#RATC

[thehomelybadger]

Thank you for seeing this message! It's (been) hockey season... can we have more RATC-verse for the holidays? :D

There's something I'm cooking up. :)

[bugcatcherwill]

Welcome to Rage Against the Calamity aka "I Cannot Stop My Characters From Fucking Monologueing: The Fic"

[gentle--man]

Shakirooo

[youn9racha]

wtf….

[bam-stroker]

Absolutely struck by the pure comedy of having two separate one off NSFW writings in the works at the same time for rest stop and rock around the clock worlds

rest stop - sweet, full of love... like honestly the most bubbly fluff

rock around - ..... '>.> femme domme Moon .....

[everhoods]

RATS IN M FYCUKING CELEINE

[bots-and-cons]

Hi, I would like to ask for a reader who sees Optimus, Bulkhead, and Rachet as a father figure and the reader tells them about this person they really really like. So basically how would Optimus, Bulkhead, and Ratchet react to hearing reader has a crush? (Can it be LGBTQIA+ friendly?) Thank you!! Love your work!

A/N: Aaaw, this is cute. (As an aroace person, I have a really bad grasp on how it is when you have a crush on someone, since the only “crushes” I have, are on fictional characters.) I wrote it gender-neutral as usual, otherwise I don’t really know what you’d mean by LGBTQIA+ friendly. You can interpret the gender of the reader and the crush however you want. Didn’t do Bulk, because I kinda ran out of steam after the Optimus one.  Also thank you for liking my writing, it means a lot to me :D

~Ratchet~

•Ratchet had noticed you had been acting a bit odd lately

•Texting someone a lot and laughing and smiling at seemingly every text you received back

•But somehow you also seem kind of anxious as of late, even though you also seemed really happy

•Ratchet doesn’t really know what to make of this, so when you ask him one day if he could hear you out, he’s relieved, because maybe you’ll finally tell him what’s going on

•So you sit down with him, making sure no one else is in hearing distance and you seem pretty secretive

•Ratchet asks what’s going on as you try to figure out how to tell him as you pace back and forth in front of him

•You finally stop pacing and just sigh, before telling him “I have a crush”

•”You have a what?” Ratchet asked, he didn’t really know what the word meant in that context

•”I like this one person in my class…” you muttered

•”I assume they’re the one you’ve been constantly exchanging messages with?”

•”Yes, and they’re great… I just don’t know what to do going forward”

•”What do you think you’d need to do?” Ratchet asks

•Ratchet is a bit hesitant on giving you any kind of advice, because cybertronian courting is probably a bit different from how humans do it, and he doesn’t want to get it wrong

•He’s like a father to you and while you’re not expecting much advice, you do still want some

•”I just… I want them to know I like them, but I don’t know how” you sighed.

•”I must admit, I’m really not very good at giving advice this topic”

•”Well, what did you do when you wanted to tell someone you liked them?” you asked

•”I have never really been the one to make the initial move, so it’s a bit hard to say”

•”So you have no advice for me?” you sighed.

•”If I were to give you some advice, do what you feel is right. You already have their contact information, so perhaps you should just ask them to do something you’d both enjoy?”

•You think about it for a moment, and decide that was actually a really good (and obvious) idea

•You thank him and ask if he’d like to help you formulate the text to your friend

•What Ratchet thought would be a good way to ask, was pretty much an essay and very formal, so you just decided to figure it out on your own

•Ratchet is of course very happy for you, and he wishes you all the best, encouraging you to be yourself

~Optimus Prime~

•One day you just come to Optimus, asking if you could talk with him

•There’s not really anyone else around, so you just sit on the couch and explain the situation to Optimus

•He nods and shows interest the whole time, but on the inside he’s like “Oh dear Primus, what?”

•Optimus isn’t particularly experienced with romantic relationships, so he doesn’t really know what kind of advice he can offer

•Also he thinks the cybertronian ways of dating and courtship may not apply here

•He was still kind of young when he became a Prime, and then the war started so he hasn’t really had time for longterm, serious relationships

•So Optimus is understandably a bit nervous, because he wants to get it right and not give you any bad advice

•”Do you think I should tell them that I like them?”

•”Yes, I think you should, life is too short to wait” Optimus says, glancing at Ratchet with a yearning look in his optics

•”How long have you waited?” you couldn’t resist asking as you followed Optimus’s gaze to Ratchet, realizing you weren’t the only one who was at a loss with liking someone

•”What do you mean?” Optimus asks, turning his optics back to you

•You don’t want to turn into a matchmaker or anything, but for god’s sake this big mech doesn’t even know how he’s feeling

•To you it’s pretty obvious Optimus is deeply in love with Ratchet, but you’re also pretty sure neither of them know it

•”Anyway, I think you’re right. Life is too short to wait, and you never know what might happen”

•”I’m proud of you young one, and I hope your love is reciprocated” Optimus smiled a little, before his optics wandered back to Ratchet

•He’s not gonna be a single mech (dad) much longer if you have anything to say about it

•Optimus is honored that you would come to him with something so personal and something that requires a lot of trust

•Proud bot dad!

