#on my side character hyperfixation arc again

[onlymagpie]

a little Zoltan (and field marshal windbag) WIP ✨

[mcytblrconfessions]

*sighs in sadness* Ocean Queen Lizzie you were too good a character to be released onto the masses who couldn't characterize you well in fanfiction to save your life :(

The joy your story brought me (self-proclaimed number one Ocean Queen fan /hj) is immense, but it does not cancel out the multitudes of fanfiction flattening you into a hollow shell of yourself who only exists as an extension of the men in your life, clogging the LDShadowLady fandom tag and making it nigh-impossible to fin the (rare) fic in which Lizzie is in-character

And trust me, I know. My experiences are born out of pain and sorrow. Deep in the clutches of hyperfixation, I checked the LDShadowLady tag several times every day for months, no filters. I looked at every fic in the tag, and the backlog of fics. I read every fic in the tag, with only a few exceptions for the most truly unstomachable fic. Even as my hyperfixation loosened, I still checked the LDShadowLady tag often, and scrolled through the backlog. I still read every Lizzie centric fic I can find, and a lot that isn't. I still am on a constant search for good Lizzie fic (please: anyone want to recommend any fics? I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing/missed/forgot to bookmark! she doesn't have to be the main character, just significant!)

I have gazed into the abyss. I have absorbed the scope of it. I have written fic on my own.

And yet: the problem is less with the lack of Lizzie fics, and more with the bad ones, the ones that don't actually feature her in any real capacity, which becomes easy to see once you've read a lot of them noticed the pattern, just a combination of sidelining, of mischaracterization, and mischaracterization by omission, that trap that is so easy to fall into.

I can forgive fandom for this to an extent. No fic writer is perfect, this is about the collective patterns. But after a certain point, it starts becoming harder to ignore: the way she is written into fics only to warp around c!Jimmy (sometimes other male characters) with zero regard for her interiority, her agency, her struggles, her potential, in fics that give male side characters these things.

The way she is ignored varies. Sometimes it is the most blatant examples: she is put in a situation in which multiple canon traits/opinions/experiences of hers would obviously be relevant, but all are ignored except supportive sister. Sometimes it is more subtle: it iisn't a plot hole that her being a supportive sister/caring/"strong woman girlboss" (in the way that doesn't actually give her any agency or depth or plot importance, she's still a flat character only there for support, but actually we only write her as a personw with no interior depth or anything interesting bc she's just so cool and competent and perfect there aren't any problems that give us reasons to focus on her or give her like, a character arc or something) is the only thing that comes up in the au, but the fact that the author didn't find anything else about her interesting or worthy of show, never considered showing her in more depth, giving her an arc, giving her choices to make, the fact that over and over again authors decide that the only reason to show her is if she's supporting a guy, grates a whole fucking lot. Mostly, it is more subtle but once you see it you will never stop unseeing it. I try to repeat it but I just sound like a broken record.

Am I going insane for noticing this when nobody else seems to? I worry that, even being mad mostly at the trend and not the individual writers, I am still somehow being too unfair to them. I check my line of thought over and over. Then, once again, I am reading a fic and I can't stop thinking about how it's another fic in the pattern, and I try to find something that isn't and it takes me pages and pages, and I am so angry again. Death by a thousand pinpricks. Driven insane by a thousand lackluster Lizzie portrayals.

It's hard not to feel crazy. People like the Ocean Queen! People don't dislike her character! She just slowly gets flattened, over and over. Never any interest in her depths. (yes I am ocean punning at a time like this)

I am awash in a sea of misery. Every day I think of her and I wish for a world where people liked her better. Where she was the character with a million fics exploring her potential. I think about it and I think about her and I think about my fic for her and the good fics I've read for her and I open another fic where Lizzie is tagged and I hope.

(The pain these fics bring me is immense but the joy I feel about the character is greater, at least. Mostly I think about that. Two sides to everything, how unfortunate/lucky)

Ocean Queen I love you.

[pyromaniac-cyndaquil]

'Nemona isn't an interesting rival/character, her only personality is battling' is a take I can understand pre area zero, but I don't get how anyone can reach the credits and still think that, tbh. My opinion of her SKYROCKETED during the final arc, I think she's tied for my favourite character now.

Spoilers for the endgame, but I'm gonna rant about why Nemona is amazing and far more than people give her credit for:

Nemona has a happy life. Her parents love her, she's from a successful and wealthy family, she's top of her classes and student council president and is pretty well liked - all things that very much work as narrative foils to Penny and Arven.

As such though, it means she's not got deep rooted trauma or fear or conflict to work through as much as the others - but not every character needs this kinda thing. Nemona still develops and has a fleshed out personality - it's just not thrown in your face quite as much as it is with Arven.

She's very obviously some form of neurodivergent to start with - battling is clearly her hyperfixation, and she desperately wants to share that with her friends. The thought of a good fight sends her blood boiling in a good way, and one isn't enough! She needs another battle - no - twenty!

(side note: ppl acting like she's weird/yandere/monika ddlc for always wanting to battle the mc is wild. During the team star battle she's just put out, and saying she's the only one they need to battle is bc she wanted a third battle right as they entered the city and mc needed a break, but now they're up and battling again. She's also not fixated on battling them specifically - just people in general. She's hyped for the idea of mc becoming a worthy rival, that's all!)

She's a very understanding and patient rival, which is kind of ironic with how quickly she rushes into things and doesn't always think things through. She wants to make sure she's getting into a fair fight, especially if she knows her opponent is less experienced. Once she realises she got overexcited and terastillised her pokemon before the protag had an orb of their own, she immediately rushes to the school to pull some strings so they'll be on even footing again next time.

She's absolutely AWESTRUCK by the idea of fighting giant monsters. She's living the dream in area zero. The thought of other people fighting giant monsters makes them the coolest people in the world to her and she sees it as an honour.

A lot of her tactlessness comes in at this point - hearing her friends talk about painful memories and sheer terror involving big scary pokemon just has her excitedly hoping she can meet and battle whatever pokemon it was. She seems to struggle a lot to piece together tone and body language to figure out what's appropriate to say, but it's very obviously not meant maliciously and may even be her roundabout way of trying to help... It's clearly not what the others want nor need to hear, but I definitely think there's more to it than just 'OOOOH COOL SCARY THING':

Nemona is FIERCELY protective. She knows she's strong and she isn't afraid of anything that's happening here. She knows if anything were to happen, she's got the confidence to take on anything and keep her friends safe.

Arven's having a crisis from a lot of extremely painful memories he has of area zero. Penny is feeling pretty jumpy at everything and desperately trying to figure out what the hell happened down here. The protag is worried for their friends AND they're torn up about not knowing what's wrong with Koraidon/Miraidon. Nemona is being strong for all of them. She can show them she's not scared and that she's ready for everything. Hell, she promised to protect them all so. Many times. If she treats this like a fun group outing, maybe it'll become one.

Any time bickering starts in area zero, she tries her best to get them all to calm down and get along again - misunderstandings happen! She's overly optimistic for the dragon 'family reunion' and doesn't even register that it's not a positive one because she wants to see the best in everyone. Sure, that's a trait that could get her into trouble, but she has her friends to drag her head out of the clouds. (Note that she still stood protectively over Koraidon/Miraidon the entire time the other one was approaching, though. Regardless of her words she was still picking up on the danger there.)

She sees how down everyone is once they get out of the crater and her immediate reaction is to coax them all into going home the long way and making it into an adventure. Mc and Penny are generally feeling down and Arven and Koraidon/Miraidon have been through. So much. She wants to get the group laughing and smiling together again, to remind them that they have reasons to smile again, and that they are loved.

Nemona may not have a big deep tragic backstory, but she's the heart of the group. She's their light.

[darklight-owl]

Owl Reviews Stuff She Just Finished: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright

So yk I didn't know what to expect going into this game, I'd seen really funny dialogue of it and mostly got it because I was extremely hyperfixated on Layton. But I did NOT expect such an emotional rollercoaster of a game with themes that tie into both Professor Layton and Ace Attorney and utilizes the strengths of each series so efficiently. I did not expect this game to make me cry. I did not expect this game to become one of my favorite Professor Layton AND Ace Attorney titles. But it did so I have to talk about it.

