#i'm picking hope and legacy worlds 2017

[rondocapri]

I’m curious, if someone expressed interest in seeing figure skating what is the skate you would choose to show them?

[pridepoisoned]

CHARACTER NOTES: JUPITER/ERIS EVANS

[I've been meaning to do this for a while and I have it on the brain right now, so why not? With the information below, I'm hoping to open new doors for interaction while also clarifying some of Eris's motives and the core influences behind the character. She deserves a deep dive. 😊]

Pokemon Platinum is my favorite main series game, I love my supporting characters, and I wanted to try a villain, which is why I initially picked up roleplaying JUPITER around 2017 in a closed Tumblr group. However, the experience left me feeling bitter--the Cyrus player at the time was very possessive, and Jupiter and I couldn't escape his shadow (or the community's view that Jupiter was a mere Galactic lackey, victim of the 10,000th spacesuit joke.)

ERIS EVANS was born from the ashes of that blog when I went indie in 2020, inspired by the questions: what would a post-Galactic Jupiter do, fully independent and freed from Cyrus's influence? What if she was 'worse'? and what would today's unethical sciences, corrupt politics, and greedy corporate behaviors look like within the Pokemon world?

Four main themes inform Eris's portrayal: (excess) hunger/greed, masks, poison, and resilience/survival.

More than anything, Eris Evans has an insatiable appetite for knowledge, willing to cross almost any unethical lines to satisfy her rampant curiosity. This hunger has been present all her life--from when she was gazing at the distant stars, entranced by Cyrus's fantastical vision for a new world, searching for her father, and even more so now. (Her hunger for knowledge is all-consuming and spills in every direction. If you have something cool, she'll want to figure out how it works. Take it apart. Tinker and probe.)

Importantly, Eris does not want to usurp any existing leaders or organizations...

The spotlight is stifling, and she is most at home working away in the background shadows. Above all, power, influence and control are things Eris craves because they allow her the time/resources to experiment as she pleases. While she's currently under Devon's employ right now, Eris will happily work with/under anybody who can provide her with freedom, resources, and a lofty goal to work towards.

With this being said, Eris's appetite is designed to lead her into trouble. She's woven an intricate web thus far (which I am pumped about), flitting back and forth between various conflicting organizations--a day will come when her multilayered façade all comes crashing down.

So, how does Eris manage to survive under the spotlight, juggling all her connections? She's an expert mask-wearer, ultimate deceiver, interchanging her personality to best fit the mood and get what she wants. She can't help herself. With her disarming looks and unmatched charisma, Eris excels in the world of big business, concealing her darker side underneath. A total wolf in sheep's clothing.

I made Eris a poison-developing expert because it fits in with her curiosity and the idea of soft power, an advisor whispering shadily into a leader's ear. Poison corrodes, corrupts, and is often used in deception, which makes it Eris's perfect symbol of choice. She uses poison in many forms--ranging from the sadistic physicality of her 'enforcer' Seviper, Anje to the gentle suggestion of her mind-warping Kirlia, Felisa. Eris and poison are all about damage over time, infecting and collapsing bigger foes from the inside...

All of this being said, Eris's endgame is unclear right now, even to her. Galactic gave her an ambition to sink her claws into, and Devon is currently satisfying her with full access to Pokemon bioenergy development, but she's always on the lookout for the next big step, always working, worrying about her legacy. Survival.

She helped leash Dialga and Palkia atop the Spear Pillar, spat at them. Soon after, Cyrus disappeared, just like her father had aboard the Sea Mauville all those years ago. That fateful encounter (and abandonment) helped her realize that time and influence are fleeting. In order to thrive in this new, post-Galactic life, she must fill the void with as much knowledge as possible, as many answers as possible. Rules are restraints. Above all, she must survive, no matter how terrifying/twisted she may become. Mortality hangs over her head like a hungry serpent, always demanding tribute.

Always demanding more.

TIDBITS

ERIS is the second (not first) largest dwarf planet in the solar system, maintaining Galactic's cute planetary roots. Eris is also the goddess of discontent and discord (not that Discord.) EVANS was chosen because I wanted an unassuming last name for her to blend in to society following her expulsion from Sinnoh. Also, alliteration always goes hard.

I chose DEVON as Eris's landing spot because they are very similar. Smiling exteriors, shady interiors. I view Devon as the consummate too big to fail company of the Pokemon world, doing whatever it can to maintain PR and get ahead of the competition. (Once again, Eris is looking out for herself and isn't beholden to Devon, though the corp does spoil her...)

