#a four dimensional plot

[larissa-the-scribe]

Finished! Winners of the Valentine's Day poll, Jeanne and Stanton! Took me a little longer than I wanted (and I'm still not fully happy with Stanton—somehow I can never draw him consistently), but sometimes that's art babeyy

Is this the future of canon? Is this just an AU where Jeanne does go for coffee (or tea) with him instead of getting caught trying to smuggle Cal through the portal? Who knows.....

(characters from A Four-Dimensional Plot, ongoing urban fantasy serial story that I'm sharing for free via email. You can check it out here if you're interested!)

[larissa-the-scribe]

Thanks for the tag!

Welp, the last thing I wrote was a character bio that timed out at exactly seven sentences (including her name lol) so uh...

Agent Jeanne Townford

Her goals in life are... not very existent; honestly, she didn't think she'd get this far. The one thing she knows is that she wants to help people have a better and safer life than she did. Except every job she's worked ends up turning on her, seemingly punishing her for that idea. Now, she's aware that she's one mistake away from getting fired from her favorite job yet (the mix of helping people, using her knowledge of weapons, and directly interacting with the extra-normal makes it a neat combo), so she's trying to keep her job by, uh, well, listening to a fugitive's sob story and deciding to hide him in her basement instead of arresting him. She believes him, and she can't turn away someone who needs her. And now he's her only friend—so that means helping him at all costs. 

Tagging @epnona-the-wisp, @secret--psalms--saturn, @secretariatess and anyone else who might be interested!

Heads Up Seven Up/Seven Sentence Sunday whatever day it is

Thanks for the tags @willtheweaver and @tildeathiwillwrite !

The last thing I wrote on was actually uhhhhhhhhh a Human Sonic AU fanfic but anyways cringe is dead so!

Under the cut for (vague) reference to self harm.

Espio kept his head down while they walked along the sidewalk. He looked so... ashamed.

Vector felt stupid for not noticing earlier. He knew Espio struggled with perfectionism and self-worth issues. He knew that he got really depressed. Of course he shoulda put that together with the fact that Espio never wore short sleeves. He prided himself on being good at putting two and two together. And for something this important, he hated himself for not recognizing it sooner.

Tagging: @sparkles-writes @late-to-the-fandom @phoenixradiant @a-agust @ryns-ramblings @agirlandherquill @illarian-rambling @larissa-the-scribe

Yeah no context for this unless you follow the AU on my sideblog to my other account but anyway I've been having so much fun with angst lately 😈

[pkb-plus]

and then because they largely act autonomously. there's a "rogue" voice of life (a gallade) who has decided that humans remaining in the pokémon world will lead to doom and has gone out to try and kill them all

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

EWAN MITCHELL TALKING ABOUT AEMOND TARGARYEN IN EPISODE 4 FOR NUEVA MUJER MAGAZINE.

(video of the interview comes out this week)

AEMOND, AT THIS POINT, IS THE MOST INTERESTING AND COMPLEX CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE SHOW. AT THIS POINT IN YOUR HISTORY, WHAT ARE YOUR INTERESTS?

"I love exploring the dark side of Aemond and delving deeper into his vulnerability."

"At the end of season 1, with his dragon, Vhagar, he knows he's made a mistake and lets his emotions get the best of him."

"It's good to see that feeling again and it breaks down and takes away that one-dimensionality: there's something more underlying beneath the surface that, in part, motivates it."

IT IS CLEAR THAT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED, A CONFRONTATION BETWEEN AEMOND AND DAEMON IS GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?

"Sure, but at what cost? Everyone saw the damage the three dragons did in the battle."

"After that moment, all of Westeros already knows what it is to fight with dragons and what they can do."

"Now, with Aemond and Daemon, if they sat together in a room, any item in it would be a deadly weapon."

HOW DO YOU DEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AEMOND AND AEGON? IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT AEMOND IS INFINITELY SUPERIOR THAN HIS BROTHER AND HE KNOWS IT.

"Yes, I think he has always seen Aegon as someone who is inferior to him."

"He feels like he doesn't have the drive to be a king and the perseverance to be a leader."

"While Aemond was training with the sword and studying with the masters, his brother was probably in some Flea Bed brothel squandering his inheritance."

"So Aemond, although he was the second son, always felt that he should have been treated as the first and always prepared himself for that."

"He also feels that he would probably make a better king than Aegon."

"He hates his brother, but he loves him at the same time, because he is his brother."

"They share a heritage."

"He wants to love him, but Aegon gives her plenty of reasons not to."

BUT DID AEMOND WANT TO KILL AEGON?

"When we are in the battle scene, and when Vhagar attacks Aegon and Rhaenys, the question arises as to whether he intentionally tried to hurt his brother, or if he was in his way or if he was just collateral damage."

