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moonofthenight · 4 years

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Everything must come to an end

Umm okay, so here is the fic posted the moodboard to a few days ago. This is two thousand words of pure angst, like really really angsty so if you decide to read it, please be aware of that. Also, I kind of want to leave it like it is, I don’t really want to write a part two to it.

Oh and this is probably not the most realistic scenario but I loved to explore it anyways.

I’m sorry @lumosinlove but thank you for letting me use your amazing characters

CW for mentions of food, lots of crying, bad mental health for some time and a general very sad atmosphere

A happy ending is never a promise, it’s a wish and ever since Leo was little, he wished for it more than anything.

The rain softly pattered against the window, waking the blonde one up, who let out a content sigh. Contrary to popular believe, Leo loved rainy days. There was nothing better than waking up in the warmth of the bed with his boys next to him, holding them safely in his arms. He already could imagine today, Finn sitting on the couch with his glasses and the nose in a book, Logan cuddling Finn to oblivion, while he made them something to eat. But if he only knew…

He felt Finn’s hand moving in his, a sign that he was waking up too. Leo pushed himself up with one arm, careful not to wake Logan up, reaching over to brush Finn’s hair from his forehead.

“Good morning sweetheart.”

“Mhh good morning Le.”

Finn stretched his back, his head sleepily falling down onto the pillow, making Leo chuckle.

“Wake Lo up, would you love? I will go down and make some breakfast for us.”, Leo said while getting up.

Finn nodded in response, blowing Leo a kiss, to which he leaned down and planted a real kiss on his lips in return. Finn made a soft sound, his hand finding the back of Leo’s head, pulling him closer. They parted eventually and Leo gave Finn a last kiss on the cheek before he made his way into the kitchen.

He started to prepare the bowls, humming softly while he mixed everything together. Leo flinched at the loud ringtone of his phone. It laid on the kitchen counter, exactly where he left it last night after their weekly date night.

Coach is calling…

“Good morning coach, what’s up?”

“Leo…”

His heart dropped at the tone of Arthur’s voice.

“Leo, I am so sorry but you have been traded. Come over soon so we can talk about the paperwork please.”

Leo didn’t remember what he said, he ended the call and starred at the phone in his hands. He felt… numb, as if he was stuck in one of those horrid dreams where you keep running and running and running but you never reach any end. He managed to put the phone back down but when he looked up, all he could do was to stare blankly at the wall. He didn’t cry, it still felt too surreal.

Leo could faintly discern Logan and Finn moving towards the kitchen, their laughter echoing from the walls right into his heart. The happy sound stopped the moment the two entered the kitchen, seeing Leo standing there. Both of them knew something was wrong.

“I got traded.”

It was simple as that and now it was finally sinking in. He got traded, he got-

“No please tell me this is some sick joke", a bitter laugh escaped Logan’s mouth, both him and Finn stopping dead in their tracks.

“It’s not”, his voice broke and he looked towards them, the tears already running down his face.

Logan immediately started sobbing, his eyes filled with fear and helplessness. At the same time, Finn moved to pull Leo into a hug, his wet cheek pressing against Leo’s collarbone. All of them were crying by now, it was an ugly picture but so was the situation.

“This doesn’t make any sense. You haven’t even been playing long with us”, Finn muttered against Leo’s skin.

“We can’t let them take you away from us. What are we without you by our side?”

“We can do it. We have to”, Logan said through his tears, his hand reaching out to wipe away Leo’s tears.

Leo didn’t answer.

Can we?

“I think I need some time for myself, okay?”, he said and leaned into Logan’s touch for a second before removing himself out of the hug.

He walked out of the kitchen but as he turned around again, Logan and Finn were already in each other’s arms, rocking from side to side. He could hear a faint “It’s going to be alright.” But it cut off with his door falling shut.

He walked towards his bed, falling down face first and just laid there. He gave himself a few minutes to breathe, his mind was blank. He was so so scared. He couldn’t do anything. He didn’t know how and if this was going to work out, hearts are going to break either way.

He lifted his head a bit, reaching out for the phone he carelessly threw onto the bed.

Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up

“Lupin?”

“Cap? Did I call the wrong number?”

“No, you didn’t. Is everything alright? You sound a bit off.”

“No, yes. Can you just pass the phone to Remus please?”, his voice sounded so small but he heard shuffling and some swearing before the other Lupin was on the phone.

“Knutty, what’s up?”

“Re…”, Leo let out a shaky breath. Remus didn’t say anything else, he just waited, which is why he called him in the first place. Remus always knew what’s best.

“If- let’s say for some reason you need to move to another city on the other end of the country and Sirius is in no way able to come with you, what would you do?”

“Leo, what is going on?”

“You’ll probably find out soon enough, just answer my question please.”

“I mean. I would try to do a long distance but it’s a tough decision to make. Long distances aren’t easy. Leo, whatever is going on, try to do what you think will be best for you and listen to you heart. Love you.”

“Love you too, Re. Thank you.”

He threw his phone back into the pillows and thought about what his teammate said. The problem was, Leo’s heart was broken and what use was it to listen to a broken heart?

Maybe it would be better to call it quit. I can’t manage a long-distance relationship. I can’t.

He pushed himself off the bed, finding his way to the living room, trying not to think too much about what he was going to do to them, what he was going to do to himself. Logan and Finn were curled up together on the sofa, not crying anymore but not talking either. Leo cleared his throat, both boys looked up to him, slowly sitting up properly.

“We need to talk.”

Leo rounded the couch, sitting down between them, his heart heavy. He didn’t say anything right away but breathed, trying to stop the tears from falling again but he was failing.

“I think- I know I won’t be able to keep a long-distance relationship up. I think I need to cut myself out of this. I’m sorry.”

Leo didn’t talk around it or tried to talk it better because it wouldn’t make a thing better. This was the most painful experience and he knew he was the reason for it.

Said two froze, the comforting hand that was on his back a second ago fell down on the couch. It was dead silent. Then Logan started sobbing, his body shaking uncontrollably.

“What?”

Finn’s voice was nothing but a whisper, his eyes red and shiny.

“Leo no. No please, don’t do this to us. You can’t- we are a team, we are supposed to stay together, we-we are supposed to marry in the future, Leo-“, Logan broke down into sobs again, his face in his hands. It broke Leo’s heart into a million pieces.

Leo looked over to Finn, tears silently rushing down over his beautiful freckles, his eyes were filled with pain but also understanding.

“I’m sorry,” said Leo, his voice breaking “but I made my decision.”

He stood up, not being able to stay another second longer in the mess he made, walking into his bedroom, the lump in his throat growing.

Fuck

----

The farewell party was spot on terrible. The team gathered together at Dumo’s, trying to make the best out of the situation but there wasn’t a single thing that cheered Leo up. He was on the verge of tears the moment he stepped into the house because it just reminded him of the things, he won’t be able to see on a daily basis anymore.

Now, a few hours later, his bags were packed, the taxi was waiting downstairs. Logan and Finn stood there, right in front of him, tears in their beautiful eyes.

He gave them a small, tight smile.

“I love you,” Leo said through his tears before he looked at them one last time and closed the door behind him. The moment the door clicked shut he broke down sobbing.

Little did he know that on the other side of the door, Finn was sliding down against it, his mind trying to wrap around the things that happened, pulling Logan against his chest, trying to ease the pain they were feeling.

---

They were falling apart, slowly but surely.

The first week was okay, given the circumstances, they tried to comfort each other and there was a lot of crying. But eventually, Logan couldn’t sleep in Finn’s bed anymore, it didn’t feel right and there were too many memories connected to it. The dark spots under their eyes grew from day to day.

The team was worried but they brushed it off every time someone tied to talk to them or to get them to open up.

The problem was, it’s human nature to search for anything to blame something on. But there was no one. It wasn’t Logan’s fault, it wasn’t Finn’s, it wasn’t Leo’s, it wasn’t Arthur’s.

By the end of week two, Finn and Logan barley talked to each other and the flat was a real mess. Pizza boxes over pizza boxes, the dishes still in the sink, the windows weren’t opened for days but neither had the strength to do something about it. How could they? Everyday was a fight, going on the ice wasn’t what it was before.

But the season moved on and they had to function. Logan getting more and more aggressive on the ice, searching for something to deal with his emotions.

A few hundred miles away, Leo was watching the game in his hotel room, starring at the screen.

It had been three weeks by now and he hadn’t really talked to anyone yet.

The new team was amazing honestly, they were trying to include him and welcoming him into their circle but he couldn’t bring himself to engage with them, his walls were up again.

This wasn’t family dinner at Dumo’s, this wasn’t being chirped by Pot’s at morning practice, this wasn’t Cap threatening him with drills if he didn’t concentrate, this wasn’t screaming to Taylor Swift songs with Kasey, this wasn’t waking up with Finn and Logan next to him. He was a fucking Lion and this was not right.

So, he made a decision, maybe this time, the right one.

---

Finn was currently sitting on the couch, searching for something to watch when he heard the doorbell. He debated if it was worth it to stand up but he managed to drag himself towards the door. He nearly fainted when he saw who was standing there. He starred dumbly at his face, blue eyes starring right back at him.

“We need to talk and sort this shit out.”

#sweater weather lumosinlove #lumosinlove #angst #o'knutzy #i'm so sorry

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xz1005fanblog · 4 years

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2021-02-27 Some things I want to say

WARNING LONG POST

Context first, translation of his post above will follow:

Disclaimer: I have no interest in other artists other than Xiao Zhan, and I am merely explaining the situation of the fandom in China that led us to the fiasco in March 2020. I do not care for bjyx, I ship WangXian but I do not ship real people as a basic principle.

My opinion as an international fan of Xiao Zhan and as an AO3 user (yes, I am not Chinese nor do I live in China, I just happen to be able to read Chinese) is that C-entertainment industry is TOXIC and celebrities are not free targets for you to cyberbully. They are human just like you and me.

Everyone needs to learn a bit more about compassion.

I am sure all of you read about the cyberbullying Xiao Zhan went through last year. There were multiple factors that started all of this, most of which XZ doesn’t talk about in this letter because of how sensitive the topic is in China. I’ve never explained entirely what happened because I personally thought that this is not something overseas fans should worry too much about. Especially since most of you don’t have a wb or db account, there’s nothing you can do about it anyway. But since Xiao Zhan himself decided to post a letter to respond to this subject, I’ll put in my 2 cents just that so everyone is on the same page.

Basically, after The Untamed aired in China, the show fandom split into 3 groups. XZ fans, WYB fans, and CP fans (or bjyx, whatever you wish to call it, those who love shipping these two real people together - not just the characters in the drama). Of course there are still people who would watch the show without becoming a fan of the actors.

At the beginning, most people thought they were good friends with each other, with all the short BTS clips from The Untamed. However, fans slowly discovered that it wasn’t the case. Some unofficial BTS clips emerged where WYB said XZ was shooting multiple dramas at the same time = 轧戏 (which is very frowned upon and a disrespectful thing to say to an actor), whereas in reality, XZ only asked for a couple of days days off during the shooting for The Untamed because his scenes in Joy of Life had to be redone and he was bound by contract. On the contrary, WYB had to ask for most weekends off because he was participating in Produce 101 at the time. Other clips shows them fighting about somethings WYB said about WWX, which made XZ mad. So this broke a lot of CP fans’ image of their relationship, and they either stopped shipping/became XZ or WYB fans only. This angered WYB’s fans, of course, which made them blame XZ for the entire fiasco.

Other incidents continued to happen after the show which increased the friction between these 3 fan groups. XZ fans and WYB fans would fight about various voting charts, and fight with CP fans because they don’t like seeing the two actors together. In the meantime, CP fans continuously feminize and weaken XZ in order to ship the 2 actors together (it’s rather an unhealthy trend in China, I’ve been in multiple other western fandoms before - not real person shipping - but we rarely glorify weakening/feminizing the bottom of a ship, because of the underlying prejudice against real homosexuals, who are not synonymous to transgenders).

Some incidents added oil to the fire afterwards. It’ll take me too long to explain everything, so I’ll just put here the main ones to explain why there’s so much bad blood between these 3 groups of fans.

On XZ’s birthday, some CP fans found XZ’s parents’ apartment building and yelled BJYX is real. This angered a lot of XZ fans, because of how disrespectful it was towards the old couple and the clear breach of privacy. WYB fans and some CP fans were also angry that XZ didn’t reply immediately to the birthday wish on wb that WYB sent at midnight (??? XZ was busy shooting a drama, can you blame him for not being on wb at midnight? Give the guy a break.)

In November 2019, WYB filed a lawsuit against some of XZ’s fans (instead against of his own haters!) for dissing him (although I’ve never seen any proof, and a few of those fans remain active on wb now, one of whom has even defended WYB's portrayal of LWJ before...). This angered a lot of XZ fans and CP fans who didn’t understand how he could have done this to his “friend”, and further proved that their relationship wasn’t that fantastic to begin with. WYB fans felt justified in hating XZ and all XZ fans as a result, and openly bullied XZ fans on the grounds of the Nanking CQL Concert.

In January, The Untamed was named to Beijing Journal Drama award. CP fans and WYB fans were unhappy that XZ was named to the Best Male Lead category and WYB was named to the Best Male 2nd Lead. They attacked the award committee wb by spam commenting all their wb posts and the entire drama was pulled from the nomination afterward. XZ fans were especially angry that they started all this only for the nomination to be pulled out - because the only possibility was one Male Lead per drama, and anyone would agree that if chosen between WWX and LWJ, the character with the most scenes and importance in the story is WWX.

Yadda yadda yadda, fast forward to February 2020, it started with a fanfiction written by a CP fan that depicted XZ as a prostitute transgender woman and WYB as a highschool kid (UNDERAGE) = AKA very sensitive material in China. It was posted on AO3, but the author posted the link of said fic on wb and a lot of CP fans broadcasted it around, so much that XZ fans became aware of it. Due to how sensitive the material is and how badly it would taint XZ’s image for his future roles, some XZ fans started reporting the wb post that contained the link (NOT AO3) and the author’s wb page. This is common practice in fandom on wb, usually done to get the wb posts taken down. This caused panic in the CP fans crowd because they thought XZ fans were reporting AO3 and that they were gonna lose the website (which is impossible, because AO3′s servers are in Sweden and not subject to Chinese laws anyway).

Because of how sensitive AO3 was in China and how haters tried to pull in antigovernmental into their crowds, the subject quickly became too dangerous for XZ fans to get involved in. Official fan groups in China unanimously decided to ask all fans to stop participating in the online debate and stay within the fan group circle only.

Someone on AO3 made a commentary about this incident that you can find here. She dug up a lot of info on the companies feeding money to the trolls online, but as I am an overseas fan and cannot really verify her info, I will not comment on those statements.

Sometime in the middle of this fiasco, someone started spreading the notion that XZ fans hated fanfiction and were trying to report anything that goes against their image of their idol... And subsequently people who were not CP fans or XZ fans became aware of this problem when they couldn’t access AO3 suddenly because too much curious fans where trying to access it and they crashed the servers. However later on, people could access the website without any problems. I am not personally in China right now so I can’t verify these claims of the website being walled or not for real, but I know from various reliable sources that on March 1st it was only an overload of the server, and people could still access afterwards.

With this however, haters (which include previous CP fans, WYB fans, and other idol’s fans) attacked XZ for not telling his fans to stop reporting, for not saying anything. They attacked XZ’s endorsements and spammed hate speech on the products he was promoting. They would rate 1 star in all his dramas and songs on db, and then buy accounts to further rate 1 stars (yes that thing exists in China, everything can be bought in China, don’t ask me why.) The reason why I believe that all this wasn’t coincidental, is that barely the day after the fiasco started, someone posted on db the exact list of all his sponsorships, detailing exactly who to call to protest, what words to spam in the comment sections of various official brands’ wb accounts. This entire thing was too well planned to be just a normal fandom fight.

Whether it was other actors’ fans who organized this to cut down competition, we will probably never know for sure. The following year was laden with fake rumors, hate speech blasting from multiple directions. They attacked his personality, saying that his polite manners are just for show (when the reality is that he has always been a gentleman even when he wasn’t popular). They attacked XZ for faking donations to Wuhan, forcing him to show his donation certificate to prove himself. One of his friends couldn’t stand the cyberbullying anymore and revealed publicly that his grandfather recently passed away (the date on this drawing is 2020.03.03, he couldn’t post this last year).

His friend defending him from the cyberbullies, saying that he had plenty of reasons to stay silent. That his grandfather passed away recently and his family has been planning his funeral.

(Sources also said that his mother was hospitalized a few days afterwards. And that haters went to his mother’s hospital to harass her and her nurses)

Haters saying that XZ is using his grandfather’s death to excuse himself (??? is he not allowed to grieve like a normal person???)

Haters wishing that XZ becomes depressed from the cyberbullying and kills himself, wishing that he was dead, wishing that his fans were dead too. Photoshopping his picture into a funeral portrait to curse him

Haters admitting they are cyberbullying XZ, but rejoicing in the fact that they are so many so XZ can’t sue all of them. They have also reported his upcoming dramas for various reasons just so they cannot be aired.

The airplane incident I’ve already talked about here.

A picture antis made to diss on XZ fans: AO3 can be still accessed even if it’s walled, Lofter can be still access even if it’s taken down from the app store. Your gege’s picture are still accessible even if he died.

I’ve only posted here the tamest screenshots, there are far worst ones that I won’t be posting because the amount of vitriol give me nausea just looking at them.

In all this fiasco, antis gave him the tag of “idol who didn’t manage his fans well”. But Xiao Zhan never thought fans needed to be trained, he thought of them like normal people, and their love, something to be treasured and not used. But some people in China still blamed his fans for starting all this mess, and partly him and his studio for not being able to stop it.

Below is the translation for XZ’s letter, posted on the wb post above

Some Things I Want To Say

Today, I have something to say to everyone. I’ve thought of a lot of ways to do this, but in the end, I chose the simplest way to tell everyone about all my feelings and thoughts in the past year. These opinions, maybe they won’t be able to represent anything, nor won’t they be able to change anything, but I still wish to say this today.

On this day last year, the incident happened very quickly, as if a bomb exploded on my face - endless phone calls, never ending message notifications, everyone’s opinions and questions came in like a tsunami. I wanted to say something back then, but I didn’t know what exactly. I was apprehensive of making a statement, afraid that one wrong word, or one wrong sentence would be taken the wrong way and end up adding oil to the fire. This is why at that time, I chose not to say anything.