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading update

hello lovers, it's once again time to blather at you about my bookish pursuits. last month was a weird and paltry hodgepodge; this month I feel I can safely say I've gotten my proverbial groove back. I suspect next month will be very largely shaped by book recommendations I picked up from various workshops this weekend at a MBLGTACC, but I suppose we'll have to wait until the end of November to see.

in the meantime, what have I been reading?

Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness (Da'Shaun L. Harrison, 2021) - a small book that hits like lightning. Harrison draws heavily on Sabrina Strings' excellent Fearing the Black Body and expands in even more radical directions, examining the ways in which anti-fatness and anti-Blackness collude to demonize Black masculine folks in particular. the way Harrison talks about the concept of health is particularly shattering, as they underline the ways in which modern American concepts of health have been shaped by ideas that exclude Black bodies inherently. I actually thought of Harrison a lot this weekend while I was listening to Imani Barbarin speaking, because she made a similar point in connection to queerness, talking about how enslaved people running away from plantations was considered a manifestation of mental unwellness in much the same way that queer expressions of gender and sexuality have been. I love digging up these seemingly ubiquitous ideas and finding new angles at which to poke at and complicate them, and Harrison is phenomenal at facilitating that.

Jade War (Fonda Lee, 2019) - and now for something completely different: the second installment of Fonda Lee's door-stopping Green Bone Saga. holy FUCK these books rule; I'm never NOT having a blast reading them. Jade War builds on the conflicts established in Jade City and expand them to a more international level, jetting the surviving members of the Kaul family off to new countries to grapple with the cultural impact of their magical, ability-enhancing jade across the world. there were a couple of moments in this book that had me genuinely gasping out loud, mainly because Lee's ability to balance the tension of day to day politics and business with sudden eruptions of brutality and danger is absolutely unmatched. I'm really excited to see the Kaul family starting to raise the next generation, and I can't wait to see how the family's fate keeps unfolding in Jade Legacy.

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter (Scaachi Koul, 2017) - I've been a fan of Koul's journalism for years - she's mean and she's funny and she's always right - but I have Tajja Isen to thank for getting me to finally read her essay collection. you may recall Isen's own collection, Some of My Best Friends, from last month's roundup; in the chapter critiquing the demands placed on essay writers of color, she highlights Koul as one of the best writers working. and I have to agree; when she gets personal Koul writes with a kind of hysterical melancholy about nearly everything - about her immigrant parents, particularly her prickly father; about her older white boyfriend; about the ways in which her body marked her as different growing up in a white Canadian neighborhood. Koul's chapter reflecting on her cousin's exhausting traditional Indian wedding was painful and sweet and will, I think, do something to anyone who regards their family's traditions with an equal mix of huge love and a deep desire to depart. I hope Koul's got another essay collection in her, because I would love to crawl in her brain and live in her thoughts on the pandemic for a bit.

The Sandman: Dream Country (Neil Gaiman et al, 1991) - okay, so, we've gotten to the bit where (in my extremely humble opinion) the Sandman actually starts getting really good. the stories collected in Dream Country particularly rule because they're not really about Morpheus at all; he (or, sometimes, his sister Death) are just Around, a small part in other people's stories unfolding around them. I often say that I think a lot of the best Batman stories barely have any Batman, and that also applies here; it's an especially pleasant breather before Season of Mists starts really getting the Plot rolling. the Sandman is, of course, a story about stories, capable of holding almost any kind of story you can imagine, so it's fun to watch Gaiman kick back and get weird for a bit.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Becky Chambers, 2022) - having been feeling a bit depressed of late I decided to make a conscious effort to lighten up my reading a bit, and our queer sci-fi solarpunk queen Becky Chambers had my back as always. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is the second installation in the Monk and Robot series of novellas, and follows our titular monk and robot as they descend from the wilderness where they met and begin introducing the robot, Mosscap, into a human society that has gone generations without seeing any robots. what ensues is a gentle story about travel, belonging, and what it means to be a person who's part of the world, what we contribute and what we owe to one another. I read this book in a day and cradled it like a mug of hot chocolate the whole time, feeling warm and cozy long after the last page.

The Sandman: Season of Mists (Neil Gaiman et al, 1992) - friends, this is one of my favorite plots in the entire series: our boy Morpheus gets clowned into going to Hell to free his ex girlfriend, only to find that Lucifer is calling it a day and shutting Hell down - and leaving Morpheus with the key. what ensues is the world's worst dinner party as figures from all across creation and mythology descend on Morpheus' house to try to threaten or tempt him into giving them the key, all while he's already in the middle of a depressive episode and really doesn't want to be doing any of this. absolutely delicious, 10/10 from me. I'm happy every time Morpheus is having a terrible horrible no good very bad day.

