#like the pieces will be connected but not really part of a plot ............ maybe eventually that will happen but i don't know

[megkuna]

trying to figure out ao3 etiquette around posting short pieces that are part of a series ... is it best to post each one as their own work, or as part of one work within a "series"? i'm unsure but trying to figure out >_> cuz this will affect what i title the thing

[sideprince]

18, 19 and 20 for Snape?

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

I don't admire it, per say, but I'm really curious about the relationship he has with Filch. Snape seems to be one of the few people who gets along with Filch, and vice versa. I have a half-baked meta in my drafts about this, and who knows when I'll get to it, but I've been wondering for a long time about whether there's a connection between Snape and Filch's amicable relationship and the fact the Weasley twins stole the Marauder's Map from Filch's office. In Deathly Hallows, when McGonagall tells Filch to get Peeves and Filch is confused, she tells him, “Yes, Peeves, you fool, Peevesl Haven’t you been complaining about him for a quarter of a century? Go and fetch him, at once!” This would imply that, even if she's rounding his years as caretaker up or down a few years, Filch has been at Hogwarts since the mid-1970s, so it makes sense he would have confiscated the map directly from the Marauders. Given what we can guess about how much that map may have aided them in deliberately targeting Snape, I'm curious how much he knew about it (especially given his reaction when he confiscated it from Harry in PoA, where he asks Lupin with deliberate emphasis, about Harry getting the map "directly from the manufacturers").

I'm curious about Snape's relationship with Filch, especially when considering that he may have seen Filch as someone useful to him, or maybe even aligned with his sense of rules and their role in protecting students.

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

His relationship with Wormtail just feels weak and like it wasn't well thought through. In PoA we see Snape become feral with rage and trauma when he corners Sirius in the Shrieking Shack. It's not until the end of the last book that we realize how much of this reaction wasn't really about childhood bullying, but about his thinking that Sirius sent Voldemort after the Potters and now wants to harm Harry. Surely when Snape returned to Voldemort at the end of GoF and realized Pettigrew was alive and Sirius' story was true, that rage would have bubbled up again. Especially considering that Wormtail had taken an active part in aiding Voldemort's regeneration and attempt to kill Harry. But in HBP when Wormtail is relegated to be a servant to Snape (presumably to spy on him for Voldemort) there's just something off about Snape's passive aggression.

I just can't imagine that in the whole intervening year Snape wouldn't have used all his cunning and influence with Voldemort to get rid of Wormtail or at least push him far enough down the ladder to be below the disgraced Malfoys. Even after Snape kills Dumbledore, Wormtail is serving in Malfoy Manor and still a DE. His role seems to be more focused on serving the plot and the eventual need for Harry to cash in on the IOU for saving Wormtail's life in an opportune moment, than on all the other moving pieces Rowling (boo, hiss) has established. I just don't buy it that Snape, who rises within a short time from being perceived as a traitor by Voldemort and marked for death to being his foremost trusted ally, whose whole arc is informed by Lily's death and his oath to protect her son, wouldn't use his position and influence to be more vindictive towards the guy whose betrayal led Voldemort to her door and who spent their whole time at school together avidly revelling in watching his friends bully and torture him. Even Snape's attitude of saving anyone he can doesn't seem to play into this, because Wormtail has proven himself to be ruthless and dangerous, so wouldn't getting rid of him serve to protect others?

The whole relationship feels very half-baked to me.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Lily. Even in the small glimpses we get of her, and the bits and pieces we hear from other characters (like when Slughorn says she was cheeky), it's clear why they were best friends. They grew up together, they were both snarky and clever and curious and out of place in their families. I get why they were so close, at least for as long they were.

[madametrashbin]

Brainrot? Brainrot... or Drabble. Idk

I’m alive! Sort of? Honkai: Star Rail has viciously grabbed my brain the second I saw it and now I have thoughts... and this is also because I got yanked in by the throat from both the silly content and beautiful artwork.

And if it wasn’t enough to nail a coffin to my grave, Tumblr dropped a post from @channelinglament (which is this post right here) and now my brain’s keeping me up with thoughts.

Not sure if I’ll have enough energy to spare for actual posts, but maybe with enough food for thought, I might actually make a piece or two... might. Due to HSR’s brand of silliness, it might just be Shenanigans the Fic.

The thing that gets to me the most is the highest of Aeons part, like... the Aeon of Aeons and you know, while I still know almost nothing about how Aeons come to be, what if there’s that one Entity that just exists and gives power that basically ascends whatever is sentient.

Of course the term “Aeon” would not be applied until numerous of the ascended beings are present and people are suddenly aware that there are these powerful beings in the universe now that can literally affect everything and bring about a permanent change to their livelihood. One moment the universe is all calm and normal and then here comes the Aeons. People do not know how to feel about them at first.

Naturally, there will always be the curious type of people who would try to search for the cause of it.

Pop in lil old You, just trying to help everyone you come across who look to be in desperate need power to be able to change their unfortunate circumstances. Too pure of heart, harmless mischief maker, just overall the sweetest entity with the power to turn anything into gods... yes, this is how beings like Qlipoth and Nous are born.

Now this gets me thinking that the Paths existed as one big, singular Path with you as the origin point and the ending point. When you gift a part of your power to someone/something, a piece of the path branches out of the main path but still remains connected to you... whether out of devotion or because it cannot exist without you is up in the air (your choice tbh).

The people/Aeons would just feel so grateful to be chosen, to be given so much power to do what they wished to change/do most... this was before they discovered there were others like them, doing things different from them that may clash with their ideals and suddenly there’s an all out war because each of the Aeons believed that the others were sullying your name by abusing your gifts.

(While the Dusk Wars are happening, you remain in ignorance to the wars because there are mortals that are calling for help and you just can’t look away from them.)

Eventually most of the Aeons are either killed off by each other (i.e, Tayzzyronth the Propagation) or assimilated into another Aeon (i.e Ena the Order), leaving a great many Paths masterless and fraying in shards, which suddenly starts to affect you badly and the poor Aeons who were just trying to do your name justice are panicking.

No one knows what happened, or what was happening to you, and when Akivili disappears/died, you disappear as well. Everyone is grieving, and there are no more new Aeons appearing anymore.

Thus you are assumed dead by the universe  (this part came from another post that I can’t quite find ;-;) and later become forgotten just because... idk. Haven’t thought much past this.

Plot twist for the universe (not really a plot twist because there would be no story without the star of the show), you are not. You just got a bit (super) sleepy because the Paths that are masterless are without an ending point and therefore drains you because there is no one there to receive the power from the separated Path. You spent a lot of your energy mending the masterless Paths back to you which made you fall asleep by the time you were done.

When you wake back up is when the game starts, and being so out of touch with the timeline of the universe, you’re just one curious bean trying to figure out what’s going on.

No one can see you now though, which is just sad for you, but you realized they can sense you so you’re just doing your best to help them now. Kafka and Silver Wolf do not understand what’s going on except the strange warm and homely feeling that makes them feel invincible is suddenly there.

Also a mischief maker if the randomly destroyed property by the subtle urging is anything to go by... yeah, there’s something there.

Kafka and Silver Wolf feel oddly disappointed when the sensation leaves, but returns to Elio and mentions it to him. He then tells them that he may or may not have withheld information from them that an Aeon (the OG of Aeons) was going to be helping them. However they react is up to your thoughts... I haven’t thought of something for that part yet.