[decepti-thots]

Really enjoy your post about Optimus holding onto skewed views of his relationships. I think a lot about how soon he started calling Megatron a friend when they interacted maybe twice and said interactions weren't exactly pleasant. How he undermined Bee and treated him as just another politician while calling him friend. How we don't really see him have much of a personal or pleasant relationship with Prowl and he calls him friend. There's so much distance between Optimus and the people important to him, and we know he knows that, but he doesn't talk as if that distance is there most of the time. By the end of IDW1 it really felt like he didn't have any friends at all even though a lot of characters would probably say otherwise. The character we see have the most significant legitimate friendship with Optimus (in my opinion) is Senator Shockwave. And even he had ulterior motives.

This is EXCELLENT anon, exactly right IMO. A lot of the Megatron-Optimus stuff in particular I think is a peculiar byproduct of phase two writers (lbr, mostly Roberts) attempting to make IDW Megatron-Optimus into something that more strongly resembles the kind of dramatic narrative that exists in other continuities but realistically just does not make sense in IDW at that point; obviously the easy one to point at is TFP, but actually this also is a situation where Marvel G1 and G1 generally actually does also have that vibe, if you take into consideration the lesser-known prose stories for Marvel especially. And it has this fascinating knock-on effect in IDW of creating the dynamic you're highlighting here, which honestly is much more interesting than if Optimus had had those genuinely close relationships, and which I think Barber is able to kind of work with more deliberately in his later work in the comics. He's constantly trying to create these connections retroactively, to fill a gap because the gap exists in the first place. Hell, at one point in the exRiD/OP stuff he calls Soundwave 'old friend', and like. They are not old friends. But Optimus certainly would have known of Soundwave, and you can see how the narrative would get constructed, out of the need to have some kind of interpersonal continuity he would otherwise totally lack. It's like he so lacks strong interpersonal relationships he substitutes symbolic ones by way of the war, almost. It's all he has after a certain point! Those ideological touchstones, in place of actual connections, some of it self imposed, some of it externally forced on him.

A lot of the real tail-end stuff with Optimus in IDW is about constructed narratives and their power and how they can constrict the people trying to live within them, and I think it fits perfectly with this, honestly. IDW Megatron and Optimus weren't ever actually friends, but they both understand how they could have been, and in their own way they both try and create narratives in their post-war lives that allow them to explore that now they've made themselves into people who cannot properly connect to anyone around them. (I really dislike the LL 'Megatron goes off to the functionist universe' stuff for various reasons, but one thing I actually do think is potentially fascinating is the way it allows him to live out a fantasy of actually knowing Orion, just because it highlights how he never did in the way the audience might assume by default.) And even pre-war, the way Orion lived his life- essentially as someone who did not understand his own complicity in the downfall of things and the structures of corrupt power until it was too late- did not create any long-term interpersonal connections. He can mostly only imagine them. He wants them, but he can't find a way to make them, so he tries to turn those imagined connections into reality just by saying them.

And again, it's definitely accidental, but it's weirdly fitting that the one other character he actually does have any canonical basis for an 'old friend' thing with... leaves. Which is Ratchet. It's weirdly fitting I think that Ratchet, who actually knew him in some intimate capacity pre-war, who is his old friend, is the person who is explicitly like 'no, I can't stay here anymore because there's no room for me' and leaves him, not unkindly, but definitively.

[void-draws]

Hi hello-

Been brainrotting a bit about t//fa ratc/het, he would be a really grumpy pred...but also soft aswell. Idk he just radiates those vibes.

Hello!

I really agree on him being a grumpy, but soft pred

I see tfa!Ratchet mostly eating people to either keep them from doing something stupid and/or something harmfull + he'd eat them if they are injured

He'd probably nom a human he is very close to/ is friends with too, but that would be a rather rare occurance

Maybe to make them finally go to sleep should they neglect their need for rest

Or maybe for comfort

To me, he gives very protective but also *very* grumpy vibes

He would eat you to protect you from others and yourself, which ultimately leads to him lecturing you about being to reckless/ getting yourself in danger too often/ etc

The lecturing may initially feel like a punishment, but he only does this because he actually cares

(I kinda headcannon him to have modified his tank a little to help heal the injuries of the person he ate/ soothe their pain, because he would probably eat injured people regularly.)

[yanderes-galore]

could you write a romantic concept for Ratchet with a lombax! Reader?

Oh sure! I only played the PS4 game as it was free for a time but I watched a video about the series! I hope you still enjoy it :) Takes place before the newest game.

Here's the video I watched

Yandere! Ratchet with Lombax! Darling

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Stalking implied, Obsession, Forced relationship, Jealousy, Manipulation, Overprotective behavior, Violence, Kidnapping, Delusional behavior, Possessive behavior.

Lombax are rare in the galaxy.

This is because after the war they were thought to be extinct.

Ratchet himself has only met a few in his adventures.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't wish to meet his people.

Many have heard of his heroic deeds alongside Clank, so Ratchet is known as a hero.

It would be nice to not be an outlier in the galaxy.

Such fame ends up attracting you...

A Lombax who's trained in technology and survival.

When Ratchet catches wind of another Lombax he thinks it's plausible...