I never thought that the online fighting would grow bigger and bigger like an avalanche, getting larger crowds involved, and gradually leaving one person’s control. Even though afterwards I made repeated statements to make amends, it could not develop as I wished it to anymore.

This life filled with broken protests and tumultuous noise continued to this day. And I felt I was going through a very dark and never ending tunnel. Unrest, ruminations, turmoil... I have also asked myself what did I do wrong exactly, why did everything after that day became as if it were an uncontrollable vessel.

I spent a lot of time to digest, and then spent a lot of time to understand, understand everyone’s words and actions. Slowly, I started to understand what everyone was criticizing about me personally. The moment that I chose not to say anything, I lost that window of opportunity to reason with everyone. So I was wrong, from the very beginning.

At that time, I wasn’t yet able to clearly understand the entire incident, to understand everyone’s feelings, nor did I know what kind of responsibility I had to carry as a public figure. Thus, I missed that opportunity to communicate with everyone, and wasn’t able to withstand the responsibility of letting these antagonizing feelings grow. Now, I can clearly recognize that throughout this year, this criticism that everyone had against me of “Idol Who Lost Its Voice”, was correct. During this year I reflected upon this repeatedly, as a public figure, I have to not only improve myself within the boundaries of my profession, but also have to carry the social responsibility that comes with my influence. To influence those who like me, who follow me, towards the right worldviews within my capacity. Even though my studio and I have already expressed some opinions through wb and interviews, but scars that this incident that brought such antagonistic emotions between different circles are still difficult to heal.

No matter how late, my own problem has to be corrected. I would like to express my first comment: Xiao Zhan, would like to apologize for “losing voice” towards those who have been affected by this incident. This is my first responsibility towards the public, face the problem and admit my faults.

Also, I would like to use this opportunity to speak with my fans. This is my second responsibility. In one of my interviews last year, I have said, I do not really agree with “managing” my fans (some celebs in China have hired people to manage fan groups in order for them to behave in certain ways for their purposes. Antis tried to spread the false rumor that XZ also had those people and that they directed their fans to start this mess), because everyone is an individual. No matter my studio nor myself, we do not have the authority to “manage” them like some would manage workers in a company. Afterwards, I reflected many times, maybe I cannot use the word “manage” to define my relationship with my fans, but I do have the responsibility to “correctly influence, and actively advocate”. So today, I would like to tell my fans, everyone has the right to like or hate something, and it should be respected and allowed within their own space. Of course this right should be reasonable, should not hurt anyone else, and remain within the boundaries of the correct values and norms. I hope my fans and friends can understand that no matter which profession, no matter what age, one’s own preferences or actions should not cross the line for one’s professional ethics or disrespect basic principles.

(Here he is referring to reports of teachers using his name in class or asking children to say his name to cheer for him. This is a problem that occurred also with other celebrities in China, and for which he has already expressed himself previously.)

No matter online or in real life, everyone should be responsible for their own words. I also hope that we are not represented tags like “xx’s fans”, that we do not set this as the basis of where we stand on a topic nor do we let this determine what’s right or wrong. Everyone have their own hobbies and interest, respect everyone’s choice and freedom of speech. No matter whether they like me or hate me is their own right. Passion, this should be a source of strength to everyone, I do not wish for it to consume or hurt anyone. Perhaps I cannot change this kind of environment, but at least for you and me, today is a new start point.

At last, I would like to talk a bit about myself. Ever since I came into this field, until today, I have always been defined by some tags. But the reason why I originally stepped into this circle was my passion for performance and music. And this is why, I will keep working on becoming a better actor and singer. The sudden criticism of “having lost voice” made me realize that, other than what I have always focused on professionally, I have to also be able to carry the responsibility of a public figure and an idol. I was born in a normal family in Chong Qing, and have lived a normal life, like many other people, for more than twenty years. Today I will also use this opportunity to apologize for the words I have said before as a normal person (I’ve already talked about it here), for the people I have inadvertently hurt. As I work hard on studying to become a better person, I will try to become a better “public figure”, so that these two Xiao Zhan can blend in together, for a better self.

This past year, no matter big or small, I have to be responsible for the incidents that happened because of me. I can demand this for myself, but I have no right to force it on other people, so I can only hope that those who really like me can really listen to me: please be a bit more reasonable for things outside of personal preferences. Live a healthy life, put more time and energy onto one’s real life, and less on the senseless fighting behind fake IDs and unreliable online world. Only to become a better self.

(Here he’s referring to an online fight that an anti called 晨小晨 started. I’ve already explained a bit here. #微博管理员回应晨小晨事件# )

Sorry for any grammar errors, this post was really long to make and I didn’t proofread. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to translate the entire thing for overseas fans since you don’t understand the entire context, and because I wanted my wb records collection tag to be complete, I felt I had to... and I got carried away trying to explain everything. Tried to summarize it as much as I could.

As a fan of Xiao Zhan and also an AO3 user, I would still like to apologize for how this bullshi*t ended up disrupting respectful and peaceful users of AO3. The Untamed tag did not contain hate fics before all of this happened, it is unfortunate that a place where there used to be only love, ended up being tainted by antis and haters.

To the anonymous person who asked me a few months ago if I supported bjyx, this is my answer: You have the right to like whatever you want within your own corner, as long as it doesn’t bother anyone else and isn’t against basic principles. I ship WangXian as characters from a novel, but I have never liked RPS as a principle.

#肖战 #肖战xiaozhan #xiao zhan #xiaozhan #zhan xiao #sean xiao #wb records collection #bjyx #i hate fandom fighting #in the end he chose to say sorry #for the innocent people dragged into this #and for the innocent fans #he chose to carry all the blame #even when none of it was his fault

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obscuremarvelmuses · 3 years

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At one of the boards I play Shaw at, I’m going to be running a “kidnapping the X-Men as experimental guinea pigs” plot with Shaw at the helm (based on THIS DROPPED PLOT POINT from canon) in October. I plan to use several canons as NPCs in the plot so that the X-Men have more than just Shaw and Emma (who is played by someone else) to face, and as October approaches, I’m writing a series of small fics for the board that introduces each NPC so they’re more than just names. This is the one I did for Monica Rappaccini and June Covington, the lead scientists in this RPG. No, they never worked for the Hellfire Club in canon, but given that June is an amoral monster whose genetic plug-in technology would work PERFECT for this, she was a shoe-in. But what about Monica? Her ideals are far from those of the Hellfire Club, and she doesn’t care about money. So, what’s she doing there? This fic explains that, sets up her dynamic with June, and lays the groundwork for how I plan to have her turn on the Hellfire Club and help the X-Men. Because that would make sense for her in this scenario and I think having an NPC on the inside is going to help the plot along. Again, this is not based on anything in canon, nor it is it canon to this blog, it’s for a plot at an RP board. But since it features two ladies from my multi, I thought it would be worth posting here. Warning for mentions of eugenics, ableism, etc.

Dr. Theresa June Covington was the typical blonde blue-eyed beauty, with an unnatural “natural” perfection thanks to her own work on herself. Shaw often wondered if she’d done the same for Emma. Dr. Monica Rappaccini, on the other hand, was a more unusual but no less lovely blend of Italian and Southeast Asian heritage. But, contrary to popular belief, he hadn’t hired these ladies for their looks. No, far from it. Both were brilliant in exactly the way Shaw needed for this project. . .and both were disgraced, unable to find work from any reputable company or university lab. Monica was a radical, a proponent of various anti-establishment beliefs that had led her down the wrong side of the law. Shaw didn’t agree with her politics, but her work in the fields of chemistry and biology more than made up for it. And it seemed that, like everyone in Shaw’s opinion, she could sacrifice her principles for the proper funding. But as much as Monica was worth, far more essential was June. It was her work on “genetic plug-in technology” that was the entire backbone of this project. It was a remarkable development, allowing her to take genetic material and essentially implant it into others, where it would then activate and express itself as naturally as if the person have been born with this gene or genes. She had based her work on knockout mice, a genetically modified lab mouse in which researchers have inactivated, or "knocked out", an existing gene by replacing it or disrupting it with an artificial piece of DNA when the mouse is still a mere embryo. But Theresa had taken it far beyond that, to humans who were already adults. Including herself; that work she’d had done hadn’t been with a scalpel to her beautiful face, but plug-in technologies to edit out all her perceived little physical imperfections. And once she’d done that, she started designing a few internal changes. had altered her bones so they soften to diffuse impacts, she could dislocate her joints with ease thanks to new glands that distributed relaxins, her saliva was antiseptic, and, just in case anyone was ever fool enough to cut her, her blood was seething with neurotoxins. She, of course, was immune to it---who’s the REAL Rappaccini here, Monica?-- but if someone else touched it, well. . .they might as well have downed a pint of hemlock. So why wasn’t she raking in the millions? Why weren’t people lining up for plug-ins for everything from blue eyes to building muscle rapidly to electric eel organs? Well, in order to get such a work accomplished, there’d had to be. . .sacrifices. Mostly homeless people, but when she’d sought out a healthier stock of guinea pig, she’d started taking out people that she just felt didn’t have a right to live. There were haves and have-nots, you see, and the latter, well, they just didn’t have the same entitlement to life as the former. Like, say, people who watched Jersey Shore; could that really be called a life? And therefore, was it really murder? While Monica shared her opinions about reality TV, the rest of June’s beliefs enraged her to her core. And June, in turn, didn’t think much of Monica and her silly ideas about. . . .what was it, starving children in Africa and Asia and shit? June thought about what Shaw did of that. But unlike Shaw, she wasn’t employing Monica, and Monica didn’t have to put up with hearing her repulsive eugenicist tripe all day! Which was exactly what she’d just told her. Screamed at her, really. “Eugenics? Really?” June replied, and she didn’t sound upset at all, “My work is based on encouraging diversity, Monica, not culling it. Taking all the best traits. . . and putting them in the best people.” “That’s exactly what I mean!” Monica jabbed a finger at June, though not quite in her face---she doubted that blonde viper was above biting it. “Your idea that there *is* a “best” people---and who those are!” “Don’t try to make me out as some racist, Monica,” June placed her eerily sharp-nailed hands on her model-slim hips, “Just because I may look like the poster child for the Aryan nation, doesn’t mean I subscribe to such silly skin-deep notions about what makes perfection. My definition of elite is intellectual. A matter of character, not color. Physical flaws, though? Those can be fixed. That’s the point. Or do YOU think that a mind as phenomenal as Stephen Hawking’s should have been confined in that poor twisted prison of a body?” “That’s MY point!” Monica bellowed back, “It shouldn’t MATTER whether he has a mind you deem “worthy” of a better body, he deserves a cure either way! Everyone ill does!” “Some people don’t have an illness, Monica,” June purred. They were on a first-name basis at this point, but it wasn’t out of friendliness, “Some people are an illness.” “You know,” Monica seethed, her voice at normal volume and yet now even more angry, a deep and brewing rage like a volcano prior to eruption, “I think you’re right.” *** Monica worked late that night, blowing off steam. While the work itself was distasteful, and done for people she found disgusting---the Hellfire Club and its “everything for profit” mindset was everything she DESPISED about Western society---she poured herself passionately into it, knowing that, when this was all over, she could use it for good. Not only would she be rolling in millions that she could use to fund further work, but the knowledge gained here. . . as vile June was, the genetic plug-in tech was a miracle. Monica’s mind had raced when she heard about it, imagining all the ways that mutant powers could HELP the world---not just humans, but nature too. But, June was right about one thing---it had to go to the right people. Not the wealthy who would use it as toys or weapons, the grotesque commercial and military uses that the Hellfire Club had in mind. She kept her dominant thoughts occupied with work. She didn’t dare think too much too often about this. Not within the walls of these labs, where the likes of, say, Emma Frost could walk in any moment. Hell, would Frost even need to be here to read her mind? She shuddered at the notion of someone remote-viewing her mental processes like lab microfilm from miles away. Still . . . Monica was starting to think some very dangerous things. Dangerous for her, that is. And for the Hellfire Club’s entire operation.

#my fic #june fic #monica fic

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wilmakins · 4 years

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Constructive Criticism,

I do accept constructive criticism and discourse on my fics. I accept critical replies to my blog posts.

This is not in any way a judgement of those who don’t. I accept and even ask for this feedback because it best suits my personal needs, that is all. If you’re leaving concrit on the works of those who haven’t specifically asked for it - don’t.

But, if you have been directed to this blog because a note on my fic has assured you I’ll be happy to discuss further on Tumblr - welcome.

However - I would politely request you read the following before you leave that comment, or send that ask

1. RACIST, HOMOPHOBIC, SEXIST, TRANSPHOBIC, ABILIST AND AGEIST LANGUAGE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED, AND WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY - This includes when it’s directed at me, at a fellow commenter or at one of the characters - regardless of whether you are nominally ‘defending’ me. I don’t want to be spoken for in those terms, thank you. I reserve the right to add other variants of arse-holery to this list, as and when I encounter them.

2. Please ask yourself if this needs to be made personal - There is a big difference between ‘I disagree with every word of this’ and ‘You don’t know anything, and are wrong about everything.’ There is a difference between saying ‘this argument is ignorant’ and ‘you are ignorant’.

Further, my age, gender, sexuality, sexual history, personal preferences in other areas and relationship status are very rarely relevant to the point being discussed. Unless you would like to draw attention to a problem associated with my privilege, or my bias, which I actively encourage - I would prefer you focused on the work, rather than me personally.

3. Constructive Criticism is best when it’s constructive - ‘I hated this part of the story. It made me so angry, because...’ is far more helpful that ‘I hated this part of the story, it made me angry’. But that’s still more helpful than ‘I hated this part of the story’. Which is still more useful than ‘You’re a terrible writer’. As much detail as you can give me is gratefully received.

And, if you do have suggestions for where I could improve, or if you want to include the details you did like, then great - its all valuable information to someone trying to learn. Although that is not a requirement to leave feedback.

4. Please don’t assume other commenters want to engage in discourse with you - even if they’ve engaged in discourse with me - I will delete any comment you leave in response to someone else, if I feel it has crossed the line.

5.Consider whether the story is ongoing - I have a number of long fics in which the characters have substantial changes of heart, or changes of opinion, as the fic progresses. There are also often times when a point seems to have gone unaddressed, or been accepted in one particular way... but it’s going to come back in a big way, a few updates later. Please consider asking first. An ask, ‘So, is this Steve saying he wishes he’d let Bucky rot? is that what you think, or what you think Steve thinks?’ is a better starting place than ‘OMG, here are all the reasons Steve was right to help Bucky, and all the reasons he’d never change his mind about that, and all the ways you think incorrectly’. Because, more often than not, the answer is ‘Ah, but in the next chapter, we find out why Steve had to say that by then - and in the following update, he’ll get to explain that he doesn’t really think any of that’. Or whatever. Not a real example. But hopefully you see what I mean.

6. Unless asked otherwise, I will usually respond - this is not me saying you have to accept a response, actually. The fact that I’m actively requesting this feedback makes the arrangement into a very different thing. Having actually asked people to tell me their honest opinion, I accept their right to respond with ‘Okay, but here are my conditions.’ You can have conditions, when someone else starts the conversation. If you leave unsolicited concrit on anyone’s fic, you lose the right to say that they shouldn’t have replied without your consent, now don’t you? So those writers have a right to reply as they see fit. But, I accept, in my case, I’ve started the conversation, so, you do have a right to say, I’m leaving this advice, but I don’t want to get into a conversation over it. Or, I’d rather you answered this ask privately. Fine, no bother.

But, sans any guidance to the contrary, I will often reply with questions and clarifications, and will usually answer asks on my dash. You’re free to ignore that, obviously - but you’ll have to let me know if you just want me to not.

So, with that in mind - that you so much for taking an interest in my work, and for taking the time to feedback on it. I greatly appreciate it.

#concrit welcome #concrit

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vivypotter · 6 years

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Vivy’s Harry Potter Fic Recs

I’ve had a load of people ask me for my favourite tomarry fics, so I thought I’d compile a fic rec! This will probably be updated as I think of things. However, I have a lot of favourite fics which aren’t Tomarry, so I thought I’d add a few other pairings as well. I think I’ll put up a few recs of other fandoms as well when I get ‘round to it, like Hannibal or the Hobbit (I have weird reading habits okay?) It’ll help me find them too xD.

Tom Riddle or Voldemort/Harry Potter

Consuming Shadows by Child_OTKW (WIP)

On the night of the attack, Lily managed to escape with her infant son, but at the cost of her husband’s life. Distraught and distrusting of her friends, she fled to France with Harry, to raise him away from the corruption in Britain and the rising influence of the Dark Lord. She trains him to the best of her abilities, shaping him into a dangerous, intelligent and powerful wizard.

But when Britain re-establishes the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry is forced to return to his once-home, he finds himself questioning whether he really wants to kill the Dark Lord. Voldemort finds an unexpected challenge in the child, and as his intrigue and amusement grows, so too does the desire to possess the spark in those defiant green eyes.

I feel this is genuinely one of the best Tomarry fanfics maybe ever written, and I’m sure you’ve probably read it since it’s so popular - but I thought I’d recommend it anyway! It’s not finished, but there’s enough of it to really sink your teeth into and action is properly going down right now. Harry is such an interesting character and his cat and mouse dynamic with Voldemort is so entertaining. I anxiously wait for every update!

Set the Sails (and don’t look back) by Terrific Lunacy (Complete)

1724. All Harry wanted to do was to cross the Atlantic and start his apprenticeship under one of the most renowned physicians. Tom Riddle is convinced everything floating in the seven seas belongs to him. That includes ship-wrecked, green-eyed youths. Especially if they tell him to fuck off.

This is a fic that’s really stuck with me. It’s complete (a miracle in the tomarry fandom) and there’s a fun back-and-forth between Voldemort and Harry. Our goodhearted Harry is a doctor! And for some reason, I’ve been really into Pirate AUs recently.

A Thousand Paths Among The Stars by haplesshippo (Complete)

Harry Potter, newly appointed Captain of the Marauder and son of the famous Captain James Potter, was falling apart at the seams. His crew didn’t respect him, he was lost in the empty expanse of space, nightmares plagued his sleep, and his Commander deserved the Captain position more than he did. Good thing multiple attempts on his life and a vicious warlord after his head was all it took to turn it all around.

