#exploring their dynamics in a totally new setting lmao

[koskela-knights]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53380903

I know no chill. Here, throws out my Rose & Koskelas fanfic AU where the brothers are werewolves. Read it here or on ao3!

Once a month, Rose opens the diner much earlier than the usual. Not 7 AM but 5 AM. Obviously, it’s not for her average, regular customers. She groans as she gets out of bed. She goes through the motions of having super early breakfast, getting cleaned up in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and then getting dressed. Because her special guests don’t really care about any formalities, she puts her uniform in a bag and dresses in a simple top and jeans. At least, she allows herself to be a tad more comfortable while going to work two hours earlier than usual. Once she arrives at the diner, she immediately gets cooking. Beef patties on the grill, fries sweating away in the fryer, eggs sizzling in a pan with bacon. The coffee is getting prepared as well. All smells come surprisingly well together and it puts Rose in a good mood. She is humming along with the radio she’d put on. What she is doing today, is almost a ritual. Just as she expected, when the clock shows it’s 05:45 the food is ready and there’s a knocking at the entrance door. “Coming!” she yells. And yes, there they are. The Koskela brothers. Both in remarkably unfitting and oversized plaid shirts and messy jeans with some rip and tear around certain areas. Rose opens the door for them and they all get inside, quickly taking a seat at the nearest spots available.

 “Rough night?” Rose asks with a sly smile on her lips as she stares them down.

Ilmo looks particularly beat up. His left hand is roughly bandaged up, blood still peaking through. “Do I look that bad?” he snorts. The waitress considers to stay quiet but since he asked, she replies: “Honestly, you look like shit.” She pinches her nose and adds: “You smell like it too.” Jaakko Koskela can’t hide his chuckle even if he wanted to try to. Rose attentively but playfully taps the older brother’s hand with her spatula. “Hey! You’re not far away from stinking up this place!” Jaakko subtly growls but Rose remains unfazed. Honestly, she had dealt with worse than two hungry shapeshifters in her diner.

 “Anyways, I’ll get you your food.” She swiftly turns around and gets back to the kitchen. She can still hear the younger brother joke about Jaakko always looking like a wolf with that beard of his. She rolls her eyes at herself and gets the plates with steaming hot food. Almost as soon as she puts the plates in front of the Koskelas, they attack the food. She takes a few calculated steps back and observes them chew down aggressively.

Rose remembers the night she had encountered the brothers in the wild. Large furred beasts with glowing eyes. One of them was devouring a poor you-know-what that had made the mistake to cross their path. Had it not been for the shards of blue plaid, she wouldn’t have known it was Jaakko Koskela. Then another monster had emerged from the shadows and in a reflex, Rose had shot at it. The following morning, she had a wounded Koskela brother ordering food in the diner. She had immediately dragged him to the back of the diner, scolded him first for trying to claw her face off and then tried to patch him up with the skills she had learned from her nursing job. Then they’d struck a deal.

Grease splatters fly around their table together with bread crumbs and pieces of fries. Jaakko ploughs into the fries with his fork, trying to impale as many fries as possible. Meanwhile, Ilmo realizes cutlery doesn’t provide enough so he just uses his hands. He stuffs his mouth with bacons and eggs like a hamsters. In-between chews, he splutters his gratitude to Rose for providing with the much needed calories to gain back their energy after a long, tiresome night. “As long as you two help clean up this mess once you’re finished,” she says as she begins to prepare the restaurant for the other customers. It doesn’t take the Koskelas long before everything she had cooked up for them was gone. Rose can’t help but cringe when Jaakko outs the loudest burp ever. Gross.

 “You two are dogs,” she exclaims.

Ilmo chuckles as he wipes his mouth and beard clean with some paper tissues. “Actually, we’re wolves.”

 “Well, not at the moment. Now get your ass off those couches and help me out!”

“But we just ate all this food, lady. It also burns some off our energy,” Ilmo fake laments. Rose isn’t having it, though. Puppy-eyes or not, this table isn’t going to clean itself. She crosses her arms and stares the younger brother down.

 “We’ll go help,” Jaakko gives in first. He gets up and moves to the back to clean his hands and face. Ilmo follows, hunched over like a kicked dog-, or rather wolf.

 “We really appreciate your support, Rose,” Jaakko declares while they’re manually washing the dishes.

“It’s the least I can do. And trust me, I kind of know what it feels like to not be yourself once a month.”

 “I wouldn’t say those two things are comparable but-,” Ilmo gets cut off by his brother.

“Shut it, Ilmo. We owe Rose a lot.”

Once they’re done cleaning, the waitress gives the two brothers a final look. No injuries or hints at their previous night, except for the baggy clothes. “I’ll see you later today?”

 “Yup,” Jaakko says.

“I’ll bring in the new coffee bland around noon,” Ilmo promises. After the two men are out of sight, Rose locks the door again. She exhales and gets to the office room to quickly change into her usual outfit. It’s almost time to open the diner. She chuckles to herself. If only Alan knew what kind of life she led now. Fighting monsters in the night, being a waitress and nurse by day and every once after a full moon, stilling the wolfish hunger of two brothers.

[kiss-me-cill-me]

hear me out:) reader wants to try vanilla sex with Dr.Crane since he always has some kind of twist or experiment when it came down to it. And he ends up doing her against the wall and it’s just really intimate. love your works, and it’s totally fine if this isn’t something you would write🤗

I love a challenge haha ;) And I always enjoy getting to explore different sides of a character. While he might not be nice in most of my fics, I do think that Crane has a sweet side. Somewhere in there lmao. Thank you for requesting, anon!

V. planifolia

Pairing: Jonathan Crane x Reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Summary: Your boyfriend comes home unexpectedly early, and you take the opportunity to try something new.

Warnings: Smut, dom/sub dynamics, mentions of bondage, mentions of edging, slight overstim, dirty talk, dumbification if you squint, dare I say... some domestic fluff? (in MY Jonathan Crane?!), established boyfriend/girlfriend relationship

A/N: The biggest mental hurdle I had to overcome in writing this was referring to him as "Jonathan" instead of "Crane" lmao. He's just always Crane in my head. And while things are pretty vanilla, he's still sassy, because... well, it is me writing him lol

***Please read the warnings before continuing. Minors DNI***

You were so used to your boyfriend coming home late that it was almost a surprise when he showed up just thirty minutes after you'd finished dinner.

“Jonathan?” you called, cautiously getting up from the couch to investigate.

You'd heard the sound of a key turning in the lock, so logic dictated that it couldn't have been an intruder. But it was barely seven o’clock, and Jonathan didn't usually get home until after you were already in bed. He worked long hours; he always had. So you were shocked to see him standing there in the entryway, setting down his briefcase as he closed the door behind him.

“Baby? What are you doing home early?”

At the sound of your voice, he looked up. A small smile fluttered over his face; his eyes pale and tired, until they caught a glimpse of you. There was that mischievous little spark that you loved.

“Sorry to startle you,” he replied. “I can leave if you'd like.”

He was joking, and you laughed a little as your arms wrapped around his waist. Your bodies found each other easily, and you felt yourself sink against him in that comfortable way that you knew so well.

“No way - you're not getting away from me that easily,” you teased.

Your lips brushed against his, and Jonathan pulled you in closer until you were kissing him. As you sighed happily, you realized that it had been - approximately - forever since the last time you'd had an evening alone with him. You pulled away and looked back at him softly; gentle concern tinting your eyes.

“I'm happy you're home, but is everything okay?” you asked. “You really are back early.”

“Everything’s fine,” he assured you.

Jonathan gave you one more squeeze before he gently broke the hug, trailing off in the direction of the living room. You followed, a small skip already creeping into your step. Your smile threatened to break out at any moment. It was so good to have him home.

You watched from the doorway as Jonathan dropped heavily onto the couch, leaning his head back to look up at the ceiling as he sat. His jacket was already thrown over the back of a chair, and he rolled up his shirtsleeves, not watching what he was doing.

“I know that I haven't been home much,” he continued. His voice seemed to fill the room, making the small space feel even more intimate. “Work has been eating me alive.”

“I hope not literally,” you joked.

Though you could never be sure. Some of the patients he worked with at Arkham were… unique, to say the least.

“Not yet.”

He lifted his head to look over at you, briefly, before reclining again and throwing an arm over his face. Even with his eyes shielded, you could still feel the lingering, icy cold rush of his gaze. You walked over and knelt at his feet, helping him to remove his shoes.

As you tugged at the laces, you felt a surge of devotion wash over you. Jonathan always worked hard. Even though, yes, he wasn't around much during the week, he made sure to provide for you. In fact, you were sure that was all part of the reason why he so often worked late. 

Once his shoes were off, you let your soft fingers drift up his leg, brushing against the fabric of his trousers.

“Did you have dinner? Do you want something to eat?”

“Maybe later,” Jonathan replied, as he took hold of your wrist.

Gently, he pulled you until you were standing up, and then until you were straddling him, your knees pressed into his sides.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” you asked, settling into his lap.

As you spoke, your hands came up to rest on his shoulders. Kneading into his tension, you could feel as his arms relaxed under your touch. 

“I just want to spend time with you.”

His fingers trailed over your thigh, and you knew instantly what he meant.

“Oh, so that's why you're home early,” you teased.

You leaned in to kiss him again, this time slipping a finger to hook under the knot of his tie, pulling him closer to you. His tongue brushed against yours, and it sent an electric jolt down your spine.

“Aren't I allowed to miss you?” he teased back.

You felt your cheeks heat up. Both of you knew very well that Jonathan was always the one in charge in the bedroom, and hearing him talk as if you were the one who imposed rules on him made you feel flustered.

“You have no idea,” he continued, “how hard it is to work late, when all I can think about is how you’re here all alone. Waiting up for me. You've been good though, right? Haven't been touching yourself without me?”

The heat on your cheeks deepened, traveling all the way down to your core. 

“O-of course not,” you replied, cursing the way your voice caught in your throat. It was just like him to somehow have you wrapped fully around his finger less than five seconds in. “You know I wouldn't.”

Jonathan hummed, and pushed your hips up and off of his lap as he brought a hand down to brush softly over your clit. You jumped, even feeling him through all your clothing, and your knuckles stretched tightly over his shoulders. 

“Seems like you're telling the truth…”

And you were. You melted into his touch as Jonathan swirled his fingers against you, pressing them roughly. After going without for so long, every nerve felt as if it was on fire in between your legs.

“Ohh…”

Your soft sigh earned you more pressure from Jonathan; his fingers nearly digging into your clothed cunt. You rocked your hips, desperately throwing your head back as you held onto his shoulders for support.

“Stop,” he ordered.

“Mmmmmph.”

Your petulant whine filled the room, and your frustration only grew as Jonathan took his hand away. His command had been gentle, but you were so needy that it felt like torture.

Swiftly, Jonathan stood up and took you with him. Still holding onto your hips for support, he made sure your feet were on the ground before stepping forward. He backed you up with him, until your shoulder blades hit the far wall.

“I really have been away for too long, haven't I?” he breathed, filling your mouth with the taste of anticipation.

“It's okay… I know you're busy at work.”

“You're too nice,” Jonathan sighed. “I want to hear just how badly you’ve missed me.”

