#begotten sequel

[lurking-latinist]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

thank you!

to all our nights and days to come is probably my favorite of my own fics. It's the Seven/Romana in the Time War fic that became unexpectedly popular as Seven/Romana AUs go, which probably doesn't hurt my opinion of it, but also it's just the sort of thing that really probably only I have the exact right combination of interests and preferences to think of writing, so if I want to read it I have to have written it and I have, which is nice.

The Strands of Fate is funny and good and one of the first longer-than-a-ficlet stories I wrote, and I have a lot of good memories of it. And it made Moki write a lovely sequel. <3 Love a knitting pun.

New Student Orientation is on my mind right now because, like my last fic, it's from the Rani's POV (although this one is third person). She's incredibly fun to write, and I liked doing a wee bit of Gallifreyan worldbuilding. And writing kids, I never write kids.

and opposition of the stars is straight-up Doctor/TARDIS shippery, and I partly like it because I found the best ever title for it, I mean look, the poem goes like this (Andrew Marvell, "The Definition of Love")"

My love is of a birth as rare As ’tis for object strange and high; It was begotten by Despair Upon Impossibility. ..... As lines, so loves oblique may well Themselves in every angle greet; But ours so truly parallel, Though infinite, can never meet. Therefore the love which us doth bind, But Fate so enviously debars, Is the conjunction of the mind, And opposition of the stars.

And if that isn't about Doctor/TARDIS I don't know what is. But also the mood of the title fits the mood of the fic and that's how I know the fic got the right mood.

It's hard to pick between my Charley fics, but I think one of them belongs on this list and I'll choose Like Sunshine Through Rain. It's the fic with which I converted myself (and apparently other people?) to potentially-romantic Six/Charley.

Thank you for the ask - this took me a while but it was fun!

[ambreiiigns]

a friend of mine had their partner bragging abt having watched begotten and that like he's never met anyone else who had heard of it so my friend hit me up like i Will show you one more bitch who knows it and i got to be like not only have i seen begotten but i've seen THE SEQUELS and he was like THERE ARE SEQUELS ????

[drwcn]

RE: [Post]

I’M SORRY TO HAVE CAUSED YOU PAIN (not really, not even a little bit sorry).

Once upon a time I had hopes of writing a sequel to “Begotten”, but I don’t know which decade that’s going to happen - maybe not at all - since I’ve got “Discordance” and “Before the Sun Falls” to tackle now before my schedule eats me up in September.

So, I’m here to bite the bullet and face the music. Here is the condensed one shot of what would’ve been the Begotten Sequel:

“Alone Stands the Quiet ” 

[AO3] 

Word Count: 4005

Summary: The story of the Yin Iron starts with a celestial war and ends with Lan Sizhui. 

The story of Lan Sizhui did not start at the fall of Jin Guangyao. It did not start when Hanguang-jun brought him to Cloud Recesses. It did not even start when Yiling Laozu led the remaining Wens to the Burial Mount.

The story of Lan Sizhui started eons ago, before the sects were sects, before man could vie for divinity through cultivation.

Lan Yi once told Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji that the Yin Iron was an item of the ancient, a 上古之物. It existed with the sky and the earth. She was not wrong.

Long ago, a terrible war had broken out between the six realms: shen (gods), xian (immortals), ren (man), yao, mo (demons), and ming (ghosts). It was said that the God of War led the front for gods and immortals, protecting humans who could not protect themselves. The God of War was fierce, was brave, was righteous, but the God of War was flawed. They met their match in a Demon General, their nemesis on the celestial battlefield, yet a kindred spirit in every other way.

The war dredged on. The earth cracked open; the sky splintered into pieces. Creatures died. Fire raged. Victory was not promised, but Death surely would come for them all. Both the God of War and the Demon General knew the war could not go on, though hesitant they were to put an end to the other as they’d been ordered to do so by their heavenly/demonic masters.

In the final battle, the two unfortunate beings perished. How exactly, no one knew. As their existence faded into the expanse, like stardust scattered by cosmic wind, a single drop of their blood, mixed together, fell to Earth into the iron quarries beneath the mountains of Yiling, forming what will one day be known as the Yin Iron.

The Yin Iron as Lan Yi knew it, had never been anything but an instrument for the wicked, though try as she did to purify it to its original state. She had believed that the Iron itself, however powerful it had been, was not inherently evil or good. She believed that it was only Xue Chonghai’s malice and greed that had corrupted such an ancient item through dark cultivation. 

Lan Yi, though unsuccessful, was right.

What Lan Yi didn’t know and what no one knew, not even Wei Wuxian, was that something of that magnitude, of that divinity, could not be destroyed by mortal means, cultivator or not.

Before his death, Wei Wuxian was beyond magnificent mostly due to the Stygian Amulet in his possession. It grew so powerful that he eventually lost control of it. Part of the blame could possibly be laid on Jin Guangyao, but his loss of control demonstrated an important truth that no one realized: The Yin Iron and its spiritual force - its essence - were beyond the capacity of man. Every time a piece was supposedly destroyed, the energy was transferred to the closest remaining pieces. By destroying Wen Ruohan’s three Yin Iron shards, Wei Wuxian had unknowingly absorbed additional dark energy in his own Stygian Amulet.

When Wei Wuxian obliterated the seal at the final confrontation before his first death, its spiritual energy had no solid matter to bind to. Most cultivators’ golden cores repelled or were incompatible with demonic energy. Xue Yang’s piece was hidden far away in Lanling. The only place that could sustain such a large quantity of yin energy was the Burial Mount, and there it found a receptive host, in the form of an unwitting coreless child. The Energy itself was partially sentient, and for self-preservation, it laid dormant in the child’s body, hidden and waiting for the day to come.

A dangerous near-death experience during a failed night hunt triggered the awakening of Sizhui’s powers when he was thirteen years old. For years, he nurtured it, kept it a secret with the help of his friends Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling and later on Ouyang Zizhen.

Some day, the Gods of the Nine Heavens will say that it was always meant to be Wen Yuan… that Fate had chosen him to bear the powers of the God and Demon who had fought and died for the middle ground.

 ~~~

 Following the incident at the Guanyin Temple, Lan Sizhui lived up to his promise to Jin Ling. He came back for Jin Guangyao’s soul sealed within the temple along with Nie Mingjue. His uncle, the kind and gentle Lan Xichen had gone into seclusion, unable to face the fact that his blindness had allowed Jin Guangyao to go unchecked or that he had been the one to kill him. Nie Huaisang’s vague answer had confirmed everything he needed to know.

Confident and naïve as youths often were, Lan Sizhui believed he could find a way to bring Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao back from the dead without using life sacrifice as Mo Xuanyu had done. Mo Xuangyu had barely been a cultivator, and Lan Sizhui had grown in leaps and bounds and was on the verge of surpassing even the great Yiling Laozu himself.

Sizhui stole Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao's souls and brought them to a place that he knew no one visited anymore: The Wen Sect’s ancestral seat of power, Wen Yuan’s birthright, Nevernight. There, over the chasm where Wen Ruohan had once cultivated three pieces of the Yin Iron, Lan Sizhui kept the souls of his uncle’s sworn brothers in protected suspension.

If he were to do this, he knew he could not just save Jin Guangyao alone, but Nie Mingjue as well. He did not understand the grievance and hatred between the men of the previous generation, but his family deserved happiness and closure, and if he could give it to them, he would without hesitation.

This, he kept as a closely guarded secret. Only Jingyi and Jin Ling were his confidants.

As a child, he did not tell Lan Wangji about his power out of fear, but now, Sizhui kept his silence for another reason entirely. Let him be selfish just this once. He did not want to answer to anyone, to explain himself, his motivations or his powers. A part of Sizhui instinctively knew that Xue Chonghai, Wen Ruohan, Wei Wuxian, Xue Yang - they were all just vessels, a long line of cultivators that the Iron used to get to him. With him was where the Iron’s power always belonged; it may have taken centuries in the making, but finally, the wrong had been righted.

Sizhui hid his secret it from his fathers, from his sect, from everyone. Meanwhile, his powers grew, both spiritual and demonic, to the point where Wei Wuxian's willful ignorance could no longer deny the fact that something was very different about this boy he saved. He hoped it was not true, hoped that Sizhui hadn't been doing exactly what he thought he was.

"A-Yuan," he said to Lan Sizhui one evening when they were taking a stroll through the back mountains of Cloud Recesses. Lan Wangji was busy with Chief Cultivator business and could not join them.

"Yes, a-die?" Responded Sizhui. He heard the change in Wei Wuxian's tone, but he pretended to be none the wiser.

Wei Wuxian paused in his step, turned, and placed a hand on the shoulder of his child. Sizhui had grown taller over the last couple of seasons. He was no longer a boy.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

By then, Lan Sizhui was already in too deep. Since the early days of his resurrection endeavours, he had realized there was no way that he, as a mortal cultivator, could bring back a life from nothing. A sacrifice was always needed, and even if he were to give up his own, it would only revive one of the two souls. 

Both Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao’s souls had been damaged, though in different ways. The seals placed upon them would hinder their reincarnation for a hundred years, and after that, there was no telling where they would end up. Without resolving the hatred they both carried into their deaths, their next several lives would be fraught with perils and misfortune.

Jin Ling had by this point come to terms with the passing of his uncle, but Lan Xichen…

If he could not bring back Chifeng-zun and Lianfang-zun to be reunited with Zewu-jun, then at the very least, Sizhui would alleviate his Uncle’s guilt by offering peace to his sworn-brothers. With this in mind, Sizhui did not give up, and eventually he had found a way.

So when Wei Wuxian confronted him, there were so many things he wanted to tell him, but he knew he couldn't. Sizhui was so close to the end, so close to achieving what he needed to do, and he could not afford anyone standing in his way. He had learned from the past. He'd heard of Wei Wuxian's audacious suggestions spoken right here within the walls of Cloud Recesses. Even then, as a guest disciple, he had planted the idea in the minds of his peers and mentors that he, Wei Wuxian, was a divergent from The Path, that he was to be wary of, to be monitored and to be taken down before he could uproot their lives.

Lan Sizhui had no intentions of allowing the small-mindedness of his elders to hinder him. He also did not want his fathers blamed for his own doings, though being his fathers, perhaps they would be blamed no matter what he did. He knew it was unfilial of him to disregard that, but he had gone too far to turn back now.

Lan Sizhui had started out wishing to help Jin Ling, to help Lan Xichen, but now… now he wanted to do this for himself. He didn’t want to stop; he wanted to know if he could do it, if he could make this one thing come true. They say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. They also say curiosity killed the cat, and Sizhui was willing to find out if satisfaction was really able to bring it back.

Thus, the secret of his power must be kept hidden until the spell was complete. Both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji must have reasonable deniability. When all is said and done, Sizhui had made plans to disappear and save the cultivation world the trouble of removing him.

"A-Yuan, is there something you'd like to tell me?" Wei Wuxian repeated. The hand on Sizhui's shoulder tightened.

Lan Sizhui stared the man in the eye and lied, "No, a-die. There isn't."

