#moody answers

[fashion4standusers]

For anyone wondering how they would make combat moves for ASBR Abbacchio. His GHA is literally the kicking meme

Also he said it. The thing

[canisalbus]

what kind of hobbies does machete have, and is there any artist, musical or visual, that he likes in particular?

He's an avid reader and has an impressive personal library. Crowds and big public events aren't his thing but he enjoys going to theatre and opera occasionally. He commissions and collects art, I'd like to believe he's a patron to at least a couple of painters and sculptors. If I had to pick one artist to be his favorite, I think it might be an obvious choice but I'd have to go with Caravaggio, a contemporary of his.

[absolutebl]

Love your blog! Do you have any recs for people (me!) who liked: Tale of 1000 Stars, Unknown, Moonlight Chicken, Secret Crush on You, My Beautiful Man, Be My Favorite, Sing My Crush, and We Are (Cute), please? I disliked My Stand In, Love Sea, and Only Friends. I tend to like character driven instead of plot driven stories, and please, no silly misunderstandings or misguided noble morons who break up because a parent suggests it!

Do I detect... a challenge? *rubs hands together* we are playing my favorite game.

Okay, likes:

Tale of 1000 Stars

Unknown

Moonlight Chicken

Secret Crush on You

My Beautiful Man

Be My Favorite

Sing My Crush

We Are

I crossed out the ones that don't fit the trend (outliers) and congratz your wheelhouse is:

moody, atmospheric, angsty, tiny bit cerebral, bit gritty, higher production value, soft focus, lower heat levels but yearning, bit of domesticity, acting chops

Dislikes: My Stand In, Love Sea, Only Friends

Okay not too far into angst, no nasty characters, no dubious tropes or anti-heros, no mame, no high heat, university or older. CHECK! Got it.

Ready?

Right in your damn wheelhouse:

The 8th Sense

(20 points to whoever knew that would be my pull out the gate)

One of the longest BLs Korea has given us (like Blueming) and it feels more atmospheric gay coming of age romance than strictly BL. It’s got a bit of an age gap, country boy/city boy, stellar acting, complex characters, and leads with great chemistry and tension. It’s a bit chewy and sticky and less perfect than most KBLs (do I detect a touch of Taiwan?) This one deployed BL tropes (messy eater, shoulder sleep, protective seme, there’s even some hyung-slinging) but front loaded them with painful backstory and then a ton of angst to drive the 2nd half. This isn’t in the KBL bubble, there’s sharp edges and lots of triggers. For a BL the darkness of the content left me feeling unsettled (which is the only reason it didn't get a perfect score) but it does have a glorious ending and that counts for a lot.

I think you'd really love this one.

Trigger warnings - suicide, loss of a family member.

Blueming

It’s a tiny bit dark and a tiny bit bittersweet, almost too honest to a university experience and first love (for BL), but if you want your mind ever-so-slightly messed with and your intimacy hellishly sweet, this BL will do it for you in a coldly distant manner, while bitch slapping you with self worth issues. I wasn’t into it at first, but the leads are solid and by ep 5 it got really good, becoming a narrative about self discovery meets understanding and accepting others people’s flaws without hurting them. Ultimately, we witnessed two characters maturing because of each other and their mutual affection, without that affection becoming the conflict point. Instead, tension was built around other aspects of identity, popularity, and self-worth. While production values were a touch lower than usual for Korea, Blueming included decent kisses and beyond plus a satisfying ending and come judicious and very elegant use of tropes. It is, in the end, simply a great BL.

Also Bleuming paved the road for 8th Sense and other gritty KBL to follow.

Love For Love's Sake

Isekai-based KBL is about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness. Like many queer narratives, this show is actually about self worth, trust, and found family, and it is VERY on the nose. But I don’t expect subtlety from my BL and I enjoyed it's truly lovely redemption arc and earnest performances. I personally found the narrative a touch disjointed with overworked filming angles and poorer than average captions, but the consistency of tone, script, and immersion is beyond the norm for BL. You will drown in this show and like it that way. The leads have fantastic chemistry and it's ultimately highly rewatchable and utterly charming, which counts for a lot.

