#honestly number 4 is just there for my own sake

[l0stfoster]

I would literally kill for everything abt cursed au paul. Like when does his redemption start, when and how do him and darry reconnect, does he ever open up abt his home life to darry or anyone else, how do the socs react to him getting close to darry (or the greasers for that matter by association) . I NEED EVERYTHINGGGGGG 🙏🙏🙏

I’m so glad someone likes him as much as I do I've had him on my brain for weeks OKAY YAP TIME!!

When does his redemption start

- Paul's redemption arc starts out preeetty slow and begins after his powers come to the surface again post-rumble, about 4-5 months later. It was being around such a large number of the cursed that flicked a trigger in his brain. He HAD his powers long before then and used them as a kid, but his mother tried to force him to forget about them with her own because she wanted this curse to die. - Dude has a panic attack when he discovers them because he's suddenly a part of this group of people he's hated ALL his life.. and then there's a very temporary god complex because he might have this curse but he's still a soc, he's not really one of those things, is he? He's still got superiority to them, so who cares if he's cursed as well.. and then his parents find out. - It's the same exact situation he had when he was a kid. His parents were already distant and abusive/neglectful but the magic just makes it worse. His mother tells him to his face that she wished she hadn't had him, and it's the first taste of just what the other cursed go through. He's obviously forced to hide his power from the public for the sake of their reputation, but it's how his own parents respond to this that makes him reflect.

When and how do he and Darry reconnect?

- Around a month after Paul discovers his powers, and it's purely an accident. They bump into each other in soc territory (Darry's birthday was coming up soon, and he wanted to visit an old cafe there he'd visit for nostalgia's sake, Paul was just trying to get out of the house for a while) and they're immediately beefing. Miraculously, though, they both had their sights on the same place and ended up directing inside, still bitching (in reality, neither of them could bring themselves to walk away). The poor workers had these two absolutely at each other's throats for hours. "I hate you and I wish you'd die" as Paul buys Darry's exact coffee order he memorized from years ago. "You're such an asshole." While Darry gives Paul the pieces of his muffin that he doesn't like but Paul enjoys. They leave with bitter wishes of hoping they never see each other again. - Weirdly enough, it keeps happening. This goes on regularly until it turns into making out in back alleys as a goodbye. When I said friends to enemies to enemies with benefits I meant it. They're practically dating but both have convinced themselves that it is casual and that they're just homies. This happens over like six months. Steve and Two find out during those months and kinda don't care, Pony and Dally are THE most offended by it. Soda and Ace are there like "I'm insulted but you're an adult, and you're not stupid, so I can't really tell you to stop?" - There's a lot more forced proximity when Paul gets kicked out and crashes at the Curtis' when sleeping in his car isn't viable.

Does he ever open up abt his home life to Darry or anyone else?

- Not willingly. There's the doodle where he gets drunk and yaps about it to Two and Dally, but that's the most he'd speak of it honestly for a long while. Darry definitely knows that the Holdens aren't exactly great people-- met them once during highschool & Paul's father is the police chief so he's already on thin ice. (yes I nabbed that from Born a Grease <3) - They meet again bc Paul needs to attend something related to the police department for reputation's sake (pre-kicked out) and Paul will only go if Darry's allowed to come. Darry gets another taste of how shitty they are there because they make a scene and Paul's powers are bought up and outed. Paul, defending Darry: "The curse doesn't make people a bad person-" Mr. Holden: "You're right, it makes them not people." Paul: "..Then what the hell does that make me?" Mrs. Holden, shouting: "It makes you wrong." - Paul will never really tell them straight up, but they can make assumptions pretty easily. He gets nightmares occasionally and gets pretty uncomfortable whenever the cops are mentioned due to his dad's relation to them. If he's drunk he'll shit-talk them, The dude's an alcoholic as a coping mechanism. I could see him maybe telling Darry, but it wouldn't be something he wanted to do. He thinks it makes him look pathetic. ( I made a what-if doodle where Paul's hair grows longer each time he overuses his power, and he has a fucking MELTDOWN when he looks in the mirror and sees his mom bc of the length. It's non canon, but it's silly to think about )

How do the socs react to him getting close to Darry (and the Greasers)?

- Paul's pretty much thrown into association with the greasers (and by proxy, all of the cursed) as eventually, word gets out that he was kicked out, alongside that he's cursed. He loses most of the soc friends he has, save for Cherry & Marcia due to their own associations (Randy wouldn't turn his back on him either, but for his own safety has to keep a distance publically.) - And since it's related, Paul and Cherry (maybe Marcia, but hers is 50/50 since she has no power) become free reign for getting jumped by other socs due to their powers & associations with the greasers. The girls target Cherry and vice versa for Paul, but we still haven't figured out how they do it without powers getting in the way. (Our running idea for Cherry is that her hands are bound so she can't spark & they butcher her hair so it can't either </3)

[ketchfantrolls]

im a jumble of anxiety and fear so im posting this just in case there are other people who feel the same anxiety that i do when it comes to sending other fantroll blogs asks

reblog this if you:

seriously do not mind if someone accidentally asks a repeat question

are fine with out of pocket questions (NOT weird questions, just shit that comes out of nowhere like "hey would [x] enjoy ball pits" or "hi [x] remember to take out the trash")

are fine with kind of "boring" questions ("how are you", "how are the quads", etc)

are okay with asks being sent to any muse on your muse list or page in general

these are all things that keep me from sending asks to people even though i really want to, so know that if you reblog this i will 100% be in your ask box asap

[queerfables]

Why all the crowd scenes look the same, aka: Something is WRONG in Soho

I'm not even gonna tease and draw this out because it's so cool it doesn't need the fanfare. Ready?

Season 2 takes place over the course of 5 days. During that time, most of the passersby in Soho - maybe even all of them - stay exactly the same. It's the same people every day, wearing the exact same clothes, and they wander through the neighbourhood in paths that don't make any sense. You won't be able to unsee it. I can't believe it's taken us this long to realise.

Don't believe me? Rewatch the scene from 2x03, I Know Where I'm Going where Shax confronts Crowley outside the bookshop, appearing in a series of different guises. Pay attention to the people going past.

I've marked out five people you see on screen when Crowley first exits the bookshop at 39:37:

Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are following the path right. Number 4 follows the path left. Number 5 crosses the road.

Here the five people are again, at 40:19, when Crowley goes to return to the bookshop:

Number 5 is still visible in the distance, in the direction she walked in. This makes sense! But numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 are rounding the same corner they just passed. It's as though 1, 2 and 3 all decided to turn and head back the way they came just 40 seconds ago, and number 4 has circled the block to join them.

This on its own would be super weird, but they're not the only people to do that in this scene. The man in the purple sweater from the first picture crosses the road, then appears back next to the bookshop, then starts walking back the way he came again.

Here's the part that made me absolutely certain, though. At 40:05, a man wearing an orange hoodie with blue sleeves walks past Crowley, who is heading towards the bookshop entrance.

The camera cuts to a view from behind Crowley, and a moment later, at 40:08...

He reappears in front of Crowley and walks past him again.

It's such a distinctive outfit, there's no mistaking it. They are absolutely fucking with the background characters and they are absolutely doing it on purpose.

Your turn. There are at least three other characters in this scene who pass by multiple times. Watch it again and try to spot them.