Almost instantly, he got what he wanted as you cried out, shocked by the way his leg pushed eagerly between yours. He pressed harder, still looming over you.

“That's better.”

“Jonathan-”

“Want me to tie you up like I did last time?” he interrupted. “Or do you want to try something new?”

It was impossible to miss the hint of excitement in his deep voice. You moaned as he dragged your hips down even harder, pressing your bodies together with an intensity that was almost too much.

“I- was thinking it might be nice to try something a bit different,” you answered, your voice slightly fragmented as he unbuttoned your pants.

“Mmm. You have any ideas?”

You took a deep breath. What you had in mind probably wasn't the same as whatever twisted idea was running through Jonathan’s head. It wasn't that you didn't like experimenting. It was just… you didn't like doing it all the time. 

“I was thinking… what if we just took things slow?” you ventured.

“What? Like you want me to edge you?”

“No, not… exactly like that.”

It was getting harder to articulate, as Jonathan’s mouth latched onto your neck, sucking and biting as he moved up toward your jaw.

“Like what, then?” he whispered wickedly, right in your ear.

“Like… what if we were just kinda… gentle?”

Jonathan pulled back to look at you, the slight hint of a frown on his lips.

“But you like when I'm rough with you.”

“I do!” you rushed to agree. “It’s just that… sometimes I want you to be slow and sensual.”

Your arms inched up to hook round his neck, and you pulled him in for a soft kiss, trying to show him what you wanted. Jonathan was stiff at first, but eventually he melted into the slow movement of your lips.

When the kiss broke, Jonathan took a step back, removing his thigh from between your legs. He pushed his hands under your waistband and started to, very slowly, shove the fabric down over your hips.

“We can try that,” he relented. Then added with a mischievous wink, “But if you get bored… just let me know.”

You hummed as his hands slid over your curves, dragging your pants down with them. Jonathan never did anything halfheartedly, and if you wanted it slow, then that was exactly how he would give it to you. Even if it did drive you crazy in the process.

Your slacks fell, pooling below you on the hard floor. Jonathan paused for a moment, before planting a kiss on the exposed skin below where your blouse had started to fall away. He pushed back your collar, to kiss more and then send a shiver right after, as he breathed over the wetness that had been left behind by his mouth.

He stood up straight, pressing an airy kiss to your forehead as his fingers trailed over the lace of your panties.

“Am I doing it how you want me to, darling?” he asked.

You felt yourself swoon again. You weren't used to him following your lead quite like this, but you liked it. A lot.

As was clearly evidenced by the wet spot that had started to seep through the fabric that Jonathan was toying with. He found the trace of your arousal easily enough, and pressed two of his fingers into the damp cotton.

“Nevermind. I have my answer.”

Slipping your already-ruined panties to the side, Jonathan brushed his fingers over your core before bringing them up to your clit. Swirling with just the right kind of pressure, he dragged a soft moan from your lips.

“Oh my god,” you sighed. “Keep going.”

He kissed you, slowly but sinfully, swallowing all of your breathy sighs and words of admiration as they slipped out. It was impossible to contain them, especially when you started to feel his own arousal as it pressed up against your hip, seeming to grow more impatient the harder he got.

“Jonathan- so close,” you whined, breathless already.

“You sure you don't want me to edge you?” he asked, maybe a little hopefully.

“No - please, let me come.”

The pressure was already building. Soon, neither of you would have any choice in the matter. You just had to get him to keep going, long enough for you to push past the point of no return.

“Well, if you're asking so nicely…”

Another searing kiss sealed your fate, and you scrambled to hang onto Jonathan as you felt yourself start to crumble.

He held you, still pressed firm against the wall, and you heard a deep chuckle resound from his throat.

“Good to know even this kind of stuff makes you a mess,” Jonathan droned. “Or maybe you're just so used to me doing everything I want to you, that this actually counts as variety now.”

You were barely listening to him; still too distracted by the delightfully sore feeling that seemed to permeate your whole body.

What you did notice was him slipping your panties the rest of the way off, letting them fall at your feet before gently guiding you to step out of them. With that done, he turned his attention to your blouse, delicately removing it and then tossing it to the side.

Your hands came up clumsily to paw at the buttons on his shirt, trying in vain to release them. Jonathan saw you were struggling, and gave you a small, knowing smile.

“Let me help, darling. It seems like you're having some trouble.”

You moved your hands to let Jonathan take over. He loosened his tie easily, and popped three of his buttons. But, quickly, he lost interest, and instead moved to unzip his pants.

When he finally sprang free, his cock hit your still-throbbing clit.

“Ah!” you hissed.

“Still sensitive?” Jonathan asked, rubbing himself leisurely against you.

Your only response was a whimper, but that was answer enough. Jonathan’s lips curled into a wicked smile, as he hovered close to your ear.

“Hold still,” he teased, reaching down to line himself up.

You squirmed, fighting within yourself as half of you wanted to scream at the sensation while the rest of you, conversely, needed to grind down harder. Every contact made you jump, and as he pressed in, you saw stars.

“Jonathan…”

You had expected him to start moving, but instead he held off. Staying right where he was, Jonathan paused so that you could feel just how completely he filled you. 

“Everything okay?” he asked, sickly sweet voice dripping into your ears.

“Fuck,” you replied.

He laughed.

“You’ve lost quite a bit of your usual eloquence.” He started to drag himself out. “But okay. Since you asked nicely again…”

As he pressed back in, slow but rough, you couldn’t help letting out an undignified sound. Jonathan smirked.

When he did it again, your whole body shifted, pressed up by the force of his thrust. Your head rolled back, hitting the wall lightly before lolling off to the side. 

“You’re so pretty,” he sighed.

As he spoke, he reached down to hook one of your legs up and over his waist. The new angle caused you to let out another choked whine, which earned you an even harder thrust.

“Maybe we should do this more often. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you like this.”

You could only imagine how you must have looked. Mouth hanging open and eyes half-shut, rolling back into your head from the pleasure as your chest heaved and your knees gave out. Jonathan smoothed a thumb over the edge of your jaw.

“Even though I can’t stop thinking about all of the other things I’d like to do to you,” he added, punctuating the sentiment with his hips. You swore you felt him shudder.

Kissing your suddenly-warm neck, Jonathan thrust into you again. Your hips snapped back weakly to meet him, and you heard yourself start to moan. You held onto him tighter, dragging your nails down his arms.

“I thought you wanted to be gentle?” he teased.

He hadn't been going very fast, but now he slowed down entirely. For a moment, the two of you stood, face to face, your breath and his in a sweltering mix, pooling out in the scant space between you.

Jonathan’s forehead came to rest against yours, and you looked up into the blur of his eyes. Two hazy pools of blue ice that were filling your vision completely.

“Want me to speed up?”

“No, this is nice,” you replied. A bit dreamily as your senses took time to adjust. Your skin prickled at his touch as he brushed a hand lazily up your arm.

“I can be slow then,” he laughed. “But it might be too hard if you keep looking at me like that.”

“How should I look at you, hm?” you teased.

“Like you’re pretending you don't want to be turned around with your wrists pinned up against the wall,” he teased back.

He pressed into you, exploring how deep he could go before you started writhing against him. Your leg on his waist tightened, pulling him in and holding him firmly in place for a kiss. 

You knew he might take some convincing, but you were prepared to take all night to show Jonathan just how good things could be, after practicing a little patience.

[princesskoriandr]

Your Starfire Cosplay is coming out so unbelievably good. Like how are you not working in like costumes for movie sets? It’s award worthy! So stunning! And the amount of work that must go into making everything! Wow!

I was wondering if you could give us more thoughts on the whole sibling dynamic between Kory and her siblings because I find that so fascinating! Like on one side you have Kory and everything that can be explored there but you also have Kom who is disabled and her narrative there and then you have Ryand’r who isn’t really explored as much.

what I find interesting about the dynamic of this family is that Ryand'r was so obviously tacked on at the end in an after thought which is like such a real youngest child in a busy/important/high profile family thing lmao

before we jump into it I want to make a few disclaimers:

I am not a mental health professional of any kind, I just have some surface level research behind me on like sibling and parent dynamics

I am not going to be excusing or endorsing some of Komand'r's more violent actions in her adulthood but also please remember that Kom is like a fictional character in a silly comic book

I will be talking both about the in-universe narrative that developed over time and the way it developed out of order in real time

okay let's get into it

their family dynamic honestly isn't super complicated but it is really interesting. the narrative sets Kory and Kom up as the scapegoat vs. the golden child (which is funny bc Kory is...the golden girl. goldie. etc.), Kom is also the black sheep of the family for obvious reasons, and Ryand'r is just lost in the shuffle which, as far as I understand, is pretty common for the third child in this kind of family dynamic.

Kom was set up for failure. a pretty important city, the city of Kysarr, was destroyed by the Citadel. the only source I can find on this is from Who's Who volume 2 (which is misattributed on her wiki as v. 1 #13, when it's v. 2 #13, but I'm banned from editing the wiki so whatever they'll just have to live with the mistake):

[image text: Komand'r was the eldest child of Tamaran's royal family, and the first princess born in almost a century. As such she should have been courted and showered with honors, but Komand'r was instead reviled. On the day of her birth, the dreaded Citadel Empire attacked and destroyed the western Tamaranean city of Kysarr and Killed three thousand citizens in her name. Due to no fault of her own, Komand'r was for all time inextricably linked with Tamaran's day of infamy.]

now, this destruction of Kysarr is not included in her or Kory's backgrounds in any comic, so this is something that's thrown into the continuity in 1991 and never spoken of again because it's in a total throw away comic. BUT that's exactly what makes it so interesting. so, let's go into this with the retcon context that Kom's day of birth was marked with destruction and this, alongside her disability, made her parents consider setting her aside as heir and having another kid (who would have previously been the spare, if Kom hadn't been "sickly" when she was born, as Kory says in The Tales of the New Teen Titans #4).

(as an aside: this profile on Kom also says that Myand'r is like a puppet ruler, which is not quite accurate, so we might also take this added Komand'r seasoning with a pinch of salt)

so, with this added context, we could see maybe why Kom would hold so much resentment toward her younger sister. Kory, being the golden child, is both aware of her parents treatment toward her disabled older sister and misunderstands it.