When MC (could be either) wakes up, the first thing they actually see is You... which makes you delighted because Yay, a friend to communicate with!. Neither March 7th nor Dan Heng could understand why the MC is talking to nothing, until they felt the warm and fuzzy presence nestled into them that they are suddenly aware that MC might be interacting with a higher existence that might be an Aeon.

They are naturally wary of you at first, but upon seeing the way MC interacts with you, doing some silly stuff by your apparent urging... they realized you’re pretty harmless and also very nice (in what way, also up in the air).

[Going back to the subject of other Aeons who are essentially your Emanators by all but name, they do not know you are alive until Nanook catches sight of you/felt your very real presence with the MC when the Doomsday Beast battle happens. They are very happy you’re back, but they’re very upset because why didn’t you tell them you were back? For what reason, you guys can think about it. 

Anyways, you’ve got an Aeon stalking you and MC now, keeping a close eye on you especially because they nearly lost you once and would like it if you didn’t actually die this time. When MC starts getting acknowledged by more of the Aeons, more of them are also going to notice you too and then join Nanook with the stalking thing.

Eventually if they do find you in reality... well, that’s up to your imagination. It can also be a race between them and the mortals who start to see you physically too since you’re the sweetest existence to ever come into the universe and it’s a must to protect that innocence of yours (or for some other reason).

Also highly debating if Aeon!You would be either Aeon of Origin (the beginning of the Paths/the Origin of the Paths if going by this type of story) or Aeon of Guidance because of the in-game thing that we all do.]

Uhh... that’s all my brain can come up with here... so I shall see myself out now! ;D

[minecraftbookshelf]

what even Happened during the MOS rivendell siblings childhood, anyway? or, what are you willing to say that's not a spoiler? like, apparently Scott wound up living feral in the mountains? Xornoth disavowed both of his original names and burnt down the entire palace in a coup??? everyone thought that he killed Scott for some reason? i'm guessing that their parents didn't take the whole "divine connection" thing well, but i am still very confused

So yeah, A Lot Happened to the MoS Rivendell siblings!

I am avoiding talking some parts of it, not because of spoilers or anything (I genuinely do not care about spoilers) but because I've labelled some key things off limits purely so my brain doesn't decide "well, we've talked about that, no need to actually write the story!"

That being said...

Scott didn't so much live feral in the mountains as there were some emotionally volatile moments in his (equivalent to) teen years that he dealt with by running away into the mountains. Usually for a day or two at most and he never went too far. Basically anytime he and Xornoth had a big fight that is what would happen. (small and medium fights he would either go to the sheep shack or the owlery. Sometimes the church.)

Xornoth did disavow their original two names. They are going to get a whole backstory fic all to themselves so a lot of that will be covered there. And yes, Rivendell no longer has a palace because Xornoth did indeed burn it down! (From a worldbuilding and plot perspective, that comes from the way that Smajor picked a location for a palace but never actually built it. For the Doylist explanation XD)

Basically after Xornoth's coup, Scott just disappeared from public life. He's out and about in Rivendell's capitol itself of course, but a lot of the other elven villages haven't even had any kind of visual confirmation that he wasn't killed along with his parents. Internationally, Xornoth brought Rivendell out of isolation so none of the other emperors besides Katherine (and maybe Pix) had ever even met Scott before and none of them ever really got a solid answer on what went down when Xornoth seized power. So most of them assume that Xornoth killed their brother along with their parents. (This is also the only reason some of the other emperors even know Xornoth ever had a brother. This will come up in the fic I have in progress about Joey and Xornoth's first meetings.)

And the sort of brutally practical truth of the matter is that most of the other emperors either can't afford to care about that, or only care about it in the sense of being wary of Xornoth in general. Pearl is the one who has spent the most time with Xornoth one-on-one in informal settings and she is pretty sure Scott isn't dead just from what she's picked up both about Xornoth as a person and the occasional things they've let slip but Xornoth is very tight-lipped about Scott in general.

Katherine knows Scott is alive and even visits sometimes but is sworn to secrecy.

And yeah, their parents did not take it well. At all. Thus the series of events that led to eventual patricide and coup. (Which wasn't originally intended as a coup, that was kind of accidental.)

It's okay that its a bit confusing right now, there's a lot about this au that will be revealed in bits and pieces as the story goes along and eventually it should all make sense!

[highly-important]

Thoughts on the Venture Bros Movie

I absolutely love this series and periodically get obsessed with it. The last two seasons were especially some of my favorites. I enjoyed the movie, it really felt like an episode. Any complaints I have are really in the "I loved it but the portions are too small" category.

I love that Shoreleave and Dr. Girlfriend are friends. I think this was kind of established earlier. It just makes sense.

I like how Brock - who knows Rusty better than anybody for better or worse- went to the bat defending Rusty to the OSI. And that Brock's shining moment isn't him being super kill guy.

Along those lines, I like how Rusty's entire arc this show is realizing to some degree or another that he isn't a failure. His father was able to present an idealized image of himself to the public, and it meant Rusty growing up under a shadow he could never live up to. But the reality is Rusty isn't as incapable as he or others believe he is.

We’ve kind of gotten this growth with Rusty during the show so we don’t need it as much in the movie. But it’s very interesting that he can use his brother’s robot to save not only the building but “restore” the destroyed Venture compound. I think it’s Rusty really earning his own legacy.

Plus his attempt to build something Jonas Jr-ish just made something super Science-y. Maybe he’s returning to his true calling

I like how the movie represents Dr. Girlfriend's powers. Yes, she is good at fighting, and is intelligent enough to build super science tech, but her strength is also in her diplomacy and the loyal connections she builds. Part of that is that when she is in trouble, others come to her aid. And her challenge in the movie is a test of her negotiation and diplomacy. I like that the movie takes time to give her this moment.

You can really see how Hank got a lot of his personality from Debra.

Debra’s tech was really cool and I love the scene on the train platform. Its a little frustrating that we don’t get more, but I think Venture Bros is very good at building expectations and then letting your imagination fill in the gaps.

I think this is partially because Venture Bros often ends at the climax and skips over the resolution. The building tension makes you want answers. And often the end-credit sequence gives us the pieces to put the puzzle together without handing it to us. It creates a sandbox and asks you to play in it.

Gary is just living his best life. He got a grappling gun and got to co-pilot a giant robot.

Hank's multiple personalities was never something I'd imagine getting conclusion on, but I'm glad they did. It kind of reminds me of Return to Oz, where at the beginning Ozma is free to wander around the real word, but is trapped in a mirror in Oz. And at the end that reverses. Hank doesn’t destroy these pieces of himself, he just puts them in a place where they can’t control him.

Dean's plot was kind of interesting, there was rumor that one of the brothers would be a protag and one would become an arch. Dean is so worried that his negative life experiences are going to ruin him and prevent him from having the type of life he wants to have. But sometimes things aren't as bad as we think they are. And I think it suggests he can stay with his brother and not be damaged by the experience

Hank and Dean are both controlled by vivid imaginations in different ways. Hank imagines how good things could be, and Dean imagines how bad things could be. Meeting his mother is never going to be as good or cathartic or as healing as Hank imagines it, just as reality isn’t as horrible as Dean imagines it.

I really like the story structure of this show where an emphasis is put on something - like who is the mother - and then the mystery is eventually dropped. But the reality is that who is their mother isn't as important. Hank didn't need to find his mom, and finding her wont give him what he wants. He needed to reconnect with his brother. But it’s also fun that we can solve this puzzle on our own, it’s just not the point.

Of course, I think it does mean Dean is heir to the guild.

