#but i guess like yeah it was a novella and then they added some more stuff - makes sense it's short

[yallemagne]

HOT HOT OOO WE GOT IT HOT HOT HEY WE GOT IT HOT HOT SAY WE GOT IT

IT'S DASIL CONFESSION.

How I love "oh come on Basil, that's not even a compliment!"

"It was a CONFESSION. I LOVE YOU."

"Thanks, I guess."

Dorian, I want to punt you out a window.

[dduane]

OK so listen: I am the same age-ish as both the illustrious Mr. Gaiman and, I believe, you. So when you wrote the first Wizard book I was closer to having a kid, not reading like one. Still, I will read nearly anything, my mother used to tease me b/c if all there was to read at breakfast was the cereal box, I'd be reading it. I've read a LOT of books.

Just read SYWTBAW. Not to state the ridiculously obvious but it was well worth the 6-week wait (at the NYPL no less, who has plenty of copies). The rest of the series, of course, are now on my waitlist.

2 questions for you:

1: Should I read them in order? Will it make a difference to story arc/character development?

2: Did you pick Schenectady off a map/resource or have you actually been there and were speaking from personal knowledge? Double funny b/c aforementioned kid has lived there.

I'm so glad I found you and your work. Thanks for being such a nice person and fantastic writer (and cook, huh?)

...Yeah, I'm not a bad cook. (Though my most effective education in the art came from the gents on whom Tom Swale and Carl Romeo are based.) :) ...And I've got a shade less than a decade on @neil-gaiman. But once you're past 50, these differences don't matter so much, as you'll no doubt have been noticing. Especially among fellow cereal-box readers.

Meanwhile, I'm glad you liked So You Want To Be A Wizard! (And NYPL kept you waiting six weeks for a copy?? WTF. ...But I guess that means their available copies are in demand, so I shouldn't complain.)

Re: reading in order: In this series's case, I do recommend sticking with the publishing order, as there's a definite events arc... and as part of that, both plots and character development become more complex as time goes on. (Possibly a symptom of the author coming to a better understanding of the world she was building. Who knows.)

And re: Schenectady: I've been in and out a few times during trips upstate, but the main reference is to an old joke of Harlan Ellison's. He used to get a lot of questions from people at conventions who wanted to know where he got his ideas. Harlan eventually took to answering "Schenectady," claiming there was some kind of useful-idea warehouse up there... so that when he felt he was running low, he'd get on the phone to them and do a bulk order. (snicker) It was a favored riff. He kept adding unlikely stuff to it as time went by. Eventually I asked to borrow the locale-bit of the shtick, and he said "okay".

Anyway: glad you're planning to follow up on the series. When you run out of the in-traditional-print material, you may want to have a look at Ebooks Direct. There's more YW material over there, including at least one non-main-sequence novel, the offshoot Feline Wizards series, and a batch of novella-length works. (Not to mention the revised, updated-timeline New Millennium Edition ebook versions of the main sequence.)

Meanwhile: hope you enjoy what lies before you! :) And thanks for letting me know you liked the first one.

[britcision]

Eeeeh it was WIP Wednesday… and I’m thirsty for attention, so have a snippet from chapter two of Danny Fenton, Dead and Loving it!

(And I had to check I could paste obscene amounts of words from my notes into tumblr, since I’m not writing this in drafts for now - I lost too many sections to not hitting ‘save’ before putting my phone down)

Prompt and First chapter! (I guess I cannot make neat links on mobile, woe is me)

And the fic on AO3

@welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith

@someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones

@starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost

@akikoyuii @rainbowbunny0159

@littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife

@serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf

————————

“Hang on a second, does that mean your ghost writer friend is also an actual ghost?” Because yeah, he had googled book collectors around Gotham and came up blank.

Danny took a moment to work out what he meant, then perked up and nodded.

“Oh, yeah! That’s his actual name too, I’m not sure he was ever a living person, and I wasn’t kidding when I said he had every book ever written. A lotta first editions too. I think he’s a spirit of literature?”

Jason took a quick peek around to see if any giant and possibly book shaped palaces had appeared.

Place was covered in floating islands and purple doors, there was a chance.

“Could we… could you introduce me?” Cuz he wasn’t gonna actually ask if Jane Austen was a ghost, not on his first day.

He had some damn self control. Even if the pit was fucking purring in the back of his head and this whole weird place felt more like home than anywhere he’d been before.

Flying beside him, Danny nodded cheerfully and shot him a thumbs up.

“Oh hell yeah, he needs more friends. Probably not today though, he’s not really around this part of the Zone, and we wanna make it to the Far Frozen and back before New Years. Next time,” he added before Jason could even begin to feel disappointed.

He’d known the odds of heading right there weren’t great. Fuck, he wouldn’t have wanted to; it was just hard to remember they were here to get the pit out when it was filling him with a buzzing, humming contentment down to his toes.

Part of him wanted to be a whole lot more suspicious. Did not like how easy it was to trust Danny, to relax into this undead realm.

But it was usually the pit that nagged at him not to trust anyone. And the pit was in heaven, and Jason had spent so long fighting that constant suspicion.

If things went as well as he hoped… well, he wasn’t gonna be going easy on any of the assholes fucking with his turf.

But being able to talk to the bats without the pit’s constant paranoia… yeah, he did a little hope he’d be a bit tighter lipped.

Feelings just kept spilling out of him around Danny, apparently literally if what the kid told him about his core was to be believed.

Jason could feel enough of Danny’s emotions in return to know the kid wasn’t lying. Hopefully that was what made him trust him.

Today, he nodded and looked around.

“So, the Far Frozen. Called that because it’s far?” He asked casually, definitely not letting on any concerns.

Flying hadn’t been hard so far, but he had no idea how long this was going to work. He couldn’t even tell if it was using a muscle, but it was sure as shit one he hadn’t used before.

Danny snickered and shrugged, clearly not even a little concerned.

“Well, I opened the portal pretty close in this case, but yeah, it’s far from the more populated areas of the zone. The yetis like it, it means they can keep to themselves.”

This was kind of the problem with Danny, Jason was coming to realise.

He’d told Jason where in the zone they were going, and why. They needed to see a guy called Frostbite, because he knew the most about ghost biology.

He’d probably know what to do about Jason’s pit problem, and what Danny and Jason could do to deal with the pits themselves. Fun, exciting, Jason was 1000% up for that.

Fucking yetis had not come up.

“The what?” He asked, striving for nonchalance and wondering again if he shouldn’t have shot someone a text before leaving.

And potentially never being seen again.

Danny hesitated for a moment, brows furrowing.

There was definitely more snow ahead than there had been behind.

“I totally mentioned the yetis?” Danny said carefully, like that would somehow make it true.

Jason stifled a snicker.

“You did not mention yetis. You mentioned ghosts.”

“Yeah, they’re ghost yetis.”

“That doesn’t actually make it any better, y’know? The yeti part is still kinda important.”

Not that Jason would be hugely surprised to find an alive yeti at some point. The world had a habit of saving up its weirdest bullshit to dish out onto him.

At least he wasn’t Constantine.

Danny pulled a face and shrugged, turning so he was flying backwards.

“Well, I mentioned it now? They’re yetis. So is Frostbite, but he’s like, bigger. And their leader. I mentioned that part, right?” Danny asked hopefully.

It was pretty clearly a fair question.

Jason nodded, scanning through what he’d been told so far.

“Yeah, and that they had the ghost hospital? I guess it’s a good thing as ghosts we’re not gonna feel the cold,” Jason added idly, glancing at their increasingly frosty surroundings.

He could feel the temperature dipping, sure, but nothing serious. They hadn’t even grabbed coats.

Danny stopped flying so quickly that Jason actually overshot him and had to turn, coming back to rejoin his guide. Who looked guilty.

Jason pulled on his best deadpan face.

“Let me guess. You definitely mentioned it?” He asked dryly.

Danny groaned and slapped himself in the face, then dragged his hand slowly free.

“Okay this one’s totally not my fault? I mean. I don’t need a coat there? And usually if anyone else comes with me, we have the Spectre Speeder, and it always has coats, so it’s not like we pack?”

He gave Jason a sheepish smile, half wincing like he expected a punch.

Jason did consider it, but not seriously.

“Okay, focus up Danny. What do we need to do? How cold am I gonna get?” Cuz the longer they were sitting still, the more the chill was creeping in.

Danny let out another lingering groan then closed his eyes, calculating.

“Okay… so I can call Frostbite when we get a bit closer, and he can come meet us, and he’ll have some spare coats? And I don’t think you can technically freeze to death anymore, but you don’t have a core? So I dunno.”

Jason took a deep breath of his own, fighting a half smile. Good to know he wasn’t the only one with a bad habit of rushing in.

But even he tried to be ready for everything.

“Great. Love this plan. Especially the part where I probably can’t freeze to death,” Jason snarked.

Danny squinted at him.

“Look, it’s better than my other plan, which is I freeze you solid in my ghost ice and tow you the rest of the way. You wanna show up walking and talking or in an iceberg?”

The fact that he seemed to be serious probably should have concerned Jason more, but he was having fun.

Just imagine, Jason Todd as the responsible one in a superhero team up. Dickie would be so proud.

It’d be just like his old Robin days, except that suit was thermally regulated out the ass.

“Ooh, frozen wastes or frozen in iceberg, I’m definitely seeing the difference. Let’s just get moving so you can call your buddy before I turn into a popsicle.”

