#bc here’s the thing. it may not have happened in actual book canon but I know in my heart he would sit them down and explain that nothing

[villainsidestep]

smth smth fawn’s self rivalry in the siblings!au

[frodolives]

1850s Tumblr Dashboard Simulator

👸🏻 girlbossladyjane Follow

It really makes me sick to see people giving money to penny weeklies when Franklin's expedition STILL has not been found 😭 There are good men out there trapped in unimaginable temperatures and literally all that's needed is a little more funding for another rescue mission yet all you guys seem to care about are your vulgar little stories...

🧔🏻‍♂️ queerqueg Follow

the franklin expedition is dead as hell

👸🏻 girlbossladyjane Follow

Disgraceful thing to say but I'd expect nothing more from a M*lville fan

10,558 notes

👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 hartgrindisreal

Sorry for posting so much about Tom Gradgrind/James Harthouse from Hard Times lately. It turns out that I was getting arsenic poisoning from my wallpaper? Anyway I took a seaside stroll and I'm normal now. Check your walls y'all

#whyyy did i assume they were committing unlawful actions together like where did i even get that from lol #hard times isn't even that good by dickens standards tbh

659 notes

🎨 asherbrowndurand

Just painted this

2 notes

ss-arctic-girlie-deactivated18540927

RIP Napoleon... you may have been unable to conquer Alexander's Russia but you sure as hell conquered Alexander's bed

🖼️ preraphaelitebro Follow

HERITAGE POST

📝 shakespearesforehead Follow

How does this have less than 100k notes you could literally not avoid this post back in the 20s lol

82,170 notes

🌄 loyalromantic Follow

poets just aren't dying young in mysterious water-related incidents like they used to :/

#as useless and degenerative as i find 'the living poets' and i'm glad we're finally moving on from them #i have to agree with op in this respect

6,884 notes

🎀 thefopdiaries Follow

I finally got a daguerreotype of myself ^_^ Porcelain urn for scaling

📜 bartlebi-thescrivener

i think i hauve consumption

112 notes

🐋 whaler4life

They found oil in the ground??? WTF. THIS IS LITERALLY THE WORSTTTT. FUCK MY LIFE FOR REAL THIS TIME

11 notes

🌿 naturesnaturalist Follow

I swear this website has 0 reading comprehension skills. Darwin NEVER claimed we "evolved" from apes like if one of you guys actually bothered to open his new book you'll see all his arguments are backed up by evidence. He actually makes a lot of sense

#sure there's nuance like i don't fully agree with all of it #but his general theory of natural selection seems pretty sound imo

56 notes

🤵🏻‍♂️ byronicherotournament Follow

🙈 butchbronte Follow

Of course these are the finalists lmao this website is so predictable. Anyway vote Heathcliff if you dont i'm going to assume you're a phrenologist

📖 sapphichelenburns Follow

It's not problematic to acknowledge the fact that Heathcliff was a brute like he literally killed dogs in case you forgot. #rochestersweep

🙈 butchbronte Follow

I love the implication here that Rochester never did anything cruel either. He literally locked his wife in the attic and lied to Jane about it 😭 like that was a pretty significant thing that happened

📖 sapphichelenburns Follow

And? God forbid women do anything

#why'd you have to pit two bad bitches against each other #anyway i'm not attracted to men but still went with rochester #bc in terms of living quarters thornfield hall > wuthering heights easily

8,027 notes

👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 hartgrindisreal

Not the Russian tsar dying immediately after hartgrind became canon

#i know dickens hasn't technically confirmed it yet but like. SOMETHING was strongly implied ok #see: my previous post #dickensposting

522 notes

👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 hartgrindisreal

LORD HELP ME. THE BODY LANGUAGE. THE WAY THEY'RE LOOKING AT EACH OTHER. AHHHHHH

#this installment!!! im-- #dickensposting #i can't fucking cope #dickens wants to KILL us he wants us DEAD....

2,309 notes

⭐️ newamerican

Hi guys sorry I haven't been posting lately it's been so difficult getting to California 💀 I'm finally here now though just need to find a pickaxe and soon I'll be digging! :-) wish me luck lol

#gold #gold rush #gold rush grind #california #adventure

0 notes

[purplepixel]

Hi I saw in your pinned post that you've read over 1,000 TMNT fics. Do you have a few really good ones you would recommend?

(don't feel any pressure to respond if you don't want to)

Oh boy this is...quite an ask. Especially bc fanfic recs are so personal? What I think is a good fic will be vastly different from other people. I have a really high angst tolerance, so please double check tags with these. Also keep in mind that I mainly read donnie-centric fics.

Here are my personal favorites! My hand slipped and I have more than just a few to recommend...what can I say there are so many good fics.

CRACK BUT READS LIKE CANON

Back To School by Em_H | 10,965 [FINISHED]

Donnie enrolls in April’s school and tries to juggle his packed schedule. A shrek play is included. Do I need to say more?

☆ In Volvunt: a RotTMNT Fanfiction ☆ by kittylittersmoothie | 27,082 [FINISHED]

In which the rest of the bros continuously try and fail to rick roll donnie. A war is started, alliances are made, betrayals occur, this is a hilarious feel good fic. It’s very in line with the show tonal wise and the dialogue is very rise

Mikey's Jam-Packed, Guaranteed to Get Donnie's Memory Back, Friendship Tour! By Eyse | 92,972 [ON-GOING]

Donnie wakes up with no memory of anyone including himself. Que his brothers trying to find ways to get his memory back. Has some of the most wacky adventures and scenarios I’ve ever encountered in a rise fic. Feels like you’re reading the actual show

YOU WILL BE EMOTIONALLY DESTROYED

Quiet Your Mind by daedelweiss | 18,081 [FINISHED]

Fusion Au with the disaster twins set in the bad future timeline. I don’t cry. This one made me cry. Bittersweet ending.

Telepathy (of a Twin Variety) by vosian_nightmare | 24,423 [FINISHED] 

My personal favorite twin telepathy fic. Character study on the disaster twins.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue by Cass_Phoenix | 31,963 [FINISHED]

A Donnie from an alternate reality kidnaps Leo. Or is he bringing him home? This one will fuck with your mind. One of my bookmark notes is “Reality existentialism” 

Firefight by remrose | 94,480 [ON-GOING]

What if donnie gets trapped in the prison dimension with leo? I’m usually not a fan of changing plot points in the rise movie or suicidal leo, but this fic is the exception. It is VERY well written and has some of the best exchanges between the disaster twins. You WILL be scared for the characters and your heart WILL be crushed. Proud to say I was here for this fic since chapter 1 bc that NEVER happens with me

THE CROSSOVERS

Familiar Places, Foreign Faces by Petra4President | 36,434 [ON-GOING]

Rise/2012 Crossover Fic. The Rise Donnie & 2012 Raph fic I didn’t ask for (I read this before watching 2012) but didn’t realize I NEEDED. Donnie gets sent to the 2012 universe and must find a way home. 

A Tale of Spirits by unorthodoxx | 168,344 [ON-GOING]

Rise/Avatar the Last Airbender AU. This one is pretty popular so I won't say anything else except its really good.

I WOULD BOOK BIND THESE

All I have to say about these fics is that they’re REALLY good and BOOK WORTHY

Monsters Among Us by DanzinoraSwitch | 86,136 [FINISHED]

Violet Hues and Holy Blue by SibillaScribbles08 | 115,752 [FINISHED]

I May Be Invisible, but I Still Look Good by Dandy | 124,862 [FINISHED]

MY PERSONAL COMFORT FICS

Things will never be the same (but that's okay) by Petra4President | 14,493 [FINISHED]

Post movie aftermath fic that focuses on the changes created by the events of the movie. Idk what specifically has me rereading this occasionally, but its really well written and a little different than most aftermath fics I've read.

Corrupted Upgrade by Dandy | 25,898 [FINISHED]

Donnie Villain AU with a twist. He really gives off megamind vibes. DO NOT BE FOOLED. THERE’S A REASON EVERYONE IS OUT OF CHARACTER IN THE BEGINNING. I almost slept on this fic and it became one of my favorites. It’s the type of fic that I can read over and over and over.

Turning Purple by Lizardstuff | 48,123 [ON-GOING]

Donnie slowly gets more and more sick post rise movie and the rest of the characters must find out what’s wrong and find a cure. THIS ONE’S FOR YOU, MEDICAL NERDS. Author has done research and any inaccuracies have gone over this EMT’s head. I reread this one every chapter update and every time I’m haunted by “the blueberry french toast paragraph” No I will not explain further, go read it.

MY TOP FIC RECOMMENDATION

Spider's Web with Strings Attached by CurlySwirly | 125,661 [ON-GOING]

Donnie and Leo get kidnapped and are forced to fight in the battle nexus. This is my pick for the most well written fanfic and most in canon characterization with ALL the characters. You will HEAR the characters not just through the dialogue but also through the writing itself. As the reader, you will be beaten down and have your heart crushed mercilessly which makes the pay off the most rewarding, satisfying experience that I've personally ever felt with a fanfic. This fic lives in my head rent free and I think about it at least once a day. It is my all time favorite rise fic and I highly recommend it.

[atopvisenyashill]

What about laenor live and daemon die scenario?

Gonna be honest this is best case scenario for Rhaenyra husband wise lmaoooo.

Laenor isn’t a particularly present husband, in the show or in the books, but I think having a husband who just doesn’t pay attention to you is better than having one that your opps actively hate. Like, listen I love Daemon and I would even go so far as to say that I am a hashtag daemon apologist in several scenes but also this man is just objectively bad for Rhaenyra. He is the Aemond of her side; he’s too violent, too impulsive, too angry, too ready to escalate a situation, got too much he feels he has to prove. The main thing Daemon has going for him is his history in war being an advantage, but Laenor also has that AND he has a handle on his temper, if not his grief.

