#I love that so much I can't even articulate it

[the-modern-typewriter]

Just wanted to say thank you so, so much for writing Fate's Favourite. I actually found and loved your blog before I ever found that fanfic, and it was a delight to know it was written by you, and it's so clear how you've improved. But Fate's Favourite will always have a part of my heart, because it's the first story I've read that just has a platonic friendship that feels as equal as a romantic one without being romantic? And as a lonely aroace that means everything. EVERYTHING. (1/2)

(2/2) I had a conversation today that reminded me that I'm never going to have the queerplatonic relationship I want that I've always wanted since I was a child, and how it makes me want to write one so much more, but then I've never managed to write the story I've wanted to write my entire life because I'd always be afraid of being accused of queerbaiting or people just going, 'but it's actually just a gay romance this isn't what friendship looks like' and just. Thank you for Fate's Favourite.

--

Wow. FF is a blast from the past!

You are very welcome.

Apologies for the long, self-indulgent reply.

That story was one of the first things I ever properly wrote and my first (maybe second?) truly long-form story ever. I thus have a soft spot for it, even though in terms of craft and technique I can't so much as look at it without seeing all my numerous beginner flaws and cringing and can't bring myself to actually point people to it. Much improvement since then, as you say!

(An excellent reminder that writing is a learned skill.)

Anyway. The other interesting thing about that story is that I wrote it before I'd ever heard of asexuality or realised that was what I was. I was a very confused teenager being bombarded with this pressure to have crushes and date people and all that general societal messaging we have about romance being the most important thing ever. Especially in YA.

So I'd go home after school and write that story.

Obviously it's more unhealthy than what I'd want for myself in my real life, but the sheer intensity of feeling and importance of the platonic main relationship was something I had also never seen before but craved. And still crave, honestly. So I feel ya.

As for queerbaiting...

A lot of readers at the time told me they viewed the story as 'pre-romance'. AKA, it's a romantic relationship and they haven't realised it yet for whatever reason. They mostly didn't mean that badly, I don't think.

(Although I sometimes think though that if the term 'queerbaiting' was as broadly known and misused then as it is now that I would have been mercilessly lambasted out of ever writing again! And I wouldn't have known how to articulate the fact that wasn't, actually, what I was doing. I think we need to be kind to new writers. I think 'content creator' is gutting something vital in the ecosystem. But that's another rabbit hole.)

So I've been there. It happens. But other people's bad takes didn't change the story and what it meant to me as a lonely ace teenager or what it meant to you.

I have had readers before make a similar comment to you about how it was the first time they got to see something so important to their heart portrayed.

That matters so much more than whatever people say about your writing who don't need it.

Which is why we have to keep writing the stories.

Even if it's clumsy and raw. Even if it's the first thing you've ever tried. Even if it's (especially if) it's a messed up fantasy straight from the most primal part of your brain.

If we don't write it, it won't exist.

And that's so much worse.

The nay-sayers can come to the party, but it wasn't thrown in their honour.

[agir1ukn0w]

I love when they get to just sit and talk, even if it's only for a couple seconds (and even tho it’s just Nami lecturing Sanji about helping Vivi while Sanji is being stubborn because he wants her to fully heal)🥰

[dramarants]

i only want love triangles if it's whatever fucked up polygon junmo kicheol and euijeong have going on

[magnetosfavorite]

i'm a blubbering mess, i have never been actually shaking so hard at a draft pick in my life, kate martin is the definition of hard work, of taking a chance on YOURSELF, of being an incredible friend and leader, she is ready and capable and she's going to DO THIS. our girl captain kate is going to the LEAGUE, and she earned every single bit of it. man, vegas is so lucky to have her.

"i came to the draft to support caitlin"? baby girl, you left a WNBA player!!!!!!!

[ozzieinspacetime]

Cannot stop thinking about the master as schrodingers gold tooth, actually. Like in a divided loyalties way. Trapped in the body of the not-consiousness of your dead friend, knowing that your OTHER dead friend is there somewhere but she's completely lost to you because. You're a tooth. Do you think the master went and begged for his life because he knew he would lose? Do you think he wanted to be trapped like they were? Maybe, do you think, when the tooth came free and Charlie stopped hearing the laugh, everything else in the toymakers realm was set free as well? Does it matter, when they have nothing to go back to?

[alchemania]

I don't know if anyone has talked about this yet, but I was looking at Scaramouche in the 3.2 trailer vs him in the 3.3 trailer, and the contrast astounded me.

In both scenes, his eyes glow, and in the 3.2 trailer, he's in the center of the camera, which draws the audience's attention and makes us think he's the main focus. But we know he's not: just look at the tubes on his back. Even as he achieves godhood, he's not the one at the steering wheel, even if HE thinks so. Since he's got on his Fatui attire and most of it is dark shades, this also brings extra attention to his eyes; since they're so bright. Scaramouche isn't wearing his hat here either, and he looks significantly smaller since it adds a lot of artificial feeling: it makes him look bigger than he actually is, and here he seems especially small despite the power virtually radiating from him. Despite him feeling at the top of the world, he is also at his most vulnerable, and I think that's so interesting - he's never really in control.

