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saccharinebanquettime · 9 months

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Hey guys! Haven’t posted in a while but I HAVE been working on some personal Monster High g3 rewrite stuff (mainly the design but..)! Designing them was fun and easy but coloring is a separate type of hell. I have designs that have okay coloring but I feel I could do better on (Howleen and Twyla), designs that I don’t really like the color scheme anymore (Lagoona), and designs I straight up want to redo (Kuma) but here are what I have! I’ll also add some stuff that I changed about them personality wise underneath their respective pictureee

(From left to right)

Draculaura, Howleen, Twyla

Draculaura (sophomore) is still a workaholic obsessed with being study-filled in school and work life. For the most part, she didn’t change much, but she’s more prone to being passive aggressive because of the stress that school and work can bring to her. She’s working on the anger stuff but not so much with taking a break,, (the boo crew is trying to help her don’t worry)

Howleen is also mainly the same as g3. She has a really cute sibling relationship with Romulus and Barkimedes acting as their younger sister who believes she’s the older one (she’s a freshman in my version). She also has a sibling relationship with Clawdeen and helps Clawdeen get around the wolf pack easier. She has a fat crush on Twyla too urrm lesbian??!?? In my universe of g3, there’s also a specific way that the school does the wolf pack hierarchy whatever thing. I’m not going to get too into it, but Romulus is the leader (he’s a junior and lately there have been a gap between leader and second in command with senior and sophomores) and Howleen is under his command, taking notes from him and learning from him as well!

Twyla (freshman) doesn’t have much to her yet, but she’s really fun currently! I have thought of some little gags with her and she constantly having bugs in her hair and her eyelashes always have some dust on them. She usually hides away in the library and she has a fun dynamic with the moth teacher.

Romulus, Barkimedes

I have so much with them I’m not even going to get into it all guys (I am biased and they are my absolute favorite). But they’re fun trust (I’ll make a separate post about what I’ve planned for them in the future maybe). Also they’re dating 😁 (both are juniors)

Lagoona, Gil, Frankie

Lagoona (sophomore) had one of the most dramatic personality changes,,, She’s a lot more airheaded and bubbly now! She can make bubbles from her mouth, she runs a bit weird (it’s always a mindless side to side I love her sm), she speaks slow but not slow enough to where it’s hard to keep up, I honestly love her. She still can get a little crazy and is constantly meat hungry! She is also NOT stupid, she’s very smart and very athletic so don’t take her for granted! She’s apart of the swim team and does tennis as well! She also has a crush on Gil ^^

Gil (sophomore) didn’t get as drastic of a personality change, but his design is a curious one! He’s from a simple but respectably small pond and is based on bottom feeder fish (hence the long mouth and always looking like he’s frowning). Compared to Lagoona, he doesn’t have sharp teeth or claw-like fingers, he’s practically harmless honestly. He’s not that athletic but he obviously does and can swim. He’s a bit of a dork but also charismatic in some ways! I still need to think more about him but that’s what I have

Oh my lord Frankie (sophomore)! They also have a noticeable change, not too dramatic though. The main difference is their Mad Scientist alter ego “Plasma K” that spawn out of them whenever they work on a project or brainstorm. A wild and lightning energetic persona pops out believing that whatever they are making is their new Magnus Opus, the new technology that people will beckon and call after, the new GOD OF THE WORLD! This persona only lasts around 30 minutes to an hour, but my god do they make an impact on everyone!

Toralei, Kuma, Spectra

Toralei (sophomore) hasn’t changed much at all. Something new I’ve added however is a simple rivalry with Romulus and her as well as friendship between her and Heath.

I gave Kuma (senior) a human design because I’ll be so for real it’s lame as hell that he’s straight up just some bear,,, like at least give him clothes. So for Kuma I plan on changing his design and clothing a bit when I redesign this redesign,, he’s based on Teddy bear-like clothes and cabin wear,, Also he likes rocks so much!! He wants to be those scientists that study rocks (I forgot what they were called).

Spectra is a character I’m having horrible trouble with tbh. She’s going to be apart of the morning news crew (when MHG3 adds Honey Swamp it’s OVER for all of you guys I love her I love her) as well as the newspaper club. She died around 1970s ish and has been apart of Monster High for a looong time, basically a permanent member. She is a teen (junior), she will always mentally be a teen. I’m wondering if I can make her lore and involvement in MH less convoluted, but this is what I currently have for her.

Purrsephone and Meowlody!

I don’t have much for them yet,, sorry,, But they do have relationship stuff! At first, Romulus and Meowlody started on the wrong foot but after a while they become great friends! Purrsephone and Barkimedes were friends from the start despite never knowing each other lol. Purrsephone and Howleen become friends because while Purrsephone likes drums to become a professional later in life, Howleen likes them as a hobby! Another thing, their designs are kind of like “popstar” and “rockstar” which I find cute^^

Yeah that’s basically it I am SICK of writing but I really do hope you enjoy my additions!! If there are some criticisms you want to give, just comment and I’ll take them into consideration! Hopefully I’ll make another post with some of the other characters I didn’t show! Ok bye bye

#mh g3 #monsterhigh #romulus #barkimedes #draculaura #lagoona blue #redesign #mh fanart #frankie stein

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sundayswiththeilluminati · 3 years

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I LOVE your meta on how essek was the perfect asset and want to ask the follow-up question in your tags: how do you think it went down? The agreement between Essek and the Assembly? And I think the fandom was convinced Essek would be disposed of after the peace talks — how do you see his future if there was no intervention by the Mighty Nein in 97?

ruvi-muffin asked:

What are your specific thoughts abt how ludinus recruited essek??👀👀 oh Person who knows a surprising amount of spy stuff 🙏🙏🙏👀👀👀

Anonymous asked:

PLEASE share your specific thoughts about how Essek was recruited, I'm so intrigued!

Anonymous asked:

Hello yes i am very interested in these very specific thoughts about how Essek got recruited? All these things about how actual intelligence works/uses their assets/how that ties to Essek and the M9 is really interesting :D

Thank you all so much for asking me the specific question I wanted someone to ask. I had to write and rewrite this post a half-dozen times because I kept going off on tangents about other Cold War spy stories so trust me there’s plenty more where this came from.

For reference, my original post on what made Essek an ideal recruitment target and why the M9 were the ideal counter to it.

First off, this is all based on real-world intelligence ops and is only as relevant to the campaign as Matt Mercer cares to make it. Having said that *slams notebook on table* BUCKLE UP, KIDDOS.

There are two ways Essek may have been recruited: he approached the Assembly or the Assembly approached him. I think the Assembly approached him. Not to be too hard on the guy, but Essek said it himself: he’s kind of a coward. I can’t see him mustering up the nerve to take that first step. Plus his espionage seems to have focused specifically on the beacons rather than dunamancy as a whole; that sounds like the Assembly to me. The beacons specifically offer the prospect of immortality and the Cerberus mages are arrogant enough to assume they can figure out dunamancy themselves if they have a beacon in hand. There’s no way the Assembly haven’t been trying to beg, borrow, or steal those beacons for centuries. Essek may not have even been their first try - just the first that worked.

Chronologically, Essek would have popped up on either the Assembly or the Augen Trust’s radar quite early as I assume they keep tabs on all powerful Dynasty mages. As they followed his career, the Assembly would have ID’d Essek as a perfect target for recruitment as a spy, and then further for ego-based recruitment. Recruitment for espionage is a slow process - even slower in a fantasy world where some races reasonably expect to live 500+ years. Many intelligence agencies will do a sort of light meet-and-greet just to start a file on various people who might years later be of interest. The Assembly would have cultivated Essek as an intelligence asset with the same degree of time and care - and using some of the same methods - that Trent used to turn the Blumenthal trio into assassins.

If they followed a modern playbook, they would have made contact with Essek anywhere from 2 to 10 years before the theft - nothing underhanded. A Cerberus mage approaches him at a negotiation or conference and strikes up a conversation. Then it’s increasing “chance” encounters to get Essek familiar with the handler, play the “we’re both mages, really we’re on the same side” angle to earn enough sympathy & trust to start talking regularly. Once the channel’s open, the handler and asset meet and/or talk routinely while the handler assesses the target’s motives, weaknesses, and the possibility that they’re a double agent.

Espionage proper then starts with small favors, acts Essek can rationalize as victimless or even helpful to the Dynasty. In this stage the handler is getting the asset comfortable with engaging in espionage. They reward the asset for what feels like minimal moral trespass. For Essek that would have been praising his research, encouraging avenues of investigation they knew the Dynasty had shut down. Having meetings with Ludinus plays right into the ego trip - the Head of the Assembly himself is taking the time to meet with him! The Assembly gets how important this work is! That keeps Essek isolated from Dynasty members who might convince him to take a step back and builds loyalty to the Assembly over the Dynasty.

Once an asset settles in, espionage becomes easier. Routines get established. Moral hurdles have been overcome. Now the asks get bigger and the rewards get sparser. The handler will suggest larger acts just to get the asset thinking about them, since the more they consider “just hypothetically” how to pull it off, the more likely it is they’ll do it. This is where the idea of stealing the beacons would get introduced (though of course it’s been the goal all along.) I’ll bet the Assembly hinted at all the study that could be done if they could just get to the beacons in person, constantly bemoaning the lack of access. By now Essek sees the Assembly as colleagues in arcane pursuits, kindred minds, unlike the boring, stuffy old mages of the Dynasty. Of course he could outwit the Dynasty’s security and get the beacons to the Assembly - he’s a prodigy, a genius, everyone says so. And it’s not like he was stealing all of them. The consecuted would be fine. Everyone would be fine.

None of this is intended to absolve Essek of personal responsibility. But it provides a context for his actions, and for why he might regret them so much even though he apparently did them willingly. Asset handlers are very, very good at drawing someone willing to commit minor transgressions into far greater crimes. Look at how Trent shaped Caleb, Astrid, and Eadwulf. He didn’t order them to execute their own parents on day one. He spent years coaxing, tempting, and coercing them into darker and darker crimes, letting them rationalize their own actions at each step, preying on the same vulnerabilities as Essek: isolation (separating the three from other students, telling them their work was secret), ambition (the promise of great arcane power, of shaping the Empire’s destiny), and ego (”we were going to keep the empire safe,” telling them they were gifted, they were chosen).

So how do IRL spies rationalize their actions? Those who spy for reasons of conscience or ideology have done the rationalizing ahead of time, but everyone else has to get there somehow. Some who spy for revenge tell themselves it’s what their superiors deserve, while others tell themselves everyone’s doing it. Some just need a lie to get started (most commonly about who they’re spying for), while others have to keep up the charade all along. Let’s look at a few cases similar to Essek’s that demonstrate just how slippery the slope can be.

Aldrich Ames, a long-term CIA officer slash double agent for the KGB, got suckered in by thinking he could control the situation and wasn’t really hurting anyone. Ames had chronic financial trouble related to excessive drinking & his wife’s lavish lifestyle and in 1985 came up with a plan: he would essentially con the KGB by selling them a minor amount of classified info that he deemed “virtually worthless.” In April he set up the exchange and the KGB paid him $50,000, enough to satisfy his immediate debts. But after actually doing it Ames said he felt he’d now crossed a line he couldn’t step back from, and continued to sell information to the Soviets. By the time he was caught he had, by his own admission, compromised “virtually all Soviet agents of the CIA.”

While some assets just need a lie to get started, others require a delicate dance of self-delusion. Col. George Trofimoff was an Army officer who ran the center where would-be Soviet defectors were assessed & questioned. Trofimoff, a Russian émigré at a young age, was chronically in debt. In 1969 he renewed his acquaintance with his stepbrother back in Russia, now a bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church, and began to pass secrets in return for money - but he and his stepbrother never framed the transactions as such. Trofimoff described their meetings as, “very informal. ... First, it was just a conversation between the two of us. He would ask my opinion on this and that--then, he would maybe ask me, 'Well, what does your unit think about it?' Or, 'What does the American government think about it?’” His compensation was similarly informal: “I said I needed money. ... And he says, 'I tell you what, I'll loan it to you.' So he gave me, I think, 5,000 marks and then, it wasn't enough, because I needed more. ... Then he says, 'Well, you know, I'll tell you what. You don't owe me any money. And if you need some more, I can give you some more. Don't worry about it. You're going to have to have a few things, this and that.' And this is how it started.” Trofimoff could pretend to himself that he wasn’t really spying - just having a chat with his stepbrother - and wasn’t really getting paid for it - just borrowing a little money.

