#like! yes! my fave is a war criminal

[leavemealoneplsandthx]

Okay everyone in the cod fandom thirsting over mw characters, it’s time to introduce u mfs to the black ops world cuz honestly I’m tired of the lack of appreciation and fanfics (mostly fanfics) these people get.

Lemme introduce you to some of the main baes

This mf right here is a grade a ASSHOLE but it’s why we love him. Honestly if you love effed up relationships and angst you should read some of the bell x adler fics going on. Bell is YOU. It’s the customisable character in Cold War who Russell Adler brainwashed and it’s a whole thing and it’s toxic af to pair them but I fuggin loveeee itttt (second pic posted by @adlerboi)

Alex Mason <3333 my wifey for lifey

He was brainwashed by the Soviet’s and he’s our fave lil mentally scarred old man. Seriously tho it’s criminal the lack of love this guy gets he is so handsome

Ahhh mr frank Woods. Asshole but not in the same way Russell adler is. He’s the kinda guy who would act annoyed when you ask him to hold your drink but would protect that mf with his LIFE. Would treat you right but it’s a whole ‘dick to everyone else but sweet as pie to you’ kinda vibe yk?

Miss Helen Park. Honestly we should hate her. She manipulated and brainwashed us alongside adler but would I kiss her on the lips? Maybe possibly yes. Nuff said

The CRIMINALLY underrated navy seals commander david mason. Yes he’s alex masons son yes we keep it in the family here. He has some mental scars like his father but honestly who doesn’t?! Handsome as fuck, and so kind and respectful <3 I luv him

So please guys I beg you!! Play black ops 1, 2 and Cold War so we can get some love for these guys!!

If you like the sound of it please read this fic about adler x bell omg my heart

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

3H discourse is so funny to me actually because I'm sitting over here with Zephiel as my fave, aka guy who literally committed genocide against the Sacae and wants the dragons to subjugate all humans

like. "i don't understand why people would stan [insert character here] because wah wah they're 'problematic' for [insert reason here]". or "i stan [insert character here] so that means they actually did nothing wrong!!!"

y'all are fucking weak. shit's fucked. people are shitty. let them be shitty. let people like them even though (and especially BECAUSE) they're shitty. some characters are only worth stanning because they're absolutely fucked up. stop acting like people are wrong for liking a character because their fave isn't "morally pure" or whatever the fuck. stop acting like your fave has "purer morals" than everyone else. this is Fire Emblem. they're all war criminals, Karen. yes even Marth. he's the og FE war criminal, actually

as a friend, everyone is replaceable. your little guys aren't special

.

[jaskwritesthings]

my buddy @glossolali!

someone beat you to god's special princess war criminal here but for you have an extra wee snippet

“Why me?” Essek asked. “It is your destiny,” the Luxon said plainly, and Essek could feel the weight of the words. Like someone plucking a taut string within his soul. “Why now!” The Luxon sighed, and a breeze shook the trees, “Such a discussion would have been impossible before the one you call Da’Leth began his work to free one of the old ones.” “The solstice?…Caleb…” “He is well,” the Luxon smiled indulgently. “You’re certain?” The Luxon chuckled, “Yes my son I am certain, your heart is safe, though just as worried about you as you are for him.” Essek felt his cheeks warm in embarrassment, “So that answers that question at least.” The Luxon sat next to Essek on the warm bench, there was a pull to them, not unlike his spells. A subtle call that had Essek shuffling unconsciously closer to the deity. “I had patience, things were to progress at a much slower rate, you would have had centuries to come to your destiny and to all of this, but the old one Da’leth seeks to free is a danger to all.”

as for green beans in spacccceeee, this one is an au based on the martian, one of my fave books. it's gonna be shadowidowmauk cause i like the challenge and yes, they will be growing green beans on mars cause who cares for scientific accuracy? this is fanfic and gosh darn it there will be green beans! I don't have much written for this one yet, still working out the plot but here's basically the only thing I've got written which should at least get a laugh.

[Sol 7] Scheiße...

wip ask game

[just-antithings]

I cannot understand how there are antis in fandoms like Call of Duty. Because by their logic, they support the military, military propaganda, private military contractors and the many war crimes the characters commit. But that's not the case for the majority of the fandom (I hope)(fandom ≠ fanbase*).

On one hand, there have been rightful call out posts on how people simp for ACTUAL ACTIVE military personnel who are from very conservative countries and would spit in the fans' faces, if not worse, the moment they learn how gay the fandom is. Not to mention actual war criminals simps. A lot of people are vocal about how it's okay to like and thirst over the characters because they are just characters and their questionable actions do not have consequences for real people.