How to Read Now (Elaine Castillo, 2022) - the thing about this book is that it rules and makes me want to read everything Elaine Castillo has ever written, because she's insightful and mean and funny and furiously, deeply principled in how she writes. her book feels like an excellent companion to Some of My Best Friends (I really owe Tajja Isen this month) in how it really probes into the expectations placed on marginalized writers to be Marginalized above all else in their writing, the way publishers and readers alike focus on marginalized writers as tools of education and social betterment rather than just, you know, artists creating art. she has some CHOICE words about the severe limitations of analyzing writing purely through the lens of Good Representation (spoilers: it sucks) that made me cheer out loud. in a very weird and unpleasant cultural moment of anti-intellectualism and a buckwild aversion to literacy you need to read How to Read Now literally right now.

Harley Quinn: The Animated Series: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour (Tee Franklin and Max Sarin, 2022) - the thing about this six issue series is that it's, like, impossible to read it without the vile online harassment Tee Franklin faced for writing the series weighing heavily in my mind. she caught the usual bullshit you'd expect from exactly the kind of people you'd expect who were angry that a queer disabled Black woman was writing queer characters with a diverse supporting cast, which is annoying but typical, but then there was the brigade of picrew pride flag icons flinging wild accusations of lesbophobia at Franklin for everything from pointing out that the Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy she's writing aren't lesbians (that's pretty obvious if you've ever even casually watched the show this series spins off from) to making Ivy "emotionally abusive" (see: writing conflict that's more than addressed and resolved by the series' end). that harassment campaign is also, I suspect, strongly motivated by Franklin's status as a disabled queer Black woman, wrapped up in social justice terminology to make it palatable to the picrew icons, and it casts a long shadow across this series. which is like... fine, by the way. it's just fine. it makes some nice callbacks to the show (which I really like, despite my usual no tv policies) without ever quite managing to hit quite the same tone; it's a little too saccharine in ham-fisted in some places for me, and later issues are reliant on thought bubbles in a way that I find grating for no particular reason. but on the flipside it establishes that Harley and Ivy are immediately starting their relationship by fucking on, like, every available surface, which I love for them! I actually think it's great and cool when queer artists get to make stuff that's kind of mid for huge corporations; god knows straight white men have been getting away with it for decades. so what if the plot could have used some tighter editing? that's true of literally every comic series I've ever read. I'll be reading Franklin's Harley Quinn follow-up, Legion of Bats, just as soon as I can get my hands on it, partially out of spite, and I personally hope DC keeps her on the payroll for a million years.

Our Wives Under the Sea (Julia Armfield, 2022) - oh, what a novel! short and sharp and aching, romantic in the most painful way imaginable. alternating chapters are narrated by Miri, whose wife has just returned from a submarine voyage gone wrong acting nothing like herself, and Leah, the aforementioned wife. Miri narrates the present, in which she is exhausted and exasperated by the unknowable woman who's come back seemingly in Leah's place, while Leah's chapters explain what went wrong on the submarine with the chill of steadily increasing dread. it's about love and devotion and also the fucked up things that happen in the darkest part of the ocean; what's not to love?

[omegangrins]

[Kong: Skull Island/Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2017/2019)] Private Reg Slivko = Dr. Rick Stanton

Okie dokie, here we again.

Before we start this one though, I'll admit it's gonna be stretchy. Honestly, the more I researched it, the more I wanted this theory to be correct because the people behind the scenes were sooooo close to connecting all the dots and it was maddening that they hadn't. So with that, I give a push. Hopefully the right people are listening and if not, well it's some fun head-canon. Which is allways the goal!

Tl;dr: After his time on Skull Island, Rick Stanton (who's army nickname was Reg Slivko), motivated by fear and his love of music, got degrees in sound engineering to become a crypto-sonographer so he could be of more use to the world in its defense against M.U.T.O threats.

A lot of places to start but continuing off music is the best. Especially when comparing the characters side by side. This was something I only realized in reading up on it,

but in Kong: Skull Island (KSI and GKOTM as the other one from here on out), Slivko grabs his personal record player out of the helicopter wrecks and carries it with him through the movie. Now that's a level of dedication for a luxurious item that speaks volumes. That thing's heavy. Like, 1980's cellphone-as-luggage heavy. It's an unknown jungle and you've just been attacked by a giant gorilla. Deciding to lug a record player through that is.... well, it's insane. But hey, I begrudge a person their little pleasures. Most of all in moments like that. What's it mean though?

