#Does it genuinely make anyone happy to try rid a fandom of all ideas they disagree with them their preexisting friends' ones? Why?

[chat-dank]

You have the right to like your Angbang intense. You have the right to like your Angbang fucked up. You have the right to like your Angbang unhinged. You have the right to like your Angbang harmful. But you also have a right to like your Angbang fluffy, too. You are not woobifying them if you like it soft or write a fic where they say they love each other or kiss or high five or take a bite from the same sandwich or whatever. You have a different interpretation, that’s all. You’re not committing some horrid unforgivable atrocity against your fandom. You’re not an “annoying fan” if you want your ships happy, even if other people dislike you for it, the same way you are not an “annoying fan” if you like your ships intense and other people dislike you for it. You’re not a mean person for having an opinion that the majority dislikes. You’re an individual human being who has an opinion and your opinion is worth JUST as much as every other opinion in your fandom. Because that’s how opinions work. You’re not disregarding canon any more than people who bend it to fit their other non-canon ships or headcanons or other interpretations of this ship or their interpretation of any other ship or anything else that JRRT or Christopher or the Tolkien estate disagree with. We all see a piece of media and interpret it differently. It doesn’t make any of us better or worse for it. Ship and let ship. 

[lockedtombbrainworms]

Patriarchy and the Nine Houses

I've been mulling this one over in my brain on long drives recently, and as I'm currently at home resting up after an insanely busy few days and also some sort of illness flareup, I want to put some of what I've come up with into writing. These are coming from the perspective of a somewhat masculine-presenting queer trans woman with some degree of familiarity with anarcha-feminism, a lot more familiarity with anarchism in general, but not really much academic feminist background. I'm also white, which may well impact what I'm taking away from this here.

Something else that might influence what I've written here are the frankly insane doses of decongestants I'm currently on, but here goes.

So firstly, I don't think 'Patriarchy' as common feminist discourse uses the term exists within the Houses.

In terms of "Evidence Against", for one, there is seemingly no gendered violence in the Nine Houses - I've seen more than one post about how at no point does Gideon Nav feel like she's in any sort of danger of sexual assault or anything like that from the men she interacts with - she's quite happy to walk into Silas and Colum's room, and at no point does the narrative mention her being concerned about sexual violence while she, a teenage butch lesbian, is trapped in a room with an older man whose intentions towards her are unknown. She gets worried, sure, but mostly about swords or necromancy, not sexual assault. Our Griddle may be a bit sheltered, sure, but she's read a lot of adult-oriented comics, which in my experience tend to be fairly lurid about any and every fucked up thing that happens in the society that produced them, and none of those, nor anything she's been told by Aiglamene or witnessed on the Ninth, seem to have instilled any fear of patriarchal sexual violence in her.

The houses also don't seem to have a concept of homophobia or particularly rigid gender roles - at absolutely no point does anyone take issue with Gideon's sexuality and gender presentation, despite various other characters being absolute shits to her in various other ways throughout the book - Crux, Naberius, Silas, the Reverend Parents - at no point is it even hinted at that any of them were homophobic or shitty about gender-non-conformity. I don't really think you can get rid of any of those things entirely without also at least taking a big chunk out of patriarchy, if not eliminating it - they're all too tightly linked together.

I honestly don't think you can describe, for instance, Palamedes or Silas or Naberius as benefitting from "male privilege" in the context of the books without getting into some weird gender-essentialist bollocks about how being male Just Does That For You, at which point you may well be sliding into terf shit and I don't really think we have much of a common ground to discuss this from. The fandom's treatment of gender (and race, while we're at it) is another matter, but in the context of the books, I genuinely don't see "male privilege" or "patriarchy" existing within the wider society of the Nine Houses. You can look at the necro/cav dynamic as a sort of metaphor for gender, and I do consider them through that lense in some cases, but it's not a 1:1 map for gender and I don't think it's trying to be.

You could argue there's some weird patriarchal ideas of manhood in Mortus' treatment of Ortus - the guy very clearly abused his son to try to "toughen him up" and make him into a warrior when Ortus wanted nothing more than to write poetry, but while that's arguably written with a patriarchal bent to it from a doylist perspective, at no point does anyone actually tell Ortus he's less of a man in the text. What they do tell him is that he's less of a cavalier, which is why I actually view that dynamic as much more of an exploration of cavalier-hood as a metaphor for gender - 'toxic cavalierhood' rather than toxic masculinity, albeit via a dynamic that's unforunately very familiar to a lot of us.

The big flaw in my argument is that, unfortunately, in the literal sense of the word, the Nine Houses very much are a capital-P Patriarchy. They're run by an immortal God-Emperor dude with some fairly intense catholic shit going on! John actually was raised in a patriarchal society, and while his experiences as a he remembers it, and while he seems to have done an OK job of not passing homophobia, misogyny or strict gender roles onto the society he built after literally fucking nuking the one he grew up in, I don't know if someone in his position of power is really in a position to unlearn anything more at this point. To a lesser extent we see it with Augustine as well - the Saint of Patience definitely reads as a misogynist at times during the text (telling Mercymorn "you have made yourself unlovable" and his whole thing about Ianthe chosing to be broken spring to mind), and while he may not remember the pre-resurrection world, it still shaped him (and his brother, who is as much a part of the man we meet in HtN as the original Augustine who was resurrected).

Also none of this is to say the society of the Nine Houses is perfect - far from it! There's all sorts of fucked up abuse dynamics present, and the entire thing has been a fucked-up expansionist empire since it found someone to do expansionist imperialism on about five millennia before the story takes place, before which it was still a fucked-up death cult living on the reanimated wreckage of a dead solar system. If anything, the lack of misogyny, homophobia, rigid gender roles and the like are a parable - it doesn't matter how inclusive and egalitarian the society of the imperial core is when it perpetuates brutal violence on the imperial periphery.

[mysadcorner]

Yandere Damian Wayne x Civilian!Reader

- Credit to the gifs owner - Requests open - DM or comment to be a part of the tag list (include specific fandoms)

Tag list : @simligul

• Damian would have absolutely no restrain when it comes to you. He’ll stalk, follow and watch you in every free moment he has, and when he’s on patrol or fighting crime you become is sole motivation for ending the fight as quickly as possible. You also become the reason that he’s so much more brutal in responding to criminals - he wants to keep you safe while also letting out his frustration of not having you.

• His obsession with you starts much before you even knew about it. He would watch you through you window, find out everything about you, get information from your friends without them even realising; you would only find out once he wants his presence to be known by you - whether that’s for intimidation or because he genuinely believes you want him is up for debate though.

• He can easily use his connections, resources and money to trap you in his grasp - no matter how far you try to run he’ll always be there. Not only that, but as he’s well trained in many aspects he is also very good at hiding from police if you contact them or getting rid of anyone you seem to be getting too close to.

• Damian would absolutely never tell anyone he knows about how he feels about you, or that you even exist. If anyone does find out it would have been a complete mistake and slip up on his behalf; although that’s quite unlikely. This is because he feels threatened by the people he knows who are also very capable of putting up a fight - he always has a little voice in the back of his mind worrying about who could possibly attempt to take you away from him.

• He can be extremely jealous, even if the most innocent interactions. If he sees you smile too much around someone else, become physically close to them, or spend a lot of time with them, he will become extremely angry with them and try to get rid of them as soon as possible. He wouldn’t even try to cover it up that much too; he likes the idea of you connecting the dots of you being the link that connects all these people going missing. However, he would never be angry at you, he would just be disappointed that you allowed yourself to act in such a way with someone other than him even if you weren’t aware of his presence yet.

• Damian would have no issue or problem with the idea of holding you hostage or keeping you captive, and he would never feel guilty about it. In his eyes he’s protecting you from the world and keeping you somewhere that he can watch over you properly where he knows you won’t be able to betray him or be stolen away. He also has this warped view that you enjoy being forced to stay with him - almost as if he thinks his obsession is a form of innocent caring rather than insane behaviour.

• He finds it very easy to lie to you. Because of his difficult childhood, he always struggled to form a deep and genuine connection with anyone and always kept life long grudges even over the smallest of things. Due to this, he finds it very easy to keep you in the dark about what he’s doing or what’s going on, and would sometimes give you a false sense of freedom just to keep you happy when he sees you getting restless under his watch.

• Damian is much stronger than you both emotionally and physically, so it’s very easy for him to manipulate you and make you do what he wants you too. He could easily grab you and drag you somewhere, or make you so upset that you retreat into yourself and stop talking to your friends and family. He likes knowing that you’re weaker than him. It makes it easier for him to do what he wants and boosts his superiority complex that he’s so desperate to fuel.

[baileypie-writes]

Can I have some headcanons romantic headcanons about the wolf from smile pretty cure ? (I can't remember his name )

A/N ~ Sure! His name is Wolfrun btw. Hope you enjoy!

~Wolfrun Dating Headcanons~

Fandom: Smile Precure

Reader: Gender Neutral

Relationship: Romantic

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Wolfrun being protective and jealous.

Glitter Force stans DNI!

~~~🐺~~~🐺~~~🐺~~~

~ Wolfrun would not be pleased with the fact he’s in love at all. In fact, he’d try his hardest to get rid of these feelings. Obviously, he’d be unsuccessful.

~ When you start dating, he’d leave everything to you. Not just because he knows next to nothing about love, but also because he’s secretly too embarrassed to try anything himself. He wants to be cool!

~ Wolfrun does not show any affection whatsoever. And he doesn’t like receiving any either. He thinks kisses are gross. But he does kind of enjoy when you cling to him. It makes him feel tough, like he’s protecting you.

~ Speaking of which, he’s very protective. If he senses that you’re unhappy in any way, the first thing he asks is if anyone did something to you. If the answer is yes, his first instinct is to fight them. It’ll take a lot of pleading to get him to drop it. Even then, he’ll still send some sort of threat to the person without your knowledge.

~ He also gets jealous very easily. If anyone tries talking to you when he’s with you, he won’t be happy. And he’s a scary looking guy, so it’s not hard to get them away. No matter how much you scold him, he won’t change. It’s just the way he is.

~ Wolfrun secretly enjoys doing his hair and nails. He was blessed with long, luscious locks and sturdy nails, so it’s basically a given that taking care of them is a hobby of his. But he sees them as “girly” activities, so he pretends to hate them. However, if it’s something that you enjoy, he won’t reject the idea of doing it with you.

~ This guy spends most, if not all his time with you. He can’t stand being around the others at Bad End, so you’re really all he has. It gets to the point that Majorina and Akaoni are genuinely surprised when he shows up.

~~~🐺~~~🐺~~~🐺~~~

~~baileypie-writes

[inchidentally]

more tricky asks! again, bl 'wank adjacent' to not see these <3

(gonna lump these all together since it's the same topic)

I had no idea that leap was even made aslfgslajfgajsl yea it's just Lando being Lando! but hopefully if ppl know they're just being silly about rpf then that's fine. only a problem if they're truly thinking it's real.

these posts are also infamously bat signals that pro athletes do to let hookups know where they are

again like, I'm gonna assume that the dando ppl I follow are all fully aware that rpf is just for fun and not real. but yea those people you linked to (from what I remember, you sent this weeks ago I'm sorry!) are actually insane. even ignoring that Lando and Daniel choose to not see each other or interact for months ?? Lando literally went out of his way to say that he and Martin wanted to get out of Bali (do NOT quote me but I saw some ppl say they got robbed again? or their friends did?) and their Finland trip wasn't due to start yet so they decided to spend a day and night in Perth with Daniel. this was very much a Lando and Martin thing and it's funny and slightly tragic for ppl who keep trying to write Martin out of this.

there was also an entire group of Daniel's friends staying with him as well lasfljsagf how is any of this romantic or sexual unless Lando was the party bottom

honestly this is why I was surprised to find out there were dando truthers at all ?? when he does the exact same act with most of the men he meets why randomly decide that him doing that with Lando makes it a legit gay relationship alsfgsjlagflagf. I'm also not heterosexual so I cannot convince myself that Daniel's "gay" stuff is actually gay ! that man couldn't be more typically Aussie straight guy who almost veers homophobic with doing the gay shtick he does for laughs.

