#astra meta

[softlyapocalytpic]

I feel like I remember a post going around a while ago about the inherent tragedy of Fallout 4 and the anti-climax that is Finding Shaun and- I just can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t.

(Going under a cut because this post got away from me LMAO)

It’s a tragedy. Your son is a cold horrific monster of a man who looks at people as experiments over being people. He’s egotistical to the point of thinking of himself as somehow larger than life- not quite godly, but something more adjacent to that- because of his control over life. *Because of how they groomed him to be. He was never allowed to be a “normal” kid. The Shaun we meet is doomed, hopeless, and it’s… heartbreaking. That’s your son and.

And he’s dead. He dies no matter what faction you choose. There’s no chance for true reconciliation.

(*There’s something to say about the parallels between Shaun and Maxson as characters that I’ve talked about to others in the past but still sticks with me. Not the post for it necessarily, but I wanted to mention it.)

For me personally, the ending of Fallout 4 wasn’t victorious, it was hollow. Now, part of that is definitely influenced by what I was going through at the time, but it has stuck with me how the only lights of hope I felt were… well it was Deacon. He made it less empty. Made it feel like it meant something good.

I didn’t like pushing the button though. I thought about all the shit that could’ve taken from Institute and used for the wasteland for something good. Thought about Shaun. Thought about how I couldn’t truly say goodbye to him. Felt like I was playing out the motions, and that fucking slideshow did nothing to help the hollowness.

It’s not victorious. But then we keep going anyway. There is still work to be done. And there’s companions to keep you company, to make the world a little brighter.

And Jesus Christ I love that fucking game. I love the sandbox and I love the way that when it hits? It fucking hits.

And guess what! Fallout 3? Fallout 76? Also fucking tragedies.

Sure, Broken Steel brings the LW back from the dead, but Lone died even if Lone isn’t “dead”. The slideshow still plays. You wake up and suddenly aren’t dead, but you should be. You should be. You, a nineteen year old kid were tasked with being a martyr. Sarah is pissed off when you ask her to do it. It should be you in the eyes of the narrative. You should be the one bearing the weight of martyrdom. Follow in your Father’s footsteps.

Fallout 76? I… your nuking the Appalachia repeatedly. Everything is gone by 2277. The bright future meant to rejuvenate the Wasteland ends up destroying it. Idfk what else there is to say on that front.

And these are just… the main Bethesda titles. 1, 2, and NV are arguably in the same boat but there’s a bit more in the sense that… well for those ones it’s much more about the “you’ve won, but at what cost?”. In the original Fallout, and let’s say you take the (I think more popular route) of talking to the Master rather than fighting him: you watch someone realize the weight of the atrocities they’ve committed, realize they had no purpose, and then kill himself and everyone there after you personally have gone through actually psychic hell to approach him. Then, you get kicked out of your only home you’ve ever known!

Fallout 2? You home is decimated, your people traumatized, and you must rebuild it from the ground up. You defeated the Enclave, but they took something from you that can’t be replaced or forgotten.

New Vegas… god there’s so much there and there’s another point I want to make to this post- make I can make it feed into this but- the Mojave gets ravaged by war. No matter who wins, atrocities will continue to have been done and to be committed. There’s deadly forces on the horizon who don’t give a SHIT about this petty war and the fucking dumb politics of these major powers. It will hit any faction hard and unmercifully. And there was still a war that consumed an entire land. So companion has a truly “happy” end. They’re all scarred and broken and have to make peace with the path they’ve chosen. People win, but they don’t win, y’know?

And I wish- as much as I love these tragedies- I wish there was more… hope. I wish that the world of Fallout allowed the brightness to shine through a little brighter. To allow the people who try to rebuild into something new to be more successful, to be allowed to take the narrative into their hands, bECAUSE HOLY FUCK DOES THIS DARK ASS WORLD HAVE SO MUCH MORE HOPE THEN ITS EVER GIVEN CREDIT FOR.

Begin Again is a rallying cry for me. The end of Lonesome Road, if you spare Ulysses, is a rebellion against the fucking cycle of violence and hatred. You want to BUILD something. Create rather than just regurgitate the old world into something more twisted than it’s corpse.

Surviving the purifier? Rebelling against the notion that you must die, that you must be a martyr, taking your life into your own hands? Watching a source of clean water be handed out for free and spread across the Wastes? Fucking! Breathing new life into Harold and so he breathes new life into the Earth?

Living even though you’ve lost all your family? Getting a new one in the people who follow you? Helping people rebuild the Commonwealth after it’s been terrorized and destroyed? Leaving this world stronger and safer then when you came into it?

Honestly- this post got away from me. @persephotea got me in my Fallout 4 thoughts (of which I have so many and they’re always trying to burst out of me) and I got to thinking about what I try to write about in my fics. Hope. Hope, hope, hope.

I choose a kinder Fallout world not because I’m trying to soften the edges, but because I want to believe that humanity has such an ability to be kind if it chooses to. That a world ravaged by destruction would CHOOSE kindness and growth. That despite all the darkness and selfishness, people would choose to Begin Again.

It’s all a fucking tragedy, but that’s only if the cycle continues. We can change it. We can end it. Just gotta choose to do it.

If you got this far, thank you for reading my tired thoughts and please please please share yours. I want to hear your thoughts so bad. Okay okay, I’ll post now.

[ask-gikabi]

Hey Astra! mind the personal question, but when was the last time someone called you Kirby-

Bonus:

[astradrifting]

Hi! Were there any perspectives in the ASOIAF fandom that made your eyes roll? If there are, what made you say so? Thanks!

[mostly written in 2021, and posted very late. Sorry nonny!]

woof, this could open up a can of worms. I'm almost afraid this is a bait ask but I'm also very willing to run my mouth online about ASOIAF, and I love making fun of dumb theories, so let’s go!