This got longer than I intended it to be and there’s still plenty to talk about, so I’ll save the rest for a second post. Next time: what happens long-term to espionage assets? And what happens if an asset regrets their actions and/or attempts to cut off contact with their handlers?

(This accidentally turned into a series on Essek & IRL espionage: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4)

#Critical Role #Essek Thelyss #tradecraft #mostly Cold-War-related tradecraft TBH #hot boi got ROLLED by the Assembly though #sounds like he didn't even get paid!#I do wonder at stealing TWO beacons though #why two? what was wrong with one?#maybe Essek was just showing off at that point #it's been a long pandemic

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zeldas-cigarrette · 3 years

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⊱┊𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. ↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃

— pairing; ⚢donna sheridan x fem!reader

— word count; 3.3k

— summary; Sophie organised an afternoon of speed dating for her mother. You happened to be a customer at the certain restaurant it took place, and it seemed as if Donna was more interested in you than in all the guys that came for her. (lots of fluff because I can’t bring myself to write smut atm. ) xx

— fluff 🍰₊˚.༄ ೃ -

—❥ author’s note; My obsession with Meryl Streep keeps me sane during all those exams I have atm… Again, I’m so sorry for not posting my requests but I tried finishing them all but when I read them again they were so insanely bad, I can’t upload them… I will rewrite them probably next weekend (if I have enough time). But thanks for sticking around although I’m not as active (which will change in a few weeks, when I’ve finished my finals).

..⃗.🕊•̩̩͙⁺⤾·˚ ༘ ◡̈ ꒰ 🥥 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ ✧˖*°࿐

🏷 tag list; @paulawand , @pearplate

The sun was already burning down when Donna found out about her daughter's plans for the afternoon. Apparently, Sophie decided to host a speed dating for her mother in some restaurant on the island. She wasn’t interested in the first place but for the sake of her daughter, Donna decided to give it a try - maybe she’ll find the love of her life? It wasn’t until both mother and daughter arrived at the chosen restaurant when the older woman started worrying about what’s to come behind those doors. The few birds that gathered on the windowsill started chirping as if they were trying to warn her, „don’t go in!” but it seemed too late for that. „I don’t know if this is the right thing Soph,” Donna lurked through the window, seeing a couple of older guys waiting eagerly for someone to entertain them. „It’s gonna be fun Mum, just let it happen,” and with the huge smile spread over the young girl's face, she pushed the door open. Quickly the smell of food surrounded both women.

Only a couple of women were interested in dating as well, everyone was already sat on separate tables only waiting for the main host to start the thing. On the first look, none of these men caught her eye, none of them looked attractive. However, who was she to judge? Said and done, Donna took a seat opposite of a man with full fair hair and glasses. The two minutes started in which they were supposed to get to know each other.

You were sat in the corner of the restaurant, observing the show you were offered from afar. The people, including the owner, were making a fuss about the speed dating someone had arranged. You had moved to the island just a couple of months ago and though such things as speed dating were a pretty common thing in England, it seemed to be hardly a thing around here. Chewing on a shrimp, you wanted to hold back the laughter when you saw the angelic-looking woman’s face when one of the guys seemingly told her an interesting fact about him. She didn’t look very happy with the selection of men. Luckily you had an amazing view of the ocean and you could watch the sun gleaming on the water.

For every passing minute, Donna regretted the decision she made. The first guy was as dull as his name, Tom had 15 cats. He told her a story of when a few of his cats got sick and vomited in his flat. It was a full-on ramble for two minutes not letting his opponent get to word for once. Donna wasn’t sure if she had control of her face, but if she wasn’t at least the guy knew how horrible he was. The next one - didn’t even introduce himself - was shy. So shy that he only stared down on his fingers. Therefore when Donna made the first move and told him a little about her life, he could only nod and blankly stare a hole into the hotel owner.

Sunken in a daydream, you scribbled something in your notebook hoping the words would turn into poems. When you first came to the island you had hoped to overcome the ongoing writer's block, but until now not even the alluring landscape could change that. It ever so often occurred that your eyes landed on the woman with the golden locks not sure if it’s because of how dissatisfied she looked or if it’s her that captured you. Often you came to this restaurant to get the words flowing or to talk to the owners. They have been welcoming from the first moment, so you decided to go there again and again until it became the only restaurant you’d go to.

Meanwhile, Donna was meeting the fourth guy that wanted to meet her. It seemed to be a better start than the rest of the guys, he wasn’t perfect but neither was he as self-centered as the ones before. Their conversation was good until he dropped the 'women belong in the kitchen’ bomb. It ruined everything for her. „Alright people, we’re gonna take a short break so everyone can let the impressions sink in,” Sophie quickly interrupted when she saw how uncomfortable her mother felt. Each of the participants got up and walked out on the terrace or ordered drinks from the bar. Donna scoffed and buried her head in her hands. „This is awful,” it was only a whisper but audible to her daughter. „I’m sorry, I really thought that you’re gonna have fun,” the girl replied. Without another word the woman got up and wanted to walk a few steps to stretch the tense muscles in her leg when she spotted you sitting in the corner of the room.

She took small steps to reach your table, she was curious about what you were doing there all alone scribbling in your notebook. At first, you didn’t notice her coming towards you, but when you did she seemed as if a halo would enlighten her. The notebook was closed in an instant when you realized that you were the aim she was about to reach. „Hi” you greeted her with a wide smile. „Hello, I noticed you sitting all alone,” it was obvious that Donna searched for an opportunity to escape the dating hell her daughter had organised. You saw in how deep of misery the woman was. „Would you like to sit with me for a while?” you requested and pointed at the chair opposite of you. The noise in the overfilled restaurant was deafening so the blonde woman didn’t bother using words and just pulled out a chair. „You don’t know in how many ways you just saved me,” she smirked and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. You blushed but tried to hide it while leaning your face in both of your hands.

„I saw you’ve been busy over there, isn’t speed dating fun?” you teased not knowing if it was alright to overstep this line. „They’re all abhorrently boring and irritating,” the woman huffed and throws a disapproving look at the crowd of men. You couldn’t help but stifle a laugh, you’ve never had the problem with weird men. „I’m Y/n by the way,” you reached out your hand which she gladly shook. „Nice to meet you, my name’s Donna.” Even her name sounded angelic. The woman’s company brought you joy and even ideas for new poems came to your mind. „You could stay here until it’s over, I don’t mind,” you suggested avoiding eye contact, fearing rejection. „I’d love to,” it sounded like heaven to you. Therefore she stayed and every time you looked at her, you hated to avert your gaze the next second. Although Donna seemed to enjoy herself, the men on the other side of the room looked as if they were disappointed that she left. „One of their cats vomited in their flat,” she told you rolling her eyes. „Aww, I love cats but without the vomiting,” you giggled and tried to find out who it was by just scanning them. „It’s the blond one,” she pointed at a tall, skinny guy. „Oh yes, he absolutely looks like a cat guy,” you remarked dryly not averting your gaze from the giraffe-like man.

Sophie saw her mother sitting with you, smiling and giggling sometimes. She didn’t dare to make her comeback and go through another round.

„Would you like something to eat while you’re waiting for this to be over?” you asked shyly. „Actually, yes! I’ve been starving since we’ve come here and the conversations I’ve had didn’t make it go away,” Donna explained and bit down her lip. You waved for Elias, a waiter, for her to order. You’ve been exploring the island with him a couple of times and learned that he would rather like to work on the mainland as a teacher than work at his parent's restaurant. The food was served in less than ten minutes and she hummed while eating. „This has to be the best one I’ve eaten yet,” Donna declared while putting the cutlery on her plate.

Donna admired you for your kindness of letting her stay with you, she was lost in the eyes of yours and how your y/h/c hair was blown from the wind from time to time. The opened window offered her a marvellous view on the deep blue ocean. She felt safe in your company and the stories you’d told her about your future plans captured her. „Then why have you decided to come to Kalokairi when you plan on becoming a writer?” the older woman curiously asked. „Well, I had a very severe writers block and wanted to be surrounded by nature and I’ve a lot about this place in tourist guides so I decided to come here to get my writing flowing,” you explained. „Oh I’m sorry, I hope you’ve overcome it by now.” „I think I just did,” you cheekily replied. Unknowingly that your time was up by now, Sophie strutted over to the both of you.

„Mum, I’m sorry to interrupt but we’re done,” the young girl smiled while looking at you. „I’d really like to do this again,” Donna circled with her finger on the table, „I’ll just give you my address and you can come over some time.” Donna scribbled something on a napkin and handed it to you. You tried to hide the huge smile that was about to form on your lips. „Thanks, I’d also love to repeat this,” your whisper was barely audible. Donna just winked before leaving with her daughter, she was gone and left you with butterflies in your stomach. That day you’re writers block seemed to be gone and you were finally able to bring some words on paper.

»As I sat and looked at her and the rolling hills she sat upon I thought, what amazing luck I have that the world had created such beautiful things and given me the eyes to see them.« *

At first, you’ve been too afraid to drop that little poem off at her house, but when you gathered enough courage you just went for it. It was only when you arrived that you realised she was managing a hotel. You quickly dropped it off with your phone number written on it, not brave enough to give it to her in person. The following hours consisted of you having almost a nervous breakdown not wanting to receive rejection again. You had enough of that for a lifetime. Was she even interested in that way or was she just being nice? It took her until the next morning to get back to you, but when she did, it brought your heart to quiver.

She invited you over for a walk along the coastline by sunset. Whenever Donna laughed, it felt as if the world was changing for the better, and she smiled like a goddess. When the sun was almost gone and barely visible, it made the whole island shimmer in a shade of magenta. The older woman seemed as if she took a liking to you, that’s when you realised the arm sneaked around you. It was that day when you never wanted to leave Kalokairi or the high you’ve been on since you first saw her.

—♡︎

Over the weeks you two had somehow developed an unspoken romantic relationship, none of you were brave enough to talk about the strong feelings in between. When Donna wasn’t busy working in the Hotel, you did almost everything together, sat by the beach while you used her as your muse for writing or you two cuddled on the couch.

You had sent your work to a publisher in New York when you had gathered a few more poems and one night you received an email. They actually wanted you in New York, the head of the company wanted to meet you first and if everything goes well he wanted to offer you a contract and an apartment in which you could get your words flowing. Although that sounded like a dream to you, so surreal and perfect to be true, your true new home was the island and the mere thought about leaving was too much. That’s why you didn’t tell Donna. You weren’t sure if this was the right time or if she’d even care.

„Why did they have to leave her out, just because she couldn’t pay for the country club?” the thing you loved about her, was that she always commented on the movies you watched. „It seems unfair to me,” you added and snuggled closer. You were partly on your laptop to check your mails for a confirmation on an order you placed. She was holding you close while her head was resting on yours. It was the smell of the ocean that comforted you and made your eyelids heavy. You had never stayed overnight at her house because you didn’t know if that was alright for her, so you fought against tiredness. Few strands of her hair slightly covered your eyes which only caused you to give in to your exhaustion more.

The steady sound of the movie and her beating heart made you even more tired until you couldn’t keep your eyes open any longer. A comforting wave of sleep hit you and soon you were comforted in a dream. It wasn’t until the woman you’d fallen asleep on moved abruptly, that you woke up. „Ouch,” you murmured and your head jolted in an upward direction. „I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” Donna sounded weird but you brushed it off due to the late hour. „Don’t worry, is everything alright?” you then asked while straightening your back. Only a light hum was a response to your question, she then focused on the movie again. Minutes passed and your eyelids started to feel like cement. „Okay, you know what? It’s not okay. I know going through your things wasn’t right, but your laptop was open and I’ve seen the email from the publisher and internally I’m going mad and-“

„Stop,” it was a short but loud enough interruption of her rambling. Donna's eyes grew wide. „I don’t mind if you’re going through my things, but before you assume something you could’ve asked me, because I wasn’t planning on going,” you didn’t want to snap in that way. Only a regretful „Oh..” broke the uncomfortable silence. You felt bad for speaking to her in that tone. „I’m sorry but I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you, I just found you.” A small but proud smile formed on your lips, maybe the feelings were mutual. „I’m not going anywhere,” you quietly replied. Both of you started staring at the screen of the tv again, wordlessly. „Y/n?”

