#how to write a perfect title

[sysig]

You're still standing off to the side. Somehow, center stage has shifted from under your feet without you realizing, and you're standing in the wings, performing to no one.

Starring Role (Patreon)

[kevin-the-bruyne]

Of Boats and Drama; The Turning Tides on Kant and Bison's Compatibility

obsessed with how when its during their make believe phase, when fadel says "I think I love you" to Style, Style doesn't say it back and instead just kisses him at the end of ep. 6 and during the kantbison parallel at the start of ep7 when Bison says "I love you" to Kant, Kant says "I love you" back but clearly there's baggage even if he's not lying outright.

But after the brothers kidnap their respective lovers its Style that fronts with the I love you that perplexes Fadel

and its bison that wants to hear it

but Kant jumps into the ocean instead (like you can see the beach front okay Bison is clearly devoid of killing intent here) instead of lying to him or say the same things he's been saying to dupe him.

I really think this is where the Kant and Bison compatibility is finally starting to show. Bison clearly loves his little fantasies and make belief of romance (just like style dear fucking god). I've joked before about how bison has given to his brother the lover he had envisioned for himself - the one who will plead his love, cajole and give in.

But that guy is wrong for him.

We've seen that slightly off dynamic between Kant and Bison for 6 whole episodes. And it's killed me that people kept trying to interpret them with the same rose tinted glasses that we do for Fadel and Style. Because the FadelStyle and KantBison relationship parallels aren't meant to highlight the similarities between the couples but rather the differences, that's where the information about these characters come from.

The audience knows something that Kant doesn't in the boat scene; which is that he has this in the bag already. I think this is the infamous island Bison inherited from his dad and he's brought him here to literally just talk. I know I mentioned this already but bison literally looks like he just untied the boat from shore and let it drift on its own while waiting for Kant to wake up.

Like that has got to be the minimum legal distance that a boat needs to be from shore to be considered unmoored lol. This is 'I am using your vulnerabilities against you because love is pain' shore distance not 'dead body dumping' shore distance. The body will wash up on shore before the boat even makes it back.

But for Bison, Fadel's reasonable precautions while we talk approach was not enough. He needed the ropes, the guns, the added ocean trauma because the guns didn't feel enough to instill fear, the pretty necklace he put on just so he could rip it off his throat, everything is already high drama high fantasy for him. Bison set the stage for desperate begging and tearful confessions, things he already got at the hospital btw but that wasn't enough either.

Because.

Bison doesn't need to be sold on fantasies. He had that and it sucked for everyone involved, what he needs when he's totally out of control like this is this guy:

[screenshots of Kant telling bison he wants to talk on land and he's scared of the ocean]

For six whole episodes I saw Kant be wrong for Bison and not be able to pinpoint exactly why people cawing over how cute KantBison are bothered me so much. Until, of course, Kant finally does something right and all of a sudden it just all clicks together. Bison is boisterous, headstrong and because of his unique skillset also irresponsibly dangerous. The BDSM scene also shows that despite his best intentions, Bison can and will abuse power if given to him irresponsibly.

He doesn't need the Kant that plays along with everything he does. He needs the Kant that Kant is to everyone but him. The person that Kant is when they're together is barely even Kant. He needs the calm, level headed but fiercely devoted older brother, he needs the guy that helps a hookup out because that's his duty as a human being, he needs the guy that stole cars to keep his family fed. And I'll be really honest, that's the guy that Bison loves anyway, the one he hears about from Babe and Style and James.

What Bison needs is the quiet devotion of Kant choosing his own personal hell over playing this game and furthering any deception between them even though technically it wouldn't even be a lie (Bison is literally poised to believe him); the dogged resolve that once he's decided to do this on his own terms, it happens on his own terms.

[elizabeth-mitchells]

[youmakethelight]

Okay, but I'm casting my mind back to try to imagine how I would have felt about tboc daryl before season 10 got me so stupid about this show, when I used to be a casual viewer. And I still think I'd have just thought daryl lost his mind tbh.

This is just me going off on tangents about the show now, don't mind me.

He felt a bit off in season 1, I can't lie. The costume change would have thrown me even if I wasn't as attached, because I'm probs just the type of neurodivergent that struggles with too much change at once, and him being away from TF, in Europe, and looking so different, then calling Laurent useless, then the ways he looked at Isabelle at the end of 1x06 - that was all just too different to the Daryl I knew idk. But I stuck with it.