Trigger warning - suicide.

Unintentional Love Story

OMG the plot! Uke forced into a totally understandable betrayal, falling in love despite himself, put into a corner he can't get out of, the AGONY, the PAIN in those gorgeous eyes. Gah. Okay, so: A boy loses his job due to trumped-up corruption charges accidentally discovers his ex-boss's favorite artist, now a recluse. Evil manager offers him his job back, if he can convince the artist to rejoin society. Instead, they fall in love. I found the artist a bit stiff and reserved but Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) is a fucking GIFT - he carried this show (which I do not expect from the idol element). He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes, just drown in the emoting abyss. The external conflict, social tension and pressure is complex and beautifully executed, plus Korea gave us legit side dishes (NOT a love triangle, hally-fucking-luya).

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho

You mentioned My Beautiful Man so if you're feel like that energy, grown up, watch this. It's a style of live action yaoi really only works from Japan. Basically: boys who fell in love in college end up living together but both are so repressed they actually don't realize they're in love. It's higher heat than we usually get from Japan's HEA stuff, and that part is also very well done, but it leaned into the "why don't they just talk for fuck's sake?" trope which is only exacerbated into undiluted frustration by the fact that they're already fucking. However, that's angst for Japan. And you like angst. Honestly? It's great, but watching requires more patience than usual, even for Japan.

My Ride

Thai BL grew up with this pulp (the first ever to make my end of year top 10). It’s a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine (AKA a cinnamon roll couple) plus mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles. Kindly, overworked doctor meets broken-hearted motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. The support cast is excellent, making for great friendship groups and family dynamics. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede, the story, and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. In other news, I am a sucker for a single dimple.

It won't have the production values you're used to but it is a great show.

A Breeze of Love

Tsundere insomniac grump reunited with his sunshine jock ex (human sleeping pill) who now hates him. Basketball is also involved. While the simplicity of a reunion plot makes this more cohesive than most KBLs, it is a tad stiff and slow, never managing to lift itself out of "pretty, angsty, and pretty enjoyable." I liked it more than I thought I would, and think about it more too. 

Jazz for Two

This was basically what I wanted from Given and didn’t get. So I’m pleased. A solid enemies to lovers BL, where the sins of brothers' past haunts the present. Great optics, decent chemistry, and a tidy script even if tsundere characterization went a bit extreme in some cases.

Trigger warning - suicide.

Like In The Movies AKA Gaya Sa Pelikula

Karl, a student living alone, runs short of funds and ends up becoming housemates with Vald an out and proud chaos gay. This leads Karl into an identity crisis and journey of self discovery. This kind of forced proximity trope is really common in BL, but what Gaya does is handle it in a messy honestly queer way. It includes Vlad’s attitude in response to Karl’s shaken behavior and the frustration many out queers feel. For that alone it has to be applauded.

DNA Says Love You

DNA deserves extra marks for an upbeat approach to a queer story arc that other shows have systemically mishandled with sadness (in the guise of realism). There is a twist, which I found predictable, but knowing what would happen didn't spoil this show. The leads are luminous and engaging, and it’s full of queer found family representation and an unexpected amount of domesticity, plus it’s Taiwan, so the kisses are great. The first few eps are rough going but PLEASE have patience, it's worth it I promise! The second half is really special and life/love affirming - and the end is big-grin charming.

My Tooth Your Love

Earnest dentist hottie with sad eyes who worries too much is smitten by an adorable sunshine neurotic bar owner with serious anxiety issues. They fall madly in love while courting each other with food, plushies, and naps. Then, shocker, talk about their feelings and try to actually sort out their problems so they can have an adult relationship. Bonus crumbs = 18 year old poor little rich kid in mad crush with a much older man. I really enjoyed this show, it had a unique premise, killer dialogue, there was a solid lead pair with charming chemistry, soft flirtation, delightful smiling kisses, and stinkingly cute domesticity. All that said, I wasn’t wild about some of the darker themes it explored, even though it did a good job with them. And while the sides were adorable, they were underused. In the land of May/December, baby boy kabedon is my kryptonite! Why so little of it? (Kabedon is My Kryptonite = also the name of my indie band’s first single.)

