#USUALLY i don't imagine the narrators with anything in particular & it's just a mess of what i know is British Deep Voice

[vellichorom]

every time i see a narrator interact with another narrator i give them different voices in my head. As opposed to giving the same cannon narrator voice. Because i can't imagine them all with the same voice.

AS SOMEONE WHO DOES THE SAME THING, i often have to reel myself back & acknowledge that ALL of these fuckers ( assumedly ) sound like the exact same man - so it's just kevan brighting on loop for 10+ hours cursing himself out,

BUT I AM CURIOUS. if so you have any voices you associate with any narrators in particular; GENERALLY SPEAKING, but also... mmine...

[i-put-the-yan-in-polyandry]

i've been thinking about a sagau x monster prom crossover for DAYS

usually my brainworms give up by now but nooooooo

it's just nonstop so i'm gonna share some of it with you in hopes that it'll either go away or at least give someone some amusement

the main premise is god!reader being a member of the cast, not one of the main prospects but they show up a lot (or they are one of the options but, y'know, like the most difficult route bc the requirements need like a perfect run to meet & even then it's treated as a one off thing (you're devoted to your people/protecting this poor soul from them))

the entire cult was isekai'd and the others can make appearances, but you tend to try and avoid intervention bc you know this is a game and you don't know if it also counts as yours (either way you're pretty set as teyvat's god and you don't think they're willing to share, gotta protect the world, the coven would be proud)

i see the cast seeing you as kinda boring in the 'doesn't resort to violence, murder, or drugs and actually gives a damn about the less fortunate????' but also that puts you closer to the 'must protect' category with blobbert and scott

zoe is the only one who actually knows that you're mx god of gods and the two of you vibe on being more ancient and powerful than everyone else while usually being depicted as the more normal or harmless than the rest (aside from particular moments, like Zoe lashing out, but those are triggered by an outside source)

please feel free to troll the fuck out of leonard and maybe kill and revive him a few times can't be arrested if he's not dead

i feel like your secret ending would revolve around finding a way back home and like maybe creating a way to go back and forth so you can still spend time with the pc bc you gotta give them that satisfying ending (or maybe they come with idk it won't last)

fucking love imagining the various possible scenes where people find out you're not as harmless as you seem, maybe a full run of that could be a second secret ending

honestly really like the idea of god reader meeting damien's dads for some reason??? but like damien's my fave and i love him and his dads and their relationship so it's not surprising

BUT AGAIN WITH ZOE

the two of you can totally complain about your cults (yours is an "organized religion"? ok whatever) together and how over the top they can be, but you definitely count yourself lucky that yours is so much better (though i suppose they do get better in one of zoe's secret endings, you'd probably cameo there)

calculester would love you, finally one of his friends has a fucking MORAL COMPASS (the coven too)

let loose sometimes tho, you gotta keep up with the shenanigans

PLEASE punch the interdimensional prince in the face

also it'd be so cool to hang with valerie and you're not monster enough for the slayer to go after you so you and aaravi can hang too!

omg talking video game stuff with aaravi she'd be so interested in the artifacts and weapons from teyvat

you can hear the narrator btw & sometimes discuss with him how much you can do without messing up the game's progression (letting you build up a whole ass unofficial empire w/ your group behind the scenes, the advice on how to keep out of vera's sights and away from any in-game powers (the only real threats, let's be honest here) is op)

any time anyone says anything like "but that's impossible" you can just pipe in like "since when does logic apply to spooky high? just ask [player name]"

yes you say player name there :)

AND IMAGINING THE WEEKEND AND LUNCH BITS NOW BYE

just it's so fun???

ALSO ALSO LET'S TALK SPRITES

i'll leave most of it to your imagination but you could totally give cameos to your faves! like half the genshin cast (ok that's an exaggeration but shhh) can transform, just like, kffjsdjgkslk wisp venti or birb xiao chilling on your shoulder??? carrying around a fox yae??? idk how canon it is but ik a lot of people on here like talking about a smaller dragon zhongli and like just keep him on your shoulders it's perfect

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of Marvel: Week of September 18th, 2019

Best of this Week: House of X #5 - Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles

The X-Men have conquered their greatest enemy: Death.

After the events of the last issue, it was a wonder just how Hickman would write the X-Men out of the predicament that has stopped them so many times before. In the standard Hickman way, he made retcons that enhanced the usefulness of lesser characters and provided a way out that not only makes sense, but can be used for just about anything in regards to all of our favorite dead mutants.