But there's no way.

Clank encourages him to meet with you and Ratchet gives in with a bit of a sigh.

Then you meet up... his green eyes wide and never leaving yours.

"Nice to meet you, hero of the galaxy."

Honestly, when you meet so few of your own species in the galaxy there's no doubt Ratchet gets a bit too... attached.

You stick around as you like seeing another of your species.

Ratchet gets so excited about you at times.

Mostly because when he does meet another Lombax, they leave later.

He truly hopes you won't just leave after you meet him.

Not going to lie... Clank acts as Ratchet's moral compass at times.

His yandere behavior is usually kept in check by his robot friend, luckily for you.

Doesn't mean Ratchet can't be yandere, however.

Ratchet is Obsessive, Impulsive, Smart, Determined, Protective, Manipulative, and in this case he may be Possessive.

Ratchet is not easily manipulated himself, so if you try to lie to him he'll know.

You should also know as long as Clank's around then Ratchet's under control.

For the most part.

There's no doubt Ratchet's going to be a bit obsessive over the fact he's found another of his species.

It happens when your species is just about extinct.

Also... he happens to feel some attraction towards you.

Let's be honest, Ratchet's going to be awkward with approaching you about it.

You both most likely have no idea how Lombax romance works.

Clank will not be much help with that.

Despite this Ratchet is convinced he can make things work.

Which... leads to him following you around awkwardly and trying to find out how to bond with you.

Ratchet has always been eager, which makes him impulsive around you.

He often doesn't think before talking to you.

Which leads to awkward conversation at times.

Despite this he tries to remove any tension between you with a joke and an offer to help you with any tinkering.

He can't help it...

His mind has been thinking of you and only you recently.

As said before, Ratchet will know if someone tries to manipulate him.

If you try to lie to him then he'll figure it out at some point.

Which can end badly if you are hiding something from him...

Like leaving him.

Ratchet is determined and persistent.

In his mind he feels the fact you're staying and the fact he's attracted to you is some sort of fate.

Clank tries to convince him to take it slow.

Scaring you is not loving you.

Ratchet begrudgingly tries to listen and waits for the right time to confess his growing feelings towards you.

But he never pushes them aside for long.

Naturally Ratchet is protective of you.

Not only is he seen as a hero of the galaxy, he wants to be seen as a hero in your eyes.

His protective behavior teeters on suffocating at times.

This is because, even if he doesn't realize it, he's scared of losing you.

Not only are you one of the only remaining Lombax, but you are someone he loves.

If he has to kick tail to protect you then he will.

He has to be a hero for you!

At times Ratchet can be manipulative.

Most likely to convince you that you belong with him at his home.

He tries to beg with you at times, ears down if you try to go against his word.

Clank says what he's doing is wrong...

Maybe it is, yet Ratchet can't bear to lose another one of his people.

You two are the most compatible out of anyone to love each other...

Why does this not sound nice to you?

Ratchet can be possessive due to a fear of his love falling for another.

Clank tries to reassure him that even if you did fall for another, it's your choice.

Ratchet can't accept that.

He wants it to be traditional!

He feels no other partner would be the best for him except you...

Surely you feel the same, right?

Ratchet would probably harm others but not murder... hopefully.

He's always fighting between playing hero and his own desires.

These two thoughts may merge together... resulting in your abduction much to Clank's dismay.

Ratchet doesn't care if Clank hates his idea.

In his mind, locking you to his home is protecting you.

Ratchet can defect from logical reasoning without Clank.

He's still being a hero and keeping you.

He doesn't care... not when he has the love of his life in front of him.

[siberat]

Rinse and Repeat

‘It’s about time you came in for your check-up.”

“Huh?” Rat/chet scrunched his face. “What the slag you talkin’ about, Dri/ft?”

“Take a seat.”

The medic glared at his lover’s back. His meeting with the rest of the medical staff ran late due to someone, who will remain nameless, providing a banquet of food. Anyone who knows about medical teams knows their love of breaks and snacks. And what better way to make a boring meeting (consisting of data and statistical analysis) to have such tasty treats littered among the table?

And before anyone asks, Ratc/het shared with his colleagues. Yes, he did chonk out over the past several months, but that doesn’t mean he lacked manners. Plus, there was plenty to go around. The CMO ate his fair share, returning to his habsuit with a full belly that resembled a fully inflated beach ball.

Naturally, feeling extra heavy after feasting on himself with sweets, getting off his pedes was welcomed. So Rat/chet obeyed and took a load off, plopping himself down with a loud ‘oof.’ The chair minorly creaked and sagged under his weight but held firm. He’d have to thank his lover for reinforcing the chair once whatever shenanigans Dri/ft was up to was finished.

“Any complaints since the last time I saw you?”

“Yeah.” Rat/chet spread his legs and rested back in his chair, taking any access pressure from his swollen midsection. “Too much talking. Not enough resting.” He closed his optics, desiring a quick nap.

Dri/ft loudly dropped his partner’s medical bag, the thud startling the CMO in his seat. “I agree. There is a lot of talking going on here. Let’s have a look-see, shall we?”