it's also where Martin has clearly struck a chord of unwelcome reality with the carlando and dando rpf truthers bc oops here's an example of someone who could in every way actually be a secret gay relationship of Lando's based on what they consider to be "evidence". I do not think they necessarily are in a relationship and will not makeassumptions about sexualities etc. but Lando, Carlos and Daniel literally friendzone each other and see each other as bros who pretend gay shit for a joke. they're also happy to not so much as think about each other for months on end let alone even see each other for anything other than F1 travel or group trips. but Martin? is in Lando's life significantly bc he actively chooses to be! when the season ends, for two years now he and Lando have done the thing all the drivers do with gfs and wives and spend almost every moment with each other on getaways! Lando liked a comment calling Martin his wag and didn't make a joke about it! they don't do anything bromancey or fake gay together! Lando genuinely gets bashful and quiet when asked about Martin! they're not bound together by work responsibilities and most of their time together is created in the small spaces their different careers allow! they're both actually single!

again, I am not wanting anyone to actually push this ship directly onto Lando or Martin or their personal content anymore than they already are. but I do have to laugh when I see two rpf ships fighting it out for who Lando wants more when like. if you apply real life logic and not manufactured bromance, Martin is the only candidate !!

and can I just say again thank fuck landoscar fandom doesn't do any of this shit and loves Martin and norrix and can multiship for fun godddd

I have a totally innocent and casual habit of reading gossip pages and let me tell you the rpf truthers revealing themselves when they push the "PR" and "beards" angle to try and get rid of Heidi and Rebecca lasgflsagfjagfsa. then the wailing when something inevitably destroys their conspiracy theories !! what's even funnier is that on multiple occasions Lando is found to be happily hanging out with Carlos and Rebecca and Daniel and Heidi. almost as if he's just a mate of theirs can you imagine ????

re the submission: I'm leaving those links up bc I know those ppl aren't taking any of this seriously and are just posting cute content - which it is! <3

but yea sadly there's people who see guys like Oscar and Martin as a "threat" to their rpf ship for various reasons (ironically, one of the main reasons being they don't play gay for a joke or do bromance stuff with Lando) and invent entire narratives around it. as you said, believing those narratives would mean believing Lando is the absolute worst of the worst and would paint him in a terrible light ??? even apart from it being wattpad levels of absurd

it's also just funny bc Oscar's Lando fanboying on social media included him liking carlando and dando content as well as Carlos and Daniel content. our boy was chronically online between karting and F1 and he was agreeing and playing along in both the circumstances you listed alhfalfhsafhsa literally why do ppl want this stuff to be so angsty for no good goddamn reason it's intended to be fun by all involved

and the second ask oh fr, even just bringing up maxiel it's like damn that shits all over dando alfhsalhflasfhal. ironically norstappen shits all over dando as well. but even apart from rpf Daniel is so in the public eye that everyone already knows who he considers his true closest friends and that Lando and the F1 drivers are all firmly in his work friends group.

side note you do wanna ask the ppl who are actively hating on Martin how they explain Daniel being tight with him before Lando was ???

I totally get needing to vent babes but my constant reminder will be to use this kind of stuff as a means of pruning your fandom experience. blockity block block anyone being this unhinged. Lando is on Raya, Daniel is in a ltr with Heidi, Carlos' family are welcoming Rebecca in more and more and Martin is... someone extra special to Lando. what that is defined as is known only to them &lt;3

[antiloreolympus]

8 Anti LO Asks

1. as a mythology buff, i honestly think it was really weird of rachel smythe to take Hecate, a goddess who helped Demeter search for Persephone after she vanished and heard her screams and shared in Persephone and Demeter's joy after reuniting... and then just make her into Hades's like... total bro who plays aggressive matchmaker to h/p to the point of trying to break up Hades's current relationship. but honsestly i refuse to believe rachel smythe did literally any research before making this comic judging by how she depicts the mythology she's taking inspiration from so honestly im not suprised

2. I don’t know if anyone on here has discussed this, but LO very much plays into the idea of “good victim vs bad victim”.

A “good victim” has suffered many things, but despite it they still remain cheerful and happy and pleasant, they do not put others out or lash out at them even if they are triggered, they do not become petty or angry or hold onto negative emotions. They, in essence, “get over it”. Thus, the narrative rewards them: they get many friends, a love internet they’re happy with, and a happy ending. This is what Persephone is. She’s the “good victim”. Despite her many hardships, we know she will not suffer in the end. She will get everything she wants and more. 

Then there is Minthe, the “bad victim”. They too have gone through many hardships, but they’ve become cold, angry at the world, they lash out and have trouble opening up and connecting to others, they even hurt others, themselves victims to the toxic pain they can’t get rid it. They do not and have not “gotten over it”.  Thus, the narrative punishes them, even when they try to better themselves. It’s never good enough. These characters often are lonely, the cast are large do not like them if not outright hate them, and they more often than not end up dead. This is what Minthe is. She is not a pleasant person, she’s a victim of a manipulative older man and a cruel, unjust society and system, and we know how her story ends. It’s in pain, her maiming/possible death framed as a joke and not even a genuine hint of sympathy towards her fate. She was a “bad victim”, she “deserved” what she got.

Now, you only often see this in fandom, since the actual works that deal with victims of trauma and how they react will often try to give more nuance to every shade of victim they may have on cast, but it’s very disturbing to me that Rachel seems to eagerly play into this idea, like she gets joy out of punishing a victim she created and watching them suffer even more at her hands. It’d be one thing if she kept Minthe a shallow, one dimensional character who was just evil for the sake of it, fine, but her showing us her actual complex nature and the very real struggles, trauma, and manipulation she went through, especially at the hands of our supposed “heroes” of the story, just to have her demise framed as a win for Persephone and a joke for the audience to laugh at? That’s highly disturbing to me. It’s one thing for fans to act that way, but the writer themselves? It’s very dark, to say the least. 

3. "I'm invested in working with fairy tales and folklore for my next project" oh no no no oh god please no. Fairy tales have been through enough hot takes and modern "betterments", they really don't need Rachel "Apollo is bad, actually" Smythe to add to it

4. Quick question

Greek Mythology is mostly incest.

So what if someone who is actually good at writing and storytelling and consistent artwork

Kept it in

For example Zeus and  Hera arguing like the married couple they are

And Hera uses older sibling card

With Zeus dumbfounded face

I don't know why but I want it but would it be weird since it's incest

Most fanfics always keep it out. Just keep it in if you want it to be closer than the actual methods you know

Hera is youngest daughter of Cronus and Rhea and older than her brother Zeus, who was also her husband.

I want to do it but like I have no clue how to start a webtoon so you know💀

5. Oh god, Hades not needing therapy because Persephone's "love" is enough? To quote my lord and savior Kennie JD: "not the p*$$¥ being therapy!"

6. uuuuuh sexual trauma warning.?

So I was writing a comment on the "Re: bpd" ask and i had a realization about persephone

She reminds me of how I was about the idea of sex

I'm demisexual and have sexual trauma and the idea of sex excited me but I wasn't able to like, do it. Me and my partner would mess around but because Mctrauma i couldn't do it cuz I hadn't exactly worked through my trauma and i wanted to get through that because i was finally experiencing sexual attraction.

Kinda reminds me of Persephone. The problem is at that point it had been 6-7 years since my trauma occurred and persephone's happened like last month.

Considering how everyone talks about persephone being a self insert i think Rachel has some things to work through

Also made the realization literally as im typing that Rachel's attitude towards asexuality could be because she's demi and doesn't fully understand what that is or means

becuase if you're ignorant enough you can 100% end up describing demisexuality as "being asexual and then like, slowly turning gay."

this ask weirdly personal so fuck it this is gonna be anonymous feel free to delete if it makes u uncomfy 

7. That’s also a part about Hubris Rachel clearly doesn’t get: it was always committed by rich, often people in high authority, NEVER lowly farmers or the poorest of ancient society. They always knew better. Niobe was a queen! Minos was a king! Arachne was the rich, spoiled daughter of a really successful merchant. Sisyphus was a cunning king. The trojan war was kicked off by royal drama. The list goes on and on. You have to notice these things and genuinely study the myths or you become like Rachel, who seems convinced the poorest people would be stupid enough to not only defy their bosses, but the gods themselves? They would be the last people to do such a thing! They don’t have the ingrained sense of entitlement and arrogance like the rich and powerful to even dare act like that towards the gods, as is the case with hubris. Because of this, Rachel ends up creating a narrative that the rich and powerful (literal GODS) are the real victims to those cruel, uppity poor people, going as far as to say in comic they deserve to be slaves for hades’ benefit and they’re wrong for ever hating Persephone for, you know, murdering them because she had a bad day! They should know their place! It’s absolutely insane that she doesn’t actually seem to realize what she’s writing. Unless she does, which is an even bigger issue, and shows a really dark look into how she views the world and society and how it should be run. It’s all a bad look. 

8. Have you seen the "The demon, is here in the room right now?" meme

Welp, that's literally Persephone and her "feeling"

I legit saw that video about a dude faking a mental illnes (and seeing a demon that made him do bad things) after he commited a crime and that was so cringy and I can't stop thinking about Persephone confessing her AOW like that

[darkmindsotome]

Soap and Sun

Title: Soap and Sun

Fandom: Love365 Masquerade Kiss

Pairing:  Yazuru Shiba x MC

Word count: 3,464

Warning: NSFW Smut

Written by: darkmindsotome

Summary: When a long awaited date threatens to derail under the summer sun a spur of the moment idea triggers an even steamer time together than planned.

Tagging @voltage-vixen​ as requested. Prompt #9: Car Wash Featuring the MC/LI as the Sponge

---

When I thought of summer in London, I hadn’t thought of much else other than spending some quality time with my boyfriend.

He’d been playing the part of visiting lecturer at his old alma mater, Oxford University. His curriculum was well thought out and methodical, just like the man himself. Every time I was been able to catch one it was like attending a sell-out concert. I was always blown away by how he could turn a baffling topic into something easier to understand. In the end, you were never left feeling like you were stupid and it was amazing to watch him in his element. A true genius craftsman with genuine love and passion for his work.

Still, I would have liked to have seen him a bit more than I currently was. Silently chastising myself for the selfishness of that thought I tried to push it aside. I was once more in England and as per our agreement, we were on a date. That alone was enough to re-energise me.

It wasn’t much but we had decided to go for a drive in one of his cherished Bugattis. The sleek lines of it cut through the English countryside like a hot knife through butter. This was the kind of escape he liked. It wasn’t any more rushed than he wanted it to be. Just him, the open road, and his car. I watched with relief from the passenger seat as I could see the layers of stress and fatigue melt away from him.

“Are you sure this is all you wanted to do?” He had his usual blank poker face on as he asked. The only thing giving away how sceptical he was, was his tone.

“Yeah. I enjoy spending time with you Yuzu. I don’t really mind what we are doing as long as we can be together.” The answer came quickly to me and I enjoyed the brief moment where I could see his stoic mask slip and get a glimpse under it.

“You can be very direct at times.” He sighed.

“Does it bother you?” I didn’t candy coat things when talking to him. I had tried that when were first became an item and found out the hard way that subtle approaches would not be to anyone’s benefit in this relationship.

“No.” There was a faint smile on his face whether he was aware of it or not.

A comfortable silence fell over the interior of the car as it twisted and turned down roads that were becoming increasingly more rural and isolated.

“Where are we going anyway?” I decided to break the silence and ask as it had been about twenty minutes now and there was still no clue as to where Yuzu had planned on taking me. When I suggested just going for a drive and he had agreed, I thought he would have a destination in mind, not just aimlessly driving around the rural backroads of England for the afternoon.

“You’ll see when we get there.” I watched his dashing profile my eyes naturally falling to the strong hands the gripped the leather wheel. Those slightly rough calloused fingers I adored and missed so much, flexing against the wheel I was suddenly jealous of. Averting my eyes back to the passing scenery I tried to push away the ideas that would send me into dangerous waters.

Tall old trees lit up with the sun produced a mottled canopy of light as Yuzuru expertly drove his car through a nearly completely hidden entrance from the main road onto a small dirt track. For a car not designed to be an off-roader, the ride was still smooth. I found myself wondering if that was a testament to the Italian engineering or his driving. A smile came naturally to my face and I couldn’t stop it. Before I met Yuzuru the idea of engineering, cars, driving… any of it would have been far from my mind. Now the ideas came to me easily. He really had changed me.

“What is it? You have a grin on your face.” He frowned.

“Am I not allowed to be happy when I’m with you.” I teased watching as his expression relaxed once more.

“As long as it’s only with me. We’re here.”

He stopped the car in a clearing that was right next to the three S’s old school hideout. The shabby little cottage stood there in the overgrown garden looking like something from a fairytale. It was just as I remembered it the first time I saw it with him.