Alternatively, that space fic in which Harry Potter almost dies too many times, Tom Riddle slowly becomes the most smitten fool on the ship, and the rest of the crew are all just a bunch of assholes with popcorn watching the show. And exploding ships, don't forget the exploding ships.

Another pirate AU, kind of! But this one is in space! And it’s actually more of a Star Trek AU. Okay, it’s not really a pirate AU but I wanted to keep the theme going. This is such a freaking good fic- the relationship between Tom and Harry is very unusual (not as combative as the last two fics) and there are some nice twists, as well as combination of HP lore and what I assume is Star Trek (I’ve never seen it okay). And the extended cast is excellent. I fully recommend!

The Dragon's Mate by Strange_Soulmates (Complete fics but WIP series)

Harry Potter has recently escaped from his dragon-guarded tower. So has his fellow prisoner - the dragon who was enchanted to guard him. Harry's friend is missing, however, and so he sets off to assure himself of his well-being before he finds the person responsible for imprisoning them both. Accompanied by a stranger with a familiar name, Harry finds himself with more questions than answers as he slowly learns about the customs of dragons and the history of the dragon he befriended, the fearsome Voldemort.

I really love pretty much all of Strange_Soulmates’ fics, but this is definitely my favourite (and maybe the only complete one? Don’t quote me on that.) The characters are so well done, and although I love the first fic a little more than the second, they are both excellent reads! Dragons and wizards? Yes, please!

Everything's Fine in the Beast Division by Merrinpippy (Complete)

Harry's lifelong ambition is to become an auror, but as his knowledge of Dangerous Beasts is somewhat lacking, Newt Scamander agrees to take him on as an apprentice. Contrary to the Weasley twins' predictions that Harry would die of boredom, Harry finds his time at the Ministry very interesting, and befriending the very attractive Tom Riddle doesn't hurt at all- in fact, quite the opposite.

This is such a fantastic fanfiction, and a crossover with Fantastic Beasts (a franchise I can’t stand but that’s a conversation for another time). It manages to be fluffy without going OOC which is difficult for tomarry fics, and the supporting cast are adorable!

To Be Set Free by Merrinpippy

Harry Potter, raised and abused by the Dursleys ever since his parents died, lives in the cupboard under the stairs. He has no friends or family who love him and his life is dull until one day a letter arrives arrives for him, written in green ink, that promises freedom. Sounds familiar, right?

King Thomas Riddle's illness combined with his political paranoia pushes him to arrange three royal balls, after which his son, Prince Tom Riddle, must choose a guest to marry, thereby securing the kingdom's future and solidifying their strength in the eyes of their allies/enemies. Tom is convinced that he will be able to defy his father and choose no-one, or at least he is until at the first ball he meets an attractive stranger with dark hair and glasses who won't tell anyone his name...

This is also excellent, and I love a good Fairytale AU. Merrinpippy has some really good stuff. I love all of it!

As Clichéd as Clichés Go by thecrimsonmonarch (One-shot)

Harry Potter wasn't known for his social skills, mainly because they were practically non-existent.

This is a bit random but very fun. Harry is a fucking dork. That’s all there is to say. A thoroughly amusing Lawyer AU.

Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus by The Carnivorous Muffin (WIP)

As the unwitting personification of Death, reality exists to Lily through the veil of a backstage curtain, a transient stage show performed by actors who take their roles only too seriously. But as the Girl-Who-Lived, Lily's role to play is the most important of all, and come hell or high water play it she will, regardless of how awful Wizard Lenin seems to think she is at her job.

This is a still-uploading fanfic and one of my faves. It’s not for everyone- it’s a fem!Harry and she’s so different that she’s really an OC to be honest, and the story is slightly complicated. This is certainly not a fic to go for if you want IC characters. But I really love the writing and the ideas and it’s basically a new, fascinating universe. And even if they’re not IC, I love the characters all dearly. The Carnivorous Muffin is certainly an extremely talented writer- all of her stuff is excellent.

Little Bits by lordmarvoloriddle

Inspired by Cinderella. Only there's no prince and surely no one is singing about their feelings and Harry's life could be a lot worse than having three step-brothers and a father who didn't liked him. He's going to be proven right.

This is such a bloody creepy fic and so so good. The ending is a complete twist and you should definitely read it!

Drarry

Draw a Line from Your Heart to Mine by CreateImagineWrite (Complete)

Being Harry Potter's best friend isn't always fame and beating off raving fans. It's also the anxiety of hearing your best mate's been cursed by another Dark Lord, or love potioned by some crazy woman. Or having his boyfriend you knew nothing about turn up on the Burrow's doorstep.

This is a bit of a random inclusion, but I was just reading this and it is SO GOOD. Perhaps a bit cliched in places, but Ron Weasley’s inner monologue makes up for it.

Turn by Saras_Girl

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

This is an also an excellent fic that I read bloody ages ago and has apparently stuck with me. There’s this whole Harry going into an alternate dimension where he’s married to Draco Malfoy plot, but the really beautiful thing is Harry exploring his dissatisfaction with his life- through carpentry! I know it sounds like a crack fic, but it’s not- it’s a gorgeously written fic.

Away Childish Things by lettered

Harry gets de-aged. Malfoy has to help him.

This does the ‘Harry was abused’ revelation so well and really interestingly explores both Harry and Draco’s childhood. The overarching plot is also excellently done, which can’t always be said for character-focused fics!

Jily

#Jily by Chie (Chierafied) (One-shot)

Twitter seemed awash with the hashtag Jily. Lily blinked at in confusion, until she realised it was one of those silly couple monikers people had bestowed on her and Potter. …Though there was a small dissenting crowd following a tweet from Potter’s bandmate Sirius Black: Jily? Hah! More like LAMES.

This is such a fucking cute one-shot. I love social media AUs (if you find any, send them my way), so I loved this!

The Rise and Fall of the Extraordinary Jilysanschilly: Including Excerpts of their Best Collected Works by elanev91 (One-shot)

James Potter and Lily Evans are both wildly successful YouTubers and Sirius cannot believe that people ship them enough to write erotic fanfiction about them.

You might be picking up on my love of modern Jily AUs. This is so cute, Sirius is weirdly IC as he gets caught up in a smut addiction and James and Lily don’t hate each other from the beginning so that’s fun. A very sweet YouTuber AU.

Hit the Like Button by elixirsoflife (One-shot)

YouTube star James Potter is living it up at uni: filming videos, getting drunk and professing his love for aspiring singer Lily Evans to anyone who'll listen.

It’s another modern AU, but this time, Lily is a famous singer! This was fucking adorable, enough said.

The White Album by cgner (Complete)

James poses as an advice charm in Lily's diary. He's really got to start thinking through his shenanigans.

This is the strangest mix of angst and fluff that I’ve ever read, but it really, really works. It’s also kind of a crossover, as it’s written by the co-author of:

Haggis from Algernon by Rude Gus (Complete)

The fic about nothing.

Everything written by both Rude Gus and cgner is brilliant (not a surprise as they’re almost the same person), but Haggis really is a classic. And check out their Bachelor AU fic! It’s surprisingly brilliant.

Gen and Misc

Kid by Anonymous (Completed)

A Potion's "accident" turns Harry into an eight year old. Draco Malfoy begins planning his kidnapping/conversion to the Dark Side. But Harry's a passive-aggressive, revenge-obsessed little bastard. Maybe Draco will wait on that whole Dark Lord thing…

Such a cute fic! A really nice character study of Draco and cute kid Harry is always a bonus. I’m not usually a Draco Malfoy fan, but this is a great fic.

Harveste by kyaru-chan (Complete fics but WIP series - probs abandoned)

He's done it. He's just five years old, but he's finally done it. The Dursleys are gone. And now he's with a new family who seems just as twisted as he is. How strange.

This is a really weird fic series. It’s actually an Addams family AU? Harry kills the Dursleys and gets adopted by the Addams family, and then there’s a separate fic for each HP book up to Half-Blood Prince, where I think they stopped. It definitely still worth a read though. Harry is certainly not IC but it’s a fascinating combination of the two universes with all the quirky Addams family humour. It’s certainly a bit of a crack fic to read when you’re down.

Sarcasm and Slytherin by sunmoonandstars (Complete stories but WIP series)

After ten years of misery with the Dursleys, Harry Potter learns that he has magic. Except, in this story, it's not a surprise-the only surprise is that there are others like him. Including his twin brother, Julian Potter, the savior of the Wizarding world.

This isn't the Harry you think you know.

This is WBWL kind of story (although we don’t know if Harry actually is the BWL yet. Harry is a really interesting character and his relationship with his family- especially Jules - is very well developed and nuanced. Harry’s friendships and the authors interpretation of Slytherin house is also a new twist on old tropes- it feels very fresh! I’m eagerly waiting for updates!

So there it is. Just some of my HP faves. I’m considering doing one for Hannibal, Yuri on Ice, The Hobbit, Labyrinth (my tastes are so weird) etc, so let me know if you’re interested!

#fanfic #fic rec #harry potter fic rec #tomarry fic rec #jily fic rec #tomarry

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mittensmorgul · 5 years

Note

in your opinion, was the future zach sent dean to in The End real or do you think zach fabricated it to scare dean into saying yes? if he did fabricate it, i think it’s interesting he would make cas how he was lol

I’m gonna send you to read the last thing I wrote on 5.04:

https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185820014535/504-the-end-or-as-we-know-from-the-show-beating

I’ve been saying for years now that this is the one episode I don’t enjoy engaging with because it comes the closest to anything in the entire series to legitimately being a trigger for me. I’m really happy that so many people enjoy their personal headcanons for that universe, or find it a rich source of fic inspiration or character exploration or whatever, but I really REALLY need to maintain my own understanding of what this episode is for my own personal sanity, and I would really REALLY appreciate not being drawn into debates about it. Again, for my own personal (very real, very tenuous) sanity.

I really don’t need to end up in the psych ward over a dang tv show, you know? Thanks. :)

But short answer, yes. As was confirmed in s13 via the AU’s Zachariah, who implemented this exact same special power, this sort of “false vision” or “hallucinatory experience that feels real” is literally Zachariah’s special talent as an angel, just as “stripping memories from human minds” is Castiel’s special talent– once again, confirmed by the AU Castiel’s horrific implementation of that power.

So, yes… Just like he manufactured Dean and Sam’s “fake identities” in 4.17, just like he manipulated Dean’s Heaven in 5.16, just like he turned an abandoned muffler factory in Van Nuys into “The Beautiful Room” for 4.22 and 5.18, and just like AU Zachariah forced visions on Lucifer and Jack in an attempt to manipulate them in s13, Dean’s experience in 5.04 was likely entirely inside his own head.

Or in some sort of pocket dimension of the variety that Gabriel put them all through in 5.08.

But no, not real at all.

I mean, he was trying to show Dean just how horrible the future could be, and using Dean’s own “future self” to push his message that saying yes to Michael was literally the only way to prevent any of these terrible things from happening. And he wasn’t using HIS idea of “terrible” to sway Dean, he was using DEAN’S PERSONAL WORST CASE SCENARIOS.

Sam not dead, but entirely consumed by Lucifer. Sam’s body having been used to wreak this ultimate destruction on the world.

Cas not dead, not having abandoned him, but having stood by Dean (aka the ultimate loser), and having lost everything in the process– up to and including Dean’s own friendship. And Cas being MISERABLE as a result, losing himself in drugs and sex because “I used to belong to a much better club.” Meaning Cas never did truly care about humanity, never did think that humanity was worth saving, and contrary to what we see later in the season when Cas is effectively human for a hot minute and more fascinated by it than miserable about his loss of power, Zachariah’s version is a bitter and miserable nihilist instead.

And Dean himself– “torturing again. Classy.” He doesn’t care about anyone or anything except getting his revenge (at which he will ultimately fail, because even if he had gotten off that shot, the Colt can’t kill Lucifer anyway… which we will learn for sure in 5.10).

And then we have Chuck in that world. Not even a functioning prophet anymore, but the dude with the clipboard who basically serves as quartermaster of the camp. He keeps track of toilet paper, ffs. Does that sound like any incarnation of Chuck, aka GOD. Yeah, no… Zachariah was disdainful of Chuck not only in this episode, but even in 4.18, where Cas had told Chuck he admired his work:

ZACHARIAH: I’m Zachariah. You may know me from your work.CHUCK: What do you want?ZACHARIAH: Did you see it?CHUCK: (he nods) Is it true? Is all of that… really going to happen?ZACHARIAH: Have you been wrong so far?CHUCK: (getting up and heading for a door) I’ve got to warn Sam and Dean.ZACHARIAH: I wouldn’t advise it. People shouldn’t know too much about their own destiny. You try… and I’ll stop you. (CHUCK stops; then starts going off in another direction) Where are you going?CHUCK: To go kill myself.ZACHARIAH: Don’t be melodramatic, Chuck. We’d only bring you back to life.

I mean, that’s not how any angel would ever talk to God, you know? Zach, for all his high and mighty self-righteousness, he really wasn’t all that clever, you know?

So no, I don’t think it was any true future seeing. It was a manipulation.

Dean experienced three days while Cas waited on that street corner for him for FOUR HOURS. When his time was up, Cas… zapped him there to his side. So, yeah… pretty sure the whole thing happened inside Dean’s head.

And I found this bit looking through my Zachariah tag… where I offered some commentary on someone else’s post…

https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/181902346065/flutiebear-oh-my-god-this-shot-this-shot-this

#spn 5.04 #all my tags for zachariah somehow involve the fact that dean stabbed him in the face pffft #Anonymous #literally nothing else in canon supports it being a true 'time travel' occasion #and everything else in canon about zachariah supports his 'mental trickery' talent so...

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hootpoop12 · 5 years

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Theory time

Alright, so we all know through the context of this being written in a fanfiction/a03 format that this is all a play about canon VS fanon. What is a little hard to decipher is what are the things that are plays off fanon and which qualities are the true aspects of the characters(canon)? ANYWAY here are just a few of the things I am ASSUMING are plays off fanon based on my years in the fandom and sheer obsession of consuming this shit (trigger warning for everything taken place in the epilogue FYI):

-Dave: I think some of the main aspects of fanon influencing his epilogue version is intertwined with “woobifying”, “Slow burn”, and even possibly even “sexuality”.

-Woobifying is a fandom concept of reducing a character to “a cinnamon roll too pure for this world” someone you wanna baby (often applied to trans guy characters whether canon or headcanoned). This one is a bit of reach I’ll admit because it DOES makes sense that after years of living with Karkat the dude would soften up but there were times in the epilogue even Dave admits he’s gotten softer and the dude just plain out was very passive. In my time I’ve seen tons of depictions of Dave as a lot more emotional than shown in the comic or a lot more woobified in fics (like in meteor fics where he often has very dramatic emotional outbursts) By the way this is NOT me shitting on you if you like viewing Dave in that way because a lot people with trauma relate to him and use him for “cathartic release”(me fucking too lol). It’s more a guess/observation of maybe why he’s developed in this way due to the comic now being a strange sponge absorbing all fanon, good and bad, into it weird ass grasp.

-Slow burn is likely the trope that plays into why the hell it took so fucking long for him AND Karkat to admit their feelings. If you have literally ever consumed Davekat content I’m sorry but 99% of it is slow burn lmao every meteor fic is pining, every coffee shop AU is the budding of a lifelong partnership, and every Harry potter furry inflation pwp crossover WHATEVER fic is 10k words building of sexual tension like......To bring their other relationships in canon into this we can see that Dave was able to flirt with Jade and Terezi and entered a relationship with them at a pretty normal rate WHICH can totally be attributed to the fact he views them as girls and himself as heterosexual so was much more comfortable making a move- sure. Looking at Karkat, however, and you see the dude is a little shy about romance sure but he was still able to flirt with Terezi and make awkward moves on John so like......I can’t help but to feel like something outside (us?) was influencing them?

-Sexuality is another sort of reach but I think it’s something to consider. In terms of the comic....when exactly DID canon end? You could argue at the end of act 7.......or the moment John used his retcon powers to create a new timeline. Fandom Dave (on the tumblr side at least) was usually consider queer and a lot people shipped Dave with another dude. Perhaps John going back and rewriting canon helped bring our influence over Dave’s sexuality into the comic? I remember finding out Davekat was canon and confirming my “Dave is bisexual” headcanon and just thinking in wonder how it felt like Hussie was plucking my desires straight from my head and incorporating them. Which made me HAPPY by the way. If this is anywhere even near truth it’s not like he didn’t do a fantastical and natural job of incorporating it into the comic which shows how “incorporated fanon” is not a totally horrendous thing. The comics always done it with fandom memes and such.

-Rose Lalonde. Not too sure what fanon influenes were brought onto her to be honest? In candy she was almost like a creepy stepford wife which is. Bizarre to me. Rose is the most contrary and rebellious character so seeing her settle down like that (OR FUCKING DOING SOME GUYS LAUNDRY) is a little strange. In meat she insists that she is an individual despite being married but that could have EASILY been Dirk’s influence? Also her biggest fandom stereotypes off the top of my head is Know-it-all smug meddler, alcoholic, and elegant. Really none of that was applied so still need to consider her more. The most damning thing however is where is all the piss?? If you look at the amount of piss kink rose fanfiction one has to wonder......and I can’t even continue this joke.

-Jade Harley: Gonna keep it real with ya’ll. I feel like this epilogue gave Jade Harley way more character. She wasn’t given much in canon except for lonely silly girl so it makes sense to me why she’d grow up desperate for physical bonds and inserting herself into relationships. I liked her telling John that she wasn’t some princess in a tower anymore cause it shows she KNOWS how everyone has always viewed her and that’s a little sad. As for tropes around her character.....yep people pleaser, silly girl, hippie, shoved aside for literally any other character......Need to think about her more, too.

-Jake fucking English. What even is there to say? He more than anyone was influenced by fanon and it doesn’t take too much thought to see how. In a lot of fandom jokes and in fanfiction he is basically treated as a stupid piece of meat. I genuinely don’t read much fanfiction about him except from a trust few fans who I know care about him and will write him in a full rounded way. In any case we see a single moment in which Jake has this oppressive narrative taken away from him and it was when he was talking to Dave and Karkat during their election conversation. If that wasn’t already hard enough to read we can look back at the implied rape that took place with him in the beginning of Jane’s relationship with him or over the course of it. John, the one person supposedly not influenced by fanon as he’s still tied to the comic via retcon powers, is even the one to tell people that Jake is basically being raped. So yeah. Good times. I’ll get to Dirk in terms of Jake in a moment L M A O. Imagine that being the saddest lmao you ever just read.

