#oooh i've been thinking about that a lot actually i'm going to post that in another post lmao

[doctorweebmd]

in other news i've spent most of this morning working on everything in halves chapter 5 - 3600 words thus far! this baby is a particularly load-bearing chapter so i anticipate its going to be long + require multiple rewrites but hopefully i can use this mini-vacation as a good kickstart

[cosmerelists]

How Kaladin Would Flirt With Other Cosmere Characters

As requested by @cam-ulu29 :)

Hot off the back of my post about other characters flirting with Kaladin, cam-ulu29 asked if I could also write about Kaladin being the big flirt with other characters. So let's just say that Kaladin had the ability & the desire to flirt...how might he do so?

1. Lyn

Kaladin: I'm glad that there are women Windrunners now. Lyn: Man, me too! Kaladin: And specifically I am glad that you. A woman. And a Windrunner. Are here. Lyn: Awww, thanks! Kaladin (visibly sweating): Yes you. As a woman. Who is a Windrunner. And is here. Lyn: Are you...are you having a stroke right now?

2. Renarin

Kaladin: Hey, Renarin...back when you first joined Bridge 4, did you have a crush on me? Renarin: ! Renarin: W-Was it obvious? Kaladin: N-No, not really! Syl told me. Later. That she thought you did. Renarin: Oh... Kaladin: ... Kaladin: Any chance you still do?

3. Leswhi

Kaladin: Hey, uh, Leshwi? I was wondering if you would be free for an honorable duel, maybe Tuesday night? Leshwi: Certainly. I will assemble the shanay-im. Kaladin: Oh, well, I was actually thinking of an honorable duel with just you and me, you know? Syl: And me! Kaladin: And also Syl. Leswhi: ... Leshwi: Tuesday you said? It's a date.

4. Rlain

Kaladin: Ugh, all these women keep coming to the clinic to flirt with me. Kaladin: I can't get any work done! Kaladin: I bet if they knew I was in a relationship already, they'd stop. Kaladin: Hey Rlain...do you want to hold hands? Rlain: ...Are you asking me to pretend to be your boyfriend? Kaladin: Pretend?

5. Laral

Kaladin: Crazy how we're both single now. Laral: ... Laral: You mean because you got dumped and my husband DIED? Kaladin: Uh... Laral: ... Kaladin: So...not the right moment to see if you want to get a drink and catch up? Laral: NOPE

6. Adolin

Kaladin: I think horses are mean and scary. Adolin: That's just 'cause you haven't been around them enough! I swear! They're cool and friendly! Kaladin (continuing as if Adolin said nothing): But I would accept being around horses. Lots of mean horses. Kaladin: If it meant. Kaladin: Being around you. Adolin: ...? Kaladin: ... Adolin: ... Adolin: Oh! Adolin: Nice.

7. Shallan

Kaladin: [sighing dramatically] Shallan: What's wrong? Kaladin: I want to flirt with someone, but she's much wittier than I am, so I don't know how to even start. Shallan: Oooh, that's exciting! Can I give you advice? Kaladin: I would LOVE advice. Shallan: Well, it depends on whether you can match her wit, or whether you think she's entirely too witty for that. Kaladin: I think I could. Sometimes. Probably not while also flirting, though. Shallan: Sure, sure. Well, you can always just enjoy her wit and let her enjoy how smart she is. Kaladin: Yeah? You think making her feel smart is a good tactic? Shallan: Well, it certainly can't hurt! Kaladin: [significant look] Shallan: ... Shallan: Oh! Shallan: Nice.

8. Moash:

Kaladin: You know...I bet I could swallow a WAY bigger sphere than you could... Moash: MY BED IS UPSTAIRS LET'S GO RIGHT NOW

9. Szeth

Kaladin: You know...I've been thinking that maybe this trip is a chance to find what I really need. Szeth: I feel the same way. Kaladin: You...you do? Szeth: I do. Nightblood: (Me too!) Kaladin: Well, good...because I think what I really need is... Kaladin: You... Szeth (simultaneously): Vengeance. Nightblood (simultaneously): The eradication of evil! Kaladin: ... Kaladin: I don't know what I expected.

10. Jasnah

Kaladin (talking to someone else): I mean...being partnered is fine, I guess, but the sex stuff I don't really get. Jasnah: ... [...] Kaladin (to someone else): Darkeyed Radiants is good and all but, I mean, we still have slavery. Anyone who really cared about social change would do somehing about that! Jasnah: ... [...] Kaladin: (to someone else): I like Wit, but storms can he be annoying sometimes. Small doses, you know? Jasnah: ... [...] Kaladin (talking to someone else): So then I convinced the ardents that locking up the insane in dark rooms was NOT a good thing--they're gonna change the treatment! Jasnah: ... Jasnah: Has Stormblessed always been so attractive?

[wombywoo]

Hello!!

I wanted to ask if you would be willing to share how you go about finding the references for the injuries you depict in your work? Your pieces where the CoD boys are sporting injuries, fresh and old, are always so lifelike and to my untrained eye seem entirely medically correct.

I have been trying my hand at drawing the boys retired and resting as well, but I’m finding it difficult to decide what work injuries to add and how to find the respective references.

How do you decide what injuries to portray? And how do you go about finding the reference material?

Your huge fan, amustikas

Oooh ok ok! I'm gonna post my answer publically because I think others would find this interesting too!

To preface, I am definitely NOT a medical professional, and as such, a lot of the stuff I choose to depict in my art is not so much..ah, medically accurate as it is....aesthetically pleasing 🤭

I'll start with scars, as a lot of us enjoy slashing up Simon's face with them, lol. Generally, I'll do a cursory google image search for the type of scar I'm looking for (be warned, these can be graphic) with searches like 'burn scar' 'surgery scar' etc. But I find that for things like cuts and lacerations, real-life scars are a bit innocuous and lame 🤷‍♀️ Unfortunately not everyone's skin wants to retain that perfect slash look™️😔

So what I usually end up referencing are costume prosthetic scars ✨

As you can see, they're pretty gnarly:

And you definitely don't have to go this intense, but I find that the dramatic, carved-like appearance of these translate better to art than a realistically healed wound 🤙

The other thing to consider is the prevalence of injuries in the military. From what I've gathered, the most common will be back/shoulder/limb injuries, just a general fucking up of the whole musculoskeletal system in general due to constant overuse 🤕 Hearing loss, shrapnel/blast/burn injuries are also common, as well as all the negative psychological effects :') goooood times (not)

I think it's neat to look up real-life examples of these things, but it can get a bit intense if you're squeamish...

SafeSearch is OFF, the horrors are REal 😳

So yeah...I tend to tone things down, all things considered...😅

For this particular piece:

I researched broken humerus injuries and treatment 👍 Poor boy 🥺(Yes, I am aware that I consumed entire articles and did a shit ton of research about this just to go ahead and put a female's x-ray in this fucking picture sdfghjkl rip💀😭)

But here you can see the actual process for applying the brace for this particular injury:

Neat, eh?

When I draw Johnny with a knee brace, it's usually a real authentic one you can buy on amazon:

Product placement blast!!!💥✨ Bezos, where is my cut?? 🫰

As for ones like this:

I tend to just...scatter some wounds around and patch them up accordingly, lol. Bruising around the eyes is common with any head injury, and surgical stitching will offer a nice puckered skin effect mmm 👌 (I swear I'm normal abt this)

I'm sure the medical malpractice lawsuits are stacking up for me now, but again--it's usually more about the ✨visuals✨

My parting advice would be--go nuts! Feel free to maim and mutilate and mangle to your heart's content 🥰

Thank you for the question, Amustikas! I love your art as well 💗🫶

[jinuaei]

Godbless you for writing yandere where the reader is actually the one that’s more in control, it’s so hard to find yandere where the reader isn’t literally getting owned, emotionally and physically.