Every time someone says that Jon and Dny are the song of ice and fire, my soul dies a little. Enough said.

I also hate the idea that parallels between ASOIAF history and the events of the books don’t matter. Not to state the obvious, but Westerosi history isn’t real. No part of it actually happened organically, GRRM has manufactured all of it, so everything must have been written with a purpose. I don’t buy that it’s just all world-building, because if parallels are obvious to us, they must be a thousand times more so for the man actually writing it all, and the army of editors who are probably helping him keep it straight.

There is absolutely no way that anything about Jonnel ‘One-Eye’ is a coincidence. Half-brother to Rickon Stark is obvious enough, but then we have his mother. Lynara sounds very similar to Lyanna (side note: a jonsa baby named Lynara would be adorable), but the real link is that she was born a Stark - all of the women on the family tree are listed under their maiden names. Her relation to her husband Cregan isn’t specified; it would have been so easy to have her be from another random house, or even a Karstark, yet what George wanted to convey is that Jonnel has a Stark mother, as well as a Stark father who happened to be heavily involved with the Targaryens.

Another fun thing linking Jonnel to Jon! Jon’s first relationship was with a red headed girl, who claimed that they were married because he’d stolen her. In the same conversation where she’s called half fish…

“You know nothing, Jon Snow. I’m half a fish, I’ll have you know.”

“Half fish, half goat, half horse…there’s too many halves to you, Ygritte.”

(ASOS, Jon V)

this conversation is already jonsa gospel as foreshadowing because of “half-fish”, but the horse part was always a little strange to me. As far as I remember, they didn’t have a prior conversation about her loving horses or riding particularly well, so that was seemingly out of left-field.

Well Jonnel’s second wife was a Ryswell - their sigil is a black horse’s head with a red mane.

pictured: the jonsa agenda winning again

The idea that Stannis will take Winterfell isn’t as personally annoying to me, all these dudebros have very detailed, tactics-based reasons to believe he’ll win I’m sure (something about a nightlamp?), but I just think it doesn’t do anything for the narrative, nor does it make sense with either his arc or Jon and Sansa’s.

Winning Winterfell will put Stannis in a position of strength, give him a base of operations in the North that’s not on loan from the Night’s Watch, and would probably lead to most of the Northern houses swearing allegiance to him, as Manderly has already promised to do. Why would a man in that position ever choose to burn his daughter, his only heir, alive? That is literally one of the few guaranteed book plots we have, so IMO speculation about Stannis all needs to work backwards from this end point; it’s ugly and horrible, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to stomach reading it, but it’s the only ending to his arc that makes sense.

Kinslaying reoccurs time and time again in Stannis’ arc. Kinslaying for his own personal benefit, no less. In his first appearance in ACOK, he listens to Selyse suggest that he kill Renly, then stands by whilst Melisandre kills Maester Cressen, his surrogate father. Cressen raised him and loved him like a son; yet if he had killed Melisandre instead, Stannis would have lost the power she wields for his benefit, the main reason he has a chance at the throne. Later in the book, he implicitly allows his brother to be murdered so that he could gain the Stormlords that had rallied to Renly instead of him (anyone trying to argue that the shadow wasn’t technically Stannis so technically it wasn’t kinslaying will be put in the naughty corner for excessive pedantry). In ASOS, he’s willing to sacrifice his nephew, an innocent 12 year old under his guardianship. He says it’s for the realm, for duty, but really it’s for his destiny. What is the life of a bastard boy against a kingdom so close to his grasp?

It’s escalation. Each time so far he’s had a layer of deniability, but he’s not going to have that in the end. Ordering Shireen’s death himself, murdering his daughter in some desperate bid to secure victory over the Boltons, will be the final step off the cliff. Maybe he’ll have some military victories before that, smarter people than me have no doubt discussed the parallels to the Greek myth of Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia, but I have no doubt Stannis’ story is headed only towards tragedy.

….Turns out that I do have a lot of feelings about Stannis. But to get back to my original point, Jon and Sansa taking Winterfell back together, travelling through the North doing the work and proving themselves as worthy rulers, makes a lot more sense for their future roles in the story than Stannis winning it all for them. It’s also much more affecting and thematically resonant, so I refuse to believe D&D entirely made up that storyline.

I also inevitably end up rolling my eyes whenever I'm bored enough to go onto r/asoiaf, there's always a bad take right on the front page. One that annoyed me enough to go into @istumpysk’s inbox and kickstart my jonsa blogging was one asking what the point of R+L=J even is, because it never amounted to anything and just muddled up J/D being “the song of ice and fire”.

While it gets so close to the point that it’s funny, there’s no way the “song” is going to boil down to a relationship, let alone JD. I would almost buy Jon and Dænerys being the song of ice and fire if Jon actually were just Ned’s bastard, all ‘ice’. Hell, if he really wanted to make a relationship the song of ice and fire, he could have cut out the middleman and made Jon a trueborn Stark from the start - make them starcrossed lovers from warring families, truly ice and truly fire. Utterly boring, but thematically coherent at least. A major point of Jon’s character is that he is both - and something a lot messier than that besides, as a bastard.

It's not all bad on r/asoiaf though, when I went back to look for that post I saw another about how the Titan of Braavos is a Pacific Rim-style mech that will come to life to fight any dragons coming to the city, a theory that I will be championing from this moment henceforth.

Wait, nevermind, in that same thread someone said that Jaehaerys is the sexiest Targ name, so r/asoiaf is immediately cancelled again. That's another fandom perspective that makes me roll my eyes, the idea that Jaehaerys is in any way an acceptable name, especially as Jon's ‘secret’ name.

This 👏 is 👏 Targaryen 👏 propaganda 👏

Just look at it!! How do you even pronounce that? The hill I will most definitely die on is that this name is ugly.