[The Tales of the New Teen Titans #4]

so, Kory says that "even when [they] were children the differences between [them] were so very apparent" but neglects to say why those differences may have been so apparent. she also says that "those were such happy days for [her]" and that there's one thing she could do that Kom couldn't, which is: fly. Kom can't fly. she has never been able to fly. in the page above, you can see Kory flying with her mother while her father watches and just below that, we can infer that the contrail in the distance behind Kom is either Kory or their mother, Luand'r.

can you see, maybe, why Kom would hate Kory? it's not Kory's fault. their parents literally pit them against each other because they're not good parents. it's clear from this alone that Myand'r and Luand'r are neglectful parents and even if they aren't neglecting Komand'r on purpose they are neglecting her in favor of Kory. so, Kom starts to escalate her abuse toward Kory in a bid for their attention and to ensure that Kory is as miserable as possible. Kom is forcing Kory to atone for the sins of the father (and mother) because in her child mind, Kory is the source of all her problems and if she can eliminate her or, at the very least, make her miserable, Kom can again gain the approval and love of their parents. it's unclear if she ever had this to begin with but she wants it so bad.

and, in turn, Kory wants her sister's love more than anything when they're children. it doesn't matter that Komand'r is abusive and will do whatever she can to make Kory's life hell, Kory wants her sister to be a sister to her. (any of you that have siblings know that sibling relationships are very rarely nice growing up, though, so Kory is striving for something that might not even be possible if Kom was like loved and cherished by their parents)

Raven quite literally asks Kory if their parents favored her over Kom and she kind of hand waves it away with a "well not in the beginning" which is like. such a golden child thing to say. they didn't care for her before she betrayed Tamaran, which is pretty clear from Kory's whole narrative up to this point, and what's the core of the why of the matter? Kom couldn't be their perfect paragon of a Tamaranean princess and she couldn't complete the image of a perfect Tamaranean royal family. which is very obvious if you read all her appearances and then read the second Tamaran arc where Myand'r uses Kory as a bargaining chip. if Komand'r had not been disabled, she would have been that very same bargaining chip, but because she's disabled she is then pushed away, punished for her disability, made into the scapegoat for an entire planet, and eventually begins to buy into that and becomes like a really bad fucking person, right?

it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

and then Ryand'r is just like. there.

literally, he's just there. we get this one glimpse of him (which is a hard maybe because this kid is never named) in New Teen Titans v1. #3 and then we don't see him again until 1982 when he is a literal infant:

that's a baby.

we meet full grown Ryand'r in New Teen Titans Annual #1 (love annuals) where it's revealed that he's alive! which is funny because I think most people forgot he even existed considering the last time they saw him he was like. an infant.

he does it in the funniest way possible and just pops out of the jungle after Kory curbstomped their sister. like. okay. you didn't want to, like, help your older sister who you most definitely don't remember because you had not gained sentience yet as you were busy being under a year old when she left the planet to train. I guess I wouldn't get involved either idk.

so, Kory, for some reason, believed Kom when she said Ryand'r KILLED THEIR PARENTS and then is like oh damn you're alive and you didn't kill them? that's cool I guess.

so, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that no one in this family has a real relationship with Ryand'r because Kory 1. believes this absolute lie their very obvious liar of an older sister made up and 2. is also surprised to not only see him alive but to see him as an adult and that just doesn't scream "I care about my younger brother and think about him when we are not together".

(also, ryan's age doesn't quite add up, considering Kory and Kom are the right ages but he's like...an adult...and not a preteen. like. sure. and no do not go "but time passes differently on tamaran" because in-universe it most certainly does not pass any differently because Marv Wolfman, like me, does not care to calculate time differences between planets)

so between Kory being surprised that he's alive and Kom making up whatever she wants about him I think that we could say that there's no real relationship between the siblings. like I said earlier, Ryand'r is just lost in the shuffle and like at the first sight of trouble he peaces out and leaves the planet. he's done this like as much as Kory has peaced out from Earth when she needs a break. this has, I think, impeded his ability to like truly form a relationship with Tamaran and his people because he's just neglected by everyone. there isn't a lot of info on his childhood and from the way we see his parents deal with his sisters, we might be able to come to the conclusion that he was also pretty much left to his own devices.

which is sad but nothing egregious happened to him in childhood. when he was older, he was also experimented on by the Psions and gained like the ability to burn people and things with his hands in a different way than Kom and Kory can (starbolts vs. thermal emissions) and that's like hugely traumatic and kind of binds him to his siblings in that way. is that every explored, though? no, it's not.

in Ryand'r's appearances that take place in the 90s and early 2000s (which is the last time he appears for a really long time), every time he appears it's to call Kory for help. one of these times he also asks her to help him commit genocide. so. just let that sink in. he's mostly just a plot device in later years and outside of his scant character development in the original Omega Men run he just doesn't to be an interesting character with a place in the dynamic of his family.

[uhuraisgay]

fic writer meme

ty lore @megafaunatic for tagging meee :3c

How many works do you have on Ao3?

fifty three as of today. tomorrow? who knows.... (probably still fifty three)

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

518,435 words .... wrow.....

3. What fandoms do you write for?

historically its been all over the place but theres so much stuff rotting and dying in my gdrive that has never been posted so i feel like i have a broader actual ouvre than is represented on ao3. which is mdzs heavy at least in the past couple years

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. beyond all limit (wangxian i wrote for lore right after i first read the book) 4. if the story's over (moshang post-divorce get-together fic) 3. someone as good for me as you (written in 2016 for holster and ransom when i was reading check, please. LMAO) 2. at least as deep as the pacific ocean (written in 2015 in the clearest example of 'person distraught by the tragic ending of a tragedy misses the fucking point and writes a coffee shop au of achilles and patroclus after she read tsoa' ever, even bigger LMAO) 1. your name safe in their mouth (lsz gets his dad back, and other emotional adventures)

5. Do you respond to comments?

i used to try to reply to every comment i got but i stopped doing that around the same time i went to college and got more depressed. but i love reading comments and i sometimes reply if someone says something that moves me or like. asks me a question about the fic that i want to elaborate on? because i love to yap

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i'm not really good at writing straight angst i feel like it's normally like. angst with catharsis. but i wrote some explorations on grief in the past couple years that i feel like have the angst factor (what i have of you about nhs after nmj dies, and then when your beard fell out about my sweetie pie kageyama tobio in middle school after his grandpa dies)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i have a lot of silly fluffy fics... idk i try to toe the line mostly of like. the joys and sadnesses of human experience but sometimes you just gotta fluff it up. i'll set the table, you can make the fire, which is book verse aziraphale/crowley living in a cottage and being in love, comes to mind....i love that one

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i don't think i've ever really gotten hate on a fic? i have been extremely lucky in that regard. especially since my whole ouvre from like 2014 onward is on that damn site and much of it is very cringeworthy.

9. Do you write smut?

not well!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you have written?

i often will do like kind of a quasi-crossover kind of thing rather than a True Crossover wherein i take characters i like from one medium and plop them into the roles and places of characters i like from another medium. i did a dragon age wangxian fic where lwj was the inquisitor from da:i called we held together the fragile sky that kind of exemplifies this dynamic

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of or that anyone has ever notified me of, but i also don't look that hard. if this has ever happened, it would hurt my feelings, so please don't do it ? lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes!!!! and i was honored

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not as such but i have one not-intended-for-posting fic which is basically just a transcription of jokes i have with my roommate about haikyuu characters LOL which i think counts as co-writing. she's my co-writer in spirit even if i'm the one at the keyboard

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

my answer to this changes with every new fixation i have. like right now it's kagehina. if you asked me four years ago i would have said wangxian. You Know?

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

SO MANY...i think probably my fullmetal alchemist nie brothers au....i try not to post things until they are done and fully edited now, but that one was a whim-based fic that i lost all strength for as soon as i started thinking too hard about kagehina. i also had a fem nielan sci fi au that was vaguely based off beauty and the beast but nmj was like stuck in a ship and she thought she was its computer and that she was a program but she was actually a person....which i never posted any of except snippets on twitter and i think it was just too sprawling for my current skill level...i just was never able to wrangle it. but i am fond of it nonetheless

16. What are your writing strengths?

based on what other people have told me i would say the way i write sibling / family relationships, and while my prose is not always pretty i do think it can be pretty at times ...

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i feel like it's often too self-indulgent even if that's what fic is for lol, and i tend to look back on fics and think, i wrote that because i had feelings about it and wanted to say it, but i'm not necessarily sure that This Character would say/do that at this point in time....idk like i fear that when i don't think about it hard enough my characterization can be weak or guided by what eye personally would do vs. what The Character would do. but some of that is because the majority of my fics on ao3 are from years and years ago and i (hopefully) have continued to improve

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics?

i'm picky about it but when it's done well i think it's really fun and builds so much of the world/character. i think when it's bad it's really bad. when i go about it i try to think about like, a) do i know this language myself/do i know someone who does. if the answer is no i try to keep it really minimal. b) how do people who know multiple languages approach speaking those multiple languages naturally in real life. like (IN MY EXPERIENCE) ppl don't tend to switch languages for random words mid-sentence unless those words are like, mom, dad, uncle, aunt, ect...maybe swearing if they're less familiar with one of the languages and don't know slang/swearing in it...but again when it's done well it's really good and i'm not an expert. i just can kinda tell when it feels off when i read it, if that makes sense...(it's the same way i feel about grammar lol. sometimes i can just tell it's a little Off)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

probably either fma or soul eater or the sister's grimm book series when i was in middle school. or maybe doctor who? idk i had a lot of fanfic notebooks that i have since destroyed and then regretted destroying

20. Favorite fic you have written?

at the present moment it's in these coming years my kagehina love letter but again i feel like it changes constantly. like the more i write the better i get and the more the newest/most polished thing i've written sort of Becomes my favorite just by default of my satisfaction level with it. sorry if that's a bad answer

tagging @yuebings @dcyiyou @burins @cairoscene @cafecliche @perilously sorry if you've been tagged already also if you want to do this and i didn't tag you just say i did. I'll shut up now

[strangesmallbard]

What do you mean by "bad adaptation?" I would say that haunting of hill house is maybe an inaccurate? adaptation, or like maybe subversive adaptation is better, but it's still a good adaptation. Ig I'm curious if by bad adaptation you mean it doesn't match the source material in terms of story or in terms of narrative meaning or both?

while i enjoy flanagan's hill house and think it carries enough of the core themes to have a passing connection with the source material, i ultimately believe it works much better as an original story rather than as an adaptation. "bad adaptation" is definitely an oversimplification for the sake of a meme lmao - unsuccessful is a little closer to what i mean, which i'll explain in more detail below.

first, i want to clarify that analysis of book-to-screen adaptation that only considers 1:1 story accuracy (called "fidelity" by adaptation theorists) when judging the final product's merit is often super myopic. many adapters seek to faithfully recreate the story in a new medium using their own artistic skills, but other adapters like our boy mike flanagan employ more artistic freedom.

to adapt hill house, he changed the basic plot/character elements and explored the nuclear family in more definitive terms than the novel. he also set the story in contemporary times, allowing him to modernize the story. this form of adaptation is totally legitimate and can work amazingly, but i believe it requires a certain recognizability to be truly successful.

here is where i believe flanagan went a few steps too far. his hill house is a good story, but it's a fundamentally different story from jackson's hill house. (this is a whole book ahead, i'm so sorry.)

the characters

again, it's completely okay for adaptations to change up the characters + their dynamics. some works combine characters or remove them altogether if they feel their presence isn't necessary for the version of the story they're trying to tell. but the hill houses have an almost entirely different set of characters, with entirely different dynamics.

in the books, a scientist interested in paranormal phenomena contacts individuals with recorded experiences to explore hill house alongside him and the owner's son, luke sanderson. these individuals are eleanor "nell" vance and theodora, who doesn't have a last name. other characters include the caretaker, mrs. dudley, mrs. montague—the scientist's ouiji board-obsessed wife—and arthur, who works for mrs. montague. the characters bond as they discuss the house's history, their own backgrounds, and the origins of supernatural phenomena. meanwhile, hill house slowly ingratiates itself in nell, who's mourning the loss of her mother.

meanwhile, the tv show centers around the crane family, who move into hill house to renovate and eventually flip the property. the show chronicles their tragic interactions with the house—which resulted in the death of olivia crain, the family's matriarch—alongside the house's robust, terrible history. it also chronicles the crain family in current day after the youngest sibling, nell vance nee' crain completes suicide in the house. throughout the season, we see the crain family learn to deal with their tragic past, their ghosts, and the stories they tell each other to cope.

the tv show's story works really well for its medium, but it's a different story. while some core themes stay the same, they're approached from very different angles.

the house

until the very last episode, i would have argued that the house is the most successful aspect of flanagan's adaptation. it's big, scary, and wrong-looking. you don't want to walk into this house. the angles are quite literally wrong. the addition of actual apparitions complement book!hill house's tendency to entrap its victims and haunt them until they eventually join its history.

olivia crain assumes the role of book!nell in the flashbacks; the idea of a proper home/family drives their internal arcs in both books, with some key differences. nell receives the letter from dr. montague about hill house after losing her mother, whom she took care of her entire adult life. nell and her mother eventually resented each other, and this resulted in mach 10 complicated grief for nell, who suddenly has no place and no one to call her own, to call home. she arrives at hill house ostensibly to search for this place and her fears of eternal loneliness drive her spiral.

in flanagan's hill house, olivia crain's fears over her children drives her spiral. the house ostensibly sends her a premonition of nell's death, leading her to believe the house (and the world outside) will kill her children. in desperation, she tries to kill nell and luke. while these internal arcs are demonstrably different, there is also a through line that allows book readers to recognize olivia as the "nell" figure. this was quite good and fun, aside from my issues with olivia crain's character and how flanagan uses the theme of motherhood. that's for another essay.