On the other hand, some are very hateful towards the opposing team of the main characters and their leader and people have genuinely been harassed for liking him, especially around the time he was added as an operator to the multiplayer mode. Which goes against let people like their little funky war criminals. What they actually mean is it's fine if you like THEIR faves, not just anyone's fave. This hypocrisy is definitely going to get worse with the new game coming out later this year, mark my words.

And that's just the premise of the game, if we get into shipping, most popular ships are between superior/subordinate and that in the real military can get dangerous very quickly, abuse of power is horrific there. On top of that a lot of countries actually forbid relationships with fellow soldiers. But you can say hey, it's just fiction, it doesn't matter to that. As a creator you can choose to overrule this ban, use it as a plot point or conflict, or say fuck it, the characters are too important assets to their big bosses for them to care to punish anyone.

So yes, antis are hypocrites wow what a surprise.

*Fandom not fanbase because I consider the fandom to be the content creation part like fanfics, fanart, zines, discussions. While fanbase includes that and all the players, but especially the ones that aren't apart of the active fandom and the pretty toxic gamers and streamers. The ones who you know prefer guns over humans.

[f0xgl0v3]

I need to rant about my favorite characters and how I’ve characterized them, and my Camp Jupiter/ PJO Romans are-Imagining-

*Correction; I just rant about Octavian from HoO the entire time; I’ll post an Luke one and a Jason one and some other characters maybe later. Along with those Camp Jupiter things.

Guys this is written stream of consciousness (I think); so sorry :[ (I also kind of project of these characters but that’s what happens with faves)

Octavian-

My boy- my darling little guy. I love this little deranged war criminal; uncle Rick did him dirty; he was used as the butt of the jokes (like many of the Romans, I’m doing an entire Camp Jupiter re-imagining that I’ll probably post here) but he was a plot device too- but I love my guy. He’s poorly written (in my unprofessional opinion) he doesn’t have any characterization other than “I don’t like the Greeks, they aren’t cool >:[“ and I’ll be honest; I like Rome better (I am biased) but after we get a character written like Luke Castellan (I know- I know we aren’t supposed to like him, but like- cmon, hear me out) where he’s written pretty well in my opinion, with a clear tragic story and motivation. Octavian feels like a very watered down more comedic Luke; in the worst way. But I; as someone who needs as much information on something as I can and I’m not satisfied with just that, have scanned through the wiki; looked at all of his scenes and giggled in his general direction, and this is my head-canons (and probably art too let’s be honest) on the little guy

Octavian Cesaer-

My boy is 100% mixed in my heart. In my brain his father is Black and his mother is white.

BIG family; my man’s is the 8th out of 9 children (Julia; THAT Julia is also his younger sister. I saw that head canon somewhere and snatched it)

He has a really good and close friendship with Michael Kahale; they are genuinely good friends, and Octavian enjoys his presence

(In my Camp Jupiter AU, re-imagining? Idk- but in the thing, I’m re-searching actual Roman legion structure and rankings, etc. because from characterization of the Romans they would not be up to change anything about the legion) but Octavian’s working to try and rise up to the most important role (Praetors aren’t the most important position in my brain for the re-imagined) and only supported Jason’s name change idea begrudgingly is because that would make him Primus Pilus; and he wanted the promotion. (This headcanon may change once I continue to fiddle with how I want to interpret C.J)

Cannot keep his hair legion-regulation, Octavian has a rough love-hate relationship with the hair. He *really* does not appreciate it at times. It’s overgrown and pushed to the left.

I like to think of my Octavian (Octavian 2: electric bogaloo) as being somewhere on the Autism spectrum. It’s another head-cannon I adopted somewhere and have just clung onto. It tickles the right part of my brain.

Knows everything about Rome; like actually. And Troy; he really liked the Aenead(?) when he was younger, if anyone asked his favorite Trojan was Hector (it was totally Andromache, he felt really bad for her. And sobbed during Hector’s farewell. Yes I am somewhat projecting).

His family pressured him a lot into his roles, he does genuinely like his Augur role.

This man lives and breathes the legion. Genuinely loves his home and wants to protect it; just ends up coming off as kind of paranoid.

He didn’t get much attention as a kid (with his 8 other siblings) so he tries really hard for his voice to be heard and over-explains and tries to be very clear when he’s wanting to get his message across. Most people interpret him (as said MANY times in the books) as kind of desperate to be listened to and a little whiny

Really takes his rules seriously and doesn’t like when people don’t follow him. There has been a many ‘but that’s not fair >:[‘ with my little guy.

