#but I'll probably mostly leave it alone for a bit and maybe edit a little

[guqin-and-flute]

ALRIGHT. I've decided. I have officially moved Holding Me Holding You to my finished 3zun AU documents! 🌈✨🎉

Narratively, I'm too pleased with the full circleness of this last chapter to have this be anything but the end of this particular fic. The comfort--THE IMMEDIATE, NOT REALLY TIME SKIPPED COMFORT, I PROMISE YOU I'M FIXING IT--will now be in the next fic because it will structurally be different and serve a different narrative purpose in the overarching story.

I hope no one feels bait and switched by me having labeled this as hurt/comfort initially as the comfort doesn't really balance it, but I'll try to rectify the tags on Ao3 to reflect the journey the fic took!

I'm SO fucking happy and proud that I finished my first long form, multi chapter fic. It's a goal I've struggled to achieve my whole writing life (which started in like 2nd grade). I have honestly never officially finished a long term writing project. I wasn't sure I could do it (mostly for ADHD reasons but also others, as well). So closing this off here is proof to myself that I CAN. It took uhhh several years but I can!

I may look back and be less than happy with pacing or structure, sooner or later, but what's important to me right now is the proof that I did it.

The comfort and Nieyao meeting A-Fu fic will be set at most a week later (as A-Yao and Da-ge will get moving pretty quick once they hear the news that oops they have a son) and will be a multi perspective, h/c, what-happens-next fic. It will have some angst because it's 3zun (and middays 3zun, at that) but nowhere NEAR the level of Holding Me Holding You. I mean for it to be a softer recovery, where are we at now fic.(Also probably much shorter but I know better than to promise THAT anymore 😭)

Thank you so much for all of your continued support and love of this AU! Your tags, your comments, your asks, your theories, art, and ideas are all huge boosts to keeping me going. The fact that you read and like it at all is still so, so awesome to me.

I intend to finish my streak of finishing long form chapter docs and this is the first step of doing it, which is oddly healing from past internal narratives I've assumed about myself and my abilities. I'm gonna finish what I have planned in these AUs, damnit!!

So thank you for coming along with me this far and I hope to see you at the finish line! ❤️

[tomystars]

raysand/sandray theories + analysis

(because im insane)

This is a little post where I'll be focusing on what's to come for raysand mostly based on the trailer (original trailer too) and what we already know from the episodes that have aired already. I'll be using pictures so the text doesn't feel too eavy.

Also want to mention I didn't think about all of this myself, it's mostly a compilation of me and my friend throwing ideas and thoughts at one another and I decided to make a post on this now because me and her predicted something that happened on yesterdays episode...

Before I begin, considering it's based on our thoughts, ideas and what we know of the trailer (which is often edited in a way where sometimes certain dialogue doesn't end up being the same one we see on the episodes) please take everything with a grain of salt. If you want to share your opinions, feel free to do so my inbox is open!

Let's begin!

Although this is mostly a theories focused posted, I do want to first talk a little bit about how Ray & Sand's relationship is at the moment.

We all know things are going to escalate more but for now both Ray and Sand consider each other as friends. I've mentioned this in another post before (that has recently been deleted because it wasn't very well written) but one of Sand's best qualities and what makes him, in my eyes, the best character in this series, is that out of everyone else he's KIND.

First episode we have him meeting Ray for the first time and the only reason he got mean was because Ray was being an asshole first. Yet, after all of that, he still understood Ray was drunk and he gave him a ride to his own home, let him puke on his toilet, gave him a place to sleep on... All of this to a complete stranger by the way! You can't with certainty tell me everyone would do something like this. In return, Ray acted like an asshole once again which lead him to being kicked out of Sand's place (later on I'll talk about why I think Ray reacted that way), and eventually Ray did end up apologising which I think was something Sand didn't expect.

Another thing that made it more easy for Sand to forgive Ray was when Ray said "Thanks for saving my life." which was a very honest thing to say and Sand realised that, he kind of got a little bit of an insight of what Ray truly is like. I often see people commenting about Ray being dramatic by saying that when he was not. He meant what he said and frankly Sand DID save his life. Had Sand left him alone, Ray would've driven while drunk which could've very well ended in an accident.

Fast forward, Ray keeps seeking him out (another thing that will come into play later on), hires him to be his drinking buddy, convinces him to leave a girl Sand was trying to take home to drive to drive him instead, they have a talk, seem to be on the same page, hook up and everything is fine. For now.

This is the first fight they have in the trailer. I think, at this point, they have already started to hang out more and being more close together, so Sand is starting to expect more from Ray, specially the way Ray acts around him, always being flirty, always saying certain things ("I care about your feelings. That's why I'm here." previews are always a bit deceitful so maybe Ray isn't even saying this to him but we move), always going after him, always wanting Sand to spend time with him, but at the same time saying they can never be more than what they already are, which will most likely give Sand a lot of mixed feelings.

Just like we saw on yesterday's episode, Ray will most likely keep leaving Sand for Mew, which I don't really mind considering that Ray is a girls girl and he will always put his friends above himself, but at a certain point I get why Sand would get upset considering they are friends too and it's just very horrible being the one left behind specially when you keep get mixed messages from this guy you're starting to like. He'll probably realise there's something between Mew and Ray too.

In this fight scene, Ray is probably once again leaving Sand for Mew which is why Sand says "Focus on me for once will you?". In return Ray says this:

"What are we to each other?" is a very key sentence in their relationship. The way I see it Ray will too start questioning their relationship, thinking "What are we?" because they'll both be floating around each other but no one will ever say anything. I'll get a little bit more into Ray's personality later on but Ray might be just as confused as Sand, he probably never had a relationship quite like what they both have and it's scary. At the same time, he could also just be saying that to be mean (I'm not trying to paint him as a villain, I love him and this all ties in with what I'll be saying later about his personality."