You hummed in response. „I think I love you.” „You think?” you laughed, „because I might love you too.” Her hands quickly found your face and pulled you in her direction, „Is that alright?” A slight nod confirmed and Donna’s lips found yours. They moved against yours in sync and that’s when you first noticed how soft they were, she tasted like peach and lavender. „Your hair’s so soft,” she mumbled when she stopped for air, after that Donna quickly found your lips again. „And your cute when you’re all worried,” you added when you gasped for air.

That night you stayed with Donna and fell asleep cuddling her. She wore a blue pyjama with puppies all over it, you were gushing over how adorable she looked.

—♡︎

„Come on we’re going to be late for the ferry if you don’t hurry up,” Donna rushed past you to turn off the kitchen lights. „Yeah yeah don’t rush me or I’m never gonna finish,” you replied and closed your suitcase. You were going home for your father's birthday and they wanted to meet the woman that you couldn’t stop talking about. „Ready?” „Yes.” Donna stretched out her hand for you and pulled you after her. „I hope they’ll like me,” she pondered while loading the suitcases in the trunk. „They will absolutely love you, trust me,” you said and helped her closing up.

The ferry was crowded as usual and you two barely had enough space so Donna demanded you to sit on her lap. „I hope we’re gonna catch our flight,” the woman mumbled and nervously checked her wristwatch. „Don’t sweat it, we’re gonna make it on time it’s still early,” you cackled, knowing that she was nervous. The ferry sailed over the water just as gracefully as a bull in a china shop. When the ferry reached the mainland, Donna and you quickly rushed to a cab and drove to the nearest airport. The sky was flawlessly blue, not a cloud could be seen.

Not a lot of people decided to fly to England on that day, you could count 17 people at the checkpoint. In the meantime Donna was a nervous wreck, the woman constantly fidgeted with the keychains. „Ew your hands are sweaty,” you joked when you took hers in yours, „don’t be afraid, I’m with you the whole time.” Donna forced a smile on her face then followed you on the airplane. It wasn’t a long flight, maybe four or five hours. The start was a rough patch, Donna’s anxiety of flying was at its highest and she was seemingly about to throw up. Luckily you could talk her down and she soon fell asleep.

Arriving in London Southend, which was close to your parent's house, your girlfriend's nerves seemed to be calmed and you almost thought she’d taken something. „Let’s get out of here, my brother’s gonna pick us up,” you declared as both of you got your luggage. „He’s very much into cars and all that stuff, so if he’s annoying you just tell him to shut up, I do this every time.” „Oh I hope it’s not getting too complicated so that I can keep up,” she stifled a laugh and cheerily followed you along to the exit. As usual, your brother couldn’t shut up about the new cars he is about to tune, but luckily the ride was only about 40 minutes.

Your father was fascinated by Donna, the two of them got along quite well and even your mother seemed to approve of your choice this time. There have been a few women she wasn’t fond of, almost hated them and in retrospect, she was right about them. As it got darker outside, your father's guests said their goodbyes and left one by one until only the five of you were left at the table. „We’re gonna go to bed, it’s getting late and I’ve got work tomorrow,” your father declared and clapped his hands on both of his legs before getting up. „Yeah me too,” your brother said.

„Wanna sit in front of the fireplace for a while?” you asked as all of them were gone. „Absolutely.” „Thanks for coming, I was afraid you wouldn’t like my family because of how crazy they are sometimes,” you whispered when you draped a blanket over the both of you. „They’re all lovely people, I’m happy they don’t seem to hate me,” Donna joked. „They don’t, they love you but maybe not as much as I do,” you sweet-talked. Her finger booped your nose before she planted a quick kiss on your forehead. „Can I hold your hand?” she quietly asked. You nodded, feeling her soft palms against yours was enough to make you feel safe. While you sat there watching the fire die out, the grip around Donna got tighter, fearing she’d be gone as soon as the sun rises. But she wasn’t, she was still there in the morning and the morning after and so on. You were happy with her, happier than you would’ve imagined.

* used a poem from atticus

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bstu · 3 years

Text

Mod Log - September

Howdy! I thought this might be a fun little thing to do, both for my own desire to document, and for anyone who wants to tune in.

I’m counting on this to be a lax “series”(?) which serves as a catalog of minor experiments, mod progress, and bloopers that occured during a set period of recreational modding.

And maybe it is also a little bit self-indulgent - but gosh darnit, I will be enthusiastic about my dorky hobby! :p

Item 1: Tests and Tribulations

Question: What happens when a Sim dies on a lot on which there is no physical place for a tombstone to spawn?

Answer: A tombstone... is not spawned! Verified by forcing an error and scouring the lot dump. This may lead to a Sim being in a “dead, linked, but no tombstone” state, without any mods (although the set up is a bit tedious - fill every tile with a diagonal wall or impassable object). Kinda neat!

Also, I made a statue out of Grim Reapers, pictured above.

Question: hey build/buy thumbnails are tiny can we like enlarge those

Answer: Yes!...ish.

Unfortunately I was unable to find the parameter (singular? 🤞) that influence/s the grid layout within the UIScripts, meaning that (a) I just can’t see (b) It’s multiple variables making it more difficult to narrow down [c] This behaviour (that is, the automatic management of the geometry and populating of the grid) is exclusively executable-based so because of this all items overlap. :/

Pretty cool though how the actual thumbnails themselves adjust automagically to increased... ‘thumbnail... holder’... size. Also, I think the black transparency issue could be resolved with a properly sized UI images of the border to match. don’t mind the blue tearing that’s just me being silly

Item 2: Modunkles Spelunkles

This mod... is actually almost fully functional! Here is a video of it in action. Permitting your one-household Sims have a pool, they should no longer be doomed to a Death By Fire if noone extinguishes them... assuming they get there in time, and they’re happy with the risk of spreading the fire as they go :p

youtube

It’s not released yet, though, as I would like to add showers to the mix also, but that’s... tricky and likely to conflict with other mods out there. I also need to add compatibility for custom pool portals, and I still haven’t figured out the non-Destination version of this mod.

By the way - it seems to be impossible to add new functioning destination objects - I had to override a Maxis one! >:( (though this also seems like an excellent candidate for a plug-in framework to allow for multiple user mods. along with maybe showers).

Check out these bloopers though lol.

And dang, look at this Actual Flowchart I Made to try and figure out the code beforehand. It looks better than my thumbnails fafasfafsa

Speaking of a Plug-In Framework - I am working on one, at least for the mailbox, to make it easier for modders to do cool cross-compatible stuff with it. Planning to make something pretty in-depth with it!...eventually. Sims getting actually paid by the hour was a good start, but before I knew it I was rewriting half of CareerGlobals

so uh that’s on the backburner ._.;;

Did you know that there is a lot of redunancy concerning road textures in the game? It seems as though Maxis had more ambitious plans than what we received, likely due to being rushed [speculation]. With this we have quackery such as separate road textures/overlays being possible for different weather conditions, such as snow and hail, but in the full game this only being applied on road corners, but also almost none of the special textures are used.

With some tweaking of the shader, though, I manage to make it possible to have separate road textures for light snow/heavy snow weather [pictured heavy snow overlay below]:

This is not a road texture default - well, actually, for private testing purposes, I used textures from this creator’s defaults - but I have Voille’s True Neighbourhood Grass installed in the above screenshots, which comes with a road default. I also increased the fidelity of the appearance of the snow on the roads because it looks blurry af (no idea who thought 4 was a good value for number of passes over a cumulative <200 tiles in the unmodded game).

It is not yet released, though, because I want to (a) ensure compatibility with other popular shader mods and (b) create my own textures to redistribute. (although if anybody wants to create textures, feel free?? 😳) and [c] ‘c’ what can I do to make the neighbourhood coordinated with this system.

Really cool how this stub of a feature was just... there, though!

Oh, and a blooper from this set of tests.

Nothing more Christmassy than a blood-red sky. Then again, I suppose it is October :p

Item 3: Fin

At the end of this draft now, and dang, this was really fun to put together actually! Even if this documentation is largely insignificant in the grand scheme of things I might do more of these in the future. Would be fun if other creators tried it too, I think! If you want to filter this tag, I will be using ‘bstu mod log’ for these sorts of post. Maybe I’ll make a dedicated page to these and post future ones privately? 🤔 Happy Simming! <>

#sims 2 #sims 2 modding #bstu mod log #research

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caneannabelle · 3 years

Text

ok hi guys. it’s been a while. i wrote this analysis back when Mag 187 aka Checking Out aka The One Where Helen Dies first came out and literally ever since i’ve posted it i’ve wanted to redo it because it feels. lacking. listen if there’s one thing i hate it’s incomplete media analysis and i must right my wrongs lest i be forced to look upon myself and crumble from within. that being said, i’ve been putting off this rewrite for a long long time bc Life Gets Weird. tldr this was written over the course of several months so i apologize for inconsistent quality. anyways let’s get into it!

part one: recap!

it’s been a while! let’s just go over what happened. the scene i wanna focus on in particular is this one:

VICTIM

You’ve got to help me!

ARCHIVIST

[Angrily] Don’t touch me!

[THE ARCHIVIST PULLS AWAY, AS THE VICTIM FALLS AND IS CRYING]

HELEN

Oopsie. Not so easy, is it? Keeping up your humanity?

(187).

that being said i’m gonna be kind of all over the place but! i do think that’s a good jumping off point.

part two (part one): disparaging everyone’s problematic fav

in my original post my point was that in reflexively reacting to a victim with disgust and anger jon inadvertently reveals the nature of his dedication to helping victims as ego driven, especially because this line is directly preceded by him asserting his moral high ground over helen as being a “protector” as opposed to her indulgence in destruction. what i’m saying is homeboy has a savior complex. honestly there’s a lot of evidence to support that claim but i think the most obvious example would be jordan kennedy. like.

JORDAN

…Yeah. But wrong. Sick.

What did you do to me?

ARCHIVIST

I helped you.

JORDAN

Helped me? I don’t feel right, I, I just – Ah! No I don’t – argh! I don’t want this!

(184). to be clear it’s an action with a good intent! he just wants to help someone who once helped him! BUT it also demonstrates a lack of conscious empathy. i feel like i don’t have to argue this since jordan Literally vocally said he didn’t want this several times throughout the scene but the point remains that while jon’s intent is good the actual application of his saviourism removes the autonomy of those he affects. i’m not gonna touch on the “is it objectively immoral to become an oppressor for the sake of self preservation while existing within an extreme system in which all are oppressed regardless of your individual status” query mostly because i do not have the brainpower available rn to come to my own conclusion about systems of power and the way they’re represented in tma (which is a whole other rant tbh) but jon DOES rob jordan of the ability to come to his own conclusion in this debate and make his own choice, thereby removing his autonomy. you know. autonomy. free will. the thing that is central to jon’s internal conflicts. huh.

anyways i NEED to stress that i’m not saying that he’s the same as jonah or the web or even annabelle (although annabelle is a victim. no i don’t take constructive criticism). i just want to point out that his actions reflect a lack of understanding. while he’s able to empathize with the pain others experience and is eternally hyper- aware of it he is unable to view that pain through any lense besides his own and uses it in his cycle of self pity and blame, minimizing it at any point possible in the quickest way and Not prioritizing the wishes of the victim but instead the efficiency in decreasing his own guilt. anyways back to 187- both the victim and jordan are treated as props by jon (and helen) and once they serve their purpose in reaffirming the two’s sense of self are cast aside and ignored. ok from here i’m gonna get conceptual and self indulgent bc it’s my analysis and i get to bring up vague convoluted philosophy.

part two (part two): part two

let’s talk about the distortion for a sec. i refuse to believe helen and michael were both completely gone and it was just the distortion piloting their visage, mostly because… like that’s not what the text would indicate

HELEN

Michael isn’t me. Not now.