“What happened to ‘no girls allowed'?” I couldn’t help but ask, surprised by his choice of destination.

“You would rather go somewhere else?” He still had the keys to the car in one hand and the handle of the door in the other. He was looking at me with those dark eyes scanning me like code on a screen.

“No, it’s just why here?” I didn’t really have a location for our date in mind I had decided to leave it up to him. That didn’t mean I wasn’t a little shocked by his choice.

“I wanted to show you something. You remember that old failed power supply?” His hand fell from the door allowing it to partly close on us both in the vehicle.  

“The hyrdo—” I started to answer only to be cut off.

“Hydraulic turbine.” For some reason, he looked bashful. A man who didn’t show much emotion was looking at me with a faint blush making my heart skip in my chest. “I got it working and I thought- I wanted you to be the first to see it.”

“Really?!” I was stunned.

“I’ve never known someone to get so happy over such things.” He chuckled.

I had assumed he would be showing his success to his two best friends before me. I was perhaps a little too excited to find something where I topped the list of people ahead of Kazuomi or Kei when it came to Yuzuru and his work.

“You’re one to talk Mr Space Screws.” I tried to distract from my over the top reaction by childishly reminding him of when he got so passionately attached to something it nearly ruined a date.

“True. Come on it's over here.” My childish retort didn’t work. He didn’t react to it at all and simply nodded accepting what I said as the facts they were and exited the car leaving me to scramble behind him to catch up.

A small waterway near the rear of the cottage was sparkling in the sunlight. The fresh clear water was turning the fossil-like shell structure I had seen on my last visit. Watching it spinning it looked even more amazing than before.

What once could have been little more than a garden sculpture was now functioning. Scooping up water and cascading it between its two halves speeding it up and pushing it out in a strong even flow.

“I can’t believe you got it to work.” I was mesmerised watching the two halves turning the craftsmanship of the original I had seen had been adjusted to something more streamlined and very much in keeping with the minimalist nature of its creator.

“It wasn’t easy. The stream here isn’t very large so I had to calculate the flow rate and adjust the design to accommodate it. Amping up the flow inside the device allows for more energy to be produced and stored so power is produced. Then there was customising the old generator for the cottage to take the charge and convert it for use.” He was explaining and becoming the animated Yuzu I remembered. He was a man typically of few words but give him a topic he loved then his passion would allow him to ramble on for hours.

“It’s wonderful.” The words barely left my mouth before the spinning shells in front of us gave an ear-piercing shriek and ground to a halt. “What happened?”

“I think one of the bolts might have slipped its casing. Or maybe…” Yuzuru was already moving from my side towards his creation before pausing to look back at me his posture slumping as he mentally chastised himself for losing focus on our date. “Sorry, I-”

“It’s fine. You want me to go make a cup of coffee while you figure it out?”

With my reassurance that I accepted his desire to correct the problem he nodded and fell silent. It might not be how I wanted the day to play out but this was the man I loved and it wasn’t like we weren’t together. Draping his jacket over a nearby branch as he bent over his invention inspecting it.

His passion came with an extreme immersive focus. It was one of the things I found endearing about him. How he showed me glimpses of himself where his guard dropped. This was Yuzu in his element. The kid in the candy store. I went inside the cottage removing the door key from its hiding spot under a planter.

Time ticked by the hours of the sun passing with every stroke of the hand on the clock. It might be a part of him I was used to by now but it didn’t mean that I wasn’t a little bored. Exercising to kill time in this heat was not my idea of fun. Still, my body felt kind of itchy wanting to move. I was washing up the cups when my eyes fell on the Bugatti parked outside and I had an idea.

Yuzuru normally paid a valet to clean it. Maintaining its showroom condition was something of a source of pride to him as an owner. It couldn’t hurt to give it a little wipe down myself right? I could get rid of the dust on it and cool off in the process.

The lukewarm water swayed in the bucket as I carried it outside. I had found a new sponge and even some car shampoo in a cupboard. It was several years old but it was going to be better than trying to use dish soap.

I hooked my hair up high at the back and pinned it there with a couple of chopsticks I found in a draw in the kitchen. I’d already abandoned my dress in favour of a pair of shorts and a t-shirt I found in Yuzu’s old bedroom. I had to pull the drawstring at the waist to get the shorts to fit and the shirt was massive. Rolling the hem, I knotted it at the back turning it into a makeshift crop top. Happy with the adjustments to my wardrobe I plunged my hands into the bucket and got to work.

The soap lathered quickly oozing between my fingers as I squished the sponge and carried it over to the car.

*

It took some time but the turbine was once more turning freely and working. He frowned as he looked at his watch, thankful for its water resistance and realising how much time had passed. This was supposed to be a date and here he was once more lost in his own world. As he walked back to the cottage, he only hoped Mc hadn’t gotten so bored with him that she’d left.

Musing over the fact that he wouldn’t blame her if that was the case he stumbled upon a rare sight and his heart skipped such a beat it felt like it had landed in his throat. Mc dressed in his old school gym gear, his car and one of the most dazzling impromptu foam parties he’d ever thank a God for providing.

*

For all the fact it wasn’t the first time I’d ever washed a car before I still forgot how hard it was to reach all the parts of the roof. No matter how hard I stretched I kept coming in contact with the side of the wet soapy Bugatti and not actually reaching the missing points on the roof with my outstretched hand and sponge.

It wasn’t until a hand enveloped mine taking the sponge from it that I even noticed Yuzu was back.

“What are you doing?” His question felt absurd so I decided to joke.

“Hunting elephants.” I tried to turn only to find myself pinned to the side of the car by him. His tall frame easily overpowering me. “I’ll ask you the same what are you doing?”

“I thought you were trying to tempt me. I’m just playing along.” His mouth was hovering near my ear and the grip on my hip was flexing like his hands had done before on the steering wheel. Large strong hands began kneading at my body like it was pasta dough.

Shamelessly I went limp against him. The weather was too hot for me to bother thinking of fighting back as usual. Our little games of cat and mouse we both enjoyed was a distant idea for another day. I let his hand travel further round to the ties at my waist, those skilled fingers loosening the shorts with ease.

All the time I remained “helplessly” pinned to the car by his body and his other hand sliding up my arm and pulling the chopsticks from my hair letting it tumble free.

“So compliant. That’s not like you at all.” He gave a dark chuckle that sent a chill down my spine. I couldn’t let that go and turned to give him a piece of my mind.

“I’ll have you know I--” Words died the instant I met that dry ice gaze. His dark eyes were an inky black reflecting only me and all hope I had of putting up a front with him melted in that passionate heat.

“You what?” He held me frozen in place that smirk on his lips felt very like him at a time like this. Yuzu always became a tease when things were taking a steamy turn. “You know you missed several spots?”

He pulled back his heat leaving me feeling the cool, dampness of the clothes I was standing in. I felt my body betray me with a whimper I barely silenced.

“I can’t reach all of it.” I knew I was pouting but right now this had been the closest contact we had had in a while and I was far from wanting to play coy. “Can you help me?”

Holding out the sponge to him I gave it a squeeze letting the suds run across my skin and smiled watching his adam’s apple bob under that thin infuriating turtleneck of his. Without a word he pulled his top off exposing that mass of well-toned muscle and lean physique, he worked hard to maintain with his demanding job. It was my turn for my throat to go dry as he took the sponge and loaded it with soapy water from the bucket.

“Come here.” His command had me moving automatically and I watched him slap the wet sponge on the bonnet of the car. “Take it.” I did as I was told only to feel my body pulled back by my hips. “I said take it.”

“I’m trying but you’re not helping.” My complaint was indignant but still playful. His hands were running over my thighs delving into the fabric of the shorts from below pushing them higher exposing more of my legs to the world.

“I can’t help until I see where you need my help.” His breath was like a vapour at this point. His body was burning up and I could feel the pressure of his desire against me. My grip on the sponge grew limp all I wanted was to be with him now the car be damned. “What giving up before the job is done? That isn’t like you.”

“Mmm, Yuzu.” I ignored how in control he was and was willing to blame the heat of the day for the fire swelling inside me and how I rubbed my ass purposely against him. It was an invitation he was all too willing to answer.

In a flash, my arms were pushed high over my head the water of the sponge ran in a river over the bonnet soaking through my shirt between my breasts. His hands removed the shorts and underwear in one fast motion like he was removing a band-aid. Even with the lack of breeze outside, I shuddered at the exposure.

With one hand reaching down to burry his fingers inside me he used the other to reach up over me taking the sponge and pushing it around me. The wet sounds from me and the squelch of the sponge in my ears had me squirming under him. The different places the water touched on my skin felt like he was running his tongue all over me and I arched my body into his firm chest as he covered me.

“I don’t think this is going to cut it.” He denounced the sponge. holding it high over my back and squeezing it dry over my exposed skin before tossing it from the car and flipped me over. My body felt limp in the heat but I managed to remove the painful knot of the wet fabric at my back and hitch myself up a little higher on the car so I was at a better angle.

He let out an appreciative guttural moan that sounded far more animalistic than usual.

“You like cleaning the car then huh?” I teased with what was left of my composure.

Yuzu moved to between my thighs soundlessly and dragged his hot tongue in a long slow swipe through my folds. I tilted my head back blinded by the bright sun and in total disbelief that we were even doing this. When had I become so into sex that this was my life? Did I care? I glanced down and was met with his eyes staring at me from over my pubic mound. He sucked on that bundle of nerves and gave me a little nip on the inside of my thigh.

“What are you thinking?” He asked as he played with his fingers inside me. Scissoring them moving both fast and slow.

“Y-you. I was t-t-thinking about you Yuzu.”

My reply had him smiling and he then removed his hand and grabbed both my ankles dragging me down the slippery metal towards him.

“You know one of the best things about cleaning a car?” I was stunned speechless. There was something devilish about him that I didn’t see often. He was always passionate with an endless sex drive but this was new. He leaned over me his face in front of mine blocking out the sun making it hard to see him. “It’s the getting it dirty to start with.”

Before my eyes could adjust to see him clearly I felt a familiar suffocating pressure from below as he filled me up with his length. With every roll of his hips, it had me bouncing against the bonnet. The water trapped under me foamed with the fabric of my shirt and moved me around in unpredictable ways. The even rhythm from him coupled with my body's unrulily movements thanks to the lubrication of the soap on the car had me reaching the edge faster than normal.

“Ah! Yuzu… I … I’m so close.”

He seemed to speed up and target all the parts of my body he knew I liked. Thanks to the clinging shirt, my nipples were clearly visible and found their way into his mouth where he nipped at them with his teeth. He used his mouth to cover the exposed patches of my torso playing a game of hide and seek with the wet fabric driving my mind further to oblivion.

Right when I thought I was going to reach my limit, he stopped. He left himself inside me but refused to move. I mewed and looked up at him. He was panting, sweat dripping over him. I tried to move my own hips to get more but he just remained still looking at me.

“Yuzu?” I was confused. Why had he stopped?

“I love you Mc.” His confession was quiet but touched my heart as clearly as if he had screamed it.

“I love you too Yuzu.”

“I know.” He picked up the movement as if he had never stopped. The devilish smile on his face replaced by an erotic pleasure mask that had my own heart soaring.

Under the summer sky in an isolated part of the English countryside, we connected over and over again. Our cries and moans melting into the nature surrounding us. Our love and passion driving us forward burning hotter than the sun long after it had set.

---

[oumakokichi]

Hello!! Since I saw you were enjoying YTTD, what do you think about Sou and possible parallels to be drawn between him and Kokichi? Love your blog!

Oh boy, that’s a pretty great question. I had a feeling when I started YTTD that it was only a matter of time before Sou wound up being my favorite, and I wasn’t proven wrong over the course of the game. There are definitely some similarities between the two of them—and some differences too!

Spoilers for both games under the cut, so be careful when reading!

Well, to start with the similarities: they both lie. Uh, a lot. In fact, lying is sort of the most memorable thing about both of their characters.

Kodaka has stated that Ouma represents ndrv3’s entire theme of lying on multiple occasions, and I don’t think anyone needs any convincing that lying is Ouma’s entire schtick. With Sou, Nankidai has never (as far as I know) said anything about him representing the concept or idea of “lies,” but it’s still pretty evident nonetheless from the narrative.