The second fight scene we see in the trailer. I don't know if any of you remember but in the original trailer there's a scene where they're both in the car and Sand says "I don't want to be in anyone's choices." (there's also a scene where Ray gets arrested but we won't talk about that), which could mean Sand doesn't want to be a choice, someone in a "competition" with someone else, but the one Ray would want to be with no matter what.

This scene we're seeing is most likely the equivalent of that scene in the old trailer. I think at this time in their relationship Sand has already confessed that he wants more from Ray, that he doesn't want to keep being a "choice" and that he wants them to be in a relationship which leads to them having a fight, and eventually to Ray saying this.

Now, I can finally get into Ray's personality and the reason why he acts defensively in both of these scenes with Sand. Ray is scared. I do think Ray has a crush in Mew but I don't think it has ever been more than a crush, Ray just hasn't let it go because it's safe and easy. He likes Mew, Mew doesn't like him back and that's it, he doesn't have to worry about complicated feelings. But then Sand comes along and he is unbelievable KIND and he treats Ray like a normal person, he's honest, he doesn't push back and even apologise for being nosy about Ray's mother, he worries about him when he's drunk, he talks back and he's FUN to be around, he never wanted anything from Ray even after taking him home when he was drunk, he refused to accept money from them hooking up, he gave up one of his nights to sing at Yo's bar just so he could sing at Ray's party...

I mean, since episode 1 we've been getting a look into Ray's self worth. He thinks he's worthless and a burden, probably because he's an alcoholic, and I'm sorry to say but his friends don't really help him when it comes to that. He doesn't want to keep burdening his friends with this so he turns towards Sand, hires him as his drinking buddy, to just listen to music with, have fun and relax, he even says "I just don't want to be alone." and even later on Sand sayshe can be his friend without having to hire him he even says "If you're my friend, you have to look after me in every way." and Sand does just that!

Ray is confused and he probably has never had someone to be this way towards him in his life, someone that wants to help him (with his alcoholism as well I'm fairly sure), someone that cares this much about him, but most importantly, confused as to why he's feeling this way thinking "Don't I like Mew? Why do I feel this way towards Sand?", so of course he's scared about what he's feeling and he's scared of being vulnerable and ending up being hurt, so he pushes Sand away by being mean. It's all too much for him.

What's worse is that Sand has been the only one setting up rules like the not sleeping with each other more than once, saying he'd never date someone like Ray and other less significant situations but Ray always convinces him to break those same rules (wonder why that is...) which Sand is at fault too like, my guy you need to be confident and just say no. Sand most likely set those same rules precisely because of an old relationship that started this way and ended up horribly so he's trying to not commit that same mistake again. This time I think Sand will fight back instead of just letting go like his old relationship, probably because he can tell Ray feels the same way as him.

Then we have this scene, It's a bit ambiguous because it's impossible to know exactly in what part of the timeline of this relationship this fits in but I personally like to think it's after all the fights Ray finally takes some time to think and get his feelings in order and realise what exactly Sand means to him and this is the scene where Ray goes and finds Sand to apologise and I guess 'confess'. It also fits really well with the last scene I'll talk about which is the bathtub scene.

In this scene we can clearly see Ray breaking down crying in a bathtub while Mew is hugging him from behind (in the old trailer Mew had clothes on so this doesn't really make me think much). Personally, this is probably a scene where Ray feels horrible for hurting Sand and might also be the moment he realises how he truly feels for him which of course has him feeling like this. Gut wrenching heartbreak. My friend thinks it might be a time where Sand has decided to stop talking to him, refusing to see him which could also make everything worse.

To end all of this I think it's very important to note that by no means do I think either of them are in love already but no one can deny they're clearly attracted to each other and that they have a connection, but most importantly they ARE friends and they consider themselves as such no matter what, they would do a lot of things for each other, Ray even as far as defending Sand's band to Top (it's Top we're talking about whom he hates, but nevertheless) so that's something to keep in mind.

[catsandgoodbooks]

No. 22: “They never saw us coming, ‘til they hit the floor.”

Glass Shard | Vehicular Accident | “Watch out!”

Not my finest work but okay, I'll probably come back and edit this sometime during November

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Dream?” Technoblade glanced over at the blond man huddling under Techno’s cape in the corner. He hadn’t spoken in hours, and Techno was starting to get worried. He’d only been here for a couple days, so maybe he didn’t have full context, Chat, but it was still justified. Dream was never quiet, at least not as long as Techno had known him. “You okay?”

“No, I’m not,” Dream muttered. His grip unconsciously tightened, pulling the cape tighter around himself. “You came.”

“And that’s a bad thing? You’re not alone anymore, right? Isn’t that a good thing?” Techno questioned. From what he knew, Dream being alone was absolutely not a good thing. Someone like that needed companionship, connections, other people around them. Either way, Techno had never been much of a fan of solitary confinement itself. Guess it came with being an anarchist. A package deal sort of situation.

Dream laughed weakly, bitterly. “If you’re looking at it that way, I guess. But you weren’t supposed to end up here! You weren’t supposed to come!”

“What, I’m not allowed to visit my old rival and become roomies?” Techno joked.

“Not when I’m counting on you to get me out of here!” Dream hissed. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter now,” he said, mostly to himself.

“Look.” Dream glared at Techno. “This isn’t just–some visit. You’re stuck here now, with me. You can’t leave. I was trusting you to break me out, so you being trapped here too completely derails everything. You’re just putting yourself in danger,” he added glumly.

“I think I can take care of myself, Dream,” Technoblade replied. “It might do you some good to worry about yourself first, y’know?”