ARCHIVIST

What happened?

HELEN

He got… distracted. Let feelings that shouldn’t have been his overwhelm me.

Lost my way.

(101). it’s heavily implied that there was SOME remainder of michael in there, even if the being wasn’t him. maybe i’m way off base here but the way i interpreted the implosion of michael was that it was driven by his inability to maintain the repressed resentment and anger he had for gertrude. like it’s pretty clear that some warped version of michael’s feelings were trapped inside of the distortion and i’d go as far as to say that they were integral to his formation as it. i’m gonna operate on the assumption that michael and helen are two separate beings here for a sec even though we know they’re not. As opposed to michael’s resentment for the archivist, helen actively sought refuge in the institute and from the small amount we saw of her Pre-Distortion it seems like her paranoia is internally directed. i think you could even say that while michael was caught in an eternal battle with the concept of connection, helen is caught in a battle with the concept of self. the point is that she thinks of jon in a less “The Archivist” sense and more as just That Guy who she had an intense connection with that one time.

ARCHIVIST

So… S-so what do you want?

HELEN

I don’t know. Helen liked you, so… there’s a lot to consider. But I will help you leave.

(101). i would also like to point out that helen’s emergence as the distortion coincides with jon coming to terms with his identity as the archivist. parallels, baby! SO helen is a newly formed being that is grappling with the concept of her own existence and jon is reevaluating his understanding of identity as he comes to terms with the fact that he is turning into the thing he’s fighting against and this is all happening at the same time. live laugh love. stay with me here, i promise i’ll get back to 187. Throughout seasons 4 and 5 helen attempts to validate her own moral decisions via jon who she once saw herself in. conversely, jon sees both an image of what he could become AND arguably a representation of his past failure in her.

ARCHIVIST

It did. I think… I mean, you remember how I was back then, how paranoid. The Not!Sasha was there, and I could sense something wasn’t right, but I just couldn’t place it. It left me a suspicious wreck. Then when Helen Richardson came in, it seemed like… she was in the same place I was, but worse, further along. I thought, maybe if I could help her, that would mean… maybe I wasn’t beyond help?

(188). helen and jon lie at opposite ends of the same spectrum. both of them derive pleasure from the suffering of others

HELEN

Oh, John! This existence can be wonderful, if you just let it.

ARCHIVIST

[Sadly] I know.

(187). needless to say that a LOT of jon's arc and the themes surrounding him focus on the concept of autonomy and addiction and i think it'd be fair to say that this component is an aspect of that. repressing these qualities is both a way of reaffirming his control and also just.. him trying to be what he perceives as Good, and season 5 is the point at which this comes to the forefront of his character- particularly the line between what is intrinsic and what he truly has control over. a battle of the concept of the self, if you will. while the two share similar traits, jon is intensely moralistic while helen indulges in a twisted sense of hedonism and both are fueled by an inability to expand their viewpoint. helen fully immerses herself within these qualities and intentionally blinds herself to any concepts of morality (indulgence), and jon actively pushes back on this as hard as he can and follows black and white moral framework (repression). this means that in order for their relationship to function he must either accept her, choosing to let go in his personal battle with autonomy OR she must break out of her worldview and conform to standards of human morality which goes against her own nature.

part three: questions i do not have the answer to

so. what does it all mean. WELL. 187 is the boiling point of all this tension. we know that helen relies on jon to validate her sense of self and we know that jon sees himself in helen, both past and present

HELEN

But that doesn’t make any sense. You barely met her. You had half an hour together, and she spent most of that ranting about mazes! She was positively delirious with paranoia!

ARCHIVIST

True. But as you’ll recall, I was pretty paranoid myself at that point.

HELEN

So what? You saw yourself in her? A sad reflection? A possible future?

(187). I’d argue that 187 is demonstrative of jon’s inability to either fall into complete indulgence in intrinsic values that lack moral validity vs. maintain and image of self that does not conflict with the values he attempts to uphold in order to find internal satisfaction and yes both of those concepts are inherently egocentric as he bases his moral judgement on what he can justify to himself instead of what can be calculated via empathy. however. paired with the alternative (helen). is that BAD. is it inherently selfish to do what you perceive as good in order to feed your own savior complex? and if so, is it inherently selfish to indulge in destructive qualities as to not delude yourself? is honesty vs deception a black and white question? if not, where does helen even fall? in not deluding herself does she achieve a moral high ground? IS she deluding herself by denying the potential to be facetiously benevolent at the detriment of both her personal enjoyment and her honesty? does helen even posses the capability to repress her violent qualities? if she doesn't, does she have any autonomy? if she and jon are both inherently selfish and intentionally resistant to introspection, what makes them different? i do not have answers but i do think the text is meant to invoke these questions. i mean,

MICHAEL (STATEMENT)

There was a great evil, she said, and Michael was going to help her fight it. Am I evil, Archivist? Is a thing evil when it simply obeys its own nature? When it embodies its nature? When that nature is created by those which revile it? Perhaps Gertrude believed so. Michael certainly did. He believed everything she told him.

(101).

part 5: conclusion

so once again. what does it all mean. well! even post helen’s death jon continues to fight for autonomy and preserve his moral worldview so. i think that probably indicates something good.

MARTIN

Huh. She couldn’t help what she was, I guess.

ARCHIVIST

She didn’t even try.

(188). i honestly don’t have a thesis i just find it incredibly interesting how the themes surrounding these two intersect and play off of each other. anyways looping back to 187 i do think in a broad sense jon killing helen is representative of him choosing to stick by his convictions and keep fighting. i don’t have any good way to end this but thanks for sticking around during my self indulgent rambling!

#also apropos of nothing but #this scene reminds me of a clive barker story #truly that has nothing to do w this analysis i just wanted to throw this in the tags #anyways! hope this makes sense #i had a friend who’s never listened to tma read over this to make sure that it’s coherent #and she said it was fine so.. alice ty #this was fun! i have lots of Thoughts on tma and i should write them more often #the magnus archives #mag 187 #jonathan sims #the archivist #helen richardson #helen distortion #michael shelley #tma meta #the distortion #the spiral #tma

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percabeth4life · 4 years

Note

Are there any things that you like about TKC? And what are the things that you don't like about it?

Things I liked

I love the rep! We have almost no white characters in those books, the only notable white character’s are semi-villains, full on villains, or dead.

We also have bi-racial main characters! Sadie and Carter are amazing and I love them so much. I love how their history was portrayed.

I unfortunately only know the bare minimum about Egyptian mythology and Kemetic paganism and I’ve yet to see any Kemetic Pagans break down stuff in TKC (maybe I should actually make posts about PJO as a Hellenic Pagan...) so I cannot speak for the accuracy of the myths, therefore I think they’re fun! I’ll probably have a lot of complaints here once I start my deep dive when I reach TKC in my rewrite but oh well, that’s a future me problem.

I liked how they traveled, that was cool. They went a lot of places and knowing what I do about Rick he probably got details wrong but I haven’t researched enough to say yet

Bast has my heart.

I liked how they explored magic, it was fun and I really enjoy seeing different magic systems.

Things I didn’t like

Look, I think saltnubis is cute but at the same time... please she’s 13 let her grow up before getting into a relationship with a God and a boy. Poly relationships are fabulous and I love that we... sorta got one (made them one person sorta but hey it’s close) but I don’t love that he had a 13 year old get with an ancient God in that way. Like, Anubis is clearly not an adult mentally but he’s definitely older than 13 by a good bit. Maybe 16 or 17. Walt I keep 14 in my head so that’s fine. I’d still prefer both of them grow up a bit, you don’t need to date at 13/14.

There’s probably mythological inaccuracies that I’ll get to in time.

The villains are horribly disfigured or evil looking... the heroes are not... sighs

Walt... what the fuck were you doing keeping super important medical info from your teachers. That is NOT okay.

The ending was eh at best. Like it had cool moments but the way it distinctively separated everyone was... hmm...

Idk I don’t have much else I dislike right now.

#tkc #anon asks #life answers #the Kane Chronicles #sadie kane #carter kane #saltnubis #walt/sadie/anubis #please if a kemetic pagan wants to give me a breakdown I will... idk maybe pay for it even #I just want to see a breakown of the mythology and stuff in the books #walt stone

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keen2meecha · 4 years

Photo

B L A S P H E M Y

➥ the stars incline us, they do not bind us ➥ my 2021 passion project ➥ aka the spite fueled rewrite of spn that you’ve all been waiting for

※ genre: urban fantasy, mystery, drama

※ pov: third person alternating (up to four separate narrators)

※ themes: dysfunctional families, overcoming internalized toxic masculinity, dysfunctional families, angst, eventual queer romances, a patchwork of different religious ideologies and beliefs, living not just surviving, moving on from your past into your future

※ status: drafting book 1/10, full series loosely outlined

※ warnings: suicide, violence, swearing, gratuitous latin

※ concept:

Siblings Casper and Caroline Colt travel around the country, picking fights with demons, ghosts, and other supernatural threats, saving the world as they navigate their own complex dynamics.

However, it’s not long before they learn that this world is much bigger than they realize; much bigger than their own personal vendetta. It quickly becomes clear that if they want to save the world from a war between beings much higher than humans and ghosts, they’ll have to confront the most dangerous thing of all: their own inner demons.

tagged as: wip: blasphemy

links for desktop users: find the wip series page on my blog here, and a link to the playlist(s) here (mobile users can find the series playlist here)

※ the characters:

➥ (from left to right)

Zephon: (no concept of gender, he/him) the last angel created by g-d, but the first to get a direct command from Them in a millennia; save Casper Colt.

Caroline Colt: (cis, she/her) the youngest Colt sibling; despite her father’s active discouragement, she has been obsessed with following in his footsteps and becoming a hunter herself.

Casper Colt: (trans, he/him) the oldest Colt sibling; has spent so much of his life hunting and protecting his sister, he’s not sure who he is outside of that.

Mishka: (nonbinary, uses all pronouns to spite you specifically) the first ‘new’ demon, she refuses to side with any one party; more importantly, she knows far more than she’s letting on.

One-Time Tag (lmk if you wanna be added to the for-real taglist!): @jadeywrites, @magic-is-something-we-create, @cabbage-patch, @adaparkwrites, @humour-and-hyperfocus, @ahowlinwolf, @alcego-writes, @zielenbloesem

Click Under The Readmore For Some of My Thoughts!

Hello, y’all!! For the first time in my life, I am deciding to commit to one wip (series) for an entire year! I’ll have other, secondary projects when I need a break, get stuck, or whatever (namely gifted, oof), but this is my primary! I’ve made a wip page that I’ll try and update as I go, a series of playlists that will probably get shuffled about and added to, and maybe (if I’m feeling spicy) I’ll rejoin sts for this. I want to try and keep any updates and info on tumblr spoiler-free, but as I progress I can’t guarantee anything.

Also, I plan to post this series on Wattpad - although I’m making it my own, original work and stuff, I don’t want to worry about making sure it’s different ‘enough’ from the inspiration, which would be guaranteed to cause horrendous writer’s block.

Finally: if all goes according to plan, there may be a series of anthologies connected to this series, to take the place of the traditional ‘filler’ episodes! I’ll talk more about that as it sort of comes to fruition.

Anyways, thank you for reading all of this! Can’t wait to share this project with yall :D

#wip intro #writeblr #my writing #amwriting #supernatural #(for funsies lmao)#wip: blasphemy #not sure if i'll do separate tags for individual books #but oh well #ive been sitting on this for like a month or something #so im honestly impressed with my own impulse control #i almost posted it early multiple time lmao

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inevitably-johnlocked · 5 years

Note

i never see top lock anymore, and i get why— but do you have a list of sherlock being dominant? i love when he’s possessive over the people who he loves.

Anonymous said to inevitably-johnlocked: do you have a master list of toplock?? i just love seeing sherlock jealous of possessive over john :)

Anonymous said to inevitably-johnlocked: do you have any possessive smut fics with sherlock topping? (or just rough sex in general) i really love jealous sherlock.