 ~~~

 When Sizhui revealed the plans of his departure, that was when Jingyi finally broke.

"No, Sizhui, no! You were supposed to be Sect Master, it was supposed to be you!"

"I can't go back, Jingyi, if I do this, I can never go back."

"Sizhui, please, please don't - "

"You'll still have our friends when I’m gone. Zizhen is a good man, a trusted friend. He would stand by your side. And Jin Ling too, he would never leave you.” 

"J-Jin Ling?! Th- that brat, I - I don't know what you're -"

"It's okay. He likes you too." Sizhui smiled brightly at his friend's flushed cheeks.

"H-he does?"

"Yes, yes he does."

They didn’t know it then, but Sect Master Jin Rulan and Sect Master Lan Jingyi would one day become cultivation partners. Openly and without shame, they formed the Lan-Jin alliance their predecessors wished but could never achieve.

 ~~~

 The plan was this:

Sizhui had discovered that he could put souls into human bodies if he manipulated with their reincarnation cycle and transported them distantly enough in time. Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue were not destined to meet again in another life, but Sizhui had his ways.

Against Fate or not, he was going to do it.  

Somehow, Lan Xichen found out. After years in seclusion, he emerged one day and sought out his nephew at Nevernight where he couldn't deny what he'd been planning.

Sizhui had panicked, thinking his uncle would for sure admonish him for tampering with reincarnation and matters entirely too divine and out of his control.

But Lan Xichen simply stood there, gazing up at the two suspended souls above the pit of Sizhui's swirling demonic and spiritual energy. His sworn brothers. They had knelt before Heaven and Earth and promised that though they had not been born on the same day, in same month and in the same year, they would seek to die on the same day, in same month and in the same year.

And what became of them? Mingjue was beheaded, A-Yao stabbed. Both murdered. Yet, here he was, still alive.

Left behind.  

"I want to go with them." Lan Xichen said.

For the first time since his journey began, Lan Sizhui was truly horrified. 

"I - I can only transport souls, and yours -"

"Then transport mine."

Sizhui shook, sputtering, "But – but - you would have to die! I would have to kill you!"

"I know. Sizhui," Lan Xichen turned to the boy he helped raise into the fine young man he was now and bowed his head. "A-Yuan, please."

Sizhui floundered. What would Father say, if he knew his A-Yuan had been the one to take the life of his beloved brother?

"You can't ask this of me, you can't Zewu-jun, no - da'bofu… da'bofu don’t…"

But Sizhui knew, he knew, deep down, that he would do this for Lan Xichen. In the hallow abbey of Nevernight, his uncle held him as he cried, as if he was still that scared lonely little boy. 

"I am a selfish man. I'm sorry, child, forgive me."  

 ~~~

 Sizhui spun the spell for nine days and nine nights.

A barrier was formed from his mixture of demonic and spiritual energy, barring anyone passage into the palace. Lan Xichen’s disappearance from Cloud Recesses quickly alerted cultivators all round, and the strange energy coalescing around Qishan commanded the attention of Chief Cultivator Hanguang-jun and the other sect masters. Together, Sizhui’s fathers and the leaders of all major and minor sects marched on Nevernight for a third time, completely surrounding the place on day two of the nine-day spell. 

Lan Sizhui’s absence from Gusu Lan’s entourage drew speculations right away, as he was the unofficial Sect Heir.

Under immense pressure and terrified by the development of both political and spiritual tension, Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi caved and told their qianbeis the truth: that Sizhui was a practiced demonic cultivator from an early age, that he planned to release Chifeng'zun and Jin Guangyao's trapped spirits into reincarnation for a second chance, that Zewu-jun had begged him to send him as well, that Sizhui had agreed to it all.

The reveal shocked all, even the usually nonplussed Nie Huaisang.  “Is he really able to do it? To give my brother peace and absolution?”  Jingyi nodded. “If anyone can, Sizhui can.” 

For nine days the cultivators meditated, their collective cultivation keeping yet another barrier between the surrounding land and Nevernight’s epicenter.

As the only non-spiritual cultivator present Wei Wuxian knelt before the long stone steps, stained and darkened by the blood of countless lives that were ended upon it. 

Whose blood they were yet to spill he did not know and was too afraid to think on it further. Two live-times’ of memories flooded his thoughts, threatening to overtake him. Wen Ning knelt with him, silently by his side as always. 

When the spell ended, the spiritual and demonic powers in Lan Sizhui came to a culmination. The earth quaked, the sky darkened. For a minute, all was quiet.

Then, suddenly, four flashes of lightning cut across the sky, lighting up night as though it were day. Its thunderous echoes shook the cultivators down to their knees. Even the mighty Hanguang-jun, the Chief Cultivator himself, bowed to its strength. Men and women quivered and trembled, for they knew those were not your ordinary lightning.

Four, consecutive strikes, each hitting where Lan Sizhui would be within the main palace. Those were Omens, Heaven's Trial. It was clear to all of them what had happened.

Lan Yuan, Lan Sizhui, had ascended.

"That was...that was an ascension." Jiang Wanyin’s voice spoke out first.

Beside him, his nephew the young Sect Master Jin Ling bit back his sobs. He had hoped this wouldn't happen, though the signs were all there in the preceding days. Ascension was what all cultivators sought, though in this case, it was most definitely not a blessing.

He feared for his friend, and he blamed himself for ever posing that ridiculous request that day at the Guanyin Temple.

“Sizhui!!” Lan Jingyi was the first to break rank, dashing forward in a mad panic. He was stopped in his track by Jin Ling’s arms circling his waist from behind.  

“Jingyi, stop!! It’s too late, we can’t stop this!”

“Sizhui! Sizhui!”

“Jingyi! Jin Ling!”  Ouyang Zizhen rushed to their side and helped Jin Ling haul back their friend.  

“He’s ascended! He’s ascended, he’s ascended, it’s just an ascension, just an ascension,” chanted Jin Ling over and over to his friend as they crumbled to their knees.

"No, not 'an' ascension," corrected Lan Wangji, his voice rising over the deafening silence. He stood and helped Wei Wuxian to stand. His husband was white as sheet, for he too understood what four lightnings meant.

Historical records have always noted that one lightning was the sign of ascension from cultivator to di’xian (lesser immortal). Unlike popular belief, the lightning was not a sign of Heaven’s favour, but a Fated Trial. To be an immortal, a cultivator must survive the trial, and of the few who were ever graced with the lightning, even fewer survived. Aside from Baoshan, no cultivator had even reached anywhere close to this stage in over a hundred years.

Three lightnings, however, were the price to pay for the ascension from lesser to higher immortal (shang’xian). 

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian clung to each other. To leap through two tiers and ascend twice consecutively...it was completely unheard of. Was their son still alive?

“We have to find him,” said Wei Wuxian when the lightning faded. Sizhui’s barrier had slowly melted away from Nevernight. Above them, the thick clouds parted, giving way for the soft morning light. 

“Mn.”

“Jiang Cheng –”

Jiang Wanyin stood up right, drawing Sandu from its sheath and nodded. “I’ll keep watch. Go.”

When Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian finally reached Sizhui, he was waiting for them. Well...a form of him was. 

Soaring around along the vaulted ceiling was a large fire bird, Qishan Wen’s symbol immortalized. Its feathers were as black and shiny as obsidian, and its belly as pale as pearls. Crimson flames trimmed the edge of its large wings and trailed behind in its wake. With a sharp piercing cry, the creature dived mid-flight and came sweeping down until it disappeared into fractals of bright lights and materialized the next instant into a young man. 

Half of Lan Sizhui’s hair had gone completely white. Mixed with black, it fluttered loose and wild in the waves of divine magic that now enshrouded his person.

His Gusu Lan robes once pristine were in tatters, and from where he stood several feet in front of them, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian could see the streaks of lightning scars running where his veins ought to be.