I wasn't expecting the twist with the Monarch at all, and in retrospect I think I should have ? Its really interesting how well it fits with Rusty's arc the entire show. Rusty turns his hatred inwards and blames himself for not being his dad. Now that Malcolm understands his unconscious thoughts, it shifts his relationship to arching from an impulse to a choice.

[ariicandy]

TBHK WRITER TBHK WRITER OMGOMGOMG MAY I PLS REQ A HANAKO X GN!READER? Heres plot i have in mind!)(reader is part of the seven mysteries so basically theres 8 now ig..)

Reader has always loved the ocean, they always enjoyed how the waves moved though they were born with a weak body and was always hospitalised also their parents were really protective with them and refuse enroll them into school. Of course, reader had read ocean water is salty but they never really got to taste never once had they went somewhere outside their home or hospital.

Reader eventually got better and soon their parents allowed them to attend school yet that allowed the tragic death of their only child. Now reader wonders around the school part of the 7 mysteries with the nickname of "the dutchess/Dutch swan" entering the school garden at 5pm and dancing to a specific melody would summon reader. Reader would ask the summonar to collect all items related to tje ocean including books, pins etc other 1 h and 30 mins failure to do would lead to death.

Basically thats what i have in mind! Perhaps reader met hanako when both of them were in school, and hanako really wants to bring reader to see the real ocean promising them one day they both will dance in the ocean.

Sorry if this is too long :(

HI HIII!! YES YES YOU HAVE AN AMAZING IDEA HOPEFULLY THIS KINDA WORKED N SORRY FOR LACK OF MOTIVATION </33

Hanako x GN!Reader; No.8 Of The Seven Mysteries, “The Dutchness/Dutch Swan”

CW/TW - A sentence or two about you dead but no details, mentions of bruises and scars

Super cool dividers n header

✦✧ : when you first encounter hanako, well Amane at school, it might because he saw how fragile you were like him. You were always at the hospital while he was always with bruises and scars being treated with bandages. But one thing for sure brought you guys together. Your love for the ocean/sea is always connected to the night sky to his love for space.

✦✧ : Once you guys talked backed to back about facts of the sea and space, paring them together being cute on scenarios of each other at that moment. People saw how close you were with Amane, do they must of thought you were also close to his brother, tsukasa! Amane/Hanako might be overprotective when your around tsukasa because as we all know, he has hurt him. So he’s willingly to take the hits if he needs to get you away from him if he ever acts weird or not “himself” at school. He cares too much seeing you getting hurt while you are very much more fragile than him, he always says to himself that you have it more harder than him because of your super fragile state. He cares too much for you being near tsukasa not wanting you to find the reason how they act only when it’s the two of them.

✦✧ : Amane/Hanako found out that you can’t go to the real ocean and only imagine by the pictures you see, all the items/stuff you have that remind someone of the sea, it breaks his heart by your parents not letting you have any freedom of seeing something you love so dearly as he does for space. He thought, “maybe your parents/guardian go with you to supervise you or over you?” Oh how you shakes your head breaks his heart into more pieces. He promised or even vows to show you more beautiful pictures of the ocean whenever he goes to visit or better ones from the stores that sell them like book stores.

✦✧ : oh how he wishes to bring you everywhere but can’t. He wants to bring you to see all the wonderful and beautiful places around that makes fall in love with the scenery like a child seeing fireworks or their favorite food. You were so perfect on your looks, looking like you never needed to do anything but dress how you wished you want. You both were on the school rooftop when hanako places his hands over yours and saying his vow to you, “[name], I promise someday I will find a way to bring you to see the ocean and we can dance, laugh and joke about anything or everything you enjoy. I promise to you one day I swear to my heart you’ll see the ocean!” Oh if only did both of you knew your guys’ time would run out before you even knew. :(

✦✧ : Your death was tragic and horrible, it didn’t only affect your parents and acquaintances in your school, it affected Amane/Hanako the most. It felt like something was just ripped apart from him like it was nothing, just some garbage waste or like some puppeteer didn’t have any use for you in any shows anymore. His heart couldn’t bare the love he had for you now has left this world just him fighting with himself. He kept his interest to space to himself not letting others know about it and hold very dear about the things you both imagine in your minds about the ocean and space. The moon and stars stand still as his love falls into the swirls and waves of the ocean..

✦✧ : it has, who knows how long since he died and been stuck being hanako 7th of the seven school mysteries, he was with Tsuchigomori and Yashiro because they both needed help distracting a supernatural that might have been under the influence of evil(tsukasa). He turned to face the window hearing something that caught his attention, being a beautiful sunset on the sky, a melody playing with someone dancing to it. He was memorized, that dance felt familiar to him like the melody also feels familiar until it clicked when he saw that student at the school garden that suddenly made someone appear. Yashiro and Tsuchigomori both looked at the window seeing hanako having a tear fall down his eyes, the student didn’t just dance to that melody coincidentally at the school garden otherwise there would have been a phone or table lying where you can see and barley the music. The student summon an unknown school mystery, No.8 of the seven wonders on the school, “ The Dutchness/Dutch Swam”

[faeriecinna]

WIP Questionnaire

Thank you for the tag @buffythevampirelover !

Project.Seraph :)

1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?

The character of Nevaeh was my leap of faith into this one. Previously I had only ever really written horror/thriller and I had always been too afraid to create my own fantasy world, but for some reason I just couldn't leave the idea of my broken little angel alone. The more I imagined her in different scenarios and fleshed out different characters and a plot, I knew I had to write it seriously or I'd never forgive myself.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Honestly I really fuck with Plenty by Aeseaes for this one. The whole vibe is immaculate and it really encapsulates the mood of the story through the lyrics.

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

I truly love them all for different reasons (except maybe Marco, fuck you Marco.) Though Nevaeh is my sweet innocent angel baby could never do anything wrong ever loml, and Queen Reinette is a favourite because I adore a good villain and I am very proud of the way I've written her character.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

I'm hoping the same kind of people who tore through Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments will find my books to be worth of a good read. Also my fellow 'Merlin made me realise I was queer' pals. Not quite as high fantasy but I think P.Seraph is sometimes quite reminiscent of The Witcher too.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

There are so many scenes that I've already imagined and desperately want to write, so writing everything in between to bridge the scenes together is so painful lmao. What do you mean I have to write about the journey to the castle before I get to write my big dramatic inciting incident???

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

A lot of the first half is based in the woodland so many animals are encountered, though crows and various other corvids are a recurring motif. Also a lot of horses! Most characters travel by horse, including my little band of travelling thieves and the Queen's guards. In the marketplace there is also a very well known cat that belongs to the tavern-owner and likes to steal from people's stalls lmao

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

Mostly by foot, by horse, or by a carriage drawn by a horse.

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

Still the first draft rn but it's coming along smoothly. I have also been writing Project.Ink and fleshing out Project.Claw so I haven't been dedicating quite as much time to P.Seraph as I would like.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

Who doesn't love a good enemies to lovers, right? This story absolutely reeks of betrayal, dark royalty, doomed love, war.... idk it has everything in it that I wanted to read all in one story and I hoped some people could relate

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

Obviously, I hope to be published one day, and if it is, my hope is that it will be one of those books that leaves people reeling after they've read it. I want people to connect to it, to cry over it, to read it so many times it doubles in size. I want people to be as violently in love with my characters as I am and I want people to relate to the story in whichever way they see fit. I want it to mean something to someone. One day. Eventually.

no pressure tags for @melpomene-grey, @goldxdarkness, @darkangel319 :)

Blank under the cut

1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

[chaoscheebs]

So I've gotten into visual novels a bit more recently, do you have any recommendations? I've been a gamer all my life but vns are kind of a blind spot for me. Maybe some of the more popular ones on the DS and a handful of PC ones are about all I know.