Anonymous said to inevitably-johnlocked: Hi, do you have any top!lock stories? It can be fluff, or smut. I really was in the mood for some top Sherlock, and if you could maybe some Jealous top!lock too. Thank you very much!

Hey Nonnies!

I hesitate to say you’re all the same nonny, but the wording is very similar and these all came a few days apart. If you aren’t please accept my apologies, for that and for the delay; when I get fic requests for fics I know I have a decent amount of, it takes me awhile to go through all 1000+ of my bookmarks to pick fics to rec for y’all. That said, I know I don’t have EVERY fic I have bookmarked with toplock in it, but I do have a few already tagged, so that’s what this list is for you today

Hope you enjoy, and as always, lovelies, please add your own fics or recs to this list! haven’t added ALL my fics with toplock in it, nor fics with switchlock (that will be a separate list when the time comes), so I’ve definitely missed some fics I’ve recced in the past

TOPLOCK

See also:

Omegaverse

Jealous & Possessive Sherlock

Possessive Sherlock Pt 2

Husband by jinglebell (E, 2,003 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel., PWP, Anal, Multiple Orgasms, Fluff) – Sherlock orgasms when John refers to him as ‘husband’.

Caught in the Act – by Mycroft by ShirleyCarlton (E, 2,040 w., 1 Ch. || Unintended Voyeurism, Mycroft’s POV, Blow Job, Humour) – Mycroft had only planted the camera for Sherlock’s own good, simply to keep an eye on his little brother and make sure he was alright. He hadn’t quite meant to see his brother this content, however… Part 4 of Caught In The Act

Stay by msdisdain (M, 3,561 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss / Time, Angst / H/C, Bed Sharing, Nightmares, Blow Jobs, Anal) – John’s nightmares are nothing new. Sherlock’s inability to ignore them, however, is.

Wasted Hours by songlin (E, 4,973 w., 1 Ch. || Omegaverse || O!John/A!Sherlock, Pining, UST, Angst & Porn) – John is respectful. John keeps his distance. He doesn’t look at Sherlock when Sherlock decides trousers are for dull people. He doesn’t breathe in and savor it when Sherlock flings himself onto the couch first thing in the morning, wafting alpha scent, dressing gown settling around him in a cloud of blue silk. He doesn’t linger when he’s piecing Sherlock back together after a fight, even though he’s half-dressed and beautiful and right there. He can ignore it. He can control it.

See Recipe for Details by pandoras_chaos (E, 4,981 w., 1 Ch. || Oral / Anal Sex, Food, PWP, Fingerfucking) – John knows Sherlock’s mouth will never water over the sweet smells of baking chocolate biscuits or a lovely roast chicken, but he’s watched Sherlock nick mince pies out of Mrs. Hudson’s fridge often enough to deduce that the man does have taste, albeit confusing and obscure. So John makes a list: Things Sherlock Likes

Caffeine and Adaptive Programming by DemonicSymphony (E, 5,540 w., 1 Ch. || Androids AU / Bond Fusion || Android Sherlock, Coffee Shop AU, Pining John Hinted Bond / Q, Toplock) – Sherlock is a coffee shop android slowly falling for a regular customer. But he’s not supposed to be able to feel emotions.

The doctor is in by PlainJane (E, 7,581 w., 1 Ch. || Omegaverse || Sex Therapist, Anal, Hand Jobs, Frottage, Virgin Sherlock) – Sherlock is a young alpha with an aversion to his cycle. John is a gender medicine specialist. Nothing could possibly go wrong… Part 1 of Doctors and detectives

Just Like That by sussexbound (E, 8,442 w., 1 Ch. || First Time/Kiss, Frottage, Virgin Sherlock, French Kissing, Anal, Emotional Lovemaking, Enthusiastic Consent, Tenderness, Crying John, Bathing/Washing, Insecure John, Toplock) – John doesn’t want to talk anymore. He wants. Oh dear god, how he wants. For the first time in what feels like years he WANTS.

London Gods by a_different_equation (E, 11,092 w., 5 Ch. || American Gods Fusion || Magical Realism, Sex Magic, True Love, PTSD John, First Kiss/Time, Marathon Sex, Sensuality, Genie Sherlock, Human John, Internalized Homophobia, Star-Crossed Lovers, Soul Mates) – Sherlock Holmes is a jinn who does not grant wishes. However, when Dr. John H. Watson, recently returned from the war in Afghanistan, gets into his cab by “accident”, it might not even need magic to grant both men their deepest wish: love.

And if you say the word, I could stay with you by CaitlinFairchild (E, 12,842 w., 1 Ch. || Domestic Fluff, BottomJohn / Topping from the Bottom, Fluff and Romance, Dirty Talk, Proposals) – What Sherlock thinks is, On the day I die, be it in a dirty alley at forty or in my bed at eighty, the last thing I will remember is tonight, the way you looked at at me on the snowy pavement, cheeks pink with the cold, breath puffing in frosty white clouds, your heart in your eyes and snowflakes in your hair. I will remember that single perfect moment in my life, that moment I knew I had everything I ever wanted, and whatever happens next, I will die content. What he says is simply, “Marry me.”

Take My Breath Away by Quesarasara (E, 14,240 w., 1 Ch. || Emotional H/C, Angst & Fluff, Toplock, Smut, Lingerie) – Sherlock opens his eyes and looks at his friend—his best friend—and slowly tips his chin down until his forehead rests softly against John’s. They stay that way for a long moment, lips just a whisper apart, warm puffs of air mingling as each of them struggles to breathe. It’s no wonder they ended up here, really, locked in this breathless moment balanced on the cusp of something new. They’ve spent years taking each other’s breath away…

The Palmyra Atoll by elwinglyre (E, 16,609 w., 3 Ch. || TSo3 Divergence / Episode Fix-It, Stockholm Syndrome, Kidnapped John Watson, John Whump, Evil Mary, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Toplock, Limited 3rd John POV) – As John’s preparing for the wedding, Sherlock is preparing to have his heart broken, and Mary is prepared to do the unthinkable. Intervention required. Enter Sherlock. Set before Sign of Three with a far different outcome. John is drugged, kidnapped, and left on an island, but not just any old island.

Maintaining A Personal Life by Gingerhermit (E, 24,284 w., 6 Ch. || Alternating POV’s, Bisexuality, BAMF!John, Jealous Sherlock, Romance / Drama, Sort-of Case Fic, Peril & Angst, Love Confessions, Toplock, Soft Idiots in Love, Post S3) – Sherlock and John discover some interesting revelations about each other’s sexuality, which lead them both to question the assumptions they’ve made about one another for years. In the midst of their mutual discoveries, a dangerous psychopath looms on the side-lines who threatens to destroy their new beginning.

The Whore of Babylon Was a Perfectly Nice Girl by out_there (E, 32,897 w., 1 Ch. || Past Drug Use, Blowjobs, Toplock, Mentions of Switching, Rough Sex, Background Cases, Sherlock’s Past, Sherlock’s Sexual History, Experienced Sherlock, Past One Night Stands, Fingering, Cuddling, Possessive Sherlock, Paris Holiday, Bed Sharing, Naked Lie-Ins, Bathing Together, Confessions, Worried Sherlock, Laying in Bed All Day, Meddling Mycroft, Naked Lazy Day) – Sherlock walks into a room and takes all the space right out of it. He does the same inside John’s head.

The Wrong Wagon by DancingGrimm (E, 35,663 w., 20 Ch. || Alternating POV, MollyxJohn [Molly pines for John], Public Sex, Casual Sex, Obliviousness, BAMF!John, Awkwardness, Angst & Humour, First Time, Virgin Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock) – Molly sees John in a new light and realises that she may have hitched her horse to the wrong wagon…or something like that. John pines for Sherlock and worries what he will think if he ever finds out. And Sherlock doesn’t know what Molly’s up to…but he knows he doesn’t like it.

Only To Be With You by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (M, 40,768 w., 4 Ch. || Black Mirror / Future AU || Character Death, Future Technology, Sickness/Cancer/Illness, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending, First Person POV John, Pining John, Heart-Wrenching Angst) – I tell myself that next time I’ll come near this same place again. Wait around for the mysterious stranger in his coat to dash past me, hot on the heels of a new criminal in black. I think this all the way back to my Exit, planning where I’ll wait and what I’ll say when I see him. Scheming on how to get his name. It’s only once I reach the Exit Point door that I realize two hours and forty-five minutes have passed, and I realize that this won’t be the last time I Visit. It won’t be the last time at all.

Guidelines by WithLoweredVoices (M, 43,018 w., 15 Ch. || Winglock || Angels, Fantasy, Angst, BAMF! John, War, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Jealous John, Falling in Various Ways, Needy Sherlock, Wings) – The Good Soldier, one of the oldest and strongest of the fallen, is offered a bargain: to live as John Watson and to Guide a fledgling archangel so that he will stay on the path of good. Of course, Sherlock Holmes has different ideas about his destiny. Fantasy AU. Warnings for violence, occasional gore, and a whole load of hurt and angst.

Bloody But Unbowed by BeautifulFiction (E, 43,211 w., 8 Ch. || Abduction, John Whump, Mild Torture, Background Case Fic, Friends to Lovers, Post-TRF / S3 Rewrite, Hurt/Comfort) – When a familiar argument threatens to destroy the last remnants of John and Sherlock’s failing friendship, both men are left questioning their worth to one another. Before either of them has the chance to make amends, circumstance intervenes. John is left at the mercy of his abductors, and this time, he’s not sure Sherlock will bother coming to his rescue.

Triage by scullyseviltwin (E, 51,612 w., 14 Ch. || Character Injury, Introspection) – Sherlock’s mind goes exceedingly, devastatingly quiet and gray-blank. When he speaks it’s through a thick haze, it’s through molasses, he’s so disconnected from the words that it may as well be the unconscious shooter speaking.

Uphill by scullyseviltwin (E, 77,750 w., 18 Ch. || Olympics AU || Sherlock POV, Skier!Sherlock / Medic!John, Rivalry, 2014 Olympics, Happy Ending) – Sherlock Holmes is striving for gold in this, his fourth and final Olympics as a downhill Alpine racer.

Secrets and Revelations by Hisstah (E, 83,535 w., 9 Ch. || Sentinel / Guides Omegaverse AU || Adventure, Violence, Anal / Oral, Omega!John / Alpha!Sherlock, Case Fic, Politics, Mild DubCon) – Dr John Watson has some major secrets that he’s kept from his flatmate, Alpha Sentinel Sherlock Holmes. Now the Sentinel Tower is after him. Can John stay out of their hands until he can reveal his secrets to Sherlock? Part 1 of Secrets and Revelations

Secrets and Revelations by Hisstah (E, 85,535 w., 9 Ch. || Sentinel / Guides AU, Omegaverse, Aventure, Violence, Anal / Oral, Omega!John / Alpha!Sherlock, Case Fic, Politics, Mild DubCon) – Dr John Watson has some major secrets that he’s kept from his flatmate, Alpha Sentinel Sherlock Holmes. Now the Sentinel Tower is after him. Can John stay out of their hands until he can reveal his secrets to Sherlock? Part 1 of Secrets and Revelations

31_Days_of_Porn_Challenge_2017 Series by distantstarlight (E, 96,540 w. across 31 stories || Prompt Ficlets, Assorted Kinks, PWP) – A collection in response to the 31 Days of Porn Challenge issued by AtlinMerrik! Thanks for doing that because this has been buttload of fun (that joke never gets old). All stories will be brief stand-alone one-shots.

A Fold in the Universe by darkest_bird (E, 152,869 w., 26 Ch. || Omegaverse / Prime Universe Crossover || OmegaJohn / AlphaSherlock, First Kiss / Time, Friends to Lovers, Established Relationship, Angst, H/C, Dub Con, Humour) – Alpha Sherlock and Omega John are in a relationship. Prime Sherlock and Prime John are not. So what happens when a freak fold in the universe switches one John for the other?