Then, he looked up, revealing a blood-red iris.

"A-die, fuqin.” Sizhui took a couple steps towards them and crumbled in their arms. Somewhere behind his shoulder, Lan Wangi saw his brother's body lying prone on a slab of rock. There was no doubt Lan Xichen was dead.

"I don't have long. They're coming for me." Sizhui hugged them close.  

Wei Wuxian was distraught, "Who's coming for you?! A-Yuan -"

"I've tampered with timelines, changed fates, the Gods are angry. The demons tell me so."

Lan Wangji cradled his child’s face in his hands and found it hard to imagine this was the little boy he saved from the Burial Mount early twenty years ago. "Sizhui, son, please let us help you -"

"You can't help me. This is my burden to carry."

But Lan Wangji refused to accept it. "We won't let you die -"

"I won't die, fuqin, a-die, but I will be going now."

"G-go? Where will you go? You’re not going anywhere! I won’t allow it!" Wei Wuxian held him tighter.

"A shangxian's place is with the Heavenly Court. That is where I must answer for my crimes."

“No…no, you won’t – A-Yuan, our little A-Yuan…”

Sizhui clasped all three of their hands together and whispered, "Qing-gugu once said that when there is too much to say, all one really need to say is thank you and I’m sorry. Fuqin, a-die, Sizhui has been unfilial. I hope you can forgive me.”

As he spoke those words, the entire hall was suddenly lit aglow. A figure appeared, too bright and blinding to discern its feature.

The voice that called out to him was calm but commanding, heavy with gravitas. "Lan Sizhui, your presence is requested." 

"I know."

"Do you admit your guilt?"

"I do."

"Then come."

A-Yuan stood, pulling his hands from his fathers' grasps. With one last gentle smile, half in pain half in love, he turned to face his future. He could no longer bear to see the devastation on his fathers’ faces, awash with tears.  

As he walked calmly into the light, his last words, spoken over his shoulder, were: “Tell, xiaomei that I would’ve loved to meet her." (xiaomei = little sister.)

“SIZHUI!!” 

“A-YUAN!!” 

 ~~~

 On their way back to Cloud Recesses from this eternal parting, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian happened upon an orphaned baby girl on the side of the road.

They brought her home and adopted her. Their daughter was named Wei Xiao, courtesy Lan Mengyuan.

To dream of a reunion...

Wei Xiao grew, happy and loved. Then, nearly a century later, at the end of a very long life, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian passed, peacefully and together.

 ~~~

 In front of a Starbucks in a modern metropolitan city, a young man holding a latte and talking quickly on the phone is attempting to cross the road without looking both ways.

"I'm honestly trying my best here! I have my thesis to finish and my PI is -"

He is struck by a car, which immediately took off. This is witnessed by a jogger coming from the opposite direction and a man in professional attires waiting by the bus station. The jogger and the bus taker both rush to the injured man at the same time, as many others crowd around to the scene.

The jogger introduces himself as "Nie Mingjue, a fireman", and the bus taker pulls out a stethoscope from his bag and replies with a polite smile and a quick handshake, "Lan Xichen, doctor – pediatrician specifically."

A student in the crowd exclaims, "Oh my god, that's Meng Yao, my finance TA. Please help him!"

“Do you have contact for his next of kin?” Nie Mingjue asks.

“N-no, but I-I can call his department. My prof should know, or HR, hold on.”

“Call the ambulance,” instructs Lan Xichen to another bystander, “Tell them we have a man, in his twenties, who’s been struck by a hit and run…”

…

Across the street, under the umbrella of Starbucks’ patio, a young man raises his head. His hair is cut short, though strangely dyed white on one side. The sunglasses on his nose slips a little, revealing a startling red iris. On the table beside his elbow, his phone pings, showing an email alert from lan.wangji@edugusu.org, bcc-ed to the entire class and cc-ed to wei.wuxian@edugusu.org.   

Midterm Tutorial Session: Updated Slides.

“Finally, I was starting to think it would never happen.” A young woman slides into the seat across from him, sipping on a freshly made frappuccino.

The young man picks up his own cup and smiles. “Good morning to you too, Mengyuan.”

“Satisfied now, my meddling rebellious brother?”

“Yes.” The god in mortal clothes sighs, content. “Yes in fact, I am.”

 FIN

 Note:  *Wei Xiao’s name Lan MengYuan isn’t the same Meng* as MengYao’s last name, and isn’t the same Yuan* as Wen Yuan. Completely different words and meaning. :) 

[soysaucevictim]

todo da vueltas como un carrusel locura recorre todita mi piel

Anyways, here’s a photoset of those symmetry Begotten!AU doodles in Krita.

First book for it centers on on the Twins and Janus, a bit of a cosmic horror romp with loads of moral ambiguity. Where Roman and Remus realize what it means to be Beasts... to have Horrors as their very souls. With Janus as their mentor of sorts...

(Virgil’s not in the first book, but will be in the second. He and Janus are also Beasts. Lo + Pat will also be cast in that sequel book...)

Oi, I should try to finish writing this iZ!AU drabble I had going on... need to cut self off of Steam, istg.

... But I’ll chip at the second book for this Begotten!AU here, after that.

-

Individual posts:

Remus - Kraken

Roman - Dragon

Janus - Marilith

Virgil - Darkweaver

[empress-of-snark]

Library Book Sale Haul!

tagging my book friends @televinita and @simplyshelbs16xoxo

1. ‘Elizabeth: The Later Years’ by John Guy and 2. ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ by William Shakespeare

I’ve always had an interest in Queen Elizabeth I, so this biography should prove interesting, and I’ve been slowly but steadily building up a collection of Shakespeare plays—this is one I haven’t read or seen performed yet!

3. ‘Boo Who’ by Rene Cutteredge

This one felt vaguely Halloween-ish, which always intrigues me. It’s set in a town called Skary, whose primary claim to fame is being the home of a famous horror novelist, and the whole thing sounds very charming.

4. ‘The Black Cat Murders’ by Karen Baugh Menuhin

This one’s partially for my mom, who is always borrowing books from me and loves murder mysteries. It was described as ‘Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie’ which is an immediate draw for me lol.

5. ‘The Merman’ by Carl-Johan Vallgren

A dark, modern fairy tale about a pair of siblings who (presumably) befriend a merman? Sign me up, babey.

6. ‘Only Begotten Daughter’ by James Morrow

Not quite a re-telling of the Gospels, more like a… sequel, I guess? God (female in this version) sends another child to Earth—this time a daughter who lives with her human father in 1990’s New Jersey. The summary makes it sound like a dark comedy maybe, which is an odd choice, but I’m definitely interested.

7. ‘Stalkers’ by various authors

A collection of short horror stories that I’ll be saving for October!

and finally, 8. ‘Hallowe’en Party’ by Agatha Christie

Checked this one out after finishing up at the sale. Since the trailer for Kenneth Branagh’s latest Agatha Christie adaptation (A Haunting in Venice) recently dropped, I thought I’d read the book it’s based on! This one’s actually been on my radar for a while, I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Trailer looked spooky, so I’m really looking forward to it!

Total cost: $5

That’s it for this trip, but I might head back on my day off next week and see what else I can find!

[thegreaterlink]

Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S2E1 “The Child”

THE PREMISE

Dr Katherine Pulaski, the Enterprise's new Chief Medical Officer, is brought aboard as the ship travels to Aucdet IX to take on dangerous virus samples, which will be carried to a Starfleet medical station with the hope of developing a cure for a plague epidemic in the Rachelis system.

While travelling at sub light speed, a ball of energy passes into the ship and travels around before settling in the womb of Counsellor Troi. Dr Pulaski's analysis shows that the foetus is growing at an accelerated rate and will be fully developed within 36 hours. The ship's senior staff debate terminating the pregnancy, but Troi decides to carry the child to term. Troi names the child Ian, and he continues to develop rapidly.

WHAT'S NEW IN SEASON 2?

This new season brings with it a lot of changes:

Geordi is now the ship’s Chief Engineer, meaning he can do more than just use his visor to advance the plot.

Worf has replaced Tasha Yar - may she rest in peace - as the ship’s Chief of Security. He also has a slightly updated makeup design which I think looks much better. Apparently Michael Dorn’s original Klingon headpiece was stolen which necessitated the change. And I'm honestly glad it was; his old one just never looked right to me. Just compare for yourself.

Dr Pulaski has replaced Beverly Crusher as the ship’s Chief Medical Officer. Gates McFadden was fired by then-head writer and showrunner Maurice Hurley because he didn't like her or her acting. So that guy can go fuck himself.

Deanna Troi and Wesley Crusher have new outfits, with Wesley finally getting a Starfleet uniform.

Transporter chief Miles O’Brien makes his first appearance. Colm Meaney had previously appeared as an unnamed security officer in "Lonely Among Us." Maybe they're actually the same person? Food for thought.

Whoopi Goldberg has her first guest starring role as the character of Guinan, and her Ten Forward lounge is introduced.

And, last but not least, Riker has finally obtained his legendary facial hair. The babyface is dead; long live the beard.

Anyway, time to review the actual episode.

MY REVIEW

The majority of this episode is focused on Troi's rapidly-developing child. Within a few days, he has reached the physical and mental state of an eight-year-old. Most of it is pretty by-the-numbers, aside from the implication that Ian deliberately burns himself in one scene out of curiosity.