"I think it goes back to the previous answer: I think of them as Michael and Fredo Corleone, at the time when the latter betrayed his brother and plotted against him."

"This is because although they hate their enemies, there is a deeper hatred towards someone who should protect and care for you."

"And Aegon never did that. In fact, he led the bullying. Aemond “forgives”, but never forgets."

NOW THAT YOU'VE ALSO RECORDED 'THE LAST KINGDOM', AND, COMPARED TO YOUR CHARACTER, OSFERTH, AEMOND TARGARYEN IS CRUEL AND RITLESS. WHERE DID YOU GET INSPIRED FROM TO INTERPRET IT?

"It's interesting that you mention Osferth, because in many ways he is the antithesis of Aemond, in the sense that they are children of royalty who were marginalized and have been treated unfairly by their brothers."

"Aemond himself, because he has been sidelined, has a lot to prove."

"He is the second son who will inherit nothing and recognizes that whatever he wants in this life he will have to go out and get it himself, by hook or by crook."

"He has tremendous power in Vhagar."

"And, of course, he recognizes that he can do things that no one else in the kingdom can do."

"And that's why he sees it as a call to greatness, to write his name in the history books."

AEMOND IMPOSES FEAR. IT HAS A DANGEROUS AURA. HOW DO YOU TRANSMIT THAT SENSATION TO THE SPECTATOR, THAT SOMETHING TERRIBLE CAN HAPPEN TO SOMEONE LIKE THIS IN A PLACE?

"I think that in the first four episodes, Aemond is still not very much at the center of the conflict."

"You see it with Criston Cole plotting and trying to manipulate the council because they know war is inevitable."

"Now: Shakespeare said the eyes are the windows to the soul, but in Aemond's case, what does it mean to have one and the other a safari? Do you see less of his soul? There is silence."

"A lot of silence on your part and in those moments you say a lot without saying anything."

"I love those moments, because as a viewer, you can project your own interpretation on the character about what is happening through his or her gaze."

BY THE WAY, WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AEMOND AND ALICENT?

"Someone asked me if I thought Aemond had problems with his mother and I don't think so: he just wanted to be loved by her a little more."

"He is an empty child and children need that unconditional love to be balanced beings and develop a vision accordingly."

"And since he never had that, he had to look for solutions in other beings. In Vhagar. At Mrs. Sylvie, from the brothel."

"Children need to be loved unconditionally: if a child is not embraced by the village, they will hug them to feel their warmth and seek validation through other means."

"In Aemond's case, it's war."

"And of course, if he finds out what Cole, his best friend, has been doing with his mother, I don't know how he would take it."

HE'S A PRETTY BROKEN CHARACTER. HOW DID YOU EXPLORE THAT?

"That's one of the most fascinating aspects of playing him."

"Because beyond that image that has been created, he is in a very different physical and psychological place from what we saw last season."

"He has cultivated this facade - almost homage - inspired by Daemon Targaryen."

"Now, there is a movie called 'Fire vs. Fire' starring Robert De Niro where he has a code to protect himself."

"Aemond has something similar."

"That's why it's so easy for him to reject the madame in episode 3, because he knows that in her world there is no place for love, since it is a weakness."

"He has to be seen as this 'Terminator' who scares everyone and is all-powerful."

"So it's interesting to see what's behind all of that, to see this abandoned boy who is still there."

DO YOU THINK THAT AFTER THIS BATTLE HE WILL HAVE SOME KIND OF GUILT LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO LUKE AND ARRAX?

"He knows that there is no turning point this time."

"What happened with Luke and Arrax, he knows was a mistake."

"It wasn't his intention."

"He let his emotions get the best of him and lost control of his dragon."

"Here he is in complete control and knows what the dragons can do."

"In episode 5 you will see all the consequences of this."

[ogrepoppenangleaksofficial]

(waves hand) hi hello i . have no clue what this account is about, it's entertainingly incomprehensible as I scroll through it. could i have a quick rundown?

OK OK HERES AL ONG ANSWER ABOUT WHAT THIS BLOG IS

This account is a behind-the-scenes leaks account for the animation company Ogre Poppenang. Ogre Poppenang came out of the Bruva Alfabusa YouTube channel (see below)

The YouTube channel started off making comedic animations based in the Warhammer 40,000 (a.k.a Warhammer, Warhammer 40k) universe under the series name of "If the Emperor had a Text to Speech Device" where the titular Emperor of Man Kind spoke through a Text to Speech voice synthesizer. The Emperor was/is a key figure to the overall meta plot of the Warhammer 40k universe, and as such was the perfect vessel for alot of jokes and off brand humor as seen from the posts on this blog.

This is all SEVERAL years in the past (as of writing this explanation) and Ogre Poppenang no longer works on the If the Emperor had a Text to Speech Device project due to several long winded and exhausting reasons. The primary one being that the parent company that owns Warhammer 40,000, Games Workshop, has had a not so solid Fan Content policy in place for the last several years that acts as a great deterrent to anyone that wants to make long form and elaborate cool fan content.