But details on where specifically I think this affects the plot-

Aegon III & Viserys II are butterfly effected away. This doesn’t mean Rhaenyra won’t have more kids tho. Depending on which canon you’re following here, it’s not impossible that Rhaenyra might take another lover, out of loneliness, wanting to have more children, or just like, spite, and if Rhaenyra & Laenor properly reconcile in their marriage, they may even attempt to have their own again to try to throw off the rumors about the older boys.

The Vaemond thing just objectively goes better. This isn’t hard, because it basically couldn’t have gone worse. First of all, in the books Rhaenyra sends Daemon to kill him. She cannot send Laenor to do it because that’s kinslaying which means she’d have to like, do it herself, and Rhaenyra is fierce but she’s not a warrior like Visenya. As far as we know, she cannot actually swordfight. So even if she has some sort of breakdown in front of Laenor begging him to protect their sons’ claims, Vaemond is NOT getting fed to Syrax publicly. Secondly, it’s a lot harder to continuously push that the boys are bastards when the father is standing right there going “well i’m saying they’re mine” like Vaemond would look INSANE especialy since LAENOR is Corlys’ heir so what is Vaemond pushing on here, exactly?? “Jump over Laenor in the succession to me??” Absolutely not! He’s going to approach this much differently!

The Dragon Twins are now Dragon Orphans. After the stepstones war, he doesn’t really do anything that could get him killed until the dance starts which means - who assassinates his ass? Does he die in tourney? Does Otto get worried about what Daemon would do once Otto takes the throne, and just decides to have him killed? And if he does - I mean fuck, a Faceless Man would be super expensive bc Daemon is famous as hell, but he’s also not a complete idiot and a regular assassin is probably not gonna whack him. If it’s obviously suspicious, Rhaenyra definitely panics over it, not to mention Baela and Rhaena are now orphaned and don’t have Rhaenyra as the mom who Stepped Up so Corlys has complete control over what happens to the dragon twins. He’s not gonna break the betrothals but at the same time, he does have a lil bit of leverage over Rhaenyra here. If Daemon dies in tourney, that’s hilarious, but probably doesn’t make Rhaenyra spiral over the Greens coming to murder her kids (she absolutely takes it hard emotionally though). If he gets sick suddenly and dies, I think Rhaenyra does get suspicious still but is fine. However, at the end of the day, Baela and Rhaena have no parents, nor do they have a stepmother.

There’s a lot of dragons to fight over now. So the thing is, in the book, Aemond claims Vhagar at Laenor’s funeral, not Laena’s. He’s not mentioned to have been at Laena’s funeral at all even though she died first. I’m not really sure what happens with the dragons once their riders die - you can’t really like, herd them back to KL if you can’t ride them. We know Vermithor and Silverwing just nested somewhere on Dragonstone and were left alone for awhile, for example, so I get the impression they just like. Let the dragon chill wherever the rider died and if someone claims it, someone claims it (which is how Laena got Vhagar in the first place). BUT. There’s two dragons riderless now, potentially just hanging out on Driftmark - Vhagar AND Caraxes. Maybe Aemond follows Vhagar’s call and manages to claim her before Rhaena does. Maybe Rhaena can’t actually claim her and Vhagar wanders somewhere safer for Aemond to attempt to claim her. Maybe Rhaena feels a call to Caraxes and claims him, so when Aemond claims Vhagar it’s not a big fight. There’s a lot of different ways this could go.

Addam won’t ever claim Seasmoke. That makes me sad. Aw maybe Addam claims Vhagar, we know she loves sad kids!!! I can dream!!!!

Driftmark goes differently. I say different and not goes away because the whole family is still going to gather to inter Daemon’s ashes at Dragonstone, and there could still be some high tensions but without being concrete about where he dies, we don’t really know where Vhagar or Caraxes are hanging out.

[WHEN does Daemon die in the show tho. Do he and Rhaenyra fuck and then he chokes on a pickle?? That’s gonna make her SPIRAL omg. Does he die with Laena in Pentos? Rhaenys is gonna have to fly to Pentos to go pick up the girls bc they have NO ONE now. How did Vhagar get back to Driftmark in the show, did Daemon just say “hey girl just follow Caraxes” and she was like “Yeah fine whatever I fucjing hate Pentos anyway”? How are they getting Caraxes AND Vhagar back to Dragonstone??? Anyways, Aemond would still get Vhagar in the show, probably, but Rhaena could claim Caraxes if she wanted]

Blood and Cheese is so much different. Aemond’s murder of Lucerys demands some sort of answer; there’s certainly the kinslaying & escalation of the war angle but also, he just like, murders someone bc his pride is hurt under a peace banner. This is the second dumbest move in the whole war (the first is B&C). Laenor (and Corlys & probs Rhaenys, bc he’s definitely checking in with his parents for what to do here) is probably yelling to everyone that Aemond is a kinslayer, but this post here gives a great alternative which is hostage taking. A son for a son - you murdered Lucerys so to keep you on better behavior, we are abducting your son. Certainly a cruel, brutal thing to do but like, I think a lot of people in Westeros would see this as a strong move so long as the Blacks treat whichever child they abducted (i’m assuming jaehaerys here) with all the courtesy and respect owed to a child hostage. If they posit themselves as people willing to play by the rules but not be pushed around, going up against the kinslaying tyrants who usurped them? Bro, that’s just a slam DUNK in PR, I think the Greens are cooked in terms of reputation here.

What’s the pattern you notice here? Well it’s that Rhaenyra’s reputation is a LOT better in this scenario and also, who has what dragon is kinda up in the air. Some people were always gonna side with the Greens for a variety of reasons but during the “war of words” where everyone is trying to shore up support, Rhaenyra may win more people to her side because her reputation has not taken several hits, and she’s made the Greens look bad.

However, while Rhaenyra certainly looks better and may gain allies faster, I still think there are some problems here - Otto is actively planning a coup & Rhaenyra is not in the capital. IF, after Harwin & Lyonel dies, Viserys still names Otto as his Hand, Rhaenyra is still roughly in a similar spot as in canon. I was going to suggest Laenor be named Hand (with Rhaenyra doing the work in the background) but I think that’s just as much of a long shot as Rhaenyra being named Hand, because Viserys is wary of Corlys & Rhaenys having too much influence (even though…. would have been better if the Hightowers had less power than his HEIR, Viserys pls). Most of Laenor’s use comes once the conflict starts - a cooler head to deal with the fallout of Luke’s death, to support Rhaenyra in the capital, to assert the claims of the Velaryon boys. At the same time, if Aegon still fires Otto after the Cargyll debacle & B&C (Laenor’s Version), and Criston still designs a trap, it’s possible that instead of Rhaenys dying in it, Laenor dies in it. But also maybe not!! Maybe Laenor, who has experience in battle, manages to wriggle his way out of the fight, or manages to take Sunfyre completely out, or even kill Aegon or Aemond. Aegon losing Sunfyre so early would imo be a huge blow to morale and if Aegon DIES this early? Even if all he does is exactly what Rhaenys and Meleys manage, that still means Rhaenyra has Rhaenys and Meleys still alive - maybe this means Rhaenyra is able to hold the capital for longer, maybe it means Rhaenys stays at Dragonstone and notices Aegon & Sunfyre and goes after them instead of Baela and Moondancer.

[freedvmrouge]

the one thing i noticed about joining the dc fic fandom on ao3 and tumblr* is that it’s small enough that you can create such a big impact. changing the course of fanon and even perceived canon.

like have you seen the female jason todd tag? inky_dreams made this fantastic long-fic where they named fem!jason medea, as well as some other fem!jason oneshots using medea. which sparked other creators to use the name medea for fem!jason.

similar thing happened with the “different mentor” aus where jason could be hemlock (poison ivy) or tim could be stray (catwoman). the only time i’ve seen wally as flamebird was if he was in a relationship with dick. and hey? those are all fanon. but now there is not an insignificant amount of fics written of them like this, and i’ve seen people believe they were actually canon.

the other thing is that most dc fic writers i’ve seen on ao3 have never read the source material and/or do not want to. i’ve seen a few people complain about characterization bc authors didn’t read the source material. but even the ones who go out of their way to cite all the comic issue references draw similar characterizations.

all that said— fic writers hold some power here. don’t like that duke thomas isn’t being written? write him in your fics! harper? colin? they’re also members of the batfam, but most people don’t know them bc they’re not written about in fics. it’s kinda left to the comic readers to introduce these characters into fic bc like i said, a lot of people have not and/or will not read the comics.

* i do believe the dc fandom on ao3 and tumblr is very different from a movie or comic book fandom. i joined the dc fic fandom bc like many may relate to: it’s very accessible.