Still, at least some effort is made to hold our interest, with Ian refusing to explain who or what he really is until the time is right, and one of the sample virus strains growing inexplicably and threatening to rupture the storage vessel and infect everyone on board. Obviously they want to avoid that - Picard only just recovered from that sore throat, after all.

At the end of the episode, Ian confides to his "mother" that his presence as a being of energy is the cause of the virus' growth. He dies in her arms and returns to his energy form. He contacts Troi and explains that he impregnated her to find out what it was like to be human.

Hmm... a sentient being impregnating Troi without her knowledge or consent? Some might call it a fascinating new form of life. I call it rape. Ian is a child begotten of a rape that he himself committed, and it baffles me that none of the crew ever address this! Marina Sirtis was apparently happy with the episode because it gave her character some focus for once, and I'm all for that, but... did it have to be like this?

I don't want to think about this anymore. Let's just keep going.

My research shows that the premise for this episode originated as far back as Gene Roddenberry's original pitch for the Original Series. A similar idea was intended for Star Trek: Phase II, the planned sequel series which was eventually cancelled in favour of making Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Because of tight deadlines caused by the Writers' Guild Strike, the script was pulled out of storage and rewritten to fit TNG.

This episode has a minor subplot of Wesley Crusher trying to cope with leaving the Enterprise to join his mother on Earth after her promotion to director of Starfleet Medical - so that asshole Maurice Hurley found a convenient way to write her out. Bastard. Anyway, he has some nice scenes of receiving guidance from Guinan before deciding to stay. Good for him, I guess.

Also this is a bit of a nitpick, but it'll annoy me if I don't bring it up. Pulaski has a small scene with Data where she mispronounces his name, and when he corrects her she jokingly pretends to scan him for a circuit which allows him to experience hurt feelings. I realise they were probably trying to give them a dynamic similar to Spock and Dr McCoy, but there’s a key reason it doesn’t work - Spock was perfectly capable of holding his own against McCoy’s witticisms, and nearly always got the last word. The cynical, cranky Dr McCoy made for the perfect foil for the calm, logical Spock, creating a dynamic which endeared us to their relationship and the characters involved.

But here Data lacks the understanding of humanity to recognise Pulaski making a joke at his expense, meaning this scene was just Pulaski picking on Data for no good reason while her jabs go over his head. The result is that we feel sorry for Data and dislike Pulaski for being mean to an established character. They’re trying to make her a new Dr McCoy-esque character, when Data met the actual McCoy in “Encounter at Farpoint” and he treated him much better! Hell, Pulaski as a character just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the crew.

4.5/10 - Riker’s beard is generally associated with an increase in the show’s quality, but the beard evidently hasn't started to work its magic just yet.

Previous Episode | TNG Masterpost | Next Episode

[coffeebeannate]

Bird’s Aren’t Real (But You Are)

Based on this post by @nicolodigenovas

(I am afraid I forgot both the undercover bit-and the glock, BUT I may expand with a sequel)

~~

Most often, at first, Andy finds herself simply staring.

She’s got no shame to be called out for it, Quỳnh’s eyes dancing with barely contained amusement when she inevitably catches her doing so. The answering glint sharp before it slowly fades to a gentler warm that eases around the corners of her eyes, brings out the softest barely-there lines of her face, and lets Andy know truly, that she’s home.

Home, as much as that exists to them. Home as much as the stability of family has sturdier walls than any building could hope to match.

Hope, no longer a burnt-out dredge nestled between her ribs, clawing now with renewed flames, and licking her heart tentatively.

Stay.

Where you belong.

We missed you so much.

Threading’s through holes in clothes, darns in socks, home, my love.

You’re home.

--

Once, someone had spat to Quỳnh that she was acerbic like a serpent, and the laughter that had followed from her twisted lips only spurned Andy’s heart into the overdriven cadence of love, adoration, pride.

Thump, I love you so much.

Thud, I’d do anything for you.

Thump, Give me the world, I’ll bring it to your hands, lick it’s wounds and let you fester in it’s maw until you know for sure that it’s worthy.

Thud, My love, my love.

--

Those were the fools.

Who knew not the truths Andy did, the calm laughter, the sweet kiss of lips, the tender strokes through hair.

Even if at times they met in hurried flashes, in brief couplings that left them so shaky in the knees it’s minutes, ages so before they can stand.

They’d never know.

They’re the fools.

--

Quỳnh approached the new age the same way Andy saw her do anything, intense determination and deliberate machination. Nobody walked all over her, be it knowledge, person, new age.

She adapted quickly; Andy knew she would.

But..sometimes.

Sometimes.

“Quỳnh?..You..what are you doing?” Amusement thickening her tone.

She has a hunch, she does, she knows, but there’s something endearing to Quynh holding a fistful of pebbles in ripped jeans and a faded Metallica hoodie, boots uneven upon the slippery rocks where the faded beach looms, frowning at the hovering objects.

THUNK

The pebble makes contact with its target, something pinging aggressively before a series of loud, broken squeals like seagulls at their endless mealtimes fills the air between them.

“Birds.” Quỳnh huffs, pointing her free hand’s fingers (two at a time, it’s quite cute) at the metal flying things, “You said it, the other day ‘kill two birds with one stone’.

Indeed, two of the metal things are now littering the ground some inches from Quynh’s scuffed boots. (They’re bright red, Andy is quite fond of them).

It dawns on her slowly, the squealing dying down to wailing and hisses, crackling and sparks.

“Quỳnh” Andy fights to keep the laughter from her voice, approaching the ill-begotten drone birds with some mock-hesitation, the same old pride she’d felt so long ago, so dead, resurging with a vengeance.

The moon, the stars, the gravitational pull that keeps them grounded.

She would carve it up and hand it to her on a platter.

It’s the same reverence she walks to her with, steps sure as Quynh readies another stone, eyes glistening, hawk-like for more prey amongst the horizon, only allowing a twitch of amusement to her lips when Andy’s hands mold to her waist.

Drawn back to her chest, Andy’s hand wanders to tap once, twice, a third time against her stomach, old fabric soft as the skin she missed so much.

“I see another one.”

Quỳnh’s arm draws back, head lifting to meet where Andy’s line scans the horizon.

A seagull squeal, and Quynh readies herself.

No prey set to escape.

Against her Andy tightens her arms, waits.

Welcome home, Quỳnh.

(Also on AO3)

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

Thank you for tagging me @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius !

Rules: Post the first sentence in your last 10 works; if you don’t have 10, do as many as you have.

I have eight published works post-hiatus and two unpublished WIP's so this works out well.

1. Whiskey and Teeth: the short and gritty Grand Inquisitor x GN!Reader fic featuring seedy dive bars and back alley encounters

You’ve had a good thing going, you think.

2. Canto Bites: another Grand Inquisitor x GN!Reader, hearts full of wrath and clinging for one more ill-begotten moment before time runs out

“When that slugthrower fires, I need you to run."

3. Studied and Praised: this x GN!Reader fic once again starring our beloved Inquisitor, centered around unravelling ancient mysteries of the Sith behind the Emperor's back- all to further his glory, of course

“We’ve permission to land, your Highness.”

4. Explored and Worshiped: the Sequel to Studied and Praised, where things have gone terribly awry for our royal protagonist. Slightly less GN, if you catch my drift. Still diving deep into ancient Sith legends, though

Your fingers rub idly at the skin of your temple, stretching and pulling, but your weary mind still struggles to parse over your last minute scans of the planet’s surface.

5. Comparative Anatomy: this GN!Reader character has a particular fascination with the evolution and spread of sentient life through the galaxy. They have some theories, and need a Pau'an to prove them. More specifically, a Pau'an's teeth

You flinch as the datapad slaps down against the large obsidian data table.

6. Blowing Cover: on espionage and turning dissatisfied clients into satisfied ones. You've guessed it- another Grand Inquisitor x GN!Reader fic. I aim to please

“Tighter.”

7. Ride or Die: what if the Grand Inquisitor survived the events of Rebels? Fallen into disgrace with something to prove, then thrust into a mission on his home planet with uncomfortable roots to his forgotten past? The Plainsmen fic, an epic novel on its second volume already. Grand Inquisitor x F!Reader

It is the stranger that makes you wake your kin from their peaceful slumbers tucked comfortably beneath great leathery wings.

8. Fly or Fall: the sequel to Ride or Die, currently ongoing

The warm updraft from the north fills the leathery wings at your sides.

9. Scavenger: unpublished WIP

The distress beacon blips idly across the cockpit monitors.

10. Sentimental: unpubished WIP

A second pair of footsteps echo behind you in the lofty marble corridor.

[wangxianficrecs]

Sweeties, it’s time for

I’m In The Mood For A Fic Where…

_______

1.  Ahhh mojo your blog makes my world go round and back and around again.  [You’re so sweet!] I was wondering if you could help me out with your next "I'm in the mood for a fic where".. I'm looking for two types of fics

A) fics in which WWX regains his core somehow (either by working on it, divine intervention, core sharing, anything!!) I so desperately want my boy to have his precious and favourite sword back (◡ ω ◡)

B) fics where WWX (or LWJ) *almost* marries someone else.