Danny stuck his tongue out at Jason, but did indeed get moving again.

“Hey, both of those are still better than our last option,” he snarked back, and maybe Jason was imagining it but they were kinda going faster.

Lucky for Jason, apparently it was willpower that made you fly in the Ghost Zone, and being a stubborn bitch had always been his stock in trade.

“Oh gee, what’s the last option? Shoot ourselves from a catapult? Build a snowman and have it carry us? Or do we close our eyes real tight and wish ourselves there?” Jason asked as sweetly as he could.

Made Danny laugh anyway, before his expression became deadly serious.

“You’re literally wishing your way there right now, smartass, but no. The last option is we call my regent and he stops time and you spend the next eighty relative years of your life listening to lectures about why I need to be fully crowned.”

Which did sound pretty last-resort-y, in Jason’s opinion. And raised an important question.

“Why are you so against being fully crowned? You seem pretty in touch with all the king shit.” Certainly willing enough to talk about it, although now that Jason thought about it, mostly to complain.

Danny pulled another reluctant face.

“Just cuz I know I can’t get out of it doesn’t mean I gotta give myself up right away. The last king was a bloodthirsty tyrant, in an enchanted sleep for thousands of years. Do you have any idea how much paperwork that stacked up?”

Danny let out a shudder that had nothing to do with the increasing cold. Thinking to the amount of report forms he’d be facing if B found out about this particular jaunt, Jason joined him.

“Yeah, okay, that sounds like it sucks,” he agreed, and Danny shot him a relieved grin.

“Right? Like, I want to live my actual life first. Do something more than struggle through college and fight ghosts. Everything worked just fine while the other guy was in prison, so what’s the rush?”

They flew in silence for a moment, Jason struggling with an entirely unexpected lump in his throat.

Danny broke it, drifting closer until their shoulders bumped.

“Sorry man. Didn’t think.”

There was a perfect snappy comeback in there about it not being the first time, but Jason didn’t have it in him. He managed a nod and gentle bump back.

It was getting cold enough now that the moisture on his cheeks stung.

From condensation. Or air resistance or something.

The Ghost Zone had high humidity, explained all of the snow.

They continued in silence for a while, then Danny sighed and slowed to a stop once more. Jason copied a little more reluctantly, brushing trails of ice from his face.

“Okay so this is gonna be just, stupid loud?” Danny said with a slightly strained cheerfulness, like they’d never stopped bantering. “You’ll probably wanna put your hands over your ears.”

Jason complied, wondering just how literal the “call” part of Danny calling ahead was gonna be. Stupid loud implied it wouldn’t be on a cellphone.

He’d not had any messages since leaving Gotham actually, and it had been a couple of hours. He should probably check…

He clapped his hands back over his ears just in time as Danny sucked in a huge breath and bellowed like a thunderstorm.

“HEY FROSTY! PHANTOM INCOMING, BROUGHT A FRIEND. HE NEEDS A COAT!”

And then Danny gave Jason a cheery grin and nodded in the direction they’d been travelling as he cautiously removed his hands.

“He can’t get quite that loud, so we’ll have to get closer before we can hear him. Might as well keep going, right?”

Jason took another moment just to stare at the ghost. It was beginning to actually kick in that… yeah. Danny wasn’t human.

And Jason knew plenty of metahumans, people with powers. He knew Black Canary, so what the line should be is a bit fuzzy.

But.

Danny’s not fully human, not anymore. So what the hell was Jason?

The exact same asshole he was yesterday, obviously. Just with… well, his baggage compartment had already been overstuffed.

Even the thought of getting to dump the pit baggage meant that even if he was now a zombie or a ghost or whatever that was still a net loss unless he had to eat people.

Which, again, what the fuck was his life?

He almost laughed, but didn’t want to try explaining that thought process to anyone else, even if the odds were pretty good Danny’s life… existence was at least a little fucked.

He gave a smile instead, nodding and following Danny’s lead off into the frost.

Doing absolutely nothing to reassure him, Jason was no longer sure it was reflections off the ice now catching the corner of his eye.

The longer they were in the Ghost Zone, the more he kept thinking he saw stars passing across the black of Danny’s suit.

***

Frostbite did in fact come to meet them, and did in fact bring Jason a coat. The fact that said coat REALLY looked like it came from a yeti…

Well, Danny had long decided never to ask, and Jason was following his lead today. His new friend was all wrapped up again, and wasn’t even shivering anymore!

Yeah. Danny fucked up.

And he also felt a little bad even after Jason told him it was fine, a damnably cocky smirk on his lips. It felt like he’d been holding onto that “Not the first thing you’ve conveniently forgotten” line for a while.

Which, to be fair, they’d met twice ever, so how the fuck would Jason know?

Just because it was accurate didn’t mean he had to say it.

They’d had to make quite a trek back to the depths of the Far Frozen along with Frostbite since the yeti had come to meet them, but they’d made good use of the time.

Frostbite still understood more about ghost biology and even specifically halfa biology than Danny himself did, and he’d immediately seen something was up with Jason.

Reassuring him that Jason wasn’t actually fading and that his core just hadn’t formed yet hadn’t taken long; apparently, yetis could smell core formation.

Delightful fucked up information Danny wished he’d never learned, but at least he’d been right.

Surrounded by the ambient ectoplasm of the Ghost Zone, Jason’s core was already coming along in fits and bounds. Something which had alarmed Jason to hear too, but hey.

About half of his ghost problems were probably related to that slow forming core, and the other half…

Yeah. Frostbite had a Lot of questions about the Lazarus Pits. And Jason had basically nothing by way of answers beyond what he’d already told Danny.

Which, aww, he’d really been putting everything he had on the table, which was nice. The longer they spent together, the more Danny figured Jason hadn’t been honest with anyone in a while.

He kept getting this surprised look on his face, these moments where he stopped like he couldn’t believe what he was saying. Like he thought he should be more careful.

Danny could relate. Frostbite was weirdly easy to share things with, even if Danny couldn’t get him to stop calling him Great One.

The second Danny had protested, Jason got a real sneaky grin on his face that Danny wasn’t sure he liked. He knew a Bastard Little Brother face from his mirror.

Jason being older than him? Meant nothing.

For now though, they’d made it to the medical center and Jason was looking at the scanning pods with a sceptical but weirdly unsurprised eye.

Danny still hadn’t stopped making Star Trek jokes when he saw them, but. Robin. What the fuck did Batman have access to?

Frostbite gave them both a very proud smile, patting the tube fondly.

“With this, we shall determine how much corrupted ectoplasm is within you, and how best to separate your mind from its affects. Already some of it is being purged by contact with our Saviour, but for it not to be gone already shows there is a deeper problem,” the yeti explained happily.

Jason shot Danny another shit eating grin at “saviour” and Danny bit back a groan, making himself smile at Frostbite instead.

Insistent and slightly patronising hero worship aside, he really did like the guy. He always wanted to help, and usually could, which was a nice change.

“Yeah, about that? Do we know what I’m doing that’d change his corruption?” Because it’s not that he didn’t want to help too, but it might be easier if he knew how.

Frostbite gave Danny a cheerful pat next, sending the smaller ghost stumbling a little.

“Oh, some of it will happen merely from your presence, Great One. As the King of the realm, you have far more ectoplasm and it is far stronger, which will help Jason’s ectoplasm to heal on its own. But we must find the root for the problem to be solved.”

Jason chuckled and shook his head, stripping back out of the thick yeti coat.

“There’s always a catch, right? Is this gonna hurt?” It sounded like he expected the answer to be yes, and even Frostbite looked suddenly concerned.

“You should not feel anything at all, young Jason. Perhaps the feelings from your contaminated source will become stronger, but they are not negative at present?” It came out as a question, mostly tied to that concern.

And Danny could kinda see why; from everything Jason told them, he was usually only swamped by rage. Neither of his auras felt angry now, but the pit’s had jumped to betrayal pretty consistently every time it spiked.

Needing to be told that something wasn’t going to hurt him sort of pointed where those feelings might have come from.

Danny nudged closer on impulse, letting his own trust-reassurance-done this before wash gently over Jason’s aura.