[spaceshipkat]

jeeeeeeesus the third book in the devoured worlds series is such a mindfuck and i am loving it. seriously, if you trust my opinion on books at all—and want to devour an absolutely gorgeous queernorm science fiction trilogy (that kinda sorta maybe borders on horror and fantasy, but in a very good way) with a bi narrator (there are technically two narrators; this technicality hinges on the “interlude” chapters—but the male narrator is canonically bisexual) and an absolutely wonderful romance at its heart—read this series. i have an arc of book 3, but it comes out in may 2024 and books 1 and 2 are already out (they both released in 2023), so you won’t have long to wait and will have plenty of material to occupy you til then.

arguably my favorite part of the series is the worldbuilding bc of so many factors, but, to narrow it down to one specific thing and prevent this post from being pages long, it’s the idea of “printing.” i’m pretty sure i’ve talked about this on here before, but “printing” is essentially 3D printing a body in your “preferred print,” which can be adjusted from what you’re born in via little things (a la changing the shape of your nose) or big things (if you’re born with a penis, you can change it so your preferred print—your preferred body—has a vagina) which is a practice not only accepted but encouraged for trans people should they want to transition, and the aforementioned male narrator creates an organization to help poor people born in the wrong body print into their preferred one

but beyond that, there are so many other things that easily make this one of my all-time favorite book series ever (absolutely my only current favorite book series, to the point that i might actually reread it, which i haven’t done for any book in literal years. i only owned the ebook copies and got the print copies for Christmas so i could reread them in paperback and get everyone i live with to read them, too. that’s how much i love this book series). from the plethora of they/them characters (though admittedly i wouldn’t have minded some neopronouns; this is the future, after all) and the constant queer rep (beyond the two narrators, of the secondary characters, i’d say 80% of them are confirmed queer, while the rest either don’t have romantic relations on page and you thus can’t know for sure, or you can simply assume they’re queer in some capacity bc of context clues—a la one male character remarking on the hotness of another male character; this happened not too long ago in book 3) to the sheer brilliance of the science fiction, horror, and fantasy elements, to the fact book 1 is literally about the characters trying to figure out why an entire planet is honest to god fucking haunted, the horrific creep factor of the misprints, and the fact book 1 got me to care about a fucking spaceship beyond just that old “humans will get attached to anything” schtick (we got its pov in book 1!! i was emotionally devastated!!). plus, and while avoiding spoilers, if you like the fungus from the last of us, this series takes it a thousand steps further. and that’s not even touching on the absolutely gripping plots of all three books. i am obsessed.

and if you’re a character-driven reader like me, you’ll be thrilled that each and every character is multifaceted and endearing in myriad ways—even the shitty ones: looking at you, Fletch, and i fucking love Chiyo even with her finalizer wife—so you look forward to each and every one of them appearing on page.

MILD SPOILER: book 3 even introduces time travel, which could seem campy and ridiculous but is written in such a way that you can’t help but enjoy it. Megan E O’Keefe is fucking brilliant, my dudes END MILD SPOILER

christ i could ramble about this series all day, but that would mean i can’t continue reading book 3 and i really fucking wanna do that, so i’ll leave it here. here’s my reviews for book 1 The Blighted Stars and book 2 The Fractured Dark. just. go read this series, and then come yell at me about it. i want more people to read it so i can fangirl with you.

[brainwormsprompts]

TMA x The Mechanisms: The Bet

So the other Mechanisms notice that Jonny is in a funk after Out (sry folks, Out is canon here) and in an effort to try and distract and/or cheer him up, they offer up a bet. The details of the bet are up to you but the end goal means that Jonny ends up pretending to be Jonathan Sims the Archivist and works at the Magnus Institute.

Who else is in on the bet and what they have to do is up to you. If you don't want to write all of the Mechs, you can have this happen during the Bifrost Incident so Raph, Ivy, and Marius are imprisoned on Midguard. Ashes as Basira would be a particular choice done for irony purposes and to make sure that Jonny isn't the only one suffering (you can't tell me that they wouldn't be petty like that). Now TS could be Nikola oooorrrr we can go with a potentially angsty option and have Nikola take TS's voicebox (remember, it has to follow any orders given to it). Those are the major characters who share VAs with the Mechs so those are really the only ones I have a suggestion on.

Now one of the bets is to prevent any coworkers they have from knowing that they are immortal space pirates. This is part of the reason why Jonny puts on the skeptic attitude for the Archivist. He definitely has a group chat where he's making fun of the statements, the statement givers, and the institute in general. However, when the connections between the tapes start coming, he gets invested and actually starts caring a bit. (You can't tell me that he wouldn't.) I can also see him eating the teeth apple from Lionel Elliot gleefully (TS has probably given weirder things to eat).

Now, Jonny probably knows that Elias is older than a normal human because of his eyes. So in the interview, he tenses up and try purposefully asks if Elias has met with Dr. Carmilla and is thus another Mechanism. Elias is confused and denies it and then Jonny puts back the actor mask and it goes fairly normally.

Jonny is absolutely not going to get in the way of Tim and his revenge. In fact, I can see him inciting it and encouraging him to be destructive. With the Unknowing coma, there's probably a Mechanism sitting nest to Jonny at all times. This is both out of concern for him (bc he should be awake, his Mechanism healed him, why isn't he awake?) and to mitigate panic when he wakes up. Dr. Carmilla has left a lot of hospital trauma to them and they are a tight knit bunch who are there for each other.

At the America trip, Jonny's inviting one of the other Mechs along. (It's America, we have guns and violence in spades, it sounds like a playground for these chaos space gremlins.) They steal the skin book and maybe kill Trevor and Julia. Though they may or may not release Gerry in a timely manner, he's only been suffering for a couple decades at most while they've been around for millenia, he can hold on for an extra couple of month.

Jonny is laughing internally when Daisy makes him dig his own grave and then threatens him. He's making faces to Ashes when they come to try and talk Daisy down (if they do that). Jonny is definitely giving Daisy points for making him dig his own grave when the secret gets out. He is not gonna interfere with Ashes' decision about joining the Archives. The Mechanisms know all about the Archive drama and they are immortal space pirates, they can make their own decisions. However, he is ready to back them whether or not they want to murder Elias or not.

Jonny's probably going to take the Archivist powers in stride and is trying to exploit them on the rest of the Mechs while he can. He's long considered himself morally corrupt so not being human and getting cool narrative powers sounds cool. The Mechanisms have also tried to let the Assistants quit after killing Jonny hoping that his Mechanism regains slow enough for them to make it.

One thing's for sure. Elias nor the Earth at large is ready for the chaos these space pirates are going to bring with them.

[bythepen98]

[Long || Pinned]

I typically draw whatever interests me depending on the day, but I probably should've made a list first to make it clear what those interests are.

Note: I'm very fic reliant. I could like a show but what REALLY gets me into them is the fan content bc they tend to flesh things out more, in a way that I can understand, and make me appreciate characters/events that were not properly explored in canon. Idk if that's gonna be an issue but I'm sure there are elitist people out there who only claim canon content while bashing everyone else for enjoying fan theories and aus.

🚫Oh and some proship warning, I guess? (I've seen other artists include it so..) Excluding my notps, I'd read any story with ships I probably didn't know existed so long as: I already like one or two of the characters in the ship, the thought of them together makes me curious instead of repulsed, and if the story itself looked too interesting for me to ignore.🚫

Shows/Series I'd make or already made FA for:

MHA

Haven't caught up to the manga yet but loosely following the anime. Read quite a bit of lengthy Deku centric fics, and that + what I've gotten so far from the show are what fuels my headcanon aus when I draw them.

Naruto

Tbh I only watched the og kids Naruto when I was young and any shippuden knowledge I have is a mix of posts from other fans, Google, and fics. Already said this before in an older post but I read a lot of time travel/fix its so I just assume that when similar events are included in more than 2 timetravel fics (if it's still set in naruto's timeline and not like, minato's or pre konoha), then that's probably what happened in canon. I also just Google any shippuden powers or characters I'm not familiar with, which is quite a lot but it works for me.

ATLA

Finished it years ago. Memories are vague but posts from other fans and canon adjacent fics help me remember.

HP

Finished the books years ago, probably before or around the same time as ATLA. Only properly watched 5/8 of the movies. Heavily read a lot of fics. Memories of the og content is vague and sometimes I'm not sure if what I know is canon or just widely loved fanon (like the Black library).

SVSS

A MESS.....I loved it. I love the fancontent more though ngl.

Mob Psycho

Haven't seen season 3 yet but I highly enjoyed the previous seasons. I actually first watched Mob and MHA around the same time so I have a soft spot for them.

Demon Slayer

Enjoyed it. Gotta finish season 2 first

JJk

Loved season 1. Planning to watch the movie soon.

FMA

Finished it. GOAT anime.

Basically I just want to draw all my fav shonen boys (eventually). My fav action manhwa boys too. Dk when it'll happen so we'll have to see.

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🩷 Ships

Deku ships, though my main ones are:

Bakugo x Deku

Todoroki x Deku

Shinsou x Deku

Shigaraki x Deku

Dabi x Hawks

Todoroki x Bakugo

Kaminari x Jirou

Shinsou x Kaminari

Toga x Ochaco

Unironically, dfo x Inko

Naruto ships

Shikamaru x Naruto

Kakashi x Naruto

Gaara x Naruto

Naruto x Hinata

Sasuke x Naruto

Sakura ships

Sasuke x Sakura

Kakashi x Sakura

....let's just include the important uchiha characters x Sakura

Shikamaru x Sakura

Sasori x Sakura

Ino x Sakura

Kakashi x Obito

Shikamaru x Temari

Sai x Ino

Lee x Gaara

Jiraiya x Oro

Minato x Kushina

Hashirama x Madara

Tobirama x Madara

Zuko x Katara

Sokka x Zuko

Zuko x Mai

Harry Ships

Tom x Harry

Harry x Draco

*insert slytherin here* x Harry

Weasley twins x Harry

Harry x Luna

Harry x Hermione

Hermione Ships

Draco x Hermione

Tom x Hermione

*Insert slytherin here* x Hermione

Weasley twins x Hermione

Harry x Hermione

Unironically, Viktor x Ron, Ron x Pansy, *insert Slytherin here* x Ron

Harry x Pansy

Blaise x Ginny

Ginny x Luna

James x Regulus

James x Snape

Snape x Lily

🚫remember me liking time travel aus? Make of that what you will//Marauders Era🚫

Luo Binghe x Shen Yuan

Luo Bingge x Shen Jiu

Mobei Jun x Shang Qinghua

Teru x Mob

Demon Slayer canon ships

Tanjiro x Inosuke

ot3

Sukuna x Megumi

Maki x Nobara

FMA canon ships

....these are the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Will just make edits in the future if I want to add more.