With two successful IPs on the cover this game could have easily been halfassed but every corner of it is full of passion for both titles. I mentioned before how they build off and complement each other and I think that's a result of the people working on this game having an in-depth knowledge of what makes PL and AA work and what their shortcomings are.

For example (I mentioned this in the liveblogs but may as well repeat myself here) Ace Attorney games are often limited to just the courtroom and investigation, not to mention you're not going to see 90% of the characters ever again after the case is done. This is serviceable for the kind of game AA is but it makes the world itself feel a bit uninteresting. However Professor Layton games have you confined to one town and make you explore it in depth, with recurring background characters who all have different (yet basic) personalities. Because of this, the Layton segments where you walk around town become crucial parts of the game where you can interact with future or past witnesses as they go about their lives, making these witch trials feel like they're taking part within an actual community, which make the emotional beats in the trials hit REALLY hard.

In turn, AA strengthens PL by adding variety. Layton games can be a bit monotonous if you're not engaged since the gameplay mostly consists of talking to people and solving an occassional puzzle, and there's a lack of interesting smaller mysteries to keep the audience engaged while they work on solving the bigger ones. But Ace Attorney games thrive on side stories, they're what make the trials so interesting! So by adding the smaller mysteries in the form of witch trials and mixing in clues about what the Hell is going on in Laberynthia you make a much more dynamic story that never feels like you're getting nowhere.

Enough about story structure and nerd stuff like that though, let's talk characters!

I love the main four and have always loved the main four so I'm not gonna talk abt them. The original characters for this game were freaking amazing. I see a lot of people really dislike Espella (which is understandable since she's probably the weakest of the cast) but she's pretty alright imo. She's going through a lot of things with the entire town despising her and [SPOILERS] so it makes sense why she would act the way she does, even then I feel like most heartfelt moments with her were a bit forced, which kind of lessens the impact of the last scene. I LOVE the relationship between her and [ANOTHER SPOILER] as well as the dynamic she has with Maya though.

I LOVE BARNHAM. He's one of my favorite prosecutors, he may not have any deep angst or trauma like so many of my favs do, but he's just a well meaning dude who thinks he's doing what he needs to to protect his town, even if it means casting wiitches into the flames. He also goes through a little character arc of his own where he also starts to bend the rules, the only laberynthian to do so. It's fun. Barnham is my best friend.

Unfortunately I can't talk about Darklaw or The Storyteller without getting into spoilers but basically: I love Darklaw and think she deserves the world, I'm on the fence about The Storyteller and feel like parts of his character were extremely rushed.

The secondary characters are also great, you have your classic goofy witnesses but also some really heartfelt characters and relationships in the trials, this is nothing new for Ace Attorney but when you include the conscious knowledge that these characters are going to be cast into the fire then these mini stories are enough to move me to tears (Looking at you, Golden Court).

Anyway, overall a fantastic experience that caught me completely off guard. No notes. I give it 10 burning witches out of 10.

Oh. And also:

[sepublic]

Alice in New Vestroia AU

            So I’ve been getting back into my age-old hyperfixation of Bakugan (both the show and toys from the legacy series) and realizing how much of a formative impact it all had on me, but also. As I revisit the original show, I’m getting the idea for an AU centered around Alice Gehabich, because they really did this girl dirty even though she’s literally Masquerade and has ‘his’ blessing (Seriously, disrespecting Alice is disrespecting Masquerade, you have to respect BOTH).

         AU where Alice is the main protagonist of New Vestroia, as part of this larger AU I have in mind where each story arc centers around another one of the original six brawlers, who gets a turn in the spotlight. Part of Alice’s arc in NV is self-actualizing as a less douchey Masquerade, and who’s her Guardian Bakugan if Hydranoid is bronzed?

         Why, it’s Reaper! Freed from the Doom Dimension thanks to the Legendary Soldiers of Vestroia. I feel bad for the dude and as others have suggested, Alice using Reaper in NV to free Hydranoid, the one who replaced him… Lots of delicious drama from that. I imagine that because it’s a toyline, Reaper has a new form/appearance thanks to his time in the Doom Dimension, for the same Doylist reason that Drago always has a new evolution, because you can’t reuse the same old toys from last year! Yuck!

         Not sure what it looks like (but there’s at least canon basis for the Doom Dimension to have changed Reaper’s look), but regardless he ends up with Alice again. There’s lots of mixed feelings, Alice is happy to be back with Reaper and hopes to make amends with him, confronting her past as Masquerade and any lingering guilt she might still hold. In general, a lot of NV has to deal with guilt and accountability when it comes to Alice and the characters she’s connected to…

         Reaper acts like it’s fine, he doesn’t care when he realizes his mission entails rescuing Hydranoid. But then in comes Alice’s first battle with Shadow Prove, in which Hades is revealed; The replacement to the Bakugan who replaced Reaper! And suddenly, in the heat of battle, Reaper’s true feelings emerge as he vents and projects and takes out a LOT of rage on poor Hades. Screaming and yelling at Hades, who he initially mistakes for Hydranoid, if he’s still inferior when he’s the one beating him this time, beating the ‘superior’ Hydranoid. Finding a cruel and bitter irony, that Hydranoid ended up being replaced himself, anyway.

         Alice is no fool and can tell Reaper is treating Hades as a personal punching bag substitute for the real deal, so after they leave a traumatized Shadow Prove in the dust, Alice sits down to talk with Reaper about his feelings. Reaper is fairly shocked to see such a vulnerable and soft side to Masquerade, since that kind of thing was never encouraged the last time they were partners. So we have Reaper gradually learning to come out of his shell, and accept his own vulnerabilities.

         Alice does get into a battle with Shadow Prove, two fellow Darkus brawlers; But otherwise, it’s clear she outclasses him, and despite Shadow Prove’s attempts to set himself up as a rival with their shared attributes and Hades as a doppelganger, Alice leaves him behind for her allies to deal with instead. No, Alice’s REAL rival… is none other than Spectra Phantom, of course!

         Because now the roles are reversed; You have the Darkus protagonist, up against a Pyrus antagonist. We have Helios, who is alluded to have a bit of an underdog story, who felt the need to become stronger just so he could match Bakugan like Hydranoid or Drago. So in a way, him and Spectra are a dark version of Dan and Drago, but they’re also still a dark reflection of Masquerade as well, because Alice definitely notices the similarities. Spectra being a carbon copy of Masquerade is now a meaningful narrative choice.

         Confronting Spectra Phantom for Alice is like confronting her past self as Masquerade, the toxic desire for power at the cost of all others. And as Alice grapples with her guilt for what she did, with Reaper being a blatant reminder, she kinda projects onto Spectra a little; Sees the similarities. Alice only has her grandfather but nobody else who could share in that same trauma of becoming a villainous alter-ego, so Alice wishfully assumes Spectra to be the same case, and Mira’s side of the story doesn’t help her perception either.

         So Alice tries to reach out to Spectra, thinks he’s also misunderstood and struggling as she did with Masquerade. And a confused Spectra quickly takes it in stride, and… takes advantage of Alice’s sympathy for his own ends. Eventually, it backfires as it becomes apparent that really is no difference between Keith Fermin and Spectra Phantom; Keith 100% chose of his own volition to pursue evil science and the torture of Bakugan for power. It was all him, there is no tragic accident or backstory.

         And Alice feels hurt and betrayed, because she really wanted someone she could’ve shared in that type of trauma with. And rebuked, Alice goes cold, she starts building up walls and decides that gentle compassion of hers was a mistake. And this is when Alice REALLY starts to emulate Masquerade, worst parts included… This is of course reflected in a design update.

         S1 gave us Alice accepting Masquerade as a part of herself, but what if S2 explored an inverse of that idea, of Masquerade accepting Alice as a part of herself? Alice starts to loathe and detest her former, softer self, whom she deep-down despises for being too weak, too much of a pushover, to do anything. Alice becomes unkind towards that side of herself, and overcompensates by embracing the crueler side to Masquerade, thinking her worth/growth lies in that aspect alone. We once again see the Masquerade who angrily bristles when Exedra examines his motives, as we get some déjà vu and realize how he was a sped-up endpoint for Alice’s insecurity; Masquerade really IS just Alice, who became fed up and disgusted with everyone but especially herself.

