#i just wanna say that this is no way an 'aces and aros are bad/tragic' post

[ceoandslutler]

ciel-romantic asexual!sebastian and aromantic sebastian-sexual!ciel would be the greatest sebaciel tragedy of all time

[little-witchys-garden]

The worst book I've ever f×cking read

TW/CW:Sexism + murder + women being murdered specifically + r×pey + ableism + implied teen × adult....

This was meant to be a reimagining of little red riding hood so I picked it up cause

I LOVE LIL RED RIDING HOOD.

I read this book in middle school then reread it now and it's still so bad and got worse! As a child I didn't understand the really dark implications of this book that I do now..

We have our main characters Scarlet and Rosie/Rosy { her name spelling changes in the book...}

They are hunters in a world of r×pey women sadistic murdering wolf men... The world doesn't know for dumb reasons..

We have scarlet our huntet that has scars all over her body from protecting her ungrateful ass sister from these r×pey women killing wolf men.. Who protects women from these werewolf men { the author tries to give them another name but they're werewolves...} AND SHE'S MADE OUT AS THE BAD GUY. Like the whole book is just bashing on Scarlet for her scars, not wanting to get married and for protecting women from ending up possibly r×ped and for sure murdered..

How they handle her scars and disabilities after being attacked, the writing aroung her scars IS SO ABLEIST and writing for her trauma so victim shaming..

Then there is Rosie...

The pretty girl that's not like other girls. 😒

She wants to be a stay at home wife and be married. Repeatedly bringing up how protecting these women that are being MURDERED and possibly r×ped is such a drag cause " she's a young girl and girls just wanna have fun."

Yeah.. Yeah... They made Rosie out as the good guy for wanting settle down and pop out kids and scarlet as the bad guy for protecting women from evil werewolf men...

They also constantly compare Rosie's " flawless beautiful " skin to Scarlet's scars and " rough from the scaring " skin like it's gross.

They also make out the women that are being ya know MURDER as dumb and heavily hints at it being their faults for not c dressing appropriately ", and NOT the fault of the werewolf men though cause they are " cursed " with urges to r×pe and kill women... In the book It's made out as not really their fault and sad.. Yeah the author tries to make us feel bad for these r×pey women killers.. Cause they have urges 😒

Then there is the love interest who will not be named cause I HATE HIM. He's the silent bland strong type who's also sexist as heck... So he wanted scarlet to be his lil stay at home wife but scarlet being " the bad guy " says no and that protecting women from being murdered and r×ped is more important. So HE GOES FOR ROSIE. yeah he legit tells her that she's his second choice.. His age isn't fully known but its implied his 20+.... Rosie is 16-18 { can't remember I believe she turns 16..} when he confesses...

Yeah blah blah love interest is werewolf but the book goes " ooh woe is him! He has urges! He's truly the victim!! See the r×pey werewolf killer men aren't so bad! They're truly victims just as much as the women they r×pe and murder." 😒

Yeah the book really tries pulling the " the killer/r×pist is just as much of a victim AS THE VICTIM cause they have urges! "

Then our story ends with love interest being saved, scarlet staying a hunter which is made out on a sad note cause scaret is still killing these r×pey wolf men..

While Rosie going off with him to be a happy lil house wife and we end on her being all happy about that...

I really wanna talk about the werwolf men they know what they are doing is WRONG, they enjoy what they're doing, they plan and plot. They make really thought out plans on how to hurt, torture, implied r×pe and kill women in the most sadistic ways that they can and again they like it. But they're made out as victims.. Cause the author tries to pull the

" they have urges that they didn't ask for and they must satisfy them or they'll do so much worse! Isn't it sad for them? They are victims as much as the women they hurt."

No.. They are not victims!

It's problem that they can control themselves and they don't have to kill all it takes is self restraint BUT that's made out as " tragic " ???????? Yeah.... Men controlling themselves and not hurting women is made out as tragic...

Scarlet was the only character I liked.

