#I am not good with big brain crossover stuff like this even if I mix stuff sometime

[cathalbravecog]

(replying to your toontown bugsnax post thingy)

well we know where this is going

toons with whatever the fuck happens in bugsnax

Considering how like.. Goofy toons are and that they're like. Most likely made outta ink and stuff and theyre animated and work with cartoon logic I don't think the snax would do anything to them a toon would eat one and go well that's scrumptious and they're fine and the Grumpuses and those Who Know just stare in horror lol

[thesummerfox]

writing tag game

@bottled-bliss and @devilbunnyking both tagged me in this goodness, thank you so much! 💕 I’m tagging @pomprincesse, @mercurygray, @how-are-those-nuts-sarge, @a-beautiful-struggle-of-life, and @serasvictoria on this one in turn.

how many works do you have on AO3?

47! (I’m nearing 50 and it’s spooking me.)

what’s your total ao3 word count?

421172 and counting

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

all this life hallowed be (Grindeldore one-shot, no idea why this one is so elevated but I’ll take it)

She Who Believeth In Me (Kastle duology part, was supposed to be a series that never happened)

Though Death Be More Kind (Kastle fluff? Kastle fluff)

The Winter King (Kastle, written for a Secret Santa gift exchange, one of the fics I still love dearly)

Paint Your Demons Red (Kastle, fragile people plus Micro make for excellence)

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes, absolutely!! I love commenting back to people and saying “thank you” for their kindness or vibing with whatever feelings they bring to my comment section. I think it’s a great way to engage with people and acknowledge the time and energy they gave to letting me know they enjoyed the story.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I actually think this dream of you might fit the bill? While the fic has a really rough middle section, the end is a happy reunion that really spoke to me. Lovers reunited at war’s end is a vibe that never gets old.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

to speak in tongues of glory (disarm, disarm) is the one fic that could never have a happy ending, as it follows canon and canon does not end well, and my opinion of it being the angstiest is reinforced by the reactions it gets. “Now that I’ve finished it, I will never read it again because I know it’ll cause me endless grief” is one of the standout commentaries on it, lol.

do you write crossovers?

Technically the Marvel Netflix shows do crossovers so I write crossovers for that, haha. But it’s been a day and an age since I last properly mixed two vastly different fandoms!

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

I never used to, but oh boy do I need to come back from my “do not write smut ever”-spiel because I have written several smutty scenes now and even have a fic or two that’s.. nothing but smutty stuff, really. What kind? The hot kind. 🤣

have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, thankfully not!

have you ever had a fic translated?

I believe I was once asked permission to have one of mine translated, but I am unaware of what came of it. I don’t envy them the task: translations are tricky!!

have you ever co-written a fic before?

I used to do role-playing stories on message boards, so that was a co-write. Other than that, I write too non-linearly to be much use as a co-author.

what’s your all-time favourite ship?

Kastle, hands down and no contest. I haven’t written for them in a while, but I would in a heartbeat if inspiration struck again.

what’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

The Kastle duology I mentioned upthread was supposed to have a third part that’s really in the land of never-being-written, while the Micro fic I plotted out resides somewhere in the adjacent land of my-brain-believes-I-already-wrote-this-and-I-cannot-convince-it-otherwise. Other than that, my WIPs are behaving themselves!

what are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, characterization, character dynamics.

what are your writing weaknesses?

This is going to sound ridiculous coming from someone who’s got over 40 finished stories on ao3, but.. uh.. ending a multichapter is like one big questionmark in my head. I’ve done it, I know the mechanics, but I keep making the stories longer and they sprawl out beyond control more often than not. Also, my characters run this gig.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I’ve had to play with it for a current WIP and my current stance is that it needs to make sense to a reader (aka they won’t need to wheel out a translator because context will clarify the meaning), it can highlight differences between characters and challenge communication between them, and it can serve as an additional aid in scene-setting. I’m all for it when done well.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter! (Like so many, I got my fic-flight wings with that one.)

what’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

This is like picking my favorite child, are you kidding?

In terms of audience response and everything it sprouted, the long bright dark is without compare. Initially intended to be a one-shot, it’s the fic that gave birth to a whole AU that is embraced fandom-wide and inspired other fics.

In terms of my own favorite, Gather Ye Children Of Men is one of those that just feels right to me. I love the version of Frank I wrote into this one and the pace of it is exactly what it needs to be.

[woodchoc-magnum]

Lone Star 2x13 Hate Watch

One episode to go until our Season 2 misery is over gang

And then this dumb af TV show isn’t back until JANUARY 🥳

Disclaimer: As always, if you love this show - I wish you all the best, please enjoy your show in peace and harmony, namaste 🙏

Sweetest softest boy to cleanse:

I know nothing much about this episode other than the main plot point, so I'm excited to see how bad it is.