In the CURRENT year, Ogre Poppenang has moved onto a few different series.

The first, and primary, of which being Hunter: the Parenting (HTP). Its an animated series that follows a cell of Vampire Hunters within the World of Darkness universe from Paradox Interactive and White Wolf. HTP follows the D clan which consists of Big-D the experienced hunter Patriarch, his son Door, an elder veteran and military man, and Door's son Boy, Marckus another son of Big-D and a self assured red-headed inventor and his spouse whom everyone likes much more then Marckus. The family is directly inspired by Ogre Poppenang's previous work with If the Emperor Had a Text to Speech Device as it was believed that many of the characters could thrive outside of the limitations set on them by the Warhammer 40k universe.

The second is Half-Life: Zero Viscosity. As the title suggests it takes place in Valve's Half-Life universe. Instead of grand adventures of The One Free Man, the series focus' in on Gus, a survivor and ex-forklift technician from the Black Mesa Research Facility as he tries to survive the extra dimensional Combine occupation of earth alongside Shock Trooper, an anxiety filled four armed and mono-eyed alien, Pit Drone, a dog, and Doctor Bags, another survivor from Black Mesa who has joined a Resistance movement against the Combine.

LASTLY Ogre Poppenang also produces Norfolk Wizard Game, a Mage: the Ascensions TTRPG live play chronicle set within the same World of Darkness universe as Hunter: the Parenting.

Norfolk Wizard Game follows four humans that have experienced their "Awakenings" where they find themselves now capable of altering the reality around them and plunging feet first into the deep end of inter-dimensional battles between demons, aliens, the Government, and other creatures of the night.

There is also a monkey, some juggalos, and Clippy featured prominently in the series.

[larissa-the-scribe]

Thanks for the tag!

Rhys does Not trust his Grammy's visitor

I didn't like how he said things. Simply, directly, but in a way that felt like if you turned a dial you'd clue into his actual radio frequency and hear all his threats and nasty thoughts as they were. 

Open tag! anyone who wants to jump in, can.

Last Line Game

Rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you feel like).

Thanks for the tag, @reneethegreatandpowerful !

My last line is, unfortunately, very lame XD I knew I should've started working on that angsty little fic that's been floating around in my brain! Oh well, too late now.

I was sure, with a little more time, that the roads would be paved.

Oof, that's a lot of people to come up with, especially if I remember not to double-tag Renee's list! Here goes....

No-pressure tags be upon ye! @looksharpstaysmart @aptericia @meadow-roses @masterfuldoodler @larissa-the-scribe @scriptrixdeo @scribbly-bear @katiethedane12 @violetempress @megan-karau @long-live-the-gobop @tzarina-alexandra @hollers-and-holmes @alternatingthursdays

[bixels]

overwatch writing and how it handles woman is such a painful topic, because in the entire universe there has been only like, three or four women who actually Matter to the plot, and the rest are here either to be sexy or to be a one-dimensional stereotype.

widowmaker, as the most egregious example, could be a really interesting character. we could really explore how being essentially a victim of both world and people could lead to tragical consequences. but we just got "sexy sniper femme fatale"

and kiriko is the same. she's just an anime girl. same as d.va who is a gamer, same as zarya who is a soviet sportswoman. it sucks.

They created one interesting, morally gray, neurodivergent POC woman (Symmetra) and then put her in a closet forever.

[mandareeboo]

For peeps of mine who haven't watched Rick and Morty (the correct choice tbh, you have good taste) here's a list of Random Bullshit that's canon in the show that you probably didn't even know:

Rick and Morty have hopped to at least two different universes to escape their various fuckups (three, if the universe where squirrels are sentient and control the government wasn't a weird joke) and the entire Smith family has jumped universe once.

Morty and Summer (his sister) have a canonical giant incest baby that lives in space named Naruto.

The baby itself was NOT conceived with intentional incest, but with a series of wacky shenanigans involving giant sperm, a horse breeding mount, and sexism.

Summer raised said baby mostly off-screen for like a month and taught it love and how to escape prison.

Rick has been pardoned for his Earth crimes at least three seperate times by pretending to be the turkey the President pardons on Thanksgiving. Somehow no time has passed however and they remain their normal ages.

FDR used to live in the basement of the White House as a giant spider creature. Used to because Morty burned him alive.

The show hates having canon SO FUCKING MUCH that Rick outright refused to even admit he had a backstory at all for four seasons.

One of the reoccurring villains is a guy named Story Lord who is legit just fighting for the show to have Canon Stakes and to give a fuck about its untapped potential. Rick and Morty both mock him relentlessly.

The many universes of Ricks made a government. Rick destroyed it. Then another version of Morty crushed the remains under his heel entirely to escape Rick.