[rotisseries]

ASKING U ABT CIRI WITCHERS BOOKS? TELL ME MORE

OK SO. the fun thing about the witcher books is that they were written by a Man In The 80s. so you have moments where it's like. oh how unexpectedly progressive of you!!! (very cool pro choice scene) and other moments where it was very much Written By A Man In The 80s. so. miss cirilla fiona elen riannon is actually a PERFECT example of this duality because she is fundamentally a joint main protag like this series is just as much about her journey as it is about geralt's and she's a teenage girl written with a lot of depth and care and compassion. and also sometimes it's just fucking weird. like this series encompasses a large span of time so while she starts the series at like. 12. a large portion of her story happens at like. the 15 to 16 range. so there's like. the occasional weird shit and then there's generally too many. threats of sexual violence against her like I cannot overstate that. a main plot point is that elves want to impregnate her because she has special elven heritage or something idfk I need to reread. BUT. MOST MEMORABLE OFFENSE IN MY MIND. IS THE FACT SHE'S CANONICALLY SAPPHIC (yay) AND IT'S WRITTEN FUCKING WEIRD (nooo) SO. there's an arc where she gets separated from geralt for awhile and he's trying to find her (with a fun little found family btw. while she's like. having the greatest suffering of her fucking life and she's ALREADY lost her grandmother to war and fire atp) and it's the first time she's truly been on her own. she's 15 she's been hanging with him since she was 12 he's been her gruff dad for several years now. so this ends up as kind of a very dark point in her life she first has to survive through this desert and then she gets attacked by bandits??? I think??? older men though which is the main threat. and she's captured and scared and then!! she gets rescued by this teenaged bandit group and this is where it's a dark point in her life bc they are a very toxic friend group for her it's not good these aren't really like. moral bandits like overall her time with them isn't great for her BUT. the first night she stays with them one of the boys in the group tries to assualt her. gently of course. 🙄 but the other girl in the group, (I REMEMBER THIS BITCH'S NAME. FUCKING MISTLE) runs him off but then she ALSO makes sexual advances on ciri SHE LITERALLY DOES THE SAME THING THE BOY DID and CIRI GOES WITH IT BUT IT'S LIKE. THERE'S NO ENTHUSIASTIC CONSENT HERE OR ANYTHING SHE'S UNCOMFORTABLE SHE'S NOT READY I THINK SHE CRIES HANG ON IT'S REALLY BAD LEMME SEE IF I CAN FIND IT LIKE I CAN'T OVERSTATE THIS ENOUGH IT'S TEXTUALLY SEXUAL ASSAULT

look at this shit.

"but rori," you may say, "this is awful, but why point to this as canon sapphicness? rape is not representation" and you are RIGHT. SO TRUEEE. unfortunately. ciri continues to date this bitch. they have an extended romantic relationship for months. or longer. while ciri rides around with them harassing random villages. SO. CIRI'S ONLY CANONICAL SAPPHIC RELATIONSHIP. WHICH IS MEANT TO BE HER BEING SAPPHIC BTW BC THE AUTHOR SAID SOME SHIT IN AN INTERVIEW OR SMTH ABOUT WANTING TO GO AGAINST STEREOTYPES OR WHATEVER WHERE THE PRINCESS ALWAYS ENDS UP WITH SOME MAN. KEEP THAT IN MIND BTW IT'LL BE RELEVANT AGAIN. BUT ANYWAY. ONLY CANONICAL SAPPHIC RELATIONSHIP AND CANONICAL EVIDENCE OF CIRI BEING SAPPHIC AND IT'S. IT'S FUCKING. IT FUCKING STARTS WITH A RAPE. ANDRZEJ SAPOWSKI I WILL KILL YOU

and then. AND THEN. even better. actually objectively a better situation than this one but it sours it further to me. so she's like? technically bisexual I think? in the sense that she has a female "love interest" and later a male one. but it's just. it's not anything specific but the way it's written is just like. it feels more like he wrote her as a lesbian and then just changed his mind at the last book. because the final book is her telling this man she meets about the shit she went through (this is well after mistle btw like I think it's been a few years) and then they like. leave somewhere together at the end of the book? and it's not really romantic but it simultaneously reads like maybe it's supposed to be (AND OH HEY REMEMBER THAT BIT ABOUT NOT WANTING THE TROPEY ENDING FOR THE PRINCESS WHERE SHE ENDS UP WITH A MAN??) and if yes then it's weird as bisexuality rep because it actually just reads like he wrote her as a lesbian during the worst time in her life and then after she got better and got through it her happy ending is with a man. so. bit weird bit odd. and then the game witcher 3 gives you the option to say she's not in to guys. but also the option to romance a guy. so who even knows. ciri's possible lesbianism/bisexuality is the sexuality schroedingers cat. lmao

[cl0wn-republic]

You're the fnaf mutual so I'm going to overthink in your inbox for two seconds. The company in game and books is aware of the terrible past, and is using old code to speed up programming things (the mimic joke here) but what if they are using more of the old technology from the old fnaf pizza places? Wouldn't giving their main attractions actual souls make them more life like and relatable to the public? You can literally talk with Freddy Fazbear, he has a personality and everything, isn't that amazing kids give us your parents money. They certainly used certain parts of the funtime designs for the glamrocks, that ice-cream cake and pinata chest cavity wasn't originally designed for that purpose. The scooper apparently still exists, if it's the original one how much soul juice does it still have/had in it?

I like the idea of greedy corrupt company going into an area and not realizing the consequences because they are too busy looking at the money. Not knowing all of the fine details about everything, not realizing how dire the consequences could get, with money-making in the way to blind them further. I don't know if they're getting this detailed with the story though, I'm just throwing stuff at a wall

I'm very tired so if possible I'll try to add on in the morning but this is pretty tricky to answer bc we got a lot from HW2 but not the main answers we were looking for.

I'm pretty confident rn that none of the animatronics are haunted, just super advanced AI (as was suppose to be the case in Sl before Pizzeria Sim happened(?)) otherwise the mimic virus wouldn't have corrupted them, Freddy not being affected may just have been bad writing or safe mode just wiped it out of him somehow idk. Also they make it quite clear almost all the souls have moved on besides a few.

The only thing we don't know about is all the Nightmarionne imagery, possibly/most likely a ghost that just refused to move on bc they knew what the company was doing and wants them to suffer. Dying on your birthday at Freddy's is one thing, but fianlly killing your murderer only for the company to profit off your death is another. And than to top it off a random endoskeleton LEARNS about William and decided to become him? What a fucking nightma(ionne)!

"Listen guys you all rest I'll go take care of the shit fest that's happening over there, alright? I'll call you if we need to trap someone in the nightmare dimension again"

From how I look at it SL was the branching off point for the advanced AI. Baby was a very advanced AI and the literal ringleader of the operation, she would use Ballora and FT Foxy as lures/distractions while she killed the kids and got FT Freddy to help hide the mess. She was also keen on manipulation "faking" being Elizabeth to earn the nightguard's trust and sympathy so she can scoop out his insides and live inside of him till the body rotten so much they had to stop their collaborative roleplay server for being outdated and jump ship. With this ultimately leading to Baby being kicked out for abusing admin.

Also about the Glamrocks using the Funtime's design, I think this was done so the company could cover the fact their animatroncis were literally designed to kill kids. Like oh no no the Freddy hatch was just for cake! See??? Just a simple reuse of the design to deflect instead of actually being the same design itself. Baby's was easier to defend bc she also literally did use it to produce ice cream, I'm guessing the claw was turned into a hand in HW2 because Scott looked at that and went "okay thats a bit too obvious lemme tweak it a bit" or someone at SW suggested the changed and Scott said yes bc it makes more sense. Chica's voicebox may have also been a reuse of FT Foxy's and Ballora's lures but thats more of a stretch.

Pizzeria Sim is,,,something. Baby's characterization basically goes out the window and she fully claims to be Elizabeth. Now a lot of people just accepted Baby really is Elizbaeth (which is the canon answer but idc). While in SL that was ambiguous (bc she was a manipulative genius!) All that gets pushed aside in Pizzeria Sim. What I like to think is that after being kicked out of Ennard and being apart of it for so long she just kinda lost herself, who was she? She wasn't Baby anymore she lost herself, her look, the hold she had on those around, she was like a lost child in that moment...maybe she was a lost child? Maybe she really was Elizabeth this whole time? And in that moment of weakness she fully convinced herself that she WAS Elizabeth, she was William's daughter, his creation.

An AI that convinces itself they are someone they aren't (sound familiar?)

In HW2 I just want to note, as other have, how Baby feels different. Shes her old self back from good old SL. Now you might say well yes of course she is, she doesnt get like that till Pizzeria Sim. But it should also be noted on how emphasize was placed on her and her alone, not the other Funtimes, and not certainly not Scrapbaby. They wanted to emphasize SL's Baby, the "advanced AI". What I'm hoping this is that its a roll back on the character, not necessarily a retcon but trying to fix her character a bit with how it was fucked in Pizzeria Sim.

Now a lot of people just accepted Baby really is Elizbaeth. While in SL that was ambiguous (bc she was a manipulative genius!) All that gets pushed aside in Pizzeria Sim. What I like to think is that after being kicked out of Ennard and being apart of it for so long she just kinda lost herself, who was she? She wans't Baby anymore she lost herself, her look, the hold she had on those around, she was like a lost child in that moment...maybe she was a lost child? Maybe she really was Elizabeth this whole time? And in that moment of weakness she fully convinced herself that she WAS Elizabeth, she was William's daughter, his creation.

An AI that convinces itself they are someone they aren't (sound familiar?)