I've got my sweet chilli chips and some dip, LET'S DO THIS THING

God damn Gina Torres is going to break my fucking heart

And Charles is legit DEAD

I mean I know the actor got another show but wow this is gutting

God what is she going to DO

She's got TWO KIDS TO THINK ABOUT

This is terrible

Oh no am I going to cry all the way through this fuck my life

It's amazing that Gina Torres has been on this show for only this season and I'm already more invested in her character's storyline than I am in Rob Lowe's

Omg Judd is the best husband ever, he is ADORABLE

He wants to buy the baby COWBOY BOOTS

The best thing this show did was hire Gina Torres

OH WHAT THE FUCK IS OWEN STRAND DOING THERE

Okay he's gone for now

I was enjoying this so much without him

Judd and Grace are going to figure it out

This man is going to help Gina Torres through her grief isn't he

Uh oh

HE HAS A GUN

Okay wow plot twist

Has anyone called the cops on the guy with the gun?

It's a toy gun

Okay this plan doesn't seem well thought-out

But thank god because OWEN STRAND IS IN THE HOSPITAL

Hey also 10/10 no TK so far

Rob Lowe's nurp is just on DISPLAY the whore

"You clearly lead a very exciting life Owen" – she wants to bang him

Hence the nurp on display

Oh he's asking her out

She's going to fuck him senseless, good for you BARBARA GET IT GIRL

Do we think Owen is going to save the day

Owen's going to save the day isn't he

God her husband has just died and now she has to deal with all this shit

And Owen has her NUMBER

Like let's just take a moment to feel sorry for poor Tommy here

"I'm Captain Owen Strand and I'm going to be inserting myself into a situation where I don't belong right now"

Okay what the hell is she doing? She knows this kid is doomed right

But like… plot twist if he does wake up? And knowing Lone Star he will so I am suspicious

There's so little to hate on without TK in the mix

Thank god that they were able to insert Rob Lowe into this storyline

Judd and Grace are figuring it out

Nice to know if you work at 911 you can just ring them up and ask them to play calls for you

Thank GOD

Owen is here to SAVE THE DAY

I'm so glad he was able to make himself a part of this situation as well as every single other situation on this show

I wish he could've made Judd and Grace's car accident all about him as well, because you know that really affected him a lot

Oh Tommy

Okay so Lone Star isn't pulling a miracle and having the kid wake up

If this kid opens his eyes I swear to god

OH FUCK THEY FUCKING ARE

I FUCKING KNEW THEY WOULD DO THIS

I FUCKING KNEW THEY WOULD PULL THIS SHIT

They've been in there way longer than two minutes, the SWAT team is gonna burst in and mow everyone down

This show

I swear to fucking god

Of course the kid lives

The dumbest fucking show

The literal dumbest fucking television show currently on television that I am watching (because there's probably worse stuff, I know the Kardashians are still on TV but I don't watch that)

But even then maybe the Kardashians have better plot lines than Lone Star? At least you wouldn't have to worry about Ronen

This is going to only feed into my fear about having an aneurysm

Oh god she's gotta tell the kids and I'm going to cry

Why are we making this about Rob Lowe's September 11 pain

Why are they having a party in the burnt out firehouse

TK never met a patterned shirt he didn't like and they all look terrible on him because he sucks

Just a little TK burn at the end here because I can

Oh there's a big ass dust storm

 All right so… I mean… this was easily like the third best episode of season 2? If we're doing the crossover as number 1, then Judd and Grace and then this one. Not a lot of hate here, other than the fucking brain dead kid waking up  ( @zeethebooknerd​ let me know what you think about that!)

I give it… like 5/10? Because it was mostly Gina Torres? And that's not a bad thing!

Eddie Diaz to ease our minds and our souls:

[muffintonic]

My fanfic trope tier list! (I saw @fanfic-inator795 do this the other day and thought it looked fun, haha.) Make your own here!

Placement reasoning under the cut.

S

Friends to Lovers: excellent, very natural that your lover would also be your friend.

Slow Burn: I like getting absorbed in a story, and the speed that I read at means I need longer ones so i’m not like, “Aww, man, that was it?” Also, the slow burns usually allow for progression at a more realistic pace as well as character development/analysis.

Mutual Pining: two people who love each other and eventually get together....Nice.

Missing Scenes: I am very nosey about characters i’m invested in, and sometimes I feel like whole other episodes and such could have been based off of what isn’t shown in between scenes.

A

Sharing a Bed: I like seeing the different ways that people contrive the bed-sharing to happen, haha. Also, there’s usually a lot of funny moments when getting to see the characters’ panicked thoughts. (The Kico WIP i’ve been sporadically working on since 2015 involves this, haha.)

Established Relationship: we don’t usually get to see this in media, so it’s refreshing!

Fluff: usually goes hand-in-hand with the above, and sometimes it’s nice to just know there’s nothing but happytimes happening.

Huddle for Warmth: similar to the bed sharing one, it’s all about the setting....with a side of either fluff or panicking, haha.

Fairytale AU: i’m a sucker for fantasy, and it’s fun to see which fairytales people use and their personal takes on them.

Magic AU: see above.