Proving A Point by elldotsee & J_Baillier (E, 186,270 w., 28 Ch. || Me Before You Fusion || Medical Realism, Insecure John, Depression, Romance, Angst, POV John, Sherlock Whump, Serious Illness, Doctor John, Injury Recovery, Assisted Suicide, Sherlock’s Violin, Awkward Sexual Situations, Alcoholism, Drugs, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Body Image, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, Pain, Big Brother Mycroft, Intimacy, Anxiety, PTSD, Family Issues, Psychological Trauma, John Whump, Case Fics, Loneliness, Pain) – Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court.

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #my fic recs #toplock #Anonymous #e-rated fics

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3w-writer-with-wings · 4 years

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Next Yu-Gi-Oh! Crossover – Bonds Beyond Worlds

With so many ideas about what Yu-Gi-Oh! 7 will be about, I wanted ZEXAL/ARC V/VRAINS crossover continuation the most. I’ve already discussed this before Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens was announced (here it is if you’re interested https://3w-writer-with-wings.tumblr.com/post/189629945740/next-yu-gi-oh-anime-new-series-or-a-crossover ) and despite new series, I’m still hopeful we will be getting a movie at least. Well, even if we aren’t getting it, I’ll write it down anyway. Only once Yuma, Astral, Yu-boys, Bracelet Girls, Yusaku and Ai get a happy conclusive ending will my soul be able to rest.

Still please don’t hate on SEVENS! It’s a nice and funny show and Yuga is a precious little inventor who doesn’t deserve all the hate.

Main cast

So the main cast will be definitely made of the main protagonists aka. Yuma, Yuya and Yusaku and their partner characters aka. Astral, other Yu-boys and Ai. I also want to include Bracelet Girls since they are very closely connected to Yu-boys, though not directly, more like they have a separate, but just as important mission, maybe they even team up with Rio (since she has psychic-like abilities) and Aoi (who learns about world connection from her brother and wishes to help). If it will possible I’ll also include rivals – though more like supporting characters, the same way Signers and professor Banner were used in the movie. For everyone else it would be more or less just minor roles, but still important enough to contribute to the story (Kaito and Arclight brothers guide Yuma through different worlds, Reiji and Yusho investigate strange occurrences in Arc V and Akira, Kusanagi and Ryouken try to find out where Yusaku went and how to help him). Overall, I wouldn’t include too many characters since I really want to give them meaningful roles.

How it will connect the series?

VRAINS ends with a surprising findings uncovered by Akira – VRAINS got connected to many different worlds and Yusaku is on his way to unknown part of VRAINS in order to find Ai. While first crossover was connected by time (hence the title Bonds Beyond Time), this crossover will be connected by space. First crossover already made a big deal out of time (Atem was an ancient spirit from past and had to travel back in time to regain memories in order to rest in peace, Judai was a reincarnation of a Supreme King and Yusei fought against time-travelling cyborg from the future) and was therefore connected by time, with Yusei using Crimson Dragon to travel to past in order to stop Paradox from destroying it. This time, the new trio of protagonists will have to travel through space in order to meet. Since VRAINS ended so abruptly, with Yusaku travelling towards unknown part of network, this would be the most perfect point to start this new journey. If that part of VRAINS network somehow got connected to another world or more like a dimension, this is how Yusaku finds himself in ARC V dimension after the events of the fifth series – sometime after the four dimensions merged into one again. Yuya and Yuzu get used to their counterparts living in their bodies and Yuya is yet to defeat Yusho at that point.

Goals

In a way all three series share the same theme of protecting the world and changing it in order to save the ones they love, but with each series, less can be done to save it. Yuma used Numeron Code to save the friends he lost, prevented the destruction of Barian world and turned Barian Emperors back in humans. Yuya managed to seal Zarc’s soul in Reira and get Yuzu back and joined all dimensions into one, but he couldn’t save other Yu-boys and Bracelet Girls. Yusaku was unable to save Ai as Ai was never meant to co-exist with humanity. Therefore I believe this chain of events is in a way connected with Numeron Code – with such drastic change in Astral World and Barian World, the change must’ve affected Original Dimension in ARC V and Dr. Kogami must’ve had a reason to create Ignis (in the most far-fetched logic I believe the change awakened Zarc’s rage and convinced Dr. Kogami that the world is ending and humanity needs an immortal successor). Yuma could also feel guilty and selfish to activate Numeron Code, thinking he might’ve been wrong after all and that caused all the suffering Yuya, Yuzu, their counterparts and Yusaku have been through.

But at the same time this doesn’t mean they should just give up Numeron Code to fix everything and rather look for a different way, considering how much damage it has already caused. Maybe the antagonist wishes to have Numeron Code and their first goal is to destroy it or seal it for good and at the same time deal with the fact that it could bring Ai, Yu-Boys and Bracelet Girls back. Yusaku and Yuya don’t blame Yuma one bit and they both ensure him that their friends are still there, they just need to find another way to bring them back home. At one point they will be back either before the climax or during the climax (Yu-boys are pretty much already in Yuya, but it could be that they gain their bodies at the crucial moment when they are protecting Yuya). It would be interesting if Ai actually knew Yusaku was looking for him but was too scared to face him, thinking he’ll lose him (maybe Astral helps him get over it and during the moment where Yusaku is in danger, Ai comes back in a similar fashion as he did during his duel with Ryouken).

Antagonist(s)

It doesn’t necessary need an antagonist, considering the goals the main trio has is already challenging enough, though it would be interesting to have another antagonist. Rather than having a one that thinks they are doing the right thing but are ultimately making everything worse or a character that is outright evil. I prefer to use a very calculating antagonist who has a good reason behind his actions and truly presents a challenge for the new trio. Antagonist like Z-ONE from 5Ds would nicely fit in this story, but like I said, it doesn’t really need an antagonist. It will be also interesting to include a secondary antagonist or antagonists’ right hand against the girl squad. Since I plan to include Numeron Code (I mean it is a literal Infinity Gauntlet, why the hell not?) the main antagonist’s motivation could be something with rewriting reality and space all over again since Yuma and Astral greatly changed it since the end of ZEXAL. The Bracelet girls also have a connection to Ray and En cards that are also a rather powerful element so there would be no need to include more powerful elements, prophecies or ancient grudges against the protagonist trio.

This might be a bit far-fetched idea too, but I think it would really interesting to use Yusho as antagonist. Not in a willing way of course, just that someone possesses him and through him challenges the new trio to a duel that decides all. A certain fanfic writer has (Frost190 in “Bonds of Pendulum”) already written down the most amazing duel between Yuya and Yusho that fit into the canon story so well that it made me think just what missed opportunity that duel was. Even though ARC V both starts and ends with Yuya’s vow to defeat his father one day, he never really duels him (though considering Yuri was able to defeat him and Yuya defeated Yuri, he could potentially defeat Yusho as well). Then there’s the fact that Yusho and Yuya haven’t really talked things through face to face yet. While it is clear that Yusho had to leave in order to stop Leo, he left right on the day he was supposed to have this big match. He knew Leo was up to no good, but really, really why he decided to leave on that day? He could’ve at least post-phone that match or be done with it in like an hour or so and then leave. This one thing has bothered me for as long as I can remember and that fact that they never point it out is that more frustrating besides the fact that Leo was magically excused of all horrible things he did. Yusho as antagonist (controlled of course, but using Yuya’s and Yusho’s memories to try to manipulate others) would work very well for Yuma and Yusaku too since Yuma also had to deal with the loss of his father and to Yusaku, Yusho could look like Dr. Kogami – a man who traumatized him for life.

Climax

Like in Bonds Beyond Time, a big duel with protagonists against antagonist is expected to be the main battle of the movie, I would like to spice it up a bit or use entirely different climax scene. I mentioned before that I would love to see Bracelet Girls in action, so what if they get a seperate mission or another antagonist to fight and this is how they find a way to get their own bodies. With this info they have to reach Yu-boys and let them know how to separate them, though again there could be some trouble or something is happening due to disturbance in dimensions and they have to protect people in them. It would be really interesting if they were the trump card or if they would show up at that one moment when they would needed it the most. Another reason of why I want to include them so much is also because only the powers of Yuzu’s bracelet have been partially explained and considering Ray literally split a whole dimension and a demon in four, they must’ve been nearly as powerful as Numeron Code.

I would also love to expose the new trio of protagonists to their worst fears, showing their pieces of vulnerability there. Yuma could relive his duel with III and all the times he lost Astral and his friends. Yuya could go through the time his father was missing and when he hurt innocent people in berserk form. (In a way I would also love to see Zarc and Ray have a role, at least to guide him and encourage him to not to give up.) Yusaku might expect the trauma from Lost Incident, but it turns out to be the fear of truly losing Ai. Another important challenge would be probably temptation to use Numeron Code for their own interests like maybe it could rewrite Yusaku’s life with Lost Incident never happening, but erase all of Yuma’s friends who got revived. Maybe it could bring counterparts back but cause major disturbance in Den City. Overall I wouldn’t go there too much since I know well that Yuma, Yuya and Yusaku are one of the most selfless people and if anything, they would be fine with giving up on their desire for greater good.

Another important climax (in case I go with it), is Numeron Code. With such insane power of literal creation and destruction it could be again connected to ARC V, with the whole theme of Heavenly Dragons and En Powers. Similar themes also appeared in VRAINS, especially regarding the creation and destruction of life. It could also be that protagonists will be struggling with how to use it correctly or if they should use it in the first place. Another solution is also permanent destruction, but again, protagonists aren’t sure how will this affect dimensions and timelines.

In all ways, climax will be epic and will join all the build up, struggles, fears and action in one scene.

Interactions of those who never met

This crossover will be able to provide a lot of scenes and interactions between characters of those three series. Yuya, Yuma and Yusaku have surprisingly a lot in common, especially their experiences when dealing with loss and fears. For some reason I’m actually seeing Yusaku opening up to them since they could strangely remind him of Ai and that was pretty much the only person besides Kusanagi that Yusaku trusted enough to share his fears. It would be also refreshing for Yusaku to see duelling as fun (I really hoped that would be the case when he duelled Go for the first time) and befriending more people like Ai told him to. Astral and Ai could also share a scene where they are talking about their human partners and the time once their partners will be gone since they are both sort of immortal beings. I strongly believe one of the reasons why Ai sacrificed himself for Yusaku was not only because he saw a future where Yusaku dies protecting him but because he knew Yusaku won’t live forever like him and he couldn’t handle being all alone without Yusaku or other Ignis. Astral who has been alone for thousands of years before meeting Yuma could teach him how to cherish the time with his partner that he still has.

Conclusion

Like I mentioned it in the beginning – this would more or less be fix-it story. While I’m okay with ZEXAL ending (better than the one in manga at least), ARC V and VRAINS are in dire need for a better ending so overall, the ending conclusion will give the three series a much more conclusive ending. While I love to write a good angst and bitter sweetness for the end, I do no plan to end it this way (especially after binge watching two anime series in a row that had bitter-sweet but hella sad endings). This will have to be a feel-good ending with cheese on top or at least hopeful feel. I’m aiming for similar conclusion as Bonds Beyond Time, with three protagonists parting ways in hopes that they did the right thing and that they can return back to the worlds that they no longer need to fear they will break.

The endgame will be obviously with Yu-boys coming back, Ai reuniting with Yusaku and Numeron Code being sealed away or if possible destroyed. If I’m going with “Yuma screwed up ARC V and VRAINS with Numeron Code” way, then I’ll really need to find a good reason to get rid of it or at least find a logical way how. Also he will be dealing with massive guilt and responsibility so maybe… Yuma might go Iron Man with it and others will need to stop him (that might lead to a secondary final duel or more like rescue duel, kinda mirroring final duel between Yusaku and Ai).

So yeah there will be a lot of conclusions to go through, especially if I include original antagonists, though I’m not that sure about it yet.

If anyone has any other ideas, suggestions, theories or anything else related to this topic, feel free to leave it below or PM me. I would love to hear your thoughts on this idea and it will really help me gather more ideas and material for this project that I would really love to write, not just for myself but for all other members of Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom as well.