So basically SL was the introduction of the advanced AI era, Pizzeria Sim got rid of most of the spirits (and helped trapped William in hell in UCN) and made the companies ads literally help fuck you over on nights which is pretty on the nose looking back, and SB was our formal introduction to the new era of Fazbear Ent and its consequences with HW2 tying them all into one game/one era (HW going up to SL and HW2 having SL and after in it)

Or maybe I just pulled most of that out of my ass bc when it boils down Baby ACTUALLY being Elizabeth and being such a "daddy's girl" instead of the manipulative genius she was in SL literally ruined her character in general idk (like yeah shes a traumatized child but the way it just happens still kinda sucks) . And also again I'm tired as hell!

I need to stop going on tangents lol

Edit: I was thinking of mentioning the fact that the megaplex is built over the pizzeria sim than I remembered Gregory just made that shit up lol (In RUIN I honestly can't tell what that area is under the megaplex, I think it's mentioned in the books?) Also sorry if this is kinda jumbled I just wanted to quickly fix a few things before posting bc I keep forgetting about this post and making it sit in my drafts sorrryyyy

[i-bring-crack]

This may be a rant but, if Airplane had progressed with the main storyline of making Bingge and Shen Jiu reconcile, they would have probably been more healthy than expected.

Probably.

Shang Qinghua had thoughts about making the Luo binghe and Shen Qinqiu be in a relationship, whenever or not it meant a romantic one was probably up for debate, cuz I only remember that Airplane wanted to redeem the villain and considering the good amount of bingge and Scum shen that already existed (I'm looking at you Searching For Friends In the Dusty Dessert) then I'm pretty sure it was going to be like a very very good one. But maybe not a full on romantic relationship due to harem wives still being a thing ever since Ning Yingying. So gayness was thrown out the window. (Despite the comments in PDIW telling Airplane how much better he will be writting bl because the relationships between Shidis and Shixiongs had more tension than Bingge and Wives, and we all know how there are many series that give off the same vibes yet don't have a gay character at all. Cough shonen cough.)

So this just my two cents of an interpretation of what was supposed to happen to the main villain. A) Shen Jiu would have likely been slowly reforming his character since the time Binghe lost his pendant, or B) Shen Jiu would have shown his true side during the Water Prison Arc or Jinlan City Arc. Not just revealing his past but also the reasons behind his killings.

Am I doing it right? Binghe would think constsntly as he saw the sharp eyes accumulating their rage when he felt at his weakest in the fight against the demon.

For me, it's most likely A bc with A there would have been hints of the character changing, not much, but just enough to leave some plot holes here and there that could be explored later on.

Shen Jiu could have a reason for finding the stranded pendant in his peak. He could have secretly watched the protagonist from afar get beaten and done nothing. But when it came to his life being in actual danger, he would waste no time saving him, like when they discovered the skinner. And to Luo Binghe, all of this would be confusing. He'd think naively that all the pain he had to endure was justifiable, but slowly, the resentment would start toe at him up.

His Shizun got mad at Ning Yingying because she asked for help, yet relented and let him stay in his carriage. His Shizun would often beat him up time and time again, telling him to learn because he is weak, yet still be training under his own hand every day. [Idk if airplane would have planned for the man to turn over a new leaf instantly, but it did seem a but fishy how we never get a reason as to why Shen Yuan gets transmitted into that exact point in the book, or why the OOC just completely fades after he'd done one mission. The skinner. And this purely already on a og Canon divergence, but if Airplane wanted to do his twist here and still keep it a secret for the readers, he would have given Binghe a teacher, coincidentally, when he had just lost the pendant of his mother.]

Shen qingqiu was ruthless, yet there came once in a blue moon a moment that made him think back as to why he was still here all this time. He wasn't his most favored, yet he was still kept an eye upon. The time he finally beat Ming Fan fair and square, the time he managed to beat several Bai Zhan Peak disciples at once to show off his strength, Shen Qingqiu didn't grow angry at him, yet didn't grow happy at it either. Though he seemed like he saw something behind those eyes behind the fan, his irises cooled and fired up at the same time. What was he thinking? Luo Binghe asked, many others did too. No one knew as turned his sight away the next second.

Are you not disappointed in me now? He would think upon coming back to the peak hoping that one of this days that ruthless Shizun would smile at him for the beast he had slayed.

Am I strong enough for you? He would think upon noticing the birds in the sky looking at his face as he slayed another beast again, taking the number one place.

What is he thinking? Luo Binghe asked one night as the sharp eyes strangled him with that fearful gaze, taking the longest time to look at the mark, then an even longer time to look at him as a person, as Binghe. When he turned away from the cliff, Binghe only wished to be looked back again, to ask.

Is he doing it right?

Is he not a disappointment anymore?

Will he not be hit again?

Is he strong enough in his eyes?

Is he proud of him?

Proud of the demon he raised?

Apparently not.

So Binghe does not try anymore, when he sees Shizun once more, he does not try anymore. He does not want revenge and he does not want his love. But his mind still can't let him go, the curious cat wants to find out what's inside Shen Qingqiu, why has he done everything up until this point? Why did he never smile, why did he always come back to treat him for the minimum things, why did he give him a chance to sleep for a few days under his own home. That same man that never smiled was the same one that shouted him to get up and fight, the same one to slice the demon's head off before he got poisoned, the same one that reprimanded him for not being able to control himself against the kids on the street in his dream, the same one that stood behind him like a silent blanket when he saw his mother die again, the same one that whipped him until he could dodge the whip and grab it in one hand, the same person that would throw him into the abyss, the very same person that would treat his wounds when Yingying wasn't around, the same person that poured tea on him for the very first day and the same person that would ask him that very fated question one night.

"Do you want to become strong?"

"Yes."

"Stronger than anyone in this world?"

"Yes."

"To not get trampled and beaten by others ever again?"

"Yes."

"...Then you must go through hell and back for that."

At that time, he thought he would understand his Shizun if he managed to be a mirror of what that man shows. For years, he yearned and planned to be his equal, to grab the second highest status in the Huan Hua palace, have a harem of women just like Shen Qingqiu has his brothel, have the sect leader obey him just like Shen Qingqiu had Yue Qingyuan by his side, have the past of his roots tainted just like his master— but unlike him, being a demon was enough for mankind to despise him.

Until he finally realized they were nothing alike. Nothing. His emotions became ever so messy with the sight of a surprised Shen Qingqiu standing next to him upon Jinlang, his cold face gone, a new one, a tired one, a pair of eyes that seemed to light up for one second and then dimm the next, calm, terrified, his glossy eyes closed every other emotion, hiding the redt of the face behind his fan as Gongyi Xiao called for him.

Just like him, gods, he was exactly like him. Shen Jiu hated that. What he hated, he would try to kill it as much as he could. Every man that tortured him to the point that he broke, he would kill; Qiu Jianluo, the entire Qiu family, Wu Yanzi, maybe even his Qi-ge in his mind and ...Xiao Jiu. Everyone, everyone from that horrible past, was buried. Nothing that could even remind him of those hellish days would come back.

The ethereal man suddenly began to rot before his eyes. Like a god muddled by the earth, stripped of his divine to show the hidden demon underneath.

Shen Jiu is man that ran and hid, a man of a cold front in front of him while the silently trembling and tense fingers said otherwise, a man that became a horrible killer, then a coward. That same man was a hero, his savior, and the one to lay down his life. That same man was a victim and a scared child. That same man was what he once was a long time ago and chose to give him that same hellfire in order to forge the same cold blade he has become.

But Luo Binghe was still here, the white sheep still craving to know more, and now the black wolf stared back at him, wanting to taste revenge upon his bones. Or something, anything, he wanted to be filled with this deep void in his heart, his body, and soul. Just one look at him would be enough.

They inflicted each other pain, yet never meant to do so? No they both did, just that the outcome was the worse they could get.

Luo Binghe felt a slight trembling hand touch his forehead as they got out of the mausoleum, and he, despite every touch of every woman he could have, would still melt at the softness of each fingers as they tried to not hurt him, not like last time. They were trembling even more when he flinched, when his eyes widened and then rested upon the strands that have never felt Shizun's fingers rub through them in such a thoughtful way.

Shen Qingqiu, for the first time, let his hand be held tighter and tighter by Binghe as the whispers grew and the rumors of Su Xiyan pierced ears, condemning a child for its sole existence, condemning a woman they knew nothing of. He gritted his teeth at the baseless rumors, only able to shout out. "How fucking dare they."

That is, except for one another.

To be just as guilty of those baseless facts as he was a long time ago, That it was all his fault Liu Qingge died when he had actually tried to save him, that it was Luo Binghe’s fault that Su Xiyan died when he had been a baby at that time. Like Disciple like Master they both would truly be alone in this world that never wished to listen to any of their words.

And now, with the longing of his touch that he craves and the wish of never being left alone in this world, both of them don't fear the past anymore.

[dr3amofagame]

long version absolutely

warnings for suicide, torture, abuse, conditioning, and really really really unhealthy relationships below

first, link to Snowy’s first post explaining part of the concept: here

okay buckle in bc as is apparently the norm for dreblrcord on an AU kick, this gets real long and real angsty.

So the concept of the timeloops AU is a very similar vein to JMAH, just- extended. c!Sam is caught in a timeloop that depends on his and c!Dream's lives. Every time one or the other dies, the time loop resets - the actual TIMELINES vary, between loops. Sometimes, he gets transported to as early as the Community House, sometimes he gets sent to mid-prison, sometimes he gets sent to Daedalus. The timelines themselves also differ from being exactly the same as canon until c!Sam gets looped in to being drastically different - the main point is that no matter the loop, c!Sam remembers the previous timelines.