Dream scoffed. “There isn’t anything I can do, Techno! Now that you’re here, Sam can do whatever he wants to you and when he comes–”

“It’ll be fine,” Techno interrupted. He wasn’t a slow learner, so it hadn’t been hard to pick up on the mysterious him Dream sometimes mentioned (or, worse, Sir, but that only came up when Dream wasn’t lucid, when he crying out during a nightmare or waking up from one), and he didn’t want to talk about whoever that was right now. (Technoblade did have to find out who he was, because he needed a name and face to be able to go hunting for them and enforce a little bit of karma, because you treated people the way they treated you and the people you cared about and whoever he was absolutely was not treating Dream well) “We’ll get out of here, and they won’t see us coming ‘til they hit the floor,” Techno promised.

A small, spiteful smile worked its way onto Dream’s face despite his best efforts. “Fine. I’m holding you to that, though.”

[ohtommers]

introductory post for my uuumm sideblog. thing

hi i'm tom. tom to close friends, if you like. doooooon't call me tommers even though that's the username thanks. just a bit familiar is all

■□■ it/its/he ■ 28 (18 bodily) □ bi + aro □■□

system host is @moremyceliumnetworks, and i'm more like a permanent co-host? i'm not meant to stray too far from front i think. just means i'm pretty much always available if you happen to need me for anything so don't hesitate to pop in an ask or something

i'm going to draw on here anddddd play + have fun and so on. this is my blog for me okayyyy. will also reblog things i think are really cool and awesome and stuff (mostly kitty cat reblogs, if you'll notice) & maybe talk on occasion. grin

this is a 17+ blog, yeah? very frequent suggestive/explicit & gory reblogs, by the way. i don't usually tag stuff so be sure to send in an ask maybe if you think you need me to tag something specific i won't mind at all o7

top ten things not to say to me:

"hey i have/used to have such a huge crush on your source character" awesome good for you buddy please do not flirt with me. no excuses not even for the bit. i'm not the same guy like at all please my dick is small leave me alone

"i know a tom (etc.) in another system! (bonus points if you say 'you guys should be friends!')(bad)" while that's pretty cool and everything, this is also another case of "i'm not the same guy at all" like it's cool and all good for you but. ehh. i'm not really the type of guy to be all buddy-buddy with people or act like we know each other right off the bat just because we share a source y'know. it just doesn't work like that. gonna say i'm not averse to meeting similarly sourced guys though, the more system friends the better. let's just not assume things or compare, yknow. just in case i've gotta say it

top ten things to definitely say to me:

"i have such a huge crush on you specifically. tom from typo system" FLATTERED! that's awesome keep up the good work

"i have this video of a cat/song rec for you" FLATTERED AGAIN! show me instantly

"i like your art a lot/you're cool/etc" hehe. smirking really hard at you. you too.......... 50/50 i mean. either you're cool or you're not but i'll assume the best here y'know <- joking around

or you can ask anything about me or our system and stuff i like and whatever if you like it's entertaining and it will make me probably very happy. pleasant little smile. no promises that i'll get to it with a quickness thoughhhhhhh i'm a busy guy <- talking about sleeping + napping and listening to music and drawing and shit

also be sure to tap my shoulder and let me know if i ended up doing something to upset you at all o7

i'm a dick and i don't like people but i'm not out here to deliberately hurt anyone. this offer doesn't apply if you're just being an ass about things i passively think or enjoy though just block me if you don't fuck with me. i loooove the block function it's there for a reason. even and ESPECIALLY if i reblog something of yours and you were uncomfortable with the tags or even the fact of it. don't feel like you've got to keep me around just because i enjoyed it you got to be comfortable okay. ok yay good. good talk

this is alllll me assuming this will happen in the first place. even eventually. i don't plan to be a blog that gets a whole lot of attention but in the case that i dooooooo. i want boundaries up. smiling my smile. ok that's it and i'll edit this when and where i think i need to yayy....... yaaaay

[sodaliteskull]

SCREAMING okay so finishing the SIoC stuff has been my main focus for the last couple months, and it's felt like I haven't gotten anywhere due to fluctuation in the story count department.

(lol that and it's been a rough couple of months, let me tell you!)

The bulk of this thing was written by me and two of my closest friends, and we would invent new stuff for this setting both off and online. The down side to that was that we would make in-story references to stuff that we only ever talked about IRL, so going in and actually adding those story beats/characters/events/places and whatnot had me writing whole new stories for the project, and at one point that ballooned the 150 story count up to 165!

I have managed to get that back down to the 150 I started the year with, and that's because there were a bunch of places where I was able to move or combine things together for narrative cohesion, but then it made me feel like I'd gotten nowhere since that number, ultimately, didn't change!

But I've been keeping track of wordcount milestones as I made edits, and in February I'd breached 500,000 words. In September? 900,000. So I HAVE gotten a lot done, even if the story count doesn't reflect that!

As it stands, out of 150 stories, I have 21 left to finish in some capacity. The majority of them, since they were written in a forum RP style, rather than a proper prose style, just need inciting events or closing remarks, on top of the edits to make it read like a story rather than just a chain text thread.

We were also just writing stand alone stories for this thing, and I have the outline for one that I never actually got around to starting, so I will be able to polish that off pretty quickly.

Then there's going to be one story that will have to be fully reconstructed. We were using a free forum for all this stuff, and 3 of our threads were deleted for "violating community guidelines" (I just got a list of things that went against the guidelines, but not which ones we were infracting upon). I tried reaching out to see if there was a way to restore these threads, but was told that was out of the question. So one thread, if there was a story in there, is completely lost to time. The second thread, I have the story that is the direct sequel to the events that happened in it, so I was able to make a prologue in the sequel explaining the pertinent events that were lost when the thread got removed.