But having his first on-screen kiss be so entirely unpredictable for what I thought I knew of his character felt gratuitous*. And then it's like suddenly I'm being railroaded into following him on this rolleroaster that I don't understand. One minute he's longing for home, the next he's playing baseball and "just having fun". Then home has found him, but now he's invested in this kid I still haven't learnt to feel invested in yet. And he's never even talking about anything to do with home anymore, even after Carol is there? It's suddenly all just about Laurent, and part of the problem for me is there wasn't enough balance to convince me of the story.

And I think this was most of my difficulty with enjoying TOWL, too. (Don't come for me please for talking about my personal experience of watching TOWL.) I watched TOWL first out of all the spinoffs, and I remember this one part where I think Michonne and Rick were in a kitchen or something and Rick felt so different to me and it made me sad, and then she called it out. And he said something like that it's been so long, he's lost who he used to be or something like that. I can't remember exactly, but it made me sad. And I think, for me, I didn't get enough glimpses of the Rick I recognised within the short 6 episodes that I never felt satisfied or happy with it. And maybe I needed more TF references or something??? I didn't even feel enough concern for Judith or RJ from him - maybe I'm misremembering, but I think your memory of the feeling something gave you is important. I get that the leadership want these spinoffs to be accessible to people who didn't watch the flagship show, but I think that's a big part of where it's losing the magic for me.

The thing that was better for me about DD season 1 is that it was all about getting home, and his determination felt relentless throughout the first 5 and a half episodes before it suddenly got weird with Isabelle acting like they've been a family for 19 years. Like, before that, I felt connected to his mission.** But then in season 2, it's almost completely gone, and Carol feels like the only part I can still connect with. Like, I know Rick didn't mention Daryl either I think, but I wish both of them had talked about each other. Idk, it just would have felt more like it's giving me something I can connect with? Rather than just throwing the characters into entirely new situations and also deliberately making them feel a bit out of character?

That whole part in TOWL where Michonne feels surprised to find Rick a bit changed is so similar to what they seemed to want to do with Daryl and Carol, and I don't really get why they did it to either of them. It's more believable with Rick than Daryl bc 1. He isn't Daryl and definitely adapts more to new environments, and 2. It had been many, many, many years, not like a month. But idk, I still wasn't keen, but at least they gave it a redemption arc or whatever you'd call it. With daryl it's still just like - ???? And for what reason??? I don't know. I just don't find it compelling idk idk idk.

*Even in season 9, when we met Connie, I felt a bit like 'oh are they gonna force a ship here bc they have them spending time together 🤨 (rather than just letting connie want to help for her own character reasons rather than making it about daryl and shipping), but if it's gonna be someone who isn't carol, I think I'm okay with connie', like bc we actually had reasons to like her and there was chemistry with Daryl. So why neither Connie nor Carol, but Isabelle? The show just never got me invested in darabelle in any way.

I already liked connie before they had her going on missions with daryl, so I actually cared about her a lot. I loved seeing her on those missions bc I was excited for her to have more screen time and I found her character empowering. So, I didn't want to see her reduced to just being Daryl's love interest, and tbh, I don't think they handled it well, bc they still reduced her to being Daryl's accessory, rather than giving her her own character depth. But I *still* would have been more on board with pairing up Daryl with Connie than Isabelle. Tbh, by the time that Carol was broken up with zeke, and they had the conversation about running away together, I didn't think of Daryl and Connie as making sense to pair anymore... But I also didn't see much point in the Leah romance either, so whatever, I guess this show just has a pattern of pairing up Daryl with random women he doesn't have chemistry with, instead of the ones he does?