-Jane Crocker: Welp hope you weren't a Jane fan lmao. What can I say except it FEELS like all the subliminal messaging really got to her and she’s like......warped by the condesce? I think if in the comic they showed more of her political takes then maybe this wouldn’t have come as such a shock. Like, I flat out am disgusted by her character now? She’s a facist, abusive, rapist(that was hint, unfortunately)? WOW good take homestuck writting staff?? I mean I know one of you used to write like incest pedo rape porn but aight??????????? Anyways in fanon Jane is treated as the girl who gets in the way of dirkjake so kinda that early 2000s bitchy yaoi girl brand, boring person in the background, or the hottie. They obviously kept saying she was “easy on the eyes” so there’s the hottie trope but that’s about it.

-Roxy Lalonde: Out of ALL the Alphas they fucking escaped with their goddamn dignity PFFT. So in terms of tropes: trans Roxy, alcoholic, and flirty “boy obsessed”.

-So with trans Roxy this is like Dave’s sexuality thing I discussed where a widely celebrated headcanon influenced canon and that not necessarily a BAD thing. Like I said, this theory is that canon is just absorbing fanon for better and for worse. I saw people were bummed they weren’t a trans girl but I am actually down with this for two reasons. 1) being all those memes “what’s your gender?” “the void” and 2) a part being friends with someone who’s trans is.....not being used to seeing them as the gender they actually are but taking the time to learn these new unfamiliar pronouns- and get the fuck over it. It’s their choice and you just gotta accept it despite your feelings.

-alcoholic Roxy was not at all incorporated which is the biggest fanon about her (not as much in recent years thankfully) so honestly? Kinda diminishes my argument. It’s not like the writers were worried that tossing out their progress as person was bad writing lol look at Dirk.

-Flirty Rox. In candy they were SUPER fast moving in their relationship with John and despite towards the end they said that Dirk dying made them wanna do something with their life I just....don’t buy it? Mainly because john who is uninfluenced by the fanon tropes even noticed how fast they were moving and how stepford agreeable wife she’d become.

-Dirk Strider. Aight. So. Here we go. fandom tropes are controlling puppet master, abusive, and cold/uncaring.

-Dirk is a naturally controlling man, yes. Every version of himself struggles with this, yes. Even if we work on issues does not mean old flaws will never leak out, yes. However, after in the comic itself we see conversations with some of his closest companions and the effort he was making and ready to continue making was completely obliterated. Dirk is someone who takes his projects a little too seriously so why would he toss out this one- the most important one in his life? ANYWAY........Dirk in canon is shown that he’s also not great at multi-tasking or really anything that he really makes himself out to be AMAZING at. Don’t get me wrong I actually view Dirk as a complement dude cause he did get all the alphas into the session in a smoothish fashion (yes hal is him so it still counts) but, like, even when Dirk sounds like an AWESOME engineer to Jake he even admits that he basically had the future’s technology to help and it wasn’t that impressive. So now he’s claiming he’s the BEST? Wack.

-Abusive Dirk......The sheer amount of people in the fandom who still misconstrue his character as heartless and the sheer amount of fanfiction of sociopathic Dirk might’ve done something. If he is truly becoming his “ultimate self” and he is heart aspect.....all these fanfiction splinters are getting applied to him as well, ya’ll. INCLUDING one of the epilogues writers who literally used to write fanfiction depicting Dirk as a brutally abusive and manipulative version of himself. With the similarities between their big fic and the homestuck epilogue I can’t help but to wonder if they’re subtly trying to incorporate that? After all Alt Calliope goes into detail about how the writer/narrator is IMPORTANT and when one is someone who enjoys viewing dirk as such....well who’s to say pfft Everything about how Dirk treated Jake was some of the most shocking to me. How did you get the guy taking most of the blame for a relationship gone wrong to a man who in a very rapey way makes someone obsessed with him, stupid, and unable to ever receive respect? Horrifying stuff to read, lads. It makes much more sense to me if you look at this fandom’s perceptions on DirkJake. My god there are some bad takes and there’s a whole section of the fandom who was hellbent on making the ship out to be the most problematic ship to ever occur. So whereas in the comic you have Dave pointing out that both sides had issues and everyone was willing to talk things out you had half the fandom insist that it was all Dirk’s fault and he just COMPLETLY forced himself on an unwanting Jake. Yep, sound familiar?

-cold uncaring. yep tons of depictions of Dirk being cruel to his friends and family and sorry but go reread Homestuck I don’t even know what to tell you if you actually believe that. There’s literally nothing here I could write to help you. As if the whole thing about his character isn’t about how the people around him helped prevent him becoming like that and he hasn’t said in a dozen different ways how much he loves them and wants to treat them better. Get out of here with that shit lmao

I guess all can be said about Dirk at this point is either 1) the absorption of the vast amount of terrible Dirk depictions from ascending to his ult self has warped him 2) he’s playing a villain just because Homestuck being over means not existing which TERRIFIES him and existing is a higher priority than treating the people around him right or 3) caliborn influence

1) For the ascending I’m pretty sure this is the theory that’s gonna be right

2) playing the villain is probably not what it is because on twitter all of the writers are saying the transphobia is literally just him and they’re boosting a lot of theories say “this is a story about friends you love disappointing you and you moving on” So. Yeah. Take that depressing nugget of information. (I literally will be fucking dead inside if that really is where this story is taken. No joke I will probably quit this fandom lol don’t know if any of you really know how big that is for me to say

3) Caliborn? eh maybe who the fuck knows after typing that last bullet point out I’m too bummed to continue this hah

#Homestuck #Homestuck epilogue #upd8 #dirk strider #personal #fyi I love people who tell me when they disagree so if this seems like utter bullshit do not hold back

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toomanydreamers · 5 years

Text

Tainted Saints And Velvet Vices Writing Process

To all of my wonderful, diligent readers: I received quite a few comments on my newest fanfiction Tainted Saints And Velvet Vices requesting requesting that I detail my writing process, something which surprised and, admittedly, frightened me. I don’t pretend to be an author; far from it, really, but I must admit that this fanfiction became a project that grew quite close to my heart, and is one that I’m rather proud of. (Also, if this piece happens to sound really formal, that’s just the way that I speak. My childhood consisted mostly of lessons in elocution and etiquette, learning languages and instruments solely for the purpose of giving my parents yet another thing to boast about. I haven’t fully removed myself from the voice in my head telling me to annunciate more eloquently. I’m slowly getting there, with copious amounts of swearing that still makes me inwardly recoil.)

I suppose it would be best to start with my childhood, now that I consider it, because it was when I was about ten that I initially became enthralled by the Harry Potter novels. Similarly to most Potterheads, I was utterly captivated by the magical world and the characters inhabiting it, but the aspect that spoke volumes to me was the rich sense of humanity permeating through the books. As a character, Hermione was my arrant favourite; I saw myself as a reflection of her, shared her values, her rigid moral compass, and her ambition was something that I greatly admired and aspired to replicate. However, there was another character that resonated with me in an entirely different, yet equally profound way: Draco Malfoy.

As I alluded to above, my upbringing was (and remains to this day) quite constrained, certainly relative to others my age. I went to an exclusively female, Catholic boarding school with astronomical fees. It was highly privileged, and despicable. Though I detested Draco for the bigotry and prejudice he espoused (something that still remains horribly familiar), the Half-Blood Prince spoke of another side to him. It was quite clear that, although the books were written in the omnipresent/Harry’s perspective, Draco was completely disillusioned with the values he had been raised in accordance with. I could relate to that to a point where, although I couldn’t project his particular circumstances on my own life, the feeling of having the barriers I grew up behind torn down reflected my own life.

It was on this basis that I found myself drawn even further into the world, where blood status became a reflection of racism, sexism and other ‘isms’ of indifference and prejudice. Enter Harry Styles who, in this fanfiction, was raised in a world of regret at the defeat of Voldemort. In my mind, he was raised in a climate of thinly-veiled frustration, shame, and determination to reconstruct a presentable, respectable outward image. And Harry, like me, struggles to detach himself from that, when the pampers and privileges and sheer simplicity are sometimes unbearably tempting. The undercurrent of abuse was something I did not suffer, but I think (hope) that it’s palpable in the story from Harry’s reflexive defensiveness.

To the contrary, Louis is extremely perceptive, in a vulnerable position (new school, entirely new situation and thrust into a death-defying tournament), and fearless. He quite quickly comprehends that Harry wears a façade like a crown. This, for me, was crucial. For this relationship to work, I needed there to be a level of detached intimacy, that both of them silently understood their relation to each other, no matter how much Harry resisted.

In terms of plot, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to include a Triwizard Tournament. The Goblet of Fire is my favourite book of the series, and I remember adoring the notion of foreign wizarding communities, and the sense of community that was created. Also the theme of isolation was properly compounded in this book, which I adored. I tried to build on this slightly in my fanfiction. Louis being new to the school was a conscious decision on my part. I wanted them to be of age for practical reasons, and if Louis began at Hogwarts at age eleven, he would be popular, well-liked and probably a Quidditch hero, knowing our boy. He would also have no time to pay Harry a second glance, apart from hexing him, perhaps. Harry being a loner in the symbolic sense, rather than the metaphysical one, and Louis being new to the school forced them together. Circumstances dictate everything.

Writing the Triwizard tasks was quite a challenge was quite difficult, but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. My favourite was the third task, which I’m not going to detail in case someone reading this hasn't read that part yet. I wanted to include certain staple features of their magical education, particularly CoMC, Potions, Flying. I did quite a lot of research to keep things as accurate as possible (and received huge and truly fantastic help from my beta on this part) but also took the liberty of expanding certain aspects too. The most important part was certainly the planning, and making sure that the tasks didn’t seem too convenient. It sounds awfully sadistic, but I wanted to truly test their limits, something that I think was absolutely true of the second task.

I initially included the dragon motif mostly because of the prompt I was given, which asked for Harry to work with dragons, but for anyone who has read the fic you’ll know that it developed into something of far greater significance from there. Since Louis got to see Harry react so comfortably and uninhibitedly very early on certainly gave him something tangible to cling to. This was vital because, without it, Louis would not have been nearly as invested in uncovering more details, nuances and aspects to Harry.

I think I’ve just about covered everything truly prominent, but if anyone has any more questions please don’t hesitate to send me a message or an ask. Thank you for all of your kind comments thus far! ❤️

#anon #toomanytears #tainted saints and velvet vices #fanfiction #writing process #that was actually quite therapeutic #hm #thank you for all the wonderful comments and kudos so far!#you're all amazing #larry fics #ao3 larry feed #larry fic rec #larry fic recs #larry fanfiction #harry styles #harry potter

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janiedean · 6 years

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idk if you've ever talked about this, or if someone has asked before, but do you think it's possible that brienne could be the "younger, more beautiful woman" from cersei's prophecy? I just read a post by someone who had a theory about that and while I'm not fully convinced, it also makes a surprising amount of sense. the "younger" bit is obvious and as far as the "more beautiful" part is concerned, it could mean different things (like "beautiful on the inside" or since beauty is subjective, (c)

(c) it could mean "subjectively more beautiful", maybe to jaime or something). because the prophecy does say the "younger, more beautiful woman" would take from cersei everything she holds dear/loves, and I know she loves power and herself most of all, but it /could/ include jaime. and tbh, brienne has already "taken" jaime from her, since he went with her instead of responding to cersei's letter. also, if he's the valonqar, it stands to reason he's going to be the one to kill her, and I (c) always thought if that happens, it'll involve brienne somehow (like jaime will kill cersei in order to save/protect brienne somehow). so do you think there is a possibility that brienne /could/ be the "younger, more beautiful woman" from the prophecy? I know everyone thinks it's dany, but I think it'd be much more interesting if it turned out to be brienne. especially because cersei would never in a million years see it coming. and I'd love her utter shock lol.

first thing: my pal @robb-greyjoy once wrote excellent meta about the specific possibility of brienne being the younger and more beautiful queen and jaime actually getting kingship and honestly it’s a lot better put together/thought than any theory I have on that specific prophecy so I’ll just go and say that his opinion on the subject is imo fairly well-thought/sourced and honestly if it happens it’s probably gonna go like that for those reasons.

second thing: the maggy prophecy is the one on which I don’t have VERY SURE ANSWERS (differently than the aa/tpwp one) because it’s worded VERY vaguely and cryptically for very good reasons EXCEPT that I have a pet crackpot theory I’ll discuss at the end of this. buckle up because this is gonna be long as fuck but when it comes to prophecies I like to basically tear that shit apart by comma XD

now, what I mean is, we have:

“Queen you shall be… until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all that you hold dear.”“Will the king and I have children?”

"Oh, aye. Six-and-ten for him, and three for you. Gold shall be their crowns and gold their shrouds, she said. And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”

now, this shit is worded VERY carefully for a reason (as tyrion said: PROPHECY IS A MULE THAT KICKS YOU IN THE TEETH) and when it comes to asoiaf prophecies I think the most important part when analyzing them is that the solution is never the one the characters think or that seems the most obvious to them. like, tldr but when it comes to azor ahai/tptwp I’m 100% in the jon snow camp because of the death that COMPLETELY FULFILLS THE REQUIREMENTS GOING BY BACKROADS/HINTS AND NOT BEING OBVIOUS and like... for US it’s obvious but for people in westeros? JON SNOW being azor ahai is basically wtf forreal, it’s not narratively obvious for THEM. anyway never mind my opinion about jon being AA, that was to explain how I go at this kinda shit. now, sadly for us, the OBVIOUS canon elements to decipher the maggy prophecy are not all there because again, let’s go in order:

“Queen you shall be… until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all that you hold dear.”

now this bit already is problematic af because if we go at it STRICTLY LINGUISTICALLY:

‘until there comes another’: this already is a minefield because in english it could both be ‘another queen’, or ‘another woman’ or ‘another person’ and it’s not specified at all whether that person is male or female, just younger and more beautiful - now, I once used that loophole to write crack fic where JON was actually that person but I mean... it could absolutely be a man as far as grammar says, so like this younger and more beautiful person could be a) a new queen, b) another person either male or female we just don’t know;

‘take all that you hold dear’: problem is, now here we’re on another level of interpretation because that implies deciding what cersei holds dear. now, I absolutely do not subscribe to the school that she holds dear her children bar joffrey and I think she thinks she holds jaime dear but the only things she holds dear are a) herself, b) the iron throne, c) power, d) her position. so, do we go with what cersei thinks she holds dear, or what she really holds dear?

and that’s problem one.

problem two, the other bit:

“Will the king and I have children?”

this also has a SHITLOAD of language to unpack, specifically:

‘will the king and I have children’ + ‘sixteen for him and three for you’. obviously robert had sixteen bastards and she had three with jaime but she asked WILL THE KING AND I HAVE CHILDREN so if maggy’s replying separately like will he have them and I will I have them it adds, if it’s implied that cersei’s three are with the king then it gives more credit to @robb-greyjoy‘s theory about jaime getting kingship at some point (even if I think that’s going to go to jon eventually but there could be others in between);

‘gold shall be their crowns’ also implies that myrcella gets to reign before she inevitably dies but nvm we can at least suppose that all of those three kids die period BUT if we include them in the ‘all that you hold dear’ part then younger and more beautiful whoever they are has to be somehow involved in it but I would exclude that option tbqh;

‘when your tears have drowned you’ has to be after losing all she holds dear because cersei crying for any other reason is out of the question;

also, if her aerys wildfire plot is also book canon (and I think it is) then it has to be after that, too, so we can put it safely either at the end of six or early seven;

‘the valonqar shall wrap his hands’: now this one is THE minefield. first thing: we can absolutely and utterly exclude that it’s tyrion because cersei thinks he is (same as we can exclude margaery from the younger and more beautiful pick of people because cersei thinks it’s her), and not just because cersei is REALLY unreliable in the sense that until now ANY TIME she’s assumed something it turned out to be the contrary, but because as stated above: the person is not who the narrative would make characters assume. AA is jon snow and no one in westeros would even consider it (melisandre HAS R’HOLLOR SPELL IT FOR HER AND SHE DOESN’T GET IT) and the valonqar is no one obvious. now, I used to think it had to be jaime because the text specified he’s younger than her technically and because she doesn’t expect him to be at all BUT there’s also a few reasons why I don’t know if jaime’s the most likely candidate now - I prob. had too much time to think about it BUT...

a) jaime doesn’t have hands, he has just one, and choking someone with a fake hand is usually not a good idea if you don’t want a fight;b) cersei is convinced that they’re going to die in a murder-suicide dumbass way and him killing her is still half of it and eeeeh idk;c) jaime does not need any further trauma tied to her tbh I mean I don’t think he’d gain anything by killing her and certainly not catharsis;d) I’m 99,9% convinced that jaime and brienne post-stoneheart go looking for sansa together (remember that he hasn’t been seen for weeks when cersei asks where the hell he disappeared at the end of adwd) and swearing fealty to her together and going north which would put jaime way out of the way geographically (sure he could come back later if there’s a book equivalent of the cersei/jon/dany meeting in the pit but TO KILL CERSEI SPECIFICALLY esp. if at that point he’s left her for brienne for good? dunno.) also I’m also 100% convinced that the prophecy bran had in agot where he saw sansa in a snow castle with three people defending her from a giant is jaime/brienne/sandor vs gregor unless I remember it wholly wrong but nvm;e) jaime’s thematic journey is also to get the fuck away from cersei and have his own life and idk if being the valonqar works with that;f) choking is... a fairly personal and cruel method of killing someone so unless this is metaphorical (possibly) idk if I see jaime who has been seen favoring clean, quick deaths and wanting one for himself would kill someone by choking when it’s slow, painful and he’d have to literally watch her life disappear from under his hands, and that someone being CERSEI I mean even not loving her anymore I can’t see him wanting to make her suffer when killing her if he did that at all;

also: it says ‘the’ valonqar, not your valonqar. cersei thinks it’s HER valonqar. but maggy never said that;

moral of the story: it could literally be ANYONE’S FUCKING YOUNGER BROTHER not necessarily hers;

and on top of that............ large mega extra spoiler: no one especially not maggy hasn’t said that the valonquar and younger and more beautiful aren’t the same person. like, I might be reaching here, but like.... you can’t rule that out.

so like, at the end of this entire delirium I think we can reasonably say the following:

cersei’s going to lose her crown before she inevitably dies;

her downfall will have to be tied to someone younger and more beautiful than she is but we don’t know if it’s a queen or if it’s not;

she’s dying choked or anyway suffocated and whoever’s doing it is someone’s younger sibling not necessarily hers;

tommen and myrcella are dying before she does;

it’s not tyrion;

it’s sure as hell not margaery.

now, again, we can reasonably suppose that her trial in the book ends like the one in the show ie she blows up the sept with AT LEAST the high sparrow and margaery inside it. and that’s like all about it.

now, again: I do like the idea of brienne being the younger and more beautiful person that takes jaime away from her, but I highly doubt it’s likely if it means her being QUEEN or taking cersei’s actual place, but if everything cersei holds dear also means power and her throne..... I don’t know how brienne is gonna do it. I mean, out of any woman in the run she’s the one with most likely chances and for those reason I refer you to damien’s meta above because like I 100% agree with that reasoning given that it happens, but as stated before if she’s off with jaime doing knight shit and saving sansa and hopefully getting him laid it might cause issues. I also would exclude sansa categorically bc she’s going north and that’s where her story’s headed so she’s not coming back to KL to take cersei’s place and dany seems way too obvious too me and also I don’t think cersei’s lasting until dany even gets to westeros in the book timeline imo. sure dany’s a valonqar, but also.... why the fuck would dany choke cersei when she can feed her to drogon? I mean, still more likely than sansa or marg (who’s toast) but less than brienne and still not exactly working out.

that said: as far as I personally am concerned, I’m more leaning towards thinking that the valonqar is a man but not cersei’s (also because to choke people you have to be strong and brienne choking cersei is out of the question she wouldn’t do that she’d give her a clean death if she had to kill her) and I’m not excluding that the valonqar is also younger and more beautiful.