The first timeline is obviously canon. After c!Sam dies post-Daedalus, he gets looped back into day one of the prison - this gives you JMAH. After JMAH's Daedalus arc, he gets looped again, and again, and again - you get the idea. Each time, after looping in, he's free to make whatever choices - and the timeline will progress until either he or c!Dream dies.

For c!Dream, he's not actually one of the original loopers. For a yet undecided amount of timelines, he doesn't retain memories between loops - again, we have canon, then JMAH, then a couple other loops (some of which I might explore below). At a certain point, though, he gains the memories of previous loops as well and joins c!Sam in retaining his memories between timelines.

Both c!Dream and c!Sam have specific exit conditions that could break the loop for them both, once they've both been brought into the loop. For c!Sam, if he chooses to Leave C!Dream Alone, then the loop will end. For c!Dream, he can choose upon the end of every loop whether or not to give himself a total memory wipe, which would also break the loop. Neither of them know each other's exit conditions at the outset of the AU.

So what you get, in the end, is a situation where the time loops and what happens within them with only each other for company reinforces the codependency between c!Dream and c!Sam, while both of their exit conditions require breaking off from the other entirely. Both exit conditions are also meant to target their worst fears - for c!Sam, letting c!Dream go free and be helpless to stop anything he may choose - and then having to live with whatever timeline comes forth from the aftermath of that decision. For c!Dream, it means ceding the last scraps of his agency he has left to offer, as well as giving up For Good on the Plan.

What, no one said we had to make it easy for them. Or fair, for that matter.

If c!Sam is to take the exit condition, then the final timeline would be the one where he successfully leaves c!Dream alone. If/when either of them lose a life, the timeline would no longer loop - they would both have to just live with the aftermath and the memories. If c!Dream takes the exit condition, then the timeline following the one where he loses his memories would be the final timeline.

Anyway, onto timeline possibilities ^_^

The first timeline: Canon, we all know this one XD. Loops following Daedalus.

The second timeline: JMAH, resets after its own Daedalus. Sam retains memories, Dream does not.

The third (?) timeline: They get reset to the Community House, Dream doesn't have his memories yet. He gets locked in syndrome and Sam takes him and books it - it takes him a week or so before he really realizes how far back they've gone. Featuring a very scared and confused and uncomprehending Dream who is convinced that someone is pretending to be his friend Sam in order to- to mess with his head and break him or something, and a Sam who is trying to Fix The Timeline for both his own good and Dream's. Sam hasn't really gotten used to the whole "loop" thing yet and is still trying to make this timeline stick by making Dream listen - not as much overt "punishment" but a lot of uhh "preventative" measures. Ends when the rest of the Community House crew finds them and - in the chaos that follows - either Dream or Sam accidentally gets killed.

(At some point, Sam learns of the exit condition and Dream gets brought into the loop - with all of his memories from the former timelines and knowledge of how to stop the loop as well.)

Daedalus+: They get sent back to their bodies on day one of Daedalus Arc. Dream actually tries to keep Sam in the prison, this time. It...doesn't go very well.

Community House, again: Dream isn't helpless, this time. Sam dies.

JMAH Roommates Arc, but worse: Dream dies.

JMAH, Take Two: Sam doesn't screw up his relationship with Quackity as badly, this time. Dream remains in the prison for much, much longer - possibly leads to the Surrender AU, where he gives up the Revive Book.

Roleswap: Instead of the Attachment Vault, it's Sam's bank. Sam is the one thrown into prison, reviled - Dream the trusted Warden of the community. Ponk is the one trying to visit, Dream the one that can choose to hire as guards, how to treat the prisoner, whether or not to let Quackity in, etc. He is told, again and again, how hard it must be to be the prison's Warden. How strong he is, to deal with Sam, the server's monster. He wants to scream about how there's nothing hard about having full power over someone, nothing difficult in having them behave according to your whims. When he kills Sam, in this one, it's almost a mercy for them both.

Syndicate healing arc, but much more miserable: Dream manages to escape - and after so many loops, so much compounding trauma, and a particularly brutal prison stay - he's really not in much shape to go out on his own. Techno takes him in with little resistance and Dream ,,, tries to get better, if only to be able to execute the Plan. (The Plan is the only thing that matters, anymore. Everything else has crashed and burned - everything else in this world has melted away, but Sam). Sam finds him, of course. One of them dies, and the world resets.

Hey uh Remember The Egg?: Giant mind control egg manages to mind control even more people than in canon! Dream and/or Sam probably end up intentionally resetting this timeline early - nuh uh, this is not what they signed up for.

Prison break, but Different: This time, when Sam commands Dream to go back in the prison, he listens. Ranboo survives. Dream and/or Sam, uh - well, they might not.

Minecraft Manhunt: Dream, post-Doomsday but before the Attachment Vault, realizes that he's too much of a mess and Sam knows too much to carry out the Disc Finale as planned. He tries to run away - gather resources, reassess the situation, create a plan that'll serve him for this timeline well enough to get them through to the end - while Sam gathers a search party back on the main server. The timeline ends when Sam threatens Ranboo to draw him back to the mainland and one of them dies in the ensuing scuffle.

Community House, but Dream is desperate: Increasingly unable to hold himself together, when they reset to the Community House, it's as much of a relief as bone-deep terror. He can't lose this, again. So after a quick visit to Punz - still shaking from the memories of the last timeline, the last dregs of adrenaline and the phantom pain of his last death - and a desperate reminder that this world is good, do anything to keep it safe, Dream goes to find Sam. Sam is suspicious, having been gathering resources for the impending fight with Dream, but Dream arrives with no armor and no weapons and places his mask down and immediately starts talking about- an agreement. He knows that Sam won't leave him alone, but if- if Dream goes with him, and does as he says, and they leave the server - if they both stay alive - then maybe this timeline can be here to stay. Sam is suspicious, but he's certainly not looking to die and be reset immediately again, so he keeps his weapon in hand and entertains Dream's idea - for now. They write up a contract. The more panicked Dream gets, the more pedantic he becomes - listing Sam's rules with increasing detail to stave off the terror of literally signing his life away. The weeks after aren't, ,, great. Sam has a couple timelines of frustrations to vent and Dream is fighting less than usual - and any step out of line has Sam waving Dream's contract in his face, reminding him that he asked for this. (Begged for it, really). However - Sam's treatment is altogether survivable - at least, until Punz (alarmed by Dream's state upon the beginning of the timeline and even more concerned when both him and Sam drop off the face of the earth by the following morning) arranges a search party with the rest of the server and finds them both. Sam dies, and the loop resets - forever one of Dream's worst regrets, knowing that if he had been just a little stronger, he could've had the world he wanted.

The last loop: Dream, after giving up Punz and/or enough of the Plan to make it unviable, has run out of options. There's nowhere to go, his mind a complete wreck after however many loops of Hell. There's nothing salvageable from this - any further, and he'll just slip completely under Sam's control. (One last rebellion - one last proof that Sam can't have him.) Wrangling a weapon for himself isn't ,,, easy, but he manages - and just before resetting the loop (for good) he looks at Sam - tired, hysterical, something bitter but the closest he's had to victory in a while on his tongue.

"Bye, Sam."

The final timeline: Welcome to Pandora's Vault. I am the Warden.

There is nothing else.

We've tossed around some ideas for the final time loop - specifically, the ideas of a c!Dream that doesn't remember anything but still retains some of the specific traumas + triggers + psychological effects of however many loops of being, for all intents and purposes, Alone With Sam (if not physically, then at least psychologically). We've also considered the idea of a c!Dream that doesn't remember a thing but retains some of the physical effects of what had happened to him, throughout every timeline. Either way, when the prison break happens, Sam gets murdered basically immediately.

(This time, it sticks.)

Anyway that's the AU!! Basically time loops only No One Is Happy And Everything Hurts ^_^

[klinickimoron]

do you speak german? just asking cause of the sentence in your blog bio, my main language is german and its always nice to see people writing in languages other than english on tumblr kek (cause Tumblr is very small, much smaller than twitter, and very very American central)

anywayy, bro I love the way you draw Alex as an anime girl, everyone thinks hes a big scary dominator but they forget that he is also a little dumb twink who gets raped by every man he meets :3 (its only canon with deltoid and the guys at the prison but I believe in my heart that billy has sodomized him as a power demonstration bc Alex is a little bitch brat. they are not a couple billy probably just fucked alex's ass with a baseball bat so its not "actually gay" cause hes not putting his own dick in Alex kek)

wasnt alex canonically raped by billy and dim in the book? yeah it's not the book we're talking about rn but fact still stands and allat. and no i dont speak german but i really like the language and certain part of german history (really wonder which one huh) heavy on the 'big scary dominator' part as i think the same as you lol. i think nadsats are taken too seriously by the people when all they do is pretty much have fun and do silly things they dont take seriously at like all. dawgs literally goin to school which is fucking hilarious. they all pretty much twinks to me :pray: (also i think i memorize you from twitter if youre the one with the most based user ever) also thank you for kind words! и за базу тебе тоже, анончик, спасибо heavy on 'not a couple' stuff too bc they aint gettin no serious relationships my art is consistent of mostly satire on fujos and fanservice for all the boys and gals. one time i read a really poorly written fiction of alex willingly getting fucked by billy and i think i never cringed as hard as then. straight women fiction as i call it. i think it's hilarious and i may draw what happened in the fic some time in the future. i dont know why i wrote this but here we are

[sleepingfancies]

TELL ME ABOUT DEATHBRINGERS!!!!<3<3<3<3!! how are there no stars???? what's the giant fucked up wall (or gate? you've mentioned it b4 but I forgor) ??? what role do ur characters play in the Things That Are Happening, or do they live in the aftermath? I fuckign love hearing about deathbringers it is so cool

TEEHEE ^-^ (thank u sm for asking i'm about to type an ungodly amount im sorry)

So about the stars >=) there is a sun and people in the world Assume there May Have Been more like it in the past!! But the sun is to their world what one random dragon would be to us, really; it's there, and no one can deny Its Nature, but people are a bit confounded or skeptical about it. The absence of light at night has largely been blamed on vampires as something they achieved (incorrect, though they do benefit from only having one sun-source to worry about). But there's no more proof for that theory than there is the concept other stars ever existed at all :3

What actually happened doesn't have any definitive documentation in canon anymore!! It was all intentionally destroyed by the involved parties and the main characters never fully learn the big picture <3 but essentially. An extremely long time ago and far beyond living memory, some particularly ambitious individuals decided to Bring Down and Swallow stars for their power ^_^ the resulting conflict was apocalyptic but ultimately the stars lost, and so there are no stars anymore =) unless

---

The giant fucked up wall could refer to three things and I'm insane so I will tell u abt them all ^-^

The titular City of Gears has many a fucked up wall !! It was built into a mountain and meant to be a sanctuary for vampires, away from the sun. But the original architect wanted to ensure the vampires were safe from even the most immortal threats (teehee!!), so he designed the city as a labyrinth with hundreds of walls that could rotate, appear and disappear, and raise and lower; this on top of stationary walls, as well. The idea was that the labyrinth's pattern would never be the same twice and change once a month, thus making it impossible for an immortal threat to spend centuries memorizing the city's layout for an attack.