But the last thread, I only just remember bits and pieces of details, and am still waiting to hear back from my co-writers to see if they remember more (or just so happened to maybe save a copy somewhere, which I am not going to hold out hope for). It's honestly a little fitting, because the Silent Island of Crow started as a forum coding project that was kept on our school server, and that was always purged at the end of the year, so this is hardly the first time that stuff written on or about the Island has been lost! And in those original cases, I did up diary entries from one of my characters in order to explain the missing events, so I am probably just going to do that here.

I'm going to see about finishing off one of the incomplete stories tonight, which will just leave me with 20 to go, and then so long as I stick to complete one story every two days, I'll have this whole thing finished off by the end of the year!

And then NEXT YEAR I can focus on getting these all in chronological order, because having dozens of stories all being written at the same time is not great for having a cohesive continuity!

(what I need to finish is under the cut, mostly for my own reference)

Stories To Finish

Woods of Fantasy p2 - editing, opening and ending needed, as well as a proper title (30,140 words atm)

The Return - just an edit pass (27,227 words atm)

Creepy!!! - edit, opening and proper title needed (15,421 words atm)

The Islanders Go To School... At HOGWARTS! - Serena started this one back in the day, so she's going to be finishing it. I'll do an edit pass when done (10,627 words atm)

And So The Adventure Begins…AGAIN! - editing, opening, ending, and title (10,619 words atm)

R-A-B! - editing, opening, ending, title (10,230 words atm)

Oooo, Weapons!! p2 - edit, opening, ending, title (10,019 words atm)

The mountains to the North p1 - edit, opening, ending, title (9437 words atm)

Hurrah! The end is nigh! p2 - edit, opening, ending, title (8129 words atm)

Lookie lookie p3 - edit, opening, ending, title (8103 words atm)

Viking Problems - edit, opening, ending (6595 words atm)

Island Movies p2 - edit, opening, ending, title (4680 words atm)

Rebooted - edit, finish last quarter[third?] (4370 words atm)

The Winds of Change - edit, finish last quarter[third?] (4174 words atm)

New Years Eve-il - edit, finish last quarter (3649 words atm)

To Marenkes! - edit, finish last half (3119 words atm)

Pimpin's That Easy - edit, add conclusion (3114 words atm)

The Birth of Hobo Island - edit, add last two thirds (1774 words atm)

The Adventures Of Celery And Kumikke - Add in some of their journeys, then washing up on Hobo Island and meeting Rey, then taking the Hell Hawk off to figure out the prophecy they got (984 words atm)

Birthday BASH - story lost, rewrite as diary entry using remembered details (0 words atm)

Reality Bites - use outline to write story (0 words total)

Edits/Continuity Fixes I Know About

Wounds - add in segment where Ivanova leaves and Yanna goes after her, add in where Aatrin and Kesper went during the Emperor's growth spurt (7502 words atm)

When The Lonely Light Of Morning Comes - fix segment where it says Kesper is immortal, as he isn't (10,962 words atm)

The Feast - Islanders know what Katear-Enech look like, and how they destroyed themselves, but this was discussed IRL rather than in-story, so I'll need to add an explanation in (18,213 words atm)

Spring Cleaning - Yanna mentions shedding her wings previously, which was definitely another IRL thing that we didn't properly write about, either add something in here, or insert it into an earlier story (24,775 words atm)

[underratedandoverit]

for the orangekip idea: one of them returns home after being away for a long while due to schedules/being booked in promotions outside of the country and that's when the other realizes how much they love and missed them. i'll leave who's coming home and who's been waiting up to you 💚

818 words of fluff. this was really quick and i did not proofread or edit apart from a spell check, but i do like especially the end of this so here you go ~

on ao3

-------

It had been such a long day after a busy week, but for once Cassidy didn’t mind any of it at all. He knew Kip was coming home today after being gone to Japan for two long, long weeks with Penelope, and while he was maybe a little upset that he wasn’t there in the morning when Kip arrived back, Cassidy still knew he was going to be there waiting for him when he finally got to fly back home himself.

He was maybe a little bit upset and jealous that Penelope got to do this small tour with Kip instead of him, but at the same time Cassidy totally understood it from the character point of view – not that he wasn’t a fit for the company, but Kip and Penelope were an item on screen, so it made more sense to send them in together to handle some business over there. He was fine with it honestly, Cassidy didn’t mind that they were experiencing this together instead of him being there; he wasn’t one to be super into traveling anyways.

Okay, maybe a part of him wasn’t as fine with it, as he spent the last two weeks mostly alone in the empty house when he wasn’t on the road. Cassidy knew Kip was going to be back sooner rather than later, the trip was only going to take two weeks, and yet every time he realized how empty the house was during that time, something in him ached like it hadn’t done before.

So seeing the photos dropping to his phone from Penelope that morning made his heart melt. Tired Kip sleeping against her shoulder in the Uber, him leaning against the front door looking absolutely exhausted while he tried to sort through his keys to find the one he needed to open the door. And finally Kip sprawled out on the couch, barely gotten out of his outerwear, accompanied with a little caption from Penelope ‘He fell asleep as soon as he laid down. I’m sure he’s still going to be here when you get back.’

Cassidy would have lied if he said he wasn’t excited for once to return back home. They had kept him updated throughout the trip on what they were up to and how things were going, but it was so hard to have time to talk with Kip due to such huge time differences between the two countries that most interactions had huge hourly delays between them. He hadn’t really heard his voice in two weeks, only in recordings and that obviously wasn’t the same. Likewise Cassidy hadn’t seen his face live in so long, he was practically shaking with excitement trying to get the front door open.

Stepping inside the house, Cassidy wasn’t surprised a bit to see the two large suitcases just left standing in the middle of the hallway. Kip wasn’t known for his tidiness and putting his things away, so it didn’t come as a surprise that they were still exactly where he had probably left them hours ago. Following his example though, Cassidy left his own bag right there, making a beeline straight to the living room instead.