It means that Rick Slivko loved music so much he decided to go to school for acoustics after the army. I mean, that's the point, right? Join the army, get some money and training, and use them to do what you wanted to do [Not that that's how it actually works 😘 ] And why wouldn't he want to get a leg up after seeing everything on Skull Island. That kind of thing gives you some serious life lessons along with a dose of motivational PTSD. It makes double sense too when you realize that in the briefing Reg Stanton was given at the beginning of KSI, the Landsat officers said that they would use bombs to measure the acoustic vibrations in the Earth. Upon learning that too, what's he say?

"Ya hear that, boys?! We're scientists now."

So R.S. got scared, realized that bullets and bombs wouldn't solve the problem and went and got a doctorate to help for real. Stranger things have happened. And really, would you blame him?

"I record everything, man. Everything."

This is why he's such a fan/proponent of Dr. Houston Brooks' Hollow Earth theory and also explains his playful rivalry with Ilene Chen. They all know each other from waaaaay back.

And this is where I'm gonna ask for some audience cooperation. The behind the scenes material is slightly contradictory on what this is saying. Now, according to Gojipedia,

Rick Stanton earned his doctorate while at SETI and THEN met Brooks while working at Landsat and hearing MONARCH rumors. AND amazingly, seemingly missing a good story opportunity, San Lin in KSI is NOT one of the Mothra twins from GKOTM. What the hell?! I'm not sure if it's racism or bad storytelling but I had just assumed she was half of the legacy of twins. It does state though that Ilene and Ling Chen ARE third generation MONARCH so maaaaybe they're the daughters of San Lin and Houston Brooks. But alas, the wiki says those two only had a son named Aaron and the age wouldn't match up. Yet there's still the naming connection. San Lin and Ling Chen. Just like Reg Slivko and Rick Stanton. Private R.S. and Doctor R.S.. Lin and Ling. Coincidence? Perhaps, but there is truth in a name.

So let's throw out a little bit of the behind-the-scenes narrative and fill it in to go just a slightly different direction. What if R.S., Brooks and San Ling Chen all met on Skull Island? Slivko was still in the army so he serves out his tour and Brooks/Lin go off to work for the larger MONARCH. R.S. gets out of the army and decides to do something more with his life. Goes and gets his degree, working at SETI as an intern, slowly building up the knowledge needed to be of legitimate use to a monster hunting organization (Looking for life in space ain't that different from listening for it down here). Eventually he and Brooksie meet up again and they use their prior connections to get R.S. into MONARCH. The rest is cinema history.

This brings into play why Ricko knows and loves the Hollow Earth theory so much. Seen it, been there and done it. Hell, it's the whole reason he got here in the first place and he goes drinking with the man who came up with the idea. His kidding with Ilene Chen? Well he knows her sister and likes to rib the other twin about how she missed out on the Skull Island expedition. Even the man's verbage makes him sound like he's from the 70's, man. Like, you know what I mean, dude?

"Shut up, Rick."

I don't know for sure. When I first had this idea, it seemed like the people making it had thought of it too. So I was a little disappointed to see it wasn't so. Yet... still the idea persisted in me so hard that you're seeing it here now. True or not, planned or forced, the pieces are there for something more. Here's hoping better people can pick up the strings and finish tying this knot.

[bravadoseries]

I'm a little confused about what the movies/tv shows timeline would look like for the series, could you clarify?

So, pre-Avengers I think Audrey makes a variety of cameo roles.  She’s in the Iron Man films briefly, she’s featured in an epilogue of Captain America: The First Avenger, I know this technically isn’t first but she plays a minor role in Captain Marvel.  Generally, she’s just kind of present in a lot of the movies before she becomes a lead.  

The way I structured this list is so that each movie that’s canon is just listed with its corresponding fic, but all the ones I’m making up have a little summary too lol.  Spoilers below so beware of that.  I hope this helps!

2012

The Avengers (May 2012) – covered by Monachopsis

Cross-Country (July 2012) – this one would look like the oneshots/shorts that Marvel used to make about its side characters, but it covers Steve’s birthday and the road trip that Steve and Audrey take cross-country

Lady Liberty: Legacy (September 2012) – this covers the arc of Nodus Tollens that I just finished, which is about Audrey’s mission in Europe, DIVUS, Delphine, etc.