         This of course concerns Reaper, who’s also beginning to recognize something familiar and finds it foreboding. And so Alice’s arc comes from accepting that not only is she Masquerade, but she’s still Alice too; And that softer, kinder person is by no means an ‘inferior’ version of Masquerade. Both sides, both aspects to her identity, have their strengths and weaknesses, and do best when reconciled together. Alice learns to forgive her past self, not just Masquerade but the identity of ‘Alice’, for being meek; It’s self-love for the person you used to be.

         I imagine the posthumous discovery of Lync’s redemption influences that realization; Alice inferring from his glove that her compassion DID have an impact on Lync, that it wasn’t wasted. Showing kindness to others was never a mistake, and if Alice keeps trying, it eventually does pay off, even if there are those who might take it for granted. So Alice accepts that she’ll always still have some weakness, some vulnerability, and need to ask for help; And that’s okay!!! No shame in that whatsoever.

         Alice forgiving her own shortcomings helps her reconcile with Reaper; Reaper also learns to forgive himself for not being the strongest Bakugan, for having been replaced by Hydranoid for this. Because his self-worth and dignity are not tied to whether he can beat others up, it’s inherent, and Reaper fighting for the rights of Bakugan in New Vestroia is him fighting for his own worth at the same time, in a roundabout sense.

         Speaking of, this gets me back to Hydranoid; Him and Alice’s reunion mid-way through NV is going to be awkward with Reaper there. Remember that episode of Skyress being uncharacteristically harsh towards Ingram, assuming herself better, only for him to step up when she fails, all as a way to push forward the new product over last year’s? That doesn’t make sense for her, but you know which Bakugan of the original six it would make sense for? Hydranoid! Because it tracks that Hydranoid hasn’t completely let go of the toxic arrogance he had under Masquerade, the Might makes Right mentality.

         To him, Reaper is still that inferior Bakugan who wasn’t good enough for his Alice, so Hydranoid got rid of him. He’s being territorial, trying to defend his place alongside Alice now that Reaper has returned, and also ‘redeem’ himself for being captured by the Vexos. While Reaper’s dignity is not dependent on whether he can beat Hydranoid, I think it’s still a nice treat for Reaper, and a necessary wake-up call for Hydranoid, for Reaper to be the one who saves him after all, this time.

         So now we have Hydranoid coming to terms with HIS own weakness and failure, that sort of thing. If Marucho can have two talking Guardian Bakugan, one returning from S1 while the other is new with S2, so can Alice! Also, I guess this means we have an arc where Spectra captures Reaper, and Alice has to team up with Exedra to rescue him…

         I should add; One of the first battles Hydranoid has after reuniting with Alice? It’s him finally measuring up in-person against Hades, and just like in canon, it ends with his mechanical replacement obliterated in a single shot. After surviving previous losses with other opponents, Hades crumples in its first battle with the real deal, opening up for MAC Spider to take over. And, since Alice’s battle here isn’t as important (since she’s already garnered plenty of wins beforehand in NV as the protagonist), I guess we can have Hydranoid be defeated by MAC Spider, and perhaps this is the incident in which Reaper steps up to save him! Either way, Alice wins the overall battle, as she should.

         This also gets me back to Spectra Phantom and Helios, who themselves are dark reflections of Alice/Masquerade. They’re both motivated to become stronger, and from what I understand, in canon Spectra heads over to the good side after being shown that the Power of Friendship really is the best way to become powerful.

         So in other words, his redemption is arguably not altruistic; It’s merely Spectra being offered a legitimate option and taking it. He’s embracing the side of good because he expects a reward for it, that being a strengthened bond between him and Helios that will enable them to access that elusive Power of Friendship. And I think we could really work with this by exploring some proper tension with Spectra as an ally now, given his motives to become one.

         Pragmatically speaking, it’s better for the world if Spectra is with them, not against them. But as our protagonists interact with him, again, it becomes clear that Spectra is treating his ‘redemption’ as some sort of transaction, a different type of grab for power. So part of his storyline is being exposed to enough kindness and compassion that he realizes he should appreciate it for its own sake, not for the practical benefits it might bring.

         Hydranoid is of course super salty towards Spectra; He participated in his torture. Likewise, it’s this fact that added an additional personal layer between Alice and Spectra’s conflict. Hydranoid demands how they could possibly forgive Spectra for all the wrong he’s committed, but then Reaper cheekily asks the same of Hydranoid himself; Hydranoid was no saint, he sent many Bakugan to the Doom Dimension, as did Reaper.

         So they have no place to talk, Reaper figures, so he’s a bit more at peace with this. Reaper likes being given a chance to work on himself and change for the better, so he’s willing to grant that to others, becoming more compassionate. And keep in mind, he was temporarily under Spectra’s control before Alice and Exedra saved him, so Reaper has some stake too!

         As our protagonists learn to interact with Spectra in a non-adversarial setting, we see Reaper and Hydranoid reach out to Helios, and help Helios come to terms with his own vulnerability and shortcomings, and thus become less toxically obsessed with becoming stronger to compensate. Helios is less punishing of himself, and thus less reliant on becoming a cyborg, which could be seen as symbolic of self-harm in a sense; This culminates in Mechtanium Surge, in which Helios seems more organic since his redemption!

         Likewise, there is SO much awkwardness between Alice and Spectra. Alice is rightfully mad at him for… basically everything, though she does concede, when Spectra brings it up, that she did kinda assume and project a lot of stuff onto him. Spectra still took advantage of it, but Alice was the one who showed up out of nowhere and insisted they were parallels. Reflecting on her own past and motives, Alice explores Spectra’s reason to seek power, and perhaps a loneliness/inadequacy he also struggles with. He’s a lot less of a Poor Meow-Meow compared to Alice regarding their ‘origin’ stories, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything there, whatsoever.

         And as I said, Spectra learns to appreciate compassion for its own sake, and not as a roundabout means of becoming stronger. He sees that Alice’s kindness is a strength in its own right, that continuing to be hopeful and compassionate even in the face of adversity is not foolishness, but true perseverance. Spectra gains a new appreciation for Alice, and also begins to take accountability for his own actions, working to undo the harm he inflicted. What started off as basically a professional alliance becomes personal and meaningful to him, now.

         Alice still has to maintain boundaries around Spectra, who also learns to navigate and respect the distrust that others, especially Hydranoid, still have towards him. And this goes hand-in-hand with his reconciliation with Mira, who probably becomes more aware and accepting of Keith’s flaws, and condemning of them; Meaning Keith really does have to earn back her trust and approval this time. Neither Alice nor Keith feel entitled to forgiveness, but that doesn’t stop them from focusing on just doing actual good for the world regardless. Keith learns to stop hiding behind a mask, and also open up, as Helios and Alice and others do.

         That’s the general gist of Alice’s storyline here; Her grappling with her past self as Masquerade, with the guilt of what she did as him. Exploring and bridging the apparent gap between these two identities. There’s a bit of gender discussion in Alice accepting the ‘feminine’ aspect of herself, the soft and kind person, as being just as strong and meaningful as the more aggressive and masculine Masquerade, whom she may have subconsciously embraced out of internalized misogyny (while also still allowing herself to defy gender expectations). 

        Alice has become stronger, but she also learns to forgive and appreciate her ‘weaker’ past self who got her there, as Masquerade forgives the vulnerability of others. Progress is progress, be it learning to stand up for who you are, or make up for the harm you’ve caused. Forgiveness is the major theme, not just by Alice towards her own sins as Masquerade, but her supposed shortcomings as Alice herself. She’ll move on, but not deny one part to embrace another.

[alpaca-clouds]

Remembering Digimon Alpha Generation

(Commission done by mel0dy)

Given it is still Digimon month, I cannot help but be kinda nostalgic about the fandom. Because, again, it was my longest hyperfixation. I had other hyperfixations, yes, but not a single one lasted me as long as Digimon did.

And I just wanna ramble about my Digimon fanseries that I wrote back then.

The year was 2006 when I created a goggle boy named Yuki Denrei for what was originally meant to be an RPG maker fangame, on which I was writing. But the team around that fangame kinda broke apart so by 2008 I was kinda like: "Hey, maybe I gotta make something else with this character." And then: "Hey, doesn't it kinda suck, that Digimon Tamers never got a sequel?"