#yugio series #vrains #yugioh arc v #yugioh zexal #Bonds Beyond Time #bonds beyond worlds #really excited about this #it has so much potential #fanfiction writing #yugioh crossover

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iowriteswords · 4 years

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Upcoming Projects

As I’m writing this post, I’m almost finished with Crooked Arrows, the second part in my Flightless Birds series.It will be a while before I write anything else, because I have several pressing projects lined up right now, but I like to keep a list of what I’m planning to write in the future, and thought you guys might like to see it too. These are not super nice, well-written summaries, because this is really more a checklist for me than, like, an advertisement. I love talking about all of my stories and would be happy to answer any questions, but none of these are anywhere close to finished and there will be much more polished descriptions someday.

Miscellaneous:

The Witch Beneath the Stair: A nameless foreign queen befriends the last witch in the kingdom and her changeling son. The king doesn’t approve, until their palace is under attack and the witch becomes his best chance to get his wife and unborn child to safety. The witch and the queen flee the kingdom, carrying with them two potential heirs to the throne.

(AKA the story where I invented a complex magical and political system to avoid naming my characters.)

Swan Song: A retelling of/sequel to the ballet Swan Lake, from the perspective of Odile.

Oz Project:

I’m in the process of retelling L. Frank Baum’s entire Oz series from the perspective of Ozma. So far there are 2 parts, available on AO3, covering Book 2 and filling in some things before the next book. I’m going to write parts 3-6, which will go through the events of Book 6, then an interlude for Glinda’s backstory and her perspective on the events of The Wizard of Oz and The Land of Oz. Then the rest of the series from Ozma’s POV.

(BTW if you like Oz I have a whole separate Oz blog @sketchyglinda. And if you don’t like Oz you might still enjoy the story of a farm boy becoming queen.)

Batfic:

(This is probably what you’re here for so I’m putting it at the end in hopes that’ll make you more likely to read about everything else)

We’re All Mad Here: A few weeks after Red Hood moves to the juvie ward in Arkham, he gets a new roommate. A roommate who looks like a mini Joker. With Joker dead, Batman in Blackgate, and no one’s secret identities a secret anymore, Jason is the only one who has any chance of fixing any of this.

I was really excited about this, and then I had a flash drive break, taking the first 6-8 chapters with it, and that kind of killed my motivation. It’s a lot of rewriting to do. But I still like the idea so I’m sure I’ll get back to it eventually.

Maybe Someday We’ll Laugh Again: Sequel to It’s Not That Funny. Tim and Jay are home. They’re in therapy. Lots of therapy. The whole welcoming-serial-killers-into-his-home thing has complicated Bruce’s relationship with the Justice League, and everything is a mess, but Cass is home, and it’s all worth it to have all his kids under the same roof for the first time ever.

Talons Clipped with Care: Part of the Flightless Birds series, set in Tim’s home universe. After the Bats of multiple worlds team up to take out Owlman, they’re left with young, Talonized versions of themselves to find homes for. Dick, Cass, and Jason take home Tim and Damian. It doesn’t exactly go well.

Ultimate Untitled Batfamily Fanfic: My version of the Batfamily history, covering all the storylines that interest me most, beginning with the arrival of Dick, and going until I run out of steam, I guess. I have significant chunks of the later parts written, and the early parts barely started, which is a frequent problem I have when writing. We’ll get there eventually.

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fallen-hero · 5 years

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LET’S TALK PACING

Let's talk pacing, because it's a nebulous thing that I think deserves to be talked about more. BUT in order to talk about pacing, we need to talk about structure.

Writing a book is a thing. Most people who start out writing one, never finishes. They get stuck halfway, or they get a better idea, or they run out of steam, and even if they do finish it, they take one look at it and realizes it is not what they wanted and despair.

I get that. I really do. Most of the things that people write are short stories. Why? Because they are short, fast, fun little snippets. They might be a fanfiction filling out an established story, or just a scene that got stuck in your head, or even a carefully structured piece meant for publishing. It's still short. It's in the name. So you write it, check the grammar, maybe send it off to a beta, make sure that the language is good, and that you get across what you want to. Then you're done, publish and move on. The majority of time is spent actually writing, and most of the editing is done on the fly.

Why? Because it is short enough that you can keep everything in mind. It's a song, not an album.

This is what many people try to do with books, treating each chapter as a short story. Write, fix, edit, next chapter. Books... doesn't work that way.

One of my favorite illustrations of this is an author I am following on twitter (V.E Schwab, the structure of Vicious is -chef's kiss-) posting a picture of her and her editor trying to fix her latest (at the time) book before the deadline. The picture was of the floor filled with yellow papers detailing what happened in the scenes, and they kept moving around scenes to find the flow of the book. Because with a book, writing 'the end' is not the end, that is just the beginning. Because only when you've got the text down can you start making sense of the flow. Do you need to add scenes? Remove them? Move them around? These are the parts that are impossible to fix on the fly, because you don't know until you've got the end. It's too big. Too complex. It changes too much from what you've originally planned.

This is why I am so adamant about not fixing grammar or bothering having nice writing until the alpha is done. I don't know if the scenes will stay. I don't know if they need to be rewritten. I can't know.

In Rebirth, the scene where you steal the Rat-King was in a different place, and a lot more simple and dry. It was the part playtesters skipped through to get to the good stuff. I had to move it, rewrite it, add a lot of scenes to it just to make it fit better into the narrative and be fun. I have already done one round of changes to Retribution because I knew they were needed (moving chapters around, adjusting the timeline) but I can't look at it until I'm at the end,

If there is ONE advice I have to ANYBODY out there writing a book is to FINISH it before you start to edit it. Don't go back. Don't fix things. DON'T REWRITE THE START. JUST DON'T. Not until it's done. Otherwise it's wasted work. Take notes, but don't write it.

Just finish the damn book first.

It's taken me a lot of courage letting other people see my unfinished work. It's harder than I pretend, because I'm a perfectionist, but I also know that the end result will be the better for it. So I will suck it up. The biggest issue is that I can fix coding errors, but I CANNOT go and fix the pacing. Not yet. It will just sit there and annoy me, and I have to try to ignore it. It's not easy.

And here we come to the BIG problem with pacing.

PACING IN A BLOODY CHOICESCRIPT GAME.

It is a nightmare. In a book you have control. Here, the more choices you give people, the less control you have over the pacing.

Let's take a simple book. A is for Action, I is for Interaction, and R is for Romance.

A - I - A - I - A - R - A is a common pacing. A mix of action/plot and character interaction ending in a romance and a climax. No, not that kind of climax, get your mind out of the gutter.

In Rebirth I had a pacing like this, because the Interactions were separate, Ortega for the hero side and the past, Mortum for the villain side and the future. No complications. Simple. Easy to pace. And then we started to add love interests.

A - I - A - Ia/Ib/Ic/Id - A - Ra/Rb/Rc/Rd - A

Not that much more complicated. More alternative scenes, sure, but still straightforward as games go. Talk to person A or B. A lot of games that locks in your romance does this, choose the same interaction to build romance points, enough and you'll get the payoff at the end.

But some of those scenes were so nice, and would also work if you are friends. And I wanted a platonic playtrough as well. It's just that well, the friendship scenes are already there, and you can care about more than one person so why not be able to romance one and be friends with the other?

A - Ia -Ic - A - Ia - Ic - A - Ra - A

And all of a sudden those action/plot scenes are a lot further apart.

But some of those interaction scenes were cool, and kind of plot related things were revealed so maybe everyone should have those not to miss out on content, right? And that also helps with not having to choose one out of five options and feel shut out from the cool things in there for no good reason. In real life, people have time to do more things, right? Not to mention that you need more interactions to do more groundwork for the romance, which some people want to happen right now, and other people draw it out.

A - I - Ib - Ia - A - Ia - I - Ib - A - Ra - A

By now our plot/action A scenes are getting further and further apart... and all of a sudden someone says, well, there's a lot of talking and not much action in this game? Because we can have one playthrough that is:

A - I - Ib - Ia - Ic - A - Ia - I - Ib - A - Ia - Ra - A

because they talk to/wants to romance everyone, while another playthrough is:

A - I - A - I - A - R - A

because they are playing a depressed loner who would rather skip at least two of those I scenes because that would be in character.

And these are the things I'll have to sit and balance. Because there is no canon playtrough. Because some people will want to talk to everyone, and I have to make the decision if I should let them, and risk them complaining that the game is slow and too talky, but if I don't, they might complain that they get cut off from content for no good reason because realistically in the game they would have time.

And on the other hand I have to decide if I should allow people to skip content because it would be in character, and risk players missing out on content, information and maybe even think it was a short and boring game if they only played it once. I made the Lady Argent mind dive optional in Rebirth, and I think it was the right call. I did not make the Ortega argument in the park optional because I wanted that interaction there, though it was against character for some mc's to meet up.

These are the things I have to juggle, in addition to the pacing.

I am taking a big risk with Retribution, but I've allowed myself the possibility of failure, rather than taking control. I am giving the players/readers more variation/control and choices than I had planned. It's going to be very hard getting a decent pacing at the end, for all the varying playthroughs. But I'm gonna try.

We'll see if I'll manage to pull it off.

#process #ChoiceScript

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dollydeez · 3 years

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“Summin Strange in Them There Hills” Preview

Chapter One: Two Missing, Presumed Dead

This was supposed to be my time off, but “two missing, presumed dead” isn’t the kind of story I can turn down. I was in my apartment, surrounded by bottles, dirty dishes and cigarette butts, when an envelope slid beneath my front door. “Fuck,” I thought, assuming it to be a bill I had forgotten or the harbinger of trouble. It was the latter. A note from my boss, sparse on the explanation: and old friend of his was running an outpost on the frontier, two boys went out and never came back, leave [the contact’s] last name out of the press. If there are those of faint heart among us, my next series of columns will not be for you. Or maybe they will, I’m scribbling the first draft of this while waiting for the train with no intent of changing it. My job is to see the present and past with clear eyes; the future will always remain shrouded in fog. The only other instruction I was given was to hop on the next train available to Darmatilo. I know nothing about it, beside the fact that it lies in the region first settled by our kind when we moved westward. In my frenzy to get down to the station, I packed lightly and walked fast. It seems the line only runs in that direction twice a day, so I’ve had plenty of time to wander about. The ticket counter had a small display of pamphlets next to it, trying to tempt workers to waste their vacation in an arid wasteland, but I was able to scrounge up some information on my destination. Not directly, it was mostly an ad for the luxurious riverfront city of Ladustri, but there was a passing line about the ‘historic’ settlement of Darmatilo, separated by a small ridge from the mining town of Lagerdient. After eighty years it’s suddenly ‘historic’, the absolute gall. The train should be arriving any minute, and only now am I realizing that I could have gone back home to pack more substantively. I’m not used to last minute trips, nor stories with the possibility of more than a few days work. Maybe I’ll be lucky and head home before I run out of clean clothes, but it feels almost vulgar to suggest. My packing playing a role in the length of my stay is fine in the context of a feel-good story, but heading into something more dramatic… Comfort be damned, I’ll stay however long it takes to finish the piece.

Travel is not an unfamiliar aspect of the job, and it comes with a few perks. I don’t often head out of the city, Our City that is, but when I do I travel well. Private cabin with plenty of space, complimentary food service, and unlimited access to the sleeper cars. I spent most of my time glued to a book, but when the trolleys passed by and roused me from my trance I would glance up at the world dashing by. Trees to mountains to nothing desert. Swear to god my ears popped at least three times. Despite the emptiness stretching out before me, the desert is a relief. Something about the mountains, knowing I was so far above everything else, put me off. No matter how much I ate, nothing felt satisfying. I couldn’t concentrate on my book and even my nocturnal excursions provided little relief in the face of knowing how separated from everything I was. The air is too thin up there, no one wants to man an outpost up there. Despite all the complaints I could have about the desert, moving away from that truly dead region into one that seems that way was a relief. The ground was more even and I actually ended up finishing my book. Tragic, finishing a nonsense book in a single sitting, everything wrong with it jumped out much more ferociously. But I wasn’t reading for the plot, I wanted to see characters wriggle through strange situations. It posed this great question of, beyond all the strangeness in normal life, what if there was much more out there in the stars? Automatons indistinguishable from humans, Earth as our homeworld being a long forgotten relic, ‘star ships’ with the ability to jump great distances across the universe… I can’t tell whether the idea of humanity’s faults existing far beyond the bounds of our world is deeply cynical or a profane kind of optimism. If I’ve been keeping track of the stations correctly, I should be getting off soon. This section of my notes, or article if I decide to publish it as is, might be coming to a premature end but I need the last five minutes of any journey to get ready to transition back into work. I may travel for work, but it’s never felt like work. I can’t think of any other moment where I feel so comfortable and justified to fold into myself.