[mai-komagata]

more charades meta

i don't think people talk about charades (snw s2e5) being about neurodivergence and masking, and I think that is an interesting angle to think about this episode. I think a lot is made about it being an analogy for culture or race or religion, but I think it fits better as an analogy for neurological difference (and here i mean truly difference without connotation of better or worse). What I see this episode saying is that being vulcan is not just a culture, but it is a different neurology and the culture arose to accommodate different neurological needs. Much like in autism, you react to sensory stimuli differently, you show your emotions differently, you process information differently. Of course there is vulcan culture, but it is a culture that evolved to suit the neurological characteristics of vulcans. they find certain flavors too intense/unpalatable, they tolerate temperature differences (especially heat) more easily, they are more empathetic/emotional thus they see displays of emotional as more uncomfortable/unsettling for social cohesion, and express emotional connections via telepathy. That doesn't mean there isn't individual variation (we get the least cookie cutter vulcan array ever here, from t'pring's mom, t'pring, and her dad, as well as spock), and that people can't be charming or jerks, but that the neurological assumptions are fundamentally different. The thing is, someone with a human neurology can mask and assimilate into vulcan culture. But masking isn't innate. And you don't just "know how to mask" if you have been living in a culture the whole time, because you didn't need to do it if you are neurotypical. I know autistic people that can break down the nuance of a social interaction into a numbered list to explain it to someone (just like an actor can break down an accent they want to affect), while a neurotypical person wouldn't know the first thing about how to express what they do in a social situation -- they just do it. Amanda is the ideal person to teach spock this vs a vulcan because she does this every day. And it is a hard thing for her to do, not because she is a human, but because adapting in this way is draining and painful. There are so many neurodivergent people that live with sensory overload the same way amanda picked up the teapot, without complaint, because yelling in pain from sensory overload was taught to us as rude and punishable. And i love the scenes with Spock and Chapel in this episode (irrespective of the ship) because it shows that "curing" someone's neurology would be undesirable, even if they become more neurotypical to you. They would be a different person. Also that to a certain degree spock is on a spectrum between a human and vulcan neurology. Some things that are vulcan patterns of interaction come naturally to him, but some of his human characteristics he actively has to mask in that society. And same when he is in human society, he affects laughter cues, emotiveness, etc. I do find it interesting with Akiva Goldsman's background (parents being clinical psychologists, him writing A Beautiful mind), this would be a direction he would want to take in looking at characters, and to use storytelling as a way to express their neurology in different ways. I know everyone on tumblr hates this episode, but I do think it is one of the most fascinating ones from a scifi perspective, illustrative of both in universe traits of "what does it mean to be a vulcan", but of real world thought exercises. (also one of the best new aliens in the series, some non-corporeal bureaucratic jerks).

[wednesdayoceans]

I enjoyed this patch's new lore drop with the voice recording of Skye taking down a bunch of Omega soldiers but did anyone else feel like the gunshots and agonized screaming went on for so long that it became borderline comedic

[astralitydraws]

i think the third awakenings really help cement all the phantom thieves’ characters and some of the main themes of the game a lot, and i’m honestly sad that vanilla never had anything like them; it sort of feels unfinished in comparison to me.

the first awakening is about showing your true self as opposed to how society sees you, and fueling your anger at your situation into a desire to change it. pretty straightforward and definitely one of the most important and dramatic parts of each characters arc in the game, because accepting change/the need for change can be hard.

the second represents the changes to their self and outlook that happened over the course of their arc, and finally solving or moving past the main “problem” that the confidant deals with. it also shows how the bonds they have made with akira and the other thieves help them figure out what they want to do in the future. it’s what comes after the change and how to settle into a new life.

in their third awakenings, the phantom thieves apologize for falling under maruki’s control, yes, but they more importantly (to me) talk about what led them to be so easily swayed— the insecurities and grief and regrets from their past that were never truly resolved by their plans for the future to move onward. the parts of themselves that they weren’t happy to see still existed within them. in these scenes they’re able to admit their fallacies and shortcomings, and it finally resolves their past self (first awakening) with their future self (second awakening) to show their present, or “true self.” and isn’t that what a persona is supposed to be? these complete selves are the real conclusion to their arcs that feel so unfulfilled to me without them. life is never perfect, never without challenges, but that struggle ever forward is what shapes us.

[astronomiaa]

So you've said that Gilver's dynamic with Dante and Vergil is he'd want to just murder Vergil while trying to make Dante suffer as much as possible. What is it about each of them that makes Gilver have these different goals and intents towards each of them?

The short answer: Gilver hates Vergil, he doesn't hate Dante.

The long answer: To answer this properly, I think I have to first point towards that I interpret Gilver to have a LOT of issues regarding his identity as basically what is a demonic clone of the twins - though I'd argue he's obviously much more Vergil's clone than he ever was Dante's. I'm going to take a guess and say that's because Mundus collected more data from Vergil than he did Dante, thanks to Dante being much better hidden from the start.

Gilver's skills with the sword and his appearance, are things he's gotten from Vergil - and as someone who very strongly wants to establish his own identity, it's infuriating that he can't ever entirely escape Vergil's shadow. It's contributed to him having this weird sort of combination of inferiority and superiority complex, where he feels inferior to Vergil (which makes him VERY angry) and wants to establish himself as superior. So he really, really hates Vergil and wants him dead. He doesn't find Vergil interesting, he doesn't care about dragging his death out for fun, he just wants Vergil *gone*.

On the other hand, regarding Dante (or rather, Tony), Gilver seems to actually *really* like him. He's a bundle of contradictions - easy to read but hard to understand, bloodthirsty but hates senseless killing, closed off but easily puts his faith in others, a rude little asshole but also incredibly kind. Importantly, he's also not Vergil.