The first Ricks to create dimensional travel realized there was a plethora of universes that weren't about Rick and sealed them away to feed his main character syndrome.

Rick's daughter, Beth, has a clone, but Rick ripped off their labels and spun them around in a circle a bunch of times before releasing one on the family and the other to live a Star Wars life in space. Even now no one knows which is which. The other Beth is called Space Beth and visits the house often.

Beth and Space Beth have banged. They then had a threesome with Jerry.

Rick has a mortal enemy named Mr. Nimbus who controls the ocean and police. Somehow. This is not extrapolated.

Beth and Jerry also had a threesome with Mr. Nimbus. It's implied Rick has also fucked Mr. Nimbus.

Rick became a pickle to escape family therapy. He stayed a pickle because he lied so well Beth took the serum because she thought it would hurt him.

The occasional season opener and ender is a weird fucker named Mr. Poopybutthole who just. Appeared one day. The show goes out of its way to leave plot crumbs on how Rick knows everyone else in his life but NOT Mr. Poopybutthole. He just showed up in an episode about parasites (he's not one, btw, that's the gag) and it's implied he's known the Smiths for years. Mr. Poopybutthole tells us all about his failing marriage and asks weirdly poignant questions about life and then tells the audience to keep tuned in to the current/next season.

Mr. Poopybutthole also canonically asked Morty, a fourteen year old, to marry him. It's implied Morty would've said yes.

The (ex) voice of Rick and Morty as well as the (ex) co-creator of the show casually confirmed that Ricks and Mortys fuck often and we just have to live with that.

Yes there's a lot of incest going on here. You get used to it.

Morty once deformed a man for life because he broke up with his sister.

Everyone in the Smith family has a body count in the hundreds and it's constantly being brushed off by authorities because the government can't kick Rick's ass.

Rick and Summer beat nazis in the streets for fun. Somehow conservatives love this fucking show. It's probably all the dicks.

The time police's entire fucking MO is beating whatever messed with time up while yelling "DON'T FUCK WITH TIME! DON'T FUCK WITH IT!" and Einstein, one of their victims, petulantly replied, "I WILL fuck with it!"

Rick has canonically fucked a planet, a collective, a woman with boobs on her elbows, a horse creature that lives underground, and ONE (1) human woman.

Morty also has/had a son, btw. He's most likely dead because he grew at an extremely fast rate and was in his mid-forties when we saw him last in season 1.

Rick once had Morty unintentionally murder dozens of Mortys to prove a point about his idea. His idea was a fake vat of acid with fake bones in a drawer to pull open and have float to the surface. He kept a gun to shoot a hole in any ladle they dipped in and a mediocre oxygen tube to stick in your mouth. This is a running gag and considered one of the best episodes of the show.

[gumbootillustrations]

divine warriors loredump!

so yeah, the divine warriors! admittedly, i'm fascinated by them - i rlly rlly wish that we'd gotten to see more of them + their powers/domains/abilities in mcd, especially considering that they're a driving force behind the plot. so, i've gone ahead and done some redesigns for the sigils (above) and expanded on the domains and abilities of the divine warriors within the context of ashes, ashes.

more under the cut!

irene retains her matron title. for her domains, i rlly wanted to lean into her being a deity of life and family; as such, her official domains are  life, light, healing, childbirth and parenthood, fertility, marriage, tradition, beauty, and romantic/familial/platonic love. menphia also has domains over aspects of love (namely over sexual/carnal/manic love), but i wanted them to sort of have an aphrodite ourania (irene) and aphrodite pandemos (menphia) sort of vibe. in terms of the abilites that her relic gives its wielders, its a lot of what's seen in canon mcd: lots of healing and light abilities, but also some dimensional manipulation and time manipulation stuff thrown in there for the shits and giggles.

for shad, i rlly wanted to play into him being both a mirror and a foil for irene. where irene creates, he destroys; where irene brings life, he brings death. his official domains are that of death, darkness, chaos, the afterlife, change, rot and decay, the Nether, bloodshed, and madness. although he's also a war deity like menphia (and, to an extent, esmund and xavier), he's mostly associated with the worst bits of battle - the blood, the rot, the awful awful deaths, that sort of thing. his relic grants its wielders a lot of destruction-associated powers like disintegration and rot/plague/death stuff, but also some shadow and blood manipulation as well.

like a lot of other folks, i felt like enki was the best fit for a knowledge deity. he looks after scholars, librarians, witches, and inventors; officially, his domains are those of knowledge, air, magick, prophecy, the weather, winter, reason, and lightning. from here, you'll start to see pretty much all the warriors having some sort of like. elemental association? is the best way i can put it. i've sort of based it off of the minor arcana of the tarot; the suit of swords, which is associated with air, is the suit of knowledge and the mental realm, which i thought was fitting for enki. enki is also one of the four seasonal divine warriors (the others being esmund, menphia, and kul'zak); he gets winter, mostly because of his centre of worship being in gal'ruk. wielders of his relic get air and weather manipulation powers, as well as powers related to memory and access to witchcraft (if they aren't witches already). they also gain clairvoyance.