Most of the ones I've played are adult ones (i.e. have sex scenes in them), but I can give some recs if that's not an issue.

All Ages:

-Jack Jeanne for the Switch is a really solid one and for something that includes hiding the protag's gender (she's in an all-boys school for theater), it doesn't fall into weird/horny tropes about it? Like no "oh no someone walked into me changing oh me oh my" nonsense, for example. Plus there's some characters that read very trans/gender non-conforming and I am living for it.

It's very slice-of-life, very pretty, and if you like/can work with stat-building dating sims and the rhythm game sections, I'd recommend it!

Guys Who Like Ladies (not all-ages):

--Princess Waltz is like my favorite VN of all time, it's so fucking good. It's about this (seemingly) normal dude who ends up entangled in this other magical world's tournament to pick a bride for the prince of a country in said other world, and boy howdy for something that is aimed at straight male audiences it is REALLY GAY (affectionate/positive).

The main "girl"? The prince. Who reallyreally comes off as a trans dude. It is awesome.

There's all sorts of cool fights, girls in cool/cute outfits, the "token loli" acts her actual age and is probably one of the most mature of the lot (god i love Suzushiro), it has Lun-Lun, the second best proper girl, yaoi fangirls, and a cute lil' dragon man.

I will provide a quick warning tho': it contains (accidental, they had NO IDEA beforehand) incest, potential adoptive sibling banging, and depending on how you see Chris, potentially misgendering. :c

If you can get past that, tho', it's fantastic and has a bangin' soundtrack.

--9-nine is a urban fantasy-ish multiverse-spanning mystery series in 5 parts: 4 for each girl and one extra epilogue game that wraps up the loose ends nicely. It also contains cool action scenes, has a great cast of characters, and even makes a Wild Arms 2 reference, which cements it in my heart forever.

Each game is a route, and while you could skip one and still get the story (and you might want to, one of the games focuses on the protag's main full-blooded sister who, uh, yeah, they eventually bang), but each part connects to the next and gives you more information to piece together, and it all comes together wonderfully. ;A;

Also, the male lead has a face, is voiced, and has a personality, which is a rare triple-crown in the VN world when it comes to het-focus stuff.

9-nine also has an "all-ages" cut, which can be found on Steam, if that makes a difference.

QUEER SHIT FUCK YEAH:

--Ne no Kami is a yuri VN which is in two parts (with a loosely-connected "prequel" that is plot-light called Sacrament of the Zodiac and has a successor plot-heavy series that has one part out called Watamari, all of which are yuri stores) and IT. IS. SO. FUCKING. GOOD. It and Princess Waltz battle for my heart for the number 1 spot.

The protag is a "normal" girl named Len, who gets drawn into this secret war against the ayakashi thanks to a mix of her childhood friend coming back into her life and her parents up and disappearing on her, and it gets... the actual images are never graphic in the violence sense, but it gets a bit brutal in the fight scenes. Which fucking rule.

It's a good balance of slice of life and battles (and girls kissing other girls of course) and the music fucking rules.

There is also an "all-ages" cut on Steam.

--No,Thank You!! is a BL VN, and it is also really good, but really fucking heavy and I have to give several caveats before recommending it. There is references to (and at least one on-screen instance of) rape, references to in-universe snuff films, non-consensual body modification to the point of body horror, drugs, and child trafficking, tho' everything mentioned past the rape is never shown on-screen.

If your can get past all that, you're in for a wild fucking ride. Haru is the (openly bi!!!!!) protagonist, who seemingly got amnesia in an accident saving this middle-aged man, and so the middle aged man, who is the protag of his own story that's interwoven in the background as he searches for his missing son and dips his toes into some Serious Shit(tm) as a result, sees to it that Haru has shelter and a job until he recovers.

Also, yakuza and a secret underground society that does Seriously Fucked-Up Shit(tm) are all interwoven into the plot, especially the latter.

Also Hiroyuki is best boy I make the rules.

--------

Anyway, that should be a pretty good starter kit. I'd also throw in Yume Miru Kusuri, which is a more grounded in realism story, but also it's really meta and not a good starter VN (... although it was MY starter VN, please give me a route for the canon gay dude in a fan disc I am begging you). It also. Um. Deals with heavy subjects (bullying, drug use...). So maybe see how you feel about these before that.

[starbornsarah]

My Starfield journey so far

I need somewhere to put my thoughts because this game is life changing. Spoiler warning for the main quest.

I got Starfield in early access on the evening of August 31st 2023. Now it's September 28th 2023 and I have 9 days and 9 hours of playtime. I basically live in this game now. I thought I was "taking my time" finishing the main questline in about 80 hours (while doing side quests in between main quests) but then I crossed into the next universe and the game kept getting better and more expansive. I realized at some point around this time how rewarding the progression feels. There's a lot to learn and it's slow-going for figuring it all out but that's what makes it so satisfying when you do notice your progress. You feel like you're leveling up your real skills and knowledge of this world as your character does the same. Not only that, but replays are built into the lore so your character is as aware as you are. This makes the connection with your character even stronger over multiple playthroughs.

There were still so many quests and so much to do in that first universe I left behind. Now in this new universe, I'm taking even more time—trying to do every quest and see every planet. Playing this way really shows the breadth and depth of this universe and recontextualizes even my first playthrough as something more weighty. That's not to say I wasn't already deeply affected by my first playthrough, however. There was one moment, maybe 30 hours in that was particularly memorable. I was on one of the temple planets. The sun happened to be setting (or rising?) and I was surprised how beautiful it was. Then I looked to the sky behind me and saw a small planet (or moon?) in the distance. I was suddenly struck with a visceral sense of awe and wonder. I could feel in my body the real experience of being on a distant world in a massive universe. At that point, I had forgotten I was playing a game at all. It had crossed over from a mere piece of entertainment into the realm of a spiritual experience. Everything was vast and beautiful and I was part of it.

I tried romancing Sarah in my first playthrough but she tragically died. My heart sank when I saw her lying on the floor of The Lodge in a pool of her blood. Her death affected the rest of my playthrough. I felt more motivated to finish the main quest—particularly once I realized I could start over with her in another universe. I could have a chance to save her after all, in a way. But before finishing the main quest, I tried romancing Andreja after Sarah was gone. It never felt quite right though. Maybe because I'm just not that into Andreja or because I was still mourning Sarah's passing. Either way, it felt a bit icky going to another universe to see my dead almost-girlfriend (we never made it official) when my perfectly-alive girlfriend was in this one. Still, maybe it would work out between me and Andreja in yet another universe. There was also the Starborn Sarah that showed up in a particularly dramatic plot reveal of her as The Emissary. I was giddy to see her and there was something even more appealing about her with all her multiverse experience. But of course, she wasn't romanceable and was not quite the Sarah I had lost. All that said, I knew I was going to crossover eventually so I accelerated the timescale a bit toward the end of the main quest.

That was that. I built the Armillary, sided with The Emissary, "defeated" The Hunter (through persuasion), entered The Unity, and became Starborn. I feel nowhere near truly finishing this game or even slowing down. I've never played a game where new game+ felt as good and relevant as my first playthrough. In fact, it feels like a continuation of the same playthrough rather than a new starting point. It's like the more I play, the bigger the game gets because its full landscape becomes more and more into focus. I enjoy every feature of the game and it's packed full of them: quests, exploration, ground combat, space combat, ship building, character relationships, outpost building, Photo mode, and RPG progression/skills. It's amazing that all of these systems are fun and rewarding in their own way yet they exist within a singular video game.