Rat/chet opened his mouth to either question or object, but seeing his stethoscope being brought out stopped him. He watched his Con/junx place the headset on his helm, then lift the bell to tap with a digit. “Careful-“

Dri/ft flinched, instantly regretting tapping the device.

“I tried to warn ya.” Playful laughter ensued, but Dri/ft kept a straight face as he gently continued with the examination.

The stethoscope's cold bell pressed to the rumbling belly's plating. Every few seconds, the device traveled to another location. Each belly grumble was chased and listened to, followed by a ‘Hmmmm’ from the TIC.

Ratc/het watched, bewildered.

A belly-shaker of a growl erupted from the round paunch, enough to make Ratc/het wince a little and rub a servo over the afflicted area- or at least try to. Dr/ift and his stethoscope managed to get to the belly quake first.

“Oh, you don’t say….” Dri/ft cooed, listening as if the belly was preaching his favorite spiritual podcast. “I see…”

“What?” Ratc/het barked as he swatted the stethoscope away. “Just what are you doing? Having conversations with my belly?”

“Yes,” Dr/ift stated matter of factly. “I said it was time for his check-up.”

Once again, Ratc/het opened his mouth in retort, but no words came out. Just what exactly would he say? How would one respond to the apparent need to have one’s belly checked up? Primus, he hoped the measuring tape and vernier calipers didn’t appear today…

“I’ll humor ya,” Rat/chet said with a tired but playful smile. “Just what is my belly telling you?”

“ I don’t know if you are ready to hear this, love.”

“What?” The CMO chortled but stopped upon seeing the deadpan look on his lover’s face. “What is it?”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.” The stethoscope was removed and returned to the bag. “Good thing you are already seated….”

“What the slag….” The medic turned to watch his lover go to the sink, turn it on and fill something up. He wasn’t sure what his lover was up to; he couldn’t see!

“I’m glad you stopped in today. Things could have gotten worse if there was any delay.”

��What coulda gotten worse?” Ratc/het craned his neck for a view but said mech’s back was still facing him. All he could do was listen to the commotion: solvent spilling into something, the squelching of something being squeezed out, and rummaging around in cabinets.

“I am afraid to say, Rat/ch, that you need a severe medical procedure to be done. And right away.”

“What the frag you talking about-“

Dri/ft turned around, holding a basin in his servos. He approached the seated mech and set the supplies on the end table. Inside the basin were soapy solvent and a sponge. Draped over the swords/mech’s arm was a drying cloth. Adorned on his lover’s face was a devious smile.

“I’m afraid your belly requires a sponge bath. STAT.”

If looks could kill, Drift would be dead. Well, if Ratc/het was serious, that is.

“A sponge bath?” Deadpan optics glowered as the sponge was dunked and splashed around, then squeezed out. “Are you serious?”

“Quite.” Dri/ft pushed the doctor’s legs together to make a seat for himself while enjoying seeing that huge belly resting on chubby thighs. “Washing this belly of yours is of the utmost importance.” The wet sponge was gently circled over the swell of the belly, taking its time to caress and pamper. After every few strokes, the sponge was dunked back into the solvent to be rung out, then returned.

Naturally, Dri/ft cooed and baby talked as this ‘extensive medical procedure’ was performed. He whispered sweet little nothings about how good said belly was, how proud he was of the growth observed, and just how ample and soft the midsection became.

Ratc/het rolled his optics but allowed his lover the joy of playing doctor to his belly. Hell, if his lover enjoyed it, why deny him that? After all, it would be polite to return the favor: Dri/ft slaved away at the oven cooking the most delicious treats for him. And he truly outdid himself today.

Yes, Dr/ift provided the smorgasbord of treats for him and his medical staff’s meeting today.

So, Rat/chet sat back and let his belly get washed. It felt relaxing to have warm solvent rub over his swollen and overstuffed belly: it helped calm the aches and whiny groans. Servos join the mix, gently rubbing the tummy before the drying cloth caught any drips that trickled down. His belly sure was receiving the royal treatment!

Every area of the large stomach was washed. Every crease was lifted and wiped clean. The heavy paunch was raised to scrub the nook between the belly and hips. This continued, Rat/chet drowsily relaxing as his lover lifted flab, then shoved the sponge between his chubby side rolls.

“Uh-oh!” Dri/ft's voice sharply called out with concern, causing the CMO to startle awake.

“What?”

“We have a problem….” The swordsmech held up two empty servos.

“What? This isn’t a good thing to hear during any medical procedure….”

Dri/ft bit his lower lip, attempting to keep himself from smiling and/or laughing. “It appears I have lost the sponge….”

“…” Rat/chet glared. “Where?” Although, Ratc/het already had an idea of just where the said sponge was hiding.

“Between your flab rolls!”

“That’s it.” Rat/chet grinned. “I’m gonna sue for medical malpractice!”

Laughter erupted from the pair as the sponge was retrieved, dunked back into the solvent, and squeezed.

Rinse and repeat

a/n: it’s been a while. And I apologize for that. Art may be slow because I have a few projects going on that’s not chub related, and my inspiration for writing more than itty bitty prompts is gone. But enjoy this little short story.