Thank you for your help!!! (~￣³￣)~❤️ ~ @akyra-talanoa​

1a.

nothing gold can stay by rikke (M, 10k, wangxian, my post)

❤️Ghosts Shouldn't by ShanaStoryteller (not rated [G], 15k, wangxian, my post)

the path to heaven / immortal wangxian by lightningalwaysreturns (E, 51k, wangxian)

Chimera by nirejseki (T, 18k, wangxian)

Righteous at a Cost by thunderwear (G, 21k, wangxian, my bookmark)

Different Paths to the Same Route by JustAWanderingBabbit (T, 184k, 3zun)

24 Hours by tailor31415 (E, 6k, wangxian)

Core-Thieving Hand by x_los (T, 5k, wangxian)

Field Trips with Wei Wuxian by antebunny (G, 43k, wangxian)

1b.

to swim through the fires by littledust (M, 37k, wangxian)

❤️Neatly Arranged by thunderwear (T, 46k, wangxian, my post)

Rebound Betrothal by mondengel (not rated (G), 2k, wangxian, my post)

History Will Call Us Wives by silvermarie (E, 17k, wangxian)

today was a smoking sky by typefortydeductions (E, 38k, wangxian)

~*~

2.  hello! any recs wangxian modern au/mpreg? please and thank you!

Here’s my mpreg post (mostly current) and also

Brilliant Mistake by brooklinegirl (E, 54k, wangxian, my bookmark)

Winter Moon, White Rabbit by nachttour (E, 62k, wangxian, WIP)

Stale Spice, Sandalwood, and Nests by Tyongslips (M, 18k, wangxian, WIP)

~*~

3.  Hello!! This might not be specific enough to find anything, but I was looking for modern wangxian fics that have a very distinct italicized 'oh' moments together? Like both of them or either of the pair doing something that makes them suddenly realize

every time we kiss i swear i could fly by sarahyyy (T, 3k, wangxian, my post)

【那夏天的我們】a stroke of fate by puddingcatbeans (G, 60k, wangxian)

not in so many words by jaws_3 (T, 18k, wangxian, my post)

~*~

4.  In the mood for fics where WWX is genuinely afraid of LWJ, believing that he will kill him/hurt him/cast him out/haul him back to Gusu for punishment; with emphasis on LWJ's reaction when he realizes and it hits him like a sack of bricks, and ideally on his efforts to regain WWX's trust. Not looking for something where LWJ really does wish WWX significant harm, but it's ok if he has well-intended ideas that he doesn't realize would hurt him. Any time period, canon version, or AU is good. Example: decay by antebunny.

~*~

5.  Hi there! First of all thank you for making such a helpful blog. I have been reading tons of great stories due to you.  [I’m so glad!] Secondly I would love to read a fic (a) where lwj is a single dad and then meets wwx (b) Best modern au fics with lots of angst. Thanks!!! ~ @pastashouldbeeatenwithafork​

5a. 

❤️A Flower That Blooms In Adversity by thunderwear (M, 62k, wangxian, WIP, my post)

like wildflowers (we grow) by moonsteps (T, 80k, wangxian)

say it's here where our pieces fall in place by Lirelyn (E, 69k, wangxian)

plant a little happiness (let the roots run deep) by fleurdeliser (E, 48k, wangxian)

tear out the thread one by one from your skin (’til your bones feel embarrassed by all the attention) by lightningalwaysreturns (E, 41k, wangxian)

paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3 (E, 54k, wangxian)

love thy neighbor by wincechesters (M, 7k, wangxian)

No Need to Change a Tune by yeolinski (T, 10k, wangxian)

5b.

Tempo Rubato by Spodumene (E, 108, wangxian, my post)

A Sequence of Coming Outs by kippalittlefox (M, 24k, wangxian)

new york, i love you by Anonymous (T, 7k, wangxian)

leading tone by silencemostofall (G, 32, wangxian)

An Ocean Between Us by feenwitch (E, 11k, wangxian)

总有一天; a place to hide (can’t find one near) by yiqie (E, 76k, wangxian, *mind the tags!*)

me and you, always and forever by fyredancer (E, 150k, wangxian)

Momentum Deferred by DisasterBiAlert (T, 13k, wangxian, my post)

After the Final Rose by azurewaxwing (E, 55k, wangxian)

there's no promised goodbye here by Anonymous (T, 54k, wangxian)

defective requiems by Misila (M, 9k, wangxian)

❤️Common love isn't for us by feyburner (M, 8k, wangxian, my post)

twice by Misila (T, 8k, wangxian)

one good thing by Yuu_chi (T, 27k, wangxian, my post)

~*~

6.  Hey! Can you rec some fics with wangxian being in cloud recesses or modern au of college?? Thanks!

I have tags for #students at cloud recesses and #college/university au

~*~

7.  Would you happen to know any fics where lqr and wwx actually get along and have a good relationship? Lqr the scholar he is and wwx the inventor/genious ???? There are a lot of possibilities there.  Thank you so much have a great day and stay hydrated!!!

❤️To have and to hold by Moominmammashandbag (M, 79k, wangxian, my post)

❤️to arrive late is better than not to arrive at all by Moominmammashandbag (M, 35k, wangxian, my post)

Just Say Yes by edenwolfie (M, 312k, wangxian)

Post-war baby! by like_a_bird_that_flew (E, 23k, wangxian, WIP)

Righteous at a Cost by thunderwear (G, 21k, wangxian, my bookmark)

~*~

8.  Hello! I love your fic recs and the hard work you do! I've discovered so many new favourites thanks to you! [Yay!] I was wondering if you know of any fics where they're shapeshifters or some such? Animals or wing-fics or something similar? ❤

I have an official tag for #animal transformation, and on my AO3 wangxian collection (which returns more search results than tumblr) here is the search for shapeshifter, and wingfic

over forests and mountains by beechtree (T, 9k, wangxian, WIP)

~*~

9.  hii do you know any fics that focus on lwj and lxc and their relation?? thanks <33

❤️Begotten by ecorie (G, 37k, wangxian, my post)

Brotherly Concern by Ibijau (G, 11k, wangxian, my post)

~*~

10.  hellooo! do you know any fics where jiang cheng finds a-yuan instead of lwj? thank you for all your recs btw, they're super helpful!!! [Thank you!]

grieve the living by Misila (M, 161k, wangxian)

Overflow the autumn pools by Mhalachai (T, 74k, jiang cheng & lan wangji)

~*~

11.  I love your blog! Thank you so much for all the wonderful recs! [Thank you!]  I don't suppose you know of any fics where WWX is a non-human entity of some sort, but presents or is disguised as a human? (Or maybe he even thinks he is human?)

Cruise the tags mentioned above in #8, too.

❤️Spellbound by Latios (T, 37k, wangxian, my post)

When fish soar by mondengel (G, 2k, wangxian, my post)

Breathing Firestorm by ladyshadowdrake (M, 111k, wangxian)

flame and rust by cl410 (M, 29k, wangxian, WIP)

❤️The Tiger has Destroyed his Cage by updatebug (G, 55k, wangxian, my bookmark)

Magical Marriage Ribbons by starandrea (M, 376k, wangxian)

Ever Distant Shores by fuddy_duddy (rainier_day) (T, 69k wangxian, WIP)

~*~

12.  Hiii do you know any fics where wwx or lwj OR wangxian leave the cultivation world/retire/grow old together away from cultivation drama? Something like And They Have Escaped The Weight of Darkness by cosmicmilktea , All that is solid melts into air by huxiyi , and that fic where post resurrection wwx just decides to not bother with dafan mountain and opens a flower shop:  focal, filler, and line by bosbie.

Dan Tian / Heaven by ArchiveWriter (T, 20k, wangxian, WIP)

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Moonpuddles (T, 3k, wangxian)

Pair of Swallows, you and I~ by Moonpuddles (T, 13k, wangxian, series in progress)

~*~

13.  Hello! Do you know any fics where wangxian has some incompatibility issues/dysfunctional relationship that isnt because of canon typical one braincell wwx, but because of more structural things like their mental age gaps, how wwx will prolly hate cloud recesses after the honeymoon bliss is over etc. Generally fics that show wangxian having to work to build the relationship

~*~

14.  Hi! Any wangxian onlyfans au fics? I read For a Good Time, Call by ScarlettStorm and the ongoing sequel KILF (Knits I'd Like To Fuck in) and those were so good!!! I'd like to find more similar fics!

Temptation's Mask by threerings (E, 58k, wangxian, camboy wwx)

A ghost by the light of the phone by shibrogane (E, 10k, wangxian)

~*~

15.  Hey, do you have any fics where lxc doesn't like (or outright despises) wwx?

❤️to arrive late is better than not to arrive at all by Moominmammashandbag (M, 35k, wangxian, my post)

I don't like your boyfriend by lazulisong (G, 3k, wangxian, my post)

~*~

16.  Do you know of any fics where the Lan Elders (unsuccessfully) try to make Lan Zhan marry someone other than Wei Ying?

Lie Open To One Another by levament (M, 41k, wangxian, WIP)

~*~

17.  Hii! Do you know any fics that similar to Ardent Desires by crestre / Baby Of Mine by pupeez4eva ? I've been searching for it and want to read fics that similar to those so bad. I hope you and your followers can help me! Thankyouuu

The Trouble with Talismans: a Treatise on Time-Travel by Young Master Lan Xiaohui (Age 6) by stiltonbasket (G, 17k, wangxian, WIP)

~*~

18.  Do you know any wangxian fics where either one or both of them are models/actors/musicians/famous in some way?

The Fault in Our Stars by Vamillepudding (T, 18k, wangxian, my post)

Patient came so hard from prostate exam he kicked me in the dick by Hades_the_Blingking (e, 17k, wangxian, my post)

An ocean in a drop (not a drop in the ocean) by dea_liberty (E, 10k, RPF, yizhan, my post)

how to fall in love with a catfish: a guide by wei wuxian (disaster rat) by Anonymous (T, 55k, wangxian, my post)

Make It Count by wearing_tearing (E, 47k, wangxian, my bookmark)

❤️Love wakes me by dea_liberty (e, 46k, wangxian, my post)

life, drama and action by Akai__hana (G, 13k, wangxian)

call me, beep me by myung (T, 39k, wangxian)

Rest by sassybluee (T, 115k, wangxian)

~*~

19.  hello, i'm searching for a fic where wwx like... transmigrates into mdzs/cql? like i think there were a couple of them and but i can't find them for some reason?