Her will and need to protect women from these horrid men in the book is beautiful! Her wanting to live to protect these women when the world won't as a victim drove me to tears. But the book just bashes her for this the whole time...

Scarlet never blames the women for these horrid men's behavior and the book tries to paint her as this cold man hating radical feminist while her sister Rosie that repeatedly empathizes with these men and does often blame these women is made out as this good pure hearted girl.

This book has so much more bad stuff but all I gotta say is the whole book other then scarlet is just terrible.

It's just Scarlet going

" women's lives matter and men need to be held responsible!"

And the whole book and all the othet characters just going " But really do they matter though? Isn't it kinda their fault? If they didn't want that to happen then they should have been smarter and should have dressed appropriately. The werewolf men are kinda more victims then they are cause they have urges."

I headcannon scarlet as ace + aro.

This book still sickens me as a victim..

If you see this book just keep walking..

[akane171]

Haha, maybe🤔🤣 

*SOFTLY AND NICELY AND ONLY JOKINGLY BLAMES LW* (Never really cause she's WAY too nice to be blamed, but don't tell her i said that😂) 

Yup, true...At least with the Winchesters they semi-admitted they weren't always perfect or healthy😫

Yeah, now that you say it, it really is strange that there's always alcohol no matter the Time of day🤔😅

Omg, YES, that freaking elevator DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE?!! THEY DIDN'T EVEN MAKE A SIDE COMMENT ABOUT IT! But yes, I can only agree on Details over CGI🙈

You're definitely evil and now I kinda wanna get my poor godkid and his even poorer older sister far away and out of your reach😅😭🙈 You literally have no mercy on them, do you? Couldn't you at least have had her time travel to get her father&brother back or sth and no longer be alone anymore?😭

Lol, Same, here have another two high-fives for that😂

If that stereotype was a real person, I'd murder it painfully...😑 I hate it SO much. 

The movie had nice animation but it was kinda meh from what I remember😫 Again, I didn't mind NaruHina at all (esp. since she did indeed like him for him before anyone else did), but the movie was kinda pointless and I still dislike the sudden planet/dimension-hopping they introduced at the end of Shippuuden and them being able to breath on the freaking moon is just...what?😅🙈

Jup, same😂 Have them as Bros and Sasuke be fine alone (seriously, that boy should probably go to therapy for at LEAST 20 years before he even thinks of getting into a semi-serious relationship...) 

Ohhhh, sounds interesting!🤔 Really made me think of Hunger Games and Assasination Classroom tho, yeah😂

It kinda does and I mean, I had a discussion with a friend once where we did point out that having a bit romance is truly fine cause it's hardly believable that truly EVERY character is aro/ace or too emotionally unavailable, but...Agh, just the ratio of story vs. romance is so fucked up😫 

Oh, nononono, I understood that you meant 9am! Sorry, my autocorrect must have changed that to pm and I didn't realize🙈🙈 NO SHAME ON YOU!😭 Ha, zombie😂 You know that Cranberries song? I never have to NOT think of it when I hear that word🤣

YES, EXACTLY! Thank you, FINALLY someone who understands how freaking draining and tiring humans and human interaction are! 

Ohhh, that would actually be funny😂 Esp. if Kakashi still used those stupid/brilliant excuses like "I got lost on the road of life" or "I saw a black cat and had to take the long way around cause bad luck" etc😂

I'm still sobbing over Ace... It never was the Same again😫 (Fun Fact: OF COURSE they'd kill one of my two favourite side characters and never show the other (aka Shanks) apart from in openings😫🤦🏻‍♀️ I really need to stop getting emotionally attached to tragic and absent characters😫🤦🏻‍♀️)

Yup, definitely😅 But BEYOND creepy nontheless...🙈

Tokyo Ghoul is just another tragic mass (and to no surprise I once again got attached to the worst character you can get attached to cause you'll spend 99% of the story wondering where he is, what he's doing or if he's even alive🙄😫)

Oh, you gotta watch/read Attack on Titan's S4 Arc! I wasn't TOO into it before but after that time skip shit went down and uff, my heart died a few times (and I still Love the paralells between the two sides and how all characters are proven to be shades of grey instead of the stupid black-white-thinking animes etc like to have these days...) 🤔

XXXXX

....well, I blame her all the time foer a lot of things, @raisedbyfandomwolves i think you can confirm?