B

Fix it Fic: i’m not usually dissatisfied with how canon handles things, so this type of fic is, like, solely reserved for BOTW, bwaha. I’ve been really into BOTW since I got it/finished it last summer, though, so i’ve been reading a lot of The Champions Survive/Get Resurrected stuff and the ones i’ve read have had excellent worldbuilding and such.

Hurt Comfort: the intimacy of patching someone up/the thought behind it....Nice.

Fake Relationship: I am again a sucker for contrived coincidences, panicking, and realizations (another trope in my Kico WIP, though it only appears a little and is fake married). These sometimes come with angst though, which is why it’s not higher.

Gen Fic: I don’t often see these, but I...like the idea of them (I have an eternal WIP of my own for WBB that’s combined with Missing Scenes)? Also, sometimes the world isn’t built quite enough or we don’t get to see it utilized to its full extent in canon.

Humor: I wasn’t sure if this meant, like, fics written solely for comedic purposes or something, but I took it to mean having funny moments in them?? I love comedy above all else (which is why most of the A tier tropes are A tier--the inherent funniness of the situations to me).

In Vino Veritas: having what’s hidden in a character’s heart be exposed in a way that usually results in later panic....Nice (as evidenced by my own take in that one Perryshmirtz fic I did, haha). However, i’m not a big fan of alcohol for numerous reasons, which is why it’s not higher.

Soulmate AU: I don’t often find versions of these that I like, but when I do they’re pretty good. Worldbuilding and slow burn is a must for these.

Coffee Shop AU: I never really liked these before I got into BOTW....hmmm. Maybe it’s because I don’t really like characters from, like, slice-of-life/normal universes being changed into something even MORE mundane/too much like real life?? It’s fine if it’s an adventure story being calmed down, haha (but, like, ONLY adventure--I don’t like the idea of fantasy stories like Strange Magic getting dulled down to that extent).

C 

*most of the tropes here are only not a D because I reserved D for the ones I hate/am most apathetic towards

Arranged Marriage: I don’t usually see these done well (bad characterization/not enough worldbuilding), and arranged marriage is still a thing that happens nowadays in real life so it’s kind of.....

Body Swap: I’ve only found a few renditions of this that I like, namely the funny ones where they’re all like “Wow so this is how it feels like to be a teeny tiny--” *gets punched.* Unfortunately, most of the ones for this trope are, like, either somehow super angsty or have consent problems.

Canon Divergence: another one that rarely has good characterization/logical divergence/follows the established rules already set in canon while being a take on “But what if THIS had accidentally happened instead.”

Historical AU: as someone who minored in History in undergrad, boy howdy is history a touchy thing to make fanfic about. I think there’s only been one AU of this that i’ve liked, and it was for a movie that already had its own version of history/the original canon wasn’t based on our world at all.

Time Loop: kind of a scary thing to think about.

Royalty AU: being a good leader is hard, which means there’s usually not a lot of time for gallivanting. Despite this, there tends to be a lot of that (and poor worldbuilding) in these types of fics.

Amnesia Fic: I don’t like it when someone forgets their loved ones.

First Kiss: I think first kisses are over romanticized. First kiss with the person who is now your lover? Good. First kiss overall? No.

Angst: reality (and sometimes the canon) is dark enough, thanks. Light angst with a happy ending is fine, but I seriously hate characters being subjected to one painful thing after another (I once read an entire published book where that was the case and I was just....so infuriated by the end).

Enemies to Lovers: rarely done to my taste. The two people have to be relatively on the same moral spectrum otherwise this DOESN’T WORK as a good/functioning relationship. Like, you can’t pair off someone who, say, killed their dad, spearheaded a war against innocents, and tortured the other person with the other person. Even when it’s someone who, for example, tried to destroy the entire universe, continually emotionally abused their only friend, laid siege to innocents despite knowing that it was wrong, killed the parent of that other person’s best friend, and physically/emotionally abused that other person, it’d be extremely short-sighted to pair them with that other person without AT LEAST them acknowledging how completely toxic they’ve been and spending a good amount of time (roughly equal or greater to how long they’ve been horrible) establishing that they have indeed changed and are making progress towards reparations and even betterment. Perryshmirtz? Good. Butterfly Bog? Also good. Those are the only two good examples I can think of.

College AU: pretty much in the same boat as the Coffee Shop AU, but sometimes I disagree with what majors get picked for the characters, haha. Good choice for characters around that age, but for some reason I don’t like it when characters get de-aged to make this work. I have yet to see one for older characters that keeps them that age--older people go to college! There was, like, a mom in my Abnormal Psychology class in undergrad!

D

ABO: horribly graphic, mostly non/dubcon, and reduces people to their biology.

Crossover: the media i’m invested in are usually so vastly different from one another that my brain just refuses to have them mix.

Dark Fic: like Angst, but worse. No thanks.

Major Character Death: I read the fix-it-fics to AVOID this, bwahaha!

High School AU: similar to College AU where I dislike characters being de-aged for this, which is unfortunately common. Also, Your Experiences Are Not Universal.