Untitled. by c11to (M, 61k, wangxian, WIP)

[thelastraigeki]

My Thoughts on Predator 5

It’s been a long time since I talked about anything in relation to the Predator franchise. To me, the franchise has been steadily going down hill with the release of Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 sequel PREDATORS and there didn’t seem to be going back after that movie whatsoever. Bad ideas had begotten more bad ideas in the expanded universe material with the idea that there were Predators who were bigger and badder than the original concept which Stan Winston came up with, that the idea of the original Yautja species was outdated and no longer iconic.

And for nearly eight years, I struggled to hold onto the franchise as a loyal fan. And then when 2018′s sequel, The Predator was released under the direction of Shane Black and written by Fred Dekker... I considered the franchise dead in the water, and that there was nothing short of saving it save for a full on reboot or a massive retcon which kept Predator, Predator 2, and both AVP films in continuity... But I knew I was never going to get that. A fan would have to be hopeful or deluded to think that would happen. Perhaps I was the former, perhaps I was the latter, perhaps I was both.

And then the Disney purchase happened. My greatest fear was finally realized, as the Mouse devoured another company in the film industry and now owned the intellectual rights to both the Alien and Predator franchise. I saw what they are doing to Star Wars, or rather what they were doing-- and I saw what they are doing to Marvel comics-- the MCU being a success but the comics not so much with Disney pandering to the Tumblr and Twitter crowd.

And with the Disney purchase I knew that they were going to do to Alien-Predator with what they did to Star Wars. And that was the erasure of the existing expanded universe material which was published by Dark Horse, the first stewards in creating what used to be a shared universe which was birthed in the comics. Marvel acquired the rights, and so far it doesn’t seem like as if they plan on continuing the continuity laid out by Dark Horse.

In hindsight, I consider this a blessing as I hope they NEVER touch the beloved characters of Dachande, Machiko Noguchi and many other characters that are so beloved by the fandom.

And then I had read that after the DISASTROUS performance and fandom reaction towards Shane Black’s The Predator, that a Predator 5 was going to be put into production. A part of me was hopeful in that this could be a full on retcon of Shane Black’s movie, and maybe Robert Rodriguez’s movie-- or a full on reboot of the franchise. But instead, what we were getting was a prequel to the 1987 John McTiernan movie...

So, this was a movie which... everyone wanted to see. It’s something that’s never really been explored, unless you count the first AVP: Alien vs Predator movie, but those were flashback segments in the film.

Then the details of the movie started coming out, and already it was just... stinking of Disney’s agenda. It would serve as a complete antithesis to what the original movie was-- which let’s face it, was a testosterone injected and masculine 1980s action movie with memorable one liners. The story for this upcoming movie was about a Native American young girl who decides to go up against the tribe patriarchy while also fighting against an enemy never before encountered on Earth.

Now, I am not saying that an action movie cannot have a female protagonist. The Alien films show this and they do it BEAUTIFULLY. But bare in mind, this was handled with care and focus on the story first from both Ridley Scott and James Cameron for the first two Alien films. This could most certainly be done for Predator if in the right hands...

But Disney is NOT what I would consider the right hands, especially considering what Disney has done to Star Wars with the sequel films-- which I now hearing, are about to be retconned out of continuity by the efforts of John Favreau and company much to the displeasure of Kathleen Kennedy.

But this movie just screams everything Anti-Predator. Many fans have even said that this is just Mulan but with a Predator in it. And I have to agree with them.

And then word got out that the Thomas Brothers were fighting for the acquisition of the franchise from the hands of Disney. I say good luck to the Thomas Brothers, especially since they are fighting to get the franchise which they have a major hand in creating from the clutches of Mickey Mouse, but we all know the Mouse has a crack team of lawyers who are going to do whatever they can for their company to keep the franchise.

And then the news gets worse, as now the word is that Predator 5, now titled as Skull, is going to be about the FIRST hunt on planet Earth-- the first visitation by the Predators in a pre-colonial era America. So when this was announced, this was an indicator that both the AVP films were going to be ejected out from the Predator canon, as they were ejected out from the Alien canon with the arrival of Prometheus.

This would mean for both the Alien and Predator franchises, that thirty years of storytelling, thirty years of character development, thirty years of developing the Predator culture, thirty years of a shared universe... Is now destroyed. It’s put on the chopping block, ready to be axed and when that happens... the past has been destroyed. Yes, that pun was intentional as it’s a reference to what Kylo Ren said in one of the Star Wars sequel movies.

And the upcoming movie is rumored to be released only on Hulu because of the legal disputes between the Thomas Brothers and Disney... It might not even get a theater release. And I hope it doesn’t.

To me, the golden era of Alien and Predator has long since passed with the 1990s when Alien vs. Predator was a big thing-- to where even children’s toys were produced by Kenner for it and a side-scrolling beat’em up by Capcom was released. I am quite happy with the 2004 and 2007′s AVP films-- regardless of what anyone else thought of them as I felt they were true to the original source material-- which was the comics and novels, as they spawned the idea of a shared universe.

2010 was where it ALL started falling apart... And now Disney owns it all.

The franchise is dead. Now it’s being desecrated for the greedy corporate shills who just don’t care about the lore and want to see nothing but dollar signs... Of course, Fox wasn’t doing any better with the franchise. It’s been dead since 2018.

I’m not going to see this movie. What made it special is going to be killed off a second time. And I hope it doesn’t release in theatres and that the Thomas Brothers get it back.

[sandalaris]

WIP Title Game

Tagged by @youbecool @alwaysupatnight and @fortysevenswrites Thank you all so much! I

rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and interests you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

Some are repeats because of how I do my writing, but here we go! (under a cut because there’s a lot of them)

1A - the document I use to edit the latest chapter of multi-fics I am working on, currently A Lesson in Navigation’s next chapter

A Lesson in Navigation - holds all future chapters/scenes/snippets/notes for my WIP

A SethKate Community - fusion fic! the FDtD characters are now a study group at a community college… also has some scenes for the reverse

ALiN Alternate Scene - deleted scenes for A Lesson in Navigation

ALiN Pieces to reignite - I got writers block a while back and so just started randomly writing whatever came to mind for SethKate

ALiN Seth’s POV - what is says on the title

All The Little Pieces notes - because that sucker got complicated and I kept forgetting where people were at

Andy x Lauren - an in-pieces drabble/fic for the show Gifted exploring Andy and Lauren’s mental connection and what all it means. Kinda shippy

Baby, We’re a Cliche part 2 - sequel to a Sterek AU fic

Biscuit Teacher - from the kdrama Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy. I really wanted Bo Ri to find out that Hyun Woo lied about Tae In wanting her there and then have them break up sooner, probably won’t ever be finished but I’m glad I wrote it

Chapter something - I’m shortening this list because I technically have Chapter 26, Chapter 27 and Chapter 29 and this vaugly named Chapter something all as separate document for All the Little Pieces (the main document was getting too long)

Document1 - creatively named. SethKate, inspired by the tumblr post about someone’s grandparents meeting with their grandpa tried to rob their grandma

Document2 - a rough scene from a Community fic

Document3 - has two scenes from two different FDtD fics that I need to put back where they go

DW - a Doctor Who AU where nothing is alien and everything is fae

FDtD Fire Us - post-apocalypse SethKate fic based strongly on the Fire-Us series (or rather the set up for that world and the disease that killed almost everyone). Seth and Richie find a set of siblings squatting in one of their safe houses… except they shouldn’t exist.

FDtD Seth Kate Richie - probably Gen fic where Seth and Richie are Kate’s imaginary friends… until they aren’t

FDtD Touching With Intention - a post-series Kate-centric fic about her taking her healing into her own hands, background SethKate

FDtD - a shit ton of random snippets and fic ideas that are all firmly on the backburner until I either get the overwhelming urge to finish them, delete them, or post them as chapters in my never to be finished fic (mostly SethKate). Including scenes from: Zombie AU, dark Amaru/Brasa (+Kate) fic on those six months between season 2 and 3, cursed!Kate is stuck in an alternate reality dreamstate and the Gecko brothers have to go in to get her out, and superpowered S1 AU (featuring precog!Richie, Scott can “do the math,” Kate can make people tell the truth, Freddie’s not sayin what he can do… yet, and Seth the badass normal one)

 Good Bad Kinda Fairytale - FDtD inspired by the Kinda Fairytale series where people are born either Good or Bad. SethKate featuring oblivious!Kate and pissed off!Seth.

Leverage!Life With Derek - Derek/Casey fic where the McDonalds and the Venturis are each a crime family that decide to start helping people with their skills

Lydia and Peter - an exploration of the connection between Peter and Lydia from Teen Wolf

MacGyver weirdness - what it says on the title, :P

Mr. and Mrs. Smith AU - actually just lightly inspired by the movie. SethKate. After a year of marriage, Seth, a semi-retired master theif who never told his wife how he got the money, begins to suspect that Kate is also some kind of wanted criminal… she’s not, but he’s not the only one to make that mistake and now people are shooting at them.