[ritzcrackee]

september tbr yayyyyy

rereads are marked by a ✩, new reads are marked by a ♡, library reads are italicized and new acquisitions are bolded

physical tbr: 8

dune messiah - frank herbert - ♡

oedipus rex - sophocles - ♡

antigone - sophocles - ♡

medea - euripides - ♡

the way of kings - brandon sanderson - ♡

wuthering heights - emily bronte - ♡

circe - madeline miller - ☆

the immortalists - chloe benjamin - ☆

digital tbr: 2

the hundred years war on palestine - rashid khalidi - ♡

in the shadow of the sun - em castellan - ♡

last months books: 8

a dowry of blood - s. t. gibson - 5/5

this was a rereaddddddd and it held up! i'll always feel mildly conflicted about alexi's age but its not enough of a hang-up for me to lower my rating. i like this book a lottttt yippee

dune - frank herbert - 1.5/5

guys. i fuckinf. ifucghinh. i did it. i rwad dune. slamsmy head againsy the wall.

i haven't talked about this yet (i think), but i kind of read dune twice? i realized very early on that the physical book wasn't the way to go for me. something about trying to absorb complex information when there's pretty lights and sounds and tiny tiny text on a weirdly shaped object was truly? impossible for me. BUT!! my good friend (hiii king) had given me his special annotated copy so i really wanted to read his thoughts on everything?

anyways, the way i solved this problem was to just... read everything twice. once, physically, as more of a vibes catching heavy skim, and then again, digitally, really trying to understand the minutiae of it.

this approach maybe worked? i still couldn't tell you very much of the plot, but knowing what was coming helped me enjoy it more? idfk

my favorite part wasssss the annex at the end and the chapter where the ecologist dies ❤

(franz please don't be offended by my rating and come to my house and kill me IM SORRY IM BAD AT SCI-FI I STILL LIKED IT)

in at the deep end - kate davies - 2.5/5

meh. writing style was fast paced and interesting, but a little too #qUirKy for me. the author said she was a big fan pf pheobe waller-bridge, and like... yeah you did kind of write knock-off lesbian fleabag didn't you? (to be clear i did enjoy this somewhat, just a perfectly average amount lol.

done deal - skrifores on ao3 - 4/5

woo hoo this was a 50k word modern au gentlebeard fic :3 i feel like 50k is enough to count as a novella? i guess we r tracking long fics too now. um yeah this was very sweeeet and very cuteeeeee

turn on the light - smallest church on ao3 - 5/5

THIS MADE ME TEAR UPPPPPP my babies.... (also a gentlebeard modern au fic but THIS one was 55k. so. yay)

divorce towers - ellen meister - 1/5

yeah idk what i expected. i got a free trial of amazon prime and this looked like the most interesting of the free book options? wish i had dnfed it halfway through but yk. i'm sure its for someone out there.

beastars vol 1 - paru itagaki - 5/5

yayyyy beastars ❤ fun fact i absolutely hated the anime on my first watch but like,,, in that obsessed way yk? rewatched it recently and LOVEDDDD it so i'm making my way through the manga :3

beastars vol 2 - paru itagaki - 5/5

i love to love animal cannibals....

last months goal: find a tbr system that fits my current goals better lmao

i just added a library marker lol. i was gifted a couple books, so my physical tbr got a lil longer. alsoo i keep reading novella/novel length fanfics so i'm tracking those as well heart emoji.

this months goal: read some stuff off of my fall tbr

gang i'm tired. the reading slump has been so real and i KNOW the fall weather is gonna kick my ass. i'd also love to finish a hard book this month but realistically i will read six fanfics and a romance. fml.

[dersebyte]

Some Background Info, I guess?:

So, I rarely daydream anything before the summer of 1975. I don’t know why, maybe because of a disconnect with the ages or whatever but yeah, summer of 1975, when shit goes down.

I am sorted into Slytherin usually. I try to keep myself pretty close to my irl self so I’m actually a Slytherin or Hufflepuff, depending on the test I take. I’m in the same year as the Marauders as well. My birthday is April 19 1960.

I picture myself similar to the picture below. The point of daydreaming is to escape so, I choose to look different than in real life.

(photo credits: heir.of.atticus on Instagram)

I take the usual core subjects; Charms, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, Herbology, and Potions (slug club!!). My electives are Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. School was easy for me growing up so I take my classes the same ways as I did real school. I’m not a dick though. I make notes for the entire History of Magic class and I hold tutoring sessions for the younger years.

My friends of choice are Remus Lupin, Lily Evans (we share classes together and study in the library as well), Regulus Black, Pandora Lovegood (she was getting bullied and I helped her out, we begrudgingly became friends after), and I tolerate Barty Crouch Jr. (he and Regulus are friends and I put up with him when they hang out). I can not stand to spend time with Severus Snape or Evan Rosier (I find them to elitist to deal with. Always trying to one up everyone else.)

I found out about Remus’ furry little problem in first year, never said anything to anyone. It kind of hard to ignore all the signs when you actively follow moon patterns for traditional reasons. And yes, I do believe that Celtic practices would still be followed in the wizarding world.

My family is a pureblood family that is deeply intrenched in dark magic. Not like bad magic, evil spells. Like, dark magic in terms of belief. I have always had a belief that necromancy and soul spell work, any spell craft that is considered heavy duty would be considered dark magic. I grew up in the Scottish countryside, my parents were a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin.

My family was emotionally distant. I rarely saw them, growing up surrounded by books and house elves. Even as I entered Hogwarts, they rarely took an interest in my studies or who I was friends with. As Voldemort began to rise in power, my parents began dragging me into more and more “pureblood nonsense” like galas and fancy dinners with other families. (Believe it or not, this is actually tamer than what I grew up with family-wise.)

Due to my family’s status in the pureblood world, I became Regulus’ escape place, very much how James became Sirius’. My family didn’t care if I had friends over as long ad they were of pureblood status and I could leave as I pleased.

I smoke in real life and have been since I was fifteen. This obviously transferred over so just a warning, I suppose. I’m not the only smoking student.

—————————————————————————————————————

I started a new life in my daydreams recently and that was when I decided to share this on here. Like I said before, this is my fantasy, not everyone else’s. I understand if you don’t like something I do or share but please, be kind.

From now on, my posts will be written out novella style. Hopefully you enjoy!

Thanks for reading,

-Derse!!

[banesberry-anomoly]

Doodles we did as a test to accompany some novella length rp responses, we havent done comic stuff before so it was mostly just fucking around (click on them for better quality and so you can actually see everything)

Sorry if its a bit hard to read, we'll be adding the responses under the cut so you can read em along side the doodles

" 'Hazbin Hotel'! The infamous hotel that Lucifer's bitchy daughter created to 'redeem' the sinners of hell. If that's not a waste of time, I don't know what is! Well, Let's get this fucker going. "

❝Zombie Ghosts Falling From The Sky!❞

" My name is Katie Killjoy and this is 666 News! Today we are talking about the cannibalistic ghosts that are falling from the fucking sky! These are your normal cannibals either. The sinners of hell have deemed them the, "SkyFrights". A horrible name that Tom came up with backstage! "

❝SkyFrights are eating everything!❞

" These hungry bitches are eating everything in sight. You would think that the sinners would try to stop them with guns and such but they are made of some fucking mist! King Lucifer has yet to make a statement on the situation and it seems that the overlord have no fucking clue what to do with these creatures from above. "

❝Sinners are turning into SkyFrights!❞

" Breaking News! Sinners are being bitten and turned into these fugly ghost zombies from the sky. We still have no idea how to kill these fuckers but we need to figure out fast. Oh look! They are breaking into the studio as we speak- "

END OF BROADCAST.

(The above was the starter posted by the gamemaster, below is our response that the doodles accompany)

Tropic stared at the television for a few minutes, watching the static dance on-screen before it changed to a 'technical difficulties' screen featuring Tom Trench. The fact that Tom was on there probably meant that he was put on there as a joke, the station not expecting to really ever need to actually use it. Tropic sat on the couch, not knowing whether to laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation or just sit there in stunned silence. SkyFrights… yeah it was an absurd name out of context, but given what had just been yelled by Katie Killjoy about these things, it was terrifying. Giving a nervous side glance across the room, Tropic sat for a moment before speaking.

"Aha- they're joking… right?"

The continuous test screen told otherwise. 666 News may cover things that they think are jokes sometimes, but they wouldn't pull one themselfs. Not one this elaborate, anyways. And the more Tropic thought about it, the more it tried to rationalize the situation, but came up with nothing. Its not like it'd really left the hotel much in the past week or two anyways.

". . ."

The tv went dark. Someone else turned it off. Good riddance I guess, the test screen noise was annoying. What Tropic needed right now was some music, but off course he'd forgotten both his headphones and his earbuds upstairs, and if he'd left to grab them someone would say something. So it just stayed put in the lounge. It rubbed its temples, feeling a headache coming on. Oh sweet Envy, now was not the time, especially when other people were around. Tropic pulled its hat down further over its face, attempting to block out more enternal stimuli to curb the headache early.

"This is the last thing I needed today."

Tropic sat for a moment, face covered by its hat. Just trying to… process everything.

"Hahaha- this shit is why I don't bother goin' out much 'cept to visit maybe two places. I disappear from most of the society that is hell for 2 weeks, and this happens. I though hell was chaotic before, but now there's fuckin' SkyFrights terrorizing people."

Tropic gestured wildly between the tv sat in front of it and the door of the hotel from where he sat in the lounge. It's normally relaxed demeanor had shifted into something else, more on edge than usual, and that was saying something. He didn't like this. At all. Is there ever a moment of peace down here, or is it all just chaos?

"This is bullshit, I don't wanna deal with this. There's no way this was just pulled out of someone's ass though, if the static is anythin' to go off of. 666 News wouldn't just cut short for no pridedamn reason, right?"

Letting out a large sigh, it shifted positions from sitting, to laying across the couch, to easier try to block out stimuli. The lounge was mostly quiet after the tv had been turned off, which was nice. That left it open to someone approaching if they were quiet enough, though.

"Can I just disable the option to go outside for a while? Is that somethin' I can do?"

Staring up into the darkness of the hat, it wanted to just crawl into it. Disappear for a while. He's done it before, could easily do it again, but he has people that would ask questions if Tropic just disappeared into the pocket dimension attached to the hat. So he quickly shoved that thought to the side. It closed its eyes to try and relax for a bit, before someone inevitably came over to ask what the fuck it was doing. One arm hung over the side of the couch while the other was draped across its chest, legs hanging over the arm rest.