So I sat down and started writing on my own sequel for Digimon Tamers. It was called Digimon Alpha Generation. The idea at the time came from the fact that we did have the Card Game Alpha (that did not last quite that long) happening at the time. And so I just made the hook that the main characters here were using Digivices to scan the Card Game Alpha Cards, rather than those of the original card game.

Now, my own writing back then was still kinda a mess, but the story went something like this:

The year is 2008, when rebellious teenager Yuki Denrei gets a mysterious invite to a card game fight. The girl who had challenged him is a weird one, though. As they talk she wants to find out which is the card he trusts over all others. And when he is unable to give a proper answer, she summons a Digimon on him. A real Digimon! The only reason Denrei survives this encounter is, that suddenly a card from his deck materializes into Dracomon. Soon enough, Denrei finds out that there are other Digimon Tamers around. Teenagers like him, who have Digimon partners. But again and again that mysterious girl keeps showing up, challenging and the other tamers into fights...

Again, my writing back then was messy as fuck. It took me years to complete the story (that ended up with about 250k words) and I did not have a concrete plan where I was going with it the entire time.

All I knew at the beginning was, that I wanted to have the demon lords as antagonists and wanted to have a more international story happening. Which is why the entire middle arc has the tamers world travelling.

It was an interesting experience as a writer, though.

I knew from the very beginning, that the main trio for this story was gonna be Denrei, a lone wolf character named Shoji, and a now 14yo Shiuchon. Due to Shiuchon having her partner from the very beginning, she is in fact the first one out of this trio reaching the Ultimate level (in the half-way final).

But it was interesting as given I had only rough ideas plotted out, I could kinda react to what the readers at the time were thinking. For example, the peopled fucking adored Shoji (he ended up as the fan favorite character out of all the Digimon Tamers stuff I wrote), so I gave him more scenes. And folks started shipping Denrei and Shiuchon, so I gave the two of them more scenes together and had them end up together in a later story.

I personally loved Denrei, because man I wrote a lot of my parent related anger issues into this character. But I also had so much fun writing Shiuchon in this as a type of character we really never quite got in Digimon. A female, very straight forward character who just says it as it is. And also... is kinda flirty with everyone. xD

At times I still wanna translate the story into English. But then again: 250k - and the sequel story has anther 250k. So a total of 500k - and that is without all the side stories.

And again, it was kinda a mess. So the temptation would be there to rather do a rewrite of Alpha Generation. I don't know. Just thinking.

Might talk about the sequel, too, in the coming days.

(Commission artwork by mel0dy.)

[dangerous-advantage]

why is usagi yoimbo so fucking good? (an analysis.)

usagi yojimbo is one of the most interesting, well-told, intelligent, heartfelt stories i have ever read. it's stories are nuanced and likable, supported by characters and relationships you root for.

it's simple, balanced, and when things get serious, you feel it.

and if anyone had recommended it to me, i probably wouldn't have read it.

(spoilers for usagi yojimbo: volume two; jizo. fair warning: this will probably go long.)

i picked up uyv2 on a whim. i wasn't really planning on reading it, and if i did, i didn't think i would particularly like it.

but it was related to my current hyperfixation (they didn't have 'the last ronin' in stock, which was what i was looking for), and it was a special day, so i thought, "fuck it, i'll buy this."

a couple days later, i finished it and immediately needed more. yada yada, tale as old as time.

but what exactly made it so good? a lot of people will get into media and be hooked by the very first installment. usagi yojimbo, for me, required a little bit of faith.

i started with uyv2: issue one, aka 'shades of green.' if you're a tmnt fan, this is a great jumping off point, because it lures you in with tmnt lore all while putting intrigue in your mind about what these other guys are doing, i guess.

there are callbacks to past comics that might interest you by creating a greater sense of lore and history. you'll find yourself eventually wandering back and maybe reading the next installment, just because.

this is very good, because the next installment following the shades of green arc (at least, in the usagi yojimbo saga: book one') are the "side stories," which will stick in your mind until your thoughts are overtaken by the funny rabbit guy, and you give in.

i love shades of green as much as the next guy, but damn, those side stories fuck. even if you didn't give a shit about the turtles and only read the stories (and maybe the origin tale), it is my belief that you would know basically everything you need to know.

jizo is what originally "hooked" me. in the og comics, it was a side story for the first part of the shades of green arc, which was ingenious, seeing as it's fucking amazing.

in my humble opinion, jizo is an example of sakai at his best. it's eight pages long with three panels per page, each following the same composition. its so simple, and yet, throughout my read-through of volume two, i found myself returning to it again and again.

it starts off with an image of a road, with a series of travelers passing by. a woman toting a small stone statue brings it to the edge of the road and starts on an iconic sakai infodump, with might disinterest some, but fully delighted my autistic mind!

(here she is, by the way.)

she explains (by talking to the statute) that said statue is a representation of 'jizo-sama,' "guardian of the souls of lost children. her son was murdered five days ago on this very road, and the ones responsible, a party of bandits, have not yet been caught.

her hope is that by praying to the statue, nobody else will suffer the same fate.

she also explains some lore-- that the souls of lost children are "doomed to pile stones in the dry river bed of souls." by offering pebbles at the statue's base, she hopes to ease her sons' burden.

she then leaves, noting a chill in the air, and promises to bring back a coat for the statue the following day, in order to keep it warm.

now, by all accounts, this is an example of bad storytelling. just info-dumping is uninteresting to the audience, and clunky. well, here we are reminded that actually, if your story is worth telling, nobody gives a shit if you commit "writing sins" (see 'lord of the rings' for more examples of this. yes, uy is good enough to be compared to lotr.)

but anyway, the day progresses. there are lots of fun details in these scenes --

--like this guy ^, who we meet/meet another person akin to later on in volume two (music from heaven). we also see a couple of people make offerings on their way past, which is nice (:

night falls, and with it comes-- holy shit-- its the funny rabbit guy again!

he's alone, just passing by. he doesn't even seem to notice the statue on the side of the road.

we then get some of my all-time favorite uy panels, and a perfectly-executed scene showcasing some of usagi's core beliefs and character.

so the bandits (yes, those bandits) attack. and usagi five-v-one's them. the guards come, clean things up, etc etc. more usagi characterization shines through. and usagi leaves.

all the while, jizo-sama observes.

but wait. if you're anything like me, you might notice a small detail between in two frames.

that's right-- the statue of jizo smiles. which could be creepy in any other context, but its only for a single panel, so you might assume it was just a quirk of the artwork on that one page.

but, no.

in the morning, the woman comes back.while wrapping the statute in a coat, she says, "huh? your expression has changed-- you look more at peace-- but that's impossible! isn't it?"

she ultimately decides not to worry about it, but does mention that it'll probably cause more people to be willing to give offerings as well. which leaves us with our final panel.

so. what exactly does jizo accomplish?

well, a lot of things. it sets up worldbuilding for the more 'mystical' side of uy, introduces us to sakai's ability to make you feel like you've been punched in the gut in a good way, and characterizes usagi using only eight of the twenty-four panels that make up this story. in which, he doesn't say a word.

but beyond that. why does this work so well?

for me, a part of it is the inversion of the idea of "fate." let me explain-- in a lot of stories like this, there's this underlying trope of the "chosen one" or that things will end up a certain way. while these stories aren't bad, i generally find myself uninterested in the idea of beings beyond our comprehension pulling the strings for characters that are "special."

these characters are chosen ones. they're supposed to know everything that will go down, because they're important. whether or not fate actually plays a part, you get this idea that they were always supposed to be 'chosen,' in some way or another.

uy doesn't do that. while there is some "meddling" implied, it's not because usagi is the specialest boy ever. he's just some guy making his way through japan while trying not to starve. just... figuring himself out.

in thise story, the only people who know the full extent of the narrative are ourselves and the statue of jizo. the woman shows no indication that she's heard of the bandits' capture, and for usagi, this is just another night.

it's meaningful because we get to see all these parts of the story come together, while knowing we are the only ones this is meant for. this isn't a grand story or some epic of old. it's just a small, intimate moment of retribution.

the gods-- or, in this case, jizo-sama-- doesn't care about heroism outside of this moment. it's left vague whether or not the statue or any being it represents put this moment into fruition. if anything, it could just be a coincidence, and the statue is smiling at in gratitude.

regardless, it feels so much more meaningful than if it had been done any other way. usagi is just a character traversing these lands, weaving in and out of stories, many he will never know the full extent of. and that feels real. genuine.

i do think that this changes a bit, later on in the comics, but this beginning sense-- that usagi is just travelling through a greater world, pulled this way and that for no particular reason (unless otherwise noted) is very refreshing for a series like this.

jizo does a lot of other stuff, too-- like that core characterization i mentioned above-- but this post is long enough. i wanted to get more into other aspects of why uy is so good, but there's just so much, and honestly, you should read it yourself if you haven't already to find out what. (at the very least, read jizo-- it's short, but very, very good.)

i might do more of these for the rest of uyv2 and how it hooked me, but for now, i this this works well enough to begin answering the question of why this series is so good.