HOWEVERRR the last episode happened. the crain kids reunite with their sister, leave their dad in the house, and even see the dudleys reunited with their murdered daughter. afterward, the crain kids live happily. flanagan gave hill house a redemption arc, dismantling the fear from the previous episodes in one ten minute montage. at the end of the book, nell dies and the book ends by repeating the opening line. hill house has stood for a hundred years, and will stand for a hundred more.

a thousand essays could be written on this line alone. does this refer to the perceived permanence of the nuclear family? will humans always destroy themselves if they can't confront the immovable haunted house in their own lives? and so on. you can't unhaunt hill house without writing a fundamentally different haunted house.

theo and nell

in jackson's hill house, the relationship between theo and nell are arguably the heart of the story. the majority of nell's interactions are with theo, including the main "haunting" of the book - when the ghost rattles the walls and door of nell's room. we watch nell become equal parts entranced with theo and resentful of her perceived freedom. she's drawn to theo's vivaciousness and regrets that she's so meek in comparison. she later dreams of living with theo, who gently shuts her down, sending nell further into the spiral that eventually leads to her death. theo is also the last person nell touches when she tries to leave hill house. while i read their interactions as super mega gay, there are many alternative readings. either way, nell and theo are inextricably linked in the book.

in flanagan's hill house, theo and nell are siblings. this automatically changes the relationship and, obviously, removes any possibility of romantic feelings. the most salient parallel is how nell tries to reach out to theo for help; her rejection pushes nell further towards her deadly return to hill house. (not that it was actually her fault, but theo felt like it was her fault.) otherwise, flanagan nell's greatest connection is to her twin brother and her mother, olivia crain. the latter is ostensibly the most like book!theo, but show!nell has very few memories of her mother, and what she does remember, she cherishes rather than interrogates.

theo continued

theo herself is a very, very different character. she's closed off emotionally and her sarcasm is biting, rather than charming, like jackon's theo. book!theo also has a roommate heavily implied to be her girlfriend, which has been the subject of many literary journal articles over the years. while i think it's genuinely great that flanagan's theo is openly gay, she's just. an entirely different lady. this choice is ostensibly subversive, but i think her overall lack of connection to the original character diminishes this quality. (in a more faithful adaptation, i'd love to see a depiction of theo's internal life; it could be a realy interesting juxtaposition to nell's pov, which dominates the original book's narrative.)

nell continued

we are veering a little bit into My Personal Reading of the Text, but i think it holds some merit for this conversation. in jackson's hill house, nell reads as gay and closeted. she feels fundamentally displaced in then-modern society. she's in her thirties and unmarried, and she also isn't a working professional. her sister tolerates her, but nell perceives herself as an unwanted presence. i believe she's partly attracted to theo because she wants aspects of her life - the little house theo describes, her confidence. when book!luke (who's very much not her twin brother) flirts with nell, she recognizes how much she hates the interaction. she doesn't want to flirt with men. this realization makes her a little giddy. the tragedy in hill house is that nell reached out a hand for help, for home, and only the house answered. everyone else lets her drive away.

making nell unequivocally straight in the tv show just. eschews this entire aspect of the book for me. show!nell has a husband and a loving family. she definitely has ptsd from her experiences at hill house (and the vision of her own corpse looming over her head) and grieves her mother, but those societal factors are gone. i can't entirely claim this is an adaptational failure, but it's definitely the biggest missed opportunity of the show.

tl;dr

both jackson's and flanagan's hill houses did what they set out to do. those things are just irreconcilably different. i enjoyed the show and its versions of the characters have stayed with me. but it's not a "successful" adaptation of the book's story, themes, and narrative as i understand them.

[apoptoses]

“The whine he let out when Daniel pulled back was pathetic.” Oh my god this cannot be real!!! The people have been waiting for this moment for years 🥹 And by people I mean me, DA, but I’m sure there’s plenty of others who have longed to see Armand BEG Daniel (for anything really) for just as long or even longer. And their late/post canon years feel like the perfect setting to explore this blooming dynamic. The downside of this is that this might actually be the end of Dugeon Anon lmao this might actually kill my remaining braincells but I’m willing to take the risk. Thank you so much for the preview, truly can’t wait ♥️

I'm elated to hear that because I'm on such a 'let Daniel run the fuck' trip lately lol I love him subby, I love him shaking and crying and begging for it from Armand but I also think there's a man in there who can hold his own and let Armand take a night off if needed. Especially after his turning when now he can start to wrestle back and have some hope of not being totally overwhelmed by Armand's strength.

And also, Armand himself said he likes handing over control. So he deserves to get everything he wants in his existence and lay back and beg.

So yeah, if that's your thing! Then hopefully you will like this. Because I'm going to let Daniel take the wheel every time and do a little role reversal. It's prime time they play around with the power dynamic and try something new. ♥

[whiskeyswifty]

I wanna know what you think of Olivia's vampire?? Please and thank you 💖 I'm obsessed with your replies

i'm so sorry to report, dear anon, that olivia has never been and is still not For Me, to say it politely. It's very much music For The Kids, and that's great! Younger generations always need things that are their own, separate from the adults in their life. That's not to say it's lesser than anything else because it's for the kids, not at all! It's just for a demographic I'm not a part of and don't feel any kinship to right now (which is a good thing lmao i'm an adult i shouldn't be in spaces for kids). It's also not to say as an adult, you can't enjoy her music! If you're able to connect with it via the younger version of yourself, that's beautiful and i'm so happy for you that teenage you gets to feel validated. So many of my friends love it for how as a teenager, they would have related to it. I connect to a lot of other younger artists right now for the same reasons and because taste-wise, they're doing things that really click with me, so it's just not a good match, olivia and I. that's all!

A number of factors probably are why i don't enjoy her music writ large. 1. my youth was NOTHING like what she sings about. Like polar opposite teenagers truly and my younger self doesn't connect to or relate to anything she sings about. it's entirely too earnest for me then and now, but thats just my personal thing! not a value judgement. 2. she has the post-lorde whisper/raspy/talk singing voice that makes me SQUEAL with laughter when i hear it. idk your age, or if this is now a dated reference, but it's the bananies & avocadies vine voice lmaoooo sorry! It sounds so silly to me because of that vine (rip) and HE WAS prophetic was he not??? sooooo many gen z girls sing like that and it's borderline unlistenable to me because of my brain worms. 4. at this point, if all of the above are also true, and all you have left is "sad story about a boy happened to me", sorry to say but genuine heartbreak songs about boys from girls are just white noise to me. I've been a full blown lesbian for so long at this point, NEW content about women genuinely, earnestly weeping over men just doesn't connect and i can't sympathize or relate or bring myself to feel any type of way about it. that's just not my world, sorry you're going through all that or sorry that happened to you, it sucks and it's terrible, but i'm not interested in engaging with that content. men, straight ones especially, are ancillary at best in my world. you have to be a legacy artist to move me whilst singing about A Man, someone who snuck in early and earned my favor before i realized i was a lesbian (hence the topic of this blog lol). again, not a value judgement! just my personal taste.

about the song itself, it just sounds like driver's license the sequel to me, which is great and not a knock! it makes sense to me strategy-wise. it worked the first time, so if it ain't broke, use the same release strategy for the next album. seems like she has a decent team behind her who are setting her up for success which is great! there are some solid lines in it, but at my geriatric age (over 30 lmao) i'm extremely sensitive to clunky lyrics. blame the near perfectly threaded and composed early taylor work for that i suppose, although i'm sure there are others at fault. a half-formed idea or a half-committed idea turns me off so quickly, and the mixed metaphors in the chorus (?) of the song really make me itch. "sold me for parts" and then the vampire metaphors about consuming conjure totally different imagery and dynamics and the friction between them i find jarring. both are interesting and i would have loved to have seen the depths of each plumbed creatively! commit to one and explore the ways you can weave that metaphor with reality to really pack a punch! however it sounds like a very sensitive situation that she went through so perhaps clarity in songwriting is not possible for this event in her life. idk much about her but that's what i gleaned at least. (WCS is wayyyyyy better and more fully formed and articulate than dear john, to give you an example)

I totally recognize her prominence and am happy for her and all her success! This is not a hater post, i don't have any ill will towards her. i'm not annoyed by her. I don't think about her, unless asked, tbh. i think she's an amazing figure for younger fans to have in their pop culture life and i wish her all the success and happiness in the world!

[maremote]

If i was gonna script doctor TWD S3 so far.

Cut half of the governor's scenes. We don't need to be walked through his deal with Penny. We don't need to know that much about his dealings with Merle earlier in the season. Keep Penny as a character, but have us discover her as Michonne discovers her. This also helps us stay invested in Michonne as she becomes the audience's only source for information about who seems to be this seasons big bad. Also it's just more intriguing to see Michonne reading the diary that says Penny when you don't know who she is.

T Dog lives and gets some kind of plot or development Lmao he's so underdeveloped i don't even have that many suggestions off the top of my head here

Glenn: the conflict between his nature as the guy to come up with a wild plan and volunteer as the front bitch to execute it and his relationship with Maggie is further explored as it was set up in S2. Also we just learn more about him. I think it would be fun if Michonne and Glenn were forced to team up to execute some sort of plan without the help of the others. they have very different strategy styles i think that would be fun.