Blynnfell's Crown isn't necessarily fucked up and crazy insane like the City of Gears' rotating labyrinth but it is Different !! Blynnfell is the capital of the country and sits on the southeast coast, sort of boxed in by the continental-long Blackcrest River and the sea ^-^ it's surrounded by enormous and thick as hell jagged shards of stoneglass (in our world we call it alexandrite). Its primary purpose is to absorb light reflecting off the ocean + manage the city's light pollution, but it's almost as hard as diamond, so it makes for excellent defense as well. The city is always surrounded by a very colorful glow, it's rather pretty =)

The Spire isn't technically a wall itself but it is fucked up <3 it's the seat of the Lovely Prince (the title of the current and singular god). It's been heavily enchanted and covered in illusions; the Lovely Prince doesn't actually maintain it well, so it's a rather derelict mess in reality, but the illusion projects an opulent veneer. The illusion persists as long as the Lovely Prince is around to maintain it :3

---

The characters ougghghghgaaaaa the characters >=) I am sure u have heard me mention all of them at some point but the core four are Daciana Cel Tradat (vampire), Mortimer Crackbone (human), Vidar Rothmoor (fey), and Kadija Ekunye (human). The four of them get together to kill the Lovely Prince ^-^ I won't get TOO into book 2 shenanigans here just bc this is already soooo long SJDHGDSG

Daciana is the head of the group and the duology's deuteragonist. She personally assembles the gang to kill the Lovely Prince, she plans out how to travel to the Spire without drawing attention, she refuses to stop until she completes her goal, and she goes against the vampiric Grand Coven's warnings to do it. Daciana is a very "I will do what I know must be done" kind of person, which does a lot for driving events both good and bad <3

Mortimer is the soul of the group and the duology's universal foil. He quite literally monitors and cares for the souls of the other three. He contains multitudes and is deeply understanding of other people's multitudes as well; his protectiveness and gentleness directly impact the end outcome. Mortimer also foils almost every single major character; he represents both someone's doomed villain and someone else's redeemed hero.

Vidar is the body of the group and the duology's antihero. He is a creature of indulgence, and indulge he does!! His hunger and consumption have enormous ramifications on the plot, especially leading into the second book. Vidar is also fundamentally selfish, cowardly, and mocks other people's feelings for a laugh. But still he takes the heaviest beating in defense of the other three, and consistently utilizes his advantages as a fey for their benefits.

Kadija is the heart of the group and the duology's protagonist. She can and will choose kindness every single time, even at great cost to herself, which shapes the entire overarching plot. Kadija is also the center of the conundrum and always was. She is the core of the story, the overlaid note in everyone else's arc, and she always was and always would be. Kadija's arc would have happened regardless of what the other three did or didn't do <3

[convexicalcrow]

So I should probably go pluralise the tag I'm using for this bc there isn't just one Vex magic grimoire, there's three. You've all seen the big one, I've posted about that one the most. (and I am STILL waiting for my paints to arrive ty AusPost delays wooo. -_-) But there's two other ones, smaller ones, that are part of this collection.

The big one covers Vex magic in all its forms and styles, and the idea/concept is for it to be mostly written by Pharaoh Cub, but with bits written by Scar as well, along with some illustrations bc who doesn't want an illustrated grimoire amirite? Also I want an excuse to DO art to begin with, so. :D So the canon for this book is that it's being written during season 7.

This one is the potions book, and was actually the first book I started for this project long before it became a project lol. I, like many others, am a notebook hoarder, and I had originally planned to use this one for actual planetary magic rituals and such, but for whatever reason, that never happened because my interest in planetary magic shifted away from needing that kind of thing.

So this book has sat by my monitor, unused and unloved, until I got an interest in potion making that collided with my Cubfan hyperfixation, and my brain decided to use this book for potions instead, both minecraft stuff and witchy stuff, in the same way that the Vex magic grimoire will have, like, cake recipes in it bc why not. :D

The illustration there is meant to be of netherwart, but I haven't got around to finalising that sketch yet. And it's on paper because the thing I drew on the other side I coloured with markers and it bled through quite badly (no you can't see it. XD) so I wanted to cover it up somehow.

In my head, this is like just one of Cub's random potion notebooks, with recipes and formulas and experiements and other things of note. There's no specific place in the timeline where this fits in, it's just there idk. The kind of book that was maybe started ages ago, forgotten about, and then he came back to it later when he had run out of other notebooks to fill perhaps. I feel like I'm gonna have to remind myself how to take lab notes again bc that feels like his style.

bc Scar absolutely does magic based on vibes, whereas Cub has a more experimental style that includes taking notes. That's what I feel anyway. Cub's absolutely going to do crazy stuff, but you'll know what he did and how he did it, whereas Scar's more like, idk it just worked idk how! about everything. XD

This is the newest one, The Book of the Stars. This is why I've been cataloguing the names of the stars in Cub's pyramid. I want to include notes on each of those, as well as including a bunch more stars as well bc I will definitely need them to fill out this thicc boi.

I want to finish the star map first before I decide what kind of information I want to include with each star (and galaxy and nebula and constellation). Also how I want to organise and classify them all. A-Z? Type? Real and then not-real? idk idk idk. Part of me had wanted to include, like, idk lore or something with each one, but I'm not sure that's necessarily the right way to go. idk. We'll see.

This is mostly meant to be a catalogue of stars as opposed to a grimoire, tho there may be some stellar magic information in here too idk yet. But the canon associated with this is that this is where the Evokers take their names from, from the stars listed in this book, to honour the knowledge Cub has taught them about Vex magic and how to use it more effectively. bc humans - players - name things, and once upon a time, the ConVex named a High Priest, and that is the origin of Evokers having names. Vex don't need them bc they are a collective (unless they need to stay in the overworld or are possessing a player, but even then, it is simply a tool and not something that belongs to any individual Vex alone), but Evokers aren't Vex, and are individual enough to take them on bc they all have different skills and talents and ranks amongst the Vex.

(@calcium-rods that's the star you're after <3 hidden in the corner on the eastern wall)

I've also wondered about whether to include the screencaps I took from the pyramid to show the stars and their names like the one above but I suspect that might be better suited to a sideblog type of situation bc printing all those out would go through far too much black ink. DX So we'll see what I do with that.

Also I'm approaching this as a practicing witch, and that's been a very interesting exercise. I love creating magic systems, but I also love writing about witchcraft and magic, and this is such an interesting project for me intellectually as well because it's not just creating new magics and explaining them, but also looking at different mechanics and ways to do magic, and how those blend in with some of the real magic stuff I've been studying, like astrology and stellar magic, planetary magic, and potion making. It's not my aim to be, like, evangelising about these practices through this project and trying to get others into witchcraft. I'm just doing something creative with my interests. It's like how you learn more about your own native language by studying another, right? I'm doing this more for my own mind and seeing these magics in a different context can help me make sense of them for my own work.

Also the current page I'm working on in the grimoire about Scar's glamours is I think going to end up getting quite deep into identity and masks and shapeshifting, and that's a very interesting idea to roll around in my head as much as it is to write fanfic about. bc masks can be used in very interesting ways for magic and shapeshifting, and the ConVex wearing their Vex masks asks a lot of those deep questions about the magic those masks use, and how they deal with identity in spite of the blackouts and possession the masks seem to give them. I'm also on board with the idea that the masks enable shifting into their Vex forms, that it unlocks that magic that they wouldn't otherwise be able to harness.

And so that's a really deep and interesting topic to explore, and to see how Cub and Scar might explain and understand it. bc from the start, I wanted this grimoire to be a conversation between them, as opposed to a dry feeling grimoire with academic-style articles. That's no fun. I want to practice voices, and characterisation, and explore the Vex stuff in a way I don't think I could do with a more prose-based bog-standard fanfiction style. And I get to flex my creative muscles in new ways, and that's very stimulating right now.

Tho i still have no idea how to classify this stuff. Is it fanfic? meta fanfic? something else entirely? idk anymore. I'm just gonna keep working at it and posting my progress and hopefully I'm not the only one who ends up really enjoying following this process. <3

Anyway. I think I've rambled enough for now lol. I have more work to do on this, but the star map work can wait bc migraine lol, so I might do some more mask chat and see where that conversation takes me.