This scene is really chaotic and obvious, but the phenomena I'm talking about is much bigger than just one scene. Let's go back to the first thing I said: the background characters don't change. All our leads do. Maggie and Nina wear distinctive outfits, clearly demarcating each new day. Even Crowley and Aziraphale, who in season 1 were like cartoon characters with wardrobes full of identical clothing, vary their looks. Crowley changes his (very subtly) each day; Aziraphale is less rigid on timing, but he has a few different coats that he switches between. The background characters, on the other hand, wear the same outfits every single day. They walk by on the street but they never actually seem to have a destination. They sit in the coffee shop or pub and don't eat or drink anything, and nearly everyone leaves together exactly on closing time. It's eerie.

For reference's sake, here's a rough timeline of season 2, with pictures of Maggie and Nina's outfits to show the passing of time. I had to outsource this section because my post was too image heavy, lol. The main point I wanted to make is that five days go by.

Five days, and all the same faces keep showing up in the background, and almost none of them change their clothes. I'm not entirely sure what it means, but there's no way it's an accident. It might, in fact, be a game changer. To me this is proof positive that something is not as it seems. I've been a massive Clue skeptic, adamant that I'd only be convinced by the most unambiguous evidence, and honestly? This is enough to move the dials. It's too big for me to ignore. Whatever grand explanation of Good Omens we come up with has to account for this. I don't have it yet, but my current working theories are that Crowley and Aziraphale are under some seriously heavy surveillance, that time warping is involved, or that reality itself is not what it seems.

It would take a really long time for me to go through all of the background characters who turn up over and over but I do want to show you what I'm talking about. To wrap up, then, I'm going to pick out some memorable characters and walk you through a few of their appearances through the week. I highly recommend looking out for this yourself on your next rewatch and seeing how many other characters you can recognise.

Yellow Skirt

The first person I kept coming back to as being not quite right. You probably remember her from the first episode - she's the one who waves and walks past Maggie and Nina the night they're locked in together. Incidentally, she's also Person Number 3 in the scene with Shax.

Day 1 (2x01 - 36:20):

Day 2 (2x02 - 42:03)

Day 3 (2x03 - 06:36)

Day 5 (2x06 - 30:00)

Coolest Leather Jacket In The World

It's not so easy to recognise people wearing lots of nondescript dark colours, but I love his hair and his jacket, so he stood out to me. I think there might be a lot more people who are wearing fairly nondescript clothes who I just can't recognise from episode to episode.

Day 2 (2x02 - 16:44)

Day 4 (2x04 - 41:20)

Day 5 (2x06 - 29:20)

Dressed In Mustard

Ms Mustard shows up everywhere. If you want to see what I mean about their paths not making sense, pay attention when she comes on screen, because she'll often show up a few times in succession and walk very purposefully to nowhere in particular. The thing that she is doing, essentially, is behaving like an extra in a tv show. Which of course she is, but you're supposed to make that invisible by not having the same person go back and forth in the same scene, or changing up their outfit each in-universe day to give the sense time is passing. Not doing that is a really deliberate choice.

Day 1 (2x01 - 22:37)

Day 2 (2x02 - 42:03)

Day 3 (2x03 - 01:49)

Day 3 (2x03 - 37:07)

Day 5 (2x06 - 29:59)

Swishy Dress

This character shows up a lot in the first episode. I've struggled to find her in later episodes, though. None of the characters seem to follow the same patterns or show up to equal extents each day, which makes me think this isn't a straightforward time loop. I haven't actually cross referenced character appearances to in world times, though. Possibly this is a project for someone who's more across the time-related shenanigans than me.

Day 1 (2x01 - 22:43)

Day 3 (2x03 - 07:01)

Yellow Vest

I've only seen this guy a handful of times, always around the French restaurant. I wonder if there's significance to that.

Day 2 (2x02 - 41:06)

Day 4 (2x05 - 12:49)

Fuzzy Blue Coat

Another background character who shows up frequently. The blue doesn't stand out quite as much as the yellows and reds some characters wear, but it's very distinctive.

While we're getting a lot of shots of the street, it's worth noting that I'm pretty sure the vehicles we see are also just the same few cars repeating each day. A lot of them are in neutral silvers and monochrome, but there's a couple of blue cars, one red, and one black and white that I'm fairly sure I've seen over and over through the season.

Day 1 (2x01 - 22:45)

Day 2 (2x02 - 42:04)

Day 3 (2x03 - 02:00)

Day 5 (2x06 - 40:10)

Day 5 (2x06 - 48:56)

Day 5 (2x06 - 50:06)

One final note: Whatever this is, Nina's employee who you see in the background at the coffeeshop sometimes isn't affected by it. He's wearing different outfits each day. On the other hand, some of the other shopkeepers do seem affected. I'm fairly sure Mr Brown and Mrs Sandwich wear the same outfits a few different days, only changing because of Aziraphale at the ball.

And that's it! Thanks for reading and I hope your mind is blown as much as mine is.

EDIT:

Hey I don't mind anyone pointing out production reasons that this might be the case or disagreeing with my analysis (over-analysis, some might say 😉). Please be kind about it, though. I'm not ignorant of the practical limitations involved in film making, but some of these costumes were really distinctive in a way I thought might be intended to draw attention.

For those of you who do find this theory convincing, I feel I should mention that I was working under the assumption that this stuff would have taken a few days to film, even filming it all together. That would strongly suggest that the actors were deliberately costumed the exact same way over multiple days of shooting, which made me think it had to be purposeful. @coranax was kind enough to point out, though, that behind the scenes videos said the extras were filmed separately to the main actors because of Covid protocols. In that case, they could have done it in just one day and that weakens my confidence in its intentionality.

Finally, all of my points about the scene with Shax in 2x03 stand. That was not a case of accidental continuity errors, it was really elegantly choreographed to enhance the tension in the scene. I say that with confidence because the extras are doing exactly what Shax is doing: circling Crowley, appearing where he doesn't expect them, creating a whirlwind sense of being off balance and out of control. I think it's really cool and effective, whether there's a deeper meaning to it or not.

[thalialunacy]

[for the @calaisreno May Prompts Tour, which affords me the opportunity to be supremely self-indulgent]

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) 13: laugh (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31)

Is this still the number for John Watson?

John pauses, thumb hovering. Before he can choose a response, another message flashes in.

It's Harry

He nearly drops the phone. Or maybe he nearly throws it against the wall. Hard to say. 

His reflex to caretake wars with his lingering resentment of her absence. But he knows he would regret ignoring an olive branch… or whatever this is.

Hi

Everything okay?

No small talk, got it

Yes I'm fine, good in fact

and no I'm not going to ask you for money

He breathes in deeply.

I'm glad things are going well for you

And he is, at least in the abstract.

Thanks

I know this is the part where I'm supposed to ask how you are

But you know I'm pants at texting

Can we just have coffee or something?

John taps his phone to his lip absently and considers his options. A public reunion seems like it could be a volatile mistake, not to mention it's 7pm on a weekday. Sherlock is at the lab, Rosie is having her after-supper blanket time, and John is catching up on charting.

And to be honest, he's pretty bored.

Come to mine for tea?

Harry's three dots wibble for a while, which John supposes is fair.

Right now?

With my schedule, I have to take opportunities where I can

Okay, yeah, I'm free

He sends her the address, feeling both pleased and annoyed. One would think that hitting his own rock bottom would make him more sympathetic towards his sister. But really, it just piles helpless anger on top of guilt on top of anger, ad nauseum.