The whine of the whistle felt louder, knowing that I should start gathering my things. I’m a professional and know what I’m doing, so I hung back while everyone else stood up and huddled around the doors as they waited for them to open. Part of me can understand the impulse to get out as quickly as possible, but pragmatically the best option is to stay comfortable and seated until everyone is moving. Filtering out with the last of the passengers, I glanced along the platform for a figure who seemed to be waiting for someone. A man dressed in jeans and a dirty grey shirt was leaning against one of the pillars supporting the station awning, brim of his black hat pulled over his face and cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He looked over to me and gave a little nod upwards in acknowledgment. “Nic?” “And you must be Marcy, mighty nice to meet you,” he said, sticking his hand out. I nodded and kept moving, hoping the horses weren’t in the opposite direction. I would not describe Nic as loquacious, gregarious, or even a minor form of talkative. He was silent down the boardwalk, and was sparse with his words in identifying the black stallion as his and chestnut horse next to it, with a white streak going from its mouth past its chest, as the one I would be using. He focused on the case on the ride over, along with confirming that his first name was fine to use. Franz and James were the lads missing, the first disappearances in a long line of ‘kids’ finding refuge in the outpost, and… I’ll print it because it’s the truth, but I hate it: I was only there to make the remaining residents feel at ease. Not to say I won’t see this assignment to the conclusion, I am still an investigator, but I wasn’t meant to mention I’d only shown up to write for a paper. Something about wanting to keep the ‘kids’ from the brutal truths of our existence, make them think someone cares enough to look into it. Seems I am that someone who cares, although their understanding of my motivation may be a bit skewed. The ridge was surprisingly verdant, lined with trees on either side which were surrounded by pine needles and shrubbery. How they got into the desert I’ll never know, but squirrels rustled through the branches as we passed, spooked by our presence. Nic spent the gallop from the station shouting over his shoulder to get me up to speed, yet in the craggy path, full of sharp turns forcing us to keep our pace slow, he was silent. Why was that? “I wanted to give you a chance to appreciate the scenery.” And after all that time on the train, surrounded by dirt out to the horizon, I did. It reminded me of a certain part of the park about seven kilometers south of my flat. A straight path, but juxtaposed with everything around them[rephrase] both feel like somewhere you could get lost amongst the trees.

We spent at least half an hour winding through the wilderness until we entered a clearing, at the centre of which was a three story house. The wood was weather-beaten and dark from some impossible rain localized in this little area, and it had a covered porch out front next to the hitching post with chairs and a barrel hosting a crowded ashtray. The sound of hooves below us was muffled by grass as we approached the house. Candlelight flickered in the windows and I concentrated on taking in the moment; getting back into the experience of the first night off in a distant place, settling in so I can better take in what it feels like to be here. Following Nic inside, I got the faint whiff of roast beef. The dining room to our left was set up for dinner, but the room was empty. In the living room to the right a fire was blazing next to a man in a suit, who glanced up at us from his book with a look of anger. “You’re late,” he said, setting his book aside to get up. Despite shaking his head solemnly, his lips trembled, fighting to curl upwards, as he held in laughter. “Marcy’s train was late, and-” “Absolutely no excuse! The food’s gone cold, what am I meant to do? Heat it up in the oven like a commoner?” I said nothing while observing this ritual, as he sidled up to Nic and gave him a kiss on the cheek. They laughed and he turned to me. “Jasper,” he said, sticking his hand out for me shake. I introduced myself and, looking to Nic to confirm that I could speak freely, made sure we were on the same page as to why I was there. He wasn’t entirely comfortable talking about it, something about it making him not want to leave the house, and shifted the conversation to getting me settled in.[Ugh rewrite this] “We can save this for tomorrow, no? You’re probably starving, let me get dinner heated back up.” He gave Nic another peck, then disappeared into the kitchen. I went with Nic and took a seat at the table. It’d been mostly travel, but it was still a long day and I started to feel it as I sunk into my seat. Jasper was dashing between the kitchen, dining room and cellar as he brought out a bottle and poured us all a glass. In the middle of proposing a toast, he excused himself for a moment to check the oven. When he came back, he raised his glass and said, “To new friendships and new beginnings.”

Final Notes: I have a small candle resting on the desk in my room, where I’m scribbling this down before going to bed. It feels like a slow start, with little to no new information coming out (beside the ruse I’m meant to carry on with) and I’m fine with that for the moment. It’ll take some getting used to, being out in the middle of nowhere. The constant sounds of the city have been replaced by the buzz of cicadas and chirp of crickets. I’m in a small room, previously belonging to James, with a twin bed set up with an itchy green blanket. Beside the oak armoire and a painting of a dancer hanging on the wall, the room is bare. Despite how late it is and how tired I feel, the prospect of settling in to a new bed feels draining in its own wicked way. It’s an intersection of the trust needed to fall asleep in a strange place, the adjustment to a new environment, and the threat of restlessness. My job demands that I keep daylight hours, but I’ve always been fond of late nights. Not doing anything, but staying up and feeling like the world is my own. One item of concern I brought up over dinner was the absence of the ‘kids’ (it’s an oft enough used colloquialism in this situation that I’ll be removing the apostrophes from here on out) as the pretense for me coming out was putting their minds at ease. It seems their concern was focused on the idea of an unsolved crime rather than their safety. One of the more troubling manifestations of this was their insistence on abducting locals to interview, undermining the separation between residence and feeding grounds. I haven’t looked into how it’s done in the industrialized setting of the city, but from the price I’m guessing there is an assumption that we’d handle it on the individual end. That’s not an option out here, and to compensate they cross county lines for donors in most cases. Thankfully, most of the abductees were taken from their homes and could simply be bitten and returned with no recollection. But this was a corrective course, and at least one was picked up while in transit. If we are dealing with a hunter, which I doubt, they’ve been tossing rocks at the hornets nest. Even if not, one might have been stirred up in this chaos. We’ll just have to see moving forward.

So that’s the start of the [unedited] second draft of my next novel, Summin Strange in Them There Hills. If you read any of the first draft, there’s been a significant shift in the voice which I’m really happy with! My goal with the novels I have planned is to ground the narration in the world of the story, and this draft feels promising.

#writing #writer #am writing #lgbt writers #writeblr #chapter one #preview

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sepublic · 4 years

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Does anyone ever have this happen to them, where... You start writing a fanfic based off of another series, or whatever.

But this fanfic... You end up making a bunch of OCs for it. You take a character who admittedly doesn’t have too much of a personality in the original canon content, and expand on them- Expand on them wildly, or outright reimagine them completely. And you do this to multiple other obscure characters from that series that barely anybody remembers, not even the creators and writers.

You establish an intricate network of lore, world building, and in-universe systems. You have a deep, complex plot with plenty of character interaction and development, themes and narratives, and so forth, ALL within this one fanfic that was just meant to be a spin-off story, with enough room left so it could be hypothetically canon, or at least not contradict the current canon too much.

Eventually, what started off as this small, short little story you did for fun becomes its own thing. Its own world, with its own diverse cast of characters, factions, and so forth. There’s an intricate timeline of events, of increasing scale and relevance. One-off characters who were barely even named in the original series are suddenly reinvented into complex, fully three-dimensional people with their own backstories, motivations, and desires. They’re practically your own OCs at this point, if it weren’t for the names and appearance; And sometimes only one of the two!

You have your own fully-intricate storyline and premise laid out, with a beginning, middle, and conclusion. It’s all in place...

And then you remember this was supposed to be a one-off, spin-off fanfic that doesn’t directly contradict the canon of the series you were a fan of. At which point, seeing how other people make OCs, and considering the potential of total creative freedom...

...Why not just make it your own thing?

Sure, a few characters may have to be renamed, slightly redesigned, and so on and so forth. You’d probably have to change the lore a bit to not so blatantly mirror the original series you wrote about. But otherwise, this is basically your own original creation, right? So why not embrace the newfound independence for your WIP, let it be its own thing and establish its own name? And, since you’ve got a few other bare-bones WIPs, why not incorporate them in the new lore to fill out the gaps left by the original canon of the series you were a fan of?

That... That’s basically what’s happening with my Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon Trilogy.

For context; I like Lego Ninjago. Loved the theme growing up as a kid, and it was SUPER influential in making me the story-teller and artist I am today. It’s what initially inspired me to write, honestly, and it was by writing fanfics that I was able to complete a story of my own for the first time in my entire life! My first completed story was the first ‘installment’ in this trilogy, ~The Adventures of Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon~!

(Yeah, I was trying to be pretentious as a kid in adding those squiggles. Ordinarily I wouldn’t include them now, but they’re so nostalgic and something I’m so used to that I’ve decided to keep them in anyway. Sue me.)

And then my second completed story; The next installment of this trilogy, ~The Tales of Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon~! tToLMG is special to me in that it was supposed to be about the length of the first story... But then somewhere along the way, it became a little over 1,900 pages.

I don’t mean to brag, but at the same time... It IS something I’m proud of, and honestly, I’d say tToLMG is my Magnum Opus of sorts. It’s the story with the most time, character, emotion, planning, pain, and sweat and tears put into it. I’ve had my fingers ache typing that story, planning things out... I truly felt the thrill of writing with this one. I was triumphant when I finally finished it, and boy was I excited for ~The Chronicles of Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon~, the bigger and badder final installment, the conclusion to the prequel trilogy! And even THAT was nothing compared to the plans I had for hypothetical future waves and enemies for Ninjago, all tying back to previously-established lore and characters!

But then...

...WELL, things didn’t turn out so well. I guess I just lost my passion, my spark for writing, or something like that. I lost my flow and touch, I became frustrated, and I’ve since taken a multiple-year hiatus on it that’s lasted since late 2015. If we want to be technical, I did try rewriting tCoLMG from scratch, but I haven’t quite been satisfied with those attempts. I won’t deny that I came across my limits as a writer, and while I feel like I’ve improved, I’m still not quite ready to go back. I don’t think I’ll ever be, to be honest; The fact of the matter is, amidst me reimagining the story and characters, there’s just way too much to account for. PLUS, I already have other WIPs, like Bionicle: RaE.

But for now, I think it’s more or less official- The Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon trilogy, and my planned stories beyond those prequel fics, are now going to be their own independent series, separate from Ninjago. I still love Ninjago, don’t get me wrong, but clearly I have a different vision than Lego, and that’s perfectly fine. I mean, my version of Lloyd himself is a completely different character than the Lego version at this point, and HE’s the main character!

So, yeah- Just as a heads-up, for anyone who remembers or is curious about those last few art-pieces I posted, about T, Yelatem, and Arakchos... They were all originally part of a spin-off fanfic, but now they’re part of their own, separate, original series. I’m a little excited to how I’ll reimagine and restructure what I’ve planned, especially now that I feel like I’ve matured as a writer and person, and been exposed to other forms of media that have helped inspire me on a creative level!

As for what this new ‘series’ of mine will be called, I’m still figuring that out. I’ve got a few prototype names, such as Goldenchigo; What that means, I still don’t know, but it sounds cool and distinct so I like it! There’s also Golden Dream... or alternatively, Golden-Heart Dream.

One thing is certain; I’ll probably, finally get back to exploring the concept of this original story I made for myself. And, hey, with plans sort of changing now that the LMG Trilogy is its own thing in its own universe, maybe I can talk about the plans I had for tCoLMG, even reveal some characters I never got to post or write about properly! I’ll probably do that AFTER I finish transcribing tToLMG to Ao3, though, and THAT’s going to take a while; And I don’t intend to do that until quite a while later, whenever that is!

#wip #ocs #oc #ramblings #writing

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