Cassidy stopped in the doorway, taking in the sight he had longed to see for days now. On the couch, right where Penelope had left him and where she said he would still be, was Kip, completely passed out, one hand hanging over the edge of the couch, head buried in a throw pillow. The slight purple shade he had gotten his hair dyed with while on the trip looked even cuter in person than Cassidy had thought it would, making him ignore the fact that Kip hadn’t even removed his jacket or shoes before choosing to crash out cold in the living room.

He walked into the living room and around the couch, taking a seat on the floor next to it. Cassidy’s hand cupped Kip’s cheek, his thumb running across the cheek of his sleeping prince, feeling Kip stir ever so slightly as he leaned against the touch, humming quietly at the warmth of the blond’s hand. As his eyes slowly fluttered open, the sleepy pair of ever so bright eyes looked back at Cassidy, Kip’s lips twisting into an immediate soft smile.

“Hey.”

The quiet, slightly hoarse sleepy voice was enough for Cassidy, making him lean closer as he gently pulled Kip into a kiss. He didn’t resist, only let out a soft chuckle at the obviously touch starved blond, responding back by his lazy hand hanging off the couch barely grabbing a hold of Cassidy’s jacket, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Kip mumbled as they pulled apart for some breathing room, watching the smile grow on Cassidy’s face before he leaned closer, peppering Kip’s face with a group of small soft kisses.

“I missed you more.”

[norangeyyy]

Late Night HCs

Bucci Gang Edition

TW: nothing too extreme, just a little bit of hurt/comfort stuff sprinkled right here and there.

Bruno Bucciarati

► Bucciarati typically doesn't stay up late at night, he has work and would squeeze all the amount of sleep he can get on his free time.

► Unless he has a lot of things in mind.

► It doesn't matter whether it's a work-related problem, his past, a random thought, or just generally his worries about his future. It will keep him up.

► He'll definitely need someone to be an outlet but if no one's available, he'll just stare at the night sky and distract himself with the moving clouds or finish some of his work until he's too tired to think of anything.

► If you happen to be in the same situation and same place that night though, then make sure that you take care of the trust he has for you when he was at most vulnerable and he will do same with you.

► I personally headcannon Bucciarati to be the type to like those kind of conversations since i highly doubt that he has been so vulnerable in front of anyone besides Abbachio ever since he joined the mafia.

► And even then, he's mostly the one who lifts the spirits up and not the other way around since he's the leader.

► So expect to hear things and words you wouldn't expect to come from the Bucciarati you see everyday come spilling out of his mouth, it'll be a lot.

► Pat his back or better yet, give him a hug and brush his hair while doing so. He needs it a lot since he hasn't really got one after his family fell apart.

► "I feel so much better now, thank you. I'll make sure not to forget about this night. "

Leone Abbachio

► The night owl of the gang.

► Staying up until 3AM is nothing new to this man, hell, he could even go on a whole day without sleep if he has a lot of things that's bothering him.

► He's the opposite of Bucciarati, he prefers to shoulder his intrusive thoughts alone. It'd take some great amount of effort and trust to make him talk and let it out.

► What he does during those times is either using his stand to replay certain memories that could either worsen his guilt or put him at ease, or just drink until he passes out but most of the time, he does both.

► He could also be listening to some music while he does so but if he's feeling guilty for making Bucciarati concerned about his frequent drinking, then he'll just listen to music and hope that he'll fall asleep and not just keep his eyes closed until the sun rises.

► It works, kind of, but even without alcohol driving him to sleep, he'll always be tired. His sleeping schedule is seriously messed up because he never really cared about it in the first place.

► Would sometimes go out for a walk. Leone is fond of the city's peacefulness when everyone is asleep, with the only thing keeping him accompany is the cold air and the dim light of the lampposts.

► Secretly still has his police uniform and would occasionally take it out just to stare at it or talk to it in a not-so-kind of way as he sees his younger self in it.

► Gets dragged in whatever shit Narancia and the others are up to if he gets spotted. Mostly it's just for a movie night behind Bucciarati's back but Abbachio knows better and expects the unexpected when it comes to the gang.

► Knows what everyone does in late night if they're still up and has seen a lot of ungodly sights.

► Whether it be seeing a sleepy Mista and the pistols chanting a weird prayer to a bowl of cereals or Fugo being dragged out of his room by Narancia, Leone knows it.

Pannacotta Fugo

► Just like Bucciarati, Fugo rarely stays up late at night and if he does, it's usually just because he's busy.

► Fugo has hobbies like painting and reading, everyone in the gang knows that. It's just that he gets carried way too far sometimes and loses track of time.

► Who could blame him though when the book he's reading is just too interesting or the painting he's currently working on is almost done, right?

► On extremely rare occasions where something unpleasant enough to keep Fugo up at night happens, he'll bundle himself in his fluffy blanket like a butterfly in its cocoon.

► He always does this back when he's still living with his parents, it makes him feel safe from anything that's haunting him.

► And if it's neither his hobbies or problems that's keeping him up, he'll just hear Narancia whispering outside his door or Mista throwing pebbles at his window.

► For the first few times the duo did this, Fugo was still able to resist until he just can't anymore knowing that they wouldn't leave him alone all night.

► "Well, this isn't so bad. "

► He says as he enthusiastically tosses a popcorn into his mouth with his eyes glued all over the lit screen of the TV.

► Movie nights, along with sneaking out to go the nearest convenience store, became a common thing between the Torture Dance Trio™ ever since then.

Narancia Ghirga

► The type to wake up in the middle of the night and think "Hmm... Everyone's asleep, let's commit robbery tonight!"

► Fugo's sleep paralysis demon.

► Would literally not hesitate to steal chocolate bars with Mista and probably does 3AM challenges with him too.