He's not even sure she knows he's a father, for Christ's sake.

Turns out, she doesn't. She walks through the door he holds open for her, and stops abruptly when she sees Rosie. 'Oh my God,' she breathes, staring. 'Oh my God. You--' She turns to John, eyes wide. 'She-- Johnny. She's yours?'

He nods, and despite everything, he feels his face curve into a proud smile. 'Her name's Rosie.'

'Can I--' Harry indicates the blanket with a sharp movement. 'Can I say hello to her?'

'Yeah, course.' He follows her, and folds himself down behind Rosie. 'Sweetheart, this is your Aunt Harry.'

Harry makes a bit of a squawking noise, probably at the 'aunt' bit, but tamps it down. 'Hi, Rosie,' she manages, her voice rough but determined. 'It's lovely to meet you. What are you playing with?'

'Avocados,' Rosie mostly manages to say, then holds one up for Harry without hesitation. Harry takes it with a giggle, and before long they're thick as thieves with a pile of emoting avocados between them.

Harry glances up at him when there's a lull. 'So. The dad life is treating you well, yeah?'

He hesitates, then nods. 'It is now.'

She eyes him, but doesn't ask about what came before now. Instead, she says, 'I'm just going to ask, alright -- who's the other parent?'

He raises an eyebrow. 'Why d'you say there is one?'

Her eyes twinkle. 'Because you do not have the fashion sense to have bought her this outfit. Your bird rich, then?'

He coughs. 'Well. No.'

She waits, though he can see she's trying not to be annoyed by his reticence. She's never understood people wanting to keep things private. 'No?'

'My… flatmate. He's able to buy her things I don't give a toss about, yeah.'

She blinks. 'You have a gay flatmate?'

John feels his ears heat up. 'I do, yeah.'

She seems weirdly impressed. 'You've come a long way from being a rugby lad, haven't you?'

He snorts. 'I'm learning how to do plaits, if you'll believe it.'

'She's not got enough hair for that yet.'

'Sherlock--the flatmate--insists it's a useful skill, though I've no idea why.'

She doesn't reply, and he looks up from where he's helping Rosie with her current avocado. 'What?' he asks, though he knows it's useless. Harry is no Sherlock but honestly, she doesn't have to be, because his emotions have always been written all over his face. It's a curse and a blessing.

'Oh holy shit,' she breathes out.

'Language,' he admonishes reflexively.

'Sorry, I mean-- Holy noses, Johnny.'

'Don't be smug.'

'Oh, I take no credit for this, I always knew the overcompensating locker room talk was hiding something.'

He rolls his eyes, but his lips are twitching. 'Yeah, insecurity about willy size.'

'Okay, ew, first of all. Second of all-- What the--' He gives her a warning look. 'Ever-loving heck.'

'Short version?' She nods quickly. He decides to also give her the slightly-less-mad-sounding version. 'Got married, got pregnant, had baby, wife passed away, realised I had feelings for my flatmate. Who is a man. And who is effectively fathering my child.'

She claps her hand over her mouth, and for a moment he fears she's going to cry, but then realises she's laughing.

'Oi, that's just not on,' he protests.

'But it's ridiculous!' She holds out a hand to him placatingly, speaking through continued laughter. 'It's lovely and sad and all that, but you have to admit--'

There are tears escaping the corners of her eyes, and he feels it begin to bubble up in his chest, too. Her laugh has always been a thing of beauty, of loud, annoying, contagious, unforgettable beauty, and he can't help it.

And she's right, really. It is kind of ridiculous.

He lets out his own laugh, finally, and reaches for her hand.

[❤️]

[leaderoffestivals]

Mikejima Madara FS2 4*: On a Wintery Street Corner in Paris

Madara: PLEASE PARDON THE INTRUSIOOON ☆ Shu: GEH—? Mi—Mikejima… …!? What in the world are you doing here!?

Season: Winter Author: Yuumasu Characters: Mikejima Madara, Itsuki Shu

Shu: Nnngh… … Yawn~...

(Because of the consecutive all-nighters I’ve pulled—or perhaps due to the immense relief I felt at having delivered the final products—I ended up sleeping soundly until well past noon.

Umu. Fortunately, there’s plenty of lead time before the next job is due. I will need to prioritise a proper rest in order to achieve the perfect results. 

Perhaps, I could take a stroll and clear my head—)

Madara: PLEASE PARDON THE INTRUSIOOON ☆

Shu: GEH—? Mi—Mikejima… …!? What in the world are you doing here!?

Hmph! Cease this tomfoolery of yours, and get yourself gone this instant! The last thing I’d want is for a barbarian like you to be rampaging around my atelier!

Madara: Hahaha! What a nostalgic exchange of words!

I recall having a similar conversation with you back in the day when we were both in Yumenosaki Academy! It was about the Museum (1), if I remember correctly—

Shu: NON! I have no intention of reminiscing about Yumenosaki with you!

You came here for a reason, did you not? State your business quickly, and in as few words as possible. 

Madara: My business, huh~? What if I told you it's “Nothing at all”?

Shu: (glares) … … … …

Madara: Sorry, sorry! I was just kidding, alright? Please stop with the death glare already!

Actually, I’m here because Leo-san asked me for a favour. 

Shu: Hmm? Because of Tsukinaga… …?

Madara: Yes. Apparently, he’s been treating the pen case that Shu-san gave him like a precious treasure, however—

He was so focused on caring for the case, that he left all his writing stuff behind in this atelier. 

Shu: So that’s the reason he ended up taking just the pen case home with him? He’s quite the amazing fellow for doing that, honestly. 

And what about you? Did you really come all this way to Paris just for Tsukinaga’s forgotten items?

Madara: Nope. It just so happened I had some business in Europe, so I just dropped by. 

Shu: “Just dropped by”—you say? Even though “Europe” can be expressed as a single word, it’s still not a place you can travel about hither and yon on a whim and fancy. 

Anyway, Tsukinaga’s belongings aren’t here anymore. The other day, I happened to send some parcels to Seisoukan, so I slipped his forgotten items in as well. That’s where they are now. 

For heaven’s sake. Anyone and everyone seems to be carelessly leaving their things behind lately. They’re travelling abroad after all; I’d really wish they’d be more careful!

Madara: I agree. The language and culture are different here, so one shouldn’t assume that things will be the same as back home in Japan. It’s better to be more careful in the end.

However, I believe the reason people always leave their stuff behind in Shu’s atelier is because they feel so much at home here, you knowww ♪

Shu: Hmph. I’m not happy to hear that at all. This place isn’t a playground, you know. 

It looks like you've made a wasted trip. Will you be leaving Paris right away?

Madara: Nope. I’ve got some time before my flight, so I’ll relax and enjoy myself till then. 

… … Hmmm? Why are you all dressed up for?

Are you heading out? If so, I’d absolutely love to tag along ☆

Shu: Hmph. Forget it. Being with you, Mikejima, doesn’t exactly spell rest and relaxation for me. 

Madara: Haha! Oh, come on, don’t say that! As the saying goes, “No road is long in good company”, and two people will have more fun together than when they’re on their own, you knowww ♪

<An hour later.>

Shu: Umu. It seems there’s a flea market held here during the weekends. 

Madara: Oooh. What a classic Parisian scene~

You may already know this, but the origins of the flea market started right here in Paris. 

It is said that the name came from the fact that ‘antiques could be found in such sheer numbers, it was likened to a gathering of fleas’.