Crack Fic: I am generally a stickler for canon. Boo, absurdity!

Miscommunication: JUST FREAKING OPEN YOUR PIE-HOLE AND TALK TO EACH OTHER.

Pregnancy Fic: not a big fan of the idea of pregnancy in general (the squishing of the organs, mood swings and whatever, that thing where your blood pressure can get super high randomly, dying in childbirth, postpartum depression, etc).

Love Triangle: these can usually be solved by either 1) poly relationship 2) maybe DON’T choose the “bad boy” that disrespects you and is emotionally distant?????

Unhappy Ending: WHY would I want this??????? See: Angst

Unrequited Love: similar to the above.

PWP: maybe it’s my aceness talking, but to quote Doof: “Backstory, backstory, backstory!”

Sex Pollen: too much like PWP, but with more consent problems

Bang or Die: see above

Baby Fic: similar to Pregnancy + I....can’t really imagine a lot of my favorite ships with kids?? Like, Butterfly Bog/Potionless and Panlie, sure. Doof already has Vanessa/Norm and Perry is an uncle......maybe Po and Tigress if they adopt?? I feel like they could also just be teachers together and their students would be their “kids.” Meh.

[dappercritter]

what are your favorite lemon demon songs and why :D ?

Glad you asked! I’m always happy to talk about Lemon Demon music. (Even though it took me forever to respond. I am sorry about that!)

So without further ado, my favourite Lemon Songs are:

The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. This is basically one of those big, increasingly insane, multi-franchise mashups mega battle everyone made up when they were a kid set to a funky beat. How can you not love it? Another thing is that it all starts with Godzilla and Batman showing up and ticking each other off—not only is it hilarious imaging two of my childhood icons going at it, but it reminds me of a plan for an actual Godzilla vs. Batman crossover! …Okay, maybe I’m reading into things here.

The Only House That’s (Not) on Fire Yet. This is one of Lemon Demon’s more chill songs and I like that. It has all the fixing of your average LD song (snappy wordplay, musing on life, aloof singer character who may or may not be in his right mind,) but it has a calmer energy. When I listen to it, it feels like I’m wandering the house on a cool autumn evening, looking out on the neighbourhood, which is currently on fire, while plotting what to do next…

Reaganomics. This resonates with me for a couple of reasons: 1) I love me some criticism of short-sighted economic policies! 2) The lyrics of the song, while obviously making fun of how Reagan’s free-market economics were a nice idea that went nowhere (or at least nowhere good from what I heard), tell the story of a man who wants to save his love and his country from the oppression of a faulty capitalist economy that suffocates its citizens, when really he’s just making promises that he hopes everyone will believe. I’m no government official, but sometimes when I see everyone I know and love being run into the ground as the world seemingly plummets in an economic freefall brought on by rampant capitalism, I just can’t help but want to jump and help them. Oh, and this song is another slapper.

Touch-Tone Telephone. The hook is so infectious, I love the instrumentation, and it has a cute story to go with it: paranoid conspiracy theorist tries to get in touch with a radio host. What I love about it is how you can read into it. Is the theorist trying to prove that he’s actually onto something and not some crackpot, so that he can save the world and hopefully get some respect at long last? Or is he trying to admit his feeling for the radio host without sounding like a hopeless lunatic? …while also trying to save the world. It’s great fun to listen to, and it reminds me of some of the awkward conversations I’ve had with my friends as I try to get my convoluted point across.

Knife Fight. You can’t talk about this one without giving away the surprise, but let’s just I like how well it matches my two sides: edgy and silly.

Brodyquest. This song makes me want to watch Adrien Brody movies, dress up as Adrien Brody, and then parade through the streets with a keytar and an Oscar. Sometimes that’s all you need in a song.

White Bread Boyfriend. I’m a cishet white dude and this song is tailor-made to insult me, and every guy like me—and by Jove, it makes it sound good! Seriously though, this is literally the anthem for all the crappy, “mediocre” white guys who think they’re the most romantic human on the planet when, in reality, they’re self-centered D-bags with some obnoxiously low standards. Trust me when I say there’s nothing more cathartic than listening somebody make fun of these wankers. Not to mention it’s a helpful reminder for what not to do for if and when this wanker meets a girl who actually likes him. (*wink, wink*)

No Eyed-Girl. If there’s one thing I love it’s a good love song. If there’s another thing I love it’s the love between two people who come from two different worlds, and/or two people of different species. Especially one’s where one loves the other even though they’re an eldritch creature whose world can melt our brains. Wanting to be with someone, even if physical contact with you results in total vaporization, is beautiful. It’s the kind of devotion you just don’t see in love songs these days.

Cabinet Man. Without a doubt one of my favourites. It’s a fun song with a catchy beat about a horrible thing that happens to a man who loses his humanity as he turns into a hideous half-arcade-cabinet-half-human zombie. It’s a great showcase of Neil’s ability to write something that reads like a Stephen King story but plays like an absolute banger. It’s black comedy at its finest as the singer goes through the ups and downs of becoming a living arcade cabinet. Also, I will never get the chorus out of my head.