**I always remember that Zabel pitched the idea for the show as "what if, in trying to get home, you find something else?", and the thing is, in order to get me to be convinced that Daryl "found something else", I'd have needed A LOT stronger of a pull for the French story. There was nothing there that hooked me to becoming convinced of Daryl finding something while trying to get home. Just having him voice the words "I found something", having Laurent the prophet say "you miss her too, I can tell", putting his crossbow next to Isabelle's hospital bed, and having him look at her for an extended time after she recovers, doesn't suddenly convince me of that idea. Idk. I'm not in the TV industry, so I don't know how that magic gets done - like when season 10 slowly turned Lydia into one of my favourite characters after she was introduced as an antagonist. But I have enough brain cells to see (from the moment they nonsensically forced them to share a bed??) that they were trying to convince us Daryl found "something" in France, and tbh, if I can see the strain in their efforts to make it happen, it's probably not working. And even NR couldn't answer why Isabelle when asked at NYCC. He was literally like, "idk they have similar pasts?? Idk???". Like, girl, if you don't know, why should your audience?

[greennoobartist]

So rn i ran into the word "imposter syndrome" and realized that I was and am probably dealing with that shit all this time... Wonderful...

[pokimoko]

What the Living Do - Doctor Who Fic

Written by pokimoko

Chapters: 1/1

Word Count: ~23.5K

Fandom: Doctor Who (2005)

Rating: General Audiences

Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Fourteenth Doctor & Donna Noble, Fourteenth Doctor & Rose Noble (Doctor Who: The Star Beast), The Doctor (Doctor Who) & Companion(s), The Doctor (Doctor Who) & Original Character(s)

Characters: Fourteenth Doctor (Doctor Who), Donna Noble, Rose Noble (Doctor Who: The Star Beast), Background & Cameo Characters, Original Characters, (a lot of characters haunting the heck out of the narrative)

Tags: Grief/Mourning, anticipatory grief, Post-Episode: 2023 Special 03: The Giggle (Doctor Who), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Character Study, Slice of Life, Fluff and Angst, Haunting, Healing, The Doctor (Doctor Who) Uses He/Him Pronouns, (but it's a 'David Tennant-shaped immortal fucking with gender' kind of he/him ya feel me), The Doctor getting to live his Laundry and Taxes Life, Queerplatonic Relationships, The Doctor (Doctor Who) Needs a Hug, POV The Doctor (Doctor Who), Ghosts, Extended Metaphors, Past Character Death, Personification, The Doctor & Donna Noble Friendship, Angst with a Happy Ending

Summary: Having settled down with Donna and her family, the Doctor is slowly but surely getting used to living a normal, human life, along with all the simple joys that come with it.

That is, until the ghosts of his old friends start to appear, and with them, old hurts. Grief creeping in, the Doctor must confront not only his past, but also what awaits him in the future.

[evanescentdawn]

didn’t expect for my return to ao3 be releasing an old 2018/19 bleach wip, but well! life can certainly surprise you!

relationships: established byakuya/ichigo

tags: AU, humour, shenanigans, captain!ichigo, mystery

chapter: 1/?

summary:

“Here we are,” Kisuke announced as they reached a big black door. He pulled out a key and slowly opened the door to reveal a massive room buzzing with soul reapers. Taking out his trusty fan, Kisuke flapped it open, adding to his dramatics while gesturing with his free hand to a massive machine, “Behold, my greatest invention yet!”

“…What. The. Hell.”

“What? Is something the matter, Ichigo?” Kisuke lowered down his fan, a wide smirk painted on his face. “Speechless?”

-

It’s been years since their last war and Urahara Kisuke got busy, inventing his new latest machine yet. One that allows easy access from and to Heuco Mundo. Shiba Ichigo and others set out to test it but they run into something unexpected…..

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: THE WAY SPRING ARRIVES AND OTHER STORIES, edited by Yu Chen and Regina Kanyu Wang (feat. first daffodils!!)

I've been pining after this one since the hardback released, but I'm more of a paperback person so I Waited, and in my Waiting I missed the seasonal alignment to start reading it (come on: I can't be expected to read a collection with this title any time except at the very beginning of spring, right??). But! Guess what!! Spring is once again Arriving, and things are starting to bud and bloom, and I love that!