(okay, i caved-- the core characterization is his unwillingness to fight unless it's necessary. now, go read jizo!)

[starrixle]

Hey, i just wanted to quickly thank you for everything. I see one chapter is ending, and i feel like i should thank you for what you managed to push me to without even knowing it. Your art , Aus, headcanons, and even characters from just looking helped me to discover stuff about myself. i never expected to see. Your work pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me to try new things and finally figure out how to express myself as i want to. I was hyperfixating on Luna for a good while now and your work with her really managed to get me more comfortable with my femininity as I've been having issues with pushing masculinity on myself without even realizing it as well. Your little au opened my eyes on who i truly are, and I'm so glad it did. Your art is amazing, and I've been looking up to you from the sides. It's been quite a journey since i first saw your art, and i don't regret finding you at all. You're a truly talented and creative person, and i truly wish you the best. Even if this lunas arc is ending a little, i'm sure her next will be even more exciting. I'm excited to see your next steps, and I'm impressed with how you handled it. Thank you for showing me how to love myself Starry. Remember you're loved by your followers, and no matter what you do, i'm sure we all will be happy with it 🩷

anon i love you for this :'( ❤️

this is geniunely so sweet, i smiled so much while reading this. im really glad you've stuck along the way and that my art made you feel more comfortable in your identity.

thank you for supporting my art and decisions on things. im just here to share my silly drawings to people, and its amazing how much of an impact i can make without realizing it.

thank you again anon, you are the sweetest ❤️❤️❤️

[wannaeatramyeon]

You are my lifeline😩

Ty bb, I am my own lifeline also lol. Anyway, glad you're still enjoying my brainrot because this hyperfixation is starting... to... fade.

Btw, before I jump into other asks. I'm pretty sure right on the ask button it does say requests for fics + hc are closed. (Please someone let me know if not!) Who is still requesting stuff all the time? Sorry babes they're not going to be answered, but feel free to send them in when I'm open again 🫠

Do Lookism men treat their women right? Actually yeah you're not wrong anon, they are pretty nice. Daniel is a prime example. Even cranky Johan has a lot of patience for Lua lol.

BUT! I am not impressed with HTF and the whole Hobin fake dating arc though. Made me side-eye the fuck out of him, still side-eyeing now tbh. Yeah I get he's silly and oblivious but literally man is down to his last braincell.

May you at least meet your lil Tabasco in college though, 🕊️ anon! Yeah college was a huge step change from previous education for me too. You've got this though!

Imagine you're just going about your day and hear his flip flops smacking on the ground announcing his arrival. It must be a little bit grating but most of all, endearing.

lmao I was gonna write something about this but it's too similar to the 'Lua is Back' fic. God I LOVE this detail with his character design. It's just SO him. If Sinu wasn't with Yeonhui I would simp for him like there is no tomorrow because bro is EVERYTHING.

Jake wears shirts and suit pants most of the time, and those weird sockless loafer things. Give him stretchy waistband. Give him comfy materials. Bro deserves it.

[fipindustries]

i think everyone has their wrestling. what do i mean by this?

one of the biggest surprises to me was when i discovered what wrestling really was. it seemed, from the outside, like just a bunch of silly fake fighting for no real reason but to make spectacle i guess. but then i learned that, wait, actually there are like storylines and shit. there are characters, there are character arcs, there is lore and the poeple who follow it have been following this rich tapestry of complex story telling for years and this is why they get so invested in it.

there are thousand examples like this, it doesnt have to be wrestling specifically, it can be V-tubers, it can be forum drama, it can be wikipedia intra editor fights. in my specific case, its politics streamers.

i tried to be more discreete about this in the past. politics is the mindkiller and i get the feeling political streamers fall near the bottom of respectable human beings. it might genuenly be a bit less cringy if i was into big brother or some other reality tv show. but whatever, this is one of the things im obsessed with, this is one of my main hyperfixations, ive been into this shit for years and im going to start being a bit less coy about it.

i want to bring up one some such example of the things ive seen in that side of the internet.

to this day i maintain that the entire mr. girl/destiny saga is one of the most fascinating, disturbing, most interestingly written and weird stories ive seen in my life. imagine if a pathological narcissist, with a history of manipulation, emotional abuse, and overall being a giant creep tried to do his whole song and dance with a popular streamer to get clout and popularity but it just so happens that the mark he chose turned out to be a cold sociopath who cannot be bullied or manipulated moved by emotion or human conection.

it was truly some death note level shit, it was L and light all over again, the most fucked up game of cat and mouse that i followed breathlessly for months. it was delightful to watch this strange, disturbing creature try to sink its teeth on what it thought was just one more person and finding out the other guy was even more fucked up and distrubed than he was.

the ensuing discourse had everything, abuse, rape, pedophilia, weird opinions about the movie cuties, faux psychoanalizing, grooming, nazi apologia, people crying, people very much not crying when they probably should have, sexting, homoerotic obsession, manifestos, fanart.

it was the worst and i loved every second of it

[thegreymoon]

Judge Dee's Mystery

Now that Minglan has reached its natural mid-point conclusion, I can press pause for a while and focus on my true hyperfixation!

JUDGE DI, HERE I COME!! 😍😍

Unfortunately, this drama dropped just as Minglan was starting her revenge arc on Lin Qinshuang and I had to see that through before giving my FULL attention to Zhou Yiwei.

I am so READY to let this man melt my brain, it isn't even funny 😭😭

***

NOOOO, HE DIDN'T GET OUT!! 😱😱

Luckily, it is only the second episode and they cannot kill the main character in the second episode so I AM NOT GOING TO PANIC.

***

LOL, alive, but arrested. Again 🤣🤣

His poor mentor will bankrupt his entire bloodline bailing him out of jail before this drama is done 🤣🤣

***

LMAO, their faces 🤣🤣

There is no end to trouble with Huaiying 🤣🤣 But look on the bright side, at least the exam was yesterday and he showed up for it!!

***

Stupid hot, even with soot on his face 🔥🔥

***

Wait, his alcoholic buddy died??

***

I am getting Cheng Wendao flashbacks 🤣🤣

He also got himself into similar predicaments and made this same face 🤣🤣

***

The mentor is BEYOND pissed off 😅

***

Oh? Secretary General, you say? 👀

***

Ah, so he is dead.

Unless!! Unless he was the one who set the fire! And didn't kill Di Renjie because he couldn't bear to! Or because he is actually jealous and wants to set him up and ruin his reputation 🤔

***

LMAO, they put him on house arrest with a Ye Olden Times ankle bracelet 🤣🤣

With the trouble he gets himself into, Wei Wuji should keep him there permanently, even after the case is solved.

***

Wasn't the Emperor in the brothel that night too?

***

LMAO, the side-eye 🤣🤣

***

Adding to the collection of screenshots of his face 😋

***

And moar 😋

Also, this should teach you not to drink strange wine with strange women.

***

Ridiculous 😭😭

[lisannastraussisanangel]

Hi! Recently started rewatching Fairy Tail and yes, I think it’s becoming my hyperfixation and aaaahhhh, early Team Natsu owns my heart (I’m at ep. 39 and I legitimately burst out laughing when Natsu brought up Lucy being mad for rent problems if they didn’t hurry back and start working again, of all things, while being in the Tower of Heaven after having survived an Etherion blast and just barely managed to pull Erza out of a lacrima that would’ve deconstructed her flesh to revive Zeref. I love them so much).

Anyways I too would like to proclaim my delight when it comes to your headcanons! Please keep them coming! So many F.T. characters and relationships have so much potential but are never really explored in depth because there’s just so much other stuff going on like 24/7, and AO3 has a shockingly low amount of fics that aren’t harem or crossovers.