Aurora Borealis. This was the first Lemon Demon song that I listened to, and since I have a habit of making my first exposure to something my favourite, this is probably my all-time favourite. That and I’m a huge sucker for Christmas stuff. I love how it’s so sweet and so creepy at the same time, with a (dubiously human) guy trying to enjoy a romantic Christmas Eve with his lover amidst the end of the world. The ending tugs at my heartstrings, too, not just because Christmas is being marked by an eldritch apocalypse (actually that’s kind of cool), but because despite his best efforts, the singer’s plans falls apart and he’s left alone in the Yuletide hellscape. The electronic instrumentation and the sleigh bells make for a great sound, too.

Honourable Mention: It’s About to Get Weird. Remember what I said about firsts and favourites with “Aurora Borealis”? Well, I have a confession to make: Although that was my first Lemon Demon song, it wasn’t my first Neil Cicierega song—this was. I’m a huge Gravity Falls fan and when I first heard this song, I was genuinely disappointed they didn’t use it. In addition to being a great villain song for Bill, I love that it mixes gleeful showtunes with the most demented imagery; it’s not just Bill’s kind of song, it’s my kind of song, as well as a perfect introduction to Neil’s talents as singer and songwriter. Well, even if we didn’t hear it Weirdmaggeddon, at least we can listen to it whenever we want.

[seyaryminamoto]

I've been browsing your blog for Sokkla research as I feel like it has similarities to what I'm trying to write with Azula and Soren. I haven't begun tackling Gladiator yet, as it looks a little daunting, but I feel I should since I keep hearing so much. I am a little hesitant over accidentally using anything you wrote for my own story. I'd be proud if I could make it as long and epic as yours. It's very personal to me. What motivated you to write Gladiator and keep writing for so long?

Yeah, I saw your post about your crossover ship having potential similarities with Sokkla and I agree that it would, since Soren shares a few traits with Sokka, character-wise. Admittedly, Azula interacting with a character like Soren would present quite a lot of fun possibilities, so it seems to be an idea worth exploring :)

As for reading Gladiator and accidentally using similar tropes… well, I don’t know if it will ease your mind much, but there are several tropes that I’ve run into in many Sokkla fics, mine, other people’s, just… lots of them xD and it’s not really a problem. Storytelling can lead to similar places, but usually, every writer handles their tropes and character development differently.

My plan for a certain, poignant scene in Gladiator’s 96th chapter was set in stone in my head back when I started plotting the fic (like I said in that ask I answered yesterday). The scene in question is one I depicted in some artworks for Gladiator’s second anniversary: Sokka defeats Azula in combat for the first time, pins her down, aims his sword at her, and they just stare at each other before things take a pretty heated twist...

A few months after planning this, I read another fic where practically the same thing happened between them (it’s a Spanish fic, I hadn’t tried reading it yet because it was incomplete, sometimes I still scold the writer in question for never finishing it), only, rather than it happening when they could no longer resist the attraction between them, it happened when they were barely getting to know each other: Azula followed Sokka into a forest clearing, where he was training on his own. Upon noticing someone was hiding in the bushes, he leaps at her and pins her down, aiming his sword at her as well. Of course, he freaks out upon realizing it’s her, she isn’t very happy, and no heated things happen other than a lot of blushing, especially on her part xD

So, as you can see, even if the trope is “Sokka holds Azula down, at swordpoint”, the context was entirely different, the outcome was completely different and heck, the wording and even language we used was 100% different.  I came up with the idea for Gladiator before reading Majesty, later on I found out that someone had written a very similar scene already (and it was a close associate of mine, no less xD). As much as I didn’t feel like I was all that original anymore… I didn’t change my plans because of that. As long as I didn’t pull a Cassandra Clare and copy-pasted the whole scene my friend wrote into Gladiator, where was the harm in trying my own hand at it? I wrote the tropey situation in my own way, with my own words, and it’s completely my own thing.

There was something else that happened with Gladiator, another friend read it and thought I was taking inspiration for my portrayal of Sokka and Azula from a couple in a TV show she loved. Turns out I’d heard about the show, but I hadn’t watched it until she nudged me enough to do it (no regrets!), and after watching it I understood where the similarities were, but the context was all different. More than that, a certain situation (Sokka admitting his love for Azula for the first time, she asks him to say it again) was close enough to what happened between the main couple in said TV show…

… But I actually had been inspired by another couple, in ANOTHER TV show, that had a slightly similar exchange too xD

Therefore, tropes are tropes. I’ve recycled so many tropes in so many things I’ve written that people could probably psychoanalyze me and figure out all my brain chemistry damn easily if they did. I tend to have a very particular structure when writing, too (the original story I wrote and finished had 3 parts, Gladiator has 3 parts too, to name the most superficial similarity only), and I’ve frequently explored similar topics in them. It’s hardly a crime to do it again, but as long as you do it in a unique way, there’d be no harm in testing how some tropes would turn out with Soren and Azula. It could be worrisome if you portrayed Soren reacting to events exactly the same way Sokka does, but that’s not very likely to happen. As similar as they can be, they’re also different in several ways and in the post where you compared them you seemed to see those differences pretty clearly.