Read on Aox3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36422509/chapters/117619678

[thehomelybadger]

26 Questions about Run at the Cup.

Hi!

Since I just finished off my 33 chapter Arcane/CaitVi Hockey AU fanfiction, I asked folks for any questions that they might have about the universe (or just for me) around the fanfiction. So I thought that I'd pull them all together, answer them in one big post, and then direct folks here.

These questions are mostly pulled from twitter or discord, and are asked anonymously. If you're new to it/have never heard of it, you can check out the fanfiction here:

My asks are always open if you want to pepper me with more questions - I literally love talking about my process and creating stuff. But yeah, let's get the ball rolling!

These questions have spoilers up to the epilogue (chapter 33) of Run at the Cup.

One of your original goals for RATC was to include a sex scene in every chapter, and you later decided that didn't suit the story that it ended up being. How far, exactly, did you stray from that goal?

I think the first disc stuck to the format of smut-a-chapter pretty well, but as soon as I got to chapter 7 and 8 in my planning, I really had to take a step back from the idea of smut-a-chapter. Part of doing that was a friend of mine pointing out that another fic - breakneck - already was a smut-a-chapter offering, and the other part was around chapter 7 and 8 was when we really got a look at the Landsman abuse and I wanted to focus more on telling a story of healing instead of a sexual relationship. It felt the best narratively for Vi to take a step back and appreciate boundaries, and at that point we were 100% of the rails of the original vision. I also had my friend Felix - he drew the art for the fic - point out that the story was way more important than the smut when I complained that sometimes I just wasn’t feeling up to writing smut.

Caitlyn obviously makes a point to never sleep with another hockey player except for Landsman and Vi. Vi rather vocally does not have that rule. Are there any players we see in RatC that she has a history of that nature with?

Ahh, crucially, Caitlyn and Vi both adhere to the rule of no teammates. I actually think both have had flings  with hockey players, but probably not anyone that we spend much time hanging out with. I hint at Sarah Fortune and Vi having a past-tense fling that I never really expanded upon, and at one point I wanted to write some Caitlyn and Evelynn one night stand stuff that never really felt right after I abandoned the whole smut-a-chapter premise.

There are so many characters in ratc, and so many povs, how did you get into each of their heads and give them all their own voice that stayed consistent throughout the story?

So one of my other hobbies - other than hyperfixating on a fictional hockey team - is dungeons and dragons as a forever DM. My rule for creating NPCs is to give them a ‘pillar’ - essentially one solid character trait that I can lean back on when viewing things through their lens. Claggor, for instance, was always trying to teach and never raised his voice. Poppy was always going to be cheerful and loyal. Leona was always serious, except when dealing with Diana. Mylo was never serious, until there was a weak moment. All of those ‘pillars’ helped shepherd me in the right direction - the only characters I didn’t really have a pillar for were the hockey announcers, who’s entire personality can be summed up as ‘hockey announcers’.

When did you realize this was going to become Big™ , or was this all the plan from the beginning?

If I ever knew when anything was going to be big in terms of wordcount, I’d be much more successful at writing. The real time I knew was somewhere in Disc 2 when I had written like 3 10k+ word count chapters in a row. I remember thinking ‘oh, shit, I’m fucked’. What’s crazy about this is that I still feel like I left some story threads on the table - I could write 80k more of just Sumprats shenanigans, easily. In terms of Big as in popularity - dude I have no idea when I knew. I still don't really believe it.

Which was your favorite smut scene to write?

Oh man - hands down the hotel smut scene in the Summer Isles  - though that’s technically cheating, because the smut doesn’t actually happen. But I can see it like a shot in a movie - the slow tracking shot over the discarded clothes with some energetic, strumming guitar over top while we see the bed come into frame, the pan over and continued tracking towards the bathroom - all this evidence of wild sex. If the question is ‘which smut scene that’s actually smut’, I’m going with the phone sex scene - it was good to finally get these characters admitting how much they liked one another.

How did you pick and choose which LoL champions (not from Arcane) you brought into your world? As there are so many available and ones you picked seemed to work so well. Was it 'character is hot/cool and I just want to write them', 'I need a champion that would play hockey/act in x way' or any other way

A variety of reasons! Illaoi was included solely because my wife thinks she’s super hot, but for me it became characters I really liked, characters I could see the personality of, and characters I could ape the kit of in some way. Ahri being charming and evasive, Illaoi’s tentacle-like poke checking, Diana being good in close, and Leona being a hard hitting defender were all nods to the league kits, among others. Basically, when I was filling out the roster and was out of Arcane character slots, I started grabbing characters based on what role I envisioned for them on the team and backfilled from there. I’m glad I did their personalities justice!

I'd love to know, if it isn't a bother for you to explain it, the process behind you deciding each character's position on the ice and skillset. I'm basically in awe of how you took each character from the show/game and made them each a particular type of hockey player. But you might have talked about this already so no worries if it's too repetitive!