The Tower – Season 1 (October-December 2012) – This show focuses on the found family aspect of the Avengers and is like a dramedy.  In my head, I picture it as being filmed as a mockumentary with little talking heads because I like those and I think it suits the format well.  Content wise, I feel like it airs on ABC.  Takes place from October 2012-December 2012, runs for 8 episodes.  

2013

Black Widow: Opus (January 2013) – Covers the Siege of Chicago, another arc I write about in Nodus Tollens.  Explores Natasha’s backstory with ballet and kind of has Black Swan meets Atomic Blonde vibes.  Set in January 2013

The Tower – Season 2 (June-August 2013) – Picks up where its predecessor left off and runs for another 8 episodes.  It also corresponds to Nodus Tollens and builds/develops Audrey’s relationship with Bruce as well as Steve’s relationship with Darcy

Thor: The Dark World (2013) – Set November 2013, also corresponds to Nodus Tollens lol (this book is long)

2014

Agent 13 (February 2014) – Marvel oneshot about Sharon Carter, Audrey, and the transfer to DC, as well as Peggy’s legacy with SHIELD

Captain America: The Winter Soldier(April 2014) – corresponds to 

Hawkeye(s) – (May-August 2014) – Kate Bishop and Clint Barton work cases in Los Angeles, where they meet America Chavez and other members of the Young Avengers.  I’m not totally sure if I’m gonna write this or not, but basically it corresponds to Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye comics. This one is an action-comedy, like if Community met Veronica Mars

The Falcon – Season 1 (October-December 2014) – Okay I’m just a little Sam Wilson stannie but I feel like they should have done more with him, so this series focuses on him primarily, but features Steve, Audrey, and Natasha as side characters. They’re looking for Bucky, but it’s also about him living in the tower and falling in love with Olivia Perales. This corresponds to a spinoff oneshot (probably 10-15k words long) called Fear of Flying.  It airs on Netflix and receives rave reviews for its bingeability.  The tone is comparable to Scandal or other Shonda Rhimes dramas.  

2015

Agent Carter – Season 1 (January-March 2015)– this is what it is and it corresponds to Midsummer, which is just a series of oneshots about Audrey growing upu

Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 2015) – Corresponds to Aurora

Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch (released June 2015) – set throughout 2015; about Pietro and Wanda’s adjustments to their new lives as Avengers.  They’re both like 19? 20? This is written like a sitcom, kind of like what they’re doing with WandaVisionbut without Paul Bettany bc I hate that little man….anyway this technically takes place at the same time as Elysian but tonally they’re very different because Elysian is about Audrey going crazy and grieving Bruce’s “death” but the show is about the twins and their relationships with each other and an assortment of other employees from the base, who aren’t superheroes but are like medics, etc.  I think the tone is like Scrubs 

2016

Agent Carter – Season 2 (January-March 2016) – same as the above; about Peggy’s life in LA kicking ass and her romance with Sousa

Captain America: Civil War (April 2016) – this corresponds to Allegiance, while also unpacking unfinished business from Lady Liberty: Legacy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Falcon – Season 2 (September 2016) – this is about Sam, Bucky, Steve, Nat, Pietro, and Wanda’s life on the run, but it especially focuses on Sam and his own missions/the villains targeting him.  Tonally, still Shonda Rhimes.  

2017

Lady Liberty and the Angels of Mercy (February 2016) – Marvel’s second R-rated film, but the MCU’s first.   Think about it like Birds of Prey in terms of general vibes.  Set immediately after Civil War and features an epilogue that connects Audrey to Thor: Ragnarok.  The story is set in Los Vegas.  Corresponds to Eternity, which is even longer than Nodus Tollens 

Defenders – Season 1 – features overlap with some of the characters from Angels of Mercy as well as Annie Esposito, a mob princess of New York.  Corresponds to Pernox

Thor: Ragnarok (November 2017) – Happens as it does, except for the part where Audrey has a short-lived romance with Loki and the part where Audrey and Thor realize that they are connected in their powers.  Considering including Lindsey Dubois in this just so I can have a romance play out between her and Valkyrie (Janelle and Tessa 4ever…) but also, I might not. Corresponds to Eternity

2018

Avengers: Infinity War (April 2018) – So yeah they fight Thanos, etc.  I’m changing the way Thanos is portrayed though bc I could not get over how he looks like a thumb long enough to actually feel afraid of him so this time he’s played by John Hamm and he’s a lot more well-connected than we all thought he was.  Also, the children of Thanos are actually all children because um I think that ups the creep factor some more.  Corresponds to Eternity as well

The Real Hawkeye (October 2018) – Kate Bishop and America Chavez fighting crime.  After the snap, there’s a spike in crime against vulnerable people who have lost their caretakers.  Might be set in a cult that actually worships Thanos?  And promises that it’s all a very good thing, what’s happened?  Very much a noir, might even be in black and white a la The Lighthouse.  