Where Sara tries to keep the group united and cooperating with each other honestly, Sou undermines her attempts at nearly every opportunity and lies time and time again, both in and out of the main game. Even his theme song emphasizes how much he lies. Vgperson did a great job translating the title in my opinion by making it “Not So, Sou,” and in Japanese the title is “Sou no Uso”—a play on the fact that his name is a rearrangement of the Japanese word for “lie.”

They even have a few physical similarities as well: Sou is physically taller and older, but both of them are fairly scrawny, underweight (this is lampshaded with Sou in Your Turn to Shine by the fact that he can put off dying from starvation for at least one extra turn), and of course, they both wear scarves.

I have actually seen a few people in the DR fandom call Sou “green Komaeda” when playing YTTD for the first time, probably due to his role as the “trickster” character within the main game, but I honestly think it’s much fairer to say he’s similar to Ouma instead. If anything, it’s kind of hard to not see the similarities between the two when going from one game to the other.

Ouma does, after all, go out of his way to antagonize people within trials as well, and both he and Sou are considerably paranoid and mistrustful of others’ intentions. Both of them are all too happy to play the role of the villain even if it means being hated by everyone else, because they want to make it out of their respective killing games alive and they don’t trust anyone who talks openly about “cooperating” and “believing in each other.”

Of course, that’s not to say that the two of them are carbon copies of each other. Sou is similar to Ouma, but he’s definitely not identical. Their key differences are easier to see when you look past their surface-level personas, as well as their motivations for why they do the things they do.

To put it simply, both of them lie, but for almost completely different reasons. It’s true that Ouma in part does lie because of his own paranoia and lack of trust for the rest of the group—but also, Ouma just really, really loves lying. It’s a core part of his character; he states multiple times that he believes having the ability to lie is the same as having free will, and this shows how deeply he resents the idea of “having” to tell the truth, or well, being “forced” to do anything, really.

He also lies to entertain. He says so pretty explicitly in his salmon mode ending, and it’s absolutely not a lie: Ouma is someone who loves being dramatic, over-the-top, and entertaining. He hates being bored, and he hates the idea of boring other people even more.

After playing ndrv3 at least once, it’s really easy to see that deep down he’s just a clown with a love for funny wigs and really dumb pranks, so I wholeheartedly believe that even outside of a killing game, Ouma would still lie all the time (in fact he does, again, in his salmon mode route). It’s just that his lies would lack any malice or hostility to them.

The thing that sets Ouma apart from many other “bastard trickster” characters in fiction is that his love for lies isn’t some of act or façade that he’s putting on. He enjoys it in the same way that a kid enjoys making a prank phone call or putting a whoopee cushion on someone’s chair. Within the constraints of a killing game, it’s absolutely true that Ouma is cold, calculating, and manipulative—but he’s also genuinely childish, fun-loving, and silly. These traits are honestly the reason I love Ouma so much as a character and find him so interesting.

By contrast, Sou lies out of absolute necessity. Knowing that he has a 0% chance of survival only increases his desire to make it out of the game alive all the more, and solidifies his distrust in Sara with her high rate of survival. He lies out of sheer desperation, willing to talk and act like a completely different person from his true self if it means giving himself even the slightest sliver of an opportunity to stay alive.

Even his name (his real name, that is), reflects this. He took on both the name and, to some degree, the persona of the real Sou Hiyori: a first name that is, like I said, an anagram of the word “lie,” and a surname that means “sunny.” By contrast, his actual name, “Shin Tsukimi,” means “truth” and “moon-viewing.” Before the events of YTTD, Shin Tsukimi was an extremely gentle, timid person who was honest and trusting to a fault, further confirmed when we actually see an AI of him in chapter 3 who acts completely different from Sou as we know him.

Sou might put on an act and pretend that he enjoys lying and being a huge bastard in the middle of the main game, but he’s not nearly as good at keeping up the villain façade as Ouma, and his cracks show a lot easier. Multiple characters, particularly Sara, Kanna, and Keiji, call Sou out on his bad acting at various times, and insist that he isn’t nearly as evil or uncaring as he’d like to pretend. This is a sharp change from Ouma, who remained an enigma even after his death and played the part of the ringleader so well that nearly everyone still believed he was a Remnant of Despair until nearly halfway through the chapter 6 trial.

From what we can see of Sou’s personality, both in YTTD and YTTS, he’s not lying because he likes the fun of it all, or because he’s just a kid who loves pranking people deep down. He’s really, truly scared shitless and eaten alive by his own paranoia for pretty much the entirety of YTTD, and while he’s certainly not the trusting or naïve Shin Tsukimi anymore, he nonetheless tends to still show signs of being quiet, timid, and occasionally even grumpy and closed-off from other people.

For example, Sara has multiple opportunities to tease him or attempt to befriend him throughout the game. When you teasingly insist that you’ve “always been close friends” with him during the second half of chapter 2, he looks completely startled and taken aback, even a little horrified at her persistence in wanting to get to know him after all the stunts that he’s pulled. You can also have Sara bother him while he’s working on the laptop after they get rid of Mishima’s AI, to which he responds with more and more irritation. In my opinion, I get the sense that Sou is more used to being the butt of jokes rather than making them, and doesn’t enjoy feeling as though someone’s poking fun at him, even if people like Sara are doing it with good intentions.

While I called them both scrawny earlier, I do want to clarify that I absolutely, unironically think Sou is weaker than Ouma physically too. Ouma isn’t exactly super strong or anything; he complains when lifting the inugami statue with Saihara in chapter 3, and he doesn’t seem to like PE class from some of his dialogue in salmon mode. But it’s really clear that Ouma does hide some of his aces up his sleeve, and that he can punch a hell of a lot harder than he lets on, like in chapter 5 when he counters Momota’s second attempt to punch him.

Meanwhile Sou… Sou struggles to open cabinet doors and probably pickle jars too. He has weaker physical strength than both Kanna, a middle schooler, and Gin, an elementary schooler, in his YTTS stats. I love him to pieces, I think he’s a fantastic character, but it’s just too funny. Sou is not merely scrawny, he’s essentially the biggest, weakest pushover despite being around 20 years old or so and I think that’s great.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts on the similarities and differences between the two of them! Both of them are absolutely willing to go to extreme lengths in order to try and survive their respective killing games, and they’re both extremely paranoid and distrustful of others. But removed from the killing game, Ouma is pretty clearly someone who aspires to be a clown (both a class clown and a literal, pie-throwing, nose-honking party clown) and to entertain others, while Sou is honestly just an exhausted and extremely grumpy convenience store worker bordering on unemployment who has zero upper body strength and just wants to be left alone.

Thank you for the really fun question, anon! I really love both Sou and Ouma, so I had fun getting to write this meta for them!

[bornfrcmchaos]

I very rarely share anything personal on any of my social media accounts. Mostly because I try to distance myself from any sort of conflict therefore I rarely have any opinion to share, but also because for the majority of time I have been online, I have thrived to gain more followers, therefore somewhat compromised with my own beliefs to benefit the majority. It’s also why I find it so hard to write this post now and I have already deleted it and started over a couple of times.

It started with the so called #natebuzzisoverparty going viral at the moment over someone with different opinion because canceled by default by society because his beliefs differ from these of the majority. I saw a couple hateful comments which clearly just show how most of us simply read inbetween the lines. 

This may be the main reason for this post to exist but it’s not the sole one. I think what’s the base of it, is the fact how hateful people have grown over the years and how toxic fandoms had become. I’m noticing a serious increase in celebrities being canceled by society over their actions and don’t get me wrong. I don’t defend anyone and I’m not okay with any bad decisions they might have made but what people seem to forget is, they are people just like us. And people aren’t perfect. People make mistake (not that I do believe Nate had made any mistake in simply sharing HIS OWN PERSONAL BELIEF on a matter). It’s just something you should always keep in mind when about to attack someone. Think how it’ll make you feel waking up to hateful dms, comments, etc. Think how it’ll make your loved ones feel. Also, think about the pressure society had put on these people given that they will be someone else’s role model.

I know just by this statement alone I will get a lot of hate anons but I’m already used to those. I have received one solely because of an edit posted on my resource blog, making me explain how it doesn’t mean I support toxic relationships just because I have posted a cute scene, which happens to involve such couple. Yet for those who choose to view life only from e certain point, it’ll always look this way and I’m fine with it. 

I don’t try to change your opinion, but I do hope you like a moment to read this post and push behind any prejudices you might have while doing so. It’s okay if you still firmly believe in your opinion. Nor I, nor Nate have tried to tell you how you should live your life. But if there is at least one person, who reads this and at least tried to see the other point of view rather than just respond with hate and denial to it by default, then I’d be happy. Because it personally hurts me to see someone with such pure and genuine view of the world be shunned by the society of primarily non-believers.

I’m neither pro-life, nor pro-choice. The reason I choose not to take stand on the matter is because I try to accept that everyone has freedom to choose which side to take. However, what I see is that the majority of pro-choice followers main argument against pro-life followers revolves around rape. Let me give you some food for thought then - which is harder in your opinion - getting rid of a fetus, which is just “a few cells” with no opinion after all, or learning to love this child despite it all? I have read a dozen stories of rape victims, chosing to keep the baby and growing to love it. I don’t say it’s not traumatic. It’s traumatic either way and I think what many pro-choice followers tend to forget that there are times when people later regret the decision they’ve made. Plus, often an abortion can be a traumatic experience on it’s own, which only may add to an already existing trauma. Morever, to anyone who says it’s just “a few cells”, may I remind you that you were also  “a few cells” once, so imagine how it would make you feel, if it was your mother thinking that way and making the decision to abort you. In a time when we fight for human rights and claim that life matters it’s the most hypocritical way to say that anything, which may later turn into an actual human being is  just “a few cells”. It seems to me that you simply put human’s life in the same category as a virus or other one-cell organism you may learn about in biology classes. Think how this makes you feel and maybe then you may understand where the pro-lifers point of view comes. 

That said, I once again remind you I chose to stand in the middle, not taking sides. Simply observing and admiting each party has it’s arguments and I think that’s the attitude each of has to show. I know it may be hard when you’re standing on one side of the matter, but if you just choose to not read inbetween the lines and see only this which supports your arguement against, you may actually see that there are people who don’t try to change your view but simply to make you think. Think how hypocritical it is to claim unborn child’s life matters less than that of a grown-ass human.

And since I have also seen people claiming Nate is homophobic and anti-muslim... I’m sure many would say I’m homophobic too, once they hear my opinion on the matter. But just like my stand on abortion, I neither stand against, nor approve of the constant idea of showing LGBTQ+ movements on any possible platform. Don’t get me wrong, I am very respectful of people, who feel attracted to the same gender or both genders, etc. I’m a fan of Vanessa Morgan as you may see and I like Choni as you may also see in my blog. However, it bugs me how all of a sudden every tv show, movie or book made it a trend to involve at least one character from this community. What bugs me even more it that people within this community approve of it. Like their are simply scared to be differect and want society to accept them, but not accept that it’s normal to be different but rather tranform into a society where this is okay by default. 

As for the anti-muslim part... Religion is always a tough subject to be discussed. In fact, it’s one many choose to avoid at all cost and those who happen to not avoid it usually end up being called out as being anti certain religion. But if you have followed Nate’s instagram account for long enough, you’ll notice on many occasions he’d admitted he had muslim friends he STILL keeps in touch with, meaning he’s not anti-muslim if people choose to keep in touch with him despite his beliefs or shared opinions. Being told part of your religion is false, is hard. I come from a place where people were forced to give up their religion and where Christians and Muslims now live in somewhat of peace but there are still rivalry. So it may be hard for you to get it, if you’re not from such region, or if you’re a Muslim and you’ve been taught there is only one true faith because I have studied islamic law, which is very closely related to religion, so I know how it is. But please do not mistake it when someone tries to point out the difference between both and educate you as being against it. But also, just like it hurts you when once cancels your religion, so does it hurt when you cancel their own.

If you’ve reached the end of this post. Thank you! Thank you for taking the time to read it and I hope it made you go on about your life with a bit more kindness towards others, a bit more love instead of hate and a bit more appreciation that everyone deserves to believe in what’s right and what’s in alignment with their values and beliefs. Stay safe and do all with love and kindness!