"Sigh…"

[darkdoverpseeker]

Hello! My name is CK (26, NB, she/they) and, as you might guess, I’m looking for a partner (or two).

I’ve been back on my Spider-man bullshit for a while now but haven’t quite been able to scratch a very specific itch - I’m looking for a Dr. Otto Octavius to play against my Peter Parker, based on the Raimi Spider-man Trilogy or the Insomniac/PS4/PS5 Spider-man game.

I write exclusively on Discord in specially-created servers these days so please be comfy that! I write 3rd person past-tense, and can write anywhere from a few paragraphs to a novella in reply (though please don’t feel the need to match me!). I typically try to write replies every few days, but I also do have IRL obligations and personal health concerns that might get in the way of that. If you’re looking for replies every day, I might not be the best partner for you. I am definitely open to NSFW/kink/darker themes, but only after discussing both of our limits. If we vibe well, I’m totally down for having multiple threads at once (AUs anyone?).

I am always down and eager to chat/plot/screm/what-have-you. All I ask is that you be an active participant in plotting, as roleplay is a collaborative effort. If you feel your interest is waning or we just aren’t meshing as partners, please tell me instead of ghosting me. It won’t hurt my feelings, I promise!

I would be playing a trans Tobey!Peter/John Bubniak FC!Peter. In terms of plot, I have a few ideas for both verses, but would also love to hear yours as well. Some of mine include:

MCU Based: Post No Way Home, Otto and Peter are both yeeted back into their universe but find themselves a) back in 2004, just after the destruction of the reactor, aligning to when Otto was yoinked from the timeline or b) 17 years into The Future, aligning to when Peter was yoinked from the timeline. Shenanigans ensue.

Insomniac Based: Post-game, a repentant Otto seeks forgiveness and redemption for his actions. Peter is torn between wanting to believe he is sincere and give him a second chance (and potentially risking having his heart broken a second time) and struggling with his hurt and anger towards the man he looked up to and fell a little in love with.

Either verse: Gimme a Kraven hellbent on hunting his ultimate prey, an Otto who goes more than a little feral in response, and Peter who is in desperate need of a nap.

Either verse: Otto is singled out as an Anomaly by the Spider-Society ala Spider-verse, and must be removed to ‘correct the timeline’. Peter goes more than a little feral in response in order to protect Otto. (okay yeah it’s the plot of Across the Spider-verse but with Peter & Otto instead of Miles & his dad).

Either verse again: HYDRA takes a special interest in Spider-man’s superhuman abilities and seeks to acquire him as an asset, and Peter & Otto go on the run to escape them and unravel the mystery of the creation of the radioactive spiders at Oscorp all those years ago.

I’m down for fluff. I’m down for angst. I’m down for action. I’m down for hurt&comfort. We can mix-and-match any of the ideas above, or do something completely different.

If you also love The Octopus Man and his Arachnid Boytoyfriend, and managed to read to the end of this ad, don’t hesitate to send me a message. If you give this post a Like, I’ll also reach out <3 Fandoms: MCU, Spider-man (Raimi Spider-man, Insomniac Spider-man) Pairings: Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock x Peter Parker/Spider-man (Octospider)

.

[threewaysdivided]

I was screaming when I saw the update notification in my inbox! (And I might have done a little embarrassing dance, too). Every part of this chapter was well worth the wait! The tone and plot read like something you would find in S1 of YJ, and I loved every minute of it! I have to say, one of my favorite moments was when Phantom accidentally gave everyone a brainfreeze 🤣 That was unexpected, but definitely added some levity to the situation haha! Thank you for the excellent chapter dear author!

Thank you so much! The number of people who've told me they yelled/ gasped/ jumped or otherwise went absolute wiggly bonkers on seeing the update note for Deathly Weapons Chapter 18 has been utterly delightful. After so long I was mostly expecting to be met with a mix of crickets and "oh huh. guess you're not dead then. cool".

Hopefully 21K worth of mission is sufficient apology for my frankly overlong absence.

There was a time when this fic had a regular upload schedule but these days I feel like I've evolved into an odd sort of cryptid. The Loch Ness monster's saltier cousin who occasionally whale-breaches out of the lake to canonball novella-length updates into the water before disappearing back down into the murky depths of container gardening and writing analysis from whence I came.

I've been really gratified to hear so many people say the Black Gold mission felt like it could be a proper YJS1 episode. Arc II is definitely where YJ:DW swings more Young Justice story-wise and it's sort of my little love letter to Season 1 so it's nice to know that I'm coming somewhere within swinging distance of capturing that style.

I'm also glad this one seems to be carrying itself pretty well as a semi-self-contained plot - I was kind of worried that it was going to be a bit of a wet fish to drop after 2 years of silence. Don't get me wrong, Chapter 18 is doing important structural things but (to me, at least) it's not as significant to the characters or long-term plot as the missions I have planned to follow it (ironically contributing to the catch-22 of it taking so long to write).

One of my favorite moments was when Phantom accidentally gave everyone a brainfreeze

Fun fact: that odd little scene of telepathic tomfoolery came about mostly because I wanted to set up Wally calling Phantom "an actual headache to work with" in a later chapter. Behold the lengths I am willing to go to for absolute nonsense!

While I wouldn't call Black Gold an especially funny chapter on the whole there were definitely some little bits that were just plain fun to write. Top picks include:

Sphere rattled her plates in a way that made it clear she felt she was being babied.

“Uh, yeah, just… have you ever cut through a construction yard after dark?” - the Boy Wonder’s affirmatory noise was echoed by Artemis - “Well now imagine it’s full of people who want to kill you.”

Wally attempted a suave lean as the men slid to the ground.  “These guys bothering you?”

Just for a moment, he considered that he might be insane.

“Wasn’t he tied to a table?” “Yeah, and?” the speedster gave a magnificent shrug.  “He still is.”

“Besides,” Kid Flash shrugged the item on experimentally, colour eye-watering against his stealth-suit, “you know me: moves like a shadow.”

Can you tell that I just really, really like writing Wally?

also this one:

“Maybe you should re-re-count. You know, make sure you’ve got your facts straight?”

which isn't all that funny but tickles me because oh the shade, the backhandedness of it all.

In somewhat related news, I am very excited now because Chapter 18 being done means I get to move onto Chapters 19 - 21, a trinity which astute readers may recognise as Flashpoints, Combustion and Equilibrium aka that Wally-heavy trinity whose outline I've been going nuts over for literal years.

And also: it's already got a rough outline! Which, with luck means I might take less than 20% of a decade to get it to you. Golly, imagine that!

Hope you'll come along to see 💜

[lokilickedme]

Writing Update, 9/20

The new longfic I mentioned back in July is almost ready to start.  I’d like to finish The Variant before it begins, so the projected 10 chapters I had mapped out for that may end up condensed a bit in favor of a quicker wrap up.  I don’t have the emotional spoons to sustain a deep trauma angst-fic for very long right now, so Loki 77 is going to have to perk up soon or hit the road lol (I’m kidding, I love him, he’ll get every bit of the justice he deserves and I won’t rush him to it I promise).

I Stop The World (And Melt With You) will begin as soon as The Variant ends unless something happens that makes me have to put The Variant on hiatus.  I’ll try not to let that happen, but this is a strange time of year for me, and until the Bootleg Christmas season kicks in to give me something else to get obsessed about I might be weird.  Sorry about that.  And yes that’s a working title, its not set in stone, though it’ll probably stick.  We can refer to it as Melt, I guess.  There’s a lot here for both Hiddleston and Hozier fans, and you don’t have to like both to get what you want out of this one.  But if you do like both, you’re in luck :)

Shrine of Your Lies will end soon, there’s a chapter coming in a few days if not sooner.  My Hozier people will love this one.  The Unnamed woke up.

I’ve delayed starting on the paperback/ebook manuscript for The Department until October.  The editing should go quickly because I can’t think of anything I want to change in the story, with the exception of adding some scenes and an epilogue.  I’d hoped to include The Money Shot as a novella after the main story, but I doubt that one will be finished soon enough for TD’s publication.

The special edition of Jack Montague might be ready by christmas, but don’t quote me on that.  At all.  Please lol

The Empty Arms Hotel is going to get real weird real fast, so if you’re reading that, get ready.  Of all my fics this one is the one I’d call a throwaway, mainly because I’m writing it strictly as a place to blow off some steam and dance gleefully naked around a bonfire with both fingers up and a smileyface painted on my ass because it’s the one fic where I CAN and by god I need to.  Nobody has any expectations for it, which is what I wanted.  But of all my current fics, it’s the one with ultimately the most profound under-arc and conclusion...neither of which you’ll see until the final few words.

I love doing that.  Hiddleston and/or Hozier fans are about to get squicked to hell and back, btw.

I don’t know when I’ll work on The Money Shot again.  Soon, I hope.  I screwed Hiddleston, what more is there to do?  ;P  Oh yeah, I gotta seduce Hoz.  Guess I better get busy on that before he freezes to death.

I keep forgetting to finish Aingeal Ard.  King doesn’t want to be bothered, but I’m about to go shake him a little and see how loud he growls.