I think Gilver may have put off killing him because he was intrigued with the mystery that was Tony Redgrave, and somewhere along the way that intrigue turned into obsession and twisted affection. Which is a very bad thing because when Gilver likes someone, he wants to make them suffer for as long as he can possibly make them.

[kitkatt0430]

Thinking about Astra's death in Supergirl. And... they could have avoided the question of whether Alex made the right choice killing Astra entirely - which Alex definitely could have ended that fight non-lethally, though whether choosing to kill Astra was the right call or not is a question I just don't know the answer to - if Non had attempted to kill Kara... thus breaking his promise to Astra.

He'd basically broken his promise to Astra already, since Non attacked Kara with the Black Mercy. Which would have eventually killed Kara, after taking it's time to do so. So the show has already established that if Non thinks he can get away with killing Kara through loophole abuse then he'll absolutely go for it. He sees Kara as a weakness Astra cannot afford.

Meanwhile, Kara has been chipping away at Astra's resolve. She's already softened from her attitude at the start of the season at this point. She spent a long time blaming Allura for imprisoning her and blaming Kara by association. But being around Kara has reminded her of how much she loves Kara. And how much she loved Allura. She's not compartmentalizing the way Non thinks she should anymore. Non is, in this case, quite right that Kara is a weakness to Astra.

And as interesting as it would have been to have had Astra stay the main villain until the end of the season, it also would have been interesting if Non took his fight with Kara as a chance to kill Kara. All they'd have to do to set things up ahead of time would be to have Non acquire a kryptonite knife while Astra was briefly locked up by the DEO. Then he pulls it out during his fight with Kara.

Meanwhile, Alex actually does get through to Astra in their fight. Rattles her. Sends her off to check in on Non's fight with Kara and when she gets there she sees the knife. She knows what Non intends. And Astra intervenes, taking a fatal blow meant for Kara.

Non, of course, blames Kara because he can't deal with being responsible for his wife's death. Which might actually make Non an interesting character as he struggles to keep the remaining Kryptonians under his command and self destructs over the circumstances of his wife's deaths. I'd imagine the Kryptonians he's working with wouldn't be thrilled to learn Non killed their General. At least, a lot of them wouldn't. Enough to potentially split their forces and clearly cause dissension in the ranks for him to deal with. And Non himself becoming increasingly erratic because he doesn't know how to deal with the fact that he'd just kept his promise to his wife then she wouldn't have died saving Kara from him.

[tiredfoxtf]

MAN I LOVE PLAYING ASTRA.

[cicos-macos]

Hm yes makes total sense of course

[writing-for-life]

Give us Dream and Johanna please!

(And I’m serious because how could you not after all the signs?)

Okay, after today’s Lucienne and Matthew news, which very likely mean unbridled moping in the rain, can I just say the following:

I’ve basically felt from day one they should replace Thessaly with Johanna. For a million reasons. Mostly because it makes show-narrative sense, but also because I’m selfish and would love to see less bi-erasure in fandom (it is a lofty goal, I know). So we see a bi woman have f/f AND m/f relationships and don’t just hype the same sex one and then ignore the other one as “straight”, as usually happens.

I’m still wildly convinced (well, hunch-style 🤣) we’re getting ConstantDream in the show. I’ll be embarrassed about it later if it doesn’t happen yet will survive, but I wrote a million times about it, so may I just draw attention to two of many:

The cinematography/framing (so many romance shots!)

His eyes in the lower one (you know when they get all sparkly with a slightly golden glow, right?)

The rain!

Her saying, “None of us can be trusted.”

Matthew saying he doesn’t like her in S1 (which is a direct mirror of the scene we’ve talked about, where he says to Lucien that he never liked Thessaly).

The way it already makes sense (Dream took Johanna’s nightmares away—she could just dream of him out of gratefulness or whatever. Same thing as with Thessaly really, easy to do).

The soundtrack. Yes, we have musical clues, read the meta.

Slight spoilers, proceed at your own risk…

The fact we’ve literally no news about AGoY and know that Wanda/Ruby have been rolled into one, which could totally mean Wanda’s arc has been changed (she doesn’t need to die in a storm/collapsed building, she might as well die in a fire).

The way that Johanna would protect Lyta for all the right reasons because of her experience with Astra.

And did I mention the rain? THE UNGODLY AMOUNT OF RAIN.

Need I go on?

[softlyapocalytpic]

@persephotea are just thinking about the Girls(TM) this week and it’s both so much fun and allows Amy to have a character arc that doesn’t end in tragedy in an AU

But also just… hammers home why her story is a tragedy. There is no Lainey in Steelheart canon, no person who is stubbornly by her side for everything, and Butch gets there too late.

She’s already cracked. Already broken in a way he doesn’t know how- and doesn’t really should know how- to fix. And then it gets worse.

She doesn’t get a lot of gentle buffers, but with Lainey she does.

Sunshine will always be the heart of my soul, but the more I developed Amy the longer it hurt my heart she never really got to Get Healthy. To be her entirely own realized person.

But for the first time I’m actually starting to wonder, who is that person? What does is she like? What does true happiness look like for her?

[ask-gikabi]

i dont have an account so i have to say it here.

Do the "He asked for no pickles" meme with your Ageswap AU characters.