I just imagine Tarn with like a famous YN and discovering fanfics of them, he’s gonna be so appalled but he prob read them as like a guilty pleasure, especially the explicit ones.

It's rare to see sub!Character authors so I go crazy when I do find one, @/muletia is my fav TF writer by far!

And Tarn with a famous reader is such a good dynamic, especially if we still follow the lore of Tarn being close/'serving' the reader directly. Like he is happy that a lot of people appreciate you! That means all of them see your greatness the same way as he sees you, but also he'd be so competitive with his worship.

He always has to be your no 1 fan! The other bots/people who's saying that they are your #1 fan are lying! They'll find themselves on The List (tm) and will stay there until a) they retract their statement and say that Tarn is and always will be your #1 fan, or b) they can't say anything because they're dead. Also, haters will always get the latter treatment.

Anyways, he'd buy every merch to add to his shrine, he'd always be the first one on a merch drop and he'll buy two of each. One for the shrine, and the other to use for uh... other ways of worship. My gods he'd definitely run to you as soon as he gets the merch and have you sign it.

Fics are a whole different can of worms, because I agree, it is a guilty pleasure, he'd read every fic that even mentions you in any tags or genre(I think he'd be a big fan of you x readers LMAO). Smut is for when he is alone in his berthroom, but imagine him on his back, reading smut of 'him' and you interfacing, servos rubbing his node while occasionally slipping his digits inside his valve. And then the fic you suddenly says or do something that you will never do and he just lays there, frozen. It takes him a minute before he removes his servos to furiously type on the data pad to rant about how 'they would never say this!' and 'You don't know them like I do and this is BULLSHIT!!!'.

The horny energy is gone now and all that is replaces is pure, devotion fueled rage. And out of spite, he'd make his own fic, that is so accurate that it makes people question who the author is. The fans would always question whether it is a stalker, or one of your staff members, because it's so terrifyingly accurate it actually concerns some fans. But with how eloquent he is and how passionate his writing is, it's no wonder that he'd be a popular writer among fans.

Oooh, also depending on his role on your staff team, most fans would see you together a lot (I'm thinking he'd be a bodyguard honestly) and the way he treats you is so gentlemanly and so sweet that fans actually ship you both, but he also has his own fanbase of simps.

Going back to fics, after people started shipping you two there will definitely be an influx of fanworks; edits, fanart, and fanfics!! Once he discovers your ship ITS OVER! Nobody is safe from his commitment to the ship, HE'D EVEN MAKE MORE REASONS TO SHIP YOU TWO. He's the type to show off how good of a partner he is, and always make sure that the cameras always capture how sweet he is to you (as a way to claim you definitely).

I also think he'd be a lurker, he'd have a secret account he'd use to comment, share, and save all of the fanworks that involves you. He'd be in every post ever that he becomes infamous as the no. 1 Tarnxyou shipper, or a you fan in general.

Goodness I've been yapping so much about his but yes! I approve of this.

[sp4ceboo]

Theead was getting LOOOOONNNGGG in the comments but!! To answer your questions:

Re: Epic the Musical

BOO WHY WOULD YOU MAKE ME CHOOSE 😭😭 I have my favourites from each saga but I'm so indecisive 🫠 I think the ones I listen to most recently are Odysseus, Monster, and Done For?.... but I genuinely love all of them 🥲

Also!! Off topic but recently I've been watching this series of youtube videos on a channel called "MadsNBooks" (or smth like that) where this woman who's apparently been MARINATED in greek myth from a young age reacts to Epic and it's SO interesting. I had no prior knowledge with greek mythology so I really got to enjoy Epic as a story purely its own, completely divorced from any other context. But it's still so interesting to learn about the changes Jorge made from source material, and how historical/cultural context shapes elements of the story I never even thought about.

Re: crochet

A lot of things XDD but lately I've been making a lot of tops! I'll post pics of my latest completed projects later~

frrrr im such a yapper especially when it comes to books 😭

omg odysseus gives me chills EVERY SINGLE TIME i swearrr (also i love all the ones with hermes in them)

hmm this is interesting, i studied a bit of classics when i was in school but i did more aeneid and less odyssey so i should defo check it out - listening i did notice some things like odysseus did not stay loyal in the og myths 💀 but then w greek myth there's always something that makes u go ew which is why it's actually so interesting to see different takes on them

(idk if u know about orpheus and eurydice but the common view is that he accidentally turned around and hence sent her into the underworld but i've seen a few interesting takes about how maybe she wanted him to turn around bc the underworld gave her more freedom than if she'd returned with him which is sooo interesting - also there's another thing about medusa but i digress)

also naturally this led me to more book stuff haha but have you read either a) song of achilles or b) circe (both by madeline miller) because those books also have beautiful prose - song of achilles is the more widely popular but circe is really dear to me and has a bit of the odyssey in it soooo

oooh crochet tops!! i need to get around to making clothes bc i think i've finally got the ability to get right tension level in the yarn that my stitches are even, normally i just make small things (my irl friends get showered in them on their birthdays)

[aceofshitposts]

Batquinn oneshot where Harley switches sides after joker kills Jason? Like it's the catalyst for her escaping

OOOH what a good one. i usually headcanon that harley is accepted as the arkham psych right after jason's death and joker's admission into arkham post getting almost every bone in his body broken for it BUT

i like this a lot here we go

-

It's the first time Bruce has been in public since Jason's death.

Jason never liked these things. Neither has Bruce, not really, but especially now he feels the sharp sting of holding a champagne flute in one hand and holding a placid smile on his face with no one here to commiserate.

The parade of well wishers seems never ending. People coming to shake his hand and sympathize for his loss in one breath and try to talk business the next. The same people had shown Jason nothing but disdain when Bruce had adopted him; whispering about street rats like Jason belonged under the shoes.

Bruce clenches his fist, not for the first time tonight. He wants to be out on the streets. He needs to be out there. Out on patrol where he doesn't need to hide behind a tired smile.

"Hey, take it easy there, big guy."

There's a hand on his bicep and for a moment Bruce sees pure red. He barely manages to reign in a snarl as he turns to whoever just touched him-- gently. Like they actually cared. None of them actually cared--

Blonde hair swept over one pale shoulder. A red cocktail dress with a slightly garish feather boa wrapped delicately around her elbows. Red lipstick and pale blue eyes looking at him without fear.

Harley Quinn. Joker's girlfriend. What was she doing here and did that mean Joker was prowling around too? He should be in Arkham, there was no way he was fully healed from Bruce's last encounter with him--

"Hey, hey, eyes down here," Harley says, snapping her fingers in front of his face. Bruce's vision focuses back on Harley, a small smile gracing her face when he makes eye contact. "Deep breaths. He's not here, he's not coming, okay? Let's go sit down before you break that champagne flute."

She gently reaches for the glass, taking it easily from his hands and leading Bruce off to the side from prying eyes.

His mind continues to race. Was this a trap? And-- she mentioned him. She's must mean Joker but then. Did she know? If she did, how did she know? And why was she even here?

"Sit," Harley demands as they step outside into the night air.

Numbly Bruce finds himself sitting on the bench she points at, dropping himself onto the polished wood with a grunt. Harley settles in next to him, a small gap between, and begins to pick at the feathers in her boa.

"He was a good kid. He didn't deserve that."

Bruce has heard a lot of people say some variation of that all night long.

It's the first time he's actually believed someone means it.

"You know," he says in response. There's no use in denying it. He's too tired to even try.

Harley looks at him with a lopsided smile.

"Course. Who do you take me for? I've got a PhD, y'know."

Silence settles between them. Bruce doesn't know what to do. Even with her association with Joker, she wasn't involved in what happened. Bruce was clear headed enough to acknowledge that.