My 10-day writing rush starts October 1.  Feel free to submit requests for what you’d like to see worked on.  I’ll be doing liveblogs of writing sessions and if anyone wants to ask character/plot/background/headcanon questions please do :)

[jaicarbonilla]

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi

Goodreads:

The explosive finale to the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shatter Me series. Juliette Ferrars. Ella Sommers. Which is the truth and which is the lie? Now that Ella knows who Juliette is and what she was created for, things have only become more complicated. As she struggles to understand the past that haunts her and looks to a future more uncertain than ever, the lines between right and wrong—between Ella and Juliette—blur. And with old enemies looming, her destiny may not be her own to control. The day of reckoning for the Reestablishment is coming. But she may not get to choose what side she fights on.

Review : (Contain Spoilers)

*PURELY MY OPINION, AND I UNDERSTAND IF YOURS IS DIFFERENT FROM MINE.

Okay...okay. Let me just clear my head because I have a lot of frustration right now, and it’s a mixture of good and bad frustration, but mostly bad, and I dislike that. Anything beyond this contains spoilers so...

Remember how I said I liked how Kenji was added into the POVs? Yeah... Now I’m just extremely annoyed by the fact that Aaron was completely wiped out of that, and was just left at the epilogue. It took me a few seconds, I literally had to double check while I was looking at the table of contents, and from that I was already disappointed. I got why she had to do it in Defy Me, because we needed that POV to see what was actually going on the rebellion base but now, sweetheart, Aaron is there, why not use him? He is your male main character, why couldn’t you show us his POV, like girl, he is mentally deteriorating by the beginning and it would have been a lot better if we knew what was going on in his head. This is not something you should leave out for a something .5 book, it should have been here, he is your male main character for crying out loud. Not to disregard Kenji, but like if you’re going to add his POV in that length, wouldn’t it have been better to just have his POV as the novella? I mean, yeah, I guess his timing in everything, he was at the right place at the right time, but it shouldn’t have been the whole book!

Second, plot-wise was excruciating to read, I get what she was planning and envisioning but there are just some things you shouldn’t do. It sort of made me think she wanted all of these twists and turns included in all of it that it just seemed so rushed. I mean, the whole thing was okay until Juliette woke up from that thing Emmaline did to her, after that it was so.... meh.

Again, why can’t just Anderson die? Then you got to go through this creepy infatuation of Juliette to Anderson when she turned into this super soldier? Like, man, why? I swear if that crossed the line, especially when he made her kneel in front of him and made her call him master, I would have closed the book and just remember it as a trilogy again. 

Another thing! That whole spectacle of having Aaron and Juliette fight? It was good, it made sense, but damn! The aftermath? The whole I gotta take my shirt off and make you touch me to make you remember me, even though you’re a super soldier right now and you have been ordered by your master, by my father who you have a crush on now, to kill me? You gotta feel my abs babe so you can remember, like WTF? Why? I just... can’t.

I am so pissed off, you can’t even imagine. But still, your girl got to read it till the end. It was freaking anti-climactic, wait, it shouldn’t even be considered anticlimactic at the end actually, the whole book was!

Yeah, kill Emmaline, that was the whole point, you got to kill the source and Juliette has to be the one to do it, check, make the whole Oceania base crumble by your grief, check, but then BAM, it becomes two weeks later and Juliette is getting married, oh! And don’t forget Kenji, he ruined her wedding dress, which was specifically made for her by Alia who has all these time on her hands because essentially they are not at war right? Now what? Oh! She’s popular now, oh! and don’t make Adam not have a moment as well, he got to be okay now with all of them even though he offered his powers to The Reestablishment to use, but it’s the finale, no more reconciliation needed for that.

Happily Ever After, the end. 

Freaking 2 stars. One for the cover and one for the whole beginning part. That’s it. I don’t even know now what to do with this.

Till next time!

[shadowdianne]

Alright, so @delirious-comfort tagged me in something about wips and SHAME. That's what I got. Sure there was something else thrown in there but bottom line: shame! xD She, brilliantly, went for WIPS in the sense of works that have never seen the light and who knows if they ever will -please, I want to know what half of them are about, you evil- Since that's basically impossible on my end of things I'm just gonna go for unfinished stories and call it a day since they are -technically- works in progress

Painted Voices -SQ- Oh boy, 2015. I don't even remember what I wanted to do with this one. It was at the time there were a bunch of stories with either one of them being blind or deaf and I tried to jump into that. I'm ashamed of it and certainly will delete this because I'm sure it sucks and I was an idiot about the whole thing.

The recognizable stranger -SQ- 2015 as well... I remember this one. I have mixed feelings about this but I will simply state that I don't remember what I wanted to do with this one. I was the: What if these two met prior to the events of S1 that existed back in the day.

Words unsaid -SQ- Technically I wouldn't count this as a wip but A03 is marking it as such so I'm going to stick with it xD FixitFic. I used to do a bunch of those with every new episode or so. Eventually, however, I stopped writing them in a single series. I remember having someone telling me that it bothered them that I did it like that and so I started posting them as separate one-shots and I guess I forgot to close the thread of this one.

The missing page -SQ- 2015 againnn, honestly, I don't remember what I wanted to do here. I believe it was about Regina going back into the book or in time and just seeing things from an outside perspective. It was also the time when writing Daniel and Emma as the same person -sometimes Emma having Daniel's soul within her some other times in a more convoluted way- was a thing. So if I remember correctly this was my take to that.

A forgotten promise -SQ- The witcher au before the witcher turned mainstream xD Ah, I'd have loved to finish this one. It required a lot of work and I was in the middle of my uni years and the feedback was... uh. Let's go with uh, so I started to have second thoughts, think it was rubbish and halted it altogether. [For context sake the small amount of ego I DO have tells me to point out I was churning 4 to 7 prompts per day at the same time] I would probably erase it entirely if I tried to do anything with it now so I'll just leave it there.

It feels like magic -SQ- Ohhh, remember when we all did magic realism? I loved that. On this one Regina was transformed into a cat because things and the story revolved around Emma buying her as her familiar. It has 13k posted but I think I wrote like 30k beyond what I ended up posting. Same story: I started to think it was shit; cornered myself into a panic attack and never finished it xD Tag yourself: Dianne doesn't end up their wips edition

Sateen memories -SQ- No fucking clue what that one was about

I'm not afraid of the dark -Princess Rover- It was going to be a rewrite of a bunch of lore back in the Shannara Chronicles all the while shitting on canon and the books but didn't happen.

What you want -SQ- Emma is the Dark One, Hypersexualization of the character. If you have heard me rant loud enough you know I prefer teasing. I got bored.

Nothing is true, everything's permitted.-SQ- The AC au! I also have mixed feelings about this one due to THINGS. It involved lots of studying because I wanted to make an accurate enough portrait of the historical momentum I was writing about. This was in 2017 so whilst I don't remember exactly I know I was working two jobs plus uni so yeah, nah, I didn't have the mind to write more than the prompts I was doing at the time xD

There is no hex or spell I could unlearn with you by my side -SQ- The HP AU. I basically stopped due to -points at JKR- and that it was a series of drabbles so it was linked to the amount of prompts. I remember it was the time Tumblr did an inbox purge, lots like half the prompts, most of them for ever so... it just sits there.

Of magic and prowess -SQ- Steampunk! It was supposed to be the second part of And the cogs are ticking if I'm remembering correctly. Very short and sweet, 5 chapters. I got 11 eleven kudos, 2 comments, about 15 asks stating that they rather wanted me to keep writing prompts than whatever I was doing with this and I said fuck it. Yeah, yeah, the vitriol I have inside is not lost to me.

Tiny nothings -SQ- Same thing as some fics above this one. I started doing lost moments but I ended up migrating it to single oneshots. This one is set in S6 so added to the previous explanation I would also add the: S6 was a pain, one.

Hidden truths -Rizzles- It was a prompt(?) but I was never too sure about my ability to write Maura and my brain shortcircuited.

Deipnon -SQ- Actually this one is co-written. Life happened. Nothing more. -I hope you are doing good Eva, love you lots-

Lost words -SQ- One word prompts. Same story than before really: I wrote them solely on tumblr, someone told me to re-post them on a03, I did, I then got anons telling me that it bothered them, stopped altogether.

The miller's daughter -SQ- Ohhh, I used to love this one. Rewriting of... something I guess xD Enchanted Forest based, total AU but trying to give a Grimm-esque perspective. 2016... who knows what I did xD Again, overworked is the answer.

But I know this night you will come -SQ- Well, actually this one was a trio if I'm remembering correctly... yeah, Regina, Red, Emma. Dunno, is this time to state that I've discovered I'm demi? lol. I'm not sex-repulsed but it bores me to tears writing about it. Give me teasing and I will write a full novella out of it. But sex is *yawn* for me when writing about it.

Ghost of you -SQ- Ohhh Emma!ParanormalInvestigator! I have a bunch of those. There was a mirror, a very angry Queen and far too much worldbuilding to fit into a tiny story. Yeah, I also see that pattern xD

Arcadia -SQ- The only fic I will ever be ashamed that I didn't finish to the point of self-destruction. I actually wrote it, I then lost the files, corrupted, gone, puff. But then I didn't rewrite it and then I felt self-conscious and then... shame.

Beyond -SQ- 2019 Probably one of the last de facto prompts I accepted. I wasn't feeling all that good about my writing. I think I was basically trying to jump start something that had died. I would have loved to finish it. Honestly.

Annnd, that's it! Tagging @rubikanon for this one <3

[cyanidesouffle]

Me nitpicking Imagine me

CW: Dub-con. If you read the book you know what I’m going to point out.