Yeah, well, Winchesters were the equals in the show, I think? Both screwed a lot, both hurt each other, and both apologized many times. In SG... I feel there was imbalance. Alex was usually propped, while Kara was treated like teh bad guy. Don't even let me moan how she treated Kara in the two last eps. And nothing was solved.

I mean, yeah, no cameras in the elvator? No one was surprised there was freaking HOLE in the roof? No one was surprised the levator was destroyed? Like? Someone could have died there, and we would not know. Sigh.

MUHAHAHAHAHA. I was thinking about reversing the future and erasing the bad stuff, becasue of some villain messing with their lives, I didn't plan anything that far ^^' I mean, it could end happy or disastrous. I'm pissed off, so ....

Basically, I'm happy i ended my Naruto journey on manga and have seen like 2 shippuden movies, nothing more. Anyway... all naruto movies suck and all are just dumb fillers. Sad facts.

I KNOW. Kishimoto fucked his character and imo, he seriosuly should have died. ... you know, teh same goes for Mon-El, I wish he had died in the end of s2 because as much as I love Chris and his portrayal of Mon Mon, they destroyed almost everything I loved about him and karamel. What we get was... a slap. Not only Kara will never find a partner, but he will also never move on. Fuck this show.

It's good, espeically the first movie. I haven't read manga (just one vol.) but it is super brutal. And I bought the book and it waits for being read... maybe... mext year?

Agreed. it's like no one can create a stroy without romance? That's dumb? And even if there is no romance, if the series is popualr, there you have SHIPPERS swarming everything and talking about only romances and ugh, just shoot me.

Like duh, who didn't hear about Zombie by Cranberries???? One of my fave songs. Seriosuly.

I KNOW. Look, i like a lot of people, I like having them, but jesus christ just leave me a lone for some time, i need to recharge myself? Also, for a long time my best friend was an extravert who totally, TOTALLY, didn't understand my needs of peace and quiet. After she talked about her LOVE LIFE for HOURS I felt drilled like an lemon after lemonade was made.

He and Tobi, if Tobi was Tobi not Madara xD, they would be best pals, I guess?

.... we seriosuly are spiritually conencted, because aside of the fact all my ships are fucked, usually my fave characters are fucked. Or not mentioned ever again. That's a curse. and you are cursed too =='

ehehehehe, black-white characters - that goes for Supergirl too :DDDDDDDD i mean, minus Lena, who is not black, not white, not gray, she's just shit.

Tbh, haven't been into anime and manga for a long time. Still finishing Skip Beat and I'm wondering if it will ever be finished. Same goes for NaNa and DNangel. And Saiyuki. Not mentioning Berserk... sad life of manga fan, huh?

[stormyblue90]

Writing Tag Game!

Tagged by @my-soliloquy-chamber 

How many works do you have on AO3?

Just 5 humble fics. All but one are oneshots. Ok one is actually a twoshot but...

What’s your total AO3 word count?

29069 (at the time of this post)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Blessed by the Gods at 95

Patches at 75

Remembrance at 52

Flowering at 26

Under Your Scars with a humble 9

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I? Unless its hate or troll comments, but thankfully I don’t get those....

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

Uhh... Remembrance. It has a bittersweet ending.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the strangest one you’ve written?