Keep up the good work! You’ve got yourself another fan!

I'm so happy you enjoy my headcanons! tysm!

I adore Team Natsu! I love that no matter what they go through, they are able to bounce right back to their usual nonsense. It's such a cute reminder that no matter what they go through they will always be that cute little family we fell in love with in the beginning.

There's a lot of things that feel like they wanted to further explore in the series but seems like scheduling or budget wouldn't allow them to get to it. Like the whole Raven Tail thing. I feel like there was so much more planned that we never got to see. They were really hyping it up and then it was just dropped after one fight. I was expecting a full arc that explained how Ivan fell out with Makarov and crazy fights between the two guilds.

I'm going off on a bit of a tangent but I remember battle of fairy tail kinda set up for Freed to become a bigger character and a friendship (or relationship depending how you view it) with Mirajane and then it was never mentioned again. Or Cana with the S-Class trials and how she quit drinking and learned the value of her friends and then just went back to normal once they got home. Or like Loke and Aries, he sacrificed so much and protected her and we barely get any scenes of them for the rest of the series. I love the side characters so much and have kinda rewritten their plots in my head lol.

[locallegion]

Honestly I'd probably get way more into actually writing Fanfiction if all my ideas weren't just really weird shared-universe crossover stuff. Okay, backstory - When I was like 9 or something I asked my brother why Shadow the Hedgehog didn't ever smile. We ended up going back and forth and suddenly we're making up an entire alternate universe where Sonic and Shadow team up to defeat Freddy from iCarly's mom because she turned evil. We were 9, cut us some slack. We always used to make continuations to that story and universe with wild crackships and everything. Like Sonic ended up with Jill Valentine at one point, it was weird. We stopped talking about it after a few years but those chats left a massive impact on me because I've had that shit continuing on in my head for Y E A R S. Like since I started just making things go along in my head;

The events of Sonic Unleashed happen but the Werehog is his own seperate person outside of Sonic but he's super chill and stuff.

Sonic turned bad and got taken out by Cassie Cage. Y'know, from Mortal Kombat because I was OBSESSED with MKX when it came out. Kung Jin was my main and he's still like the major side character if that's even a thing. Like that only happened because I was desperately trying to not seem cringe to the audience of 1 who knew this was even a thing (it was me)

Fox McCloud and Wolf O'Donnell get married and move to London so there's an entire London Arc where fuckall happens.

The events of the Mass Effect trilogy happen because the planet being split into pieces wasn't bad enough now the fucking REAPERS are here.

The cast from the end of the first year and the cast from like 2017 end up fighting, causing the timeline to be reset with Cassie and Sonic ending in a stalemate as the universe fucking starts again.

Multiple retcons because my hyperfixations changed.

If you think I stopped at any point you're wrong. It's genuinely something I've wanted to write about in fanfiction for years now but I'm a terrible writer and it'd require way more action scenes that I'm willing to endure writing, they'd be awful. Oh about that new universe

Hey so the Avengers were a Kirijo Group project set up right after Mass Effect 3 happened. Shepard exists, got the perfect Destroy ending and is genuinely just trying to wind down after the whole 'saving the galaxy thing' but now she's working alongisde Akihiko, Aigis, Mitsuru and Fuuka with the project both because she can fight but also its good PR. Team Dark is also there because why not.

Cassie is not only still important to the universe but is Shepard's successor because hey, she beat the shit out of Shinnok one time, she has to be good.

Kung Jin is now a Persona-User because he shares a VA with Yu Narukami.

They, along with Garrus, Wolf, Fox and Rocket Raccoon (The GOAT) defeat a resurrected Andross in London.

Somehow, Black Doom returned. He gets taken down by Shadow (again).

Bowser and Goro Akechi are besties because they met at Jazz Jin (The Jazz bar from P5R) and Bowser happened to be doing a performance that night.

The Mario Movie is technically canon but because the ending was happening the same time the rest of New York was under attack its just considered a weird part of the larger battle.

ah shit half the universe got wiped out and literally everyone is going through it. also shepard is g o n e

Cassie, Jin, Rocket, Bowser, Akechi and Ashley Graham are a team now like a week after the whole Snap incident

They immediately have to fight Mephiles the Dark. Send Help I'm in too deep

[avocado-frog]

notes on wip drafts because it's been about a year since I've been posting here and because i have not posted real writing stuff in ages and because i'm awesome and i can do whatever i want

really long watch out

Draft 1- -Characters: Leo, Cass, Marcy, Kai, Addy -Leo + Cass are twins, Marcy is their adoptive sister from France, Addy was their adoptive sister from Ireland, Kai was Leo's friend from school -Written in first person POV -The twins were 14, Kai was 13, Marcy was 12, Addy was 11 -Written sometime late 2019 on Wattpad -Written during my ninja turtles era, each character loosely based on one of the turtles + April (Leo as Leonardo, Cass as Donatello, Addy as Michelangelo, Marcy -Leo's full name really is just Leo and no last name -Leo gets a wolverine claw sort of thing that is also a flamethrower -Leo gets in a fight with Marcy over a board game, runs off, gets stolen right out of the woods for Plot Purposes, goes missing for like six months, the other kids get exactly one chapter of looking for her, and then there's three chapters of Mind Control Leo -The end of the first draft was between my ninja turtles hyperfixation and my tangled the series hyperfixation and I know this because I had a song chapter of crossing the line between the twins

Draft 2- -Characters: Leo, Cass, Kai, Marcy, Addy -Written in first person POV -Written a month or two after the first draft -Mostly the same plot but Leo is taken to a cabin instead of a warehouse -Didn't last very long, because it was really only Leo and writing a story with only one character is sort of hard

Draft 3- -Characters: Leo, Cass, Kai, Marcy, Addy -Leo and Kai were romantically involved (ew) -First person POV -Same ages as the other two -Kai follows Leo before she gets kidnapped, somehow they end up in Canada -First establishes the setting in Maine -Leo burns down the cabin with a match (the kids don't have magic yet) -Kai and Leo spend way too much time trying to get from Canada to Maine -Like they go to Mexico for some reason -I remember writing the last chapter during online history class with the Worst Teacher Ever in seventh grade so I had to have been like 13-14/mid 2021 because I started going half online half offline sometime in April

Draft 4- -Characters: Leo, Cass, Kai, Marcy, Addy, Ryan, Sam, Elliot -Written when I started getting into DuckTales. Hence the triplets -They're seven years old -Created so that Leo + Kai have more stakes -They save the triplets but at the cost of me losing motivation after that

Draft 5- -Characters: Leo, Cass, Kai, Marcy, Addy, Ryan, Sam, Elliot -But I got attached to their characters so I kept them -It changed to third person POV -Leo's full name is Leonidas for fucking no reason -Kai is no longer part of the main plot and no longer a love interest because I didn't like writing it -The triplet's backstory is that they're the kids of the people that have stolen Leo, but that their mother died when they were like two -So now they're locked in a basement and so is Leo -Elliot's completely blind -Leo once again saves the kids but has a villain arc in the process -Proceeds to kidnap Cass with a stolen car, builds a robot army, gets blown up -Brief redemption arc follows after Leo goes to jail for a bit

Draft 6- -Leo, Cass, Kai, Marcy, Addy, Ryan, Sam, Elliot, Logan (Lily, Dylan, and Jaxon are there, but they aren't named) -The longest one I have -Written a little while after draft five, because I wanted to give Leo some friends in jail -Leo breaks out of jail with the other kids, but Logan is the only named one -And he has a wildly different name but I'm not going to tell you what it was -The first time I decided to give the twins magic. Since the other three were side characters and horribly underdeveloped they didn't get anything. Leo gets decay and fire, Cass gets healing and plants -Logan goes back to jail but Leo doesn't. Logan's magic involves metal and ice -First lab concept, but the kids are in prison

Draft 6's sequel -Some Prophecy Bullshit -The kids have to go find Logan (he's sixteen or something) -They get him out of jail, he steals a school bus -I can't remember much, I abandoned it when I couldn't figure out what to do with the prophecy bullshit. Something about portals