It all depended on what I wanted to write for the most part, and I approached it from two angles - what was most interesting for me to write dynamically, as in action wise, and what was most interesting for me to write emotionally, as in what they brought to the Sumprats as a whole. I leaned on a lot of sports knowledge that I’ve accrued over my 31 years around the sun, and figured out what archetypes would be most fun and narratively satisfying to convey. So, as an example - Claggor’s soft and assured ‘we’re gonna get you out’ from the show was a big big reason why I made him an enforcer - the quiet confidence and clear smarts. Poppy being undersized but a major bruiser in the game led to her entire personality and playstyle. Ahri being a winking and confident figure in LoL lore led to her being a flashy and charming person with a lot of scoring - etc etc etc. It came together fairly organically!

If you had to pick another sport as the medium to tell the story, which sport would it be? Ik you were intending on making it a hockey story with lesbians vs a lesbian story with hockey, but do you think the sport and play of hockey specifically were integral to how to told the story/the journey of the characters?

This is such a tough question to answer, because I’m not sure I could’ve told it with any other sport. Hockey is inherently chaotic, and the beautiful thing about it is that it comes down to players - you can have a grand strategy, but sometimes it’s just ‘our player is the best on the ice’ and that’s enough. I think there’s probably a pretty awesome Rugby story in here, maybe - or football/soccer - I can see their roles with Caitlyn as an attacking midfielder and Vi as a sweeper or something, but both of those are far more team focused. Also, hockey is lesser known of the major sports, and I felt like talking about how goofy it sometimes is to folks who might not know about it.

What did you learn during/after writing this that you didn't expect?

Such a good question. I learned that I love writing big casts of characters and I learned that I have a knack for conveying what I see on the page. I also learned that I can tell a story that goes every way possible in terms of POV and style, and that having a bunch of threads to tie up is an awesome problem to have. I also learned that I’m somewhat fragile as a creator, and that taking steps to protect myself from having my feelings hurt doesn’t make me selfish - just makes me human.

If you had to support a team yourself (not including the Sumprats), who would you support and why?

Can you imagine Bilgewater Schooners twitter? Can you imagine how batshit insane it must be? I’d be 100% on board with that franchise.

Why wasn’t there more Grapes content?

You all weren’t ready for it. The world still isn’t ready.

Is there something you wished you could've explored more but didn't get the chance?

So many things. So so many things. This is why RATC is crazy to me in hindsight because I felt like I left a lot of meat on the bone when the fic is like 300k long and is one of the longest CaitVi fics around. SarcastCity and I joked about a whole sequence where Mylo strikes out with a bunch of women, I didn't get into the Evelynn sub-sub-subplot, I barely scratched the surface on MOST of the K/Da stuff that I wanted to do, CaitVi adopted a dog at one point, there was an entire anti-police side of the fic that I just cut because it didn’t really fit into the vibe of the fic (you can still see foreshadowing of it in early chapters), there was originally going to be an entire other side to the water reparations where we’d see grainy footage of Silco and Cassandra arguing about it and that’s how a lot of it was revealed - before I decided to make Powder more of a central figure in the documentary. The entire fic changed in a bunch of little moments. Art is cool that way - it kinda leads ya where you need to go sometimes.

Who was someone that you enjoyed writing a lot that you didn't expect to?

When I put Graves into the fic, I never would’ve expected to fucking love writing him as much as I did. As soon as I wrote his first book snippet, I knew that I needed to stop immediately because if I wasn’t careful he’d take over the entire fucking fic. Second place was every scrap of podcast content - it’s so addictive to write this meta-narrative bullshit about your own world building. It’s just giving you a reason to talk about your own fic in universe and I had to stop myself from writing 13 more Taylor Swiffer sequences. Lastly, twitter was always a blast to get going. Shout out to everyone who loaned me their likeness for that!

You’re a pretty big basketball fan Badger, and knowledgeable at that, is there any reason you chose Hockey besides you also liking it? Like, did you feel the “action” would be better?

There are no sanctioned fistfights in basketball, which was a huge L. In all seriousness, I considered a basketball fic before going with hockey because, while I love basketball with my whole badgussy, hockey has so much more meat on the bone with regard to playstyle and expression. You have hitters, shooters, goalies being weird, you’ve got gum chewing angry people and hockey stadium chants. Hockey is a vibe that I really was excited to convey, and basketball - to me, anyways - has less of a physical aspect to it and it’s a little less entertaining to write about. Baskets happen all the time in ball, but in hockey, a goal is celebrated by everyone on the ice, everyone gets a fistbump, and the action stops while the crowd gets to rewatch it over and over. You don’t get any better than that for narrative drama.

You've talked some about the sumprats superstitions, but who is the most superstitious and what are some sumprats superstitions

Ashe is probably the most superstitious, but all sports players are superstitious to some degree or another - especially hockey people. I think every time Leona tapes her stick up, she has to unwind the first piece once - because that’s the way she did it when she scored her first goal. Claggor probably wears the same style of socks that he had when he was 18. Riven’s skates are a size too small, because she believes it makes her faster. Graves needs Caitlyn to tap his post before every game he’s in net otherwise he won’t play.

What was the hardest part for you, as a writer, to get through?