Submitted by anonymous

———————————————

Meta to Astra: you’re such a buffoon how are you my teacher

Meta to everyone else: show some respect >:(

[dawnsbreaking]

Transcription: Zayne's ST "Beginning"

i transcribed Zayne's ST story for meta purposes and thought I would put the transcription here for others to have it if they haven't unlocked it yet/to have it more accessible than it is in game

everything with "Foreseer:" is Zayne speaking directly, anything not attributed is the poem. i did it this way to make it easier to read the poem on its own, since that's what i hope to analyze in the future <3

Foreseer: Shift your gaze elsewhere. Foreseer: Your expression shall not even earn an ounce of my pity. Foreseer: Though it seems a night in the throne room was not enough. Foreseer: Perhaps you desire to be frozen with the wall as your paltry confessional? [Ice SFX] Foreseer: Better to yield now than later. [Page turning SFX] Foreseer: Could you still be interested in what I’m currently reading? Foreseer: …Certainly, ’tis a poem related to Astra. Its descriptions suit you. Foreseer: Would you like to hear it? - A great distance beyond, …. north of ice and snow, Atop the Divine Mountain, When Light pierces through howling blizzards, The divine sing of Destiny’s crest My Emissary devout, Will thou be lost in these celestial halls? Will thou have the courage to wait for Mine words? To unveil thy fate predetermined. - Foreseer: You appear to be fascinated. Foreseer: [Laugh?] Hmph, then don’t speak. - With the frozen kingdom awakened, Greedy ants fall into eternal slumber. The divine rest upon their thrones, Yet hidden daggers lie beneath their robes. Brazen trespasser, Arcticyons sing of thy requiem. Dost thou know where thy stands, Upon white, gleaming bones? - Foreseer: I don’t mind repeating this verse. Consider it a prophesy of your future. Foreseer: Are you frightened? Foreseer: If this is all your courage is capable of, you best forget about the Creatio Protocore. [Page turning SFX] - Traces of destiny like shimmering starlight, Bind people who have never met… - Foreseer: I’ll stop here. The last verse is rather strange. Foreseer: Do you truly wish to strike a deal? Foreseer: You ask far too many questions. [Ice SFX] Foreseer: Must your wild curiosity be satiated? - Celestial Savior, Is thou prepared? To save him from darkness? To be his sanctuary amidst rime and gale, To allow the descent… of miracles once again? - [END] here is the poem in its entirety without interjections just to make it easier to read:

A great distance beyond, …. north of ice and snow, Atop the Divine Mountain, When Light pierces through howling blizzards, The divine sing of Destiny’s crest My Emissary devout, Will thou be lost in these celestial halls? Will thou have the courage to wait for Mine words? To unveil thy fate predetermined. With the frozen kingdom awakened, Greedy ants fall into eternal slumber. The divine rest upon their thrones, Yet hidden daggers lie beneath their robes. Brazen trespasser, Arcticyons sing of thy requiem. Dost thou know where thy stands, Upon white, gleaming bones? Traces of destiny like shimmering starlight, Bind people who have never met… Celestial Savior, Is thou prepared? To save him from darkness? To be his sanctuary amidst rime and gale, To allow the descent… of miracles once again?

[mikkaeus]

house md fic recs — short fics (<10k). hilson + rarepairs

Other house rec lists: long fics | episode tags | postcanon | infidelity trope (all of these are mutually exclusive apart from the infidelity one)

highly recommend not skipping out on the non-hilson fics!! scroll to the end for a list of some really great ones. No huddy though because I'm not the biggest fan.

house/wilson and gen fic

I decided to just lump the gen fic together with the slash because really most of them can be read as slash with a G rating. Before we get into the fics, here are some notable authors that have written several house fics. Not all their fics are going to be listed individually, but if I have the author there I've read all or a lot of their stuff and enjoyed it, so I recommend going through their backlog.

otter: Some really excellent prose and great atmosphere. A little soft, a little pensive. And they nail the characterisation and dialogue.

ignaz: im sure everyone has read ignaz's longfic (a modest proposal and its sequel — the one where house and wilson get married so wilson cant testify against house in the tritter arc) but absolutely check out all their other stuff — it's all quality.

bironic: I really enjoy the bit of edge in bironic's fics. It makes them so yummy.

bethfrish: What stands out about their fics is how they peer into all the pointy edges of Wilson and Julie's relationship, thus making them excellent and unique Wilson character studies. Great prose and dialogue that rivals the show's.

Transformatron: fics that are transcendent and porny, all featuring a d/s undertone or theme (wilson as the dom)

astolat: if u dont know astolat idk what to say to u. just go read their fics.

blackmare (livejournal / ao3 pseud 1 / ao3 pseud 2 / lj pseud third_owl for slash fics i think) Does really great short fics (mostly gen) that slot into episodes. Like meta but in fic form. All of them are worth a read. Some of their fics are on ao3 but a lot aren't (like nearly all the episodic ones).

Namaste (livejournal / ff.net): Some short fics, some much longer ones. Mostly gen focussing on H&W friendship, with some fics on canon pairings. Interesting character studies and exceptionally discerning prose that is a pleasure to read.

In order of length. *faves, ***underrated faves

***Touch by zulu (<1k) (2007) The number of ways House could embarrass him with touches, Wilson thinks, is practically endless.

Silent Sigh by thedeadparrot (<1k) (2009) Wilson, autumn, melancholy, and House. Second person.

Heartbeats by thedeadparrot (<1k) (2009) Three moments in which House and Wilson are almost kind of functional.

No Pain by bironic (<1k) (2008) House finds a permanent solution to his pain problem and convinces Wilson to give him what he needs. Vampire fic! Frottage! hell yeah.

Also check out the sequel: No Mercy by daasgrrl (3k)

***The Game of Wilson: Six Cards in a Five Card Game by paradisecity (1k) (2006) If you're going to play a game like moving in together, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time. Fun and snappy. Great dialogue.

*we're getting good at this by ad astra dean (1k) Wilson had a migraine. Established relationship. Soft and sweet and realistic esp after 8.19. fuck. Premium hurt/comfort.