► Never runs out of ideas to keep himself up at night and is the one who comes up with everything but what he does still depends on his mood.

► If Narancia's feeling a little too lazy then he'll just sleep and most of the time, with music keeping him accompany. But unlike Abbachio, he purposely doesn't wear headphones just to annoy Fugo whose room is right next to his.

► If he's feeling like it, he'll straight up just invite the others to watch a movie or play videogames even though Bruno has already made it clear not to use the TV after 11PM.

► But just as he likes staying up at night doing crazy things with the boys, he also uses his energy left and free time to self-study, as surprising that may sound.

► He may hate reading but he takes advantage of the fact that his brain is much active at night and he doesn't want to depend on Fugo too much. After all, he dreams on going back to school and he's more than willing to be capable enough to do so alone and pass without the other teen's help.

► Will cuddle anything that's near him while he studies but if you give him a plushie, it'll be instantly his favorite and he would definitely use it as a study buddy.

Guido Mista

► Alright, let's be honest here, this dude wouldn't even stay up if it weren't for his bros.

► 5 seconds lying on the bed and he's already knocked out for a good 10 hours if there's no work he has to do for the day. Make it 8 at weekdays thanks to his mafia-related responsibilities.

► He sleeps like a log so only a combination of shaking him up awake with Fugo and Narancia can make him rise from what seems like a two year coma but is really just a normal tuesday night.

► Will pretty much join Narancia at anything he does but since his last three brain cells are obviously still as half asleep as him, he won't be able to remember that much the next day.

► And once he's out of the room and is already sitting on the couch with the guys, Mista's the type to fall asleep halfway through the movie.

► You can't blame him though, it's 12AM and it seems that Fugo got to choose what movie they'll watch since Narancia already got to choose the other night.

► Unless they're playing videogames or are going out then he won't be acting like a slow ass PVZ zombie with a fried brain. Actually, he'll be hella active if that's the case.

► Active at grabbing every snack each second, that is.

► Actually, it's the pistols who does that but oh well, it's not like Mista's innocent too.

► "I swear it's not me who ate all of our groceries for this month! Right, guys?! It's the pistols! "

► And that, everyone, is how Guido blew their little rendezvous without even trying.

Giorno Giovanna

► There's not much to be said about this boy since just like Mista, Giorno goes to bed early as he makes sure he still gets the proper amount of sleep.

► He already has a lot of things to deal with at day so of course, by the end of it, he'll be exhausted.

► Nights before exams are excluded because although he may seem like he skips class sometimes, Giorno still knows his priorities.

► Only when he became the head of the mafia did he really started to lose sleep as great power comes with great responsibilities.

► It took a LONG time for Giorno to adjust to a lot of things cause come on, he maybe resilient but he's still a 15 year old teen.

► Not only does he have towers after towers of work but i like to imagine that he still continued his education and used some of the things he learns in class in the mafia, specifically in classes like history or geography class since as a boss, he has to know every nook and cranny of Italy.

► Not to mention that emergencies happen and he always has to be ready to give out orders, even if it means being woken up at 1AM.

► God, help this child because all the things mentioned above are just an understatement of what happens on the first few months of being in charge of Passione.

► "So this is why Diavolo looks like he's about to explode whenever something goes wrong huh. "

[taegularities]

here for a quick writing rant: would you happen to have any editing advice? i feel like this used to be the easiest part for me, and maybe it's just because i'm relearning how to do all this so i'm overthinking, but i came into the month thinking i'd finally be able to launch this thing because i had all of my scenes mostly done and fleshed out. instead i've spent the past several weeks completely hung up on filler and nitpicking sentences, and it feels like this is taking longer than the initial writing which, like, UGH. i know i'll have to eventually just pull the trigger and publish before i get caught in the loop of nitpicking it to death, but i know i tend to be very dialogue-forward so it just needs a little more body before i can get to that point. but this should be SIMPLER. HOW DO YOU DO THIS SO EFFICIENTLY (tldr: i'm jealous and ily 😭)

ah well, when i update you guys about a fic and tell you that i'm editing, it sounds easy enough, right? but honestly, it's the hardest thing for me to do, too :') like, i'm not too nitpicky while writing, bc i always tell myself, "ah i can brush it up later, it's okay. it's just a first draft."

but then when it actually comes to editing? d*ath 💀 it's really freaking hard, no doubt, but i think the easiest way to get around it is to be confident about your writing and to know your fic doesn't have to be perfect – like, that's not an easy thing to do, but it helps to not overthink all scenes and sentences too much.

what i'd also do is just leave the doc alone for a while.. like, you've probably read it so many times that you can't stand it anymore lol so it'd be good to let it marinate and then come back to it. and then, read through it, add the bits that you find make your story better and then hit post !! the best way to learn how to write and/or edit is with time, i'd say... the more you'll post, the more you'll learn (like i very fkn much hate how i wrote my first few fics, but we're learning... i still am !! i change up my writing style every now and then 😭)

BUT YOU GOT THIS. please don't be jealous, editing is literally the hardest part for me, and i just know you can do it !! :'')

[diabla616]

Fic writer ask

Thank you @loki-is-my-kink-awakening for tagging me 💕

Procrastinating writing my WIP? me? 😅

— How long have you been writing fanfiction?

Ok, so I just looked up the release date for the game which got me into reading/writing fic, and apparently it's 2008. so a little later than I thought, but a long time 😅

— Do you have a favorite word? (One that you love. Doesn’t necessarily have to be one you use all the time.)

I don't think so? nothing that stands out to me as I use it a lot.

— Share a favorite run-on sentence that you’ve written.

This one from and we shall be dangerous and we shall be dangerous - the_morningstar616 (diabla616) - Infinite Undiscovery [Archive of Our Own]

Then he's - Sigmund is gone, whatever force stayed Edward is no longer there and he takes off running, but it's too late, he's too late.