Therefore, I don’t think there’s any real harm in trying your hand at certain tropes and situations. If the context is different, if there’s logic to what you’re writing, and of course, as long as you write it yourself, there’s absolutely no need to worry about repeating things other people have done before.

That being said, don’t feel pressured to read Gladiator at all. I’m glad people have recommended it, but I understand if it feels not only daunting but that maybe you won’t be sure what to write if you see all the stuff I’ve done so far. Gladiator is many things, and one of them is my playground for testing Sokka and Azula’s relationship in just about every way I can xD it’s so long that I’ve been free to play with all sorts of possibilities with them, to fulfill all my shippiest wishes for these two. Therefore, if you’d rather be true to your own ideas and not get too influenced by it, it’s absolutely understandable not to read it until you feel comfortable about giving it a shot (presumably, once you’ve plotted plenty of own story and feel like you won’t be at risk of taking too much inspiration from it).

As for what motivates me… well, I guess there were many factors. One of them is that Gladiator was an idea worth digging into, with so much to explore that I was completely overwhelmed by the possibilities and I got completely caught up in it. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted the story to exist, so I decided I needed to make it happen. As it’s practically a full re-write of ATLA’s storyline, I had a chance to just… handle everything on my terms. And that meant the developments I didn’t like from the show could change: I could improve on things I thought needed improvements, I could add things that I felt the show needed, and so on and so forth. There were nearly no limits, really, and as I was absolutely lost in the beauty and glory of my OTP, I couldn’t help myself and I decided to dive right in.

It helps a lot that Gladiator’s kind of a multi-faceted thing: as I’ve been developing my art too, whenever I was bored in class I’d sketch things related to it and then, if I had a chance and the sketch was good enough, I’d finish the art digitally later. I have a lot of music that inspires me, so sometimes I just sit down, listen to it, and I let myself evoke scenes that I want to write or draw. Fact is, the whole fifth anniversary project was a mix of art and music: the songs that inspired many arcs of Part 1, along with images that referenced them.

Lastly, though… I generally know where Gladiator’s going, so I don’t usually reach a point where I’m like “Woah I have zero plans for what to do next”. I plot things for the story whenever I have nothing to do (when I’m traveling places, when I’m showering, when I’m waiting for something? Just, whenever, wherever). If an arc isn’t shaping up to be particularly fun, I try to figure out what to do to make it more interesting and appealing for me to write. Whenever I come up with something I’m hyped about writing, it helps me keep on writing until I get there. Sometimes that’s also a curse because I go overboard and write like… 12K in a single day because I am that hyped about whatever I’m doing :’D happened a couple of weeks ago xD

Anyways, always try to fulfill your own needs with your story, first and foremost. Sometimes your public won’t be 100% receptive to your ideas, but sometimes they’ll actually want exactly what you’re putting out there for them. The magic of fanfiction is that, if someone doesn’t like what they’re getting, there’s absolutely nothing to stop them from taking to writing a story they do want, right? So, why should we try to please other people instead of writing what we’d want to read?

Make your story something you can revisit and smile about, make your story something you can find value in, regardless of whoever tries to undermine it. Make it yours, make it everything you want it to be. Want humor? Set up humorous situations (I mean, your lead couple would be Azula and Soren, humor’s basically guaranteed xD). Want tragedy and angst? You can have it too. You really can do anything, as long as you make up your mind to get it done. Figure out what it really is you want to write, the key scenes, the development you’re looking for with your main characters, come up with plans on how to get them where you need them to be, and once you feel you’re in solid grounds for it, feel free to start writing and always keep on looking forward to the big things you’ve wanted to write for your fic.

[valeriemperez]

Tati, do you think it's possible that Abra Kadabra and The Rogues could be the big bad next season? The EP's tend to mix and match several canon stories. Since Barry and Iris will probably get married S4 and the show seems to be using a lot of Wally's arcs. What if for the crossover everyone's present for the wedding. Everything runs as plannned and then Barry puts the ring on her finger and Kadabra wipes her memory from everyone like he did Linda in Dark Flash?

It’s totally possible that Abra & the Rogues will be back in a big way next season, though they don’t necessarily have to choose the Dark Flash storyline. It would be interesting, though!

EVEN MORE SPOILERS below the cut, I’ll try to answer as many as I can under there.

There’s a new clip in the Flash tag on Twitter. It looks like Barry is saying goodbye to the team and going to “heaven” to be with his Mom… They’re dressed in funeral attire. Barry kisses a distraught Iris. Do you think S3 will be a dream sequence of sorts?

I don’t think it’ll be a dream sequence. I think Barry is sacrificing himself to the speedforce for whatever reason in order to keep everyone he loves safe. Obviously he’ll get out, just a matter of it being the end of the episode or the beginning of next season.