Octavian is a REGULAR at the build-a-bear in Berkeley. He mostly uses them for Auguries when he needs something fresher. But he does sometimes keep them (he impulsive buys anytime they have a bird one, he also literally stayed up refreshing the website when he saw the, “Wolf Pup build-a-bear online exclusive” and was one of like the first people to buy it.

https://www.buildabear.com/wolf-pup/029368.html (the plush in question if anyone wants a visual)

He bleaches his hair. That’s it :] I’m un-equipped to try and talk about a hairstyle I think he has because I am not the person to talk about black hairstyles without making a fool of myself. Though he does really like Hair rings, he thinks their a cool way to have some nice casual looking added bling to his usual outfits

This man wears majority of Hand-me-downs. Those shirts SWAMP him because his older brothers just had to be good archers

On that note about Archery- Octavian sucks at archery but is pretty good with other long-ranged weapons. Any spear/javelin/pole arm and he’s got it (based off of him being able to spear Gwen, from what I think was a ways away) and I’d like to think if the situation is dire he can throw his dagger pretty well.

He’s currently got the strongest prophetic powers in his family; and his family (I think this is mentioned somewhere- I dunno it’s late) goes back to being related to Augustus Caesar (the guy)

Isn’t a good artist. He doesn’t like not being good at anything artistic when he has things he really does want to paint or draw that don’t come out how he wants them to.

Octavian has problems with anger, totally. Stabbing stuffed animals isn’t really a good method to let out anger

People don’t give him enough credit for his part on the raid of mount Tam; sure Jason did the whole ‘topple Kronos’s black throne’ (which is a genuine achievement that Jason deserves and I love him-) but he also led the first cohort to battle against majority of the monsters; the first cohort were the first ones to storm of course-

I love him he’s so silly and goofy <3 uhhhhh. He’s also a people pleaser

He has a disappointed-mother-resting face.

Does the thing with the nose bridge pinching way too much.

He tugs on his hair when frustrated or annoyed or anything.

That’s all for now :3, I just wanted to get some of that out there. If anyone does pay attention to this account my next posts are probably going to be either Octavian art, more Calliope design things, or more likely stuff on my Re-imaging of Camp Jupiter/New Rome as someone with Ancient Rome as a special interest I really want to make my version of Camp Jupiter

[sanguine-tenshi]

i'm turning this round on you. if you've played bloodborne, then most fuckable five bosses from that. if you haven't, same for a different fromsoft game of your choosing. (feel free to do more than five)

I haven't played Bloodborne, I don't use the peasant boxes. But I did watch a playthrough so I'll go ahead and vote anyway.

First imma go through them all and smash or pass and then I'll tell you my faves. Good? Good. Anywhore!

Amygdala

Pass. Look, usually I'm a slut for multiple arms, can't go wrong with multiple arms. But this thing's head looks like a tick and I cannot get over that.

Blood-starved Beast

Pass. Concept art looks dope as hell and very smashable, but in-game it's giving Slav grandma and Slav grandmas fucking scare me. So a very hard pass.

Celestial Emissary

Pass. It looks like someone's diaper-bound toddler. Like the dumb thing was falling over too much so the parents just wrapped it's head in foam and let it terrorize the local wildlife. It also looks like it's fingers would be that nasty toddler level of sticky. Just no.

Cleric Beast

Smash. It's big. It's scary. It's harry. It's got horns. It looks like it's rotting just a lil bit. It's jaw looks like it's been scrapped raw. What's not to love? The only gripe I have are the weird stubby toes but I can tolerate it, not like I have to look at those things.

Darkbeast Paarl

Smash. It's like bones and hair and electricity. It's about the logistics at the moment but I'm down to figure it out.

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos

Smash. Very eldrich. Very have no clue what I'm looking at. Very I'm into it.

Father Gascoigne

Pass. That's just a grandpa. And not even a hot grandpa.

Gehrman, the First Hunter

Pass. That's just a grandpa. And an ugly grandpa.

Martyr Logarius

Pass. That's just a grandpa. An old and freeze-dried grandpa.

Mergo's Wet Nurse

Smash. Smash so hard. The multiple arms. The wings. The empty hood. The absolute feral creature posture. The way it's tattered and ruined and deadly. Smash.

Micolash, Host of the Nightmare

No.

Moon Presence

Smash. Eldritch. The fucking tentacle hair. The weird skull hole face. The ribs. Look it already has a weird sexually non sexual relationship with the player. I might as well. I might as fucking well.

The One Reborn

Pass. It's just too messy for me. I like the idea of this thing being made of parts, of people, of victims. But the design is just too damn messy. It's all over the place. It doesn't look like it added with purpose, with design, it just added stuff for the sake of adding, for the empty want of MORE. And I'm just not into that.

Rom, the Vacuous Spider

Fuck, no!

Shadow of Yharnam

Pass. These are just dudes in robes. There's nothing all that interesting about them. Not even some sexy armor, or weird gore, or bones sticking out.

Vicar Amelia

Hard smash. It's like Cleric Beast's more elegant sexy cousin. There's horns as well! And I mean I do like the aesthetic of her being so white. She has a nice smile as well, so long with so many pointy teeth.