[ardenttheories]

I don't expect a super serious answer from this, but I'm just curious. in a perfect world, how would hs^2 be written? do you have any particular headcanons or plot lines that would be interesting to explore? I understand the hesitation in answering a question like this, because other people might try to discredit your critiques under the guise of "well its not ur headcanons so that's why ur mad". anyways, just curious because I respect your perspective and ideas

In complete honesty? The first thing I would consider vital is a diverse team of people - genuinely diverse - to consider every point of representation with. I’m talking people of different races (to avoid the anti-black coding of Gamzee), with mental illnesses (to avoid the ableism in both Gamzee and Dirk), with different gender identities (to more accurately and healthily portray Jade, Roxy, Vriska, June - any character we could feasibly want to make trans or nonbinary), with different romanticisms and sexualities (so that we could write genuine MLM and WLW relationships without falling into homophobic pitfalls; to avoid biphobic stereotypes), and overall, with different traumatic experiences and triggers (so that we could more accurately gauge what triggers would need to be tagged and how to go over them in an appropriate and respectful manner).

We could never be 100% perfect, but with a team like that, we could at least get close to it. 

Additionally, I’d bring back either fan prompts or closely listen to fan theories and conversations. Homestuck^2 was touted to be written with the fandom in mind; to consider the direction we were asking it to go in, while basing it around a general barebones structure. I’d want to make sure we were including as much of that in as humanly possible. So, if a fan theory seemed like it’d fit into the story? I’d want to include that with the rest of the text; if the fans liked a specific character? I’d want to try and include them more often. Little things to show that we’re listening and that we’re writing the story WITH the fans - like how early Homestuck used to be.

On an actual storyline basis, I really do love the concept of Meat and Candy; that there’s one timeline that goes off the rails and one that is very rigidly stuck to a track. I wouldn’t want to change that concept entirely, but I would want to make it more palpatable for people to read. 

This would mean, for me, absolutely getting rid of anything to do with Yiffany. I’d completely replace that with Dave and Jade having a child together via ectobiology; how Jade has to raise their child in Dave’s absence after he goes missing, how that affects her, who she turns to for comfort and help. 

I’d want to focus Candy more on that feeling of helplessness and dissociation. On John feeling adrift in a world that doesn’t quite connect with him, that doesn’t entirely feel real; how that would affect his relationships, his friends, his family. In this timeline, all of the rebellion stuff would be completely background to the interpersonal connections everyone has (the things that supposedly don’t matter, as is the point of Candy), with much more emphasis on how useless and frivolous the whole war is. It’d get to a point where nobody actually knows why they’re fighting anymore except for the fact that they are, and that even Jane, who started it out of a genuine fear for the human race, is getting tired of it, is losing resources, is starting to realise that she’s drifting away from her own child. 

A truce would be garnered, started by Jane who just very much wants to reconnect with her son, with Karkat taking on the role as troll emissiary. It features long talks in a large, empty room, pouring over papers, where Jane admits that she doesn’t actually know what anyone is up to these days, how long it’s been since she’s seen her husband, since she’s seen John, and Karkat quietly confesses that it’s been several years since he’s seen Dave or Jade, and that he misses them both. 

After that, a lot of the content of Candy would focus on healing. They would get back to their happily ever after, even though some things would never be the same, and there would still be inconsequentialities. It would also correspond with John coming to the slow realisation that he really doesn’t need a plot to be happy at all; that just because it doesn’t matter to the overarching story doesn’t mean it can’t matter to him. 

The Candy timeline, therefore, would close early; it would fade from our view just as Dirk feared, but it would be happy and content, and free from any further meddling. I’d essentially want to enforce this idea that, yes, we can still have happy endings - even if they aren’t “full of meaning”. They can still be satisfying.

The Meat timeline, on the other hand, would have a significant focus on Dirk and his attempts to continue the plot. I think it would be fun, admittedly, if nothing went the way he thought it would. That after all of his villany and his acceptance of destruction in order to facilitate something he thought would be better, he actually just lost complete and utter control. 

The plot isn’t something that he alone can continue. It’s created with character conflict, with motivations and rises and falls and losses and gains; trying to recreate SBURB, to try and restart the cycle, isn’t what a plot needs to be. It isn’t what he thinks it will do. 

I’m unsure if you’ve seen this recently, but there’s been a lot of fanwork around the Lord!Jake English idea that went around several years back (when people saw the Caliborn sona). Now, this I’d want to put into it. 

Jake, fed up with being stepped on, walked over, hurt, suffering from the trauma of being completely and utterly ruined by Dirk, absolutely flips shit. He chases after Dirk to seek revenge, to cut short whatever bullshit he’s trying to do, and therefore much of the comic becomes this constant back and forth with an increasing fear for Dirk the closer Jake gets as he traverses Paradox Space.

It’s very much clear that when Jake arrives, Dirk will lose. There’s no question about it. Nobody suggests that anything else will happen. There’s several arguments on Meat’s Earth C over whether or not they should try to stop Jake, or let him stop Dirk - and whether or not Jake will calm down afterwards or continue his rampage. 

In the end, Dirk fails. Jake catches up to him, and just before he hits the killing blow, the entire thing goes dark. Our narrator dead, the plot abandoned; there is nothing more to see. This I would want to use to enforce the idea that, yes, plot can still be satisfying as hell and still have integral moments and be heavy and harsh - but it can also end in a way that leaves open questions because that shows that it isn’t the best ending you can get. 

And then we jump back to Terezi, using her Seer powers. Both timelines have been her trying to use her powers to See what’s in store, where she should go, what she should do. She’s still floating through Paradox Space, looking for Vriska, and as such she’s met with this... sort of internal dilemma. 

She knows, now, that the chances of her dying out here are high. She also knows that even if she does survive, she’s pretty much never going to see Vriska again anyway. She knows there’s a chance at a happier relationship with John, and that the only way she can get that is if she somehow manages to make a timeline where Meat and Candy merge together at once. 

So, she flies back. She manages to arrive on Earth C the day of John’s big decision, and interrupts him before he can go to the picnic. Through their dialogue, John gets it stuck in his head that, hey, there’s something BIGGER out here that you need to do, but you need to do that amazing thing again where you make a third Choice.

When John arrives at the picnic, he decides to eat some of the pumpkin instead - to which you might be thinking, what pumpkin? The one he put there, of course, using his retcon powers.

So we start on the Pumpkin timeline, written entirely in the 1st person narrative from John’s POV. It’s a completely biased interpretation of what’s going on, but it’s honest to John’s own thoughts and feelings, too, allowing everyone to act the way they usually would do without any influence, but still having a narrative touch. 

It shows John actively fighting to free the timeline from Dirk’s and Alternate Calliope’s narrative controls, those little hooks they’ve planted in it since time began, with a lot of back-and-forth as the two talk to John through the narration (which, he hears their voices as thoughts in his head). 

John attempts to free them both from their own biases and chains, encouraging Alternate!Calliope to leave the space she’s isolated herself in and join Earth C while convincing Dirk to undo the bullshit villain schtick he’s on (and that plot or no plot, there’s still a reason worth living for). 

It’d be a timeline filled with references back to original Homestuck (and funny quips from both Alternate!Calliope and Dirk along the way), a lot of morality discussion, plenty of theorising on narrative control and arcs and the placement of plot and fluff in a satisfying story, and have plenty of representation and romance and hints towards kids, too (such as nonbinary RoxyJaneCallie, DaveJadeKat, aromantic Jake, JohnDirk [because I couldn’t stop myself, honestly, with how their Classpects work so well hand in hand], and definitely RoseMary being the first to adopt a child that they absolutely do not call Vriska). 

It’d fill plotholes the fandom wants to be filled, and it’d have drama, of course, in the form of figuring out a way to destroy Lord English that doesn’t inherently lead to the Candy timeline. But it’d go back and forth between the heavy, plot-filled moments and the slower, relationship-based moments, with more humanising and development of Dirk and Alternate!Calliope and John as rounded characters.

That’s the best my tired mind can come up with right now. It’s something I’ve daydreamed about a lot, actually; how I’d rewrite Homestuck^2, or what my own ending to Homestuck would be using it as a foundation. I hope it makes sense! It’s a fun little thought experiment, honestly.

[jediknightgoofball]

One Last Thing // Steve Rogers

READ AUTHOR’S NOTE

Fandom: Marvel Pairing: Steve x reader Word count: 1,381 Warnings: None really

**A/N: This post does contain very minor plot spoilers for Endgame, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet or you don’t want to ruin the experience for yourself I would advise you to keep scrolling :)

Also, I normally don’t write imagines for Marvel, but watching Endgame just rejuvenated my love for Cap so here we go.

A small smirk covered your lips as you examined the new suit given to you by Tony. While your knowledge on quantum physics was as limited as the percent of body fat on Steve Rogers’s body, you knew that its kinetic fibers would protect you in your attempt at time travel. The concept had always frightened you, as you harbored a genuine fear for the unknown, but those stones have to be located if it means bringing back your friends. Your family.

Besides, you looked good. Who would have thought that red and white complimented each other so perfectly?

“Lang,” You greeted the older man with a tilt of your chin, crossing your arms as you watched him wring his hands and scratch at the back of his neck. He hardly spared you a second glance, mumbling incoherently to himself. You pressed further. “Scott.”

His startled green eyes met yours, jaw popping open for a fraction of a second before he composed himself. You rose a brow in disinterest as he straightened his posture, puffing up his chest to appear more stereotypically masculine. “Hi, yes. It is I, Scott Lang: an emotionally stable man who could defeat Thanos in his sleep. I just wanted the rest of you to feel like you had a shot before I went and finished the job myself, thus I came to you for help. I’m very strong.”

“Dude, cut the crap.” You demanded half-heartedly, gaze softening. “This will work, okay? You’ll get to see Hope again, and we can get rid of that purple bastard for good.”

“I know, I know.” He returned, almost sounding defeated before the battle had even begun. “I guess I’m overwhelmed by, just, everything. So much is happening all at once with so much at risk. One wrong step, and I could ruin this for not only myself but everyone.”

“Scott Lang, you are the toughest Ant-Man I know—”

“—there are other Ant-Mans?!—”

“—and you’re not gonna screw up anything, because we’re all gonna be covering each others’ asses out there. We’re a team. A family. We’re all in this thing together.”

“She’s right, Scott.”

Ignoring the tremor that ran through your body at the sound of his voice, the corner of your lip curled upwards as Steve Rogers, Captain America, joined the two of you. He met your eyes briefly before focusing on Scott, his cheeks now carrying a faint pink hue. “We are a family, and families stick together. It won’t be any different for us. We’re gonna go back in time, get to those gems before Thanos, and bring back our friends.”

“God, you guys are good together.” Scott uttered before giving much thought to his words. The compliment caught you off guard, as you choked on your breath while Steve’s face became a deep shade of red. Scott’s eyes widened as he attempted to save himself. “Oh, I didn’t mean it in that way, of course! I was just trying to say that you’re really good at those motivational speech things. You knew that, right? God, maybe I should permanently stitch my mouth shut.”

“Yeah, why would we—”

“How about we just get back to the others?” You suggested, sending a tight-lipped smile to convey your need to evade this conversation topic.

“Great idea!” Steve agreed a little too enthusiastically, the excitement in his tone making you jolt in surprise. Shaking off what may have been the worst interaction in your life, you led the two men back to the rest of your friends.

“We ready to do this?” Natasha wasted no time for pleasantries as she lifted an eyebrow in question. “I know I am.”

“Sure, why not?” Scott responded, nervously, but you could tell from the newfound determination on his face that he was ready.

“Let’s do this.” Bruce said.

“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.” Clint stated, a hard look in his eyes from all the pain he had endured due to Thanos.

“Hell yeah!” Rocket cheered. “Let’s get this dirtbag, once and for all.”

Thor tipped his head back to chug the soda in his hand before crushing the can and releasing a belch that caused even you to crack a smile. “I’m with the Rabbit.”

“Well, majority rules.” Tony pointed out, an edge to his tone that hid his true levels of excitement to be working with the team again. “Let’s go save our friends, and hopefully the world.”

Natasha guided the temporary remaining members of the Avengers to the Quantum Portal. Your friends followed her, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do the same. Something was holding you back. Or someone.

“Actually, Steve,” There was a waiver to your voice, and you silently cursed yourself for waiting so late to do what you were about to do. The man stopped in his tracks and looked back at you, brows furrowed in question. You sighed shakily, suddenly hating the way feelings made you feel. Your spoke quietly so as to not alert the other seven people who will definitely tease you about this once everything is back in order. “Can I talk to you about something for a second?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Everything alright back there, you two?” Tony shouted, but the dryness in your throat made you unable to speak above anything more than a whisper.