Trigger warning - parental abuse.

The Eclipse

GMMTV does gay Blacklist with a good boy/bad boy pairing. This is a good show but the cast is excellent and the leads are absolutely flawless, which elevates it beyond just good. We got a nuanced and multifaceted burgeoning relationship: philosophical (and socio-political) conflict contrasted to moments of empathy; flirtation contrasted to moments of genuine affection, plus plenty of angst. This narrative is less about love than it is about courage and tenderness. However, near the end the pacing was off and the plot frustrating. Still, this is an enjoyable watch, with a finale that features verbal consent and a fun blooper reel.

Never Let Me Go

Bodyguard romance where poor boy must watch over rich boy for family obligation reasons. Simple premise well executed with a few bumps that made it feel like it was trying to tackle too much (when it wasn’t). Still, an enjoyable show that benefited from being handed to PondPhuwin who did a stellar job with their roles and chemistry. Of GMMTV handing out new series to established pairs in 2023 this is one of the most successful IMHO. It's typically Thai in that it's a bit bloated and has a confusing plot, but at least it HAD a plot and the central relationship is solid and loyal. The Our Skyy 2 follow up is great too. And very much adds to the cannon in a fun way rather than feeling superfluous - making this show ultimately 14 eps rather than 12.

Some real oddball and sophisticated suggestions

Addicted (original)

When Chinese BL was good it was very dirty good and when it was bad it was censored. This is the model for that statement: rich kid falls madly for the genius poor kid in his class, starts an aggressive pursuit, includes kidnapping for love, obsession, stepbrother trope, plus some cheating. I love this BL because of what I could have been. Just stop watching it after The Sex Scene. Okay?

It might not be right in your wheelhouse but what even fans forget about is how stunning the atmosphere is with this show. I mean we can feel the cold and the grunge. When they living poor it's REAL poor. It's a super immersive show. Unforgettable.

Began Beginning

Childhood best friends must come to terms with their own identities and true feelings for each other when a new boy comes to town, putting them into conflict with their families and ultimately, each other. For the first half of this show there’s a lot of sitting across from each other and talking about life choices over yummy food and then going to tourist spots (mildly boring and not particularly important to the plot). It changed tone about 2/3 in to be way more of a coming out family drama about forced marriages and homophobia. And then at the very end it changed again, becoming a full on soap opera with kidnapping, crazy characterization shifts, and rescue missions. All in all? It was a wild raw creature to consume as a binge. No kisses since this is Myanmar, but a very romantic end, so I think maybe actually worth your time? I'm certainly glad I watched it.

Stay Still

What to say about this offering from Hong Kong? It’s different, a mix of early CBL, Taiwanese shorts, and Pinoy visuals. It felt like the story was 2 independent shorts that had been lengthen and then stuck together, and I wish they'd been approached as separate and tighter entities. Nevertheless, this was a complex little piece, interesting in a sweaty grungy way, with a certain aura of queer authenticity that made it simultaneously tense, unpredictable, and refreshing. I’m not sure I would necessarily call it BL, but any county’s early foray into the genre usually starts out this way, so perhaps nascent BL? Worth watching, especially if you enjoy stuff from the Philippines and Taiwan.

On the lighter end but probably still in your wheelhouse

I Cannot Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai

Classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen. Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way. This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.

To My Star

Hwang Da Seul directs this show about a neurotic actor (actual puppy) who takes refuge with a grumpy chef resulting in sparks, cooking lessons, and LOVE! It’s is a touch quirky to get into, but utterly charming once it hits its stride. This is the ultimate grumpy/sunshine pairing plus the most appealing light-filled kitchen of our dreams. I adore this show so much. Limited use of BL tropes makes this feel more of a sweet contemporary gay romance between an actor plagued by scandal and the grumpy chef who adopts him, but the gentleness will appeal to fans of the BL genre.

Old Fashion Cupcake

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said boss with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s a stunningly filmed late-in-life comg of age/queerness story packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity, love, and loneliness... and it’s beautiful.