Shu: Urk. Please spare me your detailed description. I already knew about the name’s origins from long ago, and simply imagining it as you have described it makes my back itch. 

Besides, there are other theories about the origin of the name. 

Personally, I much prefer the idea that the name came about because of "the thrill which comes from the time and effort spent hunting for hidden treasures here, which are as elusive as fleas.”

Madara: The thrill of a long hunt, huh? Indeed, the accomplishment you feel when you locate a hidden treasure is reeeally something special!

Madara: … … Oh, what's this? It seems I have found something good right away!

Yes, yes! This piece of pottery will be perfect to display some plants ☆

Shu: Humu. Is gardening a hobby of yours? 

Madara: No, I wouldn’t exactlyyy call it a hobby, but—

I’m not sure who started it, but my dorm room is full~ of plants. I myself add in new ones occasionally too.  

Madara: [Excuse me, Shopkeeper! I’m interested in this piece of pottery here—]

Shu: (... … Hoho. His French seems pretty good, from all that time spent abroad. The best part of the flea market is the haggling over the price. It’s a battle of wits on how skilfully one can negotiate… …) <Ten minutes later.>

Madara: HEYYYY! I’m baaack, Shu-san!

I’m sooo sorry to have kept you waiting. Things got reeeally lively with the shopkeeper, and our conversation got carried away!

Shu: It’s alright, I don’t mind. I’m glad you got what seems to be a good deal. 

It’s really none of my business what happens to you, but witnessing someone I know get ripped off doesn’t sit right with me.

Madara: Ufufu. Have you been worried about me, Shu-san? You’re sooo kind… … ♪

Shu: Oh, for heaven’s sake. Stop jumping to weird conclusions. I simply did not wish to have an unpleasant experience. 

Madara: Hahaha! Even so, it made me reeeally happy ♪

And since I managed to score a good deal just now, I’ll give you a treat as a thank you for waiting!

Please recommend a local specialty, Shu-san!

Shu: Hmmm… … In that case, how about “Marron Chaud”—or roasted chestnuts?

It’s a winter specialty that’s sold all over town at this time of the year.

Madara: Hoho! That sounds great. It seems like it’ll warm the body up too!

There’s the scent of something reeeally fragrant coming from over there. Let’s go grab some right now… … ☆

Translator’s Notes: 1) (!) era story, Steampunk Museum.

[harrytheehottie]

THE FIVE TIMES YOU KNEW LOVE ON TOUR SCRAPBOOK

thank you for creating this fun challenge @harrystylesgotmefuckedup and to @oh-honey-styles for tagging me <3

1) Which tour stop was your favorite?

London is always the best because it’s home. I also loved Tokyo, Harry went there a few years back and always talked about it and it was sweet to see the city from the POV of someone who loves it so much. We had a few days off before and after the shows so we were able to play tourists which is always fun. 

2) Tour fits! Which was your number one?

Hmmmm… this is hard but the last Wembley show. Heart overalls with no shirt. Delicious.

3) Harry's performed numerous covers on tour. If you had to choose, which has been his best for you? Which song would be a dream cover?

Hopelessly Devoted. I tried to get him to do Summer Lovin’ or really lean into the Danny Zucko of it all and go full Grease Lightin' but luckily for me - I still got what I wanted just a little bit after the show.

4) Lucky you, you've got access to any piece of Harry's merch you'd like. What are you choosing?

Our custom gazelles. That was my idea! It started with the custom final show shirts from the 2018 tour and now every end of tour run he comes up with something unique to give to all the band and crew.

5) Choose your favorite bathroom sign from Love on Tour

Kiwee. I still use it to this day!

6) Which opening act has been your favorite?

Wolf Alice! That was a special request from me - I showed Harry their music back in 2016. If I had a choice they’d be the openers from the very start.

7) You can add any of Harry's songs to the set list from any of his past albums. Which one?

Ever Since New York. You should've seen my reaction when he played it on NYC Night 15. He didn't give me any heads up. I was floored.

8) What are your very own essentials for being away from home on tour?

My work computer and film camera.

9) What's Harry like on tour? Any memorable moments, favorite crowd interactions?

I've been lucky enough to be with Harry through every tour in his career even through the tail end of the band. And I can honestly say this is the most relaxed I have ever seen him on a tour. He has his schedule down to a science. He wakes up in the morning after letting himself have a 'lie-in' (usually is up by 9 which to me is not a lie in but for a man who usually wakes up at 6 it is) we have breakfast together always. It’s a must. And then he’s off to the arena by mid-day while I work but I always make sure to get to the arena early so we can watch the opener together. And then I give him his space to do his ~rituals~ and watch the show from the back or the bleachers. One fun fact that not many would know is as soon as he gets out of a show and back to the hotel or home it’s straight to the treadmill to perform the show through one more time. So it’s a good 90 minutes before he’s in bed again. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

10) In honor of Harry's 30th birthday: Harry played at Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms, CA on his 29th birthday. Aside from the show, how did the two of you celebrate?

This was nice because I didn’t have to actually plan the party! We had an afters at the arena filled with lots of cake from Hansen’s. We snuck into the golf course at the Madison once we got back to where we were staying - a very drunk yet memorable decision.

this was so fun ❤️ im going to upload more of this story but it’s nice to just see them through the years this way as well. tagging @didhewinkback @for-fucks-sake-h @gucciwins @andwhenshesays @harry-on-broadway @hslllot 🤪 and honestly anyone who writes and want to do one of these !!!!

[lenakluthor]

so i was thinking about how when everyone lost their minds last night about taylor dropping 31 total songs, my gut reaction was to be like “i mean, albums used to regularly have 20-23 songs that’s like a deluxe edition” and it just hit me that the same thing is happening to music that is happening to television.

tv series used to have 21-22 episodes a season. they played weekly and usually only took breaks for the summer and the holidays. you had time to live with it, share it, bond over it. now we get 8 episode seasons with 3-4 years in between.

albums used to have 20-22 songs on them. now it’s 12-13. and honestly, most people just release singles on their own and sometimes once they’re mostly all out, put it together in an album.

why? because these days, everything has to be A Hit. you can’t make art for the sake of making art. tv can’t just be fun anymore. music has to go viral. everything has to have an impact. everything has to make money. nothing can breathe and live and grow. it costs less to make less, but you have to be making MORE money in the process. it’s about numbers and how many streams and sales and views and subs you can get. it’s all about profit.

when did art stop being art?

[swaps55]

Swaps! Master of povs. Any advice on writing multiple pov-fics? I'm working on a multi chapter fic that would thrive if it was written in multi povs, alas, that's hard and I don't know where to start. Any thoughts about the process, or any chance you have already answered such an ask before and can link me that? (as always: love your writing. It's gold. Thank you for letting us be part of your journey.)

Oh, yesssssss, I live for multiple POVs! Thank you for the kind words!

Now, keep in mind, I wheel and deal in multiple POVs. For me there is no such thing as too many, which I am sure a lot of others would disagree with, and I don’t think you see it used and abused in published work the way I do it. But hey, I’m writing for free, and my fic in particular is predicated on the idea that every POV is on the table except for the main character, and I will use whatever POV I need to center the one POV I can’t have.