NOW, thing is: at this point anyone is a good candidate. I mean, again, with these elements I could give you a mostly convincing case of fucking jon snow being the valonqar AND younger and more beautiful that would crumble on itself the moment we’d go back to the choking because jon wouldn’t choke her to death he’d have no reason, but other than that: jon’s younger, book version jon’s most likely more beautiful than she is ON THE INSIDE AT LEAST (show version is way prettier lmao), jon has the best claim on the iron throne among the current people if you’re a targ sympathizer or if stannis dies along with shireen (probable tho not like in the show) so if he takes the throne he would take away everything she holds dear. AND jon is actually a valonqar if you consider him rhaegar’s last son.

except that as stated it makes no sense with the choking and time-wise it makes no sense, right?

right. so now I know we’re wildly beyond the original purpose of this question but follow me a moment because I have a crackpot theory about this that MIGHT ACTUALLY NOT BE SO CRACKPOT.

step one: we have stated that the valonqar has to be a male younger sibling of someone’s who would have very good reasons to choke cersei. and we established that younger and more beautiful takes away everything she holds dear which to me is not jaime but her throne. we also can reasonably assume margaery dies when cersei inevitably explodes the sept and that tommen/myrcella die after SOMEHOW.

step two: who is someone’s younger sibling who is alive in the book and who would want to choke cersei for revenge and who is reasonably near king’s landing at this point in the narrative? idk but this dude is not dead in the book:

I mean, would work, right? knight, certainly not weak, cersei’s sent him on a death mission and has written him for dead, would certainly want to avenge his sister disfigured or not. could work as younger and more beautiful too except that he’s most likely disfigured now, but I mean, how the fuck would loras even do it?

step three: who are the two assholes who are technically about to invade storm’s end? aegon vi targaryen and jon connington. what happens after they most likely take it? they realize that stannis’s residence was actually dragonstone or most likely move on to dragonstone. who is on dragonstone?

yeah, exactly.

step four: so let’s say that meanwhile news arrive that cersei blew up margaery and tommen’s dead. loras most likely doesn’t appreciate. also let’s remember that aegon’s requirements to get into his kg are ‘you should be willing to die for me’ and that’s it and loras was ready to die for tommen but I MEAN NVM THAT.

step five: let’s say loras decides he’s Done and wants revenge so he teams up with them to turn his cloak on cersei and helps them get to king’s landing - possible, especially since no one would stop them with stannis being north.

step five: is aegon vi targaryen younger and more beautiful than cersei? most importantly, does he have a claim to the throne (nvm if he’s real or fake it’s not important now)? even more important, varys is in king’s landing keeping cersei’s ruling on a fucking respirator because he’s waiting for aegon and jonc to get there and he needs her there because she’s a weak ruler and she’s insane so people would of course want her deposed and varys has been planning that for fucking years. long story short: aegon vi targaryen fits all the younger and more beautiful that will cast you away parts of that prophecy and cersei doesn’t even suspect that he exists, while loras fits perfectly the valonqar part of it and would have very good reasons to want to choke her to death if she killed his sister. and even if loras was not the valonqar... aegon is someone’s valonqar (rhaenys’s) and like he probably wouldn’t have reasons SPECIFICALLY to choke her to death but I mean if cersei went off about his mother or something like that.... still more probable than jaime given all of the above.

conclusion, at the end of this goddamned mess of a novel: the younger and more beautiful person who’ll cast her away and take what she holds dear (her throne) could very well be aegon and the valonqar could be loras.

idk if I’m betting real money on it but I think I have a pretty solid case here. IDK GUYS.

tldr: I like the brienne theory but I’m skeptical on how it works and while I absolutely would not bet real money on the above, I think it’s...... more textually plausible.

thanks for coming to my ted talk and sorry for having gone completely off the rails with this question but if it actually happens I want it written down somewhere that I actually had thought this through XD

#asoiaf meta #valonqar theory #aegon vi targaryen #loras tyrell #janie writes meta #IDK IF I INVADED SOMEONE'S TAGS BUT I'M KINDA VERY PROUD OF THIS REASONING SO #ch: cersei lannister #ch: jaime lannister #ch: brienne of tarth #jaime x brienne #long post for ts #Anonymous #ask post

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tren-fraszka · 5 years

Text

Hate Exchange Letter

Dear creator,

Thank you for taking your time to check my requests. I know my requests can sound a bit tricky, but please don’t be discouraged. I wish you will have good time writing first and foremost!

My AO3 is Tren, if you wish to check it out.

Likes: comedy, casefics, canon compliants, AUs, time loops, bodyswaps, roleswaps, “being hoisted by your own petard” plotlines, snark, pettiness, rivals, enemies to friends to lovers, violence, friendships and character bonding,

DNW: explicit sex, A/B/O, mpreg, rape depicted as positive (so no “it’s okay, because the other person enjoyed it/it was what they truly wanted”), trans headcanons, soulmates, stories ending with surrender to fate/destiny, fourth wall breaking in canons where that doesn’t occur.

Also, I included what ships I’m okay with in each fandom. Please do not include any ships that aren’t canon and I have not allowed in those sections (if you feel really strongly about a ship, you can ask through mods just in case, if I didn’t include my opinion on it).

Additionally, while I almost never request fanart as possible medium, because I prefer my main gift to be fic, I would be very okay with receiving fanart treats.

REQUESTS

PERSONA 5

Hate that ends

Hate that exists and continues

Hate that starts

Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira

I’m a big sucker for party traitors, so it isn’t really a surprise that I walked out of my Persona 5 playthrough with a new shiny ship. I love how messed up it is with both of them planning to outplay each other in a deadly game and yet still forming an emotional attachment. I also really love how they are mirror images of each other. They are extremely similar, and yet they are also each others opposites. There’s just something fascinating in watching them interact.

I’m okay with all takes on hate for this ship. Akechi has canonically very love-hate relationship with the protagonist, so you can spin this however you want. You are also free to make Akira as bitter about the whole thing as you want. I’m always a game for Akira having all the regrets about Akechi’s death and hating Akechi for leaving him with all the emotional turmoil.

For the story, I’m very okay with some in-between the canon flirting with the obligatory dash of scheming and mind games. I’m also all about different ways their confrontation could go down. Maybe it’s Akira who dies and Akechi lives through with his hateful feelings not coming any closer to being resolved? Or Akechi can’t keep his feelings in and slips at some point?

AUs

I don’t mind AUs, just be aware that the messed up relationship between the two of them is a huge draw for me, so I would definitely opt to preserve that part in some form. You don’t have to do the exact same scenario, but at least make them childhood friends, who ended up on the opposite sides of some conflict. Or undercover spies who got in relationship without knowing each other true identities and they really should kill each other since they work for different clients. The exact setting is of secondary importance to me, so choose whatever you feel would work best. AU Divergences are also welcome. I’m always a game for Akechi surviving. Especially, if he gets to shoot the final boss in the face.

Akechi Goro & Self

He has so many issues you are practically spoiled for choice. Bastard by birth, believes himself to be a reason why his mother died, spent years in foster home system which just enforced his belief that he isn’t worth of love, became a supernatural assassin despite having strong sence of justice. And did I mention having to kill the only person he had formed a legitimate connection with? Yeah, just one of those things would be a great self-hatred fodder, but all those things together mix to create a true picture of self-hatred. You can’t go wrong with it.

There are so many prompts you could potentially use for this in Akechi/Kurusu segment above (just take out the potential shippiness if the pairing is not your thing), I don’t think there’s much point in repeating myself. You are free to AU as much as you want and have fun.

Hate that ends

Sakura Futaba & Self

I loved the chilling exploration of Futaba’s problems in her palace and further revelations we get through Sojiro’s social link. I would love insight into her deteriorating self-worth post her mother’s death and then followed by slow improvements once Sojiro takes her in.

I would love insight into Futaba trying to figure out the truth about her mother’s death, her initial refusal to believe that it is her fault, followed by slow acceptance over the time, as she fails to find any evidence to the contrary.

I asked for Hate that ends, because I would prefer a take that is compliant with the canon story. I know this is pretty constraining, but at the same time it means that you don’t need to concentrate on the improvement factor. As long as the story ends heavily implaying that Phantom Thieves are about to help her with her issues I will be satisfied.

However, if you do dig the hope aspect I will love some quality Sojiro & Futaba family interactions and her slowly acknowledging that maybe she deserves more than a slow death in seclusion and decides to seek help form Phantom Thieves.

Ships

I ship Akira and Goro, and don’t want them shipped with anyone else. I’m okay with including pretty much any other ships, except for the ones between the characters who are still students and adults.

GOLDEN KAMUY

I’m reading manga chapters as they come out, so you are free to incorporate any new developments into the story. I will definitely be caught up.

Hate that exists and continues

Ogata Hyakunosuke/Sugimoto Saichi

If you know this canon I probably don’t even need to explain to you what I want. They hated each other from the very beginning of the story and the world may end, but their hatred would still live on. You don’t have to be too shippy with this, if you don’t want to, I mostly want to just get more off their passionate hatred we get in the canon.

For the prompts, I would love if they had to work together (just the two of them, or maybe with Shiraishi as a suffering third wheel), because someone kidnapped Asiripa and they had to get her back. Or chasing someone who stole the skins from them.

Alternatively, I would love petty matches over Asiripa’s attention when they act perfectly nice to each other, because she is there, but keep competing for her attention to annoy each other.

Also, this canon is ripe for tropes like huddling for warmth, or sharing one blanket, and would definitely encourage the hate-filled take on those. Also time loops with those two nd how much of a disaster it would be.

AUs and ships

I’m all for canon divergences or changed settings. You want Sugimoto and Ogata as coworkers in modern setting? Go for it. I would love any messing up with the story, because there are so many things that could have gone differently here.

I have no strong ship preferences here as long as Asiripa is not shipped with anybody. Also I prefer Sugimoto to have no romantic experience, aside from his canonical one-sided crush, before he started to have feelings about Ogata.

THE RISING OF SHIELD HERO (ANIME & MANGA)

I watched anime and read manga, but have not checked light novels. So please, no spoilers for anything beyond manga.

Hate that starts

L’Arc Berg/Iwatani Naofumi

Naofumi spends a lion share of the plot having terrible trust issues after Myne’s betrayal and you can’t convince me that he isn’t extra salty about L’Arc.

L’Arc is literally the first person Naofumi willinglu opens up to after spending majority of the plot avoiding trusting anyone, so the fact that this person turns out to be his enemy must sting. While L’Arc isn’t a type to keep grudge, Naofumi certainly is. Which is why I just want Naofumi being all bitter about his feelings for L’Arc after the betrayal.

I would love some more adventures of those two before the Wave happens and everything goes to shit. Or maybe they meet after the Wave with Naofumi having been separated from the party and struggling with something, and L’Arc runs into him and helps him out (because he’s not the type of guy to stab someone in the back). Which just prompts Naofumi to be even more bitter, because he wants to really hate L’Arc, but unlike Myne he can’t just label him as completely evil.

Or Naofumi going through all the memories he has of L’arc wanting to find good reasons to hate him more, but just coming with more reasons why he loved him in the first place.

AUs and ships

Setting changes and canon divergences are all fine, as long as you keep the element of betrayal.

I’m okay with Naofumi also having some feelings for Raphtalia for an awkward romantic triangle, as long as his complicated feelings for L’Arc are the focus of the story. Other than that I don’t want either of them shipped with anyone else.

GINTAMA

I have watched anime up to Gintama': Enchousen, so please no spoilers beyond that season.

Hate that starts

Hate that exists and continues

Hijikata Toshirou/Okita Sougo

I loved their vitrolic relationship from the very start and the more we got of their backstory, the more I loved it. I would be okay with the story not being very shippy, as long as I get plenty of their amusing interactions.

I love how well they understand each other, including the reasons why they don’t get along, but somehow it is easier for them to maintain that animosity than to try and repair their twisted relationship.

I always enjoy small tidbits of how terrible they are at working together when it comes to solving anything that isn’t Shinsengumi-threatening emergency. I loved that episode which was just showing Hijikata and Okita attempting to do normal police stuff and utterly failing to have any sort of law-abiding integrity while they were at it.

If you want to go to the backstory and how they already didn’t get along in the dojo I’m also all for it. Any involvement of Mitsuba to add oil to the already bright flames of mutual dislike is welcome. I love how her presence mellows both of them when she’s there, but in the long run it just made their relationship even more of a mess, because they both wanted the best for her in their own way.

For shippier request I would love a date attempt by those two homicidal idiots. There are just so many ways this could go wrong. Or Gintama staple of handcuffed together with Hijikata constantly having to stop the dismemberment attempts.

AUs and ships

I’m open to any sort of setting or canon divergence. Then again, I dare you find a cooler setting than samurai police in alien infested Edo.

I don’t want the two of them shipped for anyone else, except for maybe acknowledging Hijikata’s canonical feelings for Mitsuba (because that just makes Hijikata and Okita’s relationship even more of a trainwreck). For other ships I enjoy Gintoki shipped with either Otae or Tsukuyo, and Kagura and Shinpachi as two characters who are not yet ready for relationship, but would make a nice match once they grow up more.

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA

I read the manga chapters as they come out, you can assume I’m caught up on all new developments.

Hate that ends

Bakugou Katsuki/Uraraka Ochako

I love how different the two of them are, but at the same time how well they compliment and understand each other. Also, while I love them as a pairing I won’t mind if you write them as friends, as long as you don’t pair them with other characters.

For this exchange I would love a more conflict driven beginning of their friendship. Bakugo says a few words too much about Midoriya? Uraraka tries to talk to Bakugo about how he treats Deku or just about how he acts in general and accidentally pokes his terrible inferiority complex? Or they run into each other before the UA entrance exam and somehow end up having a more bitter relation? All of that is good.

I would love if then they were forced to then acknowledge each others strengths as heroes, but possibly still feeling somehow bitter. Maybe they end up working together when UA is attacked? Or incorporating their duel during the sports festival (which I love, it’s what started this ship for me). Or maybe Uraraka gets kidnapped together with Bakugo during the camp and she ends up revising her opinion of him while they are in captivity together.

For more prompts I would love having them complete some sort of exercise or exam together. I would love to see them pretend to be villains for the sake of exercise and butting heads, because they dislike each other. Or they work together on something for school festival. Like making a perferomance together. Alternatively you can go for a future fic where the two of them take part in an action to stop villains as full-fledged heroes, but they can’t let go of all the hang-ups they have about each other from when they went to school together.

AUs and ships

I would very much encourage any future fics for this pairing. I love seeing characters as fully-fledged heroes. I’m okay with other setting changes, though I would prefer for the competence aspect to still come in play somehow in them (with Bakugo being stupidly talented and hard working, while acknowledging Ochako’s potential). I’m also very okay with canon divergences.

I don’t mind past Midoriya/Ochako if you want to incorporate it into the story, but I’d rather not get any love triangles for this pairing. Either have Ochako’s feelings sizzle out or have them date and break up at some point in the past. When it comes to other pairings I like Midoriya/Todoroki and Eraserhead/Mic, but have no strong feelings on other characters pairings, so you are free to do whatever I guess.

FATE/ZERO

I’m well versed in Fate franchise so if you wish to expand beyond Fate/Zero to include either some parts of Fate/Stay Night or El-Melloi II Case Files I will be very fine with that.

Hate that exists and continues

Kotomine Kirei & Self

Kotomine Kirei and his self-loathing is unironically one of my favourite ships in Fate. I loved Kirei’s internal monologues in the novel, as he slowly inched toward the self-discovery that he is in fact the very thing that he was taught to hate the most.

Give me all the religious guilt. All the nagging thoughts that follow Kirei’s enjoyment of ruining other people’s lives. Kirei already thought of himself as lacking before the events of Fate/Zero and watching his doomed pursuit of finding something meaningful in his life was great.

Kirei was basically doomed to suffering, either by continuing his empty life or by embracing his true self and plunging himself into depth of self-hatred. And I’m all about that freefall, sponsored by the ancient king Babylon. So give me Kirei struggling within the confines of Holy Grail War, trying to find himself, yet suspecting that nothing good will ever come out of it.

AUs and ships

I’m okay with canon divergences, less about setting changes due to how deeply Kirei’s issues steam from his specific situation, but if you can make it work I will be for it. I would be very excited for canon divergences. Maybe Kirei making slightly different choices during the Holy Grail War? Maybe alternate timeline when he decides not to betray Tokiomi, but somehow still ends up on path of evil despite his efforts. Maybe he summoned a different servant, who influences Kirei differently? I’m always surprised by how interesting alternate scenarios people come with for Holy Grail Wars, just give me your take.