"I'm not with him. Anymore, I mean. We were already on a break when he left and..." she's fiddling with her boa again, red feathers falling to her feet. "You have no reason to believe me but I never wanted to hurt Jason like that."

Harley stills, taking several deep breaths.

"I never wanted to hurt you like that. But this isn't about me." - Harley stands, dusting plucked feathers off her lap. - "I just wanted you to know that."

Bruce grabs her wrist before he has time to really think about it. She starts, looking at him with wide eyes. There's going to be talk tomorrow, probably pictures in the paper.

Brucie Wayne with some new arm candy after the death of his adopted son.

Let them talk. There was no stopping the gossip mill regardless.

Harley was the only person at this gala that really saw him.

"You can stay," he whispers, releasing his grip on her wrist. "If you want."

Harley smiles, small and genuine.

"Okay, B. I will."

[fizziepopangel]

Would you be mad if you weren't allowed to marry someone you loved and be stuck with someone you didn't like if we looked into Stella's perspective? I'm not trying to defend Stella.

Oooh! This is a good question! Also, I am so sorry it's taken me so long to get to your ask, I have a lot of submissions I've been putting off for various personal reason that I'm now slowly trying to get through now, so bear with me if you or others have been waiting a while.

A Fizziepop Take: Let’s talk about Stella and Stolas and their "love"?

Ok, so I wanna start by saying that I cannot stand Stella. Like I hate this woman with a passion and I’m pretty sure I’ve even used the tag “stella slander welcome” or something along those lines at one point on a post I’ve made here……. But, this ask actually poses a good point and it brings me to something that I’ve actually been thinking about for a minute now, so let’s get into it!

So, first of all, to answer the asker’s question, I would be pissed if I was forced into a marriage with someone I wasn’t in love with. Like the asker, I’m not saying that this to justify her actions, because there’s no excuse for who Stella is at her core, but I do kinda see why she has so much anger and resentment toward Stolas. As a person who has been in relationships where I felt unwanted and undesirable, I can definitely say that it sucks and it does cause a lot of angry feelings inside you…. But while I think Stella is horrible, part of me wonders if she maybe wasn’t always as horrible to Stolas as we’ve seen in the Helluva Boss series. I know, I know, that may sound insane, but hear me out; by the time we as an audience are brought into the picture, things have already been set in motion, meaning we’ve essentially been plopped into things midstory for a lot of these characters. We don’t see Millie and Moxxie meet and fall in love in season one, we don’t see Stolas and Stella get married and have Octavia, we don’t get to see Blitz adopt Loona. All of that has already happened by the time we meet these characters in season one, and all we get are flashbacks and little context clues further down the line as to how we got to the point we’re at now, so by the time we meet the Goetic demons, their marriage has long since been over despite them still being married.

Based on what we’re shown in the flashback episode where we see Stolas being told that he’s now engaged at the age like 10 or 12 or something, we see that Stella already doesn’t seem to be the sweetest child based on the singular picture we see of her, but we then get nothing from then to the time they’ve already had Octavia and Via is well into her teenage years. We don’t know how Stolas and Stella’s marriage started out, so we don’t know how hard either Stolas or Stella tried to get along or fall in love or even just tolerate one another. We don’t see if Stella grew bitter over the years because her husband wasn’t reciprocating the affection, and we don’t see how Stolas acted with his wife prior to the start of the show so we don’t know if he ever tried to care for her just for the sake of caring for her rather than just sort of going with it for the sake of their daughter. There’s part of me that wonders if maybe Stella did try to make the best of it before turning into the cold and cruel woman we see in the show, and there’s part of me that wonders if maybe Stolas was struggling too much internally to really recognize the ways she tried to be loving towards him. I honestly think if Stella weren’t an abusive woman that she and Stolas might have had a good friendship within their arrangement, but since we aren’t sure when the abuse started, we can’t 100% say since we never truly got a glimpse of her persona around him or anyone else prior to the events we see in season one.

Am I saying that unrequited feelings turned Stella into the monster she is now? No. I’ve both experienced and watched others experience all types of unreciprocated feelings over the years, and not many of them became anywhere near what Stella is, even in the darkest parts of dealing with those feelings, so I definitely think that the rot runs deeper than just what’s come up here. I am saying that I think the pressures of being demon royalty and the loneliness she may have experienced because of it coming with things like an arranged marriage at such a young age, may play a part in why she takes so much pleasure in making others suffer. I mean, it would kinda make sense seeing as misery does love company… And if you think about it, it would suck to be bound to someone the way she is and feel trapped that way and then one day have that other person wake up and decide that they don’t want to be married anymore. If Stella did feel like she wasn’t allowed to leave Stolas, it could’ve added to the resentment that may have already been building, and him being the one to escape the terms of their marriage (for lack of a better word) may have just poured salt in that wound. An excuse? No…. A reason? Maybe. 

Much like the asker, I’m not saying any of this to defend Stella’s behavior by any means, I mean she has openly admitted to enjoying abusing her husband and we see her getting enjoyment out of alienating Stolas from their daughter despite that actively hurting her daughter too. She’s a bad person…. But I would like to see more of her and Stolas’ story from prior to the events of season one to see if she’s always been a genuinely cruel, cold-hearted woman, or if maybe she soured over time to become what she is now.

[gethoce]

Sending a little ask, as I just happened to see your tournament post...

If you think you don't want to revisit any of that with all the other stressful stuff going on, you can skip this! It's nothing big outside of offering sympathy to you and some commiseration from someone in a similar place! Though I do have a question about including Valfrey in a little piece of tribute art at the end!

-

[Tourney Sympathy Section!]

I know we don't know each other extremely well (though I've seen your comics for a while and always admired how much work you put into each one and also your amazing and unique world building) but I'd like to offer hugs (...or whatever you're most comfortable with in place of those!) and sympathy.

I tried to keep a smile up throughout the tourney but I experienced some of that kind of back-talking too. Someone in the server (who I would like to think I became friends with eventually and really respect as a creator) called me a hypocrite way early on and said straight up that I could never understand what the rest of the competitors were going through because I ran a "popular" blog. It shut me up for a good long while ^^ Not saying this to convince you to forgive anyone, just that I know how upsetting the comments would casually get in that place with little to zero apologies to follow… And that I too felt extremely isolated because regardless of how well my posts on here did, I never -knew- anybody in the fandom or had ever talked to anyone before this event.

Anyway, lots and lots of sympathy. ^^ I'll try not to fill this message with "oooh, me as well!" but...I also saw my OC get fairly flanderized by folks, particularly with everyone in the Discord trying to treat him like a kid which, despite his age being a literal kid, that kind of treatment is something that would immediately rub him the wrong way. For me, I ended up kind of throwing in the towel and going with it eventually, and it took a lot of work to mold him back to something more closely resembling my original vision of him. I actually really admire you for standing strong with your character + lore despite how easy it was for things to get jumbled with everyone trying (or not) to figure everyone out.

...And I'm sorry if I was one of the people who mischaracterized Valfrey. I actually went to check out her toybox page VERY early on in the tournament (because I was fascinated + loved how their name came from Morpho's original name + the valkyrie thing) but I admit that some of that might've gotten overwritten or confused with time...

-

[Question Section!]

Lastly, given your experiences were a mixed bag, I wanted to ask... 

I have one more piece of tourney art to post this month as a conclusion to the second-chance finals - it's a very short piece with Noir and Rope MF going to a tug of war convention. Because I thought it would be sweet, I included starstruck and Valfrey in their little group too (Valfrey in their smaller butterfly form.)  

But if you would rather I leave her out of this because it's tourney related, I can do that too! Or if you think they wouldn't travel in that form or...?