Draft 6's third book -Leo, Cass, Kai, Marcy, Addy, Ryan, Sam, Elliot, Logan, Lily, Jaxon, Dylan -Lasted like three chapters -I wrote it while I was figuring out what to do with the sequel -But Jaxon, Lily, and Dylan show up -Jaxon and Dylan were 12 and 11, and Lily was 13 (twins are still 14) -Lily was Leo's new romantic interest (this is why Leo is canonically bi) -Jaxon and Dylan were placeholder names -I can't remember whether Dylan was always deaf or not, I deleted the thing -Written in 2021

Draft 7- -Leo, Cass, Kai, Marcy, Addy, Ryan, Sam, Elliot, Logan, Lily, Dylan, Jaxon -A rewrite of draft 6, but meets the other kids + Logan -Leo overthrows the government with them

Draft 8- -Instead of going to jail, Leo meets them because she gets jumped in an alley by Jaxon and Logan makes him leave her alone -Her villain arc includes them now -Concept that Leo can't be burned because of her fire magic -The triplets are adopted by Kai's family, they get a larger role

Draft 9- -Logan is a little nicer now, he lets Leo stay with her, and does not like her family -He's got beef with seven-year-olds -Not many changes, I just wanted to write it again -The lab is introduced but I didn't really have any ideas for it -I posted this one

Draft 9's sequel- -Sort of like draft 6's sequel, wanted to try again -Characters with a villain arc in draft 9/the sequel: Leo, Jaxon, Lily, Dylan, Logan, Elliot, Cass, Ryan -Characters without a villain arc in draft 9/the sequel: Kai, Marcy, Sam, Addy -The earliest version of forget-me-not chapter 17 (Ryan gets pushed into a lake and nearly drowns) here it's he falls into a lake while the kids are trying to learn to water raft (in both versions, he's alone with Jaxon) -Elliot, the blind seven-year-old child, gets a villain arc -I remember this specifically because Leo has a line like "can't we just pick him up and put him somewhere else??" -I know for a fact that Dylan is deaf here -Because I still have this version -For some reason, Sam has a snake -Leo's afraid of snakes and Marcy is afraid of ducks -or something?? -Written June 2021

Draft 10- -The whole story is completely scrapped -Written in December 2021 -With six months between drafts nine and ten, I decided to redo a lot of plot stuff -Logan is aged up to eighteen, Dylan remains eleven, Jaxon remains twelve, and Lily is thirteen. The triplets are aged up to ten. The twins are fourteen still -Logan is aged up because he buys a house -Triplet's backstory is changed. Their names are briefly changed to Adrian, Emile, and Ethan -Logan's sister, Jasmine, is created for the first time, just to be immediately killed -One of the closest to canon -Part one is Leo, part two is Jaxon, part three is Elliot -Leo runs away after learning the truth about her parents (they're really her parents here) (whatever the truth is is not expanded on because I never got farther than an outline) and meets Jaxon, because they're both in the middle of robbing a gas station -Cass does not join Leo in meeting them -The first time it was set in 2018-2019 -The first time I allowed myself to use swears The outline since I have it (but it's the tldr version) 1- Leo is a drug dealer (?? girl-) 2- The twins fight, Addy gives Leo a clue about their parents (how does she know) (never expanded on) 3- The twin's birthday, Kai's POV, he's roped into the situation by Cass 4- Leo runs away, steals a car, and meets Jaxon while they're robbing a gas station 5- Jaxon and Leo officially meet, during a storm, Jaxon breaks into her hotel room because he's figured out that she's magic 6- Jaxon and Leo get a Subway sandwich, and Jaxon bullies Logan into letting Leo live with them 7- Lily and Leo set up Leo's room 8- Leo and Dylan go to the store, Dylan sees their parents + gets upset over it. Leo + Dylan bonding hours 9- Leo and Jaxon go to the lab 10- They meet Ryan and Sam. Sam's been poisoned, Ryan doesn't know the antidote. Since the twist is that Leo made the drugs used on them, she knows what to do. Jaxon gets Elliot 11- Logan lets the triplets live with them 12- Jaxon tries to set up Lily and Leo 13- The Christmas chapter (an actual line from the outline: "Leo doesn't respond because she's too gay and ice skating with her girlfriend") 14- A lot like forget me not where Elliot overhears that the twins are his sisters and he gets upset, but this time, since the twins are not related to them, he overhears that Leo made the drugs used on him 15- Jaxon's backstory. No elaboration in the outline I was just supposed to hope for the best 16- Ryan is only now learning sign language for Dylan, Lily talks to Elliot with throwing knives, Logan + Sam bonding hours 17- Another version- ironically chapter seventeen- where Jaxon is the only one around when Ryan gets pushed into a lake. This time he lands himself in the hospital for trying to save him because he can't swim 18- The kids find out that Jax is brain damaged 19- Logan convinces Leo to text Cass (she has not talked to Cass since chapter two) 20- The kids go to Maine for a week. Cass, Kai, Marcy, and Addy are all really weirded out by Leo's character development which is honestly really fair 21- Elliot + Cass talk hours 22- The kids go to a carnival 23- Sam apologizes for What He Did (not elaborated on) and Elliot goes bonkers mode 24- Elliot meets "Lucas" who tells him that Lily can help 25- Lily Knows Something (not elaborated on) that apparently has to do with their mother's death for some reason. Not a clue how Lily should know, she's about as detached from their backstory as one could get 26- I had only written "figure it out from here" and since forget me not is based on this outline (with a lot of changes) it's probably the reason I forgot to make a canon outline for chapter 26 27- Triplet backstory 28- Ryan sees Elliot talking to himself in the mirror 29- Elliot learns to use his magic properly 30- The triplets fight 31- Elliot dies

Draft 10 sequel -Lasted one chapter but it was alright -Elliot's dead but some weird infection bullshit happens (plot of Dahlia) -Like a zombie apocalypse -Also Leo's thing with classic novels is established -Leo has a Frankenstein motif the whole time -All I remember is that Leo became some weird demon thing and tried to kill Jaxon over it

Draft 11- -Final canon forget-me-not -Written about a year ago (I know this because I made the outline a day before my last day of school to see if I could finish by the end of summer) (I could not) -I cut Addy out because I didn't like her -Logan was aged to 22, the twins to 16, Kai and Lily to 15, Jaxon to 14, Dylan remained 11, and the triplets remained 10 -I struggled for a while before outlining to come up with a title, it was going to be different nursery rhymes, and then different songs, and then random synonyms for fire, before I decided I liked flowers -So each character was given a flower -Instead of coming up with names for titles, I attached dates so that I could stress myself out with a timeline 👍

Some other extra things: -Jaxon had tourettes but I forgot -Leo was trans but now Jaxon is -I had a version that was like 500 words long where Ryan just goes on a stab people spree -Elliot had cataracts for a minute -The triplet's mother's name was Amelia for a long time

[bojackandherb]

Me explaining my aus

slightly less badly

(Part 1)

Declared Dead au: Crackerjack doesn’t die! However, everything thinks he does, so everything that happened with Honey still happens. Crackerjack comes home a year later after having been through hell and back only to find his whole world has changed. So this messes him up quite a bit I would say. Also a few decades later he eventually ends up adopting Bojack. So that’s nice

Ghost Bojack au: hey u know that line about how Bojack’s mom tried to drown him in the bathtub when he was 22? Haha yeah

Anyway Herb is completely heartbroken. But then strange things start happening around him… (Bojack was never particularly good at moving on.)

Deserted island au: welp, getting stranded on an island and forcibly removed from all your addictions (drugs, alcohol, and fame) is one way to be forced to confront your problems!

Aka Bojack and a good chunk of the Horsin around crew get stranded on an island together and are forced to go through Character Development

Drift away/foster care au: yeah so I was listening to Drift Away from SU and I started thinking “how could I apply this song to my current hyperfixation”

Anyway Beatrice dies and Butterscotch is Not A Good Dad. Butterscotch never really wanted to be a parent, and he’s certainly not going to do all the child rearing himself!

On the plus side though Bojack eventually makes a good friend in foster care

HNDJD (Herb’s Not Dead, he’s Just Done): okay so what if things still happened the way they did in canon but Herb didn’t die? His cancer goes into remission and he just. Doesn’t hit a peanut truck. He lives and the funeral never happens and so Bojack never reconnects with Charlotte. Because of this, Bojack has a much different biggest regret when on his apology tour with Sarah Lynn.