Steve took note of this, probably because he’s never seen you in such an emotional state before, and answered for you. “Yeah, we’ll be over there in a minute.”

“Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty—ow! What the hell, Iron Moron?!”

“Don’t make me get a muzzle, because I can make that happen.”

Steve shuffled into your line of sight, his calm and reassuring baby blues giving you the courage to catch your breath. “What is it?”

In a terrifyingly accurate Lang-like fashion, an avalanche of words tumbled from your mouth before you could organize your thoughts. “Okay, so, this one thing has really been bugging me that revolves around the two of us. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it ever since we met, but, obviously that never happened. I guess it’s because of these stupid walls I put up to block out anyone who I find myself even the sligh—”

Steve’s touch was gentle yet persistent. Kind yet urgent. Loving yet determined. His lips were soft and warm, like a field of flowers on an enchanting summer day. His hands held your face in such a way that anchored you to him. The two of you became one as he drew your body in closer, your hands finding a place to rest on his chest. Every emotion running through your bodies could be felt within the embrace.

The urgency of the mission.

The secret fear you held for its outcome.

The doubts you hid to be a strong leader for your teammates.

The ambition to bring back your friends.

The passion you held for one another.

As you parted for air, your eyes remained closed. After pushing back the desire for any chance of happiness for yourself, you had finally fought those inner demons to find love. You finally had him. You wanted to bask in this moment of self-glory in his arms for eternity, but even a couple more seconds would suffice.

Rowdy cheers and applause were what forced you to open your eyes to the genuine smiles on the faces of those you loved. Seeing them celebrating in a time such as this lightened the weight on your shoulders, as living a life like yours required you to seize every moment of laughter that you could.

Steve’s smile widened upon seeing your happy expression. He brushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear, before slightly shaking his head in bewilderment at the sight before him. “You ready to go restore humanity, doll?”

“Always,” You kissed his pink cheek, your smile falling the slightest bit as you said your next words. “Just don’t die on me, Rogers.”

“And you be careful.”

“When am I not?” You winked, poking his nose.

The two of you rejoined the team in the Quantum Portal where you would be sent back to the past. You locked eyes with Tony across the way, who flashed you a quick thumbs up and a wink.

From that point forward, you all began the mission to save your friends, and hopefully the world.

[jazillia007]

Thoughts on 2x13 - Part 1

So first of all, I have to say I'm very glad I didn't watch the episode live with the emotions coming in left and right and all the drama happening in the fandom right after the episode.

I watched the episode knowing what's coming, so that was kinda cheating on my part but it definitely helped to focus on everything else happening in the episode.

Overall I can say it was a terribly written episode – it felt like a episode quickly written in case Good Girls didn't get a renewal (season 2 had obviously finished filming when it got its renewal, so they definitely didn't think about whether it would feel out of character or moving too fast.)

Because – and I don't care if I get hate for this – I could see Brio ending up in a situation like they ended up in this episode. But let's talk about the other things first.

Annie and Noah (because it's quick):

I never really cared about them. I don't care about Noah having a kid – trying to make it all okay he did lie to Annie and raped her by deception. So you guys talked it out and now it's okay? No, thanks. And do I think he will leave? Well only season 3 will tell. Also I was low-key grossed out by Annie sitting on the toilet doing her business while talking to Noah. They still know eachother for 5 minutes and I just think it's gross. (I know there are couples who do this kind of stuff but personally my toilet business is my toilet business. lol)

Boomer – Marion – Redemption – WTF?:

First of all: why did we need Boomer to be alive again? After watching episode 12 I was like „okay maybe there is a reason why the writers messed with us“ but now I just think it was really for the shocker and mostly cringeworthy scenes.

The dining room scene was terrible. Who wrote it? Jenna, was that you?

Boomer being like „I'm gonna change my face and nobody will recognize me“. Like what? This felt straight out of a Korean drama (if anyone is watching Korean drama, you all know what I mean). It was way too long, way too over the top and not funny. And then Boomer is coming at the 3 women with Jeff? How does he know about Jeff? Did I miss anything? Did I miss Mary Pat telling him about her husband? People in the fandom, help me out! Did I zoom out while this conversation happened?

But also: I don't get Beth's reasoning here. Ruby is right! Get rid off the rest of Jeff and call the cops on Boomer! Heck, why didn't they tell Boomer about how he should shut up about Jeff when he is dirty himself. All the business in Fine & Frugals aside he is also a rapist.

And then, you have Marion driving him to the cops?

Okay, I know a lot of people don't like it that they somewhat gave these two a half-ass written redemption arc. Like Marion is a racist granny and Boomer is... well he is Boomer. Basically he is trash, okay?

But putting aside my personal aversion to these two, I actually liked that Marion did what she did. In the end she knew Boomer was stealing from her and all that. And the way he ordered her around in the beginning of the episode, I was like „Marion, grow a backbone!“. So in that regard, I liked it.

BUT Boomer got away too easily. Neither Annie nor Mary Pat got their chance to tell him off. Will he go to prison? Or get away just like that? I believe unfortunately he will.

Like I said it's half-ass written and not satisfying at all. Just like the episode overall.

Beth's „reasoning“:

I know Beth is a woman with flaws. To a point I feel second-hand embarassement watching her making the same mistakes over and over again. She does and did many decisions which made me facepalm throughout each episode. But some decisions were reasonable or at least understandable for someone without any experience and a certain naivety. We can't expect Beth to be this professional criminal, just like Rio is.

As some pointed out she does make rash decisions when she feels cornered but in this episode I couldn't make sense out of her decisions at all.

How exactly would it help her to pay Boomer money for the crazy facial surgery and for everything else? I'm Ruby in this scene who can't make sense of Beth. Didn't she learn a thing?

If you don't take care of your rotten egg it will spread like a disease – if there is one lesson Beth should remember it's this one – and Boomer is certainly someone who would always come back no matter what, to blackmail and for more cash.

Same with her turning herself in. It showed she was always the caregiver in this group of 3 women and I understand she believes that turning herself in would stop Turner going after the Hills and Annie.

BUT again this falls flat because why would you turn yourself in for the murder of Leslie Petersen aka Boomer when he is alive and well? It would've made sense IF Beth, Ruby and Annie didn't know Boomer was still alive and they genuinely thought the body was his. But that's not the case.

I can't believe they didn't come up with something else. Any fan theory/idea was better than what the writers gave us in this episode.

It's such lazy writing.

Beth the „King“?:

This makes no sense to me at all, not just throughout the whole last bit of the episode but the show so far.

I know some in the fandom wouldn't mind Beth doing her own business without Rio. And all I can ask is: but HOW!?

It's not like I wouldn't agree but if anything that would be a plot I could see happening at the end of season 3 if well-written. In the end we want Beth and Rio to be equals and that can't be achieved – even with a 50/50 deal. Why? Because even with the 50/50 deal, Beth is still 100% not involved in anything going on behind the scenes. For example how Rio perfected his counterfeit money business or his „drug“ business.

I'm also pretty sure Rio didn't tell Beth his recipe how to make the fake cash as legit as possible. In the end he can't trust her enough with these details.

Yes, she can google stuff but I had to laugh quiet a lot at Beth being so proud for producing fake cash with Dean's printer. Okay...

(Also on a sidenote: is it healthy to bake money in chemicals in the same oven you would usually cook your meals in?)

And she is bringing in a random divorced mom who is a designer? Since when is she friends with someone else aside from Ruby and Annie?

I know everyone got to start somewhere but if the season finale proved one thing for sure: it's Beth not being ready for what is ahead of her. She is high on power but to me she came out as weak after shooting Rio. This isn't how I wanted to see Beth to get her own business – again makes no sense at all how she can do it and make as much cash as Rio. He worked for YEARS in this crime world – and certainly she is no King to me.

But I think she will realize that pretty quickly in season 3 that everything isn't that easy. And I can't wait for her to come in touch with other – far less pleasant than Rio – gangsters in town. Plus with her way of not dealing with problems it's likely not going to end well for her.

Dean – Redemption? - WTF 2.0:

The worst thing for me in this episode apart from the shooting scene was probably how they portrayed the relationship between Beth and Dean.

It's Boomer redemption all over again. Lazy writing 101.

But fair enough I didn't see it as Beth and Dean coming back together. I just think in this episode full of self-inflicted turmoil and stress she sought comfort in the person she had been with for 20 years. That's all.

Which doesn't excuse that Dean basically got away with the following things:

he is a cheater. Like he cheated multiple times on Beth.

and he used the lie about sex addiction as a reason why he cheated on her because she wouldn't let him touch while she suffered from post-partum depression.

Dean is also a lying liar because he lied about having CANCER in season 1 because he wanted to keep his property aka his wife.

he undermined Beth's abilities as a businesswoman – let's put aside the crime stuff, she is a LOT better at Dean's job which he HATES.

he also reduces Beth to being a housewife and mother and talks down to her – I've not forgotten his sandwich cookie cutter comment.

he is also unable to get another job because we know how he is, he is unable not to con his own customers and possible future employers can see that from a mile away – but Beth is like „well then it wasn't meant to be?“ like what? Are you serious?

And all seems forgotten now and we get to see Beth and Dean and how they probably were as a not really happy but at least functional couple.

It's almost as if the writers try to gloss over Dean's nonsense because if you look at what Beth did and does it's far worse than what Dean did.

And that's terrible! It's not okay. Because Beth had to do what she did because of Dean! Dean is the reason for all the crap going down in Beth's life. If anything she should blame Dean, not Rio and maybe not even herself...

I can't watch Good Girls as a tv show for female empowerment when Beth doesn't get to call Dean out on his bullshit. And he has the audicity to ask „what went wrong with us?“??

You went wrong, Mister! And Beth didn't get to say it because her look says it all but she just wants to avoid any further conflict.

And that's not okay. It's like the writers gave Beth a muzzle in these scenes and wouldn't let her say what she obviously thinks.

And I’m not even sad about Beth and Dean getting along as parents. Like that's a good decision. Because in the end they have 4 kids and they should be functional as parents.

I'm simply baffled how poorly written Beth's and Dean's conflict is or the lack of addressing it. And that the writers apparently want to have these two in the same house for another season.

I simply have no words anymore.

[runaway-train-works]

11/11/11 Tag 📝 again...

I was tagged by @ham-palpert and @halosboat to do this (thank you darlings!) and they had some great questions so I picked a few from each list to create a list of eleven. And yes, this is my third one but they are fun💕

I realise you are probably all sick of this tag by now, so feel free to ignore this but I’m going to tag eleven different people to answer my questions this time around because I’m nosy and I do genuinely love seeing everyone’s answers to things like this. 

@beau-soleil-louis, @pocketsunshineharry, @kingsofeverything, @crinkle-eyed-boo, @helloamhere, @yourpricelessadvice, @bottomlinsons, @forreveries, @flicker-album, @lightwoodsmagic and @larrymaybe22 😘

My answers and my questions are under the cut.

✍🏻 What trope is your favourite to write?

Hate to say it but enemies to lovers. A healthy dose of sexual tension and angst before the love and fluff, always a winner.

✍🏻 What are your methods for getting rid of a writer’s block?

Writing drabbles. Working on something small and fun that doesn’t really mean anything or require a lot of thinking and plot helps me clear the cobwebs.

✍🏻 Do you consider tags necessary for fics or are they just spoiling the content?

Urgh, I have a serious love/hate relationship with tags. I completely and utterly understand why triggering tags need to used, people need to be safe, but I hate how I feel obliged to tag everything about my fic so people can decide if they are going to read a 40k fic based on a few, possibly out of context, tags. And yes, they are spoilers, sorry that’s a fact. Like my ridiculous fic has a big twist in it and I know I’m going to have to tag what it is because I will get so much shit if don’t and that really annoys me. Also, I think tags are good to be able to find fics again but some tags are completely unnecessary and no good to anyone. You don’t get tags on normal books or movies or tv shows. You get a summary or a trailer and you have to decide for yourself if it’s what you are interested in. People need to be more adventurous and less reliant on tags in my humble opinion.

✍🏻 Was there a fic that made you cry?

Not that I recall, but I don’t read much sad stuff and with happy stuff, I’m more fist bumping the air to myself in bed like the single loser I am than crying with happiness.

✍🏻 Are you participating in any exchanges/fests?

Yes! I’m doing an anon fic for the ridiculous fic exchange (I’m also a mod) which may include a controversial for the fandom trope (👀👀👀), then I’ve got a fluffy mpreg one planned, then my 28 proposals fest fic and then I have an idea for a fic for the royal fic fest which I am super excited about! Basically got the next nine months of fics planned out.