2019

Lady Liberty: Resurrection (January 2019) – Audrey wakes up on the other side of the universe after being kidnapped and decides to make her way home.  Featuring Carol Danvers, Loki, Nebula, and Valkyrie. Corresponds to Eternity and kind of feels like Star Wars/GotG 

Avengers: Endgame (April 2019) – Does not happen as it was written, because it was written like trash, but the same stuff needs to happen.  They fight, they win, etc.  Corresponds to Eternity.  

2020

Black Widow: The Long Thread (whenever covid ends 2020) - just the existing Black Widow movie lol

2021

Avengers Academy – Set 20 years in the future, Avengers Academy is a TV show that follows the next generation of heroes.  Kind of soapy, kind of witty.  Like if Riverdale was good.  Driven by an ensemble cast: Margo Banner (Bruce & Audrey’s daughter), Anastasia Barton-Romanoff (Natasha and Clint’s daughter), Morgan and Leo (Tony and Pepper’s kids), and some others I have not invented yet.  

[kingofthewilderwest]

Don't worry, I take over my sleep time to read and write fanfictions. I wouldn't have time otherwise! I have an entire Word page with only links to fanfictions I still have to read! And it's all right to not read fanfictions if you don't want to. It's just an hobby among others. Anyway, you wrote fanfictions?? Now I'm curious, could I have a link, if you don't mind? Have a good night too and sorry for my grammar mistakes, english isn't my first language (btw, thank you for the likes

From this. Sorry I’m slow replying!! thanks for your wonderful messages! :)

No worries about grammar! Your English is great, and even if it weren’t, that’s no bother to me either. :) The fact that you’re communicating in a language that isn’t your first… just means you have extra skills and are even more awesome! :) 

I love how dedicated you are to looking at others’ fanfictions, even creating a Word document page to make sure you remember them. That’s beautiful and cool. And I’m getting curious about what you’ve written, too! 

Thanks so much for asking about my fics - this touches me! Sure, I’m happy to share! I tend to post all fics on tumblr and FFN, with FFN being my primary hub. On tumblr I use the tag #my fanfiction and tag all stories by their title. My FFN profile is kingofthewilderwest.

I’m so so so so so SO touched when anyone reads or interacts with my fics (though since I write casually, I ask no constructive criticism

THE VIGILANTE’S WAR

HTTYD. YEAR: 2014. LENGTH: 57,110 WORDS. A mysterious, antagonistic dragon rider dubbed “the Vigilante” crosses paths with Hiccup, and her increasingly violent actions appear to be leading to war against Berk. 

He tightened his hands, loosened them again. Breathed in, breathed out. He could feel himself stooped in the dirt, his shoulders hunched over his head, his knees buried in the ground and tucked underneath his torso. His neck was bent low close to the earth, providing him a good view of his hands and the ground and nothing else.

Well, and the blood.

That can’t possibly be all mine.

- PROLOGUE: FROM OUT OF THE HAZE

HTTYD 2′s original drafts had Valka as the main antagonist. I found this so interesting that I decided to rewrite HTTYD 2 - with a few of my own spins - on this concept. One of my most well-known fics, “The Vigilante’s War” is where I’ve gotten the most thorough reviews and most emotional reactions.

THE VIGILANTE’S LEGACY 

HTTYD. YEARS: 2014-2016. LENGTH: 20,546 WORDS. There’s been four years of war between three factions. Drago’s army. The Vigilante and her dragons. Berk and their allies. But now, Chief Hiccup believes there’s a way to end the conflict. Sequel to “The Vigilante’s War.”

Hiccup spoke up. Cleared his voice. Tapped his pointer finger apprehensively on the cell’s iron door. “You said we were making a mistake.” Might as well speak straight to the point of his visit. “Something about ‘you and every one of your warriors are making a mistake’ or – or something like that.”

For a moment Hiccup wondered if Valka actually would reply. The calculating gaze she gave him from the corner of her prison certainly did not seem a positive sign. However, then, with a steady, lilting cadence to her voice, she succinctly affirmed, “I did.” Just those two words. Nothing more.