Also isolating Glenn from Maggie would give MAGGIE a chance to deal with Glenns whole frontman thing and to have some kind of plot with Beth and Hershel to explore their new dynamics in the group, Beths role or lack of role and how she feels about it, their motivations, etc. Then Glenn and Maggie can reunite after a few episodes and be all cute together.

they've been a lot better than everyone else with Daryl and Carol so far which tbh is probably a big part of why they're my favorites lmao

Rick - I don't like Heaven Phone and Force Ghosts i think that's a little lazy and there's more interesting ways to explore the consequences of the loss of Lori and Shane. Like u could give him a whole identity crisis.... so much of who Rick was was formed via dialogue with Lori and Shane whether that's in a collaborative or an oppositional way.... now he essentially has total rule of some extremely loyal people and a kid and a baby like who is this Rick? Because its not S1 Rick. It's not S2 Rick. He needs something to construct a new identity on and what's that gonna be? How's he gonna know if he's being too nice or too evil without Shane and Lori? He has the others but he's their leader theyre not his parallels the way Lori and Shane were. You got all this tasty stuff and the writers went with slo mo hallucinations like ok

[carpisuns]

New anon, but I saw the last one and I have some thoughts. Specifically, I have been obsessing over ml for the last month or so, and I’ve only seen three episodes, and they were the three released before crocoduel. And you know what? I wasn’t that into it, it wasn’t bad it just wasn’t half as engaging as fanon and fanworks have been for me.

I’ve also done this with the Magicians, Supernatural, and a couple others. I think the reason that this works, for some people, is because it is a more familiar and in many ways, easier way to discover and become attached to new material and new characters. Fan writers and artists are coming from a place of love for their source material (no matter what issues they may have with it) and that bleeds out into their work. Time is spent developing the characters and their feelings, their relationships, in ways that canon so often can’t or isn’t allowed to, and reading that, it’s very easy to fall in love with new characters very quickly. There’s also common AUs and dynamics that make it much easier to start something new.

And also: comfort characters. So many fans find common ground with characters and further project onto them, particularly in fanfic. And because of that it’s often easier to identify with a fan’s interpretation of a character than it is to identify with the canon’s, since you have these more deeply explored feelings and relationships based on a combination of canon and the personal experiences of the fan writer. Also, with these kinds of fics it’s extremely emotionally affirming since for someone who doesn’t have much of any connection with the source material, it feels like the original, even if you’re reading a large body of work by a lot of different people. And I’m so used to fanfic as a substitute for the emotional work and character development that shows/movies/books don’t have room for or aren’t willing to get into, that approaching a fandom as it’s own original piece of media in a way, feels very comforting.

That’s my perspective on it anyways, and why I do this. I do think it is a good thing to engage with the canon to an extent, even if it’s just watching a few clips (how I found ml) but I also don’t think you need any real connection or knowledge of it to be deeply invested in the fandom. Sorry, this got very long.

you know, i totally get being on, like, the fringe of fandoms and interacting with fanon to an extent without a proper investment in canon (I have a couple fandoms like that), but i honestly just can't imagine becoming super invested in a fandom when I am not invested in the source material...maybe that's just a difference between you and me, idk.

but also, i gotta admit that i'm struggling a bit to understand the reason. you yourself pointed out that fan work is enjoyable because the creator's love for canon bleeds into it. and isn't that the reason that you would want to give canon a real chance? obviously there is fan content made out of spite lol (and sadly a fair amount in this fandom), but to me most fan content is like a love letter to canon. like, "i adore this thing so much that it inspired me to create and share with other people who adore it." and what better recommendation is there than that?? i would think people would wanna familiarize themselves with canon in order to better enjoy fanon(?)

i completely understand your point about fan content delving further into characterization and relationships where canon hasn't/can't, and that is such a big appeal of fanfic/fanart. but i don't feel like that's a reason to not engage with canon? on the contrary, i feel like you are missing something important in your understanding and appreciation of that wonderful exploration if you haven't experienced firsthand the foundation that canon set. and maybe that missing thing is just your personal interpretation of a character/dynamic.

for example, i could say, "adrien agreste is this, this, and this and he would do this but not this." and of course i will think im right because my characterization is always perfect 😌sakjdfaldjks but someone else might have a slightly different interpretation, and someone else will have another interpretation, and when you mush all those individual takes on a character together, you will get a good sense of who they are, but you still don't have the Original™️ to draw your own interpretation from. idk, to me it sounds like basing your opinion of chocolate ice cream on what other people are saying about it without ever trying it yourself? ajsldakljf maybe that's an oversimplification but i do think that without experiencing it for yourself, your understanding will always be kind of incomplete.

idk, i big agree with everything you said about why fan content is special, but everything that is a point in fanon's favor is not a knock on canon. to me fan content feels pretty inseparable from canon, so it just doesn't compute to me to take canon out of the equation? then we would have nothing.

i feel like it's almost kinda trendy nowadays to be like, "oh this show actually sucks lmao but the fanon and AUs are good." like it's shameful to actually...enjoy source material? 😭 i mean i completely understand that miraculous ladybug is not gonna be everyone's cup of tea and that's fine! but if you truly enjoy the fan content that much i encourage you to give canon a real shot. it's not that surprising to me that you watched 3 recent episodes and didn't vibe that much, since you haven't seen the 3 seasons of buildup that lead to them. miraculous has a neat way of tying a bunch of things together so if you aren't familiar with all of it, you're probably missing out.

personally my love for miraculous was kind of a slowburn at first. i only started watching the show because my sister and i made a deal that forced me to watch the first few eps lol. and i didn't really vibe either. but there must have been enough of a spark there for me to keep watching bc for some reason i did and the more i watched the more i fell in love with it until it became the thing that occupies my brain more than anything else. i started with canon and then got into fanon, but it could easily go the other way too. and if you're already invested in the story and characters, i have to imagine it would be much easier to push past the initial cringe of "this is a show about a couple of teen furries rated TV-Y7 on netflix" lol and give anything you don't vibe with the benefit of the doubt.

again, to be clear, i'm not trying to judge or gatekeep here! i'm just saying this because i genuinely LOVE miraculous. it's my favorite show. that's why i make things for it. that's why i have this blog. i want people to watch it. so maybe, pwetty pwease, try watching the show you like so much? 🥺👉👈

(source bc i was too lazy to make my own so i stole this from twitter)

[ouyangzizhensdad]

i feel like wwx is kind of in a lose lose situation when it comes to jc. if he didn't go to the ancestral hall at all it's proof he doesn't and never cared about the jiangs, if he went to the hall but stopped before going inside it's because he thinks he's too good to show respect, if he went in without lwj he's still intruding if jc decides he doesn't want him there. it doesn't matter what he does bc the problem is jc's anger at him, literally anything wwx does is gonna set him off ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hi anon,

I don’t think you’re necessary wrong but I find that the intent I read into this ask (I might be reading it wrong though) is sort of misplaced imo? It reads to me as if ultimately the point is to go: “thereby JC is a shitty character and is the root of all problems”. And to me that is a little bit missing out the point of characters like JC, in the same vein of the people who try to mount an argumentation for why JC’s reaction was totally valid and rational, actually, and WWX was so in the wrong.

Ultimately, is not that any of the characters might not have had a point in there, but it’s about using this moment not only as a vector of conflict for the plot to continue its momentum but also as means to explore the relationship dynamic between WWX and JC at this point of the narrative--something influenced both by their temperament, their life experiences and the baggage of they have. The fact that, by that point, WWX is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation when it comes to JC is well established. Part of it is also, I think, that the novel hints at us that even JC doesn’t know what he actually wants from WWX: to die? to repent? to suffer? to stop acting like a ‘hero’? to disappear? to come back? to apologise? to fulfill his promise to be his right-hand man? All of the above? It sets up as well why the golden core reveal could have never come from WWX himself, in a sense--why WN is ultimately the one to tell JC the truth.

Such an intent would miss as well the nuance that, regardless of how his anger, tendency towards self-victimisation and lack of self-reflection led him to act that way toward WWX, JC is also caught in a cycle where he is hurting himself by constantly pushing away WWX. After all, the only reason he knew he was in the ancestral hall was because he followed him out in the first place--actively seeking his presence when WWX stole away during the meeting (not that I think it would have realistically lead them to have a nice heart-to-heart lmao). He’s ultimately hurt by this sense of distance between them (even if he’s played an important role in creating that distance), and it’s part of why seeing WWX and LWJ together, seeing WWX moving on with a new life while he remains both here and stuck in the past, made him angry even before they went into the Ancestral Hall--that was just the hair that broke the camel’s back of his anger. It’s even something we see explicitly addressed after the Guanyin Temple, when JL gets angry at him.

Jin Ling rubbed his eyes roughly, wiping his face before running back, “Where are they?”

Jiang Cheng, “Gone.”

Jin Ling exclaimed, “You let them go just like that?”

Jiang Cheng mocked, “Or else? Have them stay for dinner? Say thank you and sorry after the meal?”

Jin Ling began to simmer, pointing at him, “No wonder he wanted to go. It’s all because of that attitude of yours! Why are you so annoying, Jiujiu?!”

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng raised his hand with glaring eyes, scolding, “Is this how you talk to someone older than you? You asking to be beaten up?!”

Jin Ling shrunk back. Fairy tucked in its tail as well. Yet Jiang Cheng’s slap never landed at the back of his head. Instead, it was retracted powerlessly.

He spoke, irritated, “Shut up. Jin Ling. Shut up. We’re going back. Each to their own sect.”

So I just think we should be wary of trying to put characters into “bad” or “good” boxes, or even in the “right” or “wrong”--it’s much more interesting, imo, to consider the nuances of the moment and what it means inside the narrative, for the characters, for the themes. To consider whether the reaction comes out of nowhere or is well set up, if it pays off or doesn’t, if it ends up exploring or expressing something interesting or not. Personally I just find that MXTX is pretty good at writing anger with both nuance and affect, and that scene is an example of that.

[dramatistvx]

Loki fic recs!

Hello there! Here are some of the Loki fics I’ve read that I thought were really good :) Enjoy! 

Some of the fics contain dark themes so please read the tags and be safe! :)

Time Travel -fix it- 

The Fun With Time Loops series by Infinite_Monkeys

Summery first work:

With One More Try (Can We Start Again) 

Loki's attempt to conquer Earth has, to his great dismay, succeeded spectacularly. When Thanos sends him to collect the Time Stone, he strikes a deal with the Stone's keeper: he'll be sent back to the beginning of the invasion, and this time, armed with knowledge about his opponents, he can lose properly.

Or: a time loop fic in which Loki does increasingly desperate things to try and get the Avengers to defeat him already. 

Words: 13,563 - chaptered

Series total; 4 works, words: 78,913

Pretty sure you’ve already heard about this one and for good reason. It’s so good! Loved the whole series. I liked the third work best, tho it’s quite a bit longer than the others -60 k- It has more depth and -wayyy more angst- you get to see more of Loki struggling and him generally being in pain oOp- but he’s trying! Also Thor just wants to help bc he cares hihi. Love love love.

those yesterdays bleeding through by wnnbdarklord

Loki dies on the desolate plains of Svartalfheim, Thor's howls of grief ringing in his ears. He wakes up on his bed in his cell, where there is no sign of destruction.

A time loop fic where Loki gets the chance to fix things on the day the Dark Elves attack Asgard. And another. And another.

Words: 9,508

Another great time travel fix-it fic! I actually read the Fun With Time Loops series because I liked this fic so much and needed more lmao. There’s also a twist in the end that I didn’t see coming ;) It has so much angst for 9k I love XD I’d say that it’s a bit more explicit in the angst so be aware! Overall great read if you want something short and angsty but with a hopeful ending. 