What a lot of sensible people will do is settle on a fixed number of POVs, say, 2-4, they’re willing to rotate through and try and distribute them somewhat equally. The Expanse series does this, for example. So one way to do it is to think about the story you want to tell and select your POV carousel based on who you think you will get the most mileage out of. If you have a story taking place in different locations simultaneously, you probably need a POV character for each. If you are looking at two different sides to the same story, you probably need POVs that are antagonistic to each other.

Or you can be like me and use whatever POV seems most useful at the time, no matter how many it winds up being in the end.

With the caveat that rules are made to be broken, and I am writing this as more of a peek into what I do vs a treatise on the right and wrong ways to do it, this is a breakdown of some of the exercises I work through when choosing and working in multiple POVs.

Be thoughtful about whose POV you want and why. One of the benefits of multiple POVs is that you can get wildly different perspectives on the same series of events. Different characters see the world differently. They notice different things. They interact with their world differently. These are things you can use to your advantage, and act as tools to tell your story. One of my favorite things to do is use the POV of a character who absolutely would not clock the important takeaway I’m after in a scene, but the things they notice and observe make the reader able to clock it. What that character experiences might be very different from what the reader experiences. I’ll often ask myself, ‘what does this character give me that another character wouldn’t in this scene, and why is that important?’

Spend time sitting between the ears of your chosen POV character to get a feel for how they see the world. I usually wind up marinating in a character’s head for a while before I dive into their POV for the first time. What state of mind are they in when we meet them? What’s important to them? What are they thinking about? What drives them? How can you use those drivers to connect back to your central narrative? You'll see a character you think you already know in a whole different light if you spend the time you need to really think about these questions, how to answer them, and what that means for the story. You’ll be really glad you did it.

Treat the POV character as the hero of their own story. One of the struggles and rewards of working in multiple POVs, especially POVs who are not a main character, is that those POVs have to work on two levels: they have to further the plot/character arcs of the main characters while honoring the motivations and goals of the POV character. It can be really difficult to find the right way to line both these things up, but it’s worth doing. If you just write a POV character in service of the main character/plot, it falls flat. (This is honestly true of any character, POV character or not, but for the sake of this post we’re focused on POV.) I’ve done a lot of agonizing over how to center a POV’s character’s own narrative within a larger context. Your character doesn’t know they are in a story. They don’t know they aren’t necessarily the main character. That’s where multiple POVs can really shine: by letting that character have their own agency within a bigger narrative, you can add a lot of depth.  

Make your POV shifts clear and easy to follow. This can mean sticking to a single POV per chapter, or using a clear scene break if you’re switching within a chapter. Establish your new POV as quickly as possible so your reader doesn’t get lost or confused. I could go into a whole other discussion about head hopping and multiple POVs vs. omniscient POV, but that’s getting off track.

Have fun and be creative! If you’re wheeling and dealing like I am, sometimes POVs you never would have considered otherwise can offer you a totally new perspective. My “No Main Character POV Rule” led me to try the POV of a character I never would have otherwise tried, and it has dramatically shaped the story in some really powerful ways. Don’t be afraid to try something off the beaten path!

I hope any of that helps. I love multiple POVs. The kaleidoscope of perspectives it offers is such a fantastic tool that I really love using, and I hope you have a lot of fun with it!!!!!!

[oboetemasuka]

"I Love You" and "The Purge March" comparison

If you recall my Amane and Mahiru mashups, you might have noticed that I included everything from the second, softer "chorus" onwards. (I called it a "prechorus" in "I Love You", but anyway)

How well would the entire songs mash up together? (For the sake of my own sanity, I won't actually be mashing them up)

(I'll reblog with relevant links eventually) (edit: I realized I missed the second "zettai zettai zettai"... I put that in. It's five bars)

Intro/Verse 1:

I Love You: 20 bars - 4 in opening instrumental; the fourth bar is only 3 beats - 8 bars in the first two stanzas - 2 bars that are honestly quite disorienting - 6 bars in the rest of the verse

The Purge March: 26 bars - 2 bars drum rolloff - 8 in intro - 8 in verse 1 - 8 in prechorus

Prechorus/Chorus/Postchorus:

I Love You: 16 bars (8 in (pre?) chorus, 8 in (post?) chorus)

The Purge March: 16 bars (8 in chorus, 8 in postchorus)

Verse 2:

I Love You: 25 bars - 8 bars of instrumental - 8 bars of singing - 8 bars of the verse 1 rap (the "ishokujuu" stanzas) - 1 bar of siren

The Purge March: 13 bars - 8 bars of verse (the latter four are the first verse, spoken) - 5 bars of prechorus

Last Prechorus/Chorus/Postchoruses:

(From this point on, I already did the mashup. They're the same number of bars)

I Love You: 32 bars - 8 bars of the softer (pre?) chorus - 8 bars of the last (pre?) chorus (new lyrics!) - 8 bars of (post?) chorus (DAI DAI DAI DATTE SUKI SUKI) - 8 more bars of (post?) chorus (Sorry about that, it's just so catchy)

The Purge March: 32 bars - 8 bars of the softer chorus - 8 bars of the last chorus (new lyrics!) - 8 bars of postchorus - 8 bars of postchorus (new lyrics!)

In conclusion:

If you wanted to do a full mashup, First, account for the key changes. The first verse of "I Love You" is in C minor (3 flats). The verses of "The Purge March" are in E major (4 sharps). Everything else is in G Major and has a similar chord progression, which is perfect for mashups. The beginning would be difficult to sync, but you could block Mahiru's lines into Amane's intro/verse 1 or verse 1/prechorus. The chorus is pretty straightforward. For the second verse, you could put Amane's first verse in front of the second verse to give the same effect as Mahiru's second verse. And I've already made the last bit.

But I feel like such a mashup would be very, very cursed.

[faeriekit]

Questions for Fic Writers ✏📝💻

@chromatographic tagged me! ...And then I was at work and forgot about it by the time I got to my laptop! Sorry 😅

How many works do you have on Ao3?

My works tab claims the number to be twenty two, but at least one is a screen-reader-friendly duplicate of a Percy Jackson themed Reskin of Kids on Brooms, so it's more like...twenty one. I'd also take off of Blister Pack one-shots because they're tiny but they are one shots and those are technically valid, so...

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

355,110. Thank you, Blister Pack and Trade of Trickery!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Naruto.

...So I what I usually write and what I actually publish to ao3 are pretty different 😅 I've been doing a bunch of dp x dc fics as of late, and one dc x marvel fic, but if left to my own devices, I go back to Star Wars and Naruto and a lot of Naruto, and I have a surprising word count on a Supernatural fic which is odd considering I've never actually finished an episode of the show before.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

No idea! Lemme look:

#5: Dig Three Graves in Apartment 31C. A spooky and classic contender!

#4: The Firstborn Son. My excuse for writing a almost-canon dp x dc fairy story!

#3: The Haunting of Drake Manor. Nice 😎 You may have noticed, but I'm a sucker for baby fic.

#2: You know 'em, you love 'em, it's The Health and Wellbeing of Hybrid Entities! Who doesn't love a dissection recovery fic?

#1: Which leaves, of course, Blister Pack to reign supreme o'er the ao3 account. Who's shocked? Not me.

5. Do you respond to comments?

...there's 1,900 in my inbox right at this moment.

I want to. I love responding to comments. but it's just not feasible in the way I want it to be, and that blows.

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

Patchwork Memories! I don't think this counts because it was just a snippet, but, you know. Angst for the sake of angst n' all that.