No. I’m not big on crossovers, at least ones that are meant to be taken seriously. However if they’re done for humor, or the crossover genuinely makes sense for the world to crossover. (for example Kingdom Hearts and any animated kids movie)

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Once. A long time ago when I was just STARTING to write fanfic as a teenager. It actually stoped me from writing ANY fic until fairly recently. Tragic really, because it’s likely I could’ve improved SO MUCH as a writer. I’ll admit, the fic I wrote back then WAS bad, but it was a simple Canon/OC oneshot I wrote while bored in school. And this was also back when Canon/OC ships were “cringe” “instant Mary-Sue” (which the OC of the fic was called), and just in general looked down upon.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have NEVER written a single line smut EVER! I...honestly don’t know IF I ever will. It would end up being a matter of if I’m COMFORTABLE writing such scenes, which, if you asked me that 5 or 10 years ago, I’d say “EW GROSS! No way!” However now...I’m not entirely sure...

But I have been told once IF I did, I’d probably write some really good stuff. Apparently Aces and/or Aros can be like...scary good at writing sex and romance.... I know if I did, I’d focus primarily on the INTIMACY and SENSUAL aspect of it as that is sooooooo much more interesting to me than just raunchy, kinky, hard sex. I’d prefer to write “love-making” and not “fucking”. Yes there IS a difference IMO. The former allows the characters to show more of their characters, what they like, don’t like, exploring each other, LEARNING about each other and bonding closer!

I will NEVER write dub-con/rape scenes EVER!!!!! I don’t wanna read it OR write it...

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Once. LOOOOOONG time ago. I found it and confronted the “author”. It was straight up PLAGERIZED. They just changed the name of the character. Worst part was that it was a GIFT FIC for someone else and their OC! Thankfully the thief DID take it down and apologize.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope. Never thought about it honestly, but it sounds like it could be fun so long as there’s plenty of communication to make it coherent.... unless you want it to be an absolute disaster for funsies.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Of ALL TIME? Uhhh.....I don’t really know. I’m not the biggest shipper to be honest. But frankly the one I’ve shipped the longest, since discovering “shipping” almost 20 years ago, would be Zutara (Zuko/Katara of Avatar the Last Airbender)

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

Weeeeeeeell.... I’m HOPING Under Your Scars DOESN’T become this.... otherwise... hmm... Probably the Voltron Fix-it-Fic I started writing a few years ago, but never posted, because I essentially rage-quit the series. (the ONLY show I’ve rage-quit!)

What are your writing strengths?

I’m not sure honestly... Maybe writing (non-sexual) intimacy between characters? No one’s ever really told me what I’m GOOD at in my writing...

What are your writing weaknesses?

FINISHING A MULTI-CHAPTER FIC!!!! I’ve NEVER been able to do it! I hope I will be able to finish Under Your Scars.

Also, fight scenes. Like, I understand HOW to write them, but it’s writing the... “choreography” of the fight. Like...what moves are used, how its reacted to or countered, etc.

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

Uhm...for dialogue? Sadly I’m not bi or multilingual, and don’t trust Google translate to be accurate enough. So, unless it was a single word or phrase taught to me by a native speaker of that language, I wouldn’t use it. But I’d be sure to give a translation of course. Whether in the author notes, or have a character translate it in the story.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I....think it was some (terrible) Kingdom Hearts fanfic I wrote with two friends in highschool, circa. 2007-2008...

The second was an ATLA fic (the one that got the hate comment)

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

You DARE ask me to choose? Might as well ask a parent who their favorite child is! But seriously, I....really don’t know or have a fav... There’s different things I like about all the stuff I’ve written.

I’m tagging.... whoever wants to do this....

[mr-kamiyama]

It's not really what you write per se that says much about you. I'm starting on a dual fic project that will take many years to complete if I ever get there, but I've basically made almost everyone somewhere on the queer spectrum because cishets get canon everything ever. Even some of the stuff technically depicting same-gender relations is actually homophobic garbage made for cishets with a queer consumption fetish (think all yaoi and a fair amount of F/F adult movies)

In particular, I have a lot of bi+ and trans characters, particularly because cisgays hate the rest of the rainbow even more than cishets, but both groups alike will only allow a small amount of cisgay stories to be out there (formerly only if they were tragic, now, only if they're conventionally attractive and freshly 20 years old)

Of course, this does include NB people, and there's also some aro and ace characters.