Basically, after reading everything you went through, I want to try and get them right! (For clarity's sake, it's currently just a little cameo with her perched atop the human vers of Noir's head. I thought that would be okay since he's a lost soul already in that form!)

I hope I don't ramble too much, putting it under the cut just in case!

[Sympathy Section]

I do appreciate hearing about your similar experiences a lot! Makes me feel a little less alone in that whole thing... <3 I feel like people sometimes forget that we too are people. Like, I know how it's like to not be known at all. I've been there for many many years and only recently found a bit of a niche to enjoy.

I've been online for a good 15 years by now, (and given how you're about a decade older than me you can probably relate), naturally I've had my fair share of soul crushing experiences in which I posted something I worked very hard on and it got absolutely zero interactions. Just straight up nothing. It's not like we came online for the first time and immediately had people flocking to us as though it was a natural talent.

I've only been actively drawing Kirby fanart for about two years, the first time in a decade anything I've done actually managed to get some attention. It's worth noting that I don't even think it's possible to even climb that high within a niche fandom like Kirby. Even the biggest blogs that focus solely on Kirby aren't actually that large. The divide feels all the more unnecessary.

I like to tackle esoteric topics while the largely popular wholesome genre is something I really do not vibe with, naturally I don’t actually build up that much of a following. I'd have to force myself to do it and have a couple of times, but I don't want to make that a habit. I'm in this not for any fame but to have fun and get to talk with others about a franchise I've loved for as long as I can remember. Before the tournament there were only one or two people I could regularly talk to. I think having a friend group within the fandom is not only more rewarding than "fame" but also a lot less lonely.

Anyway, can I just mention how impressive it is to see a human OC like Noir find a footing in all of this? My creativity has been called into question for using a "common species" instead of something "more original". While humans aren't commonly used within the larger Kirby OC side of things, I'd imagine people would think of the species as "uncreative" even though there is much to dabble into in terms of lore just as there is for the orbs. People come here largely for characters that aren't human and yet your amazing writing and art managed to overcome that burden and Noir managed to capture people's attention!

I'd imagine many just looked at his design and made some assumptions and characterised him based on that alone instead of engaging with his lore, just as they looked at Valfrey and came to the conclusion that if she is a butterfly she must be a reaper and nothing else... and thank you so much for actually reading her toyhouse page! I've since rewritten it entirely in hopes of perhaps making her lore more clear in the future. It can be tough properly introducing OCs with a lot of lore. I'm grateful for anyone who actually takes their time to look into it!

[Question Section]

I'D ACTUALLY LOVE THAT OMG it'd be an honour to be included in all that!! Valfrey coming in in the butterfly is just so cute and hilarious. She can sit on top of Noir and be carried around a little LOL. Valfrey does like to observe things a lot in that form, I can totally see this being in character! <3

[pokemonshelterstories]

Even after reading your FAQ and a bunch of asks you've answered, I'm still not sure if a shelter blog is the best place to ask this, so do feel free to delete this (or tell me privately that you won't post it, but only if you have the time and energy), but I can't think of anyone else, and if you do post it, you or some of your followers might have some interesting thoughts, so here goes:

How would you feel about using Pokeballs to catch Pokémon you're planning to eat?

For context, I and my siblings grew up in a small, mostly off-grid community, and while most details aren't relevant, we did hunt for food occasionally. We never used pokeballs, but instead bow and arrow, fishing rods, nets and traps.

These days I live closer to a big city, sharing a house with my brother, his husband, and their teenage son (my other nibling, their older child, has moved out a while ago, so they're not part of this story).

Last month, we visited the community my brother and I grew up in, and during our two week stay, I took my nephew on a hunting trip. He was decently enthusiastic to train his archery, but he asked why we don't just use pokeballs. Wouldn't it be easier? I didn't have an answer for him then, only that we'd been taught this way and that I'd never considered using pokeballs.

But I've been thinking about it. It would be easier, but wouldn't it also be more cruel? After all, by catching it in a pokeball, you're giving the pokemon false hope of a nice life with a trainer, only to then kill it. I feel like killing it quickly while it's still in the wild and doesn't know any better is more, like, honest maybe?

What do you or your followers think?

(If any angry vegans find this post, don't even waste your energy on a mean response or lecture, because most likely I have you blocked already, and if I don't, I'll correct that when I see you being rude to me)

oooh, this is an interesting ask to get...

i think this is really more of a matter of personal comfort with the idea of eating a pokemon that's been caught in a ball, but as long as it's done properly, i don't see anything wrong with it. after all, pokemon for the most part don't really have any concept of what's going to happen to them in the future.

as someone who hunts, you (i assume) understand our duty to give the pokemon we eat as painless of a death as possible. then, as trainers, we have a duty to maintain the 5 freedoms for our pokemon, which includes freedom from psychological stress. provided you meet those requirements, i think it's ok to catch a pokemon in a pokeball for the sake of eating it. it's more humane than certain types of traps that leave the pokemon struggling until the hunter comes to check them, and pokemon tend to relax in pokeballs, since they mimic the way pokemon curl up when healing. when the pokemon is released from its ball, you then just need to humanely slaughter it. there are some pokemon that i wouldn't do this with, since they don't immediately take well to being caught in a ball; buneary is a good example. but many common game pokemon do just fine.

i've actually used a different tool to help out with culling food pokemon- my styler! there are a lot of farms out near artazon, and rangers do sometimes get asked to help with keeping livestock mons calm in the moments leading up to slaughter. i've met rangers who aren't comfortable taking on those cases, and i've definitely gotten fussed at by my share of pokemon rights activists, but i think pokemon raised as food deserve as calm of an environment as possible. so, no, i dont think using pokeballs to trap game is cruel as long as you know what you're doing and don't stress the pokemon out. but if you're used to the way you already do things, don't feel like you have to change it up either.

[theamityelf]

I’ve been thinking of talent swap AUs and I was wondering if there were any talents you would like to see Makoto have? And like if that varies from ship to ship? Like way back you have that post of different Makoto soulmate AUs with different ships, so that but with talent swaps.

On the top of my head, an Ultimate Neuroscientist Makoto would be interested with Hineagi or Kamuegi. Like Makoto is a minute replacement on the Kamukura project and either encounters pre-op Hajime (and maybe tries to save Hajime’s memories along with giving him talents I don’t know) OR meets Kamukura (and it’s the classic treats Izuru as a human rather than an experiment tropes but Makoto is a scientist here)

Oooh, first of all, there's one relevant post I made a little bit ago where I said that Ultimate Rule-Breaker would be a cool fit for him, since we know he will defy the establishment to protect other people.

But your specific idea of matching it to specific ships like in my soulmate AU's post is really cool, so let's give it a try, lol! I don't want to threaten his just-a-guy-ness, but it could be cool to try to use the alternate ultimate to lean into certain particular dynamics of each ship. It really seems to come down to "Is it more fun to do opposites or to coordinate?"

Kamuegi:

Here, I really want to retain the sense of "He isn't super skilled; he's just a really decent guy." A part of me wants to go "Ultimate Therapist" or somewhere in that ballpark, specifically because it justifies Hope's Peak's scientists having arranged for them to be around each other, but I think it's a little important to me that he's not a therapist. It feels like it takes away from his Power of Friendship thing if he's a therapist. Not knocking therapy! It's just maybe not best for the ship. I think the best thing he can offer Izuru is an appreciation for the world around him, so something like "Ultimate Bird-Watcher", like in that other post, or "Ultimate Stargazer," or just something in the ballpark of "person whose skill comes from enjoying things and dedicating himself to that enjoyment". Canon Makoto seems to more have that with people, but for this AU, I think the highly social aspect of Makoto's personality can receive less emphasis. I think for now I'm going to go with "Ultimate Storm-Chaser", because that combines a few cool things. It's an enjoyment of the natural world, it's a kind of wild side that we don't usually get to see a lot from Makoto, it characterizes the whole Naegi family in a pretty fun way (like, I'm just picturing them in a station wagon or van, following storms since Makoto and Komaru were little kids), and it's a thing where Makoto's clumsiness and Izuru's protection can put them in cool situations. And Makoto can still get some heroics in, saving people who are in the path of natural disasters. (I'm picturing the standard screaming child in a disaster movie.)