esmund! again with the tarot symbolism; esmund is associated with the element of earth and the physical world, hence the mountain in his sigil. his domains are those of protection, earth, wealth, autumn, boundaries, earthquakes, guardhood, and the harvest. the domain over the harvest might seem a little left field but it makes sense i promise! i sort of saw esmund's association with the harvest not only being because of him being an earth deity, but also because i feel like being able to provide is a form of protection, and given the setting of mcd, i feel like being able to provide a good harvest is a part of that. this is also why he is associated with autumn. regarding the abilities that his relic provides, there's a lot of earth manipulation and barrier/force field creation stuff in there; his relic wielders are also freakishly stronger and more durable than those who wield other relics, sort of playing into esmund himself being a tank.

i changed menphia's title to 'the conqueror' because i thought it'd be a bit more fitting for her, especially considering how i'm working tu'la in ashes, ashes (more on that later). i also changed her colour scheme to more of a blue/copper theme despite her being a fire goddess - i thought it was neat, considering that blue flames are those that burn the hottest. her domains are those of warfare (the glorious bits), fire, soldiers, political power, summer, passion and courage, festivals and celebrations, and sexual/carnal/manic love. i'm still not suuuper sure on the abilities that her relic gives its wielders, but there's definitely some pyrokinesis and emotion/heat manipulation, along with some combat-specific foresight in there. i'm open to suggestions!

nothing much really changes regarding kul'zak. he's a nature deity and watches over journeymen and particularly sailors, given that he's a water/ocean deity; he's often worshipped by pirates. officially, his domains are travellers, water, animals, the wilderness, the cardinal directions and navigation, hunting, and spring. i really wanted to lean into him being a man of the wilderness and not really having a home in urban environments. as such, his relic grants its wielders a lot of wilderness-based abilities, like shapeshifting, water and plant manipulation, and camouflage, with a bit of teleportation in there for all your wandering needs.

xavier is probably the divine warrior that i've changed the most. first off, he becomes a divine warrior in ashes, ashes where he isn't in canon mcd. i also really wanted to lean into him being the founder of the jury of nine, hence his title - the justiciar. he's associated with the domains of guardhood (along with esmund), loyalty, metal and metalworkers, justice, balance and order, peace, brotherhood, devotion, and artisans. where esmund looks after the more physical side of being a guard (being your lord's shield and spear, aka the protection side of things), xavier looks after the more emotional side of being a guard - the devotion to your lord and the comradery that you share with your fellows. his relic's abilities capitalise on that, with its wielders being able to both amplify and nullify the magick of the people they're fighting alongside/against. there's also a bit of metal manipulation and a lot of supportive magick in there too.

and, as a fun little tidbit - a lineup of the divine warriors! (the layout is inspired by @star-boi0720 - the way you lay out your drawings like this is mint as 🤩)

i'm still not suuuper happy w kul'zak or irene's designs but i'll get there in the end i guess :)

[mapsareforbraindeads]

redid a good portion of the outline. trying to add more material for side ships. now all i can think about is the ships so i’m just gonna go to sleep and hope i dream up better ideas

okay anyways hab part 3 is a fucking mess and i’m gonna work on that

[emryslore]

if you ever get into merthur i'd love a rec, i love your other recs sm <3

Hi Anon!

I do love merthur myself so I wanted to share my favourites I've read recently! Thank you for the ask! I hope you enjoy!

A Language With No Words (E) 55k by neptunesyellowsands

Its a really incredible long fic with a sequel

A little smile had touched Arthur’s lips, drawing up the corners of his mouth. He’d looked keen and kind, and like he’d just solved one of the greatest mysteries of all time. And part of Merlin had wanted to point out the idiocy of having missed this rather obvious detail until now, but that part was drowned out entirely by the feel of Arthur’s eyes locked onto his, of being on the receiving end of his smile. Not the cocky ones or the condescending ones, but this one, this one right here, small and soft and warm. The sun was streaming in through the window, and, for a moment, Arthur’s hair and his skin and all of the world Merlin could see was golden, and that was it. That was all it had taken. Merlin was absolutely, unequivocally not his own from then on. Merlin arrives at Camlann just in time. When the truth comes out, will Arthur accept him? Will they be able to face the feelings each of them has for the other? Will they ultimately defeat Morgana - together? This is the story as it might have ended if things had been just a little bit different.

tempest in a teacup (get unique) (G) 1.6k by trickytricko

A retelling of s1 ep10 with outside pov

Hunith watched the two young men for a moment, her expression softening as she took in the easy camaraderie between them. It was clear that Merlin had found more than just a prince to serve in Arthur. He had found a friend, a companion; something that she knew was incredibly rare for someone in his position. *** a partial retelling of ep.10 season 1 featuring Hunith's "he likes you!!" bc we love how she ships it.