Contrast that with him in the 3.3 scene. We can only see his face, and half of it at that- but it provides a much more intimate, vulnerable shot of him and you can see a lot more of his expression: how his eye seems to waver slightly as his gaze goes upwards but then steadies and glows, how his eyebrow furrows in determination - the background is also dark just like in 3.2, but with the way Scaramouche's entire face seems to glow, it feels more like a "light at the end of the tunnel" rather than "overwhelming, larger than life power that is consuming". And he is also in full control this time (that's another interesting thing about Scaramouche, is that with the exception of the Unreconciled Stars event, where he approached the Traveler with the intent to kill, he prefers to take things at a distance: he lured MC to the factory and let the remnants of the gods incapacitate them, and he fought them again in Shouki no Kami), and he's fighting HEAD ON, on his own two feet, this time. He's only got himself, but he's got full say in what he does. (Not to mention his old outfit is mostly purple/black/red, while his new one is white/black/blue. It's like he completely inverted.)

There's also the contrast in his elements: Shouki no Kami was powered by Electro and lighting is extremely powerful, but fleeting and unstable - as as the wind, quite frankly - there is no stability, but the wind is free, and it goes where it wishes, whereas lightning is always connected to thunder- there cannot be one without the other, and for the longest time he's been chasing after what Raiden created him for, but now he's breaking away from that and forging his own path, though he may walk it alone.

Illusion of control vs actual control of mind and heart, and I love it. Scaramouche has come so far already, and I'm very proud of him. I can't wait to see how his arc concludes.

[soup-or-who-lock]

Zava saying "why?" when he mispronounces a teammates name v.s Beard correcting himself when he mispronounces the name of a man who's not even in the room

"I'm me, why would I want to be anything else?" and Paul and Baz swapping personalities, only for Paul to say he thinks he likes being himself <3

[khaotunq]

🥰

[dawdlecentric]

Man, this doujin isn't fucking around

Meanwhile, Seikuri in the background...

Doujin: Flashbackers by Totobe

[shapeshyft]

THE VISION. TELL ME YOU CAN SEE IT.

[wundrousarts]

What is your favourite thing about nevermoor (series)?

Omg this is suuuuuch a hard question for me to answer!!! I love basically every aspect of the series, from the characters and their dynamics, to the settings, to the story...... idk if I can truly give One Singular Answer to this because I love it all! There's something truly special with the series that really makes it resonate with me and has kept me glued to it for almost 5 years and will keep me into it for many more.

IF I had to choose One Thing to answer this....... I would probably say the lore of the series and the magic and the way that the worldbuilding relates to those and fleshes out the world, giving it a history that makes Nevermoor (the city and the series) feel full of so much depth. You really get a sense that things, both big and small, happened in the past that affect the present day, and that things in the present day will have an effect on the future. It makes it fascinating to think about how the world was Pre-Massacre, and how things have changed in the last 100 years since then, and why things were the way they were and are the way they are now! I love thinking about Wundersmiths and their role in society and their rise and eventual downfall!!! Ahhhh!!!!! There's just so much I could say.

I just love everything about the worldbuilding and the lore and in-world history Jess has created. You can tell as you read that literally every aspect of the world has so much thought behind it that probably only exists inside Jess's head, but it oozes through the pages anyways and makes the world seem so full of life. I swear once she mentioned possibly releasing some sort of “rule book” / notebook companion book sort thing that explains a lot of behind the scenes lore and how the world and everything works, why stuff is the way it is, etc. after the series and I hope that happens because I can't stop thinking about it.

A silly comparison: I don't really know how to explain it to those unfamiliar with the 2000s guide books, but the worldbuilding of Nevermoor kinda reminds me of the worldbuilding of Uglydolls (no relation to the terrible 2019 movie) and I think maybe that’s partially why I love it so much lmao. Everything was so wacky and weird yet somehow it made sense. I remember reading the books and looking at the spreads of the city or the pictures of the weird vehicles and thinking about where I'd like to go and what I'd do if I lived in that universe LOL. It just felt full of life and for some reason reading Nevermoor reminds me of reading those as a kid.

Also: I've said this before (but maybe not on here?) that I credit a big part of why I'm SO into Nevermoor to the fact that I discovered it like a month or so before Adventure Time ended. I was a HUGE fan of the show (always will be!) and was really into analyzing it and theorizing about it and knew so much about it. I read Nevermoor independent of that, but I think the fact that Wundersmith releasing like a month or two after Adventure Time ended and it being the first new interest I had had in awhile just made my brain "transfer over" as I like to say. The energy I bring to overanalyzing and theorizing about Nevermoor stuff comes directly from how I was when Adventure Time was still airing.

Fun fact: My media overanalyzing led to me correctly guessing how Adventure Time would end, and I am eager to try and do the same with Nevermoor as the series continues.

[bookwyrminspiration]

his birth name was kristian. and they changed it to christian--changed. they did it fully intentionally and well aware--when they adopted him at 4 because he was "god's gift to them". he went from kristian pusztai to christian grey. hatred and loathing on planet earth i'm fucking seething

[mikesbasementbeets]

the byers/wheelers and breakfast as a familial love language

[tvrningout-a]

something something chiyo putting on a brave face and holding everything in and then finally crying out of relief something something

[enbyshads]

listen i love donnie n raph so fucking much (theyre my favorite rise characters) but for some reason magnetic duo (raph n leo) just live in my head rent free

[chill-vibes-but-rainbow-panic]

There are so many fantastic tropes in Superhero-Media, but you know what I personally love?

Supervillain jails

Like, sure, you can throw my evil guy in regular old jail with the Tax Evader and the Property Damager. But I want jails and jail cells speficially designed for specific villains, with their powers and stuff in mind. I want my villains to wear individually designed restraints, to contain them

This feels so highly specific, but it makes me go wild /pos