For alternate timeline takes, you can make my day by including wreacking Matou’s mansion and/or killing Zouken. Even if it’s just a footnote.

I very much ship Kirei both with his dead wife and Gilgamesh. You are free to incorporate both of those ships.

Hate that exists and continues

Waver Velvet & Self

Another contender for the biggest self-loathing in the franchise. El-Melloi II anime reminded me just how much I enjoyed that aspect of Waver.

I would love an alternate take when Waver and Keyneth actually had a more proper face-off other than their first meeting on the battlefield. I would love if Waver saw Kayneth wheelchair-bound and blamed himself for that.

Or something more canon-compliant exploring Waver’s feeling of uselessness and guilt he has. Either is good. For extra self-loathing you could get the family Waver is staying at caught in the crossfire of one of the fights. Or Waver gets used by some other master to attack another and only belatedly realizes that he was nothing more than a tool used for murder.

Just give me some quality Waver suffering and self-blame whether dislpaced or not.

AUs and ships

Similarly as above, I’m stocked for any canon divergences. Maybe Waver summoning a different servant? Waver making different choices as to how proceed with the war. Maybe making an allience that doesn’t work out for him in a longer run?

For alternate timeline takes, you can make my day by including wreacking Matou’s mansion and/or killing Zouken. Even if it’s just a footnote.

I don’t ship Waver with anyone, so I would prefer no romantic plotlines for him. I find his relationship with Rider interesting and definitely important, but can’t see it as romantic.

#exchange letters

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bandsanitizer · 7 years

Text

FIC RANT TIME BECAUSE GUESS WHO DEDCIED TO READ 20K+ WORDS INSTEAD OF SLEEPING OR WRITING OR STUDYING??? me ;)

Hey so I read a fanfic and I couldn’t fit everything I needed to say in an ask, so here’s the fic reaction post that tends to occur after I read the most amazing of fics.

As per usually, this is NOT A SPOILER FREE POST.

(In two ways ahahahahah Because Stephanie Brown is mentioned and I can’t be excited over and review a fic without including spoilers)

Now back to the actual point...

“EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING” by @grxysxns IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING IN THE WORLD

IT IS FIVE CHAPTERS, 21376 WORDS, OF PURE GOLD AND ANGST AND DICK GRAYSON (who I love so so so much)

Okay but seriously? It was beautiful from beginning to end and slowly this will be a more coherent post as I calm down, but as of starting this I kind of just finished reading the entire thing at 2:30AM.

Can I just say Birdflash is my favorite and I absolutely love Dick Grayson? Especially stories that really portray the “oldest sibling” side of him in a way that isn’t perfect.

This story does that.

first off, the concept of the AU is a fantastic one and it’s... It’s really interesting? Because Bruce Wayne/Batman is an extreme person who is prepared for everything and anything. There’s a reason he has his contingency plans and knows the weaknesses of the people he’s meant to trust, the people he works and fights alongside. This AU really kicks it up a notch but in such a Bruce way? Like only Bruce Wayne would be like “I LOVE YOU KIDS so you’re not allowed to tell anyone who you are”

I mean, that’s a really simplistic view of it, but the idea of keeping your loved ones safe through not the best of plans, is such a Bruce Wayne move that this AU hardly feels absurd or something so... out of the box. It’s also really creative though and I think it’s a fantastic idea. I will cherish this AU for the rest of life i s2g.

REMINDER: SPOILER ALERT!!!! (go read the fic and come back)

Now onto the Batfam.

@grxysxns Your writing of the characters were amazing??????? I LOVE YOUR CHARACTERIZATION OF DICK GRAYSON AND I WILL SCREAM IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS!!!!!! The way you write Tim is superb. I also do like how you wrote the rest of the batfam (even though there wasn’t everyone necessarily, the idea of family was there). Sure, like other fanfic writers, there was some glossing over of the tensions between Jason and the rest of them and maybe some of the other members BUT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STORY IT WORKS SO WELL AND I CANT REALLY COMPLAIN

Dick takes on so much and he does this thing where he acts strong for the people he loves and the people he wants to protect. The way you wrote that was stunning. I love the balance of you showcasing how much Dick was doing and how much Dick was screwing up. I like the contrast between the things superhero working out with things falling apart with Wally and then sort of a switch later on. I love when writers capture the good and the bad that comes with Dick Grayson trying to take the world on his shoulders for the sake of his family (specifically his younger siblings). I also love how vulnerable and just broken he seemed, which I know sounds bad, but I love me some Angst™️ yknow? This story has a perfect balance of that and happy endings that are too happy, but just right. A nice ending that feels like a happy batfam yknow?

To be honest, I could go on forever about your characterization of Dick Grayson. !!!!!!! Your showcasing of his infamous anger was not missed and I love it! You included his flaws but showed him being great too and that’s !!!!! The best

As for Tim, holy shit, I love the way your wrote Tim, especially his transition out of Robin. Like, it’s not from Tim’s point of view but I LOVE COMMUNICATION AND DICK SITTING DOWN TO HELP TIM WITH THE MESS OF TIM NO LONGER BEING ROBIN AND DICK REALLY MAKING SURE TIM KNOWS THAT DICK ISNT REPLACING HIM AND THAT TIM IS SO SO SPECIAL AND SO SO LOVED!!!! Also their brotherly interactions about Kon were just ... so beautiful *cries*

Damian was great too??? I like the balance of “from the league of assassins” and “still a kid” that was there. I appreciate that moment where Damian’s just so unsure and Dick’s like “over my dead body” because I just love dick!bats and dami!robin?????? I mean Dick!Bats alone isn’t a favorite of mine, but Dick and Damian have this dynamic that I really like and I think you captured their relationship quite amazingly. (I’m sorry I lack a large vocabulary so my adjectives might repeat)

Then with Cass and the signing... It’s not huge but I love it so much.

Also the hints of Babs and Steph, I love them, but the way you wrote their lack of presence was powerful, too, because I think the distance portrayed really fits how they’d handle everything and despite anything to the contrary, I feel like Dick really does understand his siblings enough to know which ones need the daily check ups and which ones need the prolonged space, until they’re ready. (Tim and Cass vs Steph and Jason) And both are good and fine and did I mention I LOVE YOU AND THE WAY YOU WROTE THE BATFAM????

Plus the whole Dick watching everyone move on while he’s busy living the life of his dead father, was a really intriguing contrast that I found unique and interesting. I like the depth of Dick’s distain for being Batman extending beyond the fact that it’s the opposite of everything he tried as Nightwing. It’s also tying to something he knows he needs to move on from and I just love how you wrote it.

And Jason? My god the ending part was great. I liked the interaction and I like the way Jason shooting those guys was handled, because to some degree, I do believe that between Dick and Bruce there are difference in their beliefs in the whole “don’t kill” code. I think it’s be in character, especially for a stressed and tired and hurt, Dick Grayson to overlook it a bit for the sake of family and just cos it’s not the most pressing issue. Idk Bruce might, but Dick Grayson screams family and I love his interaction with Jason

And now to the bIRDFLASH!!!!!!!! Let me tell you, this will FOREVER be my favorite Birdflash fanfic. Okay so like there’s always a chance you’ll write something more amazing, but this is, by far, one of the greatest fanfics I have ever read. It’s beautifully constructed, well planned, has great emotions, and a nice balance of “IMMA MAKE YOU CRY” and “HERE LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF”

Okay anyways, Birdflash.

WALLY WEST, MY BABY, BEING SO KIND AND SOFT AND UNDERSTANDING (generally speaking) WAS BEAUTIFUL!

CONSENT! IS! IMPORTANT! and even if Dick wasn’t necessarily deterred by those kinds of things and more for the sake of keeping up the lie, I really appreciate how much Wally listened and just had basic! human! decency! It was beautiful and soft and just ... so breathtaking

I love soft birdflash yknow?

AND THEN THE ANGST! The whole Dick “learning” Wally’s the Flash and the guilt from Dick and the later misunderstandings and the eventual truth telling... It was excellently crafted in my opinion. It’s a cliché to have the whole superhero and “oh no are they cheating?!” but you wrote it so amazingly and then Wally calling Dick the next day with understanding and apology was refreshing and really sweet.

WALLY REASSURING DICK HE LOVES HIM AND YET ASKING FOR SPACE IS ALSO THE BEST!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HOW YOU WROTE THIS SCENE SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH BECAUSE ITS SO SWEET BUT SO REAL AND GENUINE! It’s realistic to have Wally express love and care but also need space, while Dick gets why Wally needs space but kind of wishes Wally could stay. It’s a lovely balance and I’m so in love with your writing.

Finally, the ending. Which basically is great because I love Robins (and any batkid really) not taking Bruce’s shit. Like him telling Clark and Diana I understand, but then forcing Dick and the rest of them to stick to the gag-order... Not his best move. Yet, like the kids, you can understand part of where he came from... And I like that. I also love how you wrote the scene like...

Bruce: WTF?

Kon: 0.0

Wally: 0.0

Tim: uh...

Dick: *comes running in, but like more hobbling* hI YES I DID IT NOW FIGHT ME BROOSE

Damian: *running in after* You cannot be fighting, Grayson!

So a little off, but main idea: Big Brother Dick Grayson, Protective Damian, Cute TimKon, and Wally “What’s happening?” West.

Overall, what I am trying to say is that this story was a phenomenal read and by far one of my favorites across all fandoms and ships. It stands out as one of the best that I’ve read, in terms of characterization of Dick Grayson and his relationships with the other batfam members. The writing of Dick and Wally’s relationship was stunning and this is definitely one of those fanfics I’ll always find myself coming back to read.

You’re an amazing author and I hope to read more of your writing! This piece had me in awe from start to end and I just... Just Thank you? For writing something so amazing and interesting and balanced.

Seriously, “Every Fiber of My Being” is wonderful, so well written, and a really special type of AU that leaves you with a little sense of “What do you mean this isn’t canon?”

“Every Fiber of My Being” by @grxysxns is a fantastic Birdflash/Batfam AU, that really hits all your Dick Grayson feels with a loving handful of soft and caring Birdflash. GO AND READ IT!!! AND THEN EXPRESS YOUR LOVE TO THE AUTHOR!!!

Also this is intended both as a reaction, a love letter to the author, and a rec for people who haven’t read it, and I apologize for how confusing this might’ve been. But wow, there were hardly enough words to explain the way I feel about this particular fanfic.

#fic reaction

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seven-dragons · 7 years

Text

Telemovie not so quick thoughts: holy shit they read the fanfic edition

I am still shaking. I am going to write this now and post later so I have time to digest.

I had my doubts - a lot of them - but the telemovie format worked well for this show. It allowed time for both a meaty murder and good character development and personal scenes without one crowding the other out.

That being said, I have no idea who did it or why. It was so confusing it reached Midsomer Murders proportions. So the Lucas' are con artists? Was marrying Edward a con? Why did they have to change their names it seems like Edward knew they weren't from a rich family. What was Patrick's car doing on that guys lot? It was never explained. Why were there drugs in the car Rose bought. And this conspiracy between Edward and the evil lawyer, the evil lawyer seems to be pulling a lot of strings with everybody. He almost seems to be controlling Susan at the end. None of this is addressed.

So Blake was fired as police surgeon for what, 10 minutes?

Blake seems to hold Patrick blameless at the end for everything including his monster son and abandoned illegitimate daughter. Really? Dead or not, the Patrick we have come to know and love/hate was an immoral scoundrel. A complicated immoral scoundrel but still immoral scoundrel.

I am devastated they killed off Patrick. I love that character. They are not going to be able to create a better nemesis, and killing him off was a mistake. John Wood is so cuddly. I hope he's next to be brought back from the dead.

And poor Susan. You know she's burned a lot of bridges. All those powerful friends and who's with her at the end? Just Jean. I feel for Susan. She is not a pleasant person, or a good one, but she sacrificed everything to build her life and it all crumbled around her. All she has left is an empty mansion.

So the show has now killed off every single recurring nemesis. Now what????

What the hell with Charlie? This is like Mattie sneaking off all over again. Did he tell anyone he was going to detective school?

So Danny, you only lived with Blake and Jean and Jean is your aunt, can you act like seeing them is more than a minor inconvenience?

That scene between Matthew and Blake. Drinking together again! I can't even. It was perfect. They finally had a heart to heart about Jean. I need to go back and watch this 100 more times and analyze every word. I have always had a hc that Lawson had a thing for Jean and when Blake came along he realized it was a lost cause. This scene only supports that.

And Blake gets cold feet, tries to postpone the wedding claiming it needs to happen because Patrick died, and Jean's like, "sorry, Patrick's last dying words as he drove into the lake were please get married right now."

Contrary to what we might have though, season 5 is definitely not the season where Blake nips his alcoholism in the bud. Let the whiskey flow.

THE STUDIO IS THEIR NEW BEDROOM. This is every fic writers dream come true. I am so, so glad. And they are moving in together. Two adults discussing their future in the same bed and not freaking out about it.

Raise your hand if you were shocked that Mei Lin's ethnicity is the reason Blake was estranged from his father. What? No one? And Blake should not feel guilty about not returning the letters. Dad was very clear in cutting him off from the family.

Speaking of which this ep only gives further evidence that Blake senior was an ass. He cut off his son, and his wife's family. He didn't seem to give a damn about his wife much of the time. And Blake is saying it's ok to be like his father? No it isn't. Living in Ballarat and being a doctor is not the same as becoming his father. Blake is so much better than that. Jean should have told him as much.

Charlie and Danny are two ships passing in the night two ships who sail up to each other don't quite touch but exchange a passenger.

Could the wedding be any more perfect? I don't like wedding episodes and this definitely wasn't a wedding episode. The wedding was almost a surprise at the end. But the whole thing was beautiful.

Malice lives!!!!!!!!

The ending was great, but I have so many questions. Can we assume they finally had sex? Where did they go for their honeymoon? I HAVE QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERING!!!!!!!

#the doctor blake mysteries

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bughead-fic-request · 7 years

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I would like to thank @leaalda for making these amazing banners.

This is an effort to spread the word about all fan fiction writers in our little fandom. If you would like to be featured or nominate a writer, please contact me. Please reblog this post if you can and check out some of @findingbetty work!

1. First things first, if someone wanted to read your stories where can they find them.

Find findingbetty on AO3.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Annabel and I'm in the twenties club. I hail from the far reaches of New Zealand, a place every bit as green and beautiful they tell you. I’m technically a lawyer, though recently I retired at the ripe old age of 24 and ran away to Australia. Beyond examining the intricacies of my existential crisis, I’m a competitive rower. I also really like bagels.

3. What do you never leave home without?

I suppose my phone...depressing though that is. I wish I could at least say, like, my keys - if only to imply I can live a fulfilling life without my phone - but I locked myself out of my apartment twice last week. So that would be a lie.

4. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Extra early bird. The kind that loves to hate getting up at 6am every morning to do a 20km training row before second breakfast.

5. If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?

I’m still waiting for my letter. I remain convinced my Owl just got a little lost on the way to New Zealand. There’s still time, though.

6. Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met.

Lorde. In the supermarket, back when she was still New Zealand’s best kept secret.

7. What are some of your favorite movies/TV?

I will never get tired of watching Friends. It’s the ultimate comfort for me. I also have a high level of appreciation for Girls, and I do like some Parks and Rec.

I really like the familiarity and continuity of watching a series. As such, I don’t watch very many movies, but some favourites include Mistress America and Silver Linings Playbook.

I just like things that feel real.

8. What are some of your favorite bands/musicians?

Haim ❤️ Fleetwood Mac and John Mayer. Drake! I also like Kodaline, particularly their album In a Perfect World. I went to see Adele in March. It was the very last night of her tour and it rained torrentially. I was probably the least dry I have ever been in my entire life, but setting fire to the rain in a downpour was a glorious thing.

9. Favorite Books?

From a place of nostalgia, Harry Potter. Such a quintessential part of my childhood. Beyond that, I try to read quite broadly. I have one particular favourite that isn’t really representative of my preferred genre, but caters well to my particularly dry sense of humour - How to Be Good, by Nick Hornby.

10. Favorite Food?

Pancakes.

11. Biggest pet peeve?

When people walk extra slowly and take up the entire footpath and won’t let me pass.

12. What did you want to be when you were little? What do you want to be now?

As a child, I apparently professed wanting to be a writer. I used to think that was because some well-meaning adult told me that was what I wanted and I just believed them. But of late, I’ve wondered if perhaps I did actually dream that up myself.

I have since learned an affinity for writing can easily translate to a career in law, be that accidental or intentional. What is less easy is working out a more enjoyable alternative - I’m conscious running away to Australia is not a long term solution.

13. What are your biggest fears? Do you have any strange fears?

Failure. Regression toward the mean. Refreshing websites everyday for the rest of my life! Talking on the phone. All of these are the kind of inconvenient fears that will infiltrate and taint every aspect of your life if you let them.

More tangibly speaking, e a r t h q u a k e s. I feel like, statistically speaking, one is not likely to experience more than one major seismic event in a lifetime, but that doesn’t make going back to what’s left of my hometown any easier.

14. When you are on your deathbed what would be the one thing you’d regret not doing?

Anything I avoided out of fear of failure. See, it’s a vicious cycle!

For anyone else suffering this particular plight, I recommend reading/viewing The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination by JK Rowling.

Okay… lets talk about your writing!

15. Which is your favorite of the fics you've written for the Bughead fandom?

I’ve only written one story thus far, and it’s called Something to Tell You.

16. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

Well I have nothing to compare it to, but did struggle with writing Something to Tell You. Looking back, I kind of attribute that to the lack of plot. I wanted the characters to undergo reasonable change, but not in an especially dramatic way, and I didn't want it to be overshadowed by their circumstances. It was a hard balance to find.

I received mixed feedback about this particular aspect of the story. Many people liked the simplicity, but equally there were those that thought I rambled on for 20 chapters and that “nothing happened”. I appreciate there is no such thing as universal popularity, and having overcome the struggle of actually writing it I am now content with how everything unfolded.

17. How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? Do you people watch? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?

Something to Tell You was founded heavily in experiences I had living with a group of friends who were every bit as quirky and interesting as the characters I tried to portray. I suppose I tend to write about what I know. I’ve largely made peace with that, but do worry it is fairly limiting and a somewhat insular approach.