— Share a bit of a scene that you’ve written that still gives you FEELS.

the most recent one - from a prompt in the Passiflora bingo. An angsty version of the Last Wish quest from The Witcher 3: Bingo! - diabla616 - Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types [Archive of Our Own]

“No, I- You really don’t remember anything else? Like why you might be here with me fighting a djinn at all?” 

Geralt’s frown deepens, “I’m a Witcher, Yennefer, not a sorcerer. What use would I have for a djinn?” 

It’s not often she’s the one left without a reply, but when she can't seem to find one, he carries on, “Despite what Dandelion’s ballads would have you believe, I do know when to leave well enough alone.” 

— What is your favorite kind of character interaction to write? — Do you have a hyper-specific genre?

I like writing dialogue, mostly- I like to try and play out the conversation, see if I can hear it in the characters' voices, to know if it works.

— Any personal or frequently used tags?

Nothing which I think stands out. 'Pining', 'getting together', the usual really 😂

— Share a joke or funny moment that you’ve written that still makes you laugh.

I never think humour is my strong point, but maybe this one - Jaskier being a little harsh on himself, and rather awkward Some nights I call it a draw - diabla616 - The Witcher (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

It shouldn’t be embarrassing – it's not embarrassing; they’re adults both of them, with normal human needs. It’s not as though Geralt is going to take one look and realise he’s the star of Jaskier’s evening entertainment. Not as long as Jaskier can pull himself together. “Cramp.” He manages, a little hoarsely. Great, nailed it. 

— Best editing tip?

Editing? 😅

I proofread my fics, and usually save them as draft to AO3 overnight, then revisit them in the morning so I've got a fresh look for typos, etc.

— What drives you to write?

interest in the characters / story. A desire to share my take on them, maybe?

— Share something about your writing that you have wished someone would ask you about. Or alternatively, something that you are just really proud of.

My Losers club reverse bang from last year!

Such a life to go - alby_mangroves, diabla616 - IT (Movies - Muschietti) [Archive of Our Own]

The art is gorgeous, I wrote far more than I was expecting to, and it was just an all-round fun experience. Also, I have a page or two of codas for it which I'll probably never get round to cleaning up and sharing 😅

— Where do you draw inspiration?

Everywhere! My own experiences, discussions in other fandom communities, all sorts.

— What is your immediate reaction when you receive a new comment on a fic?

usually just 😍😍

I do go back and reread some of the comments on my fics to cheer me up at times.

— What is your biggest challenge in writing?

Most of the time it's finding a way to end the story which doesn't seem rushed, or too trope-y. I'm never sure how successful I am at that 😅

— 1-2 sentence preview from your current WIP?? (Only if you are willing.)

It's cold outside the house, wind cutting through Steve’s thin polo, but he barely notices it until the front door opens behind him and the contrast of the warm air makes him shiver.  

“Steve?” 

Robin steps out the door, approaching a little like he’s a frightened deer, and forget reading it on his face – Robin can probably see the whole thing on a neon sign from miles away.   When she’s close enough she puts a hand on his shoulder and he leans into it a little.  

— What story or scene are you most proud of?

There's a few, but this is one I've not shared here yet -

Ours not to reason why - diabla616 - Dragon Age: Origins [Archive of Our Own]

I don't usually write soulmate aus, but I loved the idea of a dalish warden hearing the Chant in his head and that being what eventually leads him to a soulmate.

— Please link your profile so we can admire your works!

diabla616 - Works | Archive of Our Own

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 1 for the first time. Random thoughts.

This show is kind of nice because I have no memories of the original She-Ra show, or even any of He-Man, honestly. I'm not sure if I ever watched the original, so I have no frame of reference for how the series is "supposed" to be. I can just take it and judge it as is.

Of the bat, all I know is that supposedly She-Ra and Catra get together as a romantic couple later, but I'm also a huge My Hero Academia fan and the fandom around me ships every character with every other character, so for all I know that might just be shipper wishful thinking I've been seeing and hearing. Given fandoms for Gravity Falls, Thor, and Supernatural ship even siblings together, I've learned not to trust anything except for what I see in the series for myself.

By the way, this isn't a review, just random thoughts and comments I'm having as I'm going through season 1 for the first time.

Episodes 1 and 2: Right off, I really like Catra's "No duh" response to Adora about the truth of the horde. She knows they've been lying to them and have been doing terrible things, she just doesn't care. If she and Adora play their cards right they could end up being the ones in charge and then they'd have all that power. Not necessarily to make things better but enough to where they could do whatever and live however they want. That's a good build for an antagonist. Not ignorant to the fact what they're doing is wrong, just simply so selfish that they don't care.

Episode 3: It really feels like there was no good reason why Glimmer didn't just outright introduce Adora to her mother and every reason she should have known it was a bad idea to try and hide her for a surprise. Being a former horde soldier she'd probably get treated with hostility if Glimmer brought her to the front gate but you'd almost guarantee Adora would get arrested or outright killed if she got caught while no one else knew she was there.

On the other side, we have Hordak being pretty intelligent in promoting Catra. He probably knows Shadow Weaver already doesn't like him, so it's not like he's losing anything making her upset with him, and it's clear she favors Adora way more than Catra, so that little bit of advancement towards Catra probably goes a long way in earning her loyalty to him and a person on the inside with Shadow Weaver.

Also, I'm not the only one who saw Madam Razz and immediately thought Adora had found her Yoda, right?

Episode 4: I don't know how it was in the original She-Ra and He-Man series but I kind of like She-Ra being this title from legend. Adora is not the first She-Ra, given what Razz was talking about with a Mara, so instead of being something new, impressing everyone with abilities they've never seen before, and creating the legend, Adora is placed in a position WAY over her head where she's having to live up to what came before her.