How is Caitlin still kf and attending a funeral? Does that mean she’s in her kf wig but just not evil? So Caitlin is permanently dead 😱

I think we are meant to believe that Caitlin died in 3.18, yes. Whether she’s evil or good, KF is the one who lives now.

There’s a video of them filming last night and Barry’s saying goodbye to everyone before he follows his mom into a bright light. So I’m gonna guess that’s him sacrificing himself to the speedforce. I’m already emotional.

ME TOO.

Apparently you were right and they’re doing a sacrifice for Barry of some sort. I really really didn’t want it and I just hope they resolve it quickly.

Either they’re incredibly predictable or I’m a savant with one very useless skill. I’m sure it’ll be resolved by the end of the S4 premiere, if not by the end of the S3 finale. Remember we don’t know how far into the episode this is.

Tati, I’m freaking out. It looks like Barry is going into the speed force with Nora Allen. He says good bye to the team. Caitlin is missing. WTF?

I think Cait/KF said her goodbyes at the funeral, although she may pop up at the end of the episode to fight with or against Savitar. Barry is probably sacrificing himself, or maybe going into the speedforce to face Savitar, like @amuzed1 suggested.

@notyetbulletproof said:

**I HOPE YOU SAW THE SPOILERS** if you didn’t, please stop reading. If you have- quick spec- what if the season ends with him coming back. Only they realise that what was hours for them was centuries for Barry or something? And it ends on that. Like Iris says something about Barry coming home and Barry says he told her he always would and she wants to tell everyone and he just wants to be with her and the convo naturally gets to the place where Barry reveals that the speed force doesn’t have time or that what is mere hours for them could be centuries to him or something? I mean that would be a cool interesting no body dies or does dumb stuff way to end the season?

I am expecting/hoping that Barry makes it back by the end of the finale, so I love the idea that he reveals that it’s been decades or centuries for him. Just wondering what it would lead to for season 4…

The other day, you (I think it was you) theorized that because Victory Square is such a public place to film, the Savitar’s identity/reveal must have another twist. Do you think it could be the same with that scene from the video? My thought is that it happens in the beginning of the episode, and it gets resolved(ish) by the end. I just feel like if it was the final scene, they wouldn’t want to risk it getting spoiled, so they’d shoot it in studio.

You read my mind! I do think this is very likely the beginning or middle of the episode, and Barry could get out by the end. Granted, that’s what I want to believe, because a hiatus of us crying over Barry’s “death” would be incredibly displeasing. But I think it’s possible because A) that’s what happens in Terminal Velocity, and B) it sets the stage for a lighter S4, which the producers should want to promote if they have brain cells.

[thebaalpit-blog]

I like P5 a lot (Spoilers)

So I finished P5 and now that i’ve come out of playing it twice, both in separate languages, I have a lot of wild opinions to go about so here we go. It should go without seeing I’m gonna talk about the game freely, but here’s a warning in case.

I would have to say I like the story of the game a lot, but I’m accounting for the first, fourth, and everything after the fifth arc. Kamoshida is an incredibly strong antagonist who does a million things for setting up the game very well, Sae and Futaba are great ways of showing that Changes of Hearts can happen to people on their own so long as they’re willing to make the change, and Goro and Shido are great personal antagonists for the group and Joker respectively. I like the final storyline a lot too with Yaldabaoth, but it’s very cheesy social commentary in a lot of ways and Yaldy himself isn’t a compelling antagonist so much as the idea that the strict social order that controlled Japan so strongly gave birth to his existence. I’m a big fan of stories that have weird realms or things going on because of the desires of a person being so strong they manifest out of the blue due to human sin and it’s part of the reason why P3 and P4 disappoint me on that front, because they’re largely god plots with very little of that, while P5 is a god plot but it is a god plot created by humans and their sin. While Yaldy himself isn’t particularly impressive, the desire that the Citizens of Tokyo had towards not wanting any part of society to break even a little bit being so strong it creates a god to ensure that never comes about, is and it’s wonderful when Joker summons Satanael to blow his fucking brains out.

I am a big fan of things generally considered to be evil or negative are framed as heroic or things people use to grow. So I appreciate that Joker and Arsene while both very menacing and demonic looking are the heroes of the story and his persona. Arsene especially has such an amazing design that I love looking at him and honestly want to get some sort of figure of him if one gets made. Joker is a fantastic way to make a quiet protagonist that also has a lot of character to him. Between his own backstory, the grudge with Shido, Goro being his foil, and his generally menacing demeanor combined with very theatric and over the top motions he makes, he has a ton of personality in him. The game in general does, but I was not expecting to love the Protagonist more than most of the main cast. His ultimate persona being Satanael is also fucking cool, because not only is the entire moment just an amazing thing and the scope of the whole fight is absolutely beautiful, but Satanael in gnosticism is the dude who is supposed to keep Yaldabaoth in check. So it’s awesome they played to the Trickster theme, the “Blacks are whites” mentality P5 has towards the protagonists, and the lore of the mythological figures themselves. It’s such a cool moment and the music that plays during the summoning is a great arrangement on the boss them that played prior. I can talk forever about Joker and his persona, but I need to talk about other stuff.