I didn't go into this book with high expectations. What I did want was more Anderson and Warner angst. Because I am a sucker for that stuff. And you do get that, so I can say I'm way happier with Imagine me than Ignite me.

That is not to say that Imagine me doesn't have it's issues. This is mainly going to be a long list of me nitpicking stuff.

Fundamental things I want to get out of the way:

So before I even begin talking about Imagine me I just want to say: I think it would have been way better if the last novella had been from James's POV. James being kidnapped, Adam giving himself up to protect him, being told he is Warner's brother. I think that would have made a great few chapters compared to Kenji sulking and pining after Nazeera. Reveal me just confirmed my headcanon that Adam and James were still in Sector 45. But it feels like nothing in Reveal me sticks. Kenji having bad side effects after being drugged? It doesn't last for longer than two chapters. Anderson being back in sector 45? Yeah, he goes back to Oceania after crashing the Sanctuary. Reveal me is (imo) better than Shadow me, but I think we all can agree than neither of them are as good as Destroy me. Adding James to the male POVs would have been a cool change. Get to know him better. Give Adam one last chance at being appreciated by the fandom.

Now to Imagine me. I think it's WAY too similar to Defy me, plotwise. Think about it: Juliette is stuck in Oceania, except she's now hanging out with Anderson instead of Evie. Kenji and Nazeera, and now Warner, have to go get her back. They do and kill some Supreme Commanders on the way. The end. It feels very… lazy for the final book in a series.

"Big" plot points I keep questioning:

I'm going to say it again: Anderson going to Sector 45 to Sanctuary and back to Oceania again. I guess he wanted to go pick up Adam and James, but it seemed like such a big deal at the end of Reveal me; it sounded like the final showdown was taking place in sector 45. But nope. He goes back to Oceania again. It just felt pointless to tease us like that.

Can't we be real? In every scene between Anderson and Juliette I was expecting him to tell her to take her clothes off. And then rape her. Robo Juliette probably wouldn't have seen it as rape; but it would be rape. Especially when she woke up IN HIS BEDROOM! (Am I a pervert for anticipating it? Probably. (And now there’s at least one fic about it so yeah, not just me))

On that note: Anderson's drawer containing either his whip, or a BDSM kit. Or both I guess. You can't change my mind :9

And I also thought it was funny when he wasn't into Juliette finding him attractive.

The supreme kids not being utilized, again. I thought it was weird how they were shoehorned into Restore me. Then I thought it was strange that only Nazeera showed up in Defy me. Stephan, Haider and Nazeera team up with the gang in Imagine me, which is an improvement. But the south American twins and Lena? They were just there. In tanks (which is never explained!). Let them distract the parents or something. Anything!

The supposed climax of the book. Robo Juliette is defeated/turned back to normal immediately. Warner talks to her. Then they hug. Done. Predictable. Boring.

How are we supposed to take Robo Juliette seriously when everything is undone like *snaps* that?

Hunger games spoiler I guess:

I can't help but compare it to Mockingjay, Peeta tried to kill Katniss, what was it?, three times? And he's not perfectly turned back to normal at the end. They continue to have issues. But they fight through it, because they love each other. You, as the reader, understand how much they love each other. The reader understands how much work they are putting in, and you appreciate it.

End of Hunger games spoiler

My suggestion is that there would have been a confrontation earlier, and they fail to bring her back. Maybe Juliette could have killed someone, I suggest Castle, and everyone would be way more freaked out. Here they would talk about maybe having to kill Juliette. Then we would have a larger confrontation at the end, where Warner actually managed to snap her out of it. I would have been able to appreciate the effort they put in more that way.

Medium things:

Mafi making Kenji influenced by stuff but not really. Kenji is said to be super drugged at the beginning of Imagine me. Then it goes away. Why did she make him unconscious because of drug side effects? To make him unable to talk to Juliette? Then he's tipsy. Half an hour later Anderson attacks. Kenji is supposedly STILL TIPSY when he's running around the battlefield. Can you tell he's tipsy during the battle? Not until it's already over. Why did Madi make Kenji drunk? So he would have an easier time to talk to Nazeera? But then he doesn't really? Why put these status effects on Kenji when they don't do anything?!

My friend suggested that: I think the tea was supposed to be played as a joke. My response to that is: Does Mafi think making your friends intoxicated with laced tea without their consent is funny? That's not funny. Ever.

Kenji not making a Tangle reference when Warner's asks Anderson to let him take Juliette's place. #WarnerIsBestRapunzel.

On that note: Can Anderson make up his mind about whether he wants to kill Aaron or not? In Defy me he was ready to let Warner know about operation synthesis, but Ibrahim stopped him. But he seems to have given that up completely by Imagine me.

My friend pointed out it might be to underline how erratic he is. But I'm like: Why spend the time making Anderson more human with his tattoo, childhood trauma and protecting Juliette, and NOT have him try to get Warner back one last time? "Juliette, hit him I'm the back of the head. Kill the other one."

((Maybe it's that I've written too many fics with Anderson acting like an actual father…))

Or he wanted Aaron to be killed by Juliette, the one he's in love with, because it would fulfill the whole "Feelings will kill you", lesson Anderson has going on. Yeah, that would make sense now that I think about it...

The scorpion girl didn't contribute to anything. It was pointless drama and killing. Kenji is the one to kill her, but again it doesn't last. Kenji doesn't walk around thinking about how awful he is for killing someone. He just brushed it off and continues with going to rescue Juliette.

I like how people don't know whether to call her Juliette or Ella.

I like how Nouria gets a lot of screen time.

Now to Things probably only I care about:

We never find out the name of Adam's mom.

Seeing no interactions between James and Anderson. Again, I would have loved a novella from James' POV.

Seeing no interactions between Anderson and Adam. I'm more upset about this one. I wasn't that surprised to be honest that Adam made a deal with Anderson. I was pleasantly surprised because I actually had a fic idea about it a while back. After the flashback with Adam in the aviary I had a tiny whimey hope that Adam would turn out to be a bad guy (because if Anderson can come back from the dead then anything is possible). I thought Adam was the reason they have all the blue thingie magingies, cuz Adam's blue and Adam turn off people's powers. He wasn't evil though. Instead he just laid on a table. I was right about his powers being used to kill Anderson though, so I guess that's nice.

And it's also nice that Mafi remembered to explain Adam's tattoo.

I wanted to know what Anderson's tattoo was. Wild guess is that it's just a shape reminiscent of a whip.

I like Warner's ring being back. I thought it would have been really sweet if he had used it as an engagement ring, but at least it's here.

No one cares about Delalieu. Kenji mentions him by name once. Once. Warner doesn't even mention him in the epilogue. DELALIEU WOULD HAVE LOVED TO BE ON THAT WEDDING! *cries*

[tsukikoayanosuke]

I Should be Studying, But...

I'm still in my finals week so that's why I haven't post anything, but also the next two chapters are Training Camp snippets, so yeah. I had a Break & Gosh flashback...

So, yeah. I guess I can tell a bit of story.

So, back when I was still in high school or early college, there's this online novel writing competition, and I was excited. I had this overcomplicated fantasy novel draft, so I submitted it, updating everyday.

However, that's the problem: because I suck at promoting, I had to update everyday to at least gain attention. The novel was a mess, with writer block and not knowing now to connect the plot points. It was abandoned. But back then, I thought it was because the fantasy genre wasn't that popular.

The second try was a detective story. This time I had a guideline. It was way easier to write, however I wasn't that excited. The mystery genre was something I hadn't try before so putting the clues and the murders required to much brain power. So it was abandoned.

They say third time the charm. Well, in this case, it wasn't. The next time, I wanted to try to write a magic high school story, however this was sort of an experiment. Instead if putting it in Fantasy, I put it in Romance. Will it gain more attention? It didn't because I was being a halfass.

I can't delete the novel, so this will forever haunt me.

Looking back at this, then to the update-everyday-fanfic-attempts and the success of TW:OPT, I guess I've learned some things:

Plan your story. My biggest mistake from all five previous attempts (3 novel + 2 fanfic) was the lack of planning. I was too spontaneous for a half written story that when I've posted what I've written I don't know what to write next. I had these cool plot points and characters, but didn't know who to connect them, which made me frustrated and didn't want to continue. Meanwhile, I had written episode lists and short summaries for every chapter in TW:OPT, granted this is a based-on fic, but the processes are the same. Planning really help you to stay on course and motivate yourself.

If you need a world building, finish that first. Continuing the planning process, world building, especially in fantasy is important. Out of five story, four of them are fantasy, yet none of them had concrete world building. My two fanfic are also based-on existed media (Kingdom Hearts and Tales of the Abyss), but they had never reached the same level as TW:OPT. Setting the rule of your universe, the power scale, the magic system, all of those are important. If you don't set the rule first, then the world will be jumbled.

Keep your spirit burning. This is the trickiest part. I'm someone who is often overexcited but quickly burnt out in the end. This will be a problem for the 3 novel which will reward you with points to rank up if you update everyday. With the lack of planning and incomplete world building, I was quick to give up. How you keep your spirit burning is up to you, for me and TW:OPT, it's because the warm reception and review that keep me want to write more for you guys. But also...

Stay focus. This is another thing. The reason why TW:OPT still going is because I know my end goal and focus on that. But this is also because TW:OPT is my only project. I don't write two fanfics at once, because of that, I can focus on this project. Once TW:OPT Season 1 is done, I'll probably go back to the novels, but this time writing them one at a time.