So naturally, they encounter boatloads of queerphobia.

After living in LA, I realised the really bad skinhead problem out there, and one of my projects, they immigrate from Kanagawa province (Japan) to Los. And the main character's half-Ainu and married to a Jewish guy.

So, yes, they deal with skinheads up close and personal.

This means I'm also writing the skinheads.

It's also not necessarily how your protagonist feels about it, though most people will root for any protag, you can actually make your villian protag someone people love to hate and want to watch burn.

And that's usually where villian protag stories mess up.

It's all in the tone of the narrative. It's all in portraying the characters who do inexcusable things as someone doing something inexcusable. And the completely unforgivable as completely unforgivable.

Having been in the Bleach fandom for many years, I've seen a lot of fic writers have narrative that serves to wholly justify and uphold Noitora's sexism as it is in canon (particularly canon comic--it was softened a bit for TV as the TV show ran prime time) These also tend to be people that treat Asians and queer men as their personal playthings, which is seemingly the bulk of any Japanese comic fandom in English, so I wasn't surprised people were writing that. I'm mentioning this as a failure of narrative.

I'm having him be just as sexist, but he's even more of a villan than in canon, and his behaviour is clearly not approved of by the heroes or narrative, as it is not in canon before canon decides to justify him in another area.

(I read it as overdoing sympathy for someone who's actually a morally mixed bag, but when shown to Westerners, who generally, save select few, lack the comprehension skills to appreciate anything beyond "perfect" and "unforgivable" binary, a lot of people decided his misery in wanting to die meant his sexism and rapey behaviour was OK)

My other fandom is Digimon. In 02, the narrative clearly approves of bashing Daisuke left and right, even while how Ken was treated when he was younger was not. (And I was taught that any older person has a responsibility of sorts toward the kids around them, so narrative approval of Daisuke's home life never sat well with me, even if I wasn't exactly vocal in the fandom when it first aired [because I was already working and felt like I should just let the kids, who understood how to use this "Web" thing better, anyway, have it])

So the narrative clearly has some kind of double standard going on (not entirely "female Jun hitting Daisuke is OK, but male Osamu hitting Ken is not," either, though excusing a lot of Jun's behaviour toward everyone is a part of it. Clearly we were supposed to laugh along with Mr. Isida in ep 22. But for Daisuke, Mr. Motomiya ain't nice, either)

Contrasting the two, if you're familiar with Digimon 02, is a good example of narrative approval (Motomiyas) vs disproval (Ichijoujis)

If you're familiar with Bleach, the narrative surrounding both Noitora and Ulquiorra towards Orihime disproves, generally. It tries to make them empathetic in other ways, but again, it depends who you're writing to, and if they're known for appreciating moral ambivalence. Although I did roll my eyes at the edgy prequel comic for Ulquiorra in Unmasked. That totally should've been used for more Nel, Grimmjow, Starrk, or Tier, in my opinion. But anyway, if you're writing in English, giving a reprehensible character a sympathetic spot comes off as fully justifying the character. And since most people writing to Westerners as a primary audience are also Westerners, that's probably the intent, as well, for most people reading this.

The line Ichigo says to Kisuke about Aizen immediately after defeating him, though, was specifically meant to make fans fond of Aizen for some reason, and that is...I don't even get that. That's just actually throwing a wrench in your narrative.

There's also a major villan protag film recently that wholly justified a villan protag, who, in previous works, had always been meant to be unjustifiable.

That's the big fail: it's not writing the bigotry or senseless violence and crime or what have you, it's whether the tone of your story makes that Nazist or that rapist or what have you "justified" or "funny."

The only way to make it funny but not approving is when we're laughing *at* the bigot. Few who knew either of the above exemplified know this one, but my all-time favourite TV show wasn't even dubbed in my native language. The Mary Tyler Moore Show has a bigoted character, who, fittingly, is dumber than a grain of rice. When his bigotry factors into the joke, the joke is "Oh, my God, what a moron." The joke is on the bigot. They do really well in keeping the laughs rolling while clearly taking a stance against bigotry.