Goldballs had one of the dumbest powers for the longest time; the ability to propel golden balls from his chest, but in this book we learn that these balls were actually non-viable eggs that, with the help of Proteus, could be made usable. After they’re injected with mutant DNA and given life by Elixir, Tempus ages the eggs to maturity and thanks to Hope’s powers, all of them operate at peak efficiency. This allows the mutants to effectively resurrect their dead friends as husks until Xavier implants mind engrams into the bodies with their past memories.

In House of X #1, one of the first things we see is Charles Xavier meeting the reborn forms of Scott Summers and Jean Grey as full adults after they emerge from egg sacs of some kind. Initially, I thought that this was just some sort of strange symbolic rebirth thing and while it still is, it has become far more literal and intriguing because of five mutants - Goldballs, Elixir, Hope Summers, Proteus and Tempus.

Everything about this scene was immaculate and well done to a point where I almost want to cry. What coloring there was felt low and hushed, almost as if we were seeing something miraculous, the gift of light. Camera angles were mostly downwards, to capture the harmony of the group before they began their work. They stood silent and acted on instinct, indicating they'd done this before, showing us that they were absolutely sure of their process. 

Xavier leaning down, cradling his children and asking them to not die again as it kills a part of him every time that they do is heart wrenching, but joyous when he gives them their memories back. There's no hesitation, only love, only care. 

The gravity of the event as it happens and seeing someone like Goldballs become one of the most integral mutants in the revival of the mutant race brought me to an unknown level of joy. There was so much weight to their actions with the excellent narration by Magneto as to what exactly they were doing while talking to Polaris, making the point that when they are apart, they are still strong mutants, but together they are even more powerful than previously imagined. 

I’m almost certain they used the exact same pages from House of X #1 as we watch the resurrection of the dead team, but this time we have a whole new perspective of how we got there. In an absolutely beautiful celebration of life, we see the mutants of Krakoa praise the Five for bringing their mutant family back to life and a confirmation of those mutants by Storm. Under the purple leaves of a tree of Krakoa with a bit of sunlight shining through. Purple usually symbolizes nobility, passion and authenticity and with the use of dynamic angles and heroic posing, we can be absolutely sure that these are the same mutants.

Angel, Husk, Mystique, Monet, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops and Jean Grey all died to ensure that the Mother Mold didn’t come online and destroy the mutant race. In two nine panel grids, Storm greets hew newly reborn friends, questioning how she knows that it’s truly them. After they give their answers from the somber to the cocky to the… Monet, Storm asks what they are and the crowd answers with one word: Mutant. 

This message also acts as a bit of foreshadowing for the end of the book and as the theme for this issue as a whole; the idea of togetherness, something that the human race has denied mutants for all of their existence. 

The level of solidarity among the mutants is inspiring, the love and pride they have in themselves in infections and makes me want to see them do nothing but succeed. However, I do have something of a concern with the level of reverence they seem to be getting. As they walk naked down the stairs to interact with their fellow mutants, the other mutants reach their hands out at them as the sun shines brightly behind them. They seem as saviors, messiahs, people standing above their fellows and that’s a potentially dangerous path for them to go down, especially since Krakoa is performing so well and don’t need egos to ruin it.

On top of their resurrections, Xavier and Emma Frost are also trying to get the world's governments to accept Krakoa's pharmaceuticals and accept the Mutant Utopia as an independent nation. With a few notable exceptions from Russia, Latveria and Wakanda (among a few other countries that also would not accept Mutants or their cure alls) most of the world is very into the prospect of life giving drugs in exchange for giving mutants diplomatic immunity and recognition.

In many ways, this is the progress that they have always strived for. Some people aren't reticent to their acts of kindness out of ideological differences, but others see the benefit of siding with the new Nation as long as they can see the benefits. They may be alliances of necessity or fear, but the point still stands that their autonomy is being recognized. They're not being actively hunted, at least since Orchis was stopped from activating the Mother Mold and with their population in the cusp of becoming what it was in the past, they are flourishing and don't NEED human support, but they find it better that they receive it.