Naegami:

Oh boy, where to start for this one? I'm not going to act like Ultimate Secretary didn't cross my mind first, but I think the appeal of AU's where he actually becomes Byakuya's secretary isn't usually the idea that he'll be superhumanly good at it. Next, the idea of them being placed at odds by their titles comes to mind. Like, maybe the Togami Corporation is up to some harmful practices and Makoto is the Ultimate Environmentalist, or the Ultimate Activist, and he tries to appeal to Byakuya's better nature, and also it's really funny to think "The Ultimate Environmentalist saves the planet by accidentally romancing the most influential CEO." Boy, I started this point planning to say "but instead", but now I've kind of talked myself into this one. I think I like this dynamic?? Makoto just trying to reason with him, Byakuya reading him as some wide-eyed idealist at first, but Makoto is able to parry everything he says, and they have a Vibe, and then they're dating, and Byakuya really likes him, but if he actually makes the changes that Makoto is passionate about, he's worried Makoto will leave him because a part of him has thought that Makoto was just using him the whole time.

(Also, hey, it's me from after I finished the rest of this post. Yeah, the answer I give for Naezono also applies here.)

Naegiri:

I am pretty charmed by the idea of him being something that stands at odds with Ultimate Detective, like Ultimate Accomplice (and there are a lot of ways he could be someone who deliberately or accidentally keeps people from getting in trouble while she's trying to find out the truth no matter what), but it seems more aligned with the spirit of the ship if he gets something that pairs well with detective, like "Ultimate Lip-Reader". That one would probably involve a lot of him tagging along on the field with her, offering his thoughts and insights and telling her what people are saying in silent security footage. Alternatively, any Ultimate where she's doing the field work as a detective and he's doing the office and/or people-facing side is cool, so "Ultimate Secretary" would actually be pretty great for this ship. (That one fic, Smile at the Mouth of Despair, had him doing file work and stuff, and I kind of love that; it's what I'm visualizing for this point. I like him sorting files and taking calls.)

Komaegi:

Is "Ultimate Friend" cheating? Yeah, that's cheating. I kind of like Ultimate Survivalist, maybe, where people expect him to be really strong and cool, but he's just a somewhat clumsy little guy who just happens to regularly dodge heavy projectiles and happen to have the exact thing he needs in his backpack. (This could include him knowing aikido, since we all love Aikido Makoto, lol.) The way this would intersect with Nagito is, in any given plane crash or house fire or explosion, Makoto theoretically should be safe and able to help Nagito out. I say theoretically because there is a part of me that thinks Nagito's luck would have to kill the Ultimate Survivalist. I don't always subscribe to the theory that his luck does the least likely thing (whether it's good or bad), but I do think that an Ultimate Survivalist, even if the talent works exactly like Makoto's normal luck, would be tempting fate just by being called that.

Honestly, while I said that the highly social aspect of Makoto's character didn't need to be emphasized for Izuru, I feel it definitely does for Nagito, hence the "Ultimate Friend" idea. But I'm thinking maybe a service role that Makoto can have a decidedly healthy approach to, like Ultimate Barista? Is there a word for someone who picks up litter? Because I love the idea of Makoto's Ultimate being focused on cleaning up after people, but him having an overall more generous and friendly outlook on them than Nagito. Maybe Makoto is the Ultimate Custodian, and a lot of people expect him to resent people who drop trash, but he's more, "I'm glad I can help out. Sometimes people are busy or make mistakes, and I'm glad I can keep our shared spaces clean. I meet a lot of interesting people! For example..."

A talent that positions him to know when something's off with Nagito even if he doesn't say anything, like "Ultimate Body Language Expert", would theoretically be cool, because it would allow for Makoto to comfort him when he really needs it, but that also feels a little bit like cheating, lol.

(Him being the Lucky Student, Ultimate Hope, or talentless honestly work best for Nagito, in my opinion, but these are still fun dynamics to explore.)

Naenami:

Oooh, maybe Ultimate Game-Breaker? This is kind of a fusion of bad luck and gamer, where he will reliably find the bug in any game always. Maybe too similar. I think what I'm picturing for them right now is Makoto having a YouTube channel or Twitch channel where he talks about stuff he likes. Like, maybe a CinemaWins kind of thing, but unscripted, where he's actually rambling to the camera. That way, we get a dynamic where Chiaki makes Let's Plays and Makoto makes just general positive vlog content. They try out a new game together, and Makoto is raving about how cool it is and Chiaki's like, "It's fun. The crafting mechanic is a little buggy, and they didn't really integrate it into any storyline. Yeah, it's a pretty good new release." I'm going to say he mostly vlogs, so I can call him Ultimate Positivity Vlogger instead of having to find a way word all of that in one Ultimate title, lol.

Naezono:

Ultimate Stage Hand or Light Technician could be fun. Maybe Ultimate Celebrity Interviewer, and they have one conversation that is just so incredible that she never stops thinking about it. He has a way of really making the people he interviews feel seen and cared about, and that's just so unusual in the entertainment industry that Sayaka falls head over heels. (He doesn't know he has this effect.)

Naekusaba:

Ooh, I'm feeling something in the ballpark of Ultimate Bookkeeper, or just any collection-type Ultimate. Something unassuming in the eyes of pretty much everyone. Here's why: Making him a passionate collector of [something] means we can have Mukuro often shyly gifting him one of [that thing] that she found while she was out doing soldier stuff. He gets to nervously ask, "You didn't kill someone for that, did you?" and she gets to lie, "No, I bought it," or "No, I found it." Also, it means maybe one day Mukuro knocks on his door bleeding, injured, with nowhere else to go, being followed by enemies, and Makoto hides her in his home which is full of collected things and enemy soldiers show up at his house like "Have you seen [description of Mukuro]?" and he's like, "No, I'm here alone. No one's been here." And the enemy soldiers barge in anyway to search the place, but in all his collected things, they can't find Mukuro, so they leave and he brings her some food and water and does his best to bandage her up (or she just stitches up her own wound), and she notices that he has a little bruise or scratch from when the enemy soldiers pushed him aside to search the place, and she's so sorry she brought danger to his door.

Naejunko:

I think Ultimate Hope is already perfect for that one. Alternatively, though, something like "Ultimate World Ender" or some similar thing positioning him as potentially usable to her. It would follow the same rules as "Ultimate Rule-Breaker", though, where the whole point is that he prioritizes others' wellbeing over any establishment, so it would be a situation where Junko tries to make use of his talent for destroying organizations from within (because that's the essence of his talent, here; he's really good at dismantling organizations), but it doesn't work because he's not just out there destroying things; his priority is to help people, and he was titled the way he was because those running the establishments that do harm were seeing him from their own perspectives. Junko can't get the Ultimate World Ender (or whatever else his title is) to end the world, and he's actually a pretty big inconvenience for her.

Or "Ultimate Barista" again. She's talking about her despair plans with Mukuro in some cafe, and Makoto brings them their coffee or tea, like, "Are you guys writing a book?" and casually weighs in on "plot elements" that interest or confuse him, accidentally helping Junko make her plan better. She keeps inviting him to their table for more artistic feedback, and he's having a great time talking with them. They become regulars, and he memorizes Mukuro's order and, even though Junko always orders something different, he seems to somehow intuit the kinds of flavors she enjoys and makes great recommendations. She's in love.