Murdered by Pirates is Good - a Richie/Kisa Princess Bride inspired fic where Kisa is telling Scott and Kate her story

Murdered by Pirates is Good 2- the SethKate sequel or possible alongside fic

(another set of multidocuments that are technically all the same) Nano 2, Nano Edit Numero Uno, Nano - all various edited stages of the Community/FDtD crossover where Jeff is Seth’s lawyer

Random Rumbelle - what it says in the title, lol.

Rene x Trevor - probably another fic I won’t finish, but Rene’s reaction to finding out that “Trevor” is actually a traveler in her boyfriend’s dead body

SethKate - my attempt to write smut for the first time, post-season one with kinda-a-werewolf-but-not-really!Seth

Shin x ET - The Lonley God kdrama fic where Shin struggles with not kissing his newly found bride

Spark Stiles - a semi-dark Sterek fic where Stiles climbs his way out of hell to get revenge for Scott’s murder

Sterek - two Stiles/Derek fic ideas that are on the backburner for now

Sterek SS inspired Part Two- the sequel to Intervening Process (We’ve Got This)

Stolen Kisses of an Ill-Begotten Age - Jeff/Annie post-Debate fic where Jeff gets to finally talk to someone about how Annie knocked him on his ass with one kiss

The Salt of Man - Life with Derek, Derek/Casey post-apocalypitic fic

Tumblr - the SethKate sequel to the drabble of Kate finding a drunk and high Seth and running her fingers through his hair…. that’s actually pretty much done, I should post it

Untitled tumblr drabble - a Richie/Dakota kissing prompt from @alwaysupatnight

Untitled tumblr drabble 2 - a SethKate kissing prompt from @yossariandawn

Waiting - a Criminal Minds fic involving none of the main characters, lol

What the Hell - a Big Bang Theory AU where Penny ends up Sheldon’s roommate and Leonard moves across the hall

wtf - a collection of The Umbrella Academy scenes involving Five dealing with second puberty, Diego and Vanya bonding during their teen years, and a slight AU where when they jump back to 2019 with ghost!Ben something to goes wrong, or right, and now Ben’s alive!…. and in his fourteen year old body

[graywyvern]

The Scariest Halloween

(via)

This scariest Halloween, i thought i would make my own seasonal favorites-list. I wouldn’t say—even as a kid—any of these movies really scared me. Better: they were a flavor i liked.

 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920). The original “head movie”—German Expressionism at its finest. Those sets!

Nosferatu (1922). Full of indelible images & a genuinely creepy performance by Max Shreck.

Vampyr (1932). Still the closest cinematic approach to the depiction of a nightmare. It’s not supposed to “make sense”. It doesn’t.

Night of the Hunter (1955). Besides being visually one of the greatest black & white films, an inspired Robert Mitchum does the perfect psychopath. (Sorry, Hannibal.)

X the Unknown (1956). Less well known than others of its era, but i think a great example of doing less with more.

Night of the Demon aka Curse of the Demon (1957). Now considered a classic, its special effects are still remarkably effective in the final sequence.

Carnival of Souls (1962). I think no better portrait of mental illness exists on film, & full of great images, especially the abandoned amusement park.

The Conqueror Worm aka Witchfinder General (1968). This along with Fall of the House of Usher are my favorite, least bombastic Vincent Price performances, but Worm is not the least bit kitschy, & one of the very few honestly nihilistic films ever made (take that, von Trier).

The Exorcist (1973). This one is irrevocably tied to its moment, but if you saw it at the right age (as i did), it pushed all the buttons. (The sequel, too, is better than its reputation, but it’s a completely different sort of movie.)

Don’t Look Now (1973). More of an art-movie than a thriller, it vividly conveys a sense of Venice as a foreboding, haunted place (see below).

Suspiria (1977). The most beautiful horror movie ever made (not that there’s a lot of competition).

Alien (1979). Carries a wallop. Made H R Giger & Sigourney Weaver household names.

The Hunger (1983). Mainly for the opening montage (perhaps the best in cinema), featuring live Bauhaus.

Begotten (1989). Viscereally uncanny; ultimately, a grueling & unpleasant experience i admire without reservation.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991). As far as i’m concerned, the serial-killer genre should have begun & ended here. But what i remember now, more than anything, is how good Jodie Foster is.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). Not a great horror movie but, as a tribute to fin de siècle decadence, priceless.

The Addiction (1995). Off-beat, really it’s more like philosophy-as-horror in a way that later became much more mainstream (among a certain group of writers, anyway). Lili Taylor is incredible. So is, briefly, Christopher Walken.

The Sixth Sense (1999). Good story, well made, three fine performances & a memorable sense of place. A modern classic.

The Host (2006). I like the glimpses of everyday life in Korea, making this one its own unique kind of movie. Good monster, too.

A Quiet Place (2018). Just when you were sure there was nothing further to be done, this one delivers, quite efficiently, a new shudder.

 Kaiju (for me, the Godzilla & Gamera series—my favorite Godzillas: the first [in its Japanese-release version], Godzilla vs Mothra (kaiju meets head-movie!), & Godzilla vs the Smog Monster aka Godzilla vs Hedorah) is its own genre, just as Noir & Sci-fi are. The Dr Phibes movies (which I love) are bad moviemaking but great Camp. However, I hate most horror movies made after the 60s, because they aren’t anxiety-based anymore, but voyeuristic sadism.

 For books, i always say the two scariest books i ever read were both nonfiction: The Hot Zone & The Long Emergency. I think Hell House & The Haunting of Hill House are the best novels, with The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Cipher, & The Red Tree closely behind. Thomas Ligotti is easily the best short-story writer, but this is a genre where many one- or two-hit wonders are found. “Ligeia” is my favorite Poe story & the one that most repays rereading, & i would also single out Matheson’s novella “Some of Your Blood.” Dark fantasy is abundant & some of it written on a high level e.g. Michael Shea’s Nifft the Lean, & Brian Catling’s Vorrh. (The most disturbing book i ever read is still Matthew Stokoe’s Cow, but i would not advise anyone at all to read it. I mean, just don’t.)

 In poetry, Thomas Lovell Beddoes is the undisputed king. One can also mention Byron’s long-poem “Night”, plus many pieces by Clark Ashton Smith, Walter de la Mare (barely remembered, these days), & early W S Merwin.

 For music, Diamanda Galas (her Masque of the Red Death trilogy), & Penderecki’s Utrenja. (Although Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite has some of those moods among its exquisite many.) There is so much great “dark-ambient” & “industrial music” out there (I mean, The Unacceptable Face of Freedom, anyone? Songs of Byzantine Flowers?), not to mention more recent “witch house”… Special mention to Wolves in the Throne Room, Ningen Isu, & Sidewalks and Skeletons: White Light. But far scarier than all those sound-effects put together, is the Violent Femmes’s “Country Death Song.”

 And (why not?) my Spookiest Places: Praha, Venice at night, Caddo Lake in the daytime, Baja California (where, unmistakably, Death is King). And (trust me on this)--Delphi. Is there a spookiest place in Dallas? How about Vikon Village?

PS You may ask, where are all the Hitchcock movies? Well, he really deserves his own blog entry (Melanie has written better than i ever could, on several of these): Foreign Correspondent, Rear Window, Rope, Vertigo & The Birds...!

[soysaucevictim]

“todo da vueltas como un carrusel”

(See warnings/summary on Ao3.)

<Prologue/Start>

Epilogue: Suliman

The Espinoza family thought a lot about the confrontation.

Carrie and Vic, in particular, were in the midst of an emotional whirlwind.

“I’m just glad you’re still here. I’m glad we all are.”

“I’m still trying to fathom what happened back there. It was-”

“I’m proud of you two for protecting us. You were extraordinarily brave.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget how Steve looked when–”

“We love you.”

There was another layer to it, Carrie’s leg wound was a constant reminder. Vic explained to the twins that both the lower leg bones were damaged - the fibula a lot more so. There were some complications with the swelling that put her little behind on recovery. She would need a cast and crutches while she was healing afterwards, but she was simply glad to be there with her family.

That was a sentiment Vic would repeat like a mantra.

It was setting in for both the twins that the experience affected them differently. They unified on one thought, “So help us, NO ONE is going to lay a hand on our family again.”

It overwhelmed any sense of disgust, fear, or guilt that they could’ve felt. They were far more distant from those feelings than their parents were.

They knew it probably had to do with being the kinds of things that caused those emotions in others. In the place of those feelings were a sick thrill that lingered in them both. Roman with the help of his brother, tasting the last brief seconds of Steve barely processing his stolen victory. Remus savored the reaction from his parents during the whole confrontation, a distant part acknowledging it as bittersweet, as it brought him back to his senses.

Roman needed to be reminded of that undeniable truth of what he was, Remus needed the reminder of what was still important.

-

Janus did as they promised. The body was hidden in a deep part of their own Lair.

Steve was declared a missing person. The report on that was punctuated by the image of his grieving parents, vainly hoping they’d see their son back. They didn’t look like they were ever going to believe Steve was no more.

The twins wondered how genuine those emotions were and felt little more than relief that he was no longer a danger to them all. Carrie and Vic would look between the twins and the TV, and like a mantra they’d tell them, “I-I wouldn’t know what I would do if–”

The twins would always come forward to hug them and reassure them.