✍🏻 Have you ever been burned by a WIP that never updated?  If so, describe that traumatic experience.

Yes!!! OK so there was a Narry fic ages ago where Harry was a secret admirer of Niall’s but like kinda lowkey stalking him from afar and it was a bit dark to be honest but I got hooked and the writer kept leaving little clues as to who the person might be in Niall’s life and then they stopped updating and then deleted it and I NEVER FOUND OUT WHO HARRY WAS!!!! It was very upsetting. 

✍🏻 Speaking of WIPs, do you like writing (or reading) them?  Why or why not?

Most of the time I avoid them, unless it’s a writer I know is pretty safe to depend on and regularly updates. I worry I’ll get burned AND I also have a shit memory so if they don’t update pretty regularly I forget what’s happened. I’ll be releasing my ABO fic as a WIP but I’m writing the entire thing first so I know it’s good to go.

✍🏻 Do you enjoy writing smut scenes?  Does it make you feel super awkward?  Do you need to have a cigarette afterwards?

Hmmmm. This is hard one (no pun intended). I don’t think I’m very good at writing smut for a start. I read other smutty fics and I’m like ‘jesus, i need a cold shower that was so good’ and I don’t have the talent to make mine like that yet. I do, however, like writing smut in the sense that I love writing the chemistry between the characters and having them be intimate and tender with each other or just go to town and be wild with it, depending on their dynamic and the plot. I hate it because it takes me so long to write a scene because you have to be like ‘shit where was his hand? Are they still in their underwear? Would that position be possible on a sofa? etc etc etc and it can be tedious. I also always want to try and be at least somewhat original somewhere with a smut scene with the way I write it, but there really are only so many ways you can write ‘they fucked’.

✍🏻 Do you click through the recently updated list on AO3 or read exclusively fic recs? Or a bit of both?

I’ve only been on tumblr since last summer, so before that, I literally just had to trawl through Ao3. If I found a fic I liked, I’d then go through the writers back catalogue, then start again with the most recently updated. Now, I go pretty much off fic recs on tumblr. I bookmark a fic I want to read when I see an interesting mood board or people are raving about a fic. my bookmarks are ridiculous at the moment because I’ve not been reading nearly as often since I changed my job and no longer travel for an hour there and back every day.

✍🏻 Are you someone who comments on the fics you read (and liked)?

I’m so bad at this. I don’t know what to say other than ‘i loved this it was cute/hot’. I know I should comment more because I know how lovely it is to receive them, but I guess I’m just too self-conscious about it or something stupid.

✍🏻 Of all the fics you’ve written, which one came to you the easiest?

My camboy one No One But You Got Me Feeling This Way. The whole thing popped into my head fully formed and I literally wrote it in a day.

✨Here are my 11 questions:

What fic/trope do you really want to write but haven’t yet?

What was the first ever fic you wrote and what made you decide to take the plunge and write it?

Is there a writer that you love that you think needs more attention and kudos in the fandom?

Have you got any long abandoned WIPs lurking?

Do your close family/friends outside the fandom read your fics?

Do you ever re-read your own fics after posting them?

If you had to write a sequel to one of your fics tomorrow, which one would it be and why?

What kinds of fics/tropes do you think we need more of in the fandom?

How often do you spend writing in an average week and is there a certain time of day/day of the week you do it?

What are your tips for getting out of a writing funk?

What can people expect from your next fic?

[threewaysdivided]

Idea for an Age-swap AU

We’ve recently seen some age-swap and role-swap AUs floating around the DP fandom.  The most common of these are the direct reversals, where Vlad is the teenage protagonist and Danny is the adult villain.   Now, I’m not the hugest fan of the straight-swap versions because it’s not particularly interesting or in-keeping with the canon characters.  If Danny becomes the amoral villain and Vlad the plucky protagonist then you basically just have the original Danny Phantom again, except with the characters wearing each other’s skins.

However, a version of the age-swap that keeps the characters closer to their canon personalities has great comedy potential.

Imagine this:

Young!Vlad is a disaffected but highly intelligent freshman whose ‘genius’ is seemingly unrecognised by everyone in town.  Pretty much everything sucks for him - he’s bored at home because his parents are always away on work, he’s bored in class because he finds the material too easy, the school’s head jock and posse make a policy of ruining his day, the student body president is ‘inept’, and - despite Vlad’s intelligence and apparent ability to analyse people - he never seems to make it into the spheres of the influential or popular classmates.    He’s aloof and vaguely disdainful towards everyone around him, except for his two best friends; the naive and eccentric but occasionally brilliant Young!Jack, and the beautiful and sharply intelligent Young!Maddie.  He hangs out with them partly due to their mutual interest in the paranormal, but also because Maddie is the only person in town he sees as an equal and he really wants to date her (too bad she’s always making eyes at Jack).   [If you’re looking for a reference he’s basically a cross between Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole and Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated]

Like in the original series, the three of them attempt to build a proto-ghost portal as a step in their research.  This one goes even worse (after all, it was built by teenagers) and Jack rushing to activate it gets Vlad blasted with way more ectoplasm than in canon.  Just like the original it lands him in hospital for a bit - but in this case only a few months.  On coming back to school he is very resentful (mostly towards Jack though he’s a bit miffed that Maddie didn’t come to visit his room while he was awake) both for the accident and the Danny-like power-problems he’s experiencing.  Although in Vlad’s case he hides them from his friends and outwardly acts like everything’s been forgiven.

As he gains controls of his powers, Vlad decides to put them to use ‘correcting’ some of the ‘wrongs’ in his life; serving disproportionate comeuppance to the jocks, subtly embarrassing Jack in from of Maddie, scheming and manipulating his way through the school’s systems, and generally messing with people to alleviate his boredom.

It basically turns into a Deathnote-like moral situation, in which Vlad is a nominal ‘hero’ on the best days and an entitled, arrogant person at worst.  He may be the protagonist but he’s sure not the ‘good guy’ of this story. (He still makes himself a vampire-style suit and goes by Plasmius in ghost-mode because despite being highly intelligent he’s also a dumb 14-year-old who unironically thinks it looks cool.)

How does Danny get involved?

While Vlad is still in the nominally-heroic part of the story (dishing out retributions to people who actually had it coming, chasing away some minor ghosts that were attracted by the portal explosion, manipulating outcomes that fix genuine problems etc.) he starts to notice an older person hanging around and following him. At first Vlad’s concerned - has someone caught on?  Is it an enemy ghost?  A rival trying to take out the competition? - until Phantom introduces himself.  Danny’s a lot of things but subtle is not one of them.

Older!Danny is in his early 30s.  His parents were some of the first modern ecto-scientists and successfully built a working portal (the source of the accident that gave him his powers) but because the hauntings stayed localised near the portal (never spreading beyond his own hometown) their ecto-research didn’t reach mainstream science beyond a few ‘professional ghost-hunters’, paranormal aficionados and an obscure branch of government that mostly just makes messes bigger in their attempts to ‘contain and study all unauthorised ectoplasmic entities’.

Despite his unease, Danny is honestly happy to meet another half-ghost. He might have reservations about actual teaching (“I’ve got an Engineering degree, not a Dip. Ed.”) but he genuinely wants to help this new kid through what he remembers being a tough period of power-adjustment and guide him to use his abilities productively.   Unfortunately, Vlad is having none of it - who is this condescending fool to tell him what to do?  In his eyes Phantom is either trying to recruit him so that he can use his power (after all, that’s what Vlad would do) or he’s an idiot for wasting such potential. Actually, he must be an idiot either way because who else would try to manipulate someone of Vlad’s intelligence?

Eventually this devolves into a cat-and-mouse game in which Young!Vlad uses his brains and abilities in attempts to manipulate his way into Maddie’s affections, positions of influence and possession of powerful items, with Phantom having to step in and ‘defeat Plasmius’ before someone gets hurt.  Unlike in canon, where Vlad mostly toys with Danny to demonstrate his superiority, Young!Vlad learning techniques from their fights is intentional on Older!Phantom’s part. Phantom really wants to give this kid a chance to turn things around, and figures that letting Plasmius experiment with his powers in a relatively safe space might help Vlad get under control and avoid the temptation to do something truly stupid.  Unfortunately, all this actually does is teach his accidental-arch-rival to be a more competent villain.

Shenanigans ensue:

Vlad deliberately creating dangerous situations so that he can impress Maddie by ‘dramatically rescuing’ her from the ‘evil Plasmius’.  What he forgets is that, under her pretty face, Maddie is a top-tier asskicker - at least a third of the time the love of his life hands his ecto-hide to him long before Phantom can intervene. He’d find it attractive if it wasn’t so humiliating.

Jack also proves disturbingly competent with his ‘anti-creep stick’.  It’s literally just a baseball bat with a cross-stitched handle and the club logo sprayed on the side but Vlad still makes a point of stealing and destroying them whenever Jack makes a new one.

Maddie concludes that Plasmius and Phantom are both evil and working together.  

Vlad: “Of course, but as the older and stronger, Phantom is clearly in charge.  If we get rid of him then surely Plasmius will leave.”

This results in Vlad doing a very careful dance whenever he and Danny are in ghost mode while Maddie and/or Jack can see them.

In attempt to ‘eliminate the competition’ Vlad considers alerting the Guys in White to Phantom’s status.

Danny: “Look, kid. Vlad. If you go to them with that intel they’re going to wonder how you got it.  I might survive - my company holds the patents for a lot of their tech - but you’re a high-schooler.  You really want to risk outing both of us?”

This is one of the few things they eventually agree on: Under no circumstances is anyone to intentionally involve the GIW.

Vlad tries to recruit other ghosts in attempt to keep Phantom distracted.

This mostly consists of him failing to intimidate Skulker with his scrawny teen stature, then flattering him into it because “surely as the first and strongest of his kind Phantom would be a much worthier prize for such a skilled hunter.”

He has more luck with the resentful Yiddish vultures, although they can’t do much beyond being a nuisance.

The Box Ghost offers his services.  Repeatedly.

Vlad travels to Amity Park in attempt to steal ecto-tech from Fentonworks.  On arrival he is horrified to see just how haunted the town is due to its permanently active portal.  He beats a fast retreat after getting cornered and resolves to come back with better plans.

Vlad returns to Amity Park in attempt to recruit more minions from the thronging masses. This is somewhat successful, but a few rogue ghosts follow him home - forcing him to try to contain the situation while hiding it from Maddie and Jack.

Youngblood starts messing with Vlad’s schoolmates (interfering with some of his social schemes in the process).  As an adult Danny is incapable of seeing him, and Maddie and Vlad’s tendency to act older than their age means that Jack is the only one with a real handle on the situation.  Eventually (to his intense horror) Vlad has to do things Jack’s way to solve the problem

Jack: “You know what V-Man, I’m glad to have you back.  You’ve been so serious these last few months, I was worried you’d forgotten how to have fun!”

Vlad: *audible teeth-grinding*

Vlad refuses to swear because he thinks it’s a sign of inferior intellect and therefore beneath him.  Danny doesn’t swear because he’s desperately trying not to teach this kid any more bad habits.

Vlad makes a deal with Technus to steal some software for use in a financial scheme. Too bad that they make this arrangement in the same week that local Information Technology rising-star Tucker Foley is invited to speak at the school’s career day.

Vlad’s plans failing because his ‘superior intellect’ leads him to over-engineer excessively complex schemes.

Danny: “You know you could just have done this, right?”

Plasmius later tries Phantom’s suggestion and Danny is kicking himself because darn it I was trying to get him to knock it off, not give him pointers.

Vlad attempting subtler social schemes (e.g. overshadowing staff and student council members to make changes).  These sometimes work but other times Jack messes up the plan with his overenthusiastic support for his ‘best friend’.

Danny eventually recruiting one of Vlad’s classmates Red-Huntress-style because look, I’m running my parents company, volunteering at the observatory and trying to keep the ghosts under control.  I can’t be constantly flying to another town to make sure Plasmius isn’t bringing on the ecto-apocalypse.

Out of respect for Vlad’s privacy Danny doesn’t reveal the secret identity thing. Instead he asks them to keep Plasmius under control and also look out for Vlad Masters because the ghost might be interested in him.

What Danny didn’t notice was that this kid really doesn’t like Masters and has a pretty big grudge against Plasmius after being on the receiving end of one of his schemes.  What should have been a simple recon job instead ends up with them aggressively pursuing an intense rivalry with both of Vlad’s halves.  They also get overzealous in their ecto-hunter task and start going after Phantom as well.  So now Danny has two problems.