Witch of Hemwick

Pass. It's just moldy Slav grandmas.

Ludwig, The Accursed

Weak pass. It's just the face I have a problem with here, tbh. It's just leaning too much towards horse, like regular normal horse.

Orphan of Kos

Pass. Just looks like a dude to me. A skinny twitchy white dude who ran out of drugs and that's now everyone's problem. Now... his mom on the other hand... ho boy.

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower

Smash. Yes, yes regular looking woman. But listen! She's tall. She's strong. She's a war criminal. She killed a god with a stick. Like I'm down. She can bend me over and I'd be down. I like her style. And she also stabs herself during the fight... kinda hot ngl.

Living Failures

Hard pass. It's like Celestial Emissary's failed cousins, slightly older and worse. Also have you seen their buts!? They've got the saggy frog butts.

I think the fuck not! Look at that thing!

Laurence, The First Vicar

Smash. Like I know he's one of the worst fights in the game and also the fire, but like... the sass. The fucking attitude in this one pose. Love that for him. Also yes, scraggly dog beast man with horns and ribs on the outside. Very smash.

Now as for the rankings... 1. Mergo's Wet Nurse 2. Cleric Beast 3. Vicar Amelia 4. Laurence, The First Vicar 5. Moon Presence 6. Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower 7. Darkbeast Paarl 8. Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos

Now in other news, I've realized that Bloodborne is very much moodboard, but it's a lot less fuckable than I thought.

[fancyfade]

I’ve seen people say that the batfam would be leftists but I feel like some of the read more as liberal. What do you think?

Sorry for late reply; sometimes i Just forget to check inbox.

I agree that there isn't really a lot of (or any) canonical evidence for batfam being super leftist. lots of times people have fave-blinders on and ignore context and conflicting pieces of information, even if the conflicting stuff was from instances where the fave was well written.

That said like, the politics of characters are very influenced by the politics of writers, and a lot of superhero comics in general are going to be extremely uncritical of police and very pro-war-on-drugs. Also you will see a lot of comics where the random street-level criminals (rather than like supervillains) are all people of color. politics in comics are definitely not beyond criticism.

my main gripe is not when people want to headcanon their fave as some super leftist political guy, but when they say "well MY fave is the most leftist person ever, contrasting to (someone who acts exactly or almost exactly like their fave in canon, but just happens to not be their fave), and here's a bunch of stuff that proves why second non-fave person just makes things worse and represents what I don't like". or if they want to claim their fave perfectly aligns with their real world political views, and then in the same breath defend a bunch of extrajudicial murder* and like "The problem is that people don't kill criminals" as if there's anything reasonable about advocating making a category of people it's OK to kill and then saying problems will be solved once that's happened.

*yes this is about jason fans

[queen-kassiopeia-the-5th]

Now that I've finished all of stormlight (I'm not looking at the WaT previews before the book comes out), here's

My Ranking of all Works in The Stormlight Archives

1. Words of Radiance: My favorite of the series! It has, in my opinion, the best worldbuilding, connecting the dots from the everything that The Way of Kings set out, the character development of every single character is perfectly executed, heartfelt and captivating. The plot continues to escalate and more challenges and threats are revealed, all interwoven in a masterful manner. Could not put this down!

2. The Wat of Kings: An incredible book with so much thought put into it, all these little tidbits that are put in place that you miss at first, and then come out in later books and suddenly everything clicks. The dichotomy and balance between Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar's POV is so immersive! You want to keep on reading to see the completely different terrain, sights, experiences and worldview from each one of them! Also heavily features the GOAT Jasnah Kholin, the most underutilized character in my opinion. Jasnah is a brilliant, world renowned academic, gorgeous af, one of the first people in this era to bond a Spren, and also an ink Spren, who are less likely to bond. The first time she fell into Shadesmar she figured out what it was and how to get out in 5 seconds max, unphased by the Cryptics trailing her. The first Radiant of the current era to swear the fourth ideal and get a Shardplate. Queen of her nation making reforms to better life for everyone, and not afraid to duel and get her hands dirty (but not her safehand, of course). Casually turns air a into rock and crystals, looking into 2 different realities simultaneously. Goes into full melee and battle. Is a woman Hoid has shown interest in! And yet all we get from her are one prologue, a few paragraphs in Oathbringer and RoW? Criminal! But anyway, awesome book, great characters, immaculate worldbuilding, hit the ground running with this one.

3. Oathbringer: I didn't like some parts of this. The Kholinar and Venli chapters were a bore for me, the shadesmar felt slightly flat at times, but the politicking, the Dalinar flashbacks and the ending really carried it. The ending alone earned the book 5 stars! The Dalinar vs Odium, the battle, Szeth changing sides. Chefs kiss. But still, there were weaker parts in this that overall knock it down a notch.