The entire fic came together relatively quickly, honestly. I wrote it in less than a year and most of the time in big 2-6 hour chunks of my day. I think the most challenging thing from a craft standpoint was the Landsman Scandal - because it had so many moving parts and I was using a character invented solely for that sequence in wewon1, and you needed to like her and buy into her right off the bat. I also needed to balance out how heavy the chapter was with moments that the reader could breathe around - I didn’t want to evoke a desperate, awful thing, but I wanted to inform. It took a few days of serious brainstorming before I got it the way I wanted it, and even then I was making edits in the posting window of Ao3. But in terms of actual hardness to write - the run up to the finals was really tough to get through because I felt like not much was happening narratively and I really needed to work at it to get it where I wanted it. The actual physical typing of the story wasn’t hard, but the games were annoying me a lot - they always felt too slow or sluggish or poorly conveyed. The thing I’m most proud of looking back is definitely the Powder chapter - I wish I had done more of that.

Why is Landsman so hot? Why did you have to make Landsman so hot? Should I speak with my therapist about this?

Oh yes. Immediately.

The story focused on Cait and Vi but as a whole was a story about team dynamics - little pieces like Hot Girl Shit, characters we would consider unremarkable as irl players like Poppy or Mylo, the gradual push of Graves to Ekko as main tendie - that grew into their own stories. Was this a case of supporting cast offering spontaneous great idea opportunities that you went along with, or was it always planned that X character would get X storyline?

I didn’t really set out with these storylines in mind, but one of the things I wanted from the get was this line to be true: “Usually, it’s the people who sit five, six seats from the starting lineup that give you the edge. Our job as leaders is to make sure that when those folks’ numbers get called, they’re ready.” - Vi, chapter 4. I wanted to basically reinforce that idea by having the players grow into something that was stalwart and could be relied upon, and just let the characters kinda swirl around with that idea. I didn’t realise that Ashe would wind up being so important but I kind of fell in love with her as I wrote her game - same goes for Riven’s speed and Darius’ faceoff potential. 

Which supporting character that isn’t Mylo ended up being your fave?

If it’s cheating to say Sevika, then I loved Poppy. Every scene Poppy is in I just had a blast writing, but gum-chewing, constantly glaring, scowling while insisting she’s smiling Sevika really leapt off of my keyboard. If I allow myself to take credit for any one thing, it’s casting Sevika as a coach.

if Vander hadn't died and had become the Sumprats coach instead of Sevika, would Vi still have been drafted by them and how would she have felt about it? 

Woof. It’s hard to see Mel hiring Vander, but say that she did and Vander coached Vi - adult Vi, 32 year old Vi with all she feels towards him - I can only really see it as Vi demanding out. She wouldn’t have the ego to get him fired, but I don’t think she’d be willing to play for him after everything. I also think the Sumprats are nowhere near as good with Vander as a coach - in my head Vander was good enough to drill Vi’s lessons into her head but had no idea how to keep a team intact, and that was Sevika’s specialty - the ‘us vs them’ mentality is all her.

I'd love to hear anything about your writing process. When you do it, how you think and feel about it, etc.

My writing process begins with having a very patient wife who puts up with me being glued to a screen for 6 hours at a time while talking to myself - usually in funny voices or imitating crowd yelling. I also do a lot of my dialogue in the shower where nobody can judge the faces I make - most of Caitlyn’s speech and the podcast dialogue came from me showering and yelling to myself, getting hyped up, and trying to remember lines. I basically do my functional adult tasks with the sequences I want to convey running on my head in a loop, until it’s time to sit down and crank it out. One part of my process that I don’t recommend is that when I sit down to write, I don’t get up until the chapter’s done. For me it’s a straight shot or it doesn’t get done at all - I need the entire flow to work on that one sitting. It has the side effect of my wife watering me and feeding me while I’m glued to banging words out onto a screen, and occasionally I’ll come up for air to refill my water battle and talk to her about her Animal Crossing island or something - anything - that isn’t hockey lesbians, before I go back to my cave.

obligatory question about which scene you were most looking forward to writing

So, chapter 32 was basically in my head the entire time I was writing the fic - everything between chapter 2 and 32 was me impatiently jiggling my leg waiting until I could write the Won’t Back Down song from the crowd. But the more surprising bit was how much I was looking forward to the karaoke scene - I wound up putting it off a few times in the fic until I was finally able to lock it down right after the Landsman Scandal, which felt like a great time to put it - just the idea that we all could use a break - as readers and characters in the story - and then we get one. Also, Pray is a fucking HILARIOUS song and I love that I got to use it.

if caitlyn and vi were to have a dog in this universe, what kind, what would they name it, and what would jinx choose to call it instead

This was actually a cut plot point at one time - the dog adoption sequence. They have a boxer named Bowser who has three legs, and Powder calls him Leonardo because it’s not his name but he squints sometimes like DiCaprio, and one time he ate an entire cheese pizza.

actually, kind of bouncing off my other question, are there any scenes that weren't originally planned that you really like?

Originally, there was no Melvika - it was a Melora subplot. But then I wrote that initial conversation between Mel and Sevika where they meet and Sevika passes her test and I thought to myself ‘oh.’ Every single Melvika moment was unplanned but I loved crafting it, showing this little love story in the margins of the page that was slowly and steadily unfolding.

Did you decide to change any major plot points after you'd started writing?