(Also despite the fact that this au diverges from canon a lot later than my other aus, the divergence point being season 2 episode 3, the actual first divergence is that Bojack doesn’t sleep with Sarah Lynn because. He just doesn’t okay. )

GTMAC AU (Give This Man A Cat): 90s Bojack gets redemption arced via the power of an itty bitty kitty :) Edit: now has a fic I wrote

Never Fired au: Herb doesn’t get outed and fired during Horsin around. Instead, Herb gets outed and fired a few years later while working on a different show. Despite the fact that they haven’t been super close for a while, Bojack goes to check up on Herb when he hears about what happened, and considering practically everything else has abandoned him at this point, it means a lot to Herb. They end up becoming best friends again, and then the whole thing evolves into a decades long slow burn

Bojack Catman au: Instead of marrying Butterscotch, Beatrice says “screw it” and gives him up for adoption instead. Bojack is adopted by a family of cats and acts like one. This au started off mostly crack but then I started adding feels

Part 2

[pumpkinpie59]

Hi again!!

Here’s a question for you! If you had to pick, what would your top five episodes be from both the 1987 and 2012 series? 😃

Thanks again, and have a nice evening! 😁

hi!

this was kinda hard lol. i love so many episodes in both shows but here’s my answer right now:

1987

5. the big cufflink caper

this one was an immediate favorite. it’s fun, silly, and clever. each turtle has their time to shine. the plot is so ridiculous but i found myself intrigued by the steps taken to solve the mystery. it’s great

4. take me to your leader

i love the concept of the other 3 turtles trying to lead in leonardo’s absence. it really shows why leonardo is so needed in the team, while showing why the other turtles have other roles. raphael doesn’t want to lead but can ground the team and is most likely to see things as they are, donatello is competent beyond belief but doesn’t have the focus needed to be leader, and michelangelo has the kindness and talent to lead but is ultimately too short sighted. it’s leonardo’s drive and ambition and confidence that make him a good leader and him needing to find that again and see that his brothers need him is such an interesting premise, and the episode is great at the execution imo.

3. four musketurtles

leonardo gets hyperfixated on a book, bonks his head, and wakes up believing his is the main character. it’s just so funny and cam clarke’s british accent reminds me of liquid snake which i find hilarious. idk it’s just fun.

2. beware the lotus

lotus is my favorite character beside leonardo so of course this was gonna be on the top five lol. i love lotus and leonardo’s dynamic, and i just love lotus as a character. even if we don’t get to explore lotus’ character very much, the episode does a great job establishing lotus’ abilities: her combat prowess, her smarts, her wit, and even her self respect. and the fact that she can defeat shredder so easily … mwah i love it.

1. farewell lotus blossom

hehe now here’s the episode where we explore lotus’ character more. she’s insecure about not fitting in or having a family/clan. and the fact that she feels comfortable around leonardo enough to cry and laugh and tease like AHSKAHAK PLEASE I LOVE THEM. the whole onion scene is my favorite scene in the show. i just wish we could’ve seen how she dealt with her new life without the spirit within her. and more leolotus obviously. the one thing that bothers me about the episode is that shredder and his group don’t show up after chakahachi takes the role of villain. they just leave and we don’t see them for the rest of the episode lol.

some special mentions bc this show is great:

teenagers from dimension x

the maltese hamster

green with jealousy

raphael meets his match

donatello’s degree

leonardo versus tempestra

splinter vanishes

unidentified flying leonardo

turtles on the orient express

i’ve only seen the first 4 seasons and the europe side season tho so i’ll have more opinions once i finish it lol.

2012

5. the insecta trifecta

i think this episode explores raph’a trauma and fear really well, and it is by far the height of the later seasons (ngl i am a season 1 fan lol). i love raph’s interactions with splinter so much. it shows how much raph has grown since season 1, and splinter’s counsel reflects it. instead of teaching raph as an angry child, he teaching him as a struggling almost-adult. he’s patient and understanding with him, and raph is more respectful and is able to try and talk through his struggles more easily. i love it. also i have a horrible sense of humor and the ant french kiss scene sends me into hysterics every time lmao.

4. in dreams

hehe i’m a sucker for worst fears/nightmare type episodes. also the ANIMATION IS SO COOL IN THIS EPISODE??? AND CASEY SAVES THE DAY??? AND APRIL IS SO WORRIED ABOUT THEM THE ENTIRE TIME???? man i love it. i love most of the farmhouse arc but this one is so good x3

3. parasitica

i’m not even a mikey fan and i have a huge fear of insects, especially wasps. so i legit have no idea why i love this one as much as i do. but the plot is so … small? compared to the other episodes. a majority of it is just in the lair, and the turtles are the only characters other than the wasps. and it works so well. the story flows great and you feel the urgency of the situation. also mikey banging his head into the table so he doesn’t pass out is funny to me idk. also. ALL HAIL THE BEAN … why wasn’t april there tho? she was living with them during this time lol

2. monkey brains

this episode is the best donatello episode idc. not only is it the start of april and donnie becoming best friends (before then it was super awkward lol and april wasn’t quite used to him yet), but also it shows donnie’s flaws, strengths, and insecurities so clearly. i wish later episodes were this good at exploring his character. it’s like they hit his magnum opus way too early lmao and didn’t know where to go afterwards. he over-thinks. with fighting. with hanging out with april. and with his insecurities … doesn’t think april will just say yes to hanging out so he has to come up with an excuse of some sort … takes a lot of issue with the word “monstrosity” (thinks he’s a monster and doesn’t like to be reminded) … and i haven’t forgotten about april. this episode marks the first major glimpse of her powers. and when splinter first offers her training. LIKE IDK I JUST ADORE THIS EPISODE.

1. fungus humungous

is it wrong to have criticisms of my fav episode? xD i love leo’s fear, and april’s, and i do believe that donnie’s is appropriate (to some extent), but the others aren’t explored very well imo. and i wish mikey’s was the parasitica wasps instead of the stupid squirrelanoids smh. but i genuinely enjoy watching this episode on repeat lol. idk what to say rlly. it’s just interesting to me.

and some honorable mentions

i think his name is baxter stockman

never say xever

panic in the sewers

new girl in town

enemy of my enemy

karai’s vendetta

operation breakout

slash and destroy

the invasion

buried secrets

race with the demon

eyes of the chimera

the fourfold trap

the arena of carnage

the war for dimension x

mutant gangland (messy execution; fun premise)

tokka vs the world

when worlds collide

it’s easier for me to think about seasons as a whole rather than just episodes tho lol

season 1 is good from beginning to end. some episodes are better than others, but it all flows rlly well imo. also top tier comedic timing and i personally love the quick movements and quirky speaking animation.

season 2 has rlly good highs but boring lows? it does have the strength of flowing well tho. individual episodes aren’t easy for me to like (other than fungus humungous, slash and destroy, and the invasion), but there are good scenes throughout the season.

season 3 starts out super strong (with the exception of bigfoot episode and frog episode). i love the farmhouse arc so much. but then the rest of the season feels aimless and messy. i don’t rlly like the brain worm thing. they didn’t want karai to be a good guy yet so they drew out the villain karai thing way too long. i like the finale but there’s very little buildup.

season 4 should have been two seasons. the space arc is pretty fun, but a lot of the episodes had weird pacing and i wish there was more imo? like you have so many things you could do with a space arc but didn’t explore them. and then the last half was … meh. it could’ve been its own season to explore the arcs more. let april’s possession be more drawn out and a bigger issue, let don vizioso have more of an impact (especially for donnie), let splinter’s death be better written smh. also i hate the finale lmao

okay so … tbh i haven’t finished rewatching season 5 lmao. so i don’t remember lone rat and cubs, the usagi arc, the monster arc, the apocalypse arc, and the crossover arc very well. i’m rewatching the show with my sister tho so i’ll get there soon lol. but i really dislike the kavaxas arc?? it’s so useless imo?? why is tiger claw leading a cult?? and why are they resurrecting shredder when he already killed splinter which was his entire life goal?? and donnie had such a small murder problem THAT SHOULDVE HAD MORE IMPACT??? ugh. i like when worlds collide tho ajskahsk top tier. hehe ramona and apritello brain go brrr.

anyway sorry for my weird rant lol. thanks for the ask ^^