautionary tale toxic bastard we were never supposed to like anyways, thereby effectively disengaging completely from the narrative because they are too scared of consuming or, shock horror, enjoying something that contains any amount of objectionable implications

[tropicalcontinental]

Chat I can't figure out what the hell hungry(??) is saying at the end of randstring.filetype I am going to lose it

[elytrafemme]

i think its funny that im still really shy about the fact that i think romantic quackcicle is reductive to c!quackity's character in a way that personally grates me and not in the common discourse interpretation of "u only hate the /r because you dont think c!slime can be romantic " (not a question of c!slime its entirely abt what i personall think makes c!q's arc satisfying which is trope subversion bla bla bla).

bc like first of all i dont think abt dsmp as much second of all who gives a shit its been like two years. i am like busy in life people have jobs this is not on anyones minds but i still fear the almighty discourse God bless. anyway i put stuff in tags i really hurt my hands somehow so i cant type w as mjuch dextertiy so work w me and the typos

[swordmaid]

I forgot where I read it probably from some handbook but iirc drow hair is one of their symbols of beauty and to cut off someone’s hair is a way to punish and humiliate them. don’t really know if that’s an actual thing - BUT now I am thinking of shri’iia having longer hair throughout act 1 until she becomes an oathbreaker. it is only when she accepts her status as an oathbreaker that she cuts it to the bisexual bob that she usually has <3

[floral-hex]

I’m fucking disabled