Cherry Magic (Thai remake) - this is my We Are & SCOY match pull

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth that really worked for me. With no-fuss execution from a consummate team (at GMMTV) and an OG lead pair (proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up). Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right - not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it stand strong. I, personally, like the Thai BL slightly better than the Japanese live action yaoi, but I think that’s because I just really enjoy Thai BL's style and I LOVE TayNew. Also all the kissing was both present and better in this version. As it should be from Thailand.

Make a Wish

A doctor who can see the dead strikes a bargain with a wish-granting irreverent tree angel - naturally they fall in love (from Sammon: Manner of Death & Triage). Stars Fluke Natouch opposite not Ohm, but who cares because Fluke has chemistry with everybody. Once again the Thai afterlife is incredibly bureaucratic but I enjoyed the premise and the unfolding of the story (it’s not predictable but still satisfying and with nice little twist). I like that the doctor is just gay AF - fag hag bestie and made of swagger. The cast is excellent but the comedic stylings are a bit overblown and tonally off. It has sad parts and did make me cry but is ultimately happy with a great sex scene, good smiley kisses, and all the agency.

I thought about it but I'm not sure

still you can put these on your "maybe" list

Until We Meet Again

I Feel You Linger in the Air

La Pluie

Restart After Come Back Home

His the movie

Life: Love on the Line

Perfect Propose

Tokyo in April is

Love is Better the Second Time Around

Ocean Likes Me

My Only 12%

After Sundown

I Told Sunset About You

These might be a bit too cerebral, dark, and/or plot-heavy for you. But are worth it if you feel in the mood for something very chewy.

Currently airing

It's set in high school but it scratches the Unknown itch:

The On1y One

Sirs not appearing on this list but if you follow my blog and ask me for tips it's kind of required watching:

Seven Days.

Because everyone should watch it no matter what your taste. So there.

(source)

[cometrose]

i know the popular theory about why zhongli avoided neuvillette is to avoid conflict but how would he know like…this is the same neuvi that got duped by furina for 500 years and has never left fontaine like how would he know???

zhongli doesn’t have the gnosis anymore and i don’t think neuvi has met an adeptus before so like how would he know it’s the geo archon and not some powerful adepti walking around???

like maybe zhongli still has divinity all over him but like this is zhongli the guy is a master manipulator surely he could’ve come up with a sweet excuse like HOW HE WOULD KNOW???

[rememberwren]

HELLO?!?!!?

Actually screaming and crying rn...

It’s literally so sad right now and all I want is for it to be sexy. 🥲 maybe I’ll post a snippet tomorrow for WIP Wednesday

[joelletwo]

[ID from alt 1: sketchy gintama thumbnails: a sitting takasugi in ominous shadow, gintoki resting an elbow on a desk with hand on his head, kagura in a curled up crossed leg sit eating something, gintoki slumped over leaning his weight on his sword confusingly positioned around his head, gintoki opening the door to a building zura hides under the stairs to, gintoki standing straight and flinging his sword arm out, takasugi lounging in a circular windowsill bansai kneels in front of

2: same pic opacity lowered to show these were drawn, in the same order, over capital letters A-G respectively]

idle practice while i try to find good art youtubers.....................

[saintsenara]

i'm on an Alastor Moody kick and have been once again reminded that he'd be extremely shippable (the tortured past! the snark! the magic eye that can see through your clothes!) if fandom was at all fair. so! some moody love for the deranged ships game, even if some of these aren't particularly deranged. Moody/Tonks, Moody/Bellatrix, Moody/McGonagall, Moody/Crouch Sr., Moody/Lupin, and Moody/Lucius.