I'm still in my second universe and taking my time for real this time. I've now finished dozens of new quests I missed or skipped the first time. I still haven't even finished one of the major faction quests (UC Vanguard). Ironically, I did prevent Sarah's death this time and even married her only to realize it was a mistake. I wasn't too keen on her judgmental attitude when I brought her to Akila (I'm a Freestar Collective native, after all) and Paradiso was a pretty bad choice of wedding locale. I realized I liked her more as a friend than a partner. There's a life lesson in there somewhere. I tried to reverse fate by going to a whole other universe to save my love but sometimes the dream is better than reality.

Overall, Starfield isn't just deep in its mechanics and replayability but in what it has to say about life and the universe. The end of the main quest finds you presented with the choice to start over but only through renunciation of your worldly possessions and relationships. This is a decidedly spiritual concept, as is Unity itself, which remains somewhat mysterious but can be interpreted as representing God, reincarnation, enlightenment, and/or nonduality ("oneness") beyond the more scientific multiversal viewpoint. These themes reframe everything in the game as part of a more meaningful cycle of existence and interdependence. They even reflect what you are doing in real life as you play--dying and reloading, replaying quests in new playthroughs, creating multiple characters, and progressing/growing as a player yet seemingly remaining your core self. In other words, there's a lot more here than just pew pew space shenanigans (though there's plenty of that as well) but you do have to be open to seeing it. All of this puts Starfield on equal ground with the best sci-fi offerings available. I can't wait to see what else I find.

[autumnslance]

I have a question about carrying out an idea. I think this writing issue I've been having has been plaguing me longer than my time on Mateus; I’ve always struggled to get past chapter one or even stick to an idea, even when I started writing years ago. Are there any pointers on carrying an idea or story through?

That's a hard one, as I know I have plenty of plans and WIPs I haven't gotten past those stages myself.

So I ask myself what's the core of the idea, the heart of it? What is it I really want to say? I don't tend to write chronologically myself; I write lines, descriptions, bits of dialogue, scenes, and chapters entirely out of order. I know where they "go" in the overall arc. And sometimes, like with the Avengret storyline, I can then string them together, shuffling the order, writing new bridging scenes, removing or combining others as needed.

If I am trying to write in order, even then if a section is hard, or boring, or not working--skip it. Put in some brackets with [AND THEN X AND Y HAPPENS AND IT'S NOW THE NEXT DAY]. Move on to the next part that excites you, or that you at least know what happens. You can always double back later and add in that connecting scene...or even decide it isn't needed now, you've covered everything it would have elsewhere, and can just be summarized and moved on from.

I've recently been reading a "How To Write" series of books by James Scott Bell; there are several, but they're all pretty short. One of the pieces of advice he gives is to start in the middle (go to the midpoint of just about any novel or film, and it's somewhere very near that 50% mark in one direction or another). Find the "mirror moment" a point--sometimes a page or paragraph, sometimes just a single line--that is a frank look at the situation, self, etc on the part of the main character. What do they see? It's a moment of reflective truth. Who is the character in this midpoint? How did they get here? Who do they need to be/what must they do to get to the end? How do they realize they may fail? What forces are against them? Do they realize/acknowledge any of this?

These are recommendations more for novels than short stories, but heavens know how long some of our fics go, and short stories do still have similar, if truncated, structures and beats.

Anyway, you're not beholden to write from beginning to end. You may not know everything about your story yet--because you haven't written it yet, and these things change form, even for plotters with outlines. Write scenes. Write chapters. Write microfics that are just a couple lines of dialogue. Use prompt lists and challenges, if you gotta. Start small and build, as one of the old philosophers said.

(and eventually one day you look and realize you've written a few hundred thousand words, many of them about your OC and a Damn Rogue wending through their world...)

Writing works like exercise; you have to practice it, figure out what works for you, at what times of day, and it can be a struggle to keep up momentum. In the meanwhile, you also have to take other care of yourself.

Like actual exercise (whatever you're able to do; at least stretches, which is where I'm at some days). Remembering to eat and stay hydrated, get plenty of sleep (don't @ me, I sleep, just on a later schedule), and also do remember to intake other creative works; I got a rush of inspiration last year and spent months feverishly writing scenes and plotting and writing dialogues and making timeline outlines and writing more pages I'll never use after reading a popular novel, cuz the visceral language and a vaguely similar character dynamic in certain specific ways clicked something on in my brain. We gotta feed that persnickety little muse.

And on the days the muse is being recalcitrant...we write anyway. It's hard, it feels like it sucks, but if we want to get something done? Write something. Anything. Stream of consciousness if you gotta; complain, talk out your ideas, maybe write a little from that. And the next day look at it and realize it's not so bad as you thought and a little polish will fix it.

So don't try to be perfect first round; writing is messy. Revision and editing is where we make it look pretty (you usually don't have to rewrite entirely front to back, either; some folks like to, but for many others that's only if there's serious structure issues; mileage varies per project, too, as they're all different).

So write the scenes out of order, as they come. See what ideas stick and what are just idle thoughts. Maybe they're all true and there's multiverses and AUs there. See what starts t string together into coherence. Don't be afraid to revise, rewrite, even retcon if something better comes along months later after you already posted something.

The only way to know the story is to write it, figuring out how it wants to be written, and sometimes that means writing it from other angles and around the back way until it tells us how it got to that point (and whether what we thought was the start actually was or not).

Anyway. This got long, hopefully there's some tiny tidbit that helps!

[icharchivist]

What I really liked about Heart of the Sun was the aspect that immortality is a fundamentally miserable experience. I know Granblue has been pulling that tooth for years now, with Belial himself being arguably one of the first people to voice that thesis, but yeah

Your body may live on, but your personality, you yourself and all your memories fade and so you do end up dying, piece by piece, day by day

It's the true death of self, yet you can't stop, because your body keeps trudging on

It's a real Ship of Theseus situation that's very fascinating to think about

I guess that part isn't as pronounced with primals, but the Phoenix shows what Belial has been implying, you just can't fucking form bonds with people for fear they'll crumble to dust in your hands and so you end up isolating yourself, because you don't want to go through grief every couple of decades

The Phoenix doesn't even see people as people, we're basically insects to her, because she exists on a fucking planetary timescale

Something about it's better to have loved and lost, but these people have decided that they don't want to deal with those emotions altogether and so fully close themselves off from forming connections

The person Belial is truly attached to us Lucilius, an Astral, who's also technically immortal, or at least would have lived for many centuries more if it weren't for Lucifer

I'm rambling, but it's fascinating to think about

No yeah i 100% agree with everything you say.

I think it's a really interesting deep dive on immortality, that, yes, has been kinda hinted at before, but it's really there that we see the full consequences of it.

Like, we've had Belial's suicide rant, we've had Cosmos's own agony, there was also Baldr's whole plot there as well... but all of them, by being primals on a timescale of 2k years, were more about personal feeling, and also something that Satyr in CBTSLBTS also comments on about how, since there's a lot of immortal primals who know the same pain, maybe they can live in together.

Belial held on to Lucilius, and while he doesn't say it i'm sure Beelzebub was a constant in his life. Maybe Lucifer was too in some way. Cosmos had Lucifer at some point, she also had Yuni, all of that.