Two major ones: First and most impactful, there was going to be a riot in the original story that led to the team rallying behind the city - it was going to be this sequence of each of the Sumprats walking into the practice facility saying ‘have you heard, yet?’ that tied in what actually happened. But it felt tonally out of place and I was already really invested in exploring the abuse aspect of the fic, so I scrapped it - it’s a story worth telling at some point but the feel-good underdog sports fic wasn’t the place to explore that space. Another more impactful thing that certainly won’t be surprising to some: Vi’s injury was initially going to be a career ender. When SarcastCity and I started talking around the end of Disc 2, I actually told her that version of the story - that Vi’s knee is busted irrevocably and Caitlyn has to win without her, and the two have to find their way towards one another in a bittersweet finale without hockey to unite them. SC talked me around on that one - made the case that Vi and Caitlyn deserved to play hockey together for years and years, and after thinking about it for a while it really truly felt like I was being sad and dramatic for sad drama’s sake - angst for angst’s sake isn’t something I wanted to play into. So I changed it and it’s a lot, LOT better as a result.

How did you keep everything in order? Did you have an outline?

Calling it an outline is kind of insulting to other outlines, I think - I had an unhinged and fucked up google sheets document that listed the players, positions, and general vibe of their character arc, but I didn’t totally stick to it. I also had a chapter title list that I also changed a lot - I mostly knew my end point was ‘Caitlyn skates for 20 minutes and they come back to win in Game 5 with an injured Vi’ and worked my way to that point.

Thank you to all who submitted questions! If you have more, feel free to drop me a line.

-Badger

[bugcatcherwill]

Teaser for this week's chapter:

Rezek is NOT beating the cat allegations

[kohakhearts]

it’s wip wednesday and its been a while since ive shared anything from the shigegou epic(tm) (its 50k now and officially my longest single-chapter fanfic Ever (which if youve been around long enough you know is a big deal! for the veterans: ratc previously held this record (6.5 years the champion!)) but it just keeps going </3). they’re arguing(?) about the kitchen chairs now so the plot is really plotting! yeah! good job, me!

“It’s been five years.”

He screws his eyes shut tight. “I know that. You think I don’t think about it? But none of those things would be doing me any good here, or I would’ve taken those books out of the boxes a long time ago. I just…I just never bothered.”

“Never said that.” A pause, and then: “I really doubt this kitchen table only came with one chair. Where are the other ones?”

Goh cracks open his eyes in order to follow his gaze. “Uh, storage. It’s in the basement. But why do you—?”

“Great. Let me put my shoes back on. I’ll help ya bring ‘em up.”

By the time Gary’s words register, he is halfway out the door. Goh reaches for his arm, gripping hard. When Gary glances back at him, all he can manage to say is, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Helping you bring your kitchen chairs up from storage. Thought I made that obvious.”

“Not what I meant.”

“Obviously.” Gary lifts his free hand and pries Goh’s off of his arm. “If you want to kick me out, by all means. But if not, then I’d at least like a place to sit. Not too much to ask for, is it?”

“But—why? What do you gain from that?”

“Satisfaction. Now, stop standing there gawking at me and let’s go. You’re gonna have to lead the way here.”

That’s not an answer, but maybe he has a point. Goh doesn’t want to kick him out; an extra chair or two isn’t the end of the world.

[bam-stroker]

🎧? 👀👀👀

Tell us about ya plsylists!!!

Anon I owe you my life, thank you for enabling my music share haha

So this is from my general monster romance vibes one:

Howl - Florence and the machine

"The fabric of your flesh, pure as a wedding dress Until I wrap myself inside your arms, I cannot rest"

From my Rock Around the Clock playlist:

Queer as in fuck you - dog park dissidents

"Not gay as in happy but queer as in fuck you" (specifically when chanted in loop at the end)

From my Rest Stop in the Stars playlist:

Changing my major - Funhome

"Thank you for not laughing. Well, you laughed a little bit at one point when I was touching you and said I might lose consciousness"

Annnnnnnd from my playlist for my dragon romance novel:

Idolize - Madison Rose

"This crown may be heavy, but pressure makes diamonds Yeah, look at me shining"

[painted-time]

12/29/23

10:38pm Cozumel

A rusted quill

Stained by years of misuse

Scratches at fabric

It longs for the simplicity of paper

Desperate strokes

They bleed

They break

Ink spills and dots the footnotes

An explosion of color

An imitation of art

Ground-shaking and reality-breaking

The world does not halt

The world does not negotiate

Does not erase what has been sketched

It simply rolls by

A circle rounded with no end

A rotation that was inevitable yet unpredictable

Tears in the fabric cling to wholeness

Glossy stitches attempt to fix what can only be

Mended

And years later the subject of our revision will rest

Joints popped

Arms loosened

On oaky floors dusted by years of footprints

Bent and worn by a heavy stool

On which I used to perch

Yielding my mighty sword

A fairy tale whispered from the cracked lips of wooden boys

Fractions of fiction rattled out from a marred toy

Stained with ink

Knees weak

Held together by white strings

And silver lies

RATC

{Inspired by Cursive’s “Ugly Organ” album}