- VIII. THE MISTAKES OF WAR

It’s unfinished; I haven’t updated because I ran out of steam and didn’t receive enough reader feedback encouraging me to continue. Though I did have a very vivid final chapter in mind… that I still love… which I never got to…?

MEMOIRS

HTTYD. YEARS: 2015-2016. LENGTH: 44,289 WORDS. My ongoing collection of drabbles for HTTYD. Angst, pain, comfort, humor, crossovers, crack, it’s all there. Favorites include “Family Portrait,” “Stubble,” “Buffcup the Brawny,” and “Remember When.”

He held her hand softly, one wrinkled hand laid gently on top of another. It was just her and him now in the house all alone – for their children had left on a voyage with the grandkids, and would not be back for a week yet, if even two. It evoked the quietness of the old days, back before they were old, back during the times when they were newlyweds and younger even than their grandchildren were today. Oh, but the smell of her hair was just as refreshing now as when it was blonde.

- REMEMBER WHEN

DINNER AT DRAGON’S EDGE 

HTTYD. YEAR: 2015. LENGTH: 5,452 WORDS. The gang’s settling in at Dragon’s Edge. To make sure everything operates smoothly, Hiccup suggests a chore rotation system. That means everyone has to do their fair share of the cooking… but it doesn’t mean everyone is a fair cook.

“Oh my gods, is this dinner or what the rats threw away?” Snotlout exclaimed, terrified at the Unidentified Edible Object before him.

Tuffnut picked it up with one experimental hand and held it out before him at a safe distance. People would have held poisonous snakes or bloodied torture devices more cheerily. Squinting his eyes and peering carefully at the peculiar specimen pinched between his fingers, rubbing under his chin with his other, free hand, Tuffnut remarked, “Looks something like what Barf and Belch poop out after they get sick and…”

- 1. ASSIGNING JOBS

This humorous fic I think is where I do best capturing HTTYD character personalities and interactions.

[SUPER]HERO THE HARD WAY 

HTTYD. YEARS: 2014-2017. LENGTH: 86,566 WORDS. In a modern world where Berk is full of superheroes battling the League of Outcasts, power-less Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third struggles to receive appreciation for who he is. Through his crime-fighting journey, Hiccup learns that, while he might not have powers, he can become a Hero the Hard Way.

“I wasn’t born with anything. Don’t have anything. I’m the son of Chief Stoick “Skullcrusher” and I don’t have anything. Not even a superpower to turn objects purple. Which frankly would be completely pointless but at least it would have been something.“

He realized he was babbling and promptly shut his mouth. He looked over at Fishlegs, who appeared to be wordlessly processing the information. The teenager appeared baffled moreso than anything else, which at least meant he was not outright rejecting him.

“So you’re going to train to be a superhero… and you don’t have any powers? I got that right?”

“You got that right.”

“Wow.” Fishlegs said.

Hiccup waited for more.

“That’s actually really cool.”

- CHAPTER THREE: SIDEKICKED

This started as me intending to write one crack chapter. It turned into me envisioning a ROB / DOB modern AU where all characters were superheroes. The final product became a retelling of HTTYD 1′s basic concept: Hiccup gaining his peers’ approval despite being different. Somehow, despite me 70% adlibbing by the seat of my pants (should I be admitting this?), I had great fun. And it brought in the most reviews, follows, and favorites of any of my posted stories! Thanks for the reads and support, everyone!!!

RESET OR RESUME 

UT. YEAR: 2016-2017. LENGTH: 85,841 WORDS. Gaster’s research unlocks the secret of time travel. After the Royal Scientist’s untimely end, one of Gaster’s colleagues - Sans - finds himself with the power to Reset. Confronted with unpleasant timelines and dangerous choices, Sans must decide how to navigate through time… if it’s worth resetting for a better future, continuing with hope for the present, or simply giving up.

No longer timid and silent, the human happily babbled all sorts of nonsense to Sans, everything from how to bake snow pies to how weird Sans’ skull looked to how beautiful the ribbon in their hair was to their opinions of Papyrus’ ‘battle body’ to how their mom didn’t like the color black to their personal opinion of ferrets to a long narrative of their encounter with a snail-loving old lady they met on the other side of the Ruins door. Everything could be the topic of a conversation. There was no filter and even less sense of restraint for this child.

“How are you a SKELETON?” their happy little high-pitched voice squeaked. They flew gallantly over a twig that rested, flat, on the surface of the snow. Powder flew everywhere as they landed heavily into the snowbank. “That means – that means you should be DEAD, you know!”