But i think really showing us via Abramelin just how horrible eternity can be was the best way to really drive home how viseral it felt. I think even more so since Abramelin doesn't have a body which was made for eternity, compared to the primals, so his brain would deteriorate with time as well. And unlike the primals who at least have each other, he doesn't have anyone just like himself to compare to.

Like, the others primals who hate their eternity still feel the agonizing part of it all -- but it was interesting to see on a Skydweller scale just how visceral it is all about.

And likewise about Phoenix. It's something we discussed a few time here about Astrals and how their immortality makes thing easier for themselves so they don't rely on one another. In a sense, Phoenix has the same logic, but on her own personal scale, so she cannot process how any of this should matter to her. The Omnipotent is the only being she can match in time. So of course eventually after million of years knowing everyone has a shorter lifespan than yours, why would you even bother yaknow.

it's really fascinating and i really love how Granblue asks us to think about how the lives of those immortals suck in their extremely fantasy way. Like the primals who are programmed with a purpose that they will seek to fill no matter how they feel about it, or immortality and its consequences. It's not things that are directly relatable (not as 1-1 thing, obviously as metaphor they can be), but Granblue really ask you to think hard about how those things would impact those being.

I find it so effective and i love it so much. It was a fascinating event to read on that regard.

[lieutenant-amuel]

So 1, 18 and 33 for the writer's ask game, if you'd like to?

Sure! Thanks, Blue!

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

Okay, I’ve written both fic types in my short writer life and I think I prefer multi-chaptered fics.

The main reason might be that I simply prefer “long-lasting” pieces of media if I can say so. I’d prefer to read a book series instead of independent short stories and I’d prefer to watch a TV show/movie series instead of independent movies.

I know many people would argue with me (because we all know that brevity is the sister of talent (in English it is different, but allow me, a Russian, to translate the quote by the Russian writer literally)), but I think you can convey a more vast spectrum of emotions, themes, and characters and dig deeper into the lore if you write a multi-chaptered fic. Plus, it’s easier for me to build an emotional connection (which, yeah, is important to me) with my story if I write it for several years and develop many aspects of it instead of one/few.

I love dedicating myself to my hobbies (which is why I’m not really flexible and my spectrum of interests is pretty limited, but well), and given I’m pretty bad at multi-tasking, I wouldn’t be able to give all my one-shots as much attention as they deserve. So, it’s easier and more enjoyable for me to work on one big project, develop it in many ways, and dedicate myself to it completely (with occasional one-shots on the way so I won’t lose my mind)

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

It depends. All my one-shots, excluding Blooming Rose, were named before the writing process, because I knew the core parts of them since the beginning.

As for Always With You and Home for Navidad, these are the quote/song title from the show, so it didn’t take me that long to come up with the titles.

Isla de Sueños is the name of the island from the show, and since I knew Gabe and Naomi were going to visit it, I didn’t struggle with how to name it either.

In case of these fics, I just took the lines from EoA.

Blooming Rose got its title during the writing process after I came up with the rose symbolism scene. I didn’t know how to name it and eventually named it after the main symbolic element of the story (because Gabe is the rose, the rose is Gabe).

Was Born To Lead is the line from the song In Charge (from baker’s son to captain, sir - was born to lead), and I thought it summarized Gabe’s character/journey quite well, so I decided to name the fic all-about-Gabe that way. Whether it was before, during, or after I wrote the first chapter, I don’t remember. I feel like it was after because I didn’t even know what I was aiming for by writing this, it happened in the middle of the night, because I couldn’t sleep, lol.

Anyway, as for the chapters of WBTL, it also depends. Some of them got their titles before, some during, some after. I won’t elaborate each one, but I’ll say the fifteenth chapter, Questions and Answers, has the most stupid title. I had no idea how to name it and eventually gave it the most boring title of all, because I couldn’t publish the chapter without a title, lol. Maybe I’ll rename it someday.

33. Do you want to be published some day?

I interpret this question in two ways, so I’ll give two different answers.

As I writer, I don’t want to have my works published. Writing is my hobby, and I don’t want to experience the whole new level of stress by worrying about what random strangers will think about what I’ve written.

Besides, of course I'm flattering myself, but I wouldn't want to be a super popular writer with a huge fanbase. WBTL has a tiny audience, but I still see how people misinterpret the plot events and the characters, which is quite discouraging, so I wouldn't want to deal with it on a greater level.

As a person, I want to have my works published for myself so my fics looked like actual books and I could put them on the shelf, open anytime, smell the pages, and such. I recently thought about how cool it could be if I had an illustrated book of WBTL.

But this is the dream that’s obviously out of reach (at least for the reason it's not even finished yet, lol), so I’ll keep being content with my google docs, my website, the picrews of my characters, and other stuff I can create myself until anything bigger seems more realistic and achievable.

Thank you again!

Writer Ask Game

[wclovewhatismortal]

The ending of lwim was SO incredible and everything I hoped it would be ❤️ a question that has been on my mind while reading the fic: was there intended to be romantic energy between holly and sparrow? Because I could totally see them together but also they work super well as friends! Just wondering your take as the author lol

Hey there!! I'm so glad that you liked the story. As for your question:

In the fic's early inception, I did consider writing something romantic between them. That idea kind of fizzled out once I realized that I would rather focus on the plot over writing a romance. What I ended up deciding on was them as very close friends. Could I have seen them working as couple? Maybe, if you consider the following:

Hollyleaf and Sparrowfeather have an affinity for one another, which I think they both subconsciously picked up on right away. They really do have a lot in common. In terms of history, neither of them have ever truly felt content with their place in the world. Sparrowfeather was very lonely and felt like an outsider in Shadowclan. Hollyleaf struggled to find her purpose, only to have her world slowly crumble to pieces around her. Even in the afterlife, they didn't find peace. Sparrowfeather was bound to the PoNs and felt abandoned by Starclan, whilst Hollyleaf doubted her placement in Starclan to begin with. I think they recognized that inner conflict within the other, which eventually drew them to a place of understanding.

Part of Hollyleaf's arc was to reassess what it meant to be "good" or "bad". Black and white codified thinking was a problem that she dealt with in the living world that I don't think she ever truly got over - hence me having her deal with it in the afterlife. She met a lot of characters in the PoNS who had dubious morality, and she had to come to her own judgements about them. Sparrowfeather was someone who she decided was redeemable, despite of his dislike for Starclan and former allegiance to the Dark Forest. She really wanted to save him from his fate. The sentiment grew more powerful as the story went along.

I think it's fair to say that the bond between Sparrowfeather and Hollyleaf runs very deep. They are kindred spirits who opened up to one another about their trauma, and thus were able to heal together before the story's conclusion. I also think that Hollyleaf was the perfect character to help Sparrowfeather heal, if you keep in mind her supernatural connection to Spottedleaf (who had very similar Thistleclaw trauma).

There were some moments I included that I thought could be interpreted by readers as non-platonic, ie: her putting her paw onto his, long stares, slow blinking, risking it all to save the other one. So no, I don't think it's unreasonable for you to have read romantic energy there.

So, to summarize, I think that the Holly & Sparrow friendship is the special kind that not everyone has. I think they understand one another in a way that no one else quite does. While I decided on writing them as friends, I think they really deeply care for one another. So in another universe, maybe they could have been something more. It is a long afterlife, after all.

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

✈️😁😤😗

MUNDAY ASKS ✈️ — ever traveled anywhere interesting? 😁 — what’s your favorite part about being part of the rpc? 😤 — what do you dislike the most about being part of the rpc? 😗 — what are some of your favorite things to do when you have some time to yourself? ((Cut for length!))