**********three more stories by besselfcn (1k) The first time it happens is (New Orleans, 1991 | Albany, 2009 | Augusta, 2012) and they are (drunk | sober | out of time). This fic emotionally obliterated me. I’m obsessed with the format like it’s prose halfway to poetry, so creative and unique and well-executed??? I cried so much. I am UNWELL and immeasurably fucked up about them put me in my grave. (Yeah I said these lists were mutually exclusive but this fic is the exception bc idc)

The Awakening of Wils-Ankh-Amun, Royal Concubine by blackmare, Nightdog_barks, pwcorgigirl (1k) It was a rather unusual 'morning after.' This is hilarious. Reads like a classic prank episode. They're so dumb together I love them.

The One Where House Has Always Been a Woman by thedeadparrot (1k) (2009) Despite the hospital gossip, House is not, in fact, a man-hating lesbian. Genderswapped House but not Wilson.

Gray Morning by starlingthefool (1k) All he remembers is that the transition between a stupid joke and the meeting of mouths was almost seamless. Christmas fic that takes place one year after "Merry Little Christmas" (3.10).

Loser Day Blues by blackmare, Nightdog_Barks (1k) February fourteenth is just another day, and another evening in which Wilson winds up at House’s, although — this time — not for the usual reasons.

*indefinable by PaintedVanilla (1k) House can hear Wilson getting ready for bed; he can hear him brushing his teeth, undressing, being unusually quiet. Normally there’s a humming; a breathless energy that House won’t admit to loving about him. He doesn’t hear it tonight. It’s dead silent.

criteria by PaintedVanilla (2k) “I don’t think they know that we’re married.”

***We Live Together in a Photograph of Time by ignaz (2k) Wilson's hair curls when they're fucking. God I'm devastated. The ✨atmosphere✨. This is so in character. And can we talk about the banger title and summary??? I was gnawing my arm before I even opened the fic. Set in s4.

***Things To Do Before You Die by thedeadparrot (2k) In which Wilson turns thirty-eight and a half, thinks about kittens, and doesn't have a midlife crisis. But not necessarily in that order. Prank war with a twist. I’m so fond. Hits all the right cadences with the writing.

So Let Us Melt, and Make No Noise by ignaz (2k) (2007) "You kill patients all the time," House said. "You never stay at work until--" He peered at the clock. "--Four in the morning to make sure they're really dead."

***Curiosity by Namaste (2k) (2006) From Cameron's perspective. Fun character study of her and by extension House and the other two musketeers. Not shippy.

Welcomed Change by JammiesDodger (2k) A cute G-rated getting together fic.

Alone, Together by daasgrrl (2k) Finding new ways to be intimate.

*Keep Your Eyes Wide by deepimpact (2k) There is no specific amount of time passed, no big event, no one thing that Wilson can pin as the catalyst. Obsessed with this. Great atmosphere, excellent prose, and and everything feels authentic and in character. Set pre-season/s1.

***Carrion Eaters by ignaz House, in some indeterminate future or an alternate universe, from the perspective of a new hire. I really loved this story. It's sharp and sad, with great build up.

***Projection by bironic (2k) Remember Ali, that really pretty 17/18 year old clinic patient that was obsessed with House? This fic is Wilson's elaborate fantasy about fucking her, which is of course as much about House as it is her. Post 3.04.

***No Exchange of Payment by otter (2k) The gifts that House gives to Wilson. I adore this. It's about the little things. Otter has exceptional prose and always nails the characterisation, which makes their writing a real pleasure to read.

***All the Effects of Intoxication (3k) by otter This only happens when they're drunk. Just as yummy as that one-line description suggests. I love this a lot — the characterisation and dialogue are excellent and I think this scenario is very realistic for them.

Leave This Harbor for the Sea by otter (3k) House was never the kind of friend who'd help you move, even when he'd had two good legs, not to mention two good arms perfectly capable of lifting boxes. He'd always been the sort of friend who'd stop by while you were packing, make cutting remarks about the failures of your romantic relationships, and use all the half-filled boxes as an excuse to root through your things.

***the growing up, the falling down by riceonrye (3k for the series) Wilson is trying to buy a nice make-up present for his girlfriend, but there’s a guy in the shop with him brazenly shoplifting. Wilson, meet House. This is so good!!! I grinned like an idiot all the way through. It captures the throw-bottles-at-windows side of Wilson so well. A very cute AU of a different first meeting whilst still remaining true to the characters. Don't forget to read the sequel as well.

***never rains (but it pours) by Transformatron (3k) So... remember that episode where House can't pee? I present you some excellently written pisskink pwp. Nails the hilson dynamic, so even if piss isn't your thing, give it a go?

***Blind Spot by blackmare, Nightdog_Barks (3k) Wilson becomes blind after a head injury. genfic.

***Four Blocks South of Eden by bethfrish (3k) If you wanted paradise, you're a little off. I loved the tentative, slightly off-kilter feeling of this. Bang on characterisation, dialogue, and use of 2nd person POV (House). Set in s1 — Wilson's marriage is falling apart, and it leads to a night that could be the start of something new.

***Lie To Me by zulu (4k) It's terribly simple. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after. Exuberant ketamine summer House!!! Equal parts sexy and heartbreaking. Check out the sequel as well (1k).

Stumbling Towards Something Real by ignaz (4k) House and Wilson on holiday in Mexico. (A flagrant excuse for smut, basically.) I'm soft. In character and well-written.

Goes the Neighbourhood by Dee_Laundry (4k) One month into their permanent positions, the new fellows catch a case on the weekend and have to track House down.

***Easy by GoldStarGrl (4k) James Wilson is the easiest person in his dorm. At McGill. In all of eastern Canada, maybe. A fleshed-out version of their first meeting, as well as an insightful character study of Wilson. Slots nicely into canon, whether you believe in the "wilson has cheated on every wife with house" version or the "they fucked when they first met and never talked about it again" version. I really enjoyed this — they’re beautifully in character, and it's excellent writing.