18. Idea that you always wanted to write but could never make work?

Anything from Something to Tell You Jughead’s point of view. The entire story revolves around Betty not really knowing quite what to make of him, and his character is a construct of that to the extent that I just cannot find his voice.

19. Least favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

Clunky chapters. There were a few of them, but I’m not going to go back and look for them because it’s bad for my #complexes.

20. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

The Flowers and The Cheesecakes, and that’s largely because it was fun for me to write. It was also based on true events, memories of which evoke the best kind of nostalgia.

21.Favorite character to write?

Betty Cooper. It’s not too much of a stretch for me to see the world through her eyes.

22. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written?

“He trades in intellect and wit.”

23. Best comment/review you’ve ever received?

When I started writing, it never really occurred to me that people would a) read it, b) like it or c) tell me so. Honestly, all your kind words make my heart sing. I've never been able to bring myself to actually read Something to Tell You in full, but I do go back and read your comments!

Those who reached out via private message to tell me how much Betty’s struggles meant to them were really special. I never expected that kind of a response, and was somewhat overwhelmed by it.

More specifically, I still remember and refer back to a comment by the lovely @village-skeptic, who I remain convinced understands my characters far better than I do. Below is an extract -

“Your version of this character is so multi-layered and distinctive, and yet it makes me think - this is what "I'm weird; I'm a weirdo" looks like without canon-Jughead's precise complications of self-loathing, trauma, deprivation, and precarity (or maybe with other off-setting factors?). It's just being quirky af, but also forthrightly kind, confident, ambitious, perceptive, and also part of a community.”

Sometimes I wish @village-skeptic was my high school English teacher.

24. How do you handle bad reviews or comments?

By refusing to ‘reblog Bughead’ and rearranging all of Veronica’s furniture.

25. If you could change anything in any of your stories, what would it be?

I try not to think this way, again because #complexes… but the first chapter of Something to Tell You. The one where nothing of substance really happened, because I truly didn’t think anyone was going to read it. Thanks to everyone who set aside that very obvious flaw and persisted.

26. What is your favorite story you’ve ever written? Any fandom?

I’m going to be optimistic and say I hope it will be something I write in the future. My magnum opus, or something.

27. What are you reading right now? Both fan fiction and general fiction?

I’m heavily invested in Vespertine by @yavannies, it’s absolutely wonderful. Please go and read it and leave a comment - I’m a big believer in always thanking the author for their efforts.

Out in the real world, How to Be Both by Ali Smith is sitting on my bedside table.

28. Do you have any advice for writers that want to get into this fandom but might be scared?

What is is that you're scared of?

I don't at all mean that to be dismissive - quite the contrary. I entertained a lifelong fear of writing before sitting down to write Something to Tell You. I was scared of expectations and judgement (be them real or imagined, my own or those of others).

I am still scared of both of these things, but I have also discovered that anonymity is wonderfully liberating. It allows you to write whatever you want, whenever you want. The more you do it, the easier it gets. And as long as you write for yourself, you can’t really go wrong.

Also, believe me when I say that people are wonderfully nice around here.

#bughead author spotlight #fan fiction #fan fiction writers #Bughead #bughead fanfiction #ao3 #betty cooper #jughead jones #jughead x betty #betty x jughead #riverdale #finding betty #something to tell you

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reconditarmonia · 7 years

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Dear Yuletide Writer

Hello, lovely writer!

I’m reconditarmonia here and on AO3 (and have been since LJ days, but my LJ is locked down and I only have a DW to see locked things).

General likes:

-- Relationships that aren’t built on romance or attraction. They can be romantic or sexual as well, but my favorite ships are all ones where it would still be interesting or compelling if the romantic component never materialized.

-- Loyalty kink, whether commander-subordinate or comrades-in-arms, and the trust associated with it. Sometimes-but-not-always relatedly, idealism. I guess the two combined might be, in general, the idea of nobility of character and what that means.

-- Heists, or other stories where there’s a lot of planning and then we see how the plan goes.

-- Femslash, complicated or intense relationships between women, and female-centric gen. Women doing “male” stuff.

-- Stories whose emotional climax or resolution isn’t the sex scene, if there is one.

-- Uniforms/costumes/clothing.

-- Stories, history, and performance. What gets told and how, what doesn’t get told or written down, behavior in a society where everyone’s consuming media and aware of its tropes, how people create their personas and script their own lines.

-- Eucatastrophe.

General DNW: rape/dubcon, torture, other creative gore; Christmas/Christian themes; unrequested AUs, including “same setting, different rules” AUs such as soulmates/soulbonds; PWP; food sex.

Fandom: Dòu Máah Dáan | Peking Opera Blues (1986)

Characters: Tsao Wan

This film is so much MORE than I ever dreamed. More hilarious, more shippy, more dramatic. I think what I want most from this fandom is something on a similar emotional scale - not necessarily something where the plot itself has a national or international scope, but something that has room for opera slapstick, corpse puppetry, and torture; material concerns, and high aspirations; saving each other’s lives, and having sleepovers. Thematically, I’m really interested in the way the film shows friendship and familial love sometimes dovetailing with ethics and ideological goals and sometimes conflicting with them, and in the various ways women can find, or seek, their own independence.

Tsao Wan is the only character I’ve put in my request. I was fully expecting to come out of the film with femslash ships, and instead I have a big OT5 and a huge crush on Brigitte Lin (okay, that part I could see coming), so I’d be happy with any combination of the main five, including the two men, who were not nominated, as long as Tsao Wan is there. Some combination possibilities: how do any of them meet up again after the events of the film, whether by chance - do Bai Niu and/or Sheung Hung happen to be making a tour stop somewhere Tsao Wan has a mission? does Tsao Wan and Ling’s work take them near Tung’s village farm? - or intentionally - how would a new opera about Tsao Wan and Ling’s exciting adventures be created by Bai Niu and/or Sheung Hung, in terms of research and role creation? Or maybe Tsao Wan needs Bai Niu’s skills for a mission. In fact, maybe she needs everyone’s skills for a mission. Recruitment road trip! Some solo possibilities: what was Tsao Wan’s time in Europe like? Was she involved in any political activity there? What does she do post-film as History continues? In anything set post-film, I’d like to know that all five characters are important to each other, even if they’re not actually in the fic and/or sexually involved.

If you want to get really plotty, I love heist and con stuff like Leverage, Ocean’s Eleven (remake), and The Italian Job (original), where there’s a Plan with steps and roles, and then it plays out. If straight-up casefic isn’t your style, it could be fun to throw some shippy tropes at this canon (fake marriage where Tsao Wan is pretending to be the husband? hurt/comfort or sickfic? hell, I’d read accidental baby acquisition), but tropey stuff is not necessary - I’m just trying to throw out some ideas to get things moving. Ideally there’d be at least a figleaf of plot in the background, even if it’s not casefic.

Fandom-specific DNW: Explicit references to torture are still a hard DNW (I covered my eyes during the scene in question when watching the film), but I recognize it’s part of canon and consequently might be part of the world of the fic. If someone is tortured or creatively executed in your story, it’s fine to mention it but I do not want to know how.

---

Fandom: Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

Characters: Bathsheba Everdene

I didn’t nominate this and it didn’t occur to me that it would be in the tagset, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it! One thing that always sticks in my mind about this novel is the way Hardy calls Bathsheba “the young farmer” just as he refers to the men as farmers - which, just saying, is more than most people writing about this story can do - and so, that being the case, what I’m most interested in is something about Bathsheba as farmer. One day in the life or four seasons in the life or five plantings/harvests in the life, or pseudo-academic fic about a case study of a woman farmer in the Victorian era, or a conflict between the farm and nature that Bathsheba has to decide how to solve.

Feel free to bring in the other nominated characters or other major characters if it suits what you’re trying to do, but what I’m really looking for is a focus on Bathsheba’s work, determination, and process of learning. I’d also love to read something like a merchant ship AU (as the first alternate setting that came to mind where it would be not exactly the done thing for her to captain her inherited ship and make commercial decisions herself - although I do have to point out that contrary to popular belief, there were a lot of women on shipboard in the age of sail, may this be useful - but also where nature and luck/fate are as influential as they are in the original setting), or something in which the land, superstition, and ritual were more overtly magical.

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Fandom: 月刊少女野崎くん | Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Characters: Kashima Yuu, Nozaki Umetarou

Pick a trope. Have them fuck it up.

That’s one of the things that makes me love this canon - the simultaneous send-up of and indulgence in tropes, in a very good-natured way. (Another way I’ve described its genre: “nothing happens, but very dramatically.” Everything is shocking or devastating or the pinnacle of bliss.) Kashima and Nozaki are two of the characters whose propensity to do this is most likely to set a story in motion, due to Nozaki’s experimentation/observation for his manga and Kashima’s princely self-fashioning and going 120% on everything; I also love Kashima’s bifauxnen-ness, acting talent, and earnest failboating, and the way that Nozaki could have been written as a tall-dark-handsome-stoic cipher guy and instead is just as quirky as anyone else. That said, this is an OR request, not an AND, and I’d also be happy to read stories about pretty much anyone from the nominated tagset (except Mikoshiba or Mayu; I don’t know Mayu very well because I originally got into this through the anime, and Mikoshiba just isn’t my fave, although I have no objection to his appearing in the story).

There are all sorts of lists out there of common shoujo(/romcom/fanfic) tropes if you’re not sure where to start. And, because Nozaki is all about subverting gendered characterization and role-boxing, and also about people trying to make their lives conform to narrative, go ahead and apply those tropes to whichever characters you feel would be the most interesting or fun. Feel free to pick non-high-school-setting ones, too, if there's magical/historical/high-society shoujo you want to see them tackle, or to take a play that Kashima (and whoever else) is involved in as a jumping-off point.

As you may have gathered, I love the way the canon plays with romance tropes, but I would prefer no overt Shipfic. If you’d like to include a ship, whether slash/femslash or het, I’d like for it to be handled without much seriousness, and for friendship with characters who aren’t part of the ship to be a significant part of the fic, as per canon. I do really like the show’s variety of friendships between characters of different temperaments, interests, and sexes.

If you’re really getting a “why don’t you just rewatch/reread the canon, reconditarmonia” vibe off this, which I’m kind of giving myself, you could try sex comedy future fic? Give them magical powers? What I’m most interested in, wherever you go with this, is the playing-with-tropes thing.

Fandom-specific DNW: I love Hori and Kashima’s relationship, but I’d strongly prefer that her feelings for him not be written as overtly romantic. High levels of ambiguity/intensity/tropey-ness are fine and great.

---

Fandom: Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett

Characters: Any (Alice “Wazzer” Goom, Jack Jackrum, Magda “Tonker” Halter, Maladict, Polly “Ozzer” Perks, Tilda “Lofty” Tewt)

Give me all the loyalty kink for this fandom. Characters rescuing each other from peril, risking their reputation or position or ethics to defend each other, accomplishing the impossible or sacrificing things without even thinking twice because one trusts the other’s orders or judgment. Or A not going off the leash or into danger to defend B because B said not to, to protect A’s conscience or life or reputation. Can be romantic or platonic - I ship Polly/Mal and Tonker/Lofty, but I would also be delighted with Polly&Jackrum, Wazzer&Polly, or other non-romantic twosomes or moresomes in situations of loyalty and trust. Maybe Polly sends Mal on a dangerous mission, or Tonker is captured after she and Lofty burn down another place where women and girls are being abused, or Polly protects Jackrum’s secret/s from someone who could reveal them, or Wazzer ends up in the field again with the general’s retinue and Polly and Mal rescue her from danger (or vice versa!!). What strengths or sacrifices do they have at their disposal for each other?

Pratchett-esque voices would be great. He’s really, really good at sucker-punching the reader with sincerity in an overall satiric mode, and I think that style lends itself well to this sort of thing.

I’m not going to lie, Polly is my fave. I like that this could have been a generic coming-of-age or women-in-war story, where the protagonist learns that she’s brave or worthwhile and then the crisis is past, but instead Polly learns that she’s a cunning bastard and a hell of a sergeant, and being a one-off hero in a country that’s at peace and making slow social progress isn’t good enough for her. That said, just because I’m better able to articulate what I like about Polly doesn’t mean I’d be less excited for fic about anyone else! I think that’s something I’d want to explore for any of the characters who enlist in the course of the story - what are these women good at? What lets them fulfill their potential? What do they want when their hand isn’t being forced? Or for Jackrum, who’s already gone through that whole process by the time the story begins, any more backstory would be fabulous.

If you’re going the Polly/Mal route, I also love ludicrous levels of sexual tension in a military context (I think it’s the unavoidable proximity + the presence of others making it hard to act on it).

Fandom-specific DNW: vampire romance tropes (such as turning and/or immortality) as focus; non-female pronouns/headcanons.

Fandom: Simoun (Anime)

Characters: Any (Aaeru, Dominuura, Halconf, Mamiina, Neviril, Paraietta, Plumbish Priestesses, Rodoreamon)

Simoun somehow ended up being a really weirdly meaningful show to me. I loved how all these women got to be flawed and fucked-up, noble and loyal. How, in the mold of all my favorite epic shoujo anime, it starts off beautiful and fine and then Shit Gets Very Real and that’s actually one of the themes of the show - we had a little debate a few weeks ago on FFA as to whether or not Simoun was a military canon, and the fact that circumstances have remade a team of priestesses in fancy quarters and magic flying machines who are there to pray to God, put off their choice of sex, use their talents, maintain or claw their way into a social position, into a military force involved in a war - that’s an idea that the characters themselves struggle with in the show. (Neviril’s scene in the hearing is one of my favorites.) How everyone gets character development, in the sense of learning and changing, and even what seem like annoying mandatory straight subplots actually end up serving that thematic or character development, to say nothing of the more focal relationships between the leads (not just Neviril and Aeru, but also Mamiina and Rodoreamon, Neviril and Paraietta...)

I’d really like to read a fic where an individual character’s development or two characters’ relationship is similarly tied in to plot developments; it doesn’t have to be a plotty fic as such, but I was very interested in the way the developments of the war and the pilots/priestesses’ actions in it precipitated changes in their relationships. So how might Neviril and Aeru’s relationship develop in the other world (what are they doing?), or Mamiina and Rodoreamon’s on the Messis when they’re not the narrative focus before Mamiina’s last mission and the braid thing? (Or if this is more your speed, dig into that and see how a character grows or the relationship between characters develops when that’s not being moved along by outside events in the same way, especially if they’re aware of that being an issue. When Neviril and Aeru are outside the normal flow of time, or Paraietta and Rodoreamon are civilians, for example.) I’m also interested in all the permutations of loyalty we see in the show - like loyalty to a position over loyalty to a side (as with the Plumbish priestesses’ siding with our Sibyllae), loyalty that develops before liking or friendship, the devoted loyalty to Neviril. I like the show’s military themes despite its magical-girl visuals. I think this is also a canon where it would make sense for sexual first times to be part of a fic - what does that mean for the characters you choose?

I should also say that due to all the magic and timespace warping in the show, I am more than okay with post-canon fic that gets characters back together who were separated by canon, if that’s what you want. You can resurrect Mamiina, or have Neviril and Aeru visit the main reality/timeline again. Or play with timespace even more - time loop fic? (Edit: This didn’t even occur to me until I found out about the IF post, but this fandom might lend itself to interactive fiction, too.)

#yuletide #peking opera blues #far from the madding crowd #gsnk #monstrous regiment #simoun #dear author letters

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rockysavannah · 7 years

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Suggesting an Original Character

Description:

Anyone else got anymore suggestions? I’m all ears.

Hello, I’ve written a concept for an original character that involves belching on my Writing.com interactive: Belching Girls: Multi-Media (Vore & WG). If you want to add more O.C.s or other chapters over there, then please do so, because any help would be appreciated.

Belching Girls: Multi-Media (Vore & WG)

Backstory: As the daughter of industrial moguls Duncan Connor and María Bacch (Named after the Bacchus, the Roman god of Wine), 17-year-old Becky Bacch was born to inherit their Multi-Billion-Dollar Soda-and-Beer company called Popsi-Cola Inc. Through an amalgamation of sharp business savvy and inept competition, the likes of Budweiser and Pepsi were crushed and absorbed into the ever-expanding global empire. Many countries, including the United States of America lowered their drinking age to 16, a change likely brought upon by the sheer influence of the corporation, or secret bribes and an addictive product, according to whatever barely-surviving opposition would say. However, even with all of the wealth in the world, Becky still felt unfulfilled. Maybe it was out of disappointment that she was given everything through the success of her parents and not herself. Or it was having little social contact, again due to her folks, leaving her to spend her free time by reading books, helping develop new kinds of successful beverages, or engaging in more juvenile activities like belching. Regardless, the girl was struggling to find a purpose to her existence outside of being an heiress, until she got a crazy idea.

One night, she loaded an old backpack with several cans of experimental drinks and sneaked out of the mansion to mark the debut of the Earth’s newest hero: Soda Jerk! Flying across the streets in a full body black jumpsuit and mask with gray boots and gloves, it didn’t take long for Becky to find her first crime to thwart in the form of a classic bank robbery. The crooks were loading their score into a getaway van when a deafening sonic blast that sounded suspiciously like a belch erupted from the nearby alley, knocking the van over and shattering every panel of glass around the block. Though disoriented, the criminals retaliated by firing off several rounds from their handguns into the alley. However, there were no sounds of bullets drilling through flesh and bone, nor the thud of a corpse that had collapsed onto the cold hard ground. The villainous trio gave each other a confused look, but before they could tell what happened, a black blur rushed past them and one of them fell to the pavement unconscious. The remaining two tightened the grip on their guns when they saw it, but another blur dashed at them, too fast for the human eye to see, and before they knew it, another man was down. Now the final gang member was scared, wonder what exactly they were dealing with here. His question was answered by a light hop to the left side of the neck, leaving him to drop face-first on to the concrete.

Satisfied with her work, Soda Jerk returned the money and restrained the thugs until the police arrived before returning home. Contrary to her expectations, she was not alone when she made it back, seeing her mom and dad waiting in her room and wanting an explanation. After a rundown of the nights events and Becky’s reasons for her actions, Duncan and María were filled with remorse over what they’e done and eventually agreed to allow Becky to continue her escapades, provided she wear more protection, balances this duty with the rest of her life, and explain how she created her unique brands of soda.