✈️---I've been to a lot of places in my life, but I do have a few very core memories from those areas that I think fundamentally changed me as a person. This might be long, so, sorry!

One of my first times outside of the country of my birth was when I visited Mexico, I was maybe 8 years old, and I remember vividly there was a tiny black cat that kept following me. I spend every waking minute I could with this cat, feeding her, taking her into our hotel room so she could have a safe place to be, brushing her and holding her often. I think about her often, and I remember having to leave her behind, it was somewhat devastating for me and even thinking about her now makes me misty eyed. I know she grew older, and eventually passed, but I hope her life was filled with other little children who would take her inside and give her kisses and pieces of fish from their dinner. She deserved that. And it was a privilege to be able to love her.

😁---ALL OF YOU! It sounds immensely cheesy, but you all have really helped me improve my confidence in writing and my art. I've gained a very wonderful group of people I'm happy to call my friends that I feel like I can connect with so easily; it's a breath of fresh air. To be able to just..talk and discuss ideas freely is so calming. I genuinely didn't think Robin would be as well liked as he is, so that's been a very big boost.

😤---To be honest, I've only really had a single bad experience so far, and I'm very grateful for that. I don't like adding to drama or call-out culture because I think it's extremely immature haha--so I won't go over it here! I've buried the incident and would like to keep it under the dirt, I've healed from it, gained people I genuinely love, and won't let it bring me down or let that painful time define me. The world is so much more than that.

😗---Oh geez, well, I often write on here! I really love writing, plotting and allowing the expanse of my emotions to be placed into something positive! I also sew, cook and garden. Granted these are all also things to actively do, one of my favorite things to do, and due to my sleeping schedule it happens often, I love to go onto my porch late at night, maybe 2-3am, and just...look up? There's something so calming, and haunting, to me about just gazing up into the wide abyss above, an infinite stretch far greater than anything I could ever hope to imagine. Untouchable, and so distant, and yet, inspiring. I see the beauty of the stars and am reminded that that is what I'm built from, stardust and trillions of years in the making. I realize then that...I am alive, and I am here in the present moment...What a wonderful and rare thing, even if its only for a blip in the cosmic timeline, and even if I ultimately don't leave anything lasting I will always have the knowledge that I was here. I got to experience the world, my life, my loves, my anger, sadness, the cool grass under my feet, and moments of joy that make me laugh so hard I cry--and in that moment I feel truly relaxed and at peace.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Barry: a nice meal (4x07)

This is one of the funnier episodes of Barry that we've gotten in a while, which is always so weird to say when you think about the literal events going on here.

Cons:

Again, I think the times in this show when they go for the obvious meta stuff, like Gene saying "Barry is a complicated and sympathetic figure" and then the undercover actor agent guy being like "but he killed people though" is kinda like... yeah, okay, I get your point. I don't know. Usually when this show barrels down the camera and says the quiet part out loud, I like it. But every once in a while I wish they'd let us get there on our own, I suppose.

I also still think Jim is the character who makes the least amount of sense to me? That's probably okay, as far as things go, but I thought I'd mention it.

Pros:

I cannot believe that next week is the finale. Holy shit, this is gonna wreck me in all the best ways. So much to talk about, I'll try and be quick!

First off, you've got Sally and John in LA, trying to get in touch with Cousineau in order to find Barry. I love that Sally has this single-minded determination. If she can just get to Barry and abdicate responsibility back to him, it will all be okay. I think the most haunting moment was John asking what they'll do next, and Sally saying they'll just keep doing what they've been doing. It was chillingly bleak, the very thought of this "family" continuing to do what it's been doing. Yikes.

Barry spends the episode first being tortured by Jim, shown images and given drugs to make him hallucinate, I think? It's a little unclear what's happening there but I don't really mind that, I like that it adds a sense of unreality to events. Eventually Jim learns about the money that Barry gave to Gene, and he goes off to set a trap to lure him in, leaving Barry unattended in his house.

Gene, as we might have guessed, doesn't stick to his guns for long about not wanting a movie to be made about Barry and him and Janice, once someone calls and claims that Daniel Day Lewis and Mark Wahlberg want to be attached to the project. Despite everything he said about not wanting to elevate Barry or dishonor Janice's memory, he can't resist the shiny allure of a successful Hollywood career, even after all this time. That's part of the tragedy of this whole show, this depressing sense that maybe people can't really change. That hint of connection between Gene and his son seems to be out the window, as it now seems that Jim, Leo, and law enforcement suspect Gene of having something to do with Barry's crimes, including Janice's death. Why else did Barry hand over $250,000 of Chechen drug money to him?

And then in the funniest but also most intense/violent section of the episode, we've got Hank vs. Fuches. Hank sends a bunch of super assassins after Fuches and his men, and receives boxes with their severed heads delivered to the office. The bit where Hank was opening the boxes had me laughing out loud at how gruesome and ridiculous it was. And then adding to the hilarity, Fuches and his men brainstorm how to make things go better for Fuches's new girlfriend and "daughter" figure, who were there to witness the horrible violence. Hank tries to blow the house up from afar, but misses, and then his driver is killed as he runs away into the hedges, with Fuches's men shooting after him.

So then of course Hank pivots. Time to help Fuches find and kill Barry, instead of trying to do away with him. How? Well, kidnap Cousineau of course. Funny thing, though. Sally, having called Cousineau earlier asking for help, was directed to go to his house. Cousineau isn't there, off being questioned by the FBI after falling for the seduction of an amazing opportunity for a movie based on his life. So when Hank's men show up, it's to find Sally and John at Gene's place.

It's just such a brilliant piece of plotting, everybody coming together for this final showdown, I guess you could say, between Hank and Barry, but with everybody else's ultimate fates also left up in the air. I wonder what Fuches is going to say when he finds out what Hank is up to. I wonder who walks out of next week's finale alive...

9.5/10

[bfwonu]

my seasons were always you.

pairing: seungcheol x fem!reader genre: smut. porn with the essence of plot (18+, minors DNI). wc: 1.8k tags: bff!au AND fwb!au, reader has a vagina, oral + fingering (f receiving), poor attempts at mid-sex banter, one (1) fem term of endearment, a bit of cum eating, reader very briefly cries once out of stress/frustration (not during sex), implied pining i guess but like i'm telling you there is hardly any plot in this thing summary: you're stressed because of finals. your best friend, seungcheol, knows how to fix that– temporarily, at least.

a/n: hi hello this is the first smut piece that i've written and posted...like ever lmao! title is from 134340 by bts, which i listened to for the better part of writing this. hope u all enjoy, feedback is greatly appreciated :-) <3

You went into tonight fully intending to study, really– if you don’t for at least a couple hours per day this week you’re certain that this one final is going to kick your ass and you’d kiss your 93% in the class goodbye. 

But Seungcheol, the ever-observant friend that he is, texted you an hour into your study session saying that he noticed you seemed so tense when he ran into you the other day, and that he can help you relax a bit– that he wants to. 

And, well. Who are you to deny yourself of some stress relief?

True to his word, he’s at your apartment in less than ten minutes, first embracing you in a hug that you didn’t even know you needed; comforting hands iron out the tension in your back, causing a few tears to slip from your eyes. You mumble an apology into his chest for getting his hoodie wet, and you can hear the amused smile on his lips when he promises you don’t need to apologize for that. 

Labels are something that you’ve never really bothered to put on your relationship with Cheol. The two of you met during your sophomore year of college through some mutual friends, always thought the other was attractive, and ended up hooking up at a party. You only meant for it to be a one-time thing, but drunk decisions turned into sober ones and eventually neither of you found yourselves seeing anyone else. 