“who says i’m not dead?” Sans trolled with a wink.

With a shrieking giggle, they exclaimed, “Don’t be silly! Only ghosts are dead!”

“i could be a skeleton ghost.”

“No you – no you can’t.” The human seemed to be quite confident about their knowledge in paranormal metaphysics. “You can be a skeleton. You can be a ghost. But nobody – NOBODY – can be a skeleton ghost.”

“is that so?”

“YES so! You CAN’T be both. That would be wrong.” Maybe the human mentally categorized skeletons and ghosts as separate Halloween creatures, ensuring they were mutually exclusive concepts. It was always challenging to comprehend a child’s train of logic. “Except…” and now the child paused, leaning down and tugging at the sleeve of their sweater. Something thoughtful – at least as much as one so young could be thoughtful – passed over their eyes. They cocked their head to the side and stared at Sans. In the same sort of innocence with which they had talked about ferrets, the human inquired, “…can ghosts also be dust?”

- 5. KNOCKS [[File 5.2 IH-20150701-3-3]]

I have particular fondness for this fic. I spent more energy and care with this than any other I’ve posted. Drenched it through with UT lore. Edited and revised thoroughly. Had two beta readers examine my ASL for accurate representation. I wrote extensive outlines that were several page long color-coded charts, had all this meticulous structuring going on…

The problem was, this was an impossibly ambitious project. Life got in the way, too. The 85,841 words here aren’t close to the end of Part 1. The final two Parts were going to explain the weirdness within Part 1 (the story doesn’t begin in chronological order - it gets pieced together like a puzzle). What I planned to write would have included a complex characterization arc for Sans, every human child that’s visited the underground, and multiple resets containing main character deaths… until the story would end with Sans confronting Frisk in the Genocide Route.

Hopefully, despite the incompleteness, this is enjoyable from its comedy to its angst! I would at least encourage people to read the first few chapters! Or “Socks” - an entire chapter devoted to Sans and Gaster pulling sock pranks on each other.

SOMEHOW THEY’RE STILL OFFICERS

FMAB. YEAR: 2018-2019. LENGTH: 6,036 WORDS. Ahhhhhh yes. Team Mustang. The hand-selected, elite group of military officers who effectively spend their time… doing nonsense. 

Everyone was scrambling at once. Mustang rushed forward to greet their guest, perfect composure only broken by the fast pace at which he moved. In fact the colonel’s posture was almost a proud enough display to make his lack of shirt go unnoticed. But Falman chucked his cards away at the same time he tried to salute; Breda was ducking from Falman’s sudden card shower; Fuery was launching pants and underwear in Havoc’s face; and Lieutenant Hawkeye, obviously abashed to be in this room at all, was covering her eyes with her hand in what was either her life’s longest sigh, or a pathetic attempt to hide her face and identity.

- WE WERE JUST PLAYING CARDS

My collection of FMA drabbles, particularly stories of Team Mustang shenanigans. Prompts / requests welcome for more adventures!

I have a few other drabbles posted, too. I also have unfinished chapters of Voltron fanfictions on my computer that I could share, too? Maybe I should? I’m currently working on several Royai fanfictions, other FMA drabbles, and a longer Deponia fanfiction.

Thank you again for being so nice and connecting with me over fanfiction and fandom and FMA and more. You’re a really wonderful and cool person and you made my day.

[the-real-xmonster]

Hey there! So, as a pick-up for all of us after Hanyu's... unfortunate, to say the least, injury, I was wondering if I could ask which performance of each of Hanyu's R+J's (1 and 2), Notre-dames, POTOs, Seimeis and Hope and Legacy's you liked the most? For me, it'd have to be, in order, Worlds 2012, Worlds 2013, GPF 2013, GPF 2014, GPF 2015 and, oddly enough, Skate Canada 2016. I feel as though I'm the odd one out for the last one though. Or, if that's a bit much, which program you liked best?

Thank you for the pick-up. I just emerged from a half-day marathon of Yuzu’s old performances, and I’m a quarter of the way through indexing all of the gifs I’ve made for Tumblr so far, so I’m very up to answering this. 

My personal favorites, in recycled gifs:

Romeo & Juliet, first edition: Worlds 2012

Notre Dame de Paris: Worlds 2013

Romeo & Juliet, second edition: Grand Prix Final 2013 

Phantom of the Opera: World Team Trophy 2015

Seimei, first edition: Grand Prix Final 2015

Hope and Legacy: Worlds 2017