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

Blister Pack!! Find joy in packing up and getting the fuck out of there! Who needs 'em?? Hit the bricks!!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've received stuff I honestly consider worse than hate, which is people who believe that I should think exactly what they think and write the fic as they believe canon should be interpreted, but here is the funniest exchange I've ever had on any fic ever:

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

Once. I will occasionally write stuff for myself, but the reviews on the one posted smut chapter were generally that it was very, very funny. This does not give me much feedback to work off of lmao

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

The answer to both questions are dp x dc and also dp x dc. And that's generally tame as far as crossovers go.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. 👀

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of! 👀 But I'd be way more amenable to that than thievery lmao.

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

I would never bog someone down with my symptoms disorder. I don't trust me enough to be helpful in any creative endeavor ever

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I don't believe in genuine OTPs, but whatever Desiree!Janet and Bruce have going on in Drake Manor is hysterical to me. I hope they get divorced and then break up and then get back together and then break up again.

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

I want to finish Trade of Trickery. I think it will take time. But I am determined to do it. We're halfway through the Sea of Monsters and I am delusional enough to think I can make it if I just power through in some distant future

16. What are your writing strengths?

I am the recipient of divine visions which keep me going. The hard part is staying consistent when I lose steam.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I am the recipient of divine visions which keep me going. The hard part is staying consistent when I lose steam.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Google translate is my friend, and I don't necessarily believe in providing translations. There's no irl subtitles. If the characters are meant to understand, I'll leave stuff around to make the context and content clear, but like, no creo que es necesario en todos situaciónes.

19. First Fandom you wrote for?

...Naruto...maybe...? No I'm wrong. It was Fairy Cube. My first divine visions/early fic thoughts were from Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series and my first fandom I actually wrote/published fic for was Fairy Cube. Don't ask what account it was on. I borrowed my friend's ffn account. I don't remember the username anymore.

20. Favorite Fic you’ve written?

....hoo boy. Tie for Quiet Respite and Trade of Trickery. I love Comets and Drake Manor has a special place in my heart, but QR feels uniquely mine in ways that my dp x dc fics sometimes don't, and Trickery really is a love story about Sally Jackson and forgotten Demigod kids. Nothing else hits. Nothing else is the same. It's about collecting what you can in your hands and taking it with you.

@newgraywolf @cyrwrites @mysterycyclone @songue85 Anyone else want to play?

Thanks for asking, Chroma! It only took...what, a week, two weeks, to finally get to it?

[cuubism]

wip update

since I have a good number of actively-posting WIPs that some lovely people have been very kind about and invested in (and which I am very slow in updating), I figured it might be only polite to post a little update on where those are.

the melting press of the sun (dreamling) - Never intended this as a longfic, there may or may not be more than the 2 chapters it has now. I have a bit more written but it's disjointed and incomplete. I intentionally didn't leave any brutal cliffhangers on what I did post for this reason. We'll see if that one comes back.

Deja vu, Deja connu (dreamling) - The slowness in updating probably belies how deeply emotionally invested I actually am in this fic. Chapter three is just a major challenge--it's very long, covers a lot, has lots of fluff in the first part (fluff is kinda my Achilles heel, though not quite as much as wedding scenes, which this chapter also has) and a lot of heavy content later. But I have the whole fic outlined, a bunch of chapter 4 and 5 written in advance, and I'm super excited about the stuff that comes later, so it will definitely be finished, just... slowly. At least for this chapter.

In Waking Dreams (dreamling) - My current priority for an update. Chapter 4 just hit 10k and will probably hit 15k before its done (god help me), and I feel somewhat obliged to finish chapter 5 as well so I can post them in quick succession. Chapter 4 necessarily ends on a cliffhanger as it catches up to the events of chapter 3, but I feel bad about two cliffhangers in a row. But that one soon, I hope. (chapter 5 has a lot of the juiciest, long awaited scenes promised by the fic's premise, so I hope you will like that one when it's finally done 😅)

IRL (malec) - Fic that I have a tendency to get stuck on for 15 months, then write a ton of all at once, repeat. But I actually picked it up again the other day for the first time in ages, and I think I know all of the events of the chapter now, so who knows! Maybe I'll actually manage an update!

Subject: I Love You (malec) - Fic that I shamefully left with ONE CHAPTER remaining for a full year now. Honestly not sure why. Someday I will pick it up tho, I swear to god, or maybe I'll just cut the chapter short and make it an epilogue. (Actually maybe I do know why. It's another damn proposal/wedding scene. My absolute weakness and failure, I should stop writing them entirely)

mind & heart, body & soul (malec) - This fic haunts me, it follows me around 24/7 like a vengeful spirit that can't find rest. I can't wrangle it back into making any sense in my head, but for the sake of both my own sanity and the story's frankly frightening number of readers (I love you but you scare me), I've been trying to do one final chapter to offer some kind of wrap-up. Hopefully I can manage it.

Leviathan (malec) - My long held passion project that I have, in classic form, not touched in months. In fact I've been stuck on the same chapter I'm on now since probably 2020, when I first started writing the fic. This particular middle part of the fic is just vexing me to no end. At some point, I will decide on a course of action, inevitably flawed, and just power through that chapter (I say, for the 2nd year in a row). Why did I give this story two big villains again? Or think having a whole separate story arc in the middle of the fic was a good idea? Ah well.

in the palm of your hand (malec) - The one and only multichapter I finally caved and marked abandoned. I learnt my lesson with this fic about letting a oneshot expand into a completely unplanned longer fic. Boy did I...

----

I feel like I don't express it enough, but I really appreciate everyone who's ever read one of my fics, commented, kudos'd, chatted with me about them on tumblr, made podfics or art or translations, shared headcanons in my inbox or your own fics with me... I'm always blown away by the kindness and interest, and love getting to share little (or big!) stories with you and am so happy when you enjoy them ❤️ I love doing fandom with you.

[gffa]

hey there! i don’t know if you’ve already been asked this already, but i just saw your post about ‘what’s the niche sw lore that you know back and front, mine’s the in-universe calendars and such, since they don’t know about yavin’

…and, like, oh my gosh. for the last couple months i’ve wanted to write a sort of long, backstory fic about mon before andor, and i’m… struggling, as i have absolutely no idea what to use as a marker for years and dates and such, especially since it isn’t the easiest thing to search on google, and bby isn’t something she would know about at the time.

if it‘s not too much trouble, where could i find out more about these in-universe calendars/could you explain it/them? as a new ish fic writer, i’d honestly be forever in your debt lol

Hi!  So, this sent me on a bit of another deep dive down some rabbit holes as best as I could and while I’ve covered Coruscant Reckoning Calendar years in this post, there is still a bit more I can offer. So, the thing about Star Wars lore is that there are multiple continuities and we, as fans, absolutely should take what we want from each of them or none of them, carve out the juicy bits, and measure what’s canon in our hearts.  But there’s a difference between what a given continuity/canon has taken into account versus that fans aren’t beholden to the same rules, so!  I suggest you just do what’s right for your fic, whether that’s sticking to the Andor continuity, mixing and matching, or rejecting it all to substitute your own worldbuilding. That said, here’s what The Clone Wars shows us: In the episode “Deception”, when Rako Hardeen is going back to his room, there are posters on the walls along the way, including one for a Sy Snootles concert:

Cleaned up image is from the trivia gallery on starwars.com.  Bottom row’s translation of Aurebesh translation from Wookiepedia: “FRI–SAT 12–4“ (Supposedly, there’s also a mention of “Fri” on a poster in the background of “Missing in Action”, but I haven’t found it and I’ve been down this rabbit hole long enough.  It’s another poster, though, so consider it in the same vein as this one.) WHICH MEANS:  They apparently use Mon / Tues / Wen / Thurs / Fri / Sat / Sun in the GFFA.  Are these abbreviations for “Friday” and “Saturday”?  Or is the GFFA version just “I’m going to a concert this Fri”?  (Supplementary material says “Friday”, including Rebel Journal by Ezra Bridger using the full word.) Probably it makes more sense to use “Friday” (posters abbreviating for space’s sake makes perfect sense), but I kinda like the twee-ness of “Fri”, it feels sufficiently ridiculous enough to be Star Wars.  I love when SW is ridiculous, okay!! So why do you see “Taungsday” or “Centaxday” in fic a lot?  Because there’s another calendar called “Galactic Standard Calendar” that was used in Legends and has been mentioned in Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon for Disney/Lucasfilm canon, but I would be super hesitant to call that hard canon. (Wookieepedia includes it, which I think is fair!  Just that I personally would not rely on such a source to be consistent with other SW media in the Disney/Lucasfilm continuity.  But it can be very useful if you’d rather go with the five-day week that the Galactic Standard Calendar establishes, though, it doesn’t match up with the posters we see in TCW.) One thing that’s going to cause a snarl:  If that “12–4 “ on the poster means 12/4 as in December 4th, then the way the dates are written is different from how they are on the C.R.C. post, which was “7956.901.3“ (which works out to be November 25th or October 27th, if you follow the math on that first linked post), so maybe they use both “329th day of the year” and “11–25″, “November 25th”. For a Mon story in particular, she’s from Chandrila, which is a Core World, so I would expect that she probably uses the C.R.C., especially given that she’s spent so much of her life on Coruscant from such a young age.  You can just write the numbers or you can use the days/months, if you want, pick whichever feels more natural for your story!  Or mix in the Galactic Standard Calendar info if you want, too!

[overobsessedfanboy23]

Yugioh Main Protagonists Ranked

(No Yuudias because Go Rush isn’t complete at the time of writing this and I’m not even caught up on what is out.)

You get a veteran's pass to this blog if you know who I put at number 1 before I even start this list. Because spoilers it hasn't changed at all. And it probably never will. The rest of this list though? It was tight. The middle three are so interchangeable for me I just had to just go with my gut without overthinking it. This first one however was not difficult:

7 Yusei Fudo

While the dub did make me like him more, I'm still not that big on Yusei. His dub added sassiness is entertaining and I even relate to his habit of pushing people away and wanting to do everything on his own. But as a protagonist, he's really plain. He wins every time (outside of a flashback) so his duelling isn't interesting to watch and he just doesn't have any substantial character growth. He’s a completely static character which might be okay for a side character but not for the main character.

6 Yugi Moto

/Atem I guess? Atem gets more screen time and is the one who's duelling 90% of the time, let's be real. That's a problem and all but honestly the switching between and dynamic of Yugi and Atem is enough to put them above Yusei. They lose a lot more than him, making their duelling more interesting and both of them grow over the course of the series. It's fairly basic but still nice, nothing wrong with simple sweet development. Also Yugi himself made a pretty decent protagonist in DSOD, I like how his grief over Atem is explored.

5 Yuma Tsukumo

…yeah this was a really tight list. I love these top five so much that Yuma just ended up here due to stiff competition. Yuma took what Yugi and Atem did and perfected it with his bond with Astral that's more focused on and more well developed as we see exactly how they met and every step in their journey as they become closer and help each other grow as people. It's sweet as hell. Also yes Yuma could be annoying towards the beginning of the show but most of his "stupidity" was coming out of wanting to help his friends so he came off as more of a “caring dumb” most of the time. Plus first impressions, while important, shouldn't define a character (or a person for that matter) and he becomes a much better character and duellist overtime.

4 Yuga Ohdo

I think Yuga is the most unique take on a YGO protagonist. He's not the greatest duellist, he actually loses quite a lot and that majorly raises the stakes of the duels (a point that also applies to Yuma, though I feel they stopped letting him lose after part one ended but it’s still good). Because it's made clear he can lose at any point and there are consequences for those losses. Not life threatening consequences but still. Consequences that can hurt him, rush duels, and/or his friends and that made the show so unpredictable and interesting to watch for the very first time. But Yuga's not a pushover either. He's still a strong duellist who gets up after each loss and for gosh sake he invented Rush Duels. I like having a protagonist who's special not because of his duelling or friendships for once, I think that's really neat.

3 Yuya Sakaki

Fun fact: Yuya was the main thing that pushed me to watch Arc V before 5Ds and man did he not disappoint. He is an endearing silly bean who just wants to make everyone around him smile with his entertainment duelling and it was so very sweet and wholesome- OH GOD WHY IS HE A DEMON?! Yeah, Yuya's an interesting protagonist. He's the main hero but also simultaneously the main villain, or at least one fourth of a villain and man was that interesting as hell. Yuya himself is also the perfect summation of Arc V's main themes if that makes sense, since the show is all about how stopping to be kind/share a smile can go a long way and Yuya’s whole goal is to spread smiles.

2 Yusaku Fujiki

I’ll admit, these top two are really personal characters for me. (Yusaku was straight up a part of my wake up call to getting a handle on my mental health.) I relate to Yusaku immensely, even though, to my knowledge, I don’t have PTSD. His more serious stern attitude also fits the more dark serious feel of VRAINS and most importantly, he isn’t completely without personality or character development. From almost the very beginning, he has Ai, an upbeat little bean who is completely opposite to him in personality, to play off of and over the course of the show, Yusaku gradually learns to open up to others easily but his flaws of secretiveness and distancing himself from others remain. And that just felt very real to me. I like how he isn’t just all better one day, it’s a process and the bad things that happened to him shaped him when he was young, but that pain doesn’t have to define him and by the end, it doesn’t. He lets go of his desire for revenge and more easily expresses his emotions/attachments and it’s nice goddammit.

1 Judai Yuki

Yeah, I’ll never change. Take everything I said about Yusaku having a realistic/relatable reaction to a traumatic event, add multiple traumatic events and an adorably sweet personality and you have Judai. I love his upbeat personality at the beginning of the series, he’s arrogant and a bit air-headed but in a way I found really charming. Then the show started hurting him… and hurting him more… and while he mostly retained his cheerfulness and seemingly came back swinging in seasons 1 and 2, there was a gradual shift in his personality which took centre stage in season 3. His determination to save Johan becomes his downfall and after seemingly losing the rest of his friends, it completely destroys him. He endures constant traumatic events and pressure from everyone around him and it changes him and breaks him like it would a real person. Makes me so glad that Judai was able to come back from it. During the highly underwatched and underrated season four, he gets space from all the pressure that was put on him and is able to regain his love of duelling and in a way, his childhood. Not so much childhood innocence, but he’s able to have the heart of a child while still being an adult mentally. I just, oh my gosh I love Judai so much.

[notafandomname]

Hey anyone wanna know the pointless data that I just found. Sure okay here we go:

Using AO3's tags, we can see that the hermitcraft smp has 14,042 fan works published. 1,241 of those are rated E. So that's 8% of hermitcraft works being explicit.