4. Edgedancer: Underrated novella. It's so fun! Lift is just Awesome, and her and Wyndle are the best comedic duo. It also balances the severity of the End of the World and her perspective, and shows her character grown from caring mostly about her survival, which makes sense, considering her life, and her showing that she does care for others and will go and fight for them, but she will remain Lift, eating pancakes and causing shenanigans. And I loved seeing Nale's worldview and justification, and his Skybreaker gang.

5. Dawnshard: Rysn and Chiri-Chiri are some of my faves. Every time there was an interlude I hoped for Rysn since first meeting her. But overall, the book fell flat – yes, even with Lopen there… Despite the title, we still know almost nothing about the Dawnshards, besides them granting Breath like powers. The sleepless were interesting, but we know too little about them to understand what role they play (I ultimately think they are the Kandra equivalent of Roshar).

6. Rhythm of War: I have a whole post dedicated to my grievances with this book. I didn't enjoy it. At all. It actively made me feel worse. 1400 pages and nothing happens. None of the characters have any development, besides Navani – which, good for her – and maybe Rlain, but she don't see enough from him still. Even Venli gets bullied into compliance by her Spren. Dalinar's arc is litteraly Just Kinda Stend there guy. The plot progressed almost nowhere, despite Urithiru literally getting conquered! One of the weakest Sanderson books overall ever, in my opinion.

[sasukeless]

1, 7, 10 and 13 for atla? don't have to answer them all if you cba and i just always feel vindicated by your posts it's very nice

hii sorry this is late but thank uu i’m glad my posts resonate with someone

1) the character everyone gets wrong

iroh, definitely. i mean ofc the show itself helps on this by never holding him accountable for the whole being a war criminal and his attempt to colonize ba sing se. but it’s been years so it’s annoying he still gets the old man that’s just there to give good advice and funny jokes only treatment for majority of the audience.

also jet. it’s odd how ppl are so ready to jump anyone if you don’t like zuko immediately because he redeemed himself but jet it’s still viewed as a complete villain / lost cause.

and lastly azula. my baby i love her unfortunately shes stuck between people that think she’s the worst evil ever and ppl that don’t like she is ultimately written to be a villain. Yes, she’s a victim of her abusive father as much as zuko and unlike him she didn’t have any support from their uncle but still, i don’t think a redemption arc is what her character conclusion should be lol. i’m happy with her still ending as a villain, it’s tragic but also not unrealistic. i find it more entertaining too.

7) what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

sjjsjsj isn’t it kind of obvious? zuko. i just couldn’t stand the fans for so long. the way they put him in a pedestal. the ship wars. the comparsions to sasuke. IT WAS ALL SO UNBEARABLE.

but i have overcome it actually!!!! lol lately there’s been a pushback in atla fandom and now zuko is being constantly hated and dragged by others stans and while i still don’t care enough for him to be my fave, i felt the call to go against the waves because most of the arguments rn just sound ridiculous like damn. you would think he’s ozai or smth the way ppl talk about him

10) worst part of fanon

huhh i don’t really read atla fics and aus to know mich about atla fanon tbh. maybe how people talk about kyoshi 😭 i swear ppl make her smth she’s not

13) worst blorboficiation

for the same reasons i mentioned before this always goes to iroh!!

[sparatus]

6, 8, 16 and 18 for the fandom asks plsplspls

🔥choose violence ask game

hiiii yes i know this one's from march before my laptop broke it's fine

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

honestly pretty much every shepard ship fan is annoying in their own way but i gotta say the 40+ white cishet woman mshenko fetishists make me intensely angry. some of them openly admit they've modded the game so much they're not even playing the same game as the rest of us and then get mad at everyone else for not seeing what they do. sorry to my shenko mutuals i love you but there's some fucking mlm fetishists in there with you and i want to hit them with sticks for getting close to ruining kaidan for me again

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

bangs hands on the table GERREL ISN'T AN IDIOT DOUCHEBAG AND YOU SHOULD BE SHOT IF YOU TAKE THE REN INTERRUPT TO PUNCH HIM he has a valid point in firing on the dreadnought from his pov he has NO idea how long the shields will be down or if you're okay or what the hell is going on and frankly that's how fucking war goes and even if he wasn't YOU STILL CAN'T JUST PUNCH A FUCKING ADMIRAL IN THE GUT

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

why do so many people argue over which biotic characters could hold the barrier in me2. kaidan could not do that. even he himself says he's not super powerful. learning to reave =/= the immense power output the barrier required. see also garrus being the bestest sniper ever, tali as an engineering God, etc etc it's okay for your faves to not be the most amazing in their fields actually the risk of failure makes the story more compelling actually

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

you all ignore morinth So Much. she has so much potential for either a very chewy negative spiral or very heart-wrenching redemption arc. literally on that one post of mine positing that it's implied she killed her own sire in a tragic accident like 90% tag it as samara and go "oh poor samara this is so sad for samara" FALSE. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MORINTH. don't talk to me about how sad it is for samara's child to kill her bondmate when MORINTH IS THE ONE WHO HAS TO LIVE WITH THE MEMORY OF HER FATHER DYING WHILE MELDED TO HER justice for my girl morinth both the fandom and the canon shaft her so much

[watcherscrown]

Do you have any convoluted military sifi recommendations?