Jazz Fenton (a qualified and practicing psychologist in this AU) takes a job as the school’s councillor.

While there she works to convince Vlad of the benefits of altruism, tries to wheedle him into confessing his connection to Plasmius (Danny told her everything) and attempts to foil his social manipulations.  The first two aren’t met with much success but she does get in the way of the third a few times.

For his part Vlad tries different schemes to get her fired or make her leave so that he can continue plotting without interference.

Vlad sneaks into the Ghost Zone in attempt to steal a powerful item (Ring of Rage, Pandora’s box, the Fright Knights Soul Shredder etc.).  This goes about as badly you’d expect.  Unlike in canon, where Vlad bails and makes Danny deal with it, Older!Phantom drags Young!Plasmius back by the ear because you made this mess so now you’re going to help clean it up.

Phantom: “So, did we learn anything today?”

Plasmius: “I should do more research before handling powerful objects.”

Phantom: *aggrieved sigh* “You know kid, I honestly thought you were smarter than this.”

Whether Young!Vlad eventually learns his lesson or keeps spiralling until he becomes a canon!Vlad level criminal chessmaster is something that could go either way.  

What I’m getting at is:  Can someone please do a version of the age-swap AU where Vlad Masters/Plasmius is an intellectually snobbish, overly theatrical, entitled adolescent ‘mastermind’ (who isn’t quite as bright as he thinks) and Danny Fenton/Phantom is the well-intentioned and experienced adult hero (but poor teacher) who really wants to give this kid a second chance but is getting more and more done with all the villainy nonsense.

[thearcanapositivity]

s and w please! 💛

Thank you for asking! I just answered s, so here’s w: 5 fav characters from 5 fandoms

The Arcana - Julian

I *try* to make this blog not lean towards one character, because I want it to be fun for every one not just people who love Julian, but Julian really is my favourite character in the game.

Besides always loving a story of someone troubled finding a better way to be (see next fav), I just think the portrayal of Julian’s issues is very genuine. It doesn’t come across as it often does, where mental issues are used to either make someone just a timid little flower you need to fix, or someone who is bad and you should disregard. His issues feel real and his struggle feels honest.

I also love how he’s just a giant dork, he’s clumsy, doesn’t always know how to form sentences, is always up for some fun, isn’t bashful when it comes to drawing a crowds attention, but is incredibly easily flustered when it comes to genuine emotions.

Dragon Age - Fenris

Look, DA2 has its flaws, and I could probably write a whole essay on it, but it gets right the one thing I play Bioware games for: its characters and their relationships and journeys throughout the story.

I’m already a sucker for found family stories, and I love stories of people who have gone through hell but found a good life after it, so of course this game and Fenris in particular, was going to speak to me.

Seeing him grow throughout the game, and slowly come out of his shell, finding friendship (and possibly) love, is just amazing.

I also love the fenris/hawke romance, it is my favourite Bioware romance (and that’s hard because I love almost all of them). Just because it’s paced really nicely, and I think the fact that he retreats after that first night and it takes 3 years for them to actually get together makes complete sense.

I also just love Fenris’ personality, I love his calm nature, I love his humour, I love how he isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, but is also willing to reconsider his opinions. I also love that at times he has outbursts, because it makes sense considering what he’s been through, but he apologizes for them, because he doesn’t want to treat people badly (undeservedly).

Horizon Zero Dawn - Aloy

I LOVE HZD so much. So, so much. You have no idea how many hours I’ve put into this game. I love the world, the gameplay, the characters. It’s clear how much love went into this project and I am so happy it paid off for the people involved in it.

I love Aloy because first off, she just looks like a woman, she’s pretty, but not in the way a lot of women in games are - the same kind of polished look that doesn’t so much resemble a real life woman as a doll, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that BUT it is pretty bad that seeing someone like Aloy is such an exception.

I love her character, I love how she will tell you what she thinks, I love how she criticizes the groups she comes across, even when faced with powerful people. I love that she grew up as an outsider and you can see how that hurt her, and how she still carries that with her, but she also uses that to see the world from a different viewpoint.

I also love that in the story she isn’t setting out to be the hero. Her motivation is to find out where her mother is, and whether she’s still alive. All the fancy words around her journey, he dismisses, she just wants to know the truth. Sure she ends up saving the world, but that was more something that she did ‘as well’  lol

Also if any of you ship aloy/avad, please come talk to me.

The Witcher - Yennefer

I love Yennefer because she doesn’t compromise herself for anyone. She is herself, she says what she needs to say, she does what she needs to do and if you dislike her for it, so be it.

She’s cool and collected, but it’s so obvious that she loves Geralt and Ciri with all her heart.

She does horrible things, but she knows that they have to be done to save Ciri, and so she doesn’t make excuses for them.

I love her relationship with Geralt. (btw their romance is one of the most convincing romances I’ve seen in any game) And I love seeing her love for Ciri.

Dishonored - The Outsider (well mainly how he’s portrayed in the first game, and really not how he’s portrayed in the Death of the Outsider)

Ignoring what the writer later thought up for him, in Dishonored 1 I really liked the Outsider. I just liked this kind of uncaring, godlike creature who just gave out his powers to whoever would use them in the most interesting way. He isn’t evil and he isn’t good, he just wants to see what will happen. I actually saw him as the personification of the void, and never really considered him to be a man.

I just thought a character that wasn’t human, and didn’t necessarily have sympathy for humans was pretty interesting. Many prayed to him, but he only gave power to people who’d make interesting stories with them.

The fact that they then, in the second game, turned him into a 15 year old boy who had been forced to become the Outsider and seemed consumed by his emotions, just bored me to tears. We’ve seen that a thousand times before. And the dlc Death of the Outsider, was so bad. Not only did it get rid of the defining mechanics of the series, but it turned the Outsider’s story even more cliché. So I’m just sticking to the Outsider as he was in Dishonored 1, and THAT character is still one of my favourites.

[fymagnificentwomcn]

If you were the writer or season 2 and if "Farya" didn't exist .. How would've you portrayed Ayşe's character and her relationship with murad and with kosem ? (Sorry for my horrible English)

Hello! That’s such a good question, thank you.

I remember how the fandom was divided by “ship wars” when MYK s2 went on air, but personally I wanted to see more of a partnership than an epic love story. That’s way more realistic and interesting to me as a viewer; I think the rivalry and the unnecessary romance was one of the reasons why the plot for season 2 ended up getting wrong in a lot of ways. They had a good show and a rich account of past events, it didn’t make sense to do the ‘history-repeats-itself’ they decided to go for. I mean, when you watch episode 1 you see all the wasted potential in Ayse’s arc, it’s just sad. 

So with this in mind, I still stand by what Margot and I talked about a while ago and she decided to make this amazing post. In details this represents everything that could have been in Ayse’s storyline. Hope it helps. :)

- Mai

 I agree with Mai - Farya brought nothing of importance to the show despite all the screentime she occupied and all efforts of screenwriters to make us love her.

The fact that we know so little about Ayse and Ayse/Murad relations offered writers a lot of creative license and as such opportunity to bring something fresh to the table.

Getting rid of Farya and all her nonsensical plots would be the first step, of course. Show me a Farya-related plot that made sense and had actual meaning for overall storyline - there is none. 

Second, now it is time for small digression - I find the repeated romantisation of slave/master relationships that often includes fairytale elements to be the biggest flaw of both shows. The shows did well in being critical about many aspects of pathologies of that system to the extent that is hard to find in other shows on the Ottoman Empire and which even made Erdogan angry (compare with MBCF with all its super!Mehmed stuff, and I don’t even want to mention TRT propaganda shows), but when it comes to (especially long-term) trauma of women who suddenly lost everything and became slaves used for reproduction and sexually pleasing a man for whom they were captured, they did very badly. They even portrayed the trauma of male slaves better thanks to a complex portrayal of Ibrahim’s character in the original MY, with the lingering trauma contributing heavily to his downfall.

Instead of trauma, we have too many master-slave romances. I can only recall Sadika crying after Suleyman forced her to sleep with him back in MY S1. Usually after a night spent with THE GUY concubines are shown to be on cloud nine. And in some cases it turns into love and if life’s not perfect that’s not because of any long-term trauma, but only because of power struggles. Sometimes they even portray what pretty much has a lot of out-of-textbook elements of Stockholm syndrome to later not acknowledge it properly  because of rushing though the plot and messy execution, see Nasya going quickly from “I’m not anyone’s property” to “I belong to him” because she needed to stay because of pure motives. I get it now more what they wanted to convey, especially in contrast with what we’ve seen later and the darkness of the ending, but still.. you could have done it better. Man, even Christian princesses want nothing more but to become the Sultan’s mistress (lbr Murad wouldn’t have married Farya without the attack). A lot of salt, yes, but this issue bothers me a lot and I had an Anon on fatihdaily expressing such worries too (thank you for an excellent ask, Anon!).

Back on track a bit - even if some of those women eventually developed affection for their masters because it was their only chance for some love or due to Stockholm syndrome (remember Safiye’s “only love may make living in this palace bearable” - if this does not clearly point to Stockholm syndrome than IDK, BUT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS BETTER.

And Murad’s harem is perfect for that because he truly wasn’t the romantic type or one for romantic bonds with women. He was truly the guy who used harem for reproduction and sexual satisfaction, if he managed to even grace it with his presence. Give me Ayse and Murad who aren’t in love with each other, but she’s the one who manages to earn his respect as perhaps the only woman after his mother. Give me Ayse, who in her loneliness tries to get close to Murad because he’s the only person she can truly get close to. He does sleep with her after all, kisses her, perhaps gives her some presents? Who is to quench her loneliness if not this man? Show me Ayse who partners with Murad because she tries to find purpose in this new life, at least for their kids. Show me Ayse who’s aware that she could be much happier elsewhere, but must try to build a good future for herself where she is; who would love to abandon this life if it was possible. But do not show me woman a bitter woman scorned because dude rejects her  first .

Now for character development: give me Ayse who grows bold enough to form her own network of relationships completely independently of Murad. Who, while at first scared of her mother-in-law, actually realises that she has much more in common with this woman than with her “partner”, a “shadow of God on Earth”, who has a lot given to him on a silver platter just because he bears the title of a padisah. And yes, we have practically next to none positive mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships in MY/K, and since Kosem/Turhan has to be antagonistic eventually, why don’t give Kosem a nice relationship with Ayse that would be more than just “we tolerate each other” and that would never have anything hidden, like Turhan becoming close to Kosem to eventually use it against her mother-in-law? Give us something totally genuine, like Mahidevran/Mihrunnisa in original MY, just this time between two historical characters. 

At the same time, Ayse’s relationship with Murad would deteriorate due to his increasing cruelty and alcohol addiction. This guy is definitely not a romantic hero out of every girl’s dreams. Bah, he’s not even a nice guy. And if you show abuse, again acknowledge it properly, without dumb lines like Madame Marguerite, who usually tried to knock some sense into Farya, telling her that “Forgive him he tried to kill you for what was mainly his fault, poor Murad has so many things to worry about”(WTF???). Make her drift away from him as much as she can OUT OF HER OWN WILL, not because he rejects her. I love Margot’s idea about Ayse realising he is trash before other big rival comes along. Since Murad likely had more than one concubine and one more haseki - bring them, but show Ayse not giving a fuck at all at this point. More - why not make them bond over their own misery? Murad descends into alcohol downward spiral that makes him spend much more time on long drinking parties with buds and killing or hurting people sometimes just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, so USE THIS OPPORTUNITY to show scared and disappointed women teaming up to survive his jackass behaviour. 

We all know Ayse would eventually lose her sons, but I would love for her to also have daughters, so that she wouldn’t be so  alone because historically she lived really long. And yeah I wouldn’t mind to see her being happy to leave Topkapi eventually, I don’t mean here being happy upon a death of man who after all was the father of her kids, but relieved to be free of this palace at last. Challenge the “Palace of Tears” concept.

As for her personality… pretty much what Margot described. I would love her to be more quietly strong, to contrast nicely with the imposing presence of the powerhouse that Kosem is. Clever and perceptive, but not a schemer. I’d love to see her use more emotional intelligence than pure cunningness. And I honestly feel Leyla Feray would be good to reflect such personality.

Oh, all the dreams *sighs*

Thank you once more for a great question :)

- Joanna