Personality: Though she appears to be the stereotypical bookworm, in actuality, she’s… well, that much about her is true, but it’s far from the only defining trait about her. In addition to reading up on latest technological breakthroughs (and even having contributed to some of them), she’s also a straight-A+ student and is disarmingly prideful about her intellect. Bravery is also a apt adjective to describe her, as she is willing to lay down her life for another at a moment, whatever obstacle that might prevent her from doing so be damned. However, her impulsive and stubborn nature is also a weakness that she has yet to overcome, as both have lead to her blindly charging at the enemy and not stooping until they fall, which has often resulted in several close calls, much to the fear of her parents. Above all though, it is her infinite capacity for good that is her most treasured trait for that was largely what drove her into a life of heroics, but even someone as nice as her can be pushed to far, just ask those tried to manipulate her. Her habits are eating, drinking, and burping frequently-a consequence for anyone with a diet of soda and alcohol-among other things.

Appearance: Becky towers over most girls her age with a height of 6’0” and a weight of 214 pounds, though much of that is muscle grown from her rigorous physical training. Her red hair is styled as a bob cut, her irises are a lush clover shade, and her skin color perfectly matches her mother’s light tan. Spots of freckles dot her cheeks, further showing her father dominating genetic influence.

Miscellaneous Information:

Morality: Chaotic Good (Willing to break the rules to do the right thing).

Nationality: Born and Raised in the United States of America.

Powers and Abilities: Skilled in hand-to-hand combat and surprisingly athletic, but cannot utilize any superpowers on her own.

Weapons, Gadgets, and Technology: Drinks various sodas which give her different powers. 1 Flying Fizz: Fills her belly with gas akin to helium, allowing her to fly for as long as the gas remains in her body, though it can be burped out. 2 Rushing Raspberry: Raises her blood sugar to levels that would kill any other human being, but somehow Becky’s body reacts differently, as it increases her reflexes and movement speed to hypersonic levels, though she rarely goes this fast in populated areas. It also boosts her metabolism, which ironically makes it so that the affects of this soda last the shortest. 3 Belching Blueberry: Just one sip sends enough supercarbonated gas into the stomach that letting it out as a burp would destroy a two-story building, but if forced into a situation where no other options present themselves, Becky can chug the whole thing in less that a minute and cut belches that would individually destroy an entire city.

Reply if you like the character, or at least the idea of the character. You may use this character in a story of your own if you want, just give me credit. Please leave any suggestions for how this character could be improved and any ideas for more original characters.

HicBurpLover22: First of all, I would just like to mention that I’ve seen your work way back in the past with Libby as burp girl and I really liked those fics, and that I am willing to help you out with any ideas that this fic may have to offer. I don’t need credit and I’ve helped other writers before although I don’t write myself (Though I might plan to if I have a lot of spare time soon) So anyways, I would like to know what could be your overall plot. Sure you essentially just explained Becky’s origin story but what would the focus be. Is it primarily going to be good vs. evil or will you have something else like romance or drama involved? For other characters, I was thinking that for maybe for a romantic partner or as a partner in general, have Becky find out about a male hacker who has hacked into Popsi Cola inc. and has all of this information about the experimental sodas that Becky has made and even the identity of Soda Jerk. The hacker (let’s call him Jack for now) threatens the company that he will leak all of this information on the internet unless he talks to Soda Jerk herself. Becky having no choice decides to meet Jack at his base (which could be hidden in a shady part of town or something). Jack reveals himself to not be a villain, he wasn’t going to leak anything in the first place, but he needed to make an alliance with Soda Jerk to stop an incoming terrorist attack. Becky complies with Jack and also confirms her identity with him, and now we have a duo. Jack doesn’t have a burping fetish but he begins to get it by being around Becky as they soon fall in love with each other or become good friends. Jack doesn’t necessarily fights in direct combat but he can hack stuff easily and he has a nice assortment of gadgets that he can use in self-defense and maybe he gives some for Soda Jerk. It’s up to you if you want to go with this, this is just my idea after all, not yours. I also have no idea what the terrorist group ambitions would be, and I don’t have an idea for what another female character could be if you wanted one. We can work on Jack’s (if that’s what we want to call him) personality later if you want to use him. Also, for my final note, I really like hiccups and since beer often causes hiccups… it would be pretty sweet if somebody gets the hiccups at somepoint.

UPDATE: HicBurpLover22, your ideas sound fantastic. I’ll admit that I hate romance and am not very good at writing it. The focus of the overall plot would be a general good vs. evil conflict with some doses of drama. I might place in some comedy, and some of it will involve her burping, but I’ll try to use different types of humor so it won’t get stale. As for a partner, I like your idea of a male hacker named Jack who starts off as a friend of Becky’s but may slowly foster some hidden romantic interest in her, or at least a sexual one revolving around her beautiful belching abilities. He would have little to no combat experience/training/skills and powers, though he would have a secret lair beneath a virtually abandoned district of the town (which I have decided to call Bloodstone City, California). Soda Jerk explains the situation about the 16 year old Jack to her parents and they eventually agree to not press charges against him and even hire him for his technological prowess, but warn him to not cross their company and especially their daughter. Now Jack can work as a ‘Lucius Fox-type’ figure who helps outfit Soda Jerk with various gadgets and weapons to help take down the terrorist organization, whose name could be the Chaos Corps, a group of anarchists who desire to break down the oppressive governments of the world so that the common man can shape their own destinies without any legal or ethical boundaries, and they’re mainly stationed in Bloodstone. Jack’s parents, a pair of ex-spies named Elise and Victor Jace, were abducted by the villainous syndicate for their classified information that could jeopardize national security. The Corps uses various methods of physical, mental, and emotional torture to get their captives to cooperate with them. Understandably, Jack wants to free them, so a team up with the city’s big hero was necessary. On a final note, yes Becky will get the hiccups at some point in the story.

Additionally, I was thinking of there being other heroes in the world, many of them female. Like Angie Cinder A.K.A. Hothead, an 18 year old middle-class Japanese-immigrant, bestowed with pyrokinetic abilities having an equally-hot passion for preserving the law in her current home of Sydney, Australia. She’s a “Lawful Good” kind of crusader, more often than not working alongside the local law enforcement to thwart crime. Cinder was given an Americanized name to better fit in with the populace, her original name being Aguni Shindera (named after the Vedic god of fire who gave her powers and the Japanese word for ‘cinder’) and had been working as a super hero with a public identity a full 4 years before Soda Jerk. She possesses an average intelligence and though she doesn’t know martial arts, Angie does have some degree of fighting skills due to her training at the police academy. She’s aware of Soda Jerk and while Hothead thinks she could learn to work within the confines of the law more effectively, overall she’s tolerant of the powerless powerhouse. However, Cinder is interested in her burping skills, as despite her feminine personality, she finds a guilty pleasure in releasing putrid gas, especially when mixed with her fire powers and after a private binge of spicy food. It’s almost a shame that Soda Jerk is heterosexual, as opposed to Angie’s homosexuality.

There’s also Wendy Ares A.K.A. Airhead, a 15 year old Egyptian-South African girl living as a fighting instructor in Berlin, Germany. Her name is a pun on the words ‘Windy Airs’. She is descended from an ancient tribe of Areokinetic warriors sworn to defend the innocent and punish the vile and uses her inhuman abilities to blow away her enemies. She decided to play hero one day, when a group of thugs tried to mug one of her students, only to have their breath nearly taken away for good. No one could trace the incident back to her, which suited her just fine, as she doesn’t like the spotlight. She takes a ‘Neutral Good’ approach to her actions, taking caution not to cause needless destruction and not being obsessed with every small detail working perfectly. Wendy is a master of every fighting style in the history of the world and uses it in conjunction with her air powers to stomp out criminal scum. She values stealth greatly, to the point where her alter ego’s existence is widely considered a myth by the planet and the other heroes. Airhead doesn’t know what to make of Soda Jerk or Hothead, thinking that they each have a poor balance between order and chaos in opposite directions, but ultimately respecting their intentions. In terms of burping, she’s largely indifferent to it, not being tomboyish enough to enjoy it or girly enough to hate it, though her wind powers can easily turn her eructations into hundred mile per hour gales that can flatten cities if she so chose. Also, she prefers both males and females.

Lastly, there is Gladys Gordon Garcias A.K.A. Glutton Girl, a 19 year old Brazilian-Mexican woman kidnapped and experimented on by a small faction of the Chaos Corps in Argentina. The terrorists were fiddling with chemical meant to affect a person’s physicality, hoping to create a breed of super-soldiers, and altered Gladys’s body. As a result, she acquired the ability to unhinge her jaw, consume objects larger than herself, enhanced senses of taste, hearing, and smell, complete control over her digestive process and an superhuman appetite. The Corps tested the new powers by force feeding Garcias her own family. Her 10 year old sister Maria and her mother Lucia were shoved down Gladys’s throat and in a panic, were accidentally digested. Gladys was reduced to a sobbing wreck, having lost the most important people in the world to her. But that sorrow was replaced by anger, as the super strength given to her by the tests allowed her to break out of containment and feast on the startled terrorists. A think, monstrous belch shattered the windows of the base and echoed into the jungle for several kilometers, signifying the end of the meal. Now alone, Gladys escaped into the night, eventually turning up as a street rat struggling to survive. She decided to exact revenge on the people who hurt her so much by going on a crusade to snack on every last member, as well as any thug who gets in her way. Her moral alignment sits at the ‘Neutral’ area, wanting to crush evil, but not all that motivated to help people whom she doesn’t know. Gladys is an anonymous eating machine, virtually nonexistent to the other heroes, whom Gladys finds are not doing enough regarding the Chaos Corps and are too focused dealing with lesser crimes. She can get very gassy after a meal of a few dozen low lives littering the streets, sporting a face of disgust as her epic eructations roar across the sky. Also, the woman is asexual.

This is what I’ve got so far. If you have any suggestions, then let me know.

HicBurpLover22: Thanks for all the feedback dude, glad to be of help in some way.

You nailed how I envisioned Jack to be, and don’t worry if romantic writing isn’t quite your thing, just do what feels right for you. A lot of the humor can be from banter between Jack and Becky. Jack can also be a bit of a gamer, so we can have game references. I can imagine Jack being distracted by playing videogames in the middle of a mission and Becky being a bit annoyed by that. If you are going to go with the gamer idea, then we can have it so that Becky bonds with Jack by starting to get into the habit of playing videogames with him (she hardly plays them) and Jack bonding with Becky by understanding why she decided to become a hero and seeing her have fun with her burps. Also, Becky could get the hiccups by downing a soda too quickly in the middle of a stealth mission revealing her position to everyone forcing her to fight her way out, or Becky has a soda that gives her a random elemental effect every time she hiccups.

Bloodstone City sounds like a very cool place to live not gonna lie, and you could probably make other major cities in this world be named after other gemstones or minerals, for example Diamond City, Topaz City, Ruby City etc. and the Chaos Corps sounds like one serious threat. I have one other idea for them but let me quickly go over your characters.

I really like the idea of there being more heroes, but not directly associated with Soda Jerk. It kinda reminds me of Street Fighter or even Overwatch by having all of these characters from different parts of the world each with different goals and ambitions. They each have their own path but overall just want to get rid of evil.

Hothead can kinda be the Tsundere archetype of the girls, she may be hot but can give people the cold shoulder she meets at first. She can be highly competitive and always wants to keep her pride up. Spicy food is also known to cause hiccups, but I think I’m pushing it too far with the hiccups at this point heh.

For Airhead, maybe she wants to befriend some guy but is too shy to even talk to him or even be near him. She also doesn’t want him to be in dander and involved in her dangerous missions because he doesn’t have any powers. She also wonders what this guy would even think of her.

The start to Glutton Girl’s story could be her binging in WcDonalds (the equivalent of McDonalds in this world) while she thinks on what to do next, meanwhile people are just staring at her in awe as she eats a lunch for 10 or some other ludicrous number as she emits a belch that threatens to destroy the restaurant.

These are just random ideas that I’ve come up with really quick, but here is what I got for a potential villain.

Dr. Wilhelm is the boss of Chaos Corp, he is an evil scientist with a very monotone voice. He never reveals his past to anyone but he was once a prestigious scientist by the name of Dr. Maxis bringing the future of tomorrow years early, but his experiments soon grew to be too dark so the government shut him down. Now his motives are world domination, destruction and revenge. He is so cold-hearted that he even weaponize her own daughter. I’m gonna let you name her since you do WAY better with names than I do. She is now a ruthless killing machine, her memories are being held by her father and she is constantly being powered up by a special soda that Wilhelm has made himself, giving her the abilities of super strength, the ability to shape shift her hands and feet into weapons, and of course destructive burping. The soda is being injected through her by little pipes coming in and out of her mouth, I don’t know how there is an endless amount but… science. She always has a very quiet case of the hiccups, the ones that only jerk her body slightly, but if you happened to hear a single “hic”, it’s over, expect yourself to be killed by her, no problemo. Essentially, she is a zombie but the real her can still be in there, fighting for freedom.

Let me know what you think.

UPDATE 2: Again, you’ve come up with some great ideas. I imagined both Becky and Jack to be very witty since they are both teenagers, so the would have a good back and forth & Jack will be a gamer, while Becky is a noob who tries getting into it. Meanwhile, Jack becomes more attracted to Becky’s belching. It would be funny to see Becky get caught by hiccuping and the new elemental hiccup soda (which I’ll call Hiccuping Honey) sounds great. Becky has been Soda Jerk for six months.

I may create more cities named after minerals if I feel like it. The Chaos Corps plays a role similar to HYDRA from Marvel, but on a smaller scale. The story takes place in 2017, but the Chaos has been around for about 25 years.

The assorted heroes of the world are current scattered, but they may crossover at some point, probably in response to an attack by the Chaos Corps, similar to the Avengers.

Hothead does get hiccups from Spicy food, as well as burps, and is prideful and competitive. Though she’s respected by the police, she doen’t have many friends, focusing more on her work and being paid for it.

Though Airhead is very devoted to her clan, she also wants to experience things that a typical girl would. However, she keeps her desire to men, as people still have trouble accepting the LGBT community and her special upbringing robbed her of social skills, so Wendy acts very awkwardly around her crush, James Jaxson. Aires has been in action for two years now.

Glutton Girl spends much of her time gorging at various restaurants and hotels, being able to afford such luxuries by hoarding the money from her criminal victims. The owners of the establishments have gotten use to her presence and are afraid that she might eat them out of business. She has been on the hunt for the Chaos Corps for one year.

Chaos Corps leader, Dr. Carl Wilhelm will be the main antagonist to these heroes. He is 50 years old and his daughter, Marsha is considered by him to be the ‘Ultimate Life Form’, due to her powers. She is twenty years old and got her abilities three years ago and has been an operative for the Chaos Corps for just as long. Countless innocents were butchered by the living weapon, some for strategic purposes , but mostly out of pure sadism. Marsha herself is an emotionless girl, pretty much the ‘Winter Soldier’ of the group. She is bulletroof, has perfect mastery over every form of combat and weaponry on Earth, can weaponize any object, and has above human physicality. The Doctor from New Zealand created the power-inducing soda in a similar way to how Becky created her’s. Marsha Wilhelm is codenamed, Chaos Queen, and is a 'Neutral’ character being forced into a 'Chaotic Evil’ role, though hopefully, the remains of her former self buried deep within her can find a way to break free…

Also, JWAPPEL suggested on Deviantart another character 13 hours ago:

Catherine “Conquer” Jones. She’s tiny at 5'4 and the girliest of the girly girls fro constantly dressing in pink and glitter to being obsessed with shoes. Challenge her to anything however and watch her pwn you, especially burping contests.

HicBurpLover22: Awesome, all of this seems really great. I honestly don’t know any other ideas for this at this point, but I will probably message you if anything comes to mind. Also my apologies, I thought you wrote fanfics for Libby as burp girl from that one episode way, way, WAY back in the past, but then I remember that you were the one who uploaded the clip on YouTube, I must have been thinking of someone else or something… But I still like your other work, don’t get me wrong.

Also, when I look through your DeviantArt favorites I can’t help but notice that you are into farts as well. I only just recently got into farts and I wouldn’t be opposed if there was a farting scene as well in this series. Becky’s farts are completely normal and not super powered, so I can imagine a funny scene where she prepares for a large burp to strike an enemy but the burp comes out the other end as a normal fart.

Hothead might have spicy fiery farts that can propel her like a rocket. Airhead doesn’t fart as it may be too dangerous because of her powers. Glutton Girl can have the most foul farts and burps that she can channel, especially after a Brazilian-Mexican feast with beans.

UPDATE 3: Interesting. The girls farting could be funny, so I may include it.

HicBurpLover22: Any other updates on Soda Jerk?

UPDATE 4: Not yet, but there might be more non-superhero-themed characters appearing in the story.

HicBurpLover22: Ah, so like a anti-hero or a bounty hunter?

UPDATE 5: It would be a bounty hunter, named Juliet Winters, a British gun for hire who makes a living bringing in/killing criminals to collect the price on their heads. She is indifferent to the other heroes, but is interested in the Chaos Corps, if only because of how much money she could get by taking them down.

HicBurpLover22: Sounds pretty good. Maybe she has some royal blood but isn’t interested at all at doing her family traditions. She is very polite to her payers, and she never let’s them down. She also pays some respect to the person she needs to kill for the bounty, saying something like “sorry for killing you but business is business.” Her attire could be like a fancy coat that can shoot ice shards, but she is never without her trusty sniper rifle.

UPDATE 6: Sounds cool. Any other ideas?

HicBurpLover22: I’m not quite sure… maybe she doesn’t like burping but she’s naturally pretty gassy. She apologizes a lot whenever she does burp in front of someone, and tries her best to keep her belches in or at least let them out quietly as closed mouth-burps.

UPDATE 7: Nice. I’ll see if JWAPPEL has something more to offer.

Hey, so HicBurpLover22 and I were discussing new original characters and I wanted to see if you had something more to offer.

JWAPPEL: I’ll see what I can come up with and Yes. Catherine’s body actually adapts to challenges, meaning her belly expands for competive eating, she undergoes muscle growth for strength contests, etc. It’s this way because her family is quite rich and scientists hired by her parents were paid to experiment with her and make it this way. What do you think?

UPDATE 8: Sounds good.

So, anyone else out there who is interested in this stuff please let me know if you have any ideas for characters and/or settings.

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