[absoloutenonsense]

Thank you for the tag @disgruntledkittenface ! I am currently trying to write so of course I want to do anything except write, and this was perfect. And a lot of fun!

rules: give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

fic with the most hits: Not a huge surprise to me that it's Nothing But You On My Mind 😅almost since I posted that fic, it ran away with all the stats. I recently remembered that I posted that fic in March 2020, which is wild.

fic with the second most kudos: thinking about the t-shirt you sleep in was the first longer fic I wrote, and at the time I thought the longest fic I would ever write (lol)

fic with the third most comments: Party Lines surprised me in lots of ways while writing and after posting! Still the fic I've written with the most smut where no one actually touches anyone else

fic with the fourth most bookmarks: It's Always Better When We're Together -- epilogue to NBYOMM (thanks to a friend who sent me an image of a stained-glass car who saw it and had a perfect prompt for me)

fic with the fifth most words: 'cause I want you (for the worse and for the better) -- one of my newest fics!

fic with the fewest words: The fic I wrote literally while on a bus traveling in a different country because of a silly thing someone said: tried it with butter and everything changed

For those that'd like to/haven't done this already, I'll tag: @lululawrence @homosociallyyours @kingsofeverything @pocketsunshineharry @becomeawendybird @uhoh-but-yeah-alright @londonfoginacup

[edge-oftheworld]

HEY! HEY! don't hide all of your pain, don't keep

[deus-ex-mona]

[windor-truffle]

soooo despite playing lots i am HORRIBLY behind on posting about my playthrough, and unfortunately i may never actually end up covering some parts of the game despite my many thoughts about it 😓 but!!!! i wanted to drop a couple interesting meta observations i found along the way:

we all know and love the very sweet side quest involving Richard's time-skip letter to Asbel that he left at Lhant Hill 💜💜 I just found it kinda funny that he attached a large sum of glad as a reward, considering he was mortified when Asbel turned down the gift of his ring the first time. i can't tell if Richard just genuinely wanted Asbel to have a little spending money or if he was trying to pspspsp his old friend into hanging out with him again 😂 bribery makes friendships stronger?

some weapon flavor text I found amusing, assuming they're canon: Malik's bladerang returns to his hand because of magic, not physics like an actual boomerang, but that's not surprising because I don't think actual physics would allow a bladerang to function the way it does in game 😅 the wryness of the text is amusing, though.

also, apparently Graces is set in the same universe as us??? or there's a DIFFERENT planet called Earth, who knows how many galaxies over it could be. anyway I believe this makes all modern AUs and various other real-life based fan works slightly closer to canon than they might originally seem 😅

here's one that I was super excited to figure out: I'd been wondering about the inclusion of lilies (at least, I ASSUME these are lilies 😅) in various official artworks for graces like this one and this one considering they're not a mandatory plot symbol like sopherias are, yet remain prevalent alongside them. But this random dualizing flavor text answered it for me: they're the national flower of Windor! lilies typically represent purity and innocence but also sometimes love, grief, and femininity (which is why i thought at first that they were associated with Fodra). neat :)

lastly, a small meta detail that I THINK I've figured out the source of but I'm not 100 percent sure? I've been trying to have everyone eat lots of their favorite foods so they'll unlock their respective titles (just recently confirmed that eleth mixer-produced foods count which is excellent, that's much cheaper and less time consuming). I recently obtained Asbel's title and equipped it to him, then immediately after I saw this in the post-battle text:

this may not seem like much, but that's not the normal text for eleth-mixer dishes, nor is curry normally eaten AFTER battle (unless dualized and consumed from the menu) since its effect is a one-time recovery from KO. below is the normal eleth mixer text for both curry and after-battle dishes:

So my tentative conclusion is that when a character has their food-loving title equipped, there's some percent chance that the party will eat it after battle, with effects that carry over into the next. It definitely doesn't trigger after every battle, Cheria and Hubert weren't giving out helpings of grilled chicken or omurice when they were mastering their titles, but of course Asbel IMMEDIATELY made everyone eat his beloved dish for the millionth time 😂 now I'm working on making crablettes for Sophie so she can spread the love too 😁

[yessu]

honestly I'd love to get paid to transcribe podcasts/fix auto subtitles and stuff like that but my understanding of grammar apparently isn't enough to apply to any companies that'd accept freelancers because they have hyperspecific style guidelines o|-< please. i Like checking things for accuracy and copying things down. i would love to make a money doing it.

[size-two-shrimp]

Once again thinking about the cannibalism song (Butcher Vanity) and how V1 and Gabe it is.

[pyrriax]

HI TUMBLR late footnote posting before i go to bed (i took a nap today........ ate up most of my time)

not a lot to talk about with footnotes today since i was Busy and my brain wasnt working pfndkmlfd i blame seven hours of modded oneblock