I choose you and me religiously (E) 111k by koffeinkaos

Not completed but oh its so good it has everything a long term merthur fan would want

It sniffed the air. "Emrys? Magic itself serving a Pendragon, Uther's son, a corrupted Camelot." The raven haired man tensed at those words a jolt of fear rushing through his body. But he couldn't get distracted now. He pressed the panic down so hard, he felt like he might vomit. He was turned to the monster, all the knights were behind him, so he couldn't see the shocked expressions on his friends faces when the words sank in. Lancelot tried to get closer to Arthur in case he wouldn't take the revelation well, but one of the wolves bared his teeth and snapped at him warningly. So far Arthur had only stilled. His hands had fallen uselessly to his sides, eyes fixed on the back of Merlin's head. "I don't serve the king and I don't serve Camelot. I only serve Arthur. I am loyal only to him. If you touch him, you'll die." Another vicious snarl left the wolf's throat. "We'll see." ---- Or Merlin has to reveal his magic to save his friends and Arthur is head over heels for him. Gay fluff with plot and a bit of smut in between (warnings in the chapters for that) Have fun reading

in this and every life (T) 26k by winterbucky (winterbuckyy)

And ofc last but not least here we have some good old OP merlin, yearning and dimensional travel

Over 10 years after their memories return, Arthur, Gwen, and the Knights have to make peace with the heartbreaking fact that the might never find Merlin and Leon again. It's as if by chance that Gwaine finds people who look just like them, in some club in Florence of all places. So, despite their friends' disbelief, Arthur and Gwaine set out to find their missing pieces Merlin and Leon have long made peace with their immortality, and they're thriving in the life they lead, even through their friends are lost to them. They're not expecting to see them every again A chance encounter of the four men sends them on a wild journey through the and universes, trying desperately to find their way to each other. And maybe find other versions of themselves along the way or dimension time travel with a lot of yearning, powerful merlin, friendship and feels, battles, and happy endings

[larissa-the-scribe]

AFDP Ch.9: First Encounters

New chapter out!

The single, misshapen eye of the monster filled my field of vision—my mind went blank save for the vision of the eye and its crystalline, insectoid limb, stretched from somewhere above us—behind my own eyes there was nothing but a static buzz of fear and confusion. I had never seen any creature like this before in my life. No index popped into my head, no list of attributes, no idea of what this thing could or would do to us. Frozen in time I crouched there, eye-to-eye with something that didn’t exist, unaware of anything around me except the roar of blood in my ears. The instant shattered with a thin, wispy shriek of half-anger, half-laughter splitting the air; the hanging hand smashed out of place in a blaze of reddish-gold. Mara shoved me backward with a hand to my chest. “Go!” she screamed at me, and I realized she had my baseball bat in her fist, somehow activated so that its aluminum surface writhed with mithecal fire. She had hit the eye—hand—thing— Before I could think anything else, she scrambled past me, out into the forest. I spun around after her as the monster laughed again.

Check out the full chapter >>here, or the general story >>here.

This is the newest installment in my serial story, shared via email, about a washed-up agent trying to save a fugitive, a frightened teenager investigating the shape-shifting dragon dealing with his grandma, and a secret research site in the woods.

If that sounds interesting and you want to get the updates when they come out, you can sign up for free here. Alternatively, on Ko-Fi or Patreon, where you can also get exclusive behind-the-scenes art and updates.

[dragqueenstarscream]

i don't think the tfa writing team gets enough credit for what they did with ratchet.

they could've easily made him a one dimensional grumpy old boomer character. and yes, he does have a few moments like that, mostly him complaining about bumblebee. (the wrestling scene, the car parts shop, etc)

what made me realize that he was going in a different direction, though, was s1e7, "thrill of the hunt." for those who haven't seen tfa, it's a ratchet centric episode with the bounty hunter lockdown coming to earth to hunt down optimus. the episode does something particularly interesting with ratchet, giving him flashbacks surrounding his trauma surrounding himself, arcee, and lockdown, but not using them to a comedic end. no, they're actually taken seriously, both by the plot and the other characters, mainly optimus.

and i really appreciate that. they could've easily done an "alright grandpa, let's get you back to bed" joke or something like that, but no. they actually helped to build on his character, and it made me realize that this show knew when to be serious, which i really liked.

as the series goes on, he's taken more seriously as a character. you can see just how much the war fucked him up compared to the other characters, considering he was the only one to have actually fought. his experiences with arcee, how he was involved with omega supreme, and then eventually joining the space bridge repair team after the war ended. it really takes its time letting you get attached to ratchet and feel for him whenever he's going through it.

and it just makes it so much more heartbreaking near the end of the series when he's forced to face his trauma head on after finding arcee again.

i love tfa, and i love all of team prime, but ratchet has a very special place in my heart because of just how well he's written. his development doesn't feel rushed, despite the cancellation of season four. the show takes time telling his story, letting it play out, and letting him really grow on you. they could've just made him a curmudgeon who complains about everything, but no, they went the extra mile and gave him room to grow and explore the kindness in his old, weary spark.

tfa ratchet deserves all the love.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Types of Characters

You may recall from your literature classes that characters can be “flat” or “round,” and likewise, “minor” or “major.”