Episode 5: Calling it now, as long as her personality is genuine I think Scorpia is going to be one of my favorite characters in this show. She's...endearing, I think is the best word. She's like a mix of Kronk and a nicer Shego.

For a little bit I thought Mermista was voiced by the same actress who played Poison Ivy in the Harley Quinn animated series. She's not but they do have the same kind of Daria-ish inflections, thus by confusion. Given the prom episode, Sea Hawk feels kind of like her Kite Man.

Episode 6: Okay, now it's between Scorpia and Entrapta who are likely to be my favorites by the end of this. She's fun and quirky.

Episode 7: Quite the lore drop. Shadow Weaver was once a Mystacor sorceress known as Light Spinner. I like to imagine we'll get more on that later. Her haunting Adora reminded me of the Teen Titans' episode where Robin was similarly haunted by Slade. This didn't go as far as that but that's probably for the best, since TT had two and a half seasons to build that dynamic up with Robin and Slade while we're only now halfway through the first season.

Episode 8: Well dang. Again, I don't know for sure if Adora and Catra do end up together but boy do I buy why they're shipped together after that dance. Also, good on Bow for standing up for himself. It's clear that he'll always be Glimmer's friend and this won't change that but that doesn't mean he has to just accommodate her. I understand where her issues stem from but I am still glad he gave her a reality check. It helps him feel a little more like his own character.

Also, another nice little bit of lore and worldbuilding. Scorpia's a princess, the horde landed where her people lived, and they seemed to join them willingly.

Episode 9: Surprisingly don't have a lot to say about this other than I don't buy for a second that Entrapta is dead (EDIT: She's not). This was mostly action.

Episode 10: Not going to lie, this one kind of annoyed me a little, at least the first half. The conversation between Glimmer and her mother saved it a bit. It was a bit of a trifecta. You have the alliance breaking apart, saying that the loss of Entrapta only happened because they were all together...even though Entrapta only "died" because of her own machine obsession that caused her to deliberately walk back into the purging chamber. You have Entrapta who might be turning to the horde's side because she feels abandoned by the other princesses...even though they thought she was dead, and again it was her fault they got separated. And you have Glimmer refusing to tell her mother that Shadow Weaver's dark magic has caused her powers to go on the fritz and is causing her great pain. It just feels like none of this would be an issue if most of these people would stop being self-absorbed for three seconds and talk like any normal person would. It feels very CW drama, like something I'd see in a bad season of Arrow or The Flash. The only person whose issues I buy is Adora, who is basically a soldier who was never properly raised to deal with emotion or loss and is already struggling with the burden of being She-Ra, the legendary savior. I get why she's beating down on herself for not being able to do more even if nothing that happened was her fault.

Episode 11: JEEEEEEEEEZZZZ, that was such a good episode! Focused entirely on Adora and Catra and their past together. Like, just showing someone this episode alone could probably get them to want to watch the series. That was everything you needed to know about their dynamic and history together.

Also, that moment when Catra and her past self are looking at each other, while obviously Catra takes the opposite lesson, it reminded me of this fanart I'd once seen of Jason Todd, the Red Hood, looking at his past self as Robin. The past says to the future "You ruined everything". Catra could be happy but, ironically for someone who hates Shadow Weaver, she's probably going to be a lot like her, sacrificing everything for power and ambition.

Given the way she looked, I'm guessing Shadow Weaver is either addicted to the power of the Black Garnet or she suffered some kind of past injury and its power is the only thing keeping her going. Or both.

Episode 12: I'll be honest, Swiftwind being able to talk kind of gobsmacked and I needed a moment to recover. What a great voice they chose for that character.

So She-Ra is kind of like the legendary heroes from Rising of the Shield Hero, coming from a long line of people chosen to wield the sword. I tend to dislike chosen one types of stories because I think prophecy takes a lot of weight out of the character's actions, so this and Avatar are more what I like. The MC is special but not the only one who's ever been special and they can still easily fail. Their destiny was only to be able to use the weapon, not that they would succeed in any specific purpose.

And dang, Catra's turn against Shadow Weaver happened faster than I thought it would but I'm not complaining. That great "This is what you've really been preparing me for" speech and Hordak, again, being an intelligent villain. "Oh, this experiment could net me a MASSIVE gain and all it could potentially cost me is this rock I already gave away to someone who lately hasn't been producing any results and has been consistently disobeying me. Yeah, I'm going to let this play out."

Episode 13: That was kind of a brutal fight between Adora and Catra. Not the worst I've ever seen even in other shows for this age range (Samurai Jack, for example) but those punches are connecting and those claws are leaving marks.

Also, maybe I'm just misunderstanding the exact situation but shouldn't the good guys' side be called the Resistance instead of the Rebellion? Being a rebellion would imply they are rebelling against an established power or rule over them, but the actual conflict we are shown is the established power and rule that is the kingdoms of Eternia resisting an outside force that wishes to establish a new order over them.

Season 1 verdict: I'm into it. I'm definitely more invested in the villains' side of things but that's not a fault of the series, that stuff is just way more geared towards me than the current princess stuff. I actively am at attention whenever the horde main characters are on screen. For the good guys it's mostly Adora and the She-Ra stuff I'm invested it. That isn't to say I have any real dislikes for that side. Bow especially I'm liking much more than I thought I might. He has kind of this gravitational pull around him. You will be his friend regardless of how much you might want to resist. He's definitely the rock for everyone else to hold onto.

Minor side note, kind of like Korra in Legend of Korra, I love how even when her powers aren't active Adora is shown to still be pretty strong physically with how easily she was lifting people up at the prom.

And I was right, Scorpia is my favorite side character.

On to season 2!

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/nyll2e/going_in_blind_watching_season_1_for_the_first/