(bonus round: what's your fave Moody ship? i was genuinely on board with Moody/Tonks the first time i read the books to the point that remadora blindsided me badly)

thank you very much for the ask, anon! which had some overlap with a second batch of ships for the man, the myth, the legend alastor moody:

so let's get into it!

alastor moody/nymphadora tonks

i am afraid i can never get into this as a pairing because tonks and moody have the exact vibe of my two cats, one of whom is big and tired and the other of whom is small, cheeky, and desperate for his approval. he just wants to sleep in the laundry basket without her coming to sit on his head! moody, in much the same vein, just wants to be constantly vigilant without her giving out about it being cold in the sky or pestering him with questions about who it is he knows that blasted their own arse cheeks off with an improperly-stored wand.

i accept that this may, for many other people, be the exact appeal.

bellatrix lestrange/alastor moody

while in disguise as moody, barty crouch jr. heavily implied that the two of them had a torrid little affair in the late seventies. this was a lie - bellatrix either wants a man with a nose or a man without one, not someone faffing about on the fence with half.

minerva mcgonagall/alastor moody

i fully back this one, on account of the fact that celts need to stick together.

and - of course - that moody [even if he wasn't really moody at the time...] needed disciplining for his behaviour after transfiguring draco malfoy into a ferret.

barty crouch sr./alastor moody

an absolutely huge potential for shenanigans here.

we know - for example - that moody is raging about crouch agreeing a plea deal for igor karkaroff, and i also can't imagine that crouch had much time for moody's more paranoid traits… not least because they had the potential to uncover what he'd done with his son.

all of which is to say… there's a hot premise lurking here, either for enemies-to-lovers or the equally exciting enemies-to-enemies-who-fuck.

remus lupin/alastor moody

i back this entirely. it's clear on several occasions in order of the phoenix that moody has appointed lupin as his right-hand man, and that he trusts and respects any information lupin provides for him.

[lupin also insists on accompanying bill to look for moody's body in deathly hallows.]

which means we have to speak frankly... lupin was clearly having a bit of fun on the job in his year living at grimmauld place. and it wasn't with tonks or sirius...

lucius malfoy/alastor moody

Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable.   "Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy... You tell him Moody’s keeping a close eye on his son... you tell him that from me."

canon.

alastor moody/lord voldemort

which had its own request, from a lovely anon.

i genuinely really back this one, because - much like pairing voldemort with barty crouch sr. - it offers so much potential for political shenanigans.

moody was obviously hugely important during the first war - not only to the order, but within the ministry-coordinated response to the death eaters - and so i think that we can assume that he had numerous opportunities to meet voldemort for a bit of… back room negotiation.

after all, what are we told in canon? that moody never killed voldemort's forces if he could help it. why? because forcing your situationship to come arrange the release of hostages is a god-tier way of getting round his refusal to text you back.

[i also think there's something really interesting which could be done with the fact that moody's body is altered so profoundly by the course of the first war. just like voldemort's.]

when it comes to these two as each other's teenage sweethearts, i will... also back it.

i agree that moody and voldemort are probably roughly the same age - and i'm also quite invested in the idea of moody, given how paranoid and off-putting he is, being in slytherin. while there's a clear discrepancy in both the looks [there's no suggestion moody's much of an oil painting even with his original face] and the social status [moody doesn't strike me as somebody who'd be willing to pretend to enjoy the slug club, for example, whereas voldemort has a much greater tolerance for the act] departments, i have a great fondness for the teenage voldemort simply being annoyed by someone into a life-long relationship.

they could wile away the hours yapping about foe glasses and coming up with increasingly unhinged conspiracy theories about dumbledore.

pure romance.

barty crouch jr./alastor moody

flopping.

barty had a go - obviously - because teaching a full course load after you've been under the imperius curse for a decade must be mind-bogglingly stressful, but moody wasn't having it.

barty retreated to his room with his series of long-lens paparazzi pics of seventies-era voldemort on holiday.

alastor moody/horace slughorn

slughorn tried to woo moody once, but he became convinced that the bouquet of roses slughorn turned up on his doorstep brandishing was cursed and punched him in the face.

[thelien-art]

I just found the English word for my favorite winter snack and I´m about to die.

Norwegian Cruller.

It´s called Norwegian Cruller!! IT´S NOT FROM NORWAY!!!! Why does English make everything from Scandinavian sound like it´s from Norway!?!?!?

Also if some of you FOR SOME REASON don´t know what I´m talking about it´s this blessing from the gods!