The main cast is great. I love Ryuji, he’s easily the best bro character of the games excepting maybe Eikichi. You get to see him grow from a bitter teenager with a huge chip on his shoulder, to a young man with a strong sense of self respect and justice. He gets into silly situations and can be stupid, but he’s a genuinely cool dude and I love him. Ann’s alright and she enhances Ryuji a bit too since they’re both old friends, but they can mess around with one another and it feels organic. I don’t think highly of her tbh, but she’s alright for the most part. Makoto is awesome, being Joker’s contemporary in the group. She’s smart, she has a good head on her shoulders, she kicks ass, and has an amazing outfit. It’s really cool that when they thought of a girl they would try to push as the romantic interest for Joker they made her as much of a character in the group as him. Yusuke’s hilarious, but also is one of the more emotional parts of the team. His interactions with Futaba are great and shows how his weird perspective connects with others. Futaba herself is a ton of fun with her goofy ass personality and smart ass comments. Haru I don’t care for much, but she’s got cool animations so I warmed up a bit to her over time.

The antagonists are all kind of a mixed bag, but the great ones are great. I won’t talk about Yaldy because I already mentioned his deal before. Kamoshida’s an immaculate piece of shit. I cannot tell you how happy I am that he is never once hidden in that aspect. If they had tried to hide his shitty attitude when adults or whatever were around it would cheapen the whole thing, but nope he’s just as shitty to you regardless of whose presence he’s in. It helps that he has such a connection to the school that he effects literally everyone there even the people who don’t associate with him. The underlying character depth also of him being a gold medalist who probably got fucked up by the societal and personal pressure of having to keep being the best giving him a warped perspective on others owing him for this is also great. He’s just got a ton of fucking great things about himself and a super easily punchable face. 

For Goro and Shido, they’re both great. Goro is a fantastic foil to Joker, also being a user of the Wild Card and a pawn of Shido’s due to wanting to be recognized by his dad. His being sent from home to home as an unwanted child has fucked him up so much he desires to see the destruction of the same society that allowed this to happen. At the same time though Goro only has two Persona, Loki and Robin Hood. The underlying implication of course being Goro has only ever had himself and never actually made connections with others so he has two Persona compared to Joker’s several. Shido on the other hand is a good antagonist for how militant he is and how business like he is when handling others. He doesn’t actually recognize the people he steps over in his path to success. He barely recognizes Goro looking like his mother and doesn’t even know Joker is the same child he got locked off into Shibuya. It shows his megalomania off very well that he ultimately created his own enemy and him killing literally everyone tying back to him characterizes perfectly how militant and cold he truly is. 

As for the rest of them. Sae is a good antagonist for her purposes, but she’s not as strong as the other three. Madarame has moments where they characterize him later, but them insisting on his murdering of Yusuke’s mom and his moustache twirling villainy combined with that makes him a very confusing and lame character. Kaneshiro has a minute of characterization, but is a fucking joke villain. Okumura is boring and has a nice moment of depth with the space station kit, but unfortunately he’s being a nothing character every other minute in the worst storyline of the game so rip.

The music in the game is really fantastic. Beneath the Mask and Rivers in the Desert are hands down two of the best tracks in Shoji Meguro’s history of music. Blooming Villain is my favorite non-final boss track in Persona. Layer Cake is CATCHY AS FUCK. Price and When My Mother Was Around are amazing dungeon tracks with Whims of Fate being even better than those two. There’s a lot of other great tracks as well, but I cannot list every single one.

The gameplay mechanics overall improved for the better in a lot of ways and Confidants are really cool too. I do have to say though some of the non-party member ones fall into a really lame pattern of “Character is griefed by other outside character in some way, go to mementos and get rid of them.” But the storylines more than often make up for them. Hifumi, Munehisa, Sadayo, and Toranosuke are some of the more memorable ones. 

If I have complaints though it’s that Mementos is fucking lame. Some of the dungeons are really boring or have lame gimmicks or are LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNG (Kaneshiro and Okumura’s palaces most notably). The story feels like it’s going nowhere for a while. Bosses are boring for the most part with really lame ass mid battle gimmicks, the Sphinx is an absolutely garbage boss fight too. The best bosses are probably Shido and Shadow Okumura, the former because of it not being a lame gimmick driven fight and the latter because you can find fun ways to negate entire legions of the robots. Shadow Madarame and Kamoshida are okay too, but they’re not remarkable or particularly interesting either. The designs on a lot of them are pretty lame too. Also Morgana needs to shut the fuck up about telling me to go to sleep. I love the little bastard, but jesus christ.

But yeah, those are my thoughts on P5. It’s a really cool game that I love a lot that honestly has a decent number of faults, but I don’t care about them which is surprising because I haven’t felt that strongly about a game since like... Metal Gear Rising. Not that those two have a lot of crossover sans the incredibly buff final boss politician with lyrical music in the back.