With the world coming together for mutants, there's only one more group left to truly unite the houses: The Villains. In my opinion, most of House of X has been leading up to this, the day when even mutant villains will come in full support of Xavier's new mission to save the race and there are some nasty ones here: Mister Sinister, Lady Mastermind, Mesmero, Selene, Sebastian Shaw, Emplate, Exodus, Gorgon, Black Tom Cassidy and Azazel.

But these villains pale in comparison to the final arrival in Apocalypse. In more than one way, Apocalypse's dream has finally come to fruition as well. Mutants have risen above and finally become the dominant species that he always believed they could be. They have evolved past their petty and weak natures and embraced their strength in both numbers and power. With Krakoa welcoming him with some lovely birds, Apocalypse speaks on behalf of all of the evil mutants when he says that they will obey the laws of Krakoa as they are written and cements this new alliance with a handshake with Charles Xavier.

This blew my mind. Apocalypse's whole deal was that he would absolutely destroy the weakness in the mutant gene pool and was only able to do so with Charles Xavier dead in the Age of Apocalypse timeline. He tore the world asunder, but as we learned from one of Moira MacTaggert's past lives, even this would not have lasted. If Moira's been in contact with Apocalypse, then he too knows that following Xavier right now is the only true path to mutant evolution and supremacy.

I have never been so elated, surprised and anticipating of a comic in so long. 

Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia are a match made in heaven and this book has a cinematic quality through and through. Larraz allows the characters to appear overjoyed, happy and proud with beautiful facial expressions. With faraway shots and ever changing angles in the panels, there's such a grandeur in the story being told. The sun is always shining in this particular issue, much like it was in House of X #1, signaling a brand new day and bright future for mutantkind.

Gracia's colors are bright and vibrant, emanating with a hopeful glow. Their lighting effects are on JJ Abrams levels of shiny and somehow The Five characters stand out apart from the clothes that they used to wear. Tempus' blue pops out perfectly against Goldballs gold and black. The purple of the tree leaves in the Confirmation is absolutely beautiful and awe-inspiring and the darkness during Apocalypse's arrival set against the shining God rays is the perfect contrast.

I have never been more proud to be a fan of the X-Men. Knowing their history of death and rebirth, it's relieving to see that they now have the means to finally conquer their mortal enemy. There's so many that can be brought back to life (provided their deaths haven't already been retconned). John Proudstar, the original Thunderbird, Jamie Madrox, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Sean Cassidy, Blindfold and many others that either died so long ago or died at the hands of Matthew Rosenberg's Uncanny X-Men.

House of X has gone above and beyond and rejuvenated a portion of the Marvel Universe that has been a chaotic mess for the better part of almost 20 years by this point. There's finally unity amongst all of the mutants in the Universe, from 90s villains to even recent ones from Brian Michael Bendis' run. 

Jonathan Hickman is proving that almost anything he touches turns to gold as he's crafted an amazing tale in only nine issues, counting Powers of X as well. I find myself, for the first time in a long time, not just going through the motions. I feel as though I'm witnessing a revolution occurring, an actual brand new era for some of my favorite super people. 

The series is set to conclude in about three weeks for X-Men #1 and I am already so very excited. Highest of recommends.

What are we? Mutants.

[strangesmallbard]

1, 2, 7, 15, 25, 28, 37. you don't have to answer them all! I'm very curious and I love your fic!

ghfgGHF thank you so much!! this made me smile oh gosh. i’m sorry this is so late, i haven’t been on anything but tumblr mobile in a good while and i tend to only lurk on there.

1. Describe your comfort zone– a typical you-fic.

swan queen LMAO. anything with a lot of women tbh, i haven’t completed a fic with a dude narrator in so long. romance could probably be considered a comfort zone even though it’s not irl. i love writing one-shots, and they’re either in a short prose style w/ more humor and attention to dialogue or long-winded, almost stream of consciousness. i usually write aus these days for ouat lmao, but i also like working w/ canon if there’s something interesting i want to expand on. i’m also trying to get more comfortable writing multichaps w/ longer plots! it’s challenging bc my brain is a mess, but v fun.

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

hmm, nothing super in particular comes to mind. maybe best friends to lovers? snowed-in? i’ll keep thinking on this one. i recently wrote a meetcute in the airport, and that was really fun.