Ooohhh, I really just started in on the genre kind of recently, and not all of these are military/serious. Tones will vary.

To start with a tumblr-popular series and all time fave

The Murderbot Diaries

This series is funny, not That convoluted but has a lot of world building, and includes a lot of shenanigans. Murderbot is a rogue AI/android trying its very best to not get attached to these dumb fragile humans. (Task failed successfully).

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie -

one of my few 5 star series. I love everything about the characters in this book. The main character is the AI of a destroyed spacecraft that is hundreds (thousands?) of years old. She used to be part of a hivemind made of overridden human corpses but is the only remaining part of the whole. And she's out for revenge.

Winter's Orbit and Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell

In all honesty, these are both really romance novels set in a space-opera/military backdrop. I think I liked Ocean's Echo more than Winter's Orbit but I'm a sucker for soul-bonding tropes. These are both m/m romance books set in the same universe but each is a standalone book, and you can read them in any order. I did them backwards and it didn't make much of a difference. Winter's Orbit has a murder mystery/conspiracy plot and Ocean's Echo focuses more on the military system.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Is it fantasy? Is it scifi? Is it horror? YES. The Locked Tomb series starts out as a science/magic system oriented And Then There Were None murder mystery set all in one house, but the universe is sprawling and covers much more than that. The sequel, Harrow the Ninth is much more experimental in its prose style, and takes place on a spaceship. The third installment, Nona the Ninth, is more traditional military scifi that takes place on a conflict-ridden colonized planet. All very good.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

Okay this one's not really convoluted or military but it is sci-fi and I love it a lot. This is an extremely claustrophobic book with a two-person cast set in an abandoned mining cave on a distant planet (moon? i don't remember). Very spooky very good and I love the two VERY flawed characters and their whole dynamic. The main character lies her way into a job recovering something from this old cave system, but the woman on the other line has an agenda of her own.

EDIT: I totally forgot to mention the series I'm reading now, the first or which is Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. it's about a space empire's extremely fucked up governing system and a military officer who gets bound to the revenant ghost of a dead war criminal. the first one is pretty dense but I'm enjoying the sequel better. Yoon Ha Lee is a trans man married to a man and these books have Lots of gender going on.

Things I haven't read yet but are on my list and I've heard good things about:

The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

The Outside by Ada Hoffman

The Light Brigade by Cameron Hurley

[kuwdora]

Star Wars vid recs

Someone on my twitter feed had asked for some vid recs for Star Wars and I thought I’d share some of my faves over here.

Desperado by fightingarrival Sequel trilogy. Poe/Finn/Rey. The Force Awakens + Rihanna + fightingarrival’s editing = the best thing you will ever see. The VIBES of this vid are incredible and editing will knock your socks off. There’s this transition of the two stormtroopers pulling Poe over to Kylo Ren and it transitions right into a tie fighter—and the shape of the tie fighter matches the way the troopers are holding Poe. Finn reaching for Rey on “not leaving me behind” — THIS VID IS SO GOOD. I have probably rewatched it 1,000,000 times since it debuted at ConTxt in 2018.

Jailbreak by @absolutedestiny. Original trilogy. The criminal hijinks and shenanigans of our rebel scum. This vid is so much FUN and full of the amazing trouble our favorites got into in the trilogy. The editing is so sharp and the lyrics are fabulous.

99 Problems by John Jay. Live action and animated series and films. Obi-Wan has 99 problems and honestly Anakin is all of them but FFFFFFUUUUCK the way these clips land on the beats!!!! I’ve seen this vid being reblogged all over tumblr but I gotta rec a million times because it is so good.  This uses all the live action and animated Star Wars source to AMAZING EFFECT, holy fuck twirl those Light sabers on the beat!!

Sk8er Boi by @ohvienna. Sequel trilogy. Kylo/Rey. This vid is hilarious and perfect and YES this is the Avril Lavigne song. Just trust me on this. You’ll see this and only be able to think of Kylo when you hear the song afterwards. You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid by @rhoboat77. The Mandalorian and Grogu. This vid is a romp and delight and Rho’s pacing throughout the song will keep you captivated with squee and love for these two.