A character also may be a protagonist or antagonist.

Look at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby for examples of character types.

Note that the characters in the novel are more complex than what is stated here, and that Gatsby faces other antagonists—such as class, bourgeois snobbery, and the progression of time itself.

Protagonist: the main or central character, the hero (Gatsby)

Antagonist: opponent or enemy of the protagonist (Tom Buchanan)

Flat/Minor: a character(s) who helps readers better understand another character, usually the protagonist. Also, “a static and undeveloped character of two dimensions” (Knorr and Schell 165). (Nick Carraway)

While Gatsby is our protagonist, the one who we want to succeed, his success would mean ousting his beloved Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan.

An idea can also function as an antagonist: Gatsby is also fighting against the bourgeois prejudice of elite 1920s New York City, where “old money”—such as the Buchanans—is worth more than new money, as exemplified by the divide between East Egg and West Egg.

Usually, the protagonist is also a Round character, “a developing three-dimensional character” (Knorr and Schell 165).

In other words, the protagonist must be a character that grows and changes during the story; it is the progress of this change that keeps the reader interested and cheering for the character.

Archetypes

Part of why The Great Gatsby has endured in American literature is because the characters are complex, rather than being simple archetypes.

You are already aware of many archetypes; you can recognize them in the movies you watch, such as the Reluctant Hero (Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games series).

Using an archetype is a kind of shorthand; if you put in a character like The Lonely Old Lady With A Dog, the reader recognizes the character and knows what to expect from them.

This may be helpful when populating your world with minor/flat characters, because it is reassuring and comforting to your reader; your reader knows these archetypal characters already.

Unfortunately, that also means that archetypal characters may be clichéd. Once you put your character down into their world, they can react in various ways to the setting and reality of their lives.

In Mooring Against the Tide: Writing Fiction and Poetry, Knorr and Schell write:

…your characters may react to the world in one of four ways. They may see this society and its values and assimilate by adopting those values as their own; they may accommodate in that they do not like those values but will adopt them anyway if only to get along; they may rebel against those values in any number of ways; or, they may take flight from that society and, as did Huck Finn, head out to the new territories.

In other words, just as our choices in life determine where we go, the plot of your story is determined by the nature of your characters.

These four choices might not seem to offer many different plot options, but in reality, they can play out in an infinite number of ways. Think about your favorite novel or short story—it’s likely that the main character is faced with a choice and has to pick one of the four routes described above.

Otherwise, there may not be much conflict in your story.

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References Writing References: Worldbuilding ⚜ Plot ⚜ Character

[froidefille]

Day 10: a fest/event fic

📚 Nothing Gold Can Stay by @moonflower-rose

Draco/Harry, 40k, E

Written for: H/D Erised 2023

Summary:

One summer evening, Harry Potter vanished in the middle of dinner with his friends. Four days later he came back. Sort of. Draco Malfoy is on the case.

It’s one of those accidentally-got-himself-into-alternate-universe-where-he-has-a-husband-and-three-kids stories. And there is just something about this kind of story that gets me: the way Harry just wants to come home at first but then misses his AU home like crazy. And the way we stay in the original universe with Draco! Usually, those stories follow one of the boys into to the alternate universe with all the the domesticity and happiness and losing his mind about it. So getting this mirrored version of the one that stays was such a treat!

I really appreciate when there’s an actual logic behind these multi-dimensional incidents other than just *magic*. And here, with Harry being Unspeakable working on a research project about soulmate lore which got him to an alternate dimension where he’s married to Draco with three kids and a hypogriff named Parsley... I mean 😭

I love how Draco slowly becomes part of Harry’s family while he’s not actually here ("it's all part of the service"). And the angst when the other Harry comes through (and gets mad at the original Harry for Sectumsempra!!!) and then more angst as he comes back because the fools fall in love with each other again (“You’re my favourite person in every universe.” *cries* *cries some more*). And then when poor poor original Harry comes back and falls to pieces. No wonder, I feel like as we were slowly finding out the details of his domestic alternate universe, we are right there on the floor with him. Belly! Parsley!!