TRY IT!!

[hockeybutpensive]

claude giroux & danny briere x the chain by fleetwood mac

[deandrowningdemons]

you’re worth protecting.

Dean scoffed and met their gaze. " I disappear, without a word, for five years and you still think I'm worth protecting." He shook his head in disbelief. " C'mon. I know you're smarter than that. "

@theoneswithoutpacks

[writing-for-life]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗 (i don't know if you do these sorts of chain-letter things, or if you'd prefer not to, but for my part i do like to know which of their works a given author is especially hype on, so consider this an opportunity to gush!)

I was sweating for a moment there because I thought, “I’ve written all my life and even published, but I don’t have 5 fanfics, shit!”

And then I noticed… well, with a little bit of goodwill, I do. So thanks so much for asking, @stellerssong , and here comes the gushing:

The no. 1 has to be “The Light of Stars”.

I completed most of it during NaNoWriMo 2022 for a bit of fun and respite from other projects—and then did nothing with it. Until I thought, “Fuck it,” and started publishing it chapter by chapter, editing and tidying it up along the way.

It is a long fic, and I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m honestly proud of it. I put a lot of thought into characterisation and plot, keeping everyone in character (as much as aimed-for character development allowed, so certain OOC moments had to happen) and crafting an OC that works for what I was setting out to do. So much so that many people asked for a sequel, which I’m still in the process of writing (I completed the concept again last NaNoWriMo and wrote over 40,000 words back then, but progress has been slow since because… life).

I don’t want to give too much away here, but while it’s romance and there *is* more than enough sex (I write steamy romance professionally, albeit in my other language), this is really not what this one is mainly about. So it’s not one for people who look for thinly-disguised chapter-porn and super-explicit descriptions. It’s a novel with a fully developed arc, and it deals with topics like friendship, loss and grief. Someone told me though that it felt hopeful and they didn’t struggle with the broaching of those topics like in some other works, and that was probably the most wonderful thing anyone could ever have said to me.

I’ll choose “Snow Globes and Whisky” as my second, but only because it is a Christmas gift-type one-shot with the same characters.

You can, in theory, read it without knowing TLoS, but it just wouldn’t make sense. It’s just Christmas fluff, not incredibly deep (despite picking up on the friendship and loss-theme again), it was fun to write and to get Dream a little bit drunk (just because he was intrigued and allowed it of course 🤣).

Then there are Rachel and Johanna.

They have such a special place in my heart. I always wanted to tell their story because we never got it in the show—so I did. And as a bisexual woman, I am also Jo’s biggest stan. I desperately want her to be the Sandman-character who does away with bi-erasure once and for all (because if the onscreen love interest is female, everyone cheers, but bi m/f relationships never count in fandom because they’re “heteronormative”. Newsflash: We’re not “50% straight, 50% gay”. We have nuance and deep inner lives and different preferences that make up very personal identities, and we’re not some token queer representation that stops to exist once we’re in straight-passing relationships). We’ve seen her date a woman and she has tons of chemistry with Dream too—I want them to have the messiest affair ever and somehow have her take Thessaly’s place. But better. Because she’d protect Lyta for all the RIGHT reasons. There, I said it, and I’m not sorry. Anyway, that’s not what “As it Was Before the Otherness Came” is about. It’s sad and heartbreaking and canon-compliant. It just fills in the gaps. And again, I’m super-proud that someone in the comments said to tell Gaiman about it (we all know that’s not a thing for fanfic) because they thought it was so in character and well-written. Yes, I’m shamelessly blowing my own trumpet because you asked me to 🤣

Then there are my Inktober Haikus.

I still intend to turn them into a bound book with accompanying art one day (the latter is where it all falls down really because although I could, it would take me 1,000 years to create all the art myself). 31 poems, some more inspired than others, but they were a great creativity exercise, and I honestly love them for what they are.