Terrible/Beautiful by @cherryberrynice. Rogue One vid featuring Chirrut/Baze and Cassian/Jyn. Cherry always has amazing song choices for her vids and this AWOLNATION song for these two and this movie is outstanding. Her editing remains absolutely kinetic and visceral and it’s impossible for me not to adore this. The BEATS IN THIS!! The action sequences!!  The tension in this vid is so good.

9 to 5 by eruthros. Lego Star Wars featuring the clone troopers!!!! Honestly you won’t find a cuter Star Wars vid than this.

Last of the Real Ones by @starlady38. Star Wars Rebels, Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus. This is the found family of my soul and I will always cry during the final episode of the show as well as this vid. These two learned so much about what it meant to become a Jedi and how to be there for each other. My heart is so full when I rewatch this vid. PLUS it’s Fall Out Boy! Amazing combination and amazing editing and so, so lovely.

In Your Head by Darth Porg. This is the Bad Wolves cover of Zombie used to DEVASTATING EFFECT for the clone troopers. Like this vid goes so fucking hard that my soul is fucking shattered. I’ve never recovered from this vid or anything about the clone troopers.

The Light by destina. This is an Anakin/Darth Vader characters study to Adam Lambert’s music, omg. It’s dancey, it’s deadly, it’s damn fucking good. The rage, the yearning, and power of Anakin in this vid is crystal clear with Adam Lambert’s vocals, holy fuck.

One Girl Revolution by bessyboo. Padme and Leia vid!! Warning for bright lights, fast cuts + stuttery/"flicker" cuts. This iconic song for two iconic women. Perfect combination is perfect with amazing parallels and badassery from both mother and daughter.

Somewhere Only We Know by trekkiebeth. Rogue One vid featuring Cassian/Jyn. The wariness and yearning of these characters works remarkably with this cover by Darren Criss. I progressively get more choked up as the vid progresses. So lovely. Standing in the Way of Control by @trelkez. This vid uses footage from all the films and TV shows to highlight our heroes standing up to fascism. It isn’t pretty, it isn’t easy and they get knocked down so many times but the tension and hope in this vid—despite facing death and genocide—is really outstanding.

Home by @collsssss. The Mandolorian and Grogu. This is the sweetest most endearing look at Din Djarin doing his best for Grogu and AHHHH the song just makes my heart swell with warm fuzzies. This vid is so, so lovelyyyyy.

And here’s my Star Wars vids (so far):

Me, Me, Me, a Star Wars Rebels vid featuring Chopper. Just a little indie rock song for my favorite Star Wars droid.

What We Live For, a Star Wars sequel trilogy OT3 vid of fluffiness and adventure. Baby you’re my open road, you can take me anywhere the wind blows, right into the great unknown. We can throw up our hands out the window, this is what we live for. All my Rey/Finn/Poe feelings right here.

One Foot, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. This game was AMAZING and Cal Ketis got me right in the feels. If you liked Star Wars Rebels, you definitely should look up the game or at least the cut scenes from the game because his journey is amazing and I of course had to vid it. The ‘finding yourself/found family’ themes in this game are A++++ and what you will find in this vid of mine.

[arbitrarygreay]

Finished Motherland Fort Salem

There's a lot that can be forgiven due to the cancellation leading to their crushing in the rest of the their 5 season plan. The main aspects that I could feel getting cut for time were Nicte and Anacostia's various threads, and then Brandt's unique threat. (Well, there was also the unfortunate production issue of working around the car accident.) The former two characters had wonderful dynamics with all of the cast, and most of Nicte's got heavily abridged while Anacostia was sadly isolated from the rest of the cast for most of the season. Meanwhile, I was hoping that Brandt turned out to be either a third option (between witch and non-witch) or to explore a case of witch self-loathing, but they stuck with Hearst for the end instead. Still, you could tell how much love suffused this production (carrying over to how the story itself believed in love), and how they were trying to do right by all of the characters as much as possible in the time they had. The world building was still clearly well thought out, the plotting constructed logically from that world-building and how the characters are formed from it. Tally really out here building a harem of war criminal cougars as the core of the mass polycule. I do feel like in the original formulation of the show, Raelle and Abigail were more of the show's focus (they're the obvious primary duo according to shounen anime expectations), but then Jes swept in and you could feel the writing falling in love with her charisma and universal chemistry in real time, rejiggering to have her interact with the older characters more than with her peers. And yes, Izadora remains my not-so-secret fave. Necro mad science ftw.

[thisliminalspacedaydreams]

For the fanfic writer asks let’s do M A and R for our names lmaooo

Hellouuu

M: What’s the weirdest AU scenario you’ve ever come up with?  Did it turn into a story?