I compared this to the dream smp, which has 71,577 fan works, of which there are 3,037 explicit fics. So that's 4% of dream smp works being explicit.

As a more general overview I had a look at the Minecraft fandom tag and found that out of 102,507 works there are 6,019 works rated E, putting it at 5% being explicit.

OK so now why the fuck did I do this and also, does it mean anything?

One of the things I love doing on ao3 is going into different fandoms and seeing the general vibe of the works, I like seeing which ship is most popular, how many works it has, what the general ratings and warnings are, and what additional tags are most common. It's just a fun little thing and I like learning about different fandoms that I'm not a part of. I also really like seeing the additional tags, and seeing what fun little things pop up, because there's always fluff, angst and hurt comfort etc but I like seeing what else there is! There always some fun fandom specific tags to be seen.

Anyways, that's just the sort of thing I like doing, and another thing I like is seeing a specific or weird tag and clicking on it to find out what the deal is, how many works it has, what fandoms it's for etc. And anyways today I was having a look at an author that had written a lot of smut fic. And they'd used the tag mob fucking a lot (yeah, like the Minecraft mobs, for this unfamiliar with the concept). So ofc I was like "I wonder how many works that tag has" (it's 41 btw). And I noticed, scrolling through, that it was overwhelmingly hermitcraft under this tag, which I thought was odd, because I know dsmp is a lot more popular so I naturally assumed that for something Minecraft related, dsmp would have more fics. And that thought naturally progressed to fic tropes in general, if the dsmp has more works, surely it has more of everything, right? More E rated fics at least. So I did that maths, for curiosity's sake, and thats what I found! Smutfic makes up double the amount of fics in general in hermitcraft than in dsmp (those being the two biggest smp specific Minecraft fandoms on ao3).

This info,,, benifits no one, as far as I can tell, and is useful for nothing (except my own curiosity) but it is interesting just in terms of challenging my own preconceptions, and probably many peoples, on how just because something is popular doesn't mean it has the most of any one thing. And I was also surprised at how small the amount of E fics was in general, I think there's still this overwhelming generalisation of fanfiction being pornography of being an especially lewd sort of writing, and scrolling through ao3 it really does feel that way sometimes. But I think that's just because,, when we see something that has graphic tags, or an E rating, it just stands out more, you know? We remember it, it sticks in our minds, and makes it feel like there's more than there actually is (not that there isn't plenty).

I'm probably going to do more of this just for my own sake, and see how much of different fandoms have different percents of smut/E ratings,its really interesting.

Also disclaimer I'm not 100% certain that I did my maths right in getting those percentages (I did number of E fics÷number of fics overall, times 100, which I think is right but it's late so honestly who know) and I also was aware that plenty of smut gets published under not rated works, so I did a quick search for unrated works with the tags "smut" or "porn" but didn't come up with anything that significantly impacted the original data. Guys I'm meant to be writing a report it's due in in 40 minutes and I haven't finished it what the fuck am I doing with my life.

[elfelt-valentine]

gimme tf headcanons. For anyone you so desire.

This is less abt headcanons but an excuse for me to talk about Prowl right now.

He like. Made a 180° turn in my head through all his development in the idw story. But i guess it's really because THAT'S what happened to him?

He went from saving cybertron and following autobot cause no matter what, to concluding that it's better for their entire race to go extinct for sake of literally the entire universe.

This guy lost so much, been betrayed so much, I can't really blame him to have no hope for his people or himself. It really hurts watching, honestly? His heart is clearly in the right place, but the way he achieves things, the way he goes about things, made him a worse offender in Optimus' eyes than Megatron.

And like. This is so interesting to me? It's the sort of situation where i can't really blame anyone for hating Prowl to do what he does, but at some point you have to stay open minded. How is Prowl worse than Megatron? The tyrant that killed billions? The dude responsible for phase sixers and decepticon justice division? How is cybertronian jaded by 4 million years of war who rightfully holds no hope for there to be better future when all they've been doing is destroy? How is he wrong to be cautious, to want to protect people?

Buf you look at what he says, and what he does, and his intentions don't go hand in hand with it. People are scared of him, people think bad of him, people didn't notice him being brain controlled until it was too late because of his ways.

But he's not heartless? He recognizes it? It hurts him that everything that he thinks he does for the better, it hurts that even when he's right, there's still disdain in his friends' looks.

"No one is his friend anymore."

I can't help wondering how he deals with grief. Cuz he is a person who was traumatized by war just like everyone else, and changed by it, just like everyone else.

He thinks in numbers and possibilities, but if it was truly all there was to it, he'd be a neutral. He wouldn't have become an autobot. He wouldn't have been fighting so long to save their home, their people, and other worlds too.

The open chase for Spike might be the goofiest fucking thing that happened in the comic, but all that risk he took, to end saying "I forgive you" to Spike. Man. Idk. That's some strong stuff.

He's not an easy person to be friends with and he's certainly not the most "feeling" One, but he's not heartless. He's hurting like everyone else.

He's so tragic to me because in the end of the day, the war brought out the worst part of him, that he so far seems to not even want to change - he's way far into his own head and his own righteousness.

Idk how he managed become one of my favorite characters so fast. For someone being so black and white he's probably the greyest character in the entire comic.

[nerves-nebula]

Do you prefer writing duo protagonists or trio protagonists? I have noticed that I have a heavy preference towards duo protagonists (when I write more than one protagonist) and basically can't write trios. When I have to write more than two main characters I have them be in even numbers, never odd (like my novel has 4 characters, with two as our main)

I think it's cause I struggle with black and white thinking (idk how else to phrase it) that I must have my protags be opposites. Adding a third protagonist just muddies my compare and contrast method of protagonist writing and and the third of the trio ends up being really bland to the main duo

when i write from more than one perspective i tend to just hop around to who i think has the most interesting take on the situation. I don't have a lot of experience writing from ONLY two person perspectives.

a trio of protagonists seems like a lot of work for me cause I have trouble juggling characterizations and character voices and what each person knows and all this stuff, but I don't think it'd be an issue from like a compare and contrast stand point to me, because I honestly like when things get a bit muddied and gray. To me a situation is more satisfyingly explored when you have AT LEAST 3 conflicting ideas. the two main conflicting people, and then at least one side who lies outside of it or has a different take on it.

But if that start contrast helps you write more compelling characters I'd say stick with it, unless you're trying to challenge yourself more.

but like for example, Atchkie and Dotty are the two main characters of my webcomic (with Atchkie being slightly more of the focus) but there is a THIRD character who I consider a main one as well. But we don't really see his perspective for most of the comic cause it'd spoil a lot of stuff if you did. but i still try to keep his wants and desires in mind, and the ways those conflict with the other main characters, so that theoretically I COULD write from his perspective if I needed to. so like is that trio or dual protagonists??

I also have a particular affection for the number three, though. And in my webcomic there's the main 3 characters who form trio, and also another trio who are relevant to the backstory of the world, and then a THIRD trio who are in a polyamorous relationship hah. So maybe I DO like writing in trios??

OH YEAH and of course I've got Etik, Groe, and Maureno, who form their OWN trio of perspectives in their story. So. yknow what?? i dunno.

sorry I'm not much of a writer outside of script work for my comic and fanfiction so, uh, not sure if this was at all helpful haha.

TL;DR: I was going to say I prefer Duo's for simplicity sake but looking at my track record it appears I ACTUALLY prefer Trios. make of that what you will.