[cult-of-the-eye]

LEMME HEAR YOUR UNHINGED TMA RANTS! <3

Oooh I think I've already posted a lot of my rants but one of the characters who I haven't really had a whole rant on is Martin K blackwood.

THIS MAN. This man is so wonderfully written. A lot of characterisations of the "nice one" are quite flat and don't really expand much on them being nice apart from maybe giving the person low self esteem. What I love about Martin is how masterfully it uses that sort of prototype of a character and makes it much more gut wrenching and relatable. He starts off as sort of the office dunce from Jon's pov, which early on we also realise is unreliable. He's the bumbling idiot, the sweet fool and I get it. As a fat person, I feel like a lot of us feel pressured to be the comic relief or to put it more precisely, the one to be laughed at. And he's seen the gap in the archives, he's seen that role that needs to be filled and he's easily filled it. When you have the group of Tim and Sasha and then Jon, the only thing that could unite them is mutual awkward laughter towards Martin. And Martin is used to seeing what's there and filling the gaps, man is a people pleaser to a fault, he has had to guess what his mum didn't like about him and change accordingly, getting it wrong every time. He makes himself palatable which is so REAL especially for a fat person and/or traumatised people.

And then we see this more calculating side of him. He LIED to all his colleagues and his BOSS about a qualification to get a job and then kept that lie going for at least a couple of months. Listen, I don't think it's fair to label Martin as completely a manipulative calculating guy who's just put on a mask but it's also not exactly fair to characterise him as just a sweet, tea making guy who wears jumpers. And that's what I love about him. He's so complex. I feel like it delves into the idea of having both a saviour complex as well as an inferiority complex. He's had to make choices that are above his skillset early in his life and frequently, he's been blamed for causing other people's emotions so he naturally thinks he has control over how other people feel. Which gives him that sense of responsibility, like I can save anyone cause I can control their emotions, if I'm nice enough then they won't be mad/ill/sad/they'll love me. But at the same time, these sort of underhand methods of indirect communication don't resonate to him as causing any damage cause he doesn't actually think he's important enough to cause damage or have an impact on other people's lives

I don't think it's of any shock to anyone that my favourite Martin is angry Martin. It's the part that fights against both aspects of this inferiority/saviour complex because it 1. Is a path of direct communication. He has the opportunity to state exactly how he is feeling and the focus is on that rather than how can I get the other person to respond. 2. It recognises that he is important. Anger is in response to perceived injustice, frustration, annoyance and all of those things are in a way, self preserving. Obviously it's not good to do that too much (see: Tim Stoker) but there you go. I'm not saying angry Martin is perfect or anything but I'm saying that it's so satisfying and interesting to see cause it completely goes against the characterisation we've been given so far and it introduces a whole new facet to Martin - that he doesn't want to be ruled by his trauma and past experiences.

It's honestly a joy to see Martin develop into someone who fights more against the role he's been "given" while simultaneously playing into it. His whole Peter Lukas arc is very much a part of that. Essentially he's saying I'm not important enough to contribute the way you are (inferiority) but I'm still going to try and control things behind the scenes (saviour). So when Jon goes to save him it breaks that, he looks him in the eyes and tells him you, Martin K Blackwood are Important, you make an impact and you Mean Something. You don't have to save us all. It's such an important part of his character arc and honestly it blows me away every time I think about it.

Plus obviously the whole isolation thing is just so AGH it's just so built in to his character it makes complete sense that he has a tendency to isolate himself. It fulfills both the inferiority and saviour - he doesn't think he's important enough to be missed but also he feels like it'll push them into missing him. Solving the problem and putting himself down in one fell swoop.

Our final stage of Martin is one that is far from perfect, far from healed but absolutely closer than he was at the beginning. He shows more of himself, in working towards realising he makes an impact on people, telling jokes and just sharing his thoughts to Jon. So what does him stabbing Jon mean for this? Honestly I'm not entirely sure (I'm gonna be honest I did not realise this rant would be so long lol) but I'm thinking along the lines of this is an ultimate show of acceptance of his significance and rejection of his need to save people. He is committing the most direct act of all, he's doing this in the same need to help people but instead of being manipulative about it, he's just directly doing what needs to be done. But also he's not saving Jon, he's doing the complete opposite. He couldn't control Jon's response to the situation, as much as he wanted to, so he did what jon wanted. I might not be explaining this right cause I'm not entirely sure what I mean either but I'm trying to say it's a poetic end. It's separate from everything he was but in a way that's parallel to and pays homage to his struggles. He's still being sort of a saviour and he's still arguably not the most important person in this scenario but the point is that it's in a different way than he's used to. In my opinion, a better way.

Anyway yeah thank you for enabling me, I didn't know how much I needed this rant and I didn't know I had so much to say lol. <3

[saccharinescorpion]

Oooh would love to hear more about the older shoujo works you've been reading lately! /gen

Princess Knight: finally finished the omnibus my boyfriend bought me ages ago. very neat to finish a Tezuka work and one of the grandmothers of the entire medium

The Poe Clan: bought the first volume, one of those aforementioned "omnibuses that could double as a weapon," i'm halfway through and really digging it so far, Moto Hagio's art is incredible

Fushigi Yuugi: a few chapters in, "original isekai" jokes aside this is probably the most "teen girl fantasy" of everything i've been reading recently, with the cute boys and "escaping my stressful life" situation. i like Miaka a lot and actually like her dynamic with Tamahome, and i'm really curious as to how Yui is going to factor into the story

Basara: i like Yumi Tamura's art a lot and i've read a bit of Don't Call It Mystery and have really wanted to read some more, and i think it's cool that she's done this kind of big dramatic post-apocalypse epic, but i'm a few chapters in and i dunno, it's probably not going to be for me, especially now that i reached the "hot springs" chapter and now know who the love interest is going to be lol. i've heard good things about 7 Seeds and going purely by the description i feel like i would be more interested in that

Neighborhood Story: i like Ai Yazawa's art but again i don't know if this one is going to be for me. i still want to give it a few more chapters

Phantom Thief Jeanne: i LOVE this setup and i enjoy the characters. i got the sense from other's comments that Chiaki was going to be a lot more unbearable but ehhhh he's not so bad really? conversely i feel like i should like Miyako and Maron's relationship more but somehow it feels like they kind of dropped the ball on establishing their friendship- AND SPEAKING OF DROPPING BALLS LMAO, this is so nitpicky but i don't like the running gag where Miyako constantly drops balls (??) on Maron when she's annoyed, a subgag of that thing where 80% of these manga has one character smacking another for the dumbest possible reasons. and before you say anythiiiiing i'm not saying it's problematicccccc it's mostly just dumb and annoying. also lmao at the fact that Miyako's dad is drawn as an ugly chibi in the manga but in the anime he's just a normal dude???? ok lol

Pretear: i'm reading one of those mid scanalations i mentioned earlier lol. i'm enjoying it but more than that i want to watch the anime specifically which seems like it kind of a more "complete" version of the story? also i'm happy to read this one because Pretear is one of the first magical girl animes i heard about other than Sailor Moon (in a now-defunct American anime magazine lol)

speaking of magical girls i so badly want to read Rayearth and Sugar Sugar Rune but i think i'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy physical copies, i tried a scan for SSR and the translation was annoyingly bad

haven't touched the manga yet but i've been loving the Dear Brother anime and recently started watching Glass Mask with my boyfriend too

this one is way too new but it's worth noting, Kageki Shoujo was basically what sparked this recent shoujo kick for me, damn what a good series (and is also very heavily inspired by older shoujo series so hey! full circle!)