And last but not least, from the serious to the totally unhinged: Muhulhu. Murphy and his Cool Hat. The crack ship of all crack ships, aka:

I set out to write a trilogy, the first part “By The Sea, I Mean In The Dreaming: A Comedy Prelude” is published, the second and third are currently in a vegetative state because I just can’t find the time to write and/or edit. And if I do, I prefer writing the TLoS sequel. Or metas. Or running silly fandom events 🤣 I’d love to write more fanfic, but between a full time job (or rather: three jobs that make up one) and a family, I just stare in awe at the people on here who produce constant output, because I honestly can’t. But I will get back to it eventually because that one is just sheer unhinged fun.

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to flog my goods!

@stellerssong ask answered

[eureka-its-zico]

May u do something about Mackenyu? Zoro in One Piece

Good morning, sweets! I 10000000% have done my DAMN hardest to not get wrapped up in writing for OPLA Zoro.

I have raged at @chans-room about how I can’t afford this type of obsession right now. So, obviously, I started working on a WIP for him last night 🤦🏽‍♀️

If you come up with any ideas or have any scenarios you want done feel free to send them my way. I’ll be writing in OPLA Zoro land for the next 3-5 business months.

[canisalbus]

Machete is a graceful hound whenever he's not a shakey boi. Unfortuanlty he's always a shakey boi.

.

[vivithefolle]

Hi Vivi! I love your HP analysis and how objective you can be despite having strong opinion and feeling for some characters. That's why i wanted to ask you something about Marietta's scars. In HBP, the St. Mungo's healers manage to save AND completely heal both Katy Bell and Ron, which kind of confuses me: if they're able to do that, why didn't they cure Marietta? Personally I think, at the very least, Madame Pomfrey, Snape and Dumbledore (if not the majority of Hogwarts' staff) should have been able to identify and free her of that nasty curse. What are your thoughts on this?

Ha, I wouldn't call myself objective... I've gotten more and more flippant when it comes to Harry and Hermione as the years go by. Having Ron's feelings be constantly ignored by like 99% of fandom even among people who call themselves his fans will do that.

In HBP, the St. Mungo's healers manage to save AND completely heal both Katy Bell and Ron, which kind of confuses me: if they're able to do that, why didn't they cure Marietta?

That is the million Galleon question, isn't it?

How come Madam Pomfrey can mend broken bones, make Hermione's teeth nice and straight, and heal injuries that would take a normal human months if not years to recover from?

The reason is because Plot, of course, as is usually the case with anything Potter, but... there's another explanation.

And that explanation is Mad-Eye Moody.

In a world where you can regrow bones and brew miracle cures for everything, Mad-Eye Moody is an oddity, as he needs a prosthetic leg and a magical eye.

Why is that?

Mrs Weasley had staunched his bleeding now, and by the lamplight Harry saw a clean, gaping hole where George’s ear had been. ‘How is he?’ Mrs Weasley looked round and said, ‘I can’t make it grow back, not when it’s been removed by Dark Magic. But it could have been so much worse… he’s alive.’ - Deathly Hallows

... Dark magic. When your wounds are inflicted by Dark magic... they leave traces.

Harry was a baby when Voldemort tried to kill him with Dark magic and it left a trace.

Mad-Eye Moody was an Auror and tangled with Dark wizards and it left traces.

And Marietta... Marietta pissed off Hermione Granger... and it left traces.

The only possible conclusion... is that the spell Hermione put on the parchment was Dark magic, and given that Hermione explicitly states she took inspiration from Voldemort's Dark Mark to create the DA Galleons... well, who's to say she didn't get inspired by more than that?

[rememberwren]

I feel like every Monday I get to send you increasingly cute pictured of my cats.

Here is wasabi being a menace and sleeping in the tumble dryer.

(she was asked to leave and politely declined)

I would give my life for Wasabi’s, cannot emphasize that enough. That’s her dryer now. She just lets you borrow it. Sorry not sorry. Thank you so much for sharing her.

[novaae]

a random inspiration?

Dashrath Manjhi.

His wife died because there was no path on the mountain near his village, so he single-handedly carved the mountain into two with nothing but a hammer and chisel. All out of love and dedication for his wife.

I would like to love someone in that way one day, and show it to them through not just words but my actions.