De aging

Amateur Theatrics by galaxysoup

In which Thor’s primary problem-solving method (a mighty blow from Mjolnir) fails to have the desired effect on a magical artifact, and his secondary method (a mightier blow from Mjolnir) proves to be actively disastrous.

Words: 26,586 - chaptered

Love love love this one! After a magical accident, Loki accidentally gets de aged and it’s the most adorable thing ever. There’s fluff and angst and kid Loki is just so precious. I also love how Loki and Clint bond in this. Literally go read this! xD

Hurt/Comfort, Angst

Ichor in Violet by tirsynni

When Thor learns that Loki can travel to other realms without Heimdall seeing, of course he convinces Loki to take them both to Jotunheim to hunt Frost Giants. There an accident unravels centuries of lies and threatens to unravel Loki, too.

Words: 14,574 - chaptered

Where Loki accidentally discovers who he really is and has trouble dealing. Thor is confused, he just loves his brother. The angsttttt. This is dark so be aware! 

The Tapestries series by Lise

Summary first work:

It turns out that even a god can't escape a beating by the Hulk unscathed. At the end of the Battle of New York, Loki doesn't get back up. This changes more than you'd think. 

Series total; 4 works, Words: 30,727

Oh the angst *wrings hands* 

This series is amazing! It’s Loki struggling to deal with centuries of unresolved anger and hurt while simultaneously trying to cope with more recent events, the Void..Thanos. 

Basically, Loki just wants to go home, wherever that may be. Everyone’s trying, genuinely trying. You just gotta know when -how- to stop fighting. It’s very well written and It really dives into the psychological aspects of his trauma. Also, Odin actually cares for once lmao. This one is also pretty dark so be aware! 

Mistakes Made (And Corrected) by ADreamer67

In a different universe, Hela rebelled sooner. In a different universe, Hela Odinsdottir seduced Laufey with promises of power and convinced him to attack Midgard. In a different universe, Hela got pregnant, and didn't want to be. In a different universe, Hela left her newborn son for dead and went to face her father.

In a different universe, Loki Helajarson is two hundred and fifty years older than Thor. Let's see what happens.

Words: 47,072

Woah, just- this is so good!! It’s a very different take on Loki’s character but it’s still really fitting. After Thor is banished and the Odin sleep is fast approaching, Loki is to be king. Things don’t go very well for him, to say the least. I loved how the characters were portrayed and absolutely adored the dynamic between Loki and Thor. There’s so much angst and turmoil and it’s pretty dark so read the tags and be safe! 

Just Close Your Eyes by ADreamer67

Ragnarok has come to pass, the Asgardians have reached a deal with the leaders of Midgard for territory of their own, Loki is allowed to stay (provided he doesn’t leave said territory), and Thor is settled on the throne. So all in all, things are going well, if you ignore the recent massacre and planetary annihilation.

Well, except for the fact that Loki is working himself into the ground. And Thor is having none of it.

Cue a not entirely legal brotherly field trip where Thor will make Loki relax, or die trying. Responsibilities? Pssh, who cares about those? (Hint - Loki. Very much so)

Words: 31,832 - chaptered, still going

So fun! It starts out pretty angsty but it gradually becomes a little more lighthearted. Then, it’s just Thor and Loki exploring Midgardian customs together -mostly Loki being mildly disgusted by them lmao- :) 

Birthright by ADreamer67

Four years ago, Odin told Loki his birthright was to die. If only he knew.

When the Laufeyson was born small, too small and frail to survive, the solution seemed obvious. Though it had been many a generation since it had been done, the child was brought forth to the Casket, to be bound to its' power in an ancient ceremony that would imbue the little one with all the strength of a typical Jotun. That ceremony was interrupted by battle, and the child was left with the unguarded casket, in the hopes that the casket could keep it alive until it was safe to finish the ceremony.

That ceremony was never finished.

Over a thousand years later, the Casket of Ancient Winters is destroyed during Ragnarok. No one thought this would be an issue, least of all Loki. Guess what.

Words: 76,599 - chaptered, still going

This is so good!!! It’s one of the first fics I read in the fandom and it has really set my standards high. There’s so much angst and turmoil and it’s so well written. I absolutely adored the dynamic between the crew and how much Thor loves his brother even though Loki thinks he doesn’t deserve it. I really like the way ADreamer67 portrays the characters. 

Soulmate/Soulbond, Relationships

Maybe You (and your sad blue eyes) by alby_mangroves

Loki had already come to accept being born without a bonded soul to cleave to, one more way in which he would always be the lesser brother. So of course it made sense that it would settle upon him when he least expected it.

(Set in the timeline of Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Avengers. Canon divergent just before Chitauri invasion.)

Words: 29,258 - chaptered

I don’t really ship Loki and Steve -bc stucky heheh- but I came across this fic in another rec list and I absolutely loved it, plus the art is stunning! Def a great read if you like angsty soulmate/soulbond fics but with a happy ending.

The sexual awakening of Steve Rogers by aLoggedInReader

Steve's life has always been complicated, but he did not know just how much of a rollercoaster it could become until Bucky came to stay with him.

Bucky is trying to be helpful and get Steve to live a little, but between being a hundred years old and having only lived a couple of those years, as an assassin for Hydra to boot, he tends to miss the mark now and then.

Adding an Asgardian prince in exile to the mix surprisingly does not make things easier.

Words: 47,333, still going

Sksjsksksk I don’t really ship Loki/Steve but this one is just so fun. features a lot of female Loki, flustered Steve, protective Bucky and overall wholesomeness and chaotic energy. Everyone just wants Steve to be happy. -mostly Steve centric-

The lines, here are written by dfotw

In a world where everyone has their soulmate's name written on their wrists, Steve Rogers has quite a lot more... and Loki, a lot less.

Words: 18,009 - chaptered

Lmao Imma just stop saying I don’t ship them XD This one is also really good. It’s angsty and tender with a hopeful ending. 

[austennerdita2533]

Totes getting around to this a little late but thanks for the tag @laufire xx

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

32. Not too many, but I also haven’t transferred over most of my stuff from FFnet, which I should probably do at some point. 

There’s a crap ton of stuff over there still...

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

88,670 

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1) Put the Car in Drive

TVD/TO - Klaroline - Klaus Mikaelson/Caroline Forbes - Post-Liz’s death and Caroline flipping her humanity switch. She books it out of Mystic Falls. Calls Klaus.

2) Can you hold me close (can you love me most)

GoT/ASOIAF - Braime/JB - Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth - Post-The Bang That Was Promised. Brienne ruminating over her feelings for Jaime, over this time with him.

3) When All Sense Breaks Loose

Gilmore Girls - Literati - Rory Gilmore/Jess Mariano - Rory and Jess strolling through Stars Hollow at Christmastime, perhaps finding themselves beneath some mistletoe.

4) A Call That Angers, A Moment That Exposes

TVD/TO - Klaroline - Klaus and Caroline - Canon s4-ish. Prom time. Silas being an interfering little shit and playing matchmaker. 

(I’m genuinely surprised how much people like this one because - eh - not my best writing, imo. I mean, the title alone should clue you into that. I just sort of slapped it on there for an exchange lmao.)

5) A Double Shot of Something Good

TVD/TO - Klaroline - Klaus Mikaelson/Caroline Forbes - Post 5x06 of TO with Klaus and Caroline on a road trip looking for Hope. Overnight pitstop. Only one bed. 

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always respond to comments because a) I’m exceedingly flattered and grateful for feedback b) I love interacting with readers c) I can’t hold back my excitement when people tell me what resonated or what they enjoyed

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oof, that’s a tough one. I’m temped to say The Day They Thought The Saddest Lines or As He Lay Dying because they’re both KC drabbles that revolve around Klaus’ canon death, so they’re both rather wistful and fraught and depressing on the whole. Leave it to me to swim in the hurt!

However, the When White Wind Whistles, which is a canon-ish Jaime/Brienne oneshot set during the war with the dead where the two of them share the same bed, the same warmth, with their feelings laying there between them, unspoken, is atmospherically and emotionally chafing. There’s this sense that they could die before ever voicing their feelings. It’s just--*clenches chest*

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Probably Like A Calendar, The Heart Skips Forward because it shows an established relationship between Rory and Jess. It’s New Years Eve. There’s books and food and alcohol and familiarity. Did I mention there’s an engagement? Because there’s an engagement. 

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Haven’t yet, nope.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah. It happens. 

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Not really. I have a tendency to write perpendicular to smut. I’m not opposed to writing it if it feels right, but I guess I’m more interested in exploring the emotion/tension in different dynamics right now.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not on AO3. Now, when I was posting most everything to FFnet--yes.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! (Spite) of Their Lives (another KC oneshot - surprise! surprise!)  was translated into Chinese, which I thought was pretty cool.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not on AO3. I have done a few buddy drabbles on Tumblr, though, which were fun. A unique experience, for sure.

13. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I have a boatload of OTPs so this seems like a cruel question lol. 

Luke and Lorelai from Gilmore Girls will always have a top tier place in my heart, though. And Klaroline comprises the majority of my fics on both AO3 and FFnet--so there’s that. Love those two idiots.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Oh gosh, I have so many it’s abominable! I’m the worst. Give me the crown.

I have a modern Jaime/Brienne as roommates AU. It’s a sort of progression-of-feelings-and-kisses fic. 50% done. I also have half of a part 2 to Can you hold me close (can you love me most) that I still haven’t finished.

I also have a Hybrid Nightline oneshot that’s partly written. Klaus and Caroline are rival dream sculptors whose offices have been consolidated and now must learn to work together. 

I have 75% of Musician/Celebrity AU written for Klaroline as well. It could be so. much. fun. if only I could get the plot to cooperate with my vision. 

(Maybe if I write them all down I’ll feel guilty enough to finish a couple of them.)

15. What are your writing strengths?

Being able to portray characters’ emotion and conflicts, maybe? I’m definitely more of a character-driven writer than a plot-driven one. 

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Timeliness - as in getting shit written in a timely manner. I have so many WIPs I have yet to finish because I can’t seem to find the time to devote to them. *cries* (Adulting is hard folks!) 

Also, sometimes I really struggle with working around plot blocks.

Dialogue tags are a nightmare, too. I want to use them to convey state of mind, emotion, not to mention to denote who is speaking, but I don’t want to overruse them, either.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

So long as I’m confident that I know the language well enough to do it, or know someone who can check my grammar, then YES. I’ve written Spanish dialogue before. French too, I believe.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Back in the day, Gilmore Girls or Harry Potter. On AO3, probably Klaroline. 

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Oh, there are so many! Let me think: 

Good Omens - Ineffable Husbands - Crowley/Aziraphale

Anything for Pride and Prejudice, anything at all (a modern AU/social media AU particularly; I have a bunch of notes for this one already but shhhh)

The Mentalist - Jisbon - Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon - I’M OBSESSED WITH THEM. HOW HAVEN’T I WRITTEN FIC FOR THEM YET? SERIOUSLY. HOW???

Suits - Darvey - Donna and Harvey 

GoT/ASOIAF - Gendrya - Arya Stark/Gendry Waters 

Harry Potter - Harmony - Harry and Hermione

Community - Jeff and Annie

Marvel - Pepperony - Tony Stark/Pepper Potts

The West Wing - Josh Lyman/Donna Moss

...More. So many more...