[firthbetterorfirthworse]

hi! I got a hyperfixation over colin firth the last few days and I've been watching his movies but I'm at that moment where all I want to see is him kissing another woman (I don't mind if it's a man honestly) 👁👄👁 and I came across your blog and your master post BUT I can see it's focused on how wet he got SO i wanted to ask you if you could give me a list of the movies I can watch based on what I told you before. (dw, the really good movies are on a list but I think you get what I mean). thank you and sorry for my english, it's not my first language 🫠

Oooh I'm honored you came to me!

Kissing movies with Colin Firth

He's probably best known for the Bridget Jones series or Love Actually. They're honestly not my favorite, but I gift you this gif

because I'm not blind to the appeal! Instead I've arbitrarily ranked a bunch of them for you

Tier 1

I think my top is honestly Then She Found Me (2007) He and Helen Hunt have both been hurt before and know how messy love can be - but how much the risk can be worth it!

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) doesn't have a lot of kissing, but it's so so cute. I love farce anyway, and I could rewatch this story a thousand times.

Supernova (2020) is a beautiful, beautiful movie. He and Stanley Tucci are perfect together. But you will also cry.

Same with A Single Man (2009). Romance features heavily, but it's memories of a lost love. This movie is gorgeous and wonderful but you will cry through all of it. I include it only because of how beautiful it is

Tier 2

These are some pretty standard rom-coms that I enjoyed overall but didn't change my life:

Fever Pitch (1997) He's a bit of a loser teacher who falls for the new teacher, he's football obsessed and she doesn't get it.

Hope Springs (2003) - He ends up in the small town of Hope Springs after his fiancé leaves him, and meets someone new

The Secret Laughter of Women (1999) - he is a comic book writer who meets a young boy and his mother. Cultural differences as well as some other twists work against them

A Summer in Genoa (2008) - mourning the loss of his wife, he finds comfort in the arms of an old friend. This one is a bit more family focused, he's a father, but it worked for me

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - He is a skeptic, Emma Stone is claiming to be psychic. Not a lot of kissing that I remember, but there's a wonderfully terrible proposal and a happy ending.

Period Pieces

Valmont (1989) - Firth plays someone willing to sleep with anyone who looks at him longer than 2 seconds. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, even though there were moments that made me uncomfortable

Camille (1984) - Baby Firth falls in love with a courtesan and makes me feel like an inappropriate cougar

Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003) - all yearning, no kissing, but I figured I'd include it.

Bonus - Not a romance, BUT

Apartment Zero (1988) - written in a time where you could not come out and say anything more than "they were roomates" so there is zero kissing but you know there stuff going down offscreen. It's less about the romance and more about the mystery of what the heck is going on, but oh boy was it a ride

Before I Go To Sleep (2014) - a movie all about mindfuckery - and a good one at that! - but Firth is there as the husband

Playmaker (1994) - another mindfuck movie that is not about romance, but there are some sexy moments with Firth

St Trinians (2007) - I honestly don't know how to classify this movie. It's objectively a mess, but it's super fun

Nanny McPhee (2005) - More of a family film, but the romance of Firth is pretty plot-centric. It's cute, but tame

Technically a romance/You can if you want

The Accidental Husband (2008) - Colin Firth starts the movie as the supportive, wonderful fiance, so of course things go wrong for him

Circle of Friends (1995) - Firth plays a bit of a sleaze, but he definitely romances someone and there is kissing involved

Deep Blue Sea (1994) - Firth is living with someone but they have major problems, one of which is her husband. Not a lot of kissing

Dutch Girls (1985) - Baby Firth travels with his team to Holland, where they are all trying to get laid but he falls for a specific girl instead (again, not really any kissing)

The English Patient (1996) - Firth is in Egypt with his new wife, but Ralph Fiennes is there too. There is definitely kissing, but Firth isn't the only one doing it.

Femme Fatale (1991) - Firth is newly married when she disappears, and he finds out nothing is as he thought it was. Probably not as much kissing as you're looking for.

Fourplay/Londinium (2001) - This movie exists. And it is a kissing movie. But oh boy... I don't know that I have anything good to say aobut it hahaha

Out of the Blue (1991) - Firth charms the more inexperienced Catherine Zeta-Jones

Wings of Fame (1990) - In this weird movie, Firth is in a hotel that is the afterlife. But he does meet a woman and they get it on

[perpetualexistence]

OK. I'VE DROPPED THESE QUESTIONS IN THE DISCORD ALREADY BUT I'LL ALSO DROP EM HERE

is the rest of the au plotted out?

how many parts left are there?

are team escope going to be relevant in the next part?

were there any other total drama cameos/characters you wanted to include?

is there anything in the au you wished you had written differently, and if yes, what?

ok this is a spoilery one but. are they dead. are the toxic yaoi guys dead. please i need to know

what actually prompted you into writing this au? since it's the first one you ever wrote about and stuff. did you have any other ideas around that time?

and a final one just for Tumblr:

8. If the boys are alive, is Alejandro gonna end up as Noah's goldfish after all this. because it would be funny

Aaah, so many questions! All of them good. I'll be putting anything that would be more spoilery for the future under a read more for those who want to be kept in suspense about the future of the AU.

General spoilers ahead for any of you who haven't read the whole AU. Also if you haven't, go ahead and give it a shot if horror is your vibe. I'm rather proud of it and unashamed of tooting my own horn.

3. Are Team E-scope going to be relevant in the next part?

Not necessarily in the next part, but I absolutely am going to find an excuse to make them relevant to the story. I am biased towards them, and have no shame in this fact.

4. Were there any other total drama characters/cameos you wanted to include?

I can't think of many I wanted to include in the past that I didn't already include/introduce in Spring Break Snacktime.

And if this question is more about if there are any more that will show up, then yeah, I definitely have plans for more cameos.

5. Is there anything you wish you had written differently, and if yes then what?

Yeah, I'd have to say I do wish I'd sprinkled in more of Alejandro's and Noah's happier interactions that happen post reveal.

For as toxic as their relationship is, there are reasons why Noah didn't want to go through with premeditated murder. Alejandro still treats their relationship as the same outside from when they hunt, and he's rather nice to Noah when he wants to be.

This obviously doesn't justify anything Alejandro does to him, but I do want to show how toxic relationships can be more nuanced than 'one person is horrible all the time to the other', and break down the idea of 'the perfect victim'.

Oh, and I also would have done more things with Chref actually being rather fatherly (as much as they can be anyways) towards Noah, because I do want that knife to be twisted in as hard as it can be when he realizes Chris' true motivations.

7. what actually prompted you into writing this au? since it's the first one you ever wrote about and stuff. did you have any other ideas around that time?

Oooh a fun behind the scenes question!

So, the idea of mer-eel Alejandro of course came from the eel comment and seeing plenty of other people do similar. And, me being me and a sucker for giant/tiny, my brain instinctively went:

"...But what if make him bigger?"

The toxic yaoi part of it comes from, funnily enough, the lack of toxic Alenoah that I'd found at the time on AO3.

I'd of course found the staples of Alenoah rewrites, and a lot of fic that of course has the two having positive character development. And I shall always love them to pieces and read them many times over.

But at the time I was getting into fandom I was only seeing fluff pieces. There were a few darker fics here and there that had been made a while ago. But nothing more recent.

And given how both of them are in canon, I saw a lot of potential to have them be in a no good very bad relationship.

Hence me eventually combining 'giant mer-eel' with 'toxic yaoi' to get the fic you see today.

And I did have other ideas around the same time! This one just happened to come out first because it was the one I had an actual plot outline for.

The other ones were both alenoaheather because. Well. I am a sucker for them.

The first one was one that's still officially untitled that I like to call a Beastars-esque AU. It's got giant-shifters, werefolk, and humans just doing their best in a world that's pretty fucked up when you think about it for more than two seconds.