I actually overall recommend the show, but especially if you wanna see the only way to do "bigot joke."

So, no, it's not wrong to write these things *happening* at all.

I also read a play by play of the first half of that book that started out as Twighlight fic until the guy reviewing got sick of it. Had the narrative disproven of the love interest's behaviour, it could have actually been a great book about DV victims or predators in the scene going after the novices warping kink into an excuse to abuse. Instead, the narrative's approval turned it into "kink is abuse and this is good" which is a dumpster fire of wrongness.

It's not that she wrote about a guy using kink as a convenient way to wrap abuse in concealing rhetoric, but that the narrative justified that and slandered kink by presenting it as exactly what the love interest was selling.

So no, it's not wrong or something to have characters do bad things or even be completely unforgivable people.

But how your narrative feels about it does show the kind of person you are.

[mostlyanything19]

Some Female Holmes&Watson

I keep being surprised how many cisswapped/genderbent/whatever-you-call-it-these-days Holmes webseries or online-based adaptations there’ve been in recent years. I thought I’d make a little masterpost of them, for myself and anyone who’s interested. FAIR WARNING: This includes my own opinions which are not always positive; don’t let that influence you if you don’t want to.

So far I’ve found:

In Hot Pursuit / По горячим следам (2013), the only one of them that is set in the Victorian Era! The costumes and scenery look amazing. There is no sound except the overlaid music, and all the dialogue is set in subtitles – a strange choice, but okay. Both the actresses for Holmes and for Watson appealed to me a lot; Watson especially. Holmes looks suitably... beautiful, but at the same time kinda unkempt? It’s neat. Her dress code and the way she does (or rather doesn’t) do her hair is subtly but noticeably unconventional for her time, and while it’s no masterpiece, this little film definitely gets a thumbs-up from me.

The Adventures of Jaime Watson (and Sherlock Holmes) is a webseries I’ve only just started to look into, but I’m rather liking it so far. There are a LOT of episodes, but they’re very short, just a few minutes each, and it follows the same format that most of the other Modern-AU webseries do: a series of webcam-videos taken by Watson, as she gets to know this weird new flatmate of hers.  I like both these girls, and a part of it I think has got something to do with how utterly normal they are. They could be any young college students you’d run across in real life, too, and I think it’s charming. The acting is solid, and the story & characters easy to get into and very likable so far! BONUS: Jaime Watson is queer and this is explicitly stated withing the first few minutes of the show. No idea about Sherlock as far as I’ve watched, but there’s a chance she might be, too. (And listen, pals and gals, if this STILL doesn’t mean that these two get together in the end, then I declare the entire pan-Holmesiana officially cursed. HUNDREDS of adaptations and not a SINGLE one--- ok I don’t wanna get off topic here). (EDIT: Ok then, it’s decided, it’s officially cursed. To be clear: Not that I mind this Sherlock being aro/ace at all. But still. C U R S E D.)

Baker Street, I watched a while ago and don’t really remember much of it, though I guess liked it well enough. It’s three episodes, following College students Sherlock Holmes and Jane Watson as they mean and start to solve crimes together. Unfortunately, this adaptation plays its cards entirely straight, which I couldn’t help but find a bit of a let-down.