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

You know, I’m going to have to say Defibrillation which is for The Good Doctor - Melendaire - Claire Browne/Neil Melendez. It was a canon fix-it I wrote for a friend who also loved the show. It was evocative as it needed to be, angsty too, and it just flowed from beginning to end. I’m satisfied with it on the whole, which is not something I say about my writing often. Or ever, frankly haha.

Tagging: @misssophiachase @definedareasofuncertainty @beautyandwords @arrenemris @gooddame @stellaluna33 @iscahmckrae @kirythestitchwitch + anyone else (only if you want, of course) xx

[clare-with-no-i]

omg... okay. are you ready? because i don't think you're ready. maybe you are. idk. i'm not ready and i'm the one writing this so me trying to prepare you is really just me trying to prepare myself. i fully have my laptop out and everything as i'm typing this because i need to be able to articulate my thoughts without worrying about an overwhelming number of typos.

okay okay. firstly, i realize that i really should be commenting my thoughts on your actual work instead of writing an ask but?? i feel like this has sort of became my niche??? so i might just continue this??? (idk hopefully it isn't annoying that i blow up your inbox with essays but if you prefer ppl commenting on ao3 instead pls tell and i'll gladly do that. also WHY AM I LITERALLY WORRYING ABOUT THIS IT ISNT THAT BIG OF A DEAL OMG AND I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED TALKING ABOUT THE ACTUAL CHAPTER HELP) (i really thought i was gonna be able to keep this one short for the first time but apparently not bye lmao)

ANYWAY!!!!! i just have to say it. did i get emotional when i saw the cute little shoutout thing in the chapter notes? MAYBE!! SUE ME I'M AN EMOTIONAL BITCH!!!! (but really that was so sweet of you and idk it's not that big of a deal but i just thought it was so sweet and aghskjgdhg anyway im ranting again and need to get into the actual story bits)

OKAY. can i just say i'd die for reg. i think that's a known fact around these parts but i feel the need to reiterate: I!! WOULD!!! DIE!!!!! FOR REGULUS!!! BLACK!!!! he is just... everything and you do him the justice he deserves. like "pain has always been easy to stifle after a certain point." ??!!??!!?! not only do i deeply relate to that line (to the point that i highlighted it because somehow you're able to communicate my very own thoughts better than i can????) but it's just... so regulus. like it just makes so much sense for him!! that line!! is him!!!! ugh i just feel so deeply for him and you're able to heighten that by 100 bc of your writing.

remus' snark in this chapter was exactly what i needed from my good boy. normalize remus lupin having cheek!!! his little one liners made me grin so much my cheeks ached because he is just!! so good!!! also "remus, the self-appointed ambassador of Gryffindor gender relations" exactly. exactly!! he IS the moment and will forever BE the moment!!!!!!

i realize this is getting way too long (new record? we'll see if i can break it) so i really need to wrap this up so i'm not hurting anyone's eyes. the party. or not party. WHATEVER IT WAS!!! idk how you do it, but i bow down to you as the official Queen of Gryffindor Parties because it is always. perfect. always!! my fav scenes and ones that i always randomly remember in b&f have always been set at a party because they're so!! perfect!!! also, can i just say that i am forever counting on you for putting me on good 70s music because i have playlist with songs sirius would unquestionably adore and a good half of them the ones you included or mentioned in b&f so keep me on the good goods. also??? your able to perfectly capture the scene with the music you choose and its so good i'll never get over it. like when Pictures of Lily came on i had to take a moment because it was just too fucking great. like i could totally see remus doing that because he's a little shit and james reacting the way he did because he's just... james. speaking of him: the only man. ever. to exist. ever!!! james potter >>>> anything and everything. and i mean everything. his and lily's dynamic is just too good and i can't wait to see how you explore it even more. and when they're at the party and they're talking and then james teases her with "headmistress" and then "professor"?? IDK WHY I LIKED IT SO MUCH BUT I DID!!!! idk i just think it really captured exactly how boys flirt and tease and it was just so cuteskgjdsgjh i can't get over it. lily's friend test too!! she is the cutest ever and i want everything good to happen to her because she deserves it. ugh. jily. them!!!!

anyway, hoping i didn't bore you to tears with this but i'm so happy b&f is back. it's what the world needs to heal (it's true. a professional told me themselves!) i love you and i love your stories and your writing and everything!!!!! (and sorry for the long rant again. i think it's my Thing.)

you have never ever bored me with these asks!! not once!! i am simply screaming. this is so wonderful and I shall be reading it multiple times :) :) :) you never cease to amaze, impress, and render emotional!!! <3

[johndykeon]

i’ve seen people talking about how there’s a difference between leo’s born in july and leo’s born in august... roger & john skdjsbsjsj idk what the difference is but it’s there

oops!! looks like you accidentally stumbled upon one of of my dormant hyperfixations!! 🤠🤠🤠 i’m SO into astrology dude skjfhskfj like is it real? probably not. but is it fun as hell to read about and judge people based on?  yes yes yes yes yes!

anyway this ended up getting super long because i have a lot of thoughts™ about it so i'm putting everything under the cut!! disclaimer: i literally just do this for fun and everything i know about astrology i learned from various websites and an astrology book i found at value village so if anything isn’t right mind your business fskjdfshkfj and ALSO please don’t read too much into this lmao it’s just for funsies 💖

so anyway YES you’re right, there 100% is a difference between john and roger’s type of leo, and it probably has to do with the fact that they fall into different decans of leo!! so essentially each sign is split up into three different “versions” of the sign depending on the positioning of the planets when they were born. the exact dates can vary slightly, but for leo the first decan (the “true leo”) is from july 23rd - august 1st (this is where roger falls), the second decan is august 2nd - august 12th, and the third decan is august 13th - august 22 (which is where john falls).

so roger, being born on july 26th, is a first decan leo. the characteristics of this placement are things like being really extroverted, loud, self-reliant, creative, wanting attention, having a sensitive ego; so very much the traditional leo. meanwhile, john is a third decan leo, which is a placement that’s known more for ambition, honesty, stubbornness, independence, and dynamism. so that could definitely be where some of their differences come from (although i’m not convinced that the qualities of the third decan leo actually fit john all that well, but i suppose none of actually really knew him so we can’t know for sure).

BUT,  it’s also super important to look at the rest of john and roger’s natal charts in addition to just their sun signs, since they were born two years apart and therefore they have a lot of differences in the major planets in their charts.

so roger’s birth time is actually online for some reason, apparently he was born at 10:30 AM on july 26th 1949. so assuming that this time is accurate (even if it isn’t the only things that would change are his ascendant and possibly his moon), here is his chart:

we don’t know what time john was born, so we don’t know his ascendant and we can’t be certain of his moon, but we do know that he was born on august 19th 1951 so based on that here is his chart:

so as you can see, there are some pretty significant differences in their planets. starting with the moon, which represents things like emotion, emotional response, and self image, roger has a leo moon while john (most likely) has a pisces moon. 

leo moons are typically outgoing, like to be the centre of attention, pretty popular, and tend to take on a comic sort of role because they like making people laugh. they have a really strong sense of fairness and justice, and they’re known for being dramatic and prone to sulking and causing a scene when their pride has been hurt. imo the leo moon very clearly fits roger pretty well skjfhsdkjfhs

on the other hand, john is a pisces moon, which is a placement thats know for being really intuitive, perceptive, sometimes dreamy, and compassionate because they feel things really deeply. pisces moons are also imaginative, warm, sentimental and empathetic, and known for having kind of a weird sense of humor; one of the sites i use as a reference for astrology actually described it as “a strong sense of humor that is more of the receptive kind than the type of sense of humor that would make people the ‘life of the party,’” and “it's generally pretty easy to get them giggling” (which imo is pretty spot on according to what we know about john and the stories we’ve heard about him)! pisces moons also have a tendency to get overwhelmed with life easily and then need time away from eveything to escape and recharge (fucking off to bali anyone??)

i'm not gonna really talk about ascendants because we don't know john's and the point of this is comparing his chart with roger’s, BUT i just have to say that roger is a virgo rising, and typically people get on really well and have strong connections with people who's sun sign is the same as their rising sign…… and of course, freddie is a virgo sun 🥺🥺🥺 and literally every time i remember that it just makes me so soft so i had to mention it fksjhfkjshfk

moving on to mercury, roger’s mercury is in leo and john’s is in virgo. mercury is the planet that rules things of the mind like communication, intellect, and memory. so starting with roger, leo mercurys are typically incredibly passionate, good at things like public speaking and performing, and very much draw the spotlight towards themselves, whether intentionally or unintentionally. they're confident, enthusiastic, have a flair for the dramatic, and seem to make new friends effortlessly. people with mercury in virgo on the other hand tend to be much more grounded and analytical. they’re efficient and sharp thinkers, very intelligent, practical, and they like things that challenge their minds and are drawn to people that can keep up with them. john was born with mercury in retrograde though, which can cause people to struggle with self doubt and be prone to anxiety and difficulty expressing themselves.

now on to venus. venus is the planet that rules love, romance, and what we value and take pleasure in in life. roger’s venus is in leo, while john’s is in virgo. leo venuses like roger are known for being warm, genuine, and grand in love. they’re prone to big gesture in their relationships, and they have a deep need to feel desired and wanted by their partners and can get hurt when they don’t feel like their lovers are showing them enough love. they're really loyal, but need a lot of attention from their lovers and have high expectations. on the other hand, people with venus in virgo like john are known for loving and showing love in quieter and more understated ways, unlike leo venuses who are more of the ‘shout it from the rooftops' variety. they show their love through dedication and willingness to work on a relationship, and they work really hard on doing "the little things'' to show their partner that they care, and they need to feel recognized and appreciated by their partners for doing these things. they're very devoted and sensitive in love, really genuine, and can be quite shy. john was born with venus in retrograde though, and people born during venus retrogrades tend to feel things very deeply but struggle with awkwardness and insecurity in expressing those feelings and their love. they take relationships really seriously and they love very deeply, but they can struggle with self-sabotage in their relationships because they usually have a lot of underlying insecurities and fears that they aren't good enough or loveable enough.

finally, mars is the planet that rules things like passion, anger, sex, desire, actions and energy. roger's mars is in cancer, while john’s is in leo. people with a cancer mars like roger can be prone to passive-aggressiveness and become defensive as a means of self protection when they feel threatened, but they're incredibly protective over the people they care about. also, fun fact— i read something that said mars in cancer is known as the sign most attracted to breasts, sooooo i guess roger is a tits guy confirmed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ on the other hand, people with mars in leo like john tend to be high in passion and desire, and usually have well defined goals and ambitions in their lives. they're also known as one of the most sexual positions of the zodiac, and they tend to enjoy sex more than most, but they typically have a strong need for love and romance to be an integral part of sex. they want their partners to be devoted to them, and can be prone to becoming jealous and possessive of their partner but will usually try to hide it.

there are ofc a bunch of other placements in natal charts that we could go into, but these 6 that i’ve mentioned (sun, moon, ascendant, mercury, venus, and mars) are generally considered to be the major players. there are also things like aspects and houses and everything that can be analyzed to gain a better insight into someones chart but honestly i don't really understand them so i'm not gonna go into that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

but yeah so as we can see, even though john and roger have a lot of the typical qualities of a leo in common— hard-working, enjoying luxury, proud, bright, determined, noble, loyal— there are a whole bunch of factors that make them really really different despite their similarities!! because you’re totally right anon, roger and john are both leos, and imo you can tell that they’re both leos, but there’s also a certain energy about each of them that sets them apart from one another that’s SO fun to get into and explore!!!!!!!