***A Momentary Lapse of Reason by otter (5k) Wilson and Julie through House’s eyes, from the beginning to the end. Skips back and forth between the past and now. The quiet yearning!!! Also *standing on the table with a megaphone* have i mentioned how GORGEOUS otter's prose is??

*Blow the Candles Out by bethfrish (5k) Another year older, another year wiser, another divorce lurking just around the corner. So good!!! Wilson celebrates his birthday amongst the detritus of his marriage. The prose is really exceptional here. House's dialogue is also especially well done. It's a fun read that holds up well on a re-read.

***midnight rain by GoldStarGrl (5k) Wilson can't possibly know the pain. But he wants to. I am vibrating!!! Set precanon, in the aftermath of the infarction. Infidelity, spanking, hello??? Hot, vivid, excellent characterisation, excellent writing etc etc. A+ no notes.

***Through The Looking Glass (The Male Gaze Mashup) by zulu (5k) "If Wilson didn't know, great. What he didn't know couldn’t hurt him. If Wilson did know, it didn't matter, because if he hadn't berated House for it yet, then it was permission to continue." Interesting character study of Wilson and the way House slots into his life. Imaginative and fun descriptions. I did feel slightly lost at some points but it was still a great read. Excerpt: House tears open every envelope, even those addressed to Occupant, then brings back the well-read contents like a cat offering half-dead moles to its hunting-deficient human.

Empathy, Inc. by sassyjumper (5k) Cuddy hires a company that provides 'empathy training' to doctors. House reacts. Set in an earlier season.

***All's Fair In Love (and war) by Transformatron (6k) House and Wilson are enjoying the last day of their holiday when an urgent call comes through from Princeton-Plainsboro - a medical mystery that only House can solve. And he does intend to solve it, despite Wilson's best efforts to distract him. (Established relationship.) Wilson making House do a case whilst fucking him?? I'm an absolute sucker for this trope and I was delighted to find a fic with it.

A Towered Citadel by Namaste (7k) A differential diagnosis for Wilson’s serial cheating.

***And the Borders of Old Cities Get Redrawn by blackmare (7k) Continuation/canon divergence from 8.02 "Transplant". Ch1 is the most perfect episode tag I am vibrating . The way they fall back into their old rhythm!! House seeking out his touch like a cat and Wilson accepting it, even liking it!! The hints of pre-relationship are so delicious. (This is a rare slash fic from blackmare.) Ch2&3 are also absolutely brilliant!! Great characterisation, pacing, and tension-building.

A Voice in Ramah (Welcome to Holland) by ignaz (8k) Cuddy POV on her pregnancy journey. Diverges from the show. Really well done. ignaz did this topic and Cuddy's character justice. I also particularly liked House in this one.

Singapore by thedeadparrot (8k) (2009) In which the boys go to a medical conference in Singapore, House has a few surprises up his sleeve, and Wilson figures some things out.

*A Helping Hand by bironic (9k) Wilson has an unusually rough day and House decides (somewhat despite himself) to help. Things go further than he planned. A believable foray into non-platonic territory, set in between 2.22 (Forever) and 2.24 (No Reason). What better way to take your mind off your patients than a good-ol handjob between friends? Chuck in an absolutely delicious fucked-up overtone characteristic of them and we're golden.

Rarepairs

Chase/House

***pretty doctor by spqr (5k) AU where Chase is a hooker. House becomes obsessed with him after he off-handedly gives the correct differential diagnosis. spqr is an excellent writer that I've followed across multiple fandoms, and this fic did not disappoint. Well-written, great chemistry, hilarious. I could read 100k of this.

***atonement in the locker room after hours by missaa (2k) robert chase makes two mistakes in one day Tags: Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, degradation, God Complex, Catholic Guilt This is just as yummy as those tags make it sound. Someone needed to capitalise on the whole *waves hand vaguely* thing that Chase has going on and by god did this person rise to the occasion. Love the characterisation and the elegant prose, and the structure that flashes back and forth between two scenes. I'm insane!

Chase/Foreman Shoutout to ignaz who sold me on this pairing.

*Pretty Harsh (Confirmatory Testing Remix) by everybodylies (2k) Foreman might have flirted with Chase six months ago for like thirty seconds. Chase can't stop thinking about it.

***Two For The Road by ignaz (3k) For the first ever Foreman Fest, prompt 107 -- "after a break and enter gone wrong, Foreman and Chase are both sentenced to 300 hours of community service, which it looks like they're gonna spend picking up trash on the side of the road." Really solid writing (I mean it’s ignaz), believable characterisation and relationship building. I love them 💓💓💓 just overall a real pleasure to read. Also it's hilarious.

***Eric Foreman Doesn't Take It Up The Ass (But If He Did, It Might Happen Something Like This) by ignaz (6k)

Self-Defense, or The One Where Foreman Teaches Chase How to Throw a Punch by ignaz (1k)

Cameron/Foreman/Chase

Third Wheel Rolling by ignaz He's not jealous, but he's been the third wheel for so long that it's hard to tell the difference. Sexy + great characterisations.

Cuddy/Stacy

***Your Reflection and Mine by Starlingthefool (3k) Sweet, hot, well written.

Amber/Thirteen

***Hate (to the power of 13) by ijemanja (2k) (lj) Porny, with snappy writing and believable characterisations.

Hen Night by zulu (<1k) This is how breakups go. Amber's seen movies.

Release by zulu (1k) Wilson dies on the bus instead of Amber.

Chase/Wilson

Erase by bethfrish (<1k) Featuring a bar and crossdressing. Precanon. Second person, Wilson POV.