Herlock.  Jonny Watts and Sheridan Hume. So... okay. (Rant incoming, you’ve been warned.) Okay, see, it wasn’t bad. But it’s... I think it’s the format maybe? Something feels wrong about the story development and pacing to me. It’s too rushed. Things which should make me feel something just don’t. When Jonny’s boyfriend accuses her for being in love with Sheridan and treats her “obsession” with her like something that’s been going on for a worryingly long amount of time when it has, in reality, barely been a few hours? When Jonny then sits there and I can see that I’m supposed to get that this is somehow true and Jonny is just denying it to herself, after one Skype conversation? It’s supposed to be all profound or something, but instead it just feels like I’m getting hit over the head with things that don’t hit home. The messages about the Evil SexismTM were way too heavy-handed. Jonny was going on my nerves very quickly. I would have appreciated her to be more grounded and steadfast, not so hyper and flustered, not so obsessed. Actually I would appreciated her to be less good at crime solving. Less useful, if you will, than she was. Which may sound strange, and I know (and DO like!) that the newer Holmes adaptations are all about the teamwork and Holmes/Watson partnership appreciation, but I feel like they missed the point. The point which is that a Watson may (and will, and should) learn about the crime solving and deduction stuff as they become more involved in it, but the initial attraction, the spark that passes, between every pair of them, every time, is made of different stuff. It’s companionship. A warmth that was missing before, and that is needed, always, more than they know. I didn’t get that feeling here. I’m mostly disappointed because I do want to support and love the different sorts of adaptations that are starting to crop up online. This one has even insinuated very clearly that they’re going for a H/W direction in the future, and not even that gets me more excited about it, and that is honestly tragic. (It also seems that there won’t be any future installments, which renders the point moot.)

S(her)lock - the Webseries “is a feminist, LGBTQA positive, fresh take on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Living in New England in 1995, Sherlock Holmes investigates domestic cases with her companion, Dr. Johanna Watson — only the public has no idea!  Detective Lestrade claims credit for all her greatest accomplishments.  Can Holmes and Watson foil their foe and reclaim credit for their work?”  I haven’t checked this one out yet, which is why I’m copy-pasting the official description in here. What I know: This production has a trans woman as Watson and a drag queen as their landlord/lady, going alternately by Mr. Hudson and Mrs. Turner (which is kind of a stroke of genius, I have to say). Definitely one to keep in mind.

[niennavalier]

OC Ramble Time Pt 2!

Okay, so I'm gonna try to keep these a bit shorter (because the other post took way too long), since I'm gonna do a bit of talking about some of the other characters who are attached to the Disaster Boys (Anders and Alex) story and all that good stuff. So... just jump right in I guess?

Elias Elsker: So pretty much, if you read my whole thing about Anders, Elias is the kid that he takes in. He's real energetic and fun, very open while simultaneously being really awkward (not that it really bothers him). Honestly, he's just really friendly and loves people - animals, too (he's learned a bit of magic and usually has his snake familiar, Xanathar, somewhere nearby). (If you know D&D lore, yes, that's a reference, because Elias also started as a character for me to play. Arcane Tricksters, y'know?). Also impulsive, albeit not in a super self-destructive way. More like his cost-benefit analysis is just bad and sometimes he just does something kinda dumb. He's also pretty jumpy and very prone to running into furniture when his brain goes into panic mode.

Overall, he's just well-adjusted. Yes, he lost his parents young, but he had a good relationship with them, and then also grows really close with Anders. Just wanted a character who didn't have a bunch of issues for once, yknow?

For some other random facts: I tend to write him at either 16 or 21ish, depending - sometimes I wanna write him still learning from Anders, sometimes while he's more out on his own. Also, he's ace and some sort of romantic (AKA, he doesn't fully know and hasn't put a label on it, but if I were to say as the author, he's probably panromantic) and really fun to write/play for those relatable ace moments.

Aishah Rayyan: Alex's twin sister, so I won't go into her backstory in depth, except to say that she came out of their tragic past really differently. She got pretty much adopted into her best friend's family, so while Alex was having a rough time, she ended up having a relatively normal life - albeit with some guilt over losing contact with her brother, and, well, the effects of childhood trauma and the like. She and Alex reconnect over the course of whatever plot I actually write for them, and after all of whatever that is, they and all their other friends (talked about down below) end up all living together. And in that dynamic, she's 100% the mom friend. But less doting and more Tired. She's generally pretty laid-back, practical, and would love a quiet night in with loved ones, but ends up in this constant state of "please stop blowing up [insert kitchen appliance here], I haven't even kind of had enough coffee for this." At least before probably trying to fix the problem, until her girlfriend shepherds her to bed. (And that's assuming she's not hyperfocused in on something, because sometimes that's just what happens. Given a problem, she's gonna solve it).