Research (and understanding source material). Same as world building, research is important. TW:OPT may not have the best character interpretations of the canon cast, but I've read some of the card and can imagine how this character will act in a situations. Not only that, the Harry Potter spells and potions, the battle scenes, references, even the meaning of my OCs' name are the result of the research.

Chapter target. In order to get point in the novel competition, the writer must write at least +1k words per chapter. With this target, you can plan further which scene you want to include, adding more description, knowing where to put cliffhanger. This point is the one that I still do after the failed 3 novels. For fanfiction, I lowered my target to 500 words and I'm pretty sure some chapters in TW:OPT barely pass 1k. Create your own target to motivate you.

Experience can be your guide. I've started writing since I was in middle school. Heck, I finished my three novella (that I never published). I still have the files. However, looking back when I am older, I can notice the plot hole, the simple description, the inconsistent personalities. If I have to compare my old fanfic with my recent one, I like the latter better. As you grow, your writing skill also grow. You became more creative in choosing words and have less grammar mistake. Your plot becomes more complicated and your characters are more colorful. From reading even more great fanfic and listening to booktubers and writing advice, I became for passionate in writing because I want to be better.

As you can see, I rambled a lot because I just love writing stories. Even if I'm bounded by the rule of canon and world building, I can still let out my imagination and wacky creativity. My dream once was to become a novelist, that's why I still want to learn and write more, listening to your feedback brings me joy and will to keep on going. Your suggestion makes my brain turn to make this story better. I could've done this without everyone; reader, writer, booktuber, and many other who push me forward.

I hope you don't mind this long ramble.

Keep on writing guys.

[darkdoverpseeker]

Hello! My name is CK (26, NB, she/they) and, as you might guess, I’m looking for a partner (or two).

I’ve been back on my Spider-man bullshit for a while now but haven’t quite been able to scratch a very specific itch - I’m looking for a Dr. Otto Octavius to play against my Peter Parker, based on the Raimi Spider-man Trilogy or the Insomniac/PS4/PS5 Spider-man game.

I write exclusively on Discord in specially-created servers these days so please be comfy that! I write 3rd person past-tense, and can write anywhere from a few paragraphs to a novella in reply (though please don’t feel the need to match me!). I typically try to write replies every few days, but I also do have IRL obligations and personal health concerns that might get in the way of that. If you’re looking for replies every day, I might not be the best partner for you. I am definitely open to NSFW/kink/darker themes, but only after discussing both of our limits. If we vibe well, I’m totally down for having multiple threads at once (AUs anyone?).

I am always down and eager to chat/plot/screm/what-have-you. All I ask is that you be an active participant in plotting, as roleplay is a collaborative effort. If you feel your interest is waning or we just aren’t meshing as partners, please tell me instead of ghosting me. It won’t hurt my feelings, I promise!

I would be playing a trans Tobey!Peter/John Bubniak FC!Peter. In terms of plot, I have a few ideas for both verses, but would also love to hear yours as well. Some of mine include:

MCU Based: Post No Way Home, Otto and Peter are both yeeted back into their universe but find themselves a) back in 2004, just after the destruction of the reactor, aligning to when Otto was yoinked from the timeline or b) 17 years into The Future, aligning to when Peter was yoinked from the timeline. Shenanigans ensue.

Insomniac Based: Post-game, a repentant Otto seeks forgiveness and redemption for his actions. Peter is torn between wanting to believe he is sincere and give him a second chance (and potentially risking having his heart broken a second time) and struggling with his hurt and anger towards the man he looked up to and fell a little in love with.

Either verse: Gimme a Kraven hellbent on hunting his ultimate prey, an Otto who goes more than a little feral in response, and Peter who is in desperate need of a nap.

Either verse: Otto is singled out as an Anomaly by the Spider-Society ala Spider-verse, and must be removed to ‘correct the timeline’. Peter goes more than a little feral in response in order to protect Otto. (okay yeah it’s the plot of Across the Spider-verse but with Peter & Otto instead of Miles & his dad).

Either verse again: HYDRA takes a special interest in Spider-man’s superhuman abilities and seeks to acquire him as an asset, and Peter & Otto go on the run to escape them and unravel the mystery of the creation of the radioactive spiders at Oscorp all those years ago.

I’m down for fluff. I’m down for angst. I’m down for action. I’m down for hurt&comfort. We can mix-and-match any of the ideas above, or do something completely different.

If you also love The Octopus Man and his Arachnid Boytoyfriend, and managed to read to the end of this ad, don’t hesitate to send me a message. If you give this post a Like, I’ll also reach out <3 Fandoms: MCU, Raimi Spider-man, Insomniac Spider-man Pairings: Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock x Peter Parker/Spider-man (Octospider)

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[oliveheart-worldbuilding]

Aster, Bee Balm, Daffodil, Dahlia, Laurel, Petunia, Rose, and Violet? I'd also add Gardenia but it's impossible to escape murder cats.

Hi there! Thank you so much for the ask! Once again, I’m sorry for taking so long to answer!

Adding a read more because this one is pretty long.

Aster- Who’s your least favorite character? Why?

This one is a bit difficult for me, I read many of the books a long time ago and I’m sure if I were to read them again my opinion on a lot of characters would be very different. Going only by memory I would say that Bluestar is one of my least favorite characters but then I would have to add many female characters that I now feel were completely mistreated by the authors and whose entire arcs where thrown under the bus in the name of forbidden love or man pain. I never liked Silverstream, but nowadays I know that whom I actually hate is Graystripe. I used to not like Leafpool or Squirrelflight at all, now I don’t. What I’m trying to say is that my opinion changes constantly and a lot. I read the books a long time ago and did so with a completely different mindset (I was 16 when I read Omen of the Stars and oh man was I edgy and stupid back then), most of my opinions nowadays are based on the potential the characters have rather than the actual character. So bearing that in mind:

-Bluestar: I know, I know, a lot of you love her a lot but even after reading people’s opinions on her I just… eh I don’t like her at all. She feels incredibly detached in the first books. To me she always treated Firepaw rather coldly. I know a lot of people talk about Bluestar as if she had become Firepaw’s adoptive mother but I just don’t see it. Reading about her losing her faith was very interesting, so was her crumping mind health but, I just gotta draw the line on how terrible she was to Brightpaw. In this house we love and respect Brightpaw and Bluestar was just very nasty to her. I really didn’t like her novella at all either. Based on her relationship with Whitestorm in The Prophecies Begin I always thought that she might have played an important role in his life after Snowfur died but, it doesn’t seem that way at all? The only moment we see them interact is when she tells Whitekit, in a very distressing way may I add, that her mother is dead and never coming back. To me, she also comes in as selfish and power-hungry, she spends a huge part of the book complaining about Thistleclaw (bear in mind, back then he was only overly ambitious, not a pedophile) and his relationship with her sister, even though she herself is spending time with Oakheart, a tom from another clan. When Goosefeather tells her about the prophecy he never specifies that she must be the one becoming leader, only that Thistleclaw is not meant to become one and yet she goes out of her way to become the leader so much so that she’s willing to risk her kittens’ safety (killing one in the process) just so she can be available for the position. She could have just uuuuhmmmm told Sunstar about the prophecy? Also I’m pretty sure Sunstar assures her that Thistleclaw would not have made a good leader multiple times so… he could have chosen literally anyone else? Rosetail? Thrustpelt? Don’t get me started on the whole Tigerkit dilemma! She chooses to believe Goosefeather prophecies when they strengthen her own personal bias but when she’s told about Tigerkit’s she just goes “aw man Goosefeather sure is crazy hahaha anyway back on me becoming leader”. I don’t know, there’s more to it but this is getting pretty long. Personally she’s just not my favorite.

-Graystripe: He’s a terrible friend, he treats Fireheart like absolute garbage, he chooses a molly he has known for exactly 2 days over his best friend and his entire clan, he leaves Thunderclan to spend more time with his kittens just to abandon them 5 seconds later, and yet the son of a bitch was somehow always meant to become deputy to Firestar??? Just because they are friends??? Dude went against the warrior code, endangered his clan by refusing to fight Riverclan, was incredible close to causing an all-out war with Riverclan, abandoned his clan, refused to see what was wrong about his behavior just because he was in love… How in the f is he a good warrior??? Erins I want answers; this man is garbage. When he gets captured by the humans and comes back to the lake he gets so SO mad at Firestar for not “waiting for him”, my dude you were gone for seasons, you were deputy, you really expect the entire clan to stop working so that you can keep your friendship bracelet position? Everybody thought you were dead Graystripe!! Was everyone supposed to keep vigil forever?? He’s also a terrible father to both his litters, his reaction to being told that Feathertail’s dead is “aw man… she was so beautiful… like her mom…” that’s terribleeee. At some point in Omen of the Stars, after Briarlight broke her spine, Millie complains about Graystripe not helping her at all and then they start fighting about it, Graystripe’s only answer is something along the lines of “yeah whatever dude”. I hate him so much. I stopped reading after The Last Hope, so I can’t talk about the rest but, I’ve seen some parts of Graystripe’s Vows and let me tell I want this man gone for good. He’s lived for too long.