The report on the carnage left behind on their old high school campus superseded the news cycles, giving Remus more to Feed on. He did look forward to that coverage the most. Wexler was the reporter again too, which left the twins wondering about her.

“Is she–?”

“Naaah.”

-

Roman wished the anathema broke when Steve died, but fishing out one of the pins from that duffel bag proved his hold still there. Frustratingly, his dad found him in that trance-like state and had to throw it back into the bag to snap him out of it. The notion of removing it became all the more tantalizing, if he was totally honest about it.

Eventually, Janus returned to speak with Roman, probably at the behest of his family.

“Would you be so interested if I provided you more space to store your treasures and the objects of your anathema? That is until or if you should ever like to dispel it. I could be able to help.”

“H-how?”

“Little dragon, I’ve decided to include you and your family into my brood. I’ll be better able to aid you fledglings, this way. And in return you can become a valuable asset to us.”

“Brood?”

“It’s loosely like a family… of sorts. I can introduce you to the other members, whenever you’re interested.”

“Are they all Beasts?”

“Not exactly. One of them is a Mage, whose own version of Hunger we feel kinship toward. He is a bit closed off. Maybe even more than myself! But he is highly reliable and a close friend.”

“Mages are a thing?”

“Why, of course. The man goes by one Mr. Ellis Croft.”

“W-who else?”

“Well, there’s another Beast I found and fostered before you and your brother. He experienced his Devouring much younger, too. So he may have much to teach, if you get around his broody temperament.”

Roman snorted about the pun, “And his name?”

“V. V brought along a child that absolutely wouldn’t let go of him, calling him his big brother. We are still trying to understand that creature. The child introduced themself as Patton.”

Roman nodded, “I-I’m interested.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

-

Carrie became restless. She had this dream often, ever since Roman had been shot.

She was in a realm that reminded her of many of the fairy tales her sons loved. She prowled through some kind of forest, a lush and wondrous sight. She noticed she wasn’t limping from her injury at the–

She had an ornate, jewel-encrusted rapier sheathed onto her belt. Rubies, emeralds, amethysts, and citrines. She carried an elegant cherry crossbow, with a full quiver of obsidian-tipped bolts.

It was a dream that always seemed to warp into a nightmare, as darkness started to fall.

She heard screams, screams she recognized. Her family, in danger.

She ran through the foliage as fast as her legs could take her toward them. She heard roars and snarls from animals that she couldn’t quite identify.

Eventually, she arrived at a copse around a lake. She saw an injured dragon near the lake’s edge and a kraken who had their backs turned to a collapsed figure on the ground. The two monsters’ gazes dashed to and fro looking for an unseen threat. It became clear that they were trying to protect that vaguely familiar person...

She heard the sound of roaring, bleating, and hissing coming from the woods, approaching those three. It was somehow more hideous and menacing than the chimeras from the storybooks she had read.

She took aim and fired surely into the monster’s heart before it could get any closer to them.

The dream always cut short before she could run to them, to check on her family.

-

One morning, Carrie woke up feeling different and with a sense of resolve she never had before. She also noticed that her leg wasn’t hurting anymore. She yelped when she knew it healed completely - able to freely move within the cast and put weight on her foot with no pain at all.

She started to panic, knowing that that wasn’t how this was supposed to work. Not after only a couple weeks. Vic wasn’t there, having taken a night shift. She stumbled out of the master bedroom and made her way to the kitchen, barely processing it.

When she accidentally bumped into one of her sons, she paled.

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

He noticed she no longer favored her foot or was using her crutch.

Her eyes widened at Roman, “... I can – I can a-actually see your w-wi–”

He sensed something had shifted in her - a swirling energy that reminded him of Steve. Even though it felt different in some way, it filled him with the urge to run. He stammered, “Y-you’re a–?”

She felt her heart break over the fear that overtook Roman. She approached slowly, “Sweetie, I–”

Roman was panicking about what he should do, backing away, “Don’t…”

She stopped and her eyes started to water, “I don’t want to hurt you. Not you. Not Remus. Not your friends. Not. Us.”

Roman slowly relaxed, “Really?”

She nodded, her voice softened, “I’d rather die than be like-like– I love you beyond words, Ro.”

Roman cautiously approached her, “Then, what- what does this mean?”

She met him where he stood, happy that he didn’t back away again.

“I don’t really know? I just know I need to protect you, protect my family. That’s the only thing I want.”

Roman hugged her and cried, “Y-yo tambien te amo, mamá.”

She ran a hand through his hair and squeezed him tighter. “You have no idea how happy this–”

“Uh, m-mom?”

“Hm?”

“Can’t– breath–”

“Oh! I’m so sorry, mijito.”

She relaxed her grip immediately. She glanced at her hands with shock and muttered, “ I-I guess I don’t know my own strength!”

Roman squirmed a little about this, but was more relieved than anything. The warmness in her smile and voice was still very much the same.

“Think we should, uh… tell the rest of the family about this?”

Carrie simply gave a sheepish nod.

-

<Previous>

[libidomechanica]

Untitled (“That sands”)

That sands of Basanbrace hem through heauen gan over the  tramped the fallow me became  sole men the dead, sweet is as mine, all her  nos. For speak, preach, while sometimes tried  thereupon “twould like again—          beam of they are  ye Queen of Hell nor does to the  thrust in Old Spain, ah, whateer the low rosed  moonlight on each other men: he might upon  this make me against this globe— few, who begotten  peaches on Orcas Island then  hate a dumb confessor so his head, sweet and be  the please, did after mantle mard, wherwith  your own detention, Clootz, Danton, Marat, La Fayette,  were the Spittle curly-headed, ‘ sdeath! The poets maturer sips with some  articles of many think, my dear  pity learn my tomb: And all gilded man— I like that  is my veins ran light with and fishing  heart had an old my sweet to hand,’ and they  tripped him down upon a letter hoof he rain  dropped away oer again, only a strange, are  our mailen plenitude, as when  I pray; for flowerd She, ‘Without one  twain, by praised that we must demeanours ear;  and given to her consciences, and  bring from the moon shadows. With  long-forgot, Coral beneath the hands  one of hope came near. In short, I have I  put it was the enemy but who,  there, with a long years, panted, beated  and with gloom damp awe assaild it  round, whome nor ride the spring roses riotously  gently, Boabdil wept, of Donna Inez. They snool  me sob over all I can touched upon thee will.  Is nowe nor in gear, were speak!’ Is, that  brings more friend or body could be no other  arm could I gather place they could I thy changed him an  wrack his pride the world, as thou wast the  nights concealed, that now dark blue eye they wore than  thou to war again, though she has  else she surges prone, with the sky,  my heart, or this, we had never enough,  which some do the hearted way on  which a pure wit we glided past,— this, Times  furrowd deer, (at leashed with all Armidas fondest  from the woman-love false confoundered  if each padlocked the rivers houses your  books, and Italy to and mony  a sparkles on the deed probes wound here  well known: and years backe to be quiet  take his side, to drop feet to that  livst but half raught ours is as  men sit and dastardly, at its own image  of Gates, and casten to tells me ere  it into the gamekeeper… . all  you by the charm from every  years have been faithful, and speaking merry hae  I been awoke before Ill no further  to leaves awful fancy cannon. His  blude it hurt one obscure; her evening core;  the needles down to sink away we stole, and  my legs. By those white steed, and wonderful,  and cried my fathers Arms— he helpless country maids yellow  me best. That frowns and that every  Law that nowe the wind beg you used to  the field, where lived in her  brought; thought can die by industry had all dispel a  thoughts so soon of air time, to think of  youth, which who dare to take leave your own worthy,  or salt winding-sheet of forms and you  have me stood apart, and the opening leave to  solemn rites in all the sequel.  Beside my ioye) shepheards God, that may fly— surely  than either sweet to thread, and  there we lay: and all the closet never yet he  left the Trial Men, and deeply reached  over me, about his moment! Thou shalt not grieved, but mine,  no—no—Id send to swing. —Reached three weel,  sinew-corded, apt at all forbidden pride, the  woof; with a hole, besides  here dead.” Determined save the wrath hath contrast,  who trembling of silks are gone! 

[oldschoolfic-ds9]

Always

by Jazz Man, 2000

Set in the timeline created by 'Dreams'. Odo and Kira's relationship in the days surrounding the episode 'The Begotten'.

Words: 1052, Chapters: 2/2, Language: English

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: none listed

Characters: Odo, Kira Nerys

Relationships: Odo/Kira

Reader suggested tags (what are these?): none

Sequel to: Dreams

links (link broken? report it and try the archive.org alternative):

trekiverse

archive.org - option 1 / option 2

[an-organized-confusion]

*Drags hands down face.*

Hhhh- I still want to write that iZ!fic drabble with the twins and their shitty parents.

But brain is also going toward poking the Begotten!AU some more for the sequel. Mostly because brain is honed into associating the dang AU to the psytrance music scene. First book ref’d Infected Mushroom’s “Vicious Delicious“ album.

Second book might be a Shpongle album. Or Exhaile. But I’m leaning toward Shpongle. Because the notion of having a chapter titled something like “Brain in a Fishtank“ from “Museum of Consciousness” is just Appealing. (But it will also partly dependent on how many chapters that one will take.)

Idk, man. Psychedelic imagery/soundscapes goes with cosmic horror and the stuff of nightmares like bread and butter.