I think TISAYCTM. I've always loooooooveeddd a good soulmate AU. The Star Wars fandom was overflowing with them, there were SO MANY I couldn't even read them all, but god knows I tried. So I really wanted to write my own little version of soulmates AU but I wanted it to be original and not like the other girls.

I've seen the Hanahaki disease trope, the tattoo trope, the sparks fly when you touch trope, the A/B/O trope, and they're all fun and games, but and I wanted it weirder.

I was reading Plato's Symposium at the time, and I love aliens, and it kind of started from there, the idea of having monsters/aliens/humans as soulmates and being separated by Gods because of their power, long ago.

And it just...SNOWBALLED into whatever the hell I'm writing now.

A: Of the fanfic you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

My fave solo fanfic is Heartless, even though she's full of holes and I'm editing her to all hell as we speak because I see all of her flaws and I want to fix her and make her all pretty.

My non solo fave is currently under works and I hope to god we get to release it at some point because it's been something I've been loving for a year, and we recently started writing it and I think it might become my best duo work, when it's done. I hope so anyway.

R: Which writers (fanfic or otherwise) do you consider the biggest influence on you and your writing?

There are a few fics out there that are written in a way that drive me bananas.

Choices is one. @sophsicle writing was the one to push me into writing fiction again. I think they have such a weird effortless beautiful way with words that cannot be replicated. It's so simple but always somehow packs a punch and I don't know many long stories where all the words are needed and everything matters?

Pledge is another by @ellabesmirched. The writing there is also phenomenal and so different from what I've ever seen. I couldn't believe my eyes as I was reading that fic. I was drawn into the world and the characters and I think there is something about how the intentions are rarely really explained, and it leaves a LOT of room for interpretation for the reader, and I love that stuff. I like not being spoon fed my fics.

Annihilation by had me sobbing because the writing is bonkers???????? and I actually will never recover from this fic. NEVER. The companion fic was just as crazy. This line comes from Apocrypha : The man’s eyes are the sort of incomprehensible color that’s only ever mentioned in descriptions of horrors and God.

I don't know what to say. It's insane writing.

Living in border lines and every work by inthesquare @aboutnavi is so criminally underrated. There's an effortless poetry about her writing that strikes me just the right way.

There are SO. MANY. amazing writers everywhere. In all the fandom spaces I've ever been in, there are at least ten or twenty writers who I think are absolute game-changers. These are just off the top of my mind, but that doesn't diminish other writers' worth.

I think the beauty of fanfic writing is that it's so obviously un-edited and so much less palatable than "mainstream" fiction, which makes finding writers that are original and weird and wonderful much more easy than through mainstream books where books are edited to all hell and (imo) all end up looking the same.

I like the rawness of fanfic.

Yes. Give me your brain movies. That you thought up in your mind. While pretending to care about your 9/5 job.

This ask game

[solaireverie]

helloooo for the ask game, sewis, strollonso, and wtv pierre/esteban is called!

hello bestie!!!

sewis: makes sense, compels me 🫶 they're actually one of my favorite f1 ships 🥹 and of course with seb and lewis being my two ultimate faves and their friendship and history and alsdkjlwjkv i just adore them

strollonso: makes sense, compels me. mafia daddy with dark past x soft slightly spoiled princess is just such an interesting dynamic. i also love how nando's a war criminal but surprisingly soft with lance? extremely compelling. i wouldn't have said that they made sense until nando joined aston martin but nowadays lance is 100% getting that old man d—

pierresteban: (realistically) doesn't make sense, compels me. i'm a sucker for enemies to lovers okay 😭 especially childhood friends to ??? to enemies to hate-fucking to ??? to ????????? i love how alpine has brought them back together. like yes it's super entertaining but who tf thought that was a good idea?

[asukaskerian]

Madara 👀

:3c

1: sexuality headcanon : also demisexual also gay (mostly). but of the very special uchiha variety where he only notices someone if they have the ability to punch him in the face and make him feel it. he's rivalsexual the same way sasuke (headcanon) is. or actually it's not that he's gay it's that he's into people who lean more butch than femme but considering the time period and his general concerns re: clan and brother survival he has never bothered to figure it out.

2: otp : madatobi orz

3: brotp : i REALLY LIKE his early days dynamic with hashirama tho? him trying to be sensitive and hashirama trolling him right and left.

4: notp : hashi//mada. :X they cannot fuck without a third person in the middle to keep balls from touching.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head :

6: favorite line from this character : every single time he throws shade at people. mmm. *chef's kiss*

7: one way in which I relate to this character : more hair is more good actually. u.u

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character : ... why ... why do we know his pissing habits kishimoto why

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave? oh, he's problematic and LOVES it. who's a scorching hot little war criminal, yes it's him, yes it's him.