[astoldbygingersnaps]

Harper’s 2020 Fic Wrap-Up

my very good friend and incredibly talented felow writer @sagemoderocklee came up with the idea of doing an end of the year fic wrapup in an attempt to polish the turd known as 2020, and since i actually managed to get some writing done this year i figured, why not jump on the bandwagon? 

a lot of super duper fucking shitty things happened in 2020, but i will always be proud that in this incredibly chaotic, stressful, and challenging year i managed to produce almost 180k of content (and that’s not even counting the writing i started in 2020 but haven’t published yet). so, to celebrate what’s been a pretty big achievement for me, i wanted to go through the various projects i’ve spent the last twelve months working on and give a preview of my plans for 2021.

let’s jump in!

projects i worked on/completed in 2020:

first off, let’s start with the beast to end all beasts, my personal baby, and honestly probably the reason most people follow me -- star trek au:

something bigger than the sky (shiita; 44,163 words; completed): 

i’ve said this before, but the whole idea for star trek au was literally just a joke between me and my-then girlfriend, now-fiancee, and eternal shiita enabler alexa aka @durintrash (by the way, if you follow me for my fics and you DON’T follow alexa for her corresponding art WHAT, exactly, are you doing with your life????) where i sat in a space-themed diner and said ‘haha imagine itachi as a vulcan.’ but then i blinked and suddenly somehow i’d written the prologue and the first chapter of SBTTS in the span of a week. it’s like i was possessed by a fanfic demon.

it sounds super cheesy but i honestly can’t say enough how important this fic has been to me and how much it’s pushed me to be a more productive and more dedicated writer. previously i spent a lot of time Thinking about writing and occasionally i’d put a few words on the page and then i’d go... do... something... else. but star trek au was the first idea i loved enough that it actually pushed me to write and keep writing and not give up even when i was confronted with things like writer’s block and worry over the quality of my writing. so thank you, star trek au, for being the light in a very dark year for me. 

by the end of SBTTS, i felt like i accomplished everything i wanted to do with the story’s beginning installment: i introduced all the characters and set the groundwork for their development; i showed what life on the corvus was like and how starfleet, the federation, and the universe functioned; and, more than anything, i was able to sketch out both the main protagonists -- itachi and shisui -- with all their strengths and flaws, show their relationship to one another, and hint at how that relationship would progress. 

all the stars are closer (shiita; 75,195 words; completed)

considering how slow i used to be at writing, i thought it would be, like, twelve years before i managed to get to the second part in the series. BUT then covid happened and i half-lost, half-quit my job, and like a lot of people this year i ended up with a lot of free time on my hands. and so, like a fucking demon, i finished this part in two and a half months. 

when i originally planned this part out, i really thought it would be a lot shorter and a lot lighter atmosphere-wise than it turned out. instead, this second section of the story ended up being pretty meaty in terms of length and in subject.

that said, overall, i’m really happy with how ATSAC turned out. i loved the way the characters progressed, how the relationships deepened, and how we were able to see this universe grow bigger and more complicated. and i’m very satisifed with how it set the stage for part three, which takes us to...

lovers alone wear sunlight (shiita; 41,518 words; in progress)

there’s... a lot about this part that i just can’t talk about yet, a) because it isn’t finished and b) because it contains some of the biggest plot points in the entire series thus far. if you’ve been keeping up with the stardates thus far (which i encourage you to do!) you know what part three is leading up to: itachi leaving the corvus and the dissolution of shisui and itachi’s growing relationship. 

with that in mind, i’m... more than a little terrified about writing part three, which is why the third chapter has been languishing in my google drive for months now. (and also why i started not one, but TWO new fics to cope with my writer’s block. whoops.) chapter three is where all the parts come together and shit hits the fan, and i can only hope that everyone will be as excited to read it as i am to publish it. 

next up, the two other projects i began this year:

salvation comes only in our dreams (shiita; canon divergence; 16,835 words; in progress)

for a long time, i’ve wanted to write something that’s actually set in the naruto universe and works to correct a lot of the flaws that i see in the series. there are a lot of things that bother me about naruto, but i think one of the things that frustrates me the most is the really messy and in some ways offensive resolution to the uchiha coup plot thread, and i wanted to write a story that dealt with the complicated themes of the series--imperialism, oppression, genocide, child soldiers--but, like, didn’t suck and completely drop the ball. thus, the massacre au was born. 

my main goal was to tell a story that showed a lot of these characters in ways we’ve never seen them before, specifically itachi. i didn’t want to write itachi as just an idealist who suffers and Suffers AND SUFFERS for konoha yet still remains loyal to the village for some unfathomable reason like he is in the series. i wanted to write an itachi that was sharper, more jaded, and more suspicious of the world around him, but overall was still a good person with a kind heart. and for shisui, well... obviously there’s a lot going on there, too. 

this is easily the darkest story i’ve ever written, and as the plot thickens it will certainly get darker with relationship dynamics that are complicated and unhealthy At Best. i hope that as the story goes on it’s a ride people continue to enjoy, as i was super pleasantly surprised at how popular this fic became (compared to my usual stats, at least) 

oceans between us (shiita; alternate universe; 15,039 words; in progress)

it’s good to know that i continue to be the most ridiculously niche version of myself as yes, i wrote a fucking shiita atonement au. 

with each fic i write i try to have a very specific voice that suits the particular piece and distinguishes it from other stories that include the same characters. for example, star trek au chapters tend to be more fun and light-hearted (especially shisui POV chapters) and lean more into the action movie and sci-fi adventure feel of the star trek universe, while the massacre au is written in a way that’s much heavier and guided by itachi’s emotions and experiences. my main goal with this story was to give it the same romantic, operatic, almost hazy quality that the movie has, which reflects the period setting and also the nature of this grand tragic love story. 

i knew from the beginning that there were going to be a lot of things that i cut from the film in my retelling, like the lola subplot and obviously the setting of pre-wwii england. i also knew i wanted to explore some of the aspects of the film that were implied more than outright stated, like the themes of classism and upper-class privileges. and more than anything i wanted to structure this piece around this idea of tension building and building until it finally snaps and there’s just a world of mess and hurt and loss that affects these two characters in two very different ways. 

also, the sex scene. i haven’t written a sex scene for anything in, like, a decade, so that was a lot of pressure. but i’m happy with how it came out and i think it ended up being an aspect of the story that felt like both a natural progression and necessary to show the affection these two people have for one another.

originally i was just going to end the story with shisui going to jail, but when i told alexa this i genuinely thought she was going to kill me. so, that didn’t happen lmao. but the more i tried to imagine what a second chapter would look like, the more i realized she was right, and it would have been a terrible idea to end the fic there. as for whether or not the final chapter will keep That Ending... who can say?

goals i have for 2021:

finishing lovers alone wear sunlight and, if i’m very lucky, beginning the fourth and second to last part of star trek au (yes, as it currently stands this 160k+ word series is only halfway finished. sorry not sorry)

publishing the next chapter of salvation comes only in our dreams (i don’t know when it will drop. i don’t know anything about this fic. please do not @ me) 

completing oceans between us (the second and final chapter is currently sitting at about 4k words and will probably end up at about 15k in total)

completing and publishing a new fic i’ve started at the very end of 2020, which is the shiita jurassic world au nobody but me and alexa knew they wanted. it’s essentially a 90s romcom with dinosaurs and i cannot Wait to share it. (it’s at about 9k right now and will probably end up being around 20k to 23k in total... maybe...)

FINALLY starting my dream project: the shiita olympics au i’ve been planning for years, where itachi is a figure skater and shisui is a hockey player (i’d like to keep this under 150k but at this point trying to keep my stories at a managable word count is a losing battle)

anyway, that’s it! if you managed to get this far in this very self-indulgent and shameless bit of self promotion, congrats! also, a very big thank you to everyone who’s read my fics, left me kudos and comments, and spent their time on my work, because it really does mean the world to me. 

here’s hoping 2021 is a much healthier and happier year for us all! 

[fligshaag]

im going to ramble for a sec, get ready y'all

i feel like im in the minority that enjoyed 3below more than Trollhunters. Not that i don't love Trollhunters, i do! It was the first show and I love the cast to bits, but unlike many in the fandom I didn't really relate to the characters that much. Like yeah, Jim's nervousness is relatable at times, but he wasn't super relatable to me. Even Claire, the hispanic character that's a total badass and who I enjoy a lot, didn't relate to me that much. I remember when i first finished Trollhunters i was nervous to start 3below since i didn't know what to expect or if it would do the cast I came to love justice. I already liked Aja and Krel from their first appearance in trollhunters, so I would have some familiar faces going into 3below, but the jump from this fantasy setting to the sci-fi setting scared me lil bit. But after a week i finally caved in and watched 3below, and holy shit I fucking loved it, looking back I feel dumb for putting it off for so long.

Aja and Krel are currently the most relatable characters in this series for me, like y'all, i cried tears for these kids, and that was like the second time i cried because of a tv show. The focus on the experiences immigrants have to go through, and how Aja and Krel have to adjust to this new environment, feeling like they don't belong and all that shit made me burst into fucking tears. Im a immigrant that moved to the us when i was a child, so to see some of the stuff that i had to endure happen to Aja and especially Krel broke my fucking heart. Not to say that since Aja and Krel, especially Krel, are latino coded, me being the dumbass latino that i am, i definitely latched unto them and projected myself unto them, godbless

They also have a good sibling dynamic that makes me soft,, 😔❤️ i just love them a lot, and if i were to put down all my feelings and thoughts about 3below then this will just be completely uncomprehensable. I definitely feel like 3below should've had another season, like Trollhunters had 3 seasons (or like 4 since im pretty sure the whole arc with Angor Rot was supposed to be it's own season), like there was so much that they could have explored, especially with the extra-terrestrial stuff, like Seklos and Gaylen. Im hoping they explain that in wizards, but who knows. Also, while both shows didn't have the preferred endings ( jim gets turned into a troll, and has to leave everything behind, while Aja and Krel lose their parents and end up separating in the end), 3below's ending didn't end up leaving a sour taste in my mouth like Trollhunters did ( i don't hate troll!jim but the way he came to be a troll left me bitter and uncomfortable for some reason, also i will forever hate merlin).

Im excited for wizards, but I'm trying not to have any big expectations of the show, since I don't want to hype something up in my head just to be disappointed when it doesn't happen. Not that I expect wizards to underperform and waste my time, I know that I will enjoy wizards, and only a few things that are unlikely to happen would lessen my enjoyment of the show. Im just going into wizards no thoughts, head empty. No theories so I can go completely blind. I've found that viewing something through a theorist lense just makes me more nervous for some reason lmao, not that I don't enjoy a good theory from time to time. Good thing I know nothing about Arthuriana lol

If you for some reason read all of this, tell me, what is your favorite show of this series and why