Funnily enough though, your friendship became a lot more emotionally intimate after regularly having sex with each other; you began to tell him things you had never told anyone before, went to him when you felt like you couldn’t go to anyone else. He became your comfort person, your rock. Your best friend.

The story is far from glamorous (and maybe a little bit confusing), but it’s yours. And you wouldn't trade it for anything else.

“Lemme take care of you, yeah?” Seungcheol pulls away slightly to meet your eyes with enough sincerity to make your heart swell. You have half the mind to tease him for the contrast between his tone over text compared to now, but you find yourself feeling too exhausted and too desperate to just let go for that. Instead, you pull him closer again to whisper a yes, please against his lips, connecting them not even a second later.

Your every muscle seems to melt into him, and the next few minutes pass in a lust-induced blur– gentle kisses turned heated, knees hitting the back of the bed, hands intertwined. Before you know it you’re lying on your back, oversized t-shirt pulled over your tits and Seungcheol between your legs. 

“Cheol,” you all but whine as he sucks another hickey onto your inner thigh, so close to where you need him but not close enough. “Don’t tease.”

“M’not teasing,” he chuckles, his breath ghosting over your core and your hips involuntarily cant upwards. “Just taking my time with you…

“Plus,” you gasp when he presses his thumb along the seam of your pussy through the fabric of your panties, stopping just below your clit. He smirks at the wet patch underneath his finger. “Wanted to get you a lil’ worked up first.”

You huff in annoyance, fighting the smile that wants to creep its way onto your lips. Just by being here he already makes you feel more like yourself, like all your stress and worries are far, far away (you’re sure a mind-blowing orgasm still wouldn’t hurt, though). “So cocky.”

“So impatient,” he quips back, but he obliges anyway and pulls your underwear down your legs. “Y’know you’re lucky you’re the one who’s stressed out of their mind right now, otherwise I think we both know who would be punishing who for talking back.”

You prop yourself onto your forearms and tilt your head to the side, pretending to think. He makes it so easy sometimes. “Hmm…I dunno, depends on the day.”

It’s his turn to huff now, shaking his head fondly and muttering brat under his breath before he’s licking a bold stripe up your cunt, causing you to loll your head back and bite back a low moan. One of your hands flies down to grab onto his hair as he moves his tongue over your clit, every witty bone in your body going limp when he groans at the sensation and takes the bud into his mouth. 

Eventually, Seungcheol replaces his lips with a thumb on your clit so he can switch between running his tongue up and down the seam of your pussy and pushing the muscle past your entrance. You’re hardly able to keep quiet any longer, each exhale accompanied with a breathy whine as he repeats this over and over, practically making out with your cunt.

He laps at your entrance one last time before taking his mouth off of you. Even with your eyes fixed on the ceiling you can feel his gaze on you, hear the smug lilt in his voice. “Don’t have that much to say now, huh?”

You want nothing more than to bite back, but the man’s thumb is still messily rubbing your clit and you need his fingers inside you so badly that you feel a bit dizzy. Seungcheol smirks against your thigh when your “shut up” comes out much more wistful and fragmented than you intended.

Fed up with the lack of contact, you attempt to buck your hips upward, which only earns you a tsk and a strong arm draped over your stomach to hold you down. You let out a frustrated whine.

“Want you to look at me, baby,” he hums, and you can only assume that you won’t get what you want until you oblige. Your hand blindly finds one of the pillows at the top of your bed to place behind your head (since your arms hardly lasted a minute holding yourself up earlier).

Satisfied, he inches closer and closer to your core until his mouth is hovering over your clit. “Good girl.”

Before you can even think about feeling embarrassed by the arousal that gushes out of your cunt at his praise, Seungcheol is dragging his tongue through it, spreading it up to your clit before sucking the bud back between his lips. 

Your jaw goes slack in a silent moan, eyes still locked on his when he finally, finally slides a finger into your awaiting hole. The silence doesn’t last very long, however, when he starts pumping it in and out of your pussy, petting your inner walls and adding another finger after almost immediately finding your g-spot. He knows your body well enough by now that he hardly has to even try.

“Hah– oh, right there–” your hand that’s still in his hair tugs him impossibly closer, causing his eyes to momentarily flutter shut, as if he’s getting lost in the taste of you.

Seungcheol increases the speed of his fingers ever-so-slightly and adds just the right amount of pressure to have your chest heaving, your free hand moving to pinch your own nipple as your high approaches. “Fuck– hnngh– Cheol–”

“I know, honey, I know,” you best friend coos between kisses to your clit, “been so stressed these days…needed my fingers n’ mouth to take your mind off things, hm?”

“Yeah, god I–” the arm that was draped over your stomach moves to hold down one of your thighs instead, spreading you wider for him and pulling another groan from the back of your throat. “M’close, g- gonna cum.”

Humming in acknowledgement, Seungcheol focuses on repeatedly curling his fingertips to massage your g-spot. With your hips no longer tethered to the bed, you begin fucking yourself onto his fingers; you watch as his lips stay latched onto your bud, head moving with your hips, and the visual is enough to send you over the edge with a cry of his name.

He continues to gently lap at your arousal and pump his fingers into your cunt, letting your walls clench around him as much as you need to until you’re too sensitive.

“Fuck,” he croaks after you gently push his head away, sounding just about as fucked out as you feel. Then, you glance past his broad shoulders to see his hips stuttering as he grinds into the mattress.

“Wait, did you…” your question trails off with a raise of your eyebrows.

“Cum? Yeah, fuck that was…I love it when you get really vocal.”

You smirk at the thought of him getting off to getting you off. “Hm. Noted.”

“Like you didn’t already know that,” he remarks with a roll of his eyes, before he slowly pulls his fingers out from inside of you with a lewd pop. You swear you merely blink and Seungcheol already has the digits in his mouth, sucking your cum off of his own fingers. It’s obscene, really.

He notices you intently staring at the fingers in his mouth and pulls them out to ask, “wanna taste?”

You shake your head, to which he very cutely pouts in confusion until you pull him up by the front of his shirt to kiss him, adding your tongue into the mix without hesitation. You’d much rather taste yourself mixed with his spit this way. 

When you pull away, you’re met with a dazed-looking Seungcheol. “Much better.”

“Noted,” he echos cheekily with a kiss to your forehead, finally sitting up onto his knees to get off the bed. “Hang tight, I’ll get us cleaned up.”

You close your eyes and internally sulk at the loss of warmth, but you're soon put at bay when Seungcheol returns with a damp washcloth, making a pit stop at your dresser to grab a fresh pair of panties for you. 

“Hey, keeping these here finally came in handy,” you crack an eye open to see him proudly holding up a pair of his boxers that he accidentally left at your apartment once (long, long story), which pulls a tired laugh from your lips.

After cleaning you up and changing in comfortable silence, Seungcheol settles in your bed beside you; he allows you to wrap yourself around him, hooking a leg between both of his and resting your head in the crook of his neck. A soothing hand returns to your back, rubbing slow, comforting circles that practically lull you to sleep.

Just as you’re about to drift off, you feel a finger poking at your cheek. You once again pry one eye open to look at your best friend. “Can I help you?”

He lets out a giggle at your grumpiness. “I just wanted to ask…are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, much better,” your eye flutters shut again, accompanied with a contented sigh. “Thank you. For…for always taking care of me.”

If you were looking at him, you would see the adoring expression painted on Seungcheol’s features. You both know you aren’t referring to just the sex.

“Always.”