-Lionblaze: He’s the most flavorless character in the history of flavorless characters. What’s his arc? That’s right. He doesn’t have one. I literally have nothing to say about him. How is this character alive and in his way to become leader when Hollyleaf could have been in his place? Disgusting. Also, dreaming about killing your girlfriend and bathing in her blood? Bad. Not showing not even a bit of remorse about after waking up? Terrible. Badly hurting her mentor when you were trying harm her? Just straight up fucked up. He’s badly written, boring and kind of very misogynist at times.

I have many other opinions because I’m a very judgmental person but I’m gonna leave it at that because this is getting very long.

Bee Balm- What’s your favorite novella or super edition?

I’ve only read three! So Crockedstar’s promise I guess.

Daffodil- When did you first start reading the books?

In the summer of 6th grade, that’s when I was… 11-12 years old? I think? So in 2012-2013, I started reading them in Spanish but I read through them super-fast and the translations were super slow to come out so I just started reading the books in English. It actually helped my English level quite a bit! My first English book was The Forest of Secrets I think.

Dahlia- Has any death scene actually made you cry? What was it?

Snowfur’s (Reading about Whitekit screaming at her mother to wake up was super messed up), Yellowfang’s (I loved that old woman. I wish they hadn’t written about her in Starclan, she’s so out of character in later books) and Hollyleaf’s death (yes, first and second time, young me loved her to pieces. I still can’t believe they let her die a second time when Lionblaze’s flavorless ass was right there…).

Laurel- If you could write the books, what changes would you make?

I would contemplate the idea of just, moving forward in time? The warriors’ series feels very stagnant. Young characters die while having no personality at all and older characters from the first series are still alive and very much immortal at this point. We need new fresh blood.

I would just set up a completely new series: maybe the stories of Firestar and his family have been immortalized, maybe they are now revered as gods or something, I would create an actual religion system, one based in nature, the death and rebirth of all things and the need to remember those who have fallen. I would change their entire culture so that elders are more important; medicine cats are not regarded as useless (I’m looking at every character that forced in this position instead of choosing it themselves) and the warrior code actually makes sense.

The setting of this new series would be the lake territories but a long time has passed since the time of Firestar and things have changed a lot. A kittypet joins the clans and through their perspective we see how they work and act, what makes every single one of them different, their culture and laws, etc. It would be a nod to the first series while being completely new. It would also allow to add new characters from the start so they all have personalities and relationships with each other.

I would also contemplate creating one last series set up in the time of the original clans where everything just goes to hell. You guys remember rabies? I want that + Starclan going crazy. A full out massacre of old characters that ends in only a few surviving ones. I want blood, and I want it to be scary. If children can read about Tigerclaw’s horrible death, then they can read what in my opinion would be a zombie/ghost apocalypse. And then I would start anew with this completely new series set up in the future.

I mean, I would rewrite a looooooot of things, but that’s a talk for another day.

Petunia- Which arc is your favorite? Which is your last favorite?

My favorite is The Prophecies Begin when it comes to the plot and the Power of Three when it comes to characters. My least favorite is the New Prophecy.

Rose- Do you prefer traditional naming or creative naming?

Traditional all the way! I like when things have meaning and each name having its own really helps the feeling of there being a pre-established culture! Creative naming just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me in this context but that’s just my personal taste.

Violet- What do you think is the worst trope in the series?

Already answered!

Gardenia- Do you think you’ll ever leave the fandom?

Probs not, I’m in too deep, warriors is always at the back of my mind...

[featherless-birdbrain]

Fragments but fluffy

This is a fluff fic (no ships, so please don’t tag as a ship) for the su episode fragments. Because fluff is my favourite thing to write haha

This is gonna be short, because I have to edit my novella and stuff, I’m just doing this to get the angst out of my system lol.

~~~

Again his fists smashed again her arms as Jasper covered her face and gem. She laughed a booming laugh, but her shaking hands gave her terror away.

“THAT’S MORE LIKE IT!” She said, excitement and fear mingling together. But Steven didn’t hear the fear slipping out as he knocked her back, and up into the sky.

Clouds masked and darkened the night sky, and the pink glow illuminated all on that overcast night. Jasper’s eyes widened, and the all consuming light sparked in them. She huddled in a tight defensive ball, trying not to think about how easily a diamond could shatter her. It was blatantly obvious he was a diamond now. His pupils where diamond shaped. His glow became more powerful by the second, as did his blows. Remorse had left his eyes, the same remorse that might have saved her.

He sent her flying to the ground, and in a matter of seconds she felt four thick shields slamming against her.

Steven let out a powerful laugh. His teeth ground together, and he shouted what she assumed would be the final words she would hear. A large spiked shield shot towards her, and she was fully aware of her fate.

She didn’t want to die.

She tried to be strong, but she couldn’t help a large tear rolling down her cheek. One fell, and then another, and then another.

A spike hurtled towards her gem. Jasper let out a shuddering breath, and accepted her fate.

And then the shield faded away. The ones that held her in place dissipated too. She fell to the floor, shaking like a leaf. She fought back tears of fear.

Steven approached her tentatively.

“Jasper, I’m-“ she noticed he was shaking too “I’m sorry”

Jasper pulled herself together, and gave a little chuckle. “You have the strength of a diamond for sure, but you’re weak willed, like a human”

Steven’s brow furrowed, but he looked at her and laughed. She nervously joined.

“Come on, that was a good rematch, let’s get some rest”

She almost tried to get him to fight her again, but looking at the diamond in front of her, she realised that may not be the best idea.

Jasper didn’t see why he stopped. It wasn’t weakness. He wasn’t weak.

She slept fitfully, nightmares about imminent death plaguing her.

The dawn was a beautiful swirl of gold and flaming red. But what woke Jasper were the loud steps and glow from outside her cave door. Bleary eyed, she stepped out the cave to greet a grinning Steven.

“Training!”

“What?” Her eye twitched.

“Training!”

“Are- huh- I- n” she looked at him, and remembered what he had almost done last night “yeah, I could use it”

“We’re doing something a little different”

They strolled towards a meadow a few miles away. It was full of dancing daisies and daffodils.

“Daisy chains.” Steven said in a firm voice.

“Huh?” Jasper grunted

“You heard me” he raised an eyebrow.

She didn’t dare argue with a diamond. She assumed it was a test of hand eye coordination.

She was clumsy, and kept on throwing the ruined chains to the ground. Steven had made five by the time she was halfway through one. She grumbled through her teeth.

She felt something and gentle being laid on her soft white hair. She snatched it off, and saw that it was one of Steven’s many crowns.

He grinned at her, healed the crushed chain, and popped it back on her head.

After a while of failing to make anything, Steven asked Jasper if she wanted to go.

“I won’t fail” she snarled.

“It’s not failing, it’s learning!” Steven smiled encouragingly.

“Pfft, NO!”

“Mhm”

“NO”

She fumbled around with the daisy chain, before it fell apart.

“Come on, at least let me help” he paused and thought, before adding “Connie helped me the first time I made them”

“Oh, that one that you fused with” she said bitterly.

“Yeah,” Steven said, drawing his legs in.

“One of your friends, I guess?”

“Uh, yeah” he slouched, but then perked up “let’s finish this!”

They wound the chain together, and Jasper held it up with pride.

“I did it!” She smirked.

“Yeah! Good job”

They walked for a bit in the kind mid day sun.

“Hm” she thought for a second “how was that training?”

Steven thought for a second of a good way to explain his thoughts.

“Well, your strength always came from physical power, yeah?”

“Yeah, what else is there?”

“Well, I always found strength in kindness?”

She didn’t even entertain it, instead laughing until she was bent double.

“You’ll see” he said

“I probably won’t” she smirked.

Days passed, and they kept up a routine of gentle sparring and helping trees regrow. They shared laughs, and it felt almost like they were friends. Jasper didn’t really know what having a friend felt like, but if this was it it felt nice

It was twilight, and a few stars had already started shining through. A question had been playing on Jasper’s mind, and so she blurted it out as they sat in front of the campfire.

“Huh, that human that you fused with, I wonder if she would make you more or less powerful now”

“Uhh, ok!” Steven pretended not to hear her. “What tree is that?”

“From what you told me, fusion only makes people stronger”

“I don’t really-“

“Huh, I wonder what it’s like to fuse with an organic life form”

“Could you STOP!”

The ground shook beneath Steven’s feet as he let out a guttural sob.

Jasper shuffled over to Steven.

“Is that why you came here?” Jasper said gravely. She’d laughed out of actual happiness the other day with Steven for the first time, and figured it was time to show the diamond the kindness he had taught.

“No. Well, a bit. I guess.” Steven muttered

Jasper thought for a second. “Did you fall out?”

Steven explained the proposal, the the growing and the glowing. He explained that his father was selfish, and his mother spoiled, and the gems used him as an emotional rock, and they never returned the favour.

Jasper was clueless. Why did someone so powerful show such weakness?

It clicked all of a sudden. His weakness was an opportunity for her to be kind; for her to be strong in his way.

She embraced him, and Steven let out a sob of relief and happiness. He rested his head on her shoulder, and they sat under the twilight sky with each other, and the glowing embers of the fire as their comfort.

~~~

Hope you liked that fluffy fragments one shot! I desperately want fluff, so I made it myself.

Sorry if this reads as being a little rushed, that’s probably because it is haha~

Btw this is not meant to read as a ship, sorry if it does, it was just meant to be them becoming less toxic friends :)

Have a lovely day, bye! :)

PS I don’t actually think Greg and Pink are selfish, it was meant to be his thoughts entirely, not mine 😅