Also the way Harry and his friends are known as "The War Kids" 😭 When they find Harry’s journal and it's full of Draco including the picture 😭 😭 When Draco sets up new ward runes and he’s not even on the list 😭 😭 😭

This fic really has it all - the plot is well-thought out, it has such a funny banter, and it will make you hurt in the best way <3

Okay, let me stop here before I go and read it yet again xd

Thank you for today’s prompt @hprecfest and until the next one!

Excerpts (and spoilers) under the cut <3

“I care about you very much. I probably haven’t told you that, because we’re work friends. We’re not…it’s not the same as being your real friend. Well, what I mean is, it is the same for me, more so, actually—I’m not making sense.” “Not remotely,” Potter said, his brow creased and half a crust between his teeth. “We’re not real friends?” “No, Potter—I mean, yes. Salazar’s tits. You are one of my dearest friends. And. And I love you.” Potter chewed slowly, still looking at Draco through narrowed, confused eyes. “...Thank you?” “You’re welcome?” Draco said automatically. Upstairs in the sitting room the Floo roared to life, and Weasley’s voice bellowed, “Harry?” “Kitchen!”

It just got me laughing so much ^^

"Fancy a cuppa?” “It’s nearly four in the morning, Potter!” “Is that a no?” “No,” Draco said. He was exhausted, but he was still English.

🤣

“Keep your hair on,” Harry shot back, making absolutely no effort to hide his amusement. “I didn’t want to assume. You know what happens when you make an assumption, don’t you?” Draco looked at him blankly. “You make an ass of you and umption.” When Draco still didn’t respond, Harry stopped putting slices of bacon into the big pan and put his hands on his hips instead. “The Long Kiss Goodnight? Samuel L Jackson? Geena Davis?” “Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak. I can say random words too.” “Oh my god,” Harry groaned, and resumed laying out the bacon. “This is a classic Draco, a classic. I think I’ve watched it every Christmas since we graduated from school.”

“You make an ass of you and umption.” 😂

And then - the wild angst appears!

“She was the one who started calling me Uncle Daddy. It was supposed to be Uncle Harry, but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around that I guess, since she’s only two. She sets the tone around the house, you know. It’s Belly’s rules, and the boys all fall into line.”

Belly !!! I love her

“What do you need?” Draco asked, already halfway out of bed and coming towards Potter. Potter took a hitching breath. “You. I need you.”

[natequarter]

Do you have any particular favourite Doctor Who novelisations?

the crusade: from a purely technical perspective it's good, but also proudly and confidently states that susan foreman married david cameron. i'd recommend david whitaker's novelisations, both because they're good, and because they were written prior to the target range beginning in earnest, and therefore take some interesting liberties with what happened on tv. the crusade's novelisation is a bit less wacky than an unearthly child.

the romans: donald cotton had a bit of a thing for writing weird and wacky target novelisations. (sidenote: i've listed novelisations in order of the airing of the story, not the publication of the book.) the romans is done in an epistolary format. the myth makers has a prologue from homer. the gunfighters... is the gunfighters. they're totally unlike any other target novelisation in style.

the war games: malcolm hulke's last novelisation before he died. unfortunately being dead rendered him incapable of novelising the faceless ones, but he novelised the war games very well, especially considering how long the tv story is.

the dinousaur invasion: hulke's novelisations are always quality, but this is the one i most enjoyed reading. from the man who brought you "maybe nuance is good actually": KKLAK!

the ark in space: everything is four-dimensional, ian! it came with your goddamn universe!

the pirate planet: published in two separate versions, decades after the fact, and not written by douglas adams at all; ditto city of death, except for the two different versions. this is about right for the afterlife of a douglas adams book, and james goss is one of two people on earth who can nail the style of douglas adams, the other person being douglas adams himself.

the creature from the pit: david fisher is severely underrated, in my opinion, and his prose is about what you'd expect of one of the better writers of the williams era.

warriors' gate: stephen gallagher is a lovely writer, though he published the original novelisation under the pseudonym john lydecker, and later redid the story. personally i enjoyed reading the original.

logopolis/castrovalva: chris bidmead is a good prose writer and a good serial writer. i don't have much more to add; they're just good books.

the two doctors: i should mention i'm rating these largely on the merits of their prose over how much i like the televised story, but good plot does tend to overlap with good writing. not so here! robert holmes only novelised one of his own stories (the rest were done by terrance dicks, or on occasion ian marter), and he's a good writer, so it felt only right to mention this one.

remembrance of the daleks: is it really any surprise that the guy who wrote the also people also wrote a good novelisation? it's ben aaronovitch, it's good.

ghost light: ditto. i mean it's marc platt. and it's ghost light. of course it's good.

the day of the doctor: why do you keep saying that's a nuwho novelisation? that's my best friend! anyway, i've tried my best to keep this list to the classic target novelisations, in part because there aren't actually that many nuwho target novelisations, but the day of the doctor is a genuine prose masterpiece.