3. Share a snipped from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

hoo boY i think this section from “there’s always love if you need it,” which is a year in the life fic post emma breaking up w/ ho0k. i like this bit bc i feel good about the descriptions, imagery, and i feel pretty solid about the characterization which is rare bc i’m always nervous about that.

winter,

After Emma leaves Killian, she considers leaving Storybrooke. It wouldn’t be forever, she reasons, just to get her bearings, walk along once familiar streets in the skin of a once familiar life. She used to be a lot of someones and no-ones, and now she doesn’t know what shape tomorrow will take.

But she doesn’t leave. She finds herself driving to 108 Mifflin Street and ringing the doorbell. Regina answers and Emma is brought back to her last someone, when nervous, confused energy burned in her belly and something like hope burned equally bright in her chest. She didn’t know it was that word, then.

“Emma,“ she says, not Ms. Swan. “I heard.” Concern curves the end of the consonant, and Regina shifts her weight from one foot to the other. Her hand grasps the door frame, maroon nail polish catching cool porch-lamp light.

Emma wants to say, I was ready. Emma wants to say, I felt hollowed out like a pumpkin during halloween, all my everything somewhere else and I don’t know where. Emma wants to say, I’m tired.

She says, “Still have that glass of the best apple cider I’ve ever tasted?”

(regina’s smile is like sunset along the maine coast; gradual, soft, picture-worthy but you don’t want to spare a moment looking away.)

“Of course.”

15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

god “when in the chronicle of wasted time.” regina saving emma w/ true love’s kiss. can you imagine. GOD

25. What do you look for in a beta?

oh man i haven’t Officially Looked for a beta in a long time. usually i pass it off to trusted friends and i’m like PLEASE TEAR THIS APART. what i would look for though is someone with a similar style?

28. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

oh gosh!! i love so many that i’m gonna expand this a little bc even in swen i have so many. so here’s three swen, two non-swen.

amycarey, deemn, skywideopen, wagyubeefy, and montparnasse! 

what i love about amycarey’s fic is that emma and regina (and their relationship) are still so recognizable in every single au. like, no matter what the premise is, it’s like AH YES THERE THEY ARE. and all of her aus!!! some of my favorite sq fics. down the rabbit hole was such a beautifully written and healing fic, it’ll stay with me always.  

deemn’s fics are like…gosh every single word she puts together in a sentence. i feel SO much. if you like swan queen and haven’t read who needs shelter yet please read who needs shelter please let that fic be part of your life. 

skywideopen wrote an AMAZING sw!dw fic that was absolutely everything i ever wanted out of a sq!dw fic, it was so emma and regina i cried, and it was also so true to the dw universe! spark is absolutely amazing.

wagyubeefy writers wicked fic and it’s !!! wicked was my first fandom and i always wanted a modern oz au, and boy does wagyubeefy have modern oz aus! they translate the issues of wicked to a society that also deeply reflects ours and has an incredible take on elphaba, glinda, and every character and have such a seamless, clear way of telling stories and !! so awesome.

montparnasse writes for hp, dragon age, and other fandoms and their narration/use of language is so gorgeous, like. i can’t even convey. they write rarepairs for hp like tonks/fleur and ginny/luna and each fic has just so much beautiful imagery and description and characterizations. GOSH wow.

37. Talk about your current wips.

aah!! unfortunately they are Very wips bc i have no time until the summer to work on any of them. but! here they are.

“one step, not much (but it says enough)” is my first tentative step back into multichaps, and one chapter is released already! the premise is that henry goes away to college, and emma/regina suddenly are confronted with their feelings w/ each other and It’s a Mess, also someone is trying to destroy sb, so that’s a mood. it’s also solidly in the romcom genre w/ some very sharp/sad moments, and i’m having so much developing sb into the hilarious mess it should be. the parks department hates the charmings. lesbian nights at the rabbit hole

unnamed as of now but i lovingly call it the “disaster road trip au” even though the road trip is only half the fic. it’s a college au and the basic premise is that emma and regina dated in highschool, they break up, emma moves away, years later in college she runs into zelena and they miraculously start a wild friendship. over winter break they take a road trip and end up having to pick up regina along the way and it Is A Mess and i’m excited to write it.

unnamed parks and rec au. if you’re on twitter u might have heard of this one, but regina is leslie, emma is ben, marian is ann, mm is chris, and hook is jamm.

that x files au i think i’ve been working on since last summer OH boy. regina is mulder and emma is scully but they’re also both mulder and both scully. one day i’ll figure it out.