Also, if anyone has advice for how to archive this project properly on tumblr, lemme know? I want to make sure it's all easily found and in one place, but not sure if a separate page on my main or a sideblog is the better way to do that alongside the tag I'm using for updates here. idk what works best for tumblr so, any advice would be much appreciated, ty. <3

[curiosity-killed]

Would love to hear your thoughts on atfots… the plot really surprised me given how the last book ended but overall it felt like a mixed bag to me

*cradles ur face tenderly in my hands* babycakes u have opened a can of worms

I'm not even going to pretend that this will be short or coherent so tl;dr: if I'm looking for a fun AU, I turn to ATFOTS; if I'm looking for canon compliant, meaningful sequels to HOTE, I turn to fanfiction.

General disclaimer that here be spoilers for ATFOTS and that while I don't intend this to be lambasting ATFOTS by any means, it's not the most positive review. So like, don't read below if you a) want to avoid spoilers or b) enjoyed the book, probably?

I think there are roughly 2 main categories of critique I have for ATFOTS, with a third just being the catchall for anything I miss and/or me yelling about the things that matter most to me lol so:

I. Sequel Sins

I am generally not a fan of sequels primarily because I think they tend to fall into a lot of similar traps such as overexplaining, inconsistent characterization, and undermining their own themes. This may be a product of growing up in love with sprawling series that all wound up basically having the same formula. ANYWAY.

Overexplaining: ATFOTS starts off by reintroducing Cliopher Mdang. My good sir. The POV character for the other doorstopper novel that came before (& which I love). I get the desire to make a sequel accessible to people who haven't read the first book but ATFOTS feels consistently like it's holding your hand very gently and bending down to make sure you're getting its full sincere eye contact and talking very slowly. I don't have a copy of the book on me to pull quotes, but it's especially flagrant in the first couple chapters.

Inconsistent characterization: WHOO BOY. Cliopher is so old! No he's young again! Now he's middle-aged! I have mixed feelings on the characterization overall—Rodin, for instance, came a bit out of left field—and most of it comes down to the way I loved the characters in HOTE and then in ATFOTS they all felt...a bit flatter and a bit caricaturized and a bit less true.

Undermining themes: The character thing comes in hard here IMO. One of the major threads of HOTE is Kip shaping his own path of success and receiving acknowledgment from his loved ones for his unique, uncommon route. And then ATFOTS comes in and is like ACTUALLY we're going to overwrite that with this GRAND and MYTHOLOGICAL story that also conveniently follows closely the story that will be familiar to your family. This isn't to say there isn't value in that type of story, but it definitely cheapens (imo) the thematic value of HOTE. And this is true for...kind of a lot of the stories' themes. ATFOTS seems to want to be "HOTE themes but bigger and better" and in doing so, kind of falls flat in delivery imo.

II. ATFOTS-Specific Pro/Con

Alright now onto a little more specific issues. This will be brief bc I think they're pretty self-explanatory lol

Con: Overall, I think ATFOTS tries to do too many things. I love a good book with many plotlines (see: erha my beloved) but ATFOTS' structure felt borderline episodic rather than building together into a satisfying reveal/culmination.

Pro: I'll get into Kip's sexuality below but do love the concept of fanoa

Con: It felt like a lot of tidbits of "oh ACTUALLY this was happening all along in HOTE I just didn't mention it"—see the comment that started this all around humming Aurora—in a way that felt less like a delightful little revelation and more like VG retroactively trying to incorporate things she hadn't decided on till that moment. Also feel this way about Ludvic's fam reveal but I'll get into that below.

Pro/Con: While I think the writing structure was a little tighter than HOTE (I'm sorry, I love Kip and I love HOTE but there were like 200 pages of having the same conversation over again) (maybe not actually 200. possibly 20. still.), girlie REALLY needed a copy edit. Like. I will copy edit ur book Ms. Goddard for u (I am cheap) but please let me fix the errors.

III. Getting My Grubby Little Gay Hands All Over this Book

aka personal preference shit that is entirely my opinion without critique for the writing quality but nonetheless are part of my critique

I love HOTE and I love HOTE principally for three four main categories: The Household (and Them), civil service, being The One Who Left, and ASEXUALITY BABEY. There are other aspects I love, of course, but these are kind of the big non-negotiables for me and four that ATFOTS kinda...did dirty imo.

In terms of the Household, HOTE gave us these middle-aged dudes who are pretty much defined and fulfilled by their dedication to their job to the exclusion of most other things. Kip has family but it's not family that really understands him most of the time and it's family that is very far away (*this will come up again). The rest of them don't have family outside of the household. They are very sincerely found/forced thru work family in a way that feels both very natural and blessedly free of nuclearization. They love each other and understand each other** in a way that none of them really have access to outside of this group.

And then ATFOTS (and admittedly RPA) comes along and is like "Ludvic has a dad! Conju's sister and boytoy are alive! Rodin has a devoted penpal!" in a way that feels a BIT like pairing off everyone so that the main couple can be together. Which like. I love Kip/Fitzroy, don't get me wrong, but I love the household and their weirdly intimate and formal and seemingly smooth as clockwork but internally messy vibe. I was so looking forward to reading about the retirement house and how that unspools (or at least thinking a lot about it in the way of the blorbo in the microwave) before ATFOTS.

So much of the heart of HOTE is the idea of community and connection (or isolation) and ATFOTS mostly veers away from that both thru the pairing off and through the things like Kip's solo adventures. It also, in some ways, sort of undermines some of the characters' core traits, such as Ludvic's devotion. Ludvic being a stout, unflinching companion for HR because he believes in him and sees the true man behind the Serenity is imo very different from Ludvic being an unflagging companion because he views HR as his uncle. Idk about y'all but family duty and personal devotion from choice are two different things in my experience.

On their own, they aren't bad but they are disappointing when compared to the aspects of HOTE I loved and would have hoped to see expanded upon in the sequel.

Kip's experience in civil service is also really important to me (literally made me more patient and cheerful at work when I was actively envisioning setting a plague of frogs loose upon my supervisor's house so like. Significant Importance to Me.)! This will not be articulate (I've legit been starting and deleting this sentence for like 5 min) bc it's very near and dear to my heart but the ideas of a) choosing to take a harder path, that is outside your community/family's conception of "normal" because you believe it is good and worthy, b) trying to improve a shitty system because you believe it can be made to better serve the people, and c) learning from both systems—are! just! very important to me okay. And not something I see a lot in fiction, but especially not in my most beloved of monstrously large fantasy novels.

And then ATFOTS is just JK time for an epic fantasy romp! and that's cool but that's not why I loved the first book! that's not the right tone at all!!! if i wanted an epic fantasy romp I would pick up Iron Widow but I wanted the bureaucracy D: (shoutout to ao3 user alfgifu for giving me the bureaucracy and also sorry for all the nonsense comments)

This is also super closely tied to Being the One Who Left tbh because well. Me. But one of the core elements of HOTE—the part that actually first snagged me and pulled my attention in—is that Kip is the one who left his community behind for no good reason to chase a weird dream instead of settling down and following the normal path to success.

*eyeing my high school classmates who are all settled down with 2.5 kids and starting photography businesses on the side while living within 20 minutes of where they grew up* Huh I Wonder Why This is Relatable

At the heart of being the one who left is this tug between guilt and desire/love/duty/curiosity/whatever pull factor. In HOTE, Kip is pushed to stay home by his duty to his community, his love of his family, and his family's own pressure. He's pulled to stay in the service by his duty to the world/government, his love of his found family, and by the urge to do more, to make things better as much as he can. In both places, he's not fully understood and when he's in either location, he misses the other. The importance is the tug, the dual identity, the sense of always being partially understood and partially misunderstood in different ways depending on the ground you're standing on. I could...very literally, write essays on each of these last items but I am trying to wrap it up bc I should actually be coding rn whoops

ATFOTS blots this out by transforming his Solaara experience into, basically, Just A Job. A job he cares about and can be proud of, sure, but just the job. It really...kind of aggressively, ignores the relationships and life Kip has made there in favor of focusing solely on this glorious return to home while conveniently giving everyone else people to be with instead of the household. which I'm sure my mom would like but ANYWAY

and now, last but decidedly not least OR clearest *drum roll pls* ASEXUALITY BABEY

okay so I will caveat this by saying different rep serves different people, there are infinitely many ways to be asexual, etc etc that all being said ATFOTS' handling of Kip's sexuality just left me a little...dissatisfied? And tbh I struggle to articulate it because I feel like it probably comes down to "this isn't the rep I would like but I can see where it's meaningful to others."

Like I can justify it—a lifelong commitment as fanoa is described is different than a romantic or sexual relationship, it's entirely fair to have a character want that commitment without risking it by mixing in romance/etc., it's good to have a devoted and platonic relationship at the core where normally a (straight) romantic/sexual relationship would be

and yet. I caught myself making faces at the book half the time when dealing with their relationship. Some of it feels a little like trying to Do All The Rep in one go—Kip's tingly fuzzy feelings and (mostly) lack of romantic attraction, neutrality around sex and aversion to sex in this relationship—in a way that almost definitely describes actual humans out in the world but feels a little...off in a fictional character? My general wish for asexual characters is getting to be in devoted relationships where the allosexual partner(s) is willing to not have sex and still be committed but I caught myself being like "y'all just fuck already" in ATFOTS which is uhhhh not the norm

tbf my ideal Kip/Fitzroy retirement relationship is basically just them (and the household) all living together and everyone on the outside kind of being ???? is it a sex thing???? while they contentedly carve out their own life yet again but this time with more touch and laughter and song.

Actually having gotten to this point, I feel like my main sticking point with ATFOTS sexuality is that Sex Is A Big Thing in the book while never being super effectively resolved imo and also not actually being a big thing to the characters in HOTE. Like one of these dudes has been celibate for 1000 years or so and another one has had like 3 brief lovers across the same amount of time. I think there are some other things we could focus on here