(Oh, and quick note, she's the other old character who's since gotten reworked. Old tag was for "Taylor Fairfax" but then, unlike with Alex, she went through a pretty massive edit.)

Celine: Nope, no last name yet because names are hard, but she's Aishah's girlfriend. She's about the same age, just a little younger, and an aspiring theatre actress. She's really outgoing and warm, charismatic and super easy to get along with. More than a touch dramatic. Also a lot more traditionally feminine than most of the other female characters I write, and sort of the other resident mom friend, but...I guess in the more stereotypical way? (And she's really vocal about her support for Anders and Alex in particular - she finds them adorable and is one of few people who's never been intimidated by Anders. She just sees how he melts in front of people he cares about).

Oh, also, she and Aishah met at some sort of community theatre performance. The story that their friends tell is basically that in the middle of a scene, as she was on stage and Aishah was in the audience, their eyes just met, and that was it. Obviously, in reality, it wasn't that simple, but there are a lot of meet-cute vibes there.

Valon: Okay, now we get into the territory of my lovable idiot children (which, kudos to whoever knows where I'm stealing this particular name from. If you do, uh, you'll definitely know why this character is the way he is). Aishah's childhood best friend, and the one whose family adopted her. Also the one who's largely responsible for pulling her a bit more out of her shell. He's... just a big dumb idiot? Real big personality, constantly ribbing all of the people he's around and cracking jokes, just likes the energy of being around people in general. Always down to try something new and ridiculous, no matter what it is, even if that means destroying electronics (or the oven). And bluntly honest, but not in a mean way?

Also, he's bi and is pretty often just going out on casual dates for fun. Just sorta waiting to see what happens. But really, he's much more proud of Aishah's love life, though, and gladly takes credit for being the one to get her to ask Celine out.

(Oh, also, cause it was vaguely referenced above: he's the one who was - and is - intimidated by Anders.)

Arina "Ari" Varellian: My other idiot child, but also the character that I probably relate to the most? She grew up around a lot of technology as a kid and developed a good amount of skill with it (coding and stuff - I know nothing about it but she can, it's fine). But what it ultimately did was introduce her to a lot of other pieces of media - video games especially (but also TV and movies are a big part of her life, too). Basically, she's just a glutton for entertainment and fiction and keeps up with all the nerd content.

But she doesn't fall into that "introverted, awkward nerd" type. She gets along really well with Valon, actually - very similar type of big, open personality and always ready with a hearty laugh. She's just here to have a good time, and to try new things (and to force her friends to try new things with her). Basically, she's the person who would go looking for a way to learn parkour after playing something like Assassin's Creed (because it looks cool) or would - and did - plan an entire camping trip after playing Red Dead 2 (because the outside is pretty, guys). Plus, also dragging them into things like escape rooms and D&D games, because these things looked fun.

And, because this is important to me, she's aro ace and very much a way for me to write my perspective? All the "what's up with sex when you could have cake? Or dragons?" and "look, these characters are pretty but why would I sleep with/romance them?" While simultaneously making sex jokes at her friends' expense and shipping fictional characters like there's no tomorrow.

And that's all for today!

The main other characters attached to my Disaster Boys. Tried to keep it short because I'm sleepy, but, as per usual, I could and would gladly talk more about them later (even though some of them do sorta vary in terms of how much I've written and developed them).

Although, a couple last things: I've technically also been sitting on one more character to add into this crew - specifically another friend of Ari's. But I've done markedly less development there, so I'll come back to that some other day. And there are other characters attached to Anders aside from just Elias, I promise. He does have his mentor (whom I mentioned but didn't go into, since I tend to write her more into backstory) and his own found family, but some of those characters belong to a friend, cause that all developed via some D&D sessions. Didn't seem right to add that here.