Patrick Bateman/Wilson

Just Like You, Only Worse by bethfrish (1k) Ok before you raise your eyebrows at the pairing, give it a chance. Bethfrish is an excellent writer. This fic is really a Wilson character study, and it's an interesting read. Second person POV Wilson, set in s1.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

You know seeing that tweet of astruc hating on a fan and telling them to “do better” and “you wouldn’t get the opportunity” because the fan criticized him for saying “the show is what you need and the movie is what you want”, so I’ll do what he asked and do better than him on the aspect I hate the most about the show (besides the shipping and what he did to Chloe) the villains.

Dr.Franklie:a old friend of Gabriel which is the one helping keep Emilie alive in her coffin, eventually Gabriel reaches for him again to help him make permanent Akumas and The doctor does has asked but in reality he wants the miraculous for itself for thinking the human race needs to evolve and he wants it to evolve with him has the emperor of humanity.

Jawbreaker:a teenage boy in Paris has a very bad relationship with he’s parents, a prankster dad which is very aggressive physically and a Cold Mom which is aggressive verbally, he tries to drown he’s stress by dedicating in painting but one day he’s father abandons them and he’s mother blames him, he loses it and 💀, he’s arrested and put on trial but he’s freed by Dr.Franklie which runs test on him using the Akumas Gabriel gave the doctor, he mutate into a monster which ends up absorbing part of the power of destruction from cat noir and it mitates into a bigger monster named Jawbreaker (for he’s always open venom like jaw)

Iron heart:a young girl which has been lost in the streets of Paris since she was young, her family died on a car accident meaning she didn’t have anyone but herself and other criminals of her age to be with. She ended up developing a passion for music but because of her situation that dream kinda died, specially when she was arrested by none other than ladybug while trying to rob the Dupan-cheng’s bakery, but she was freed by Dr.Franklie which mutated her aswell except her entire body got melted into a puddle of meta till she absorbs some creation power of ladybug, she ended up turning into a humanoid monster with her body entirely made out of metal able to bend metal at her will (her villain names comes from he’s Last name “Lion heart” which is the only thing she remembers from her family mixed with her new metallic form)

Queen Astra:Dr.Franklie seeing how he’s monsters (jawbreaker and Iron heart) still hold some humanity, he decides to make a “fake miraculous” and he uses it on a plan with Hawkmoth to use Iron heart,Jawbreaker and a Akuma, all of them together so they can use the fake miraculous on ladybug but it accidentally latches itself with Vesperia, The fake miraculous is actually a artificial parasite designed to be the perfect Monster with no redeeming qualities whatsoever which absorbs the miraculous energy (or any kind of energy) and the AI of the fake miraculous ends up taking over Zoe’s body and mutating her into a energy based being named Queen Astra (from Astraphobia “fear of lightning”) she acts has the right hand and spy to the doctor till she decides it’s time to strike, so she reveals there isn’t a cure for their mutantions causing her mutant partners to riot and not only kill the doctor but also take over all of Paris and they even attack the agreste mansion in a attempt to get the butterfly miraculous, she ends up absorbing so much energy she mutates into a being similar to a kwami (like Tikki using her powers in dearest family) in power and betrays her partners revealing she wants to destroy the human race but she has a weakness which is Zoe’s family which she reuses to hurt even under Atra’s control (for family I mean Mr.Lee,Andre and Chloe. Audrey doesn’t count) at the end her partners and Chloe redeem themselves ripping out the parasite out of Zoe and allowing Ladybug and Cat noir to save the day and destroy Astra queen. Her partners surrender and are put under vigilance in hope they will find a cure for their mutations

I designed each villain to be a mirror to the heroes, Jawbreaker is a mirror to Adrien (instead of a distant family he loves, he has a family he wishes he never saw again. and meanwhile Cat noir Can destroy things Jawbreaker can Break things… which means he can break something apart but I can be fixed) Iron heart and Marinette (Marinette has thousands of friends and family meanwhile Iron heart has nothing, Ladybug Can create meanwhile Iron heart Can Modify preexisting things to make something new) and Astra is a mirror to Chloe (imagine the old seasons Chloe which wasn’t the best person but could get better, meanwhile Astra is just Season 4 and 5 Chloe, I see it has a way to showcase the fans fighting the awful damnation and Double standards the show has on Chloe remembering season 2 Chloe, and the fact they are controlling Zoe is to A-showcase the writers forcing the characters to do things they wouldn’t do, B-showcase how Zoe only existed to take the good out of Chloe, C-being ironical since Zoe is being forced to be a evil person once again except this isn’t something she can reuse to do now, and D-to add emotional stakes, since queen banana they said Zoe will always love her sister and I think if Zoe actually showcased that and tried to help Chloe to stop following her mothers footsteps, would also make the posession and the stakes of the situation all the more tragic and emotional)

Also notice how I said they are redeemed (except the doc and Astra) because they are kids, they didn’t even want to be here, they went through so much stuff I think redemption and rehabilitation is needed and deserved for them. Meanwhile the grown man and the robot die because 1-he’s a grown man which turned children into monsters, he deserves to die, 2-that’s just a machine doing what she was programmed to do, the only way to stop a machine from working is destroying it.

Also I thought of their personality’s to also mirror the heroes

Jawbreaker could be calm and collected but always open for a small joke outside of all the fighting, Iron heart could be loud and energetic always cracking jokes but a very good friend and Astra would be Chloe but smarter, eviler and Sadistic

I never wanted to share any of these because I thought I couldn’t do better and calling my own work better than Astruc’s would be too self centered, not self aware of how obnoxious that sounds, and knowing comparing my work to others and calling my own better is nothing but straight up being a “a**hole”, but in reaction to him being just that big of a I-di-OTA (get it?) I think calling myself better than him is nothing but deserved

The best part with all of these ideas is that even if you showed them to Astruc, he would still come up with a way to explain why they wouldn't work compared to the villains on his show.