I've got the main character arcs planned for the whole trio of Alenoaheather and...not much else in terms of plot. One day, I hope.

The other idea was an idea I did end up sharing in February with Alenoaheather trying to avoid being made into sacrifices for eldritch deities. It goes absolutely fine for them, don't worry about it.

8. If the boys are alive, is Alejandro gonna end up as Noah's goldfish after all this. because it would be funny

That would in fact be so very funny. And I can absolutely see a timeline where Noah was able to find/finish his spell and just has an Alejandro in a tank.

He just tears into a fish while glaring at a smirking Noah.

Alright, now for the more spoilery questions in the order that makes sense to me:

6. okay this is a spoilery one but. are they dead. are the toxic yaoi guys dead. please I need to know

Fine, fine, because you asked so nicely I'll reveal it to you in the smallest of text. They're not dead, but their actions certainly had consequences :)

Is the rest of this AU plotted out?

Haha, um, well you see-

No. No it is not.

I started off this fic with just the vaguest of outlines which I did share during a post a long time ago. I knew at the very least how I wanted to end it and the message/themes I wanted to share.

Rather than write things down part by part in terms of an outline, I just kept the outline of things in my head. Don't do this kids, this is a very bad idea when working on longform fic.

Arc 1 was always the one I'd had planned out the most, with the driving scene always being that it would end with Noah biting Alejandro and Alejandro electrocuting Noah.

Everything was going to plan...until Spring Break Snacktime.

It was originally supposed to go in a lighter direction, and I outlined that post with that in mind.

And then I started writing it. And I started getting other ideas. I realized the original draft wouldn't lead to that eventual confrontation. Not without forcing some things to happen.

So I started going with this new darker idea and realized that would work a lot better. So I kept going with this new little timeline until eventually getting to that final scene.

And then, well, I started thinking about where I wanted the rest of the fic to go. I started having doubts about the ending I originally had planned. There was a new direction to go into, but my indecisive self was now caught in the middle. Which put everything else into flux.

I've just recently committed to which ending I'm going with. It's the one that feels more honest to me and I think will serve the story better in the long run.

...The problem is it means re-thinking the rest of the AU by a lot. So that original outline I came up with in my head? Yeah that's getting recycled for parts.

And this time I won't just exist on ADHD hyperfixation and a dream, I will actually write an outline down for at least the basic events, and see how many parts come out through that.

2. How many parts are left?

So because I don't actually have said outline yet, I've no idea how many parts there are going to be. I will say that my original plan did have an Arc 2 and an Arc 3, and I probably will end up keeping that same structure. At the very least Arc 2 is definitely happening because the ideas behind that one aren't changed too too much by the new direction for the ending.

But basically it's a mystery to us all.

[skyward-floored]

*burst through door* I AM HERE TO TALK

Let’s see…

What whumptober prompt are you most excited about?

If you could write a post-game adventure for any of the Zelda games you played, which would it be and what kind of vibe/premise would you go for?

Does Volga ever hug Link in hdw au? I know he’s a bit aloof

Speaking of hdw au I occasionally still laugh at the thought of Power and Warriors interacting lol, but I also keep forgetting that a lot of people, including your AU include Mask and Tune, so how do you think they would react to Power being there? For his part I think Power would be really weirded out and worried that Mask is there since the kid’s like 11, and mildly concerned but also low key impressed that Tune is 12-13 and an accomplished Hero. I’m a little shaky on how those two are characterized tho 😅

Hm, let’s see, what else… favorite IAU boy and favorite IAU segment that you’ve written!

Laslty, have a hug from me and puppy snuggles from Anakin ❤️

dangit Skye I'm gonna cry again hdbshbkdjsf thank you for the hug and puppy snuggles <3

Okay! So I'm very excited for days 10 and 18 which go together and are very dramatic and painful and have a big epic fight I will hopefully be able to write well hehe. I'm also excited for day 11, which has some fun things I'm looking forward to involving Mipha (who I've never really written much so it's been interesting working on!). I have some more ideas that don't really match any days yet, but I'm excited for those too. Basically all of them (except tomorrow's which has absolutely nothing for it yet heh).

Oooh that's an interesting question! I mean I technically have a fic that explores a bit of what happens after botw (largely written before totk and also an AU lol), and true form goes into a bit after tp (but again, an AU), but if I had unlimited writing time... I think a really big and long and in-depth post-skyward sword fic would be cooool. Spanning several years as Link and Zelda work through stuff that happened on their adventure and their relationship/family and building a settlement on the surface... it would be so cool.

I think at some point Volga does actually hug Link :) but not for a while though. He's got to go through all that messy "actually accepting you have a son and are maybe actually attached to him" stuff, probably brought on through some dramatic inciting incident. ANd when it does happen it's probably a quick "AGHH HOW DARE YOU COME SO CLOSE TO DYING" kind of thing where he just grabs him into a hug without thinking.

I think of that sometimes and laugh too XD For Mask and Tune, I think they'd sort of take it in stride? Like, what's one more Link in this disaster anyway? Though I think Mask looks at him and can kind of... tell this guy's adventure messed him up. Mask knows about that, even if it's not exactly the same. Tune can maybe tell too, but it's probably more "my older brother senses are tingling, I'm adopting him".

Favorite IAU boy?? That's like having to choose a favorite child, I like them all... :( okayyyyy well I'm very fond of Hyrule, I had a lot of fun with his backstory. Legend is always a blast to write too because he's so silly as a little kid, and having turning into a rabbit be part of his powers, it lends to some interesting things and dynamics. I seriously don't know about a favorite IAU thing I've written, I've written... too many things. Maybe that roadtrip one, that one is silly lol

[nostradamus0]

17-18-19 pls! :D

oooh thank you! :)

these ones are a bit tricky since i've only actually posted one fic (and it's woefully unfinished) this year, because i've been super busy writing things that i never finish, so i'm going to interpret this liberally and include things i haven't technically finished yet, but are at least 50% written.

my favorite opening line that i've written this year! oof, i have no idea. after some pondering, i think it might be:

It has always been that 108 Mifflin Street is Henry’s home, and never truly felt like hers until he was there with her, scattering his toys across the living room and the plastic baby plates and bowls across the counter. Filling the bookshelves with board games and comic books, and covering the walls with the first photographs Regina had ever owned or taken. She learned to use a camera to capture his smile.

but i'm also incredibly fond of the first line in a very in-progress follow-up to a oneshot i wrote for supercorptober like, 2 years ago lol

Lena meets her son in the middle of the night on the last day of August, with flowers growing from her palms and the smell of house-fire smoke hanging heavy in the air. He’s four years old and terribly alone, and there’s drywall dust and white ash clinging to his hair like snow.

favorite ending line might be even harder, oh no. a lot of my favorite "ending" lines are technically the end of a fic, but they end sections or chapters, so they're kinda-but-not-totally ending lines if that makes sense? hmmmmmmm.

i really like this line that ends the first section of desire as round as peaches bloom in me all night:

(And if she’s fallen a little in love with Meredith, somewhere along the telephone wires between Seattle and L.A., well. It hardly matters now.)

but also this line from the sequel/alt. pov fic i've been writing to your voice is the splinter inside me:

This is the moment she knows there are memories she has lost. It feels like only moments ago that she watched that horrible yellow bug drive across the town line with the only people in the world who gave a damn about her, who trusted and believed there was something good in her heart. Purple smoke, crackling with magic, had swallowed the sky, and they were gone. After that, Regina can remember nothing but crushing grief.

for my favorite piece of dialogue, i almost chose a line from my recent meddison fic that i really like, but instead i have to go with this scene from the yvitsim sequel:

Regina hates that she cannot remember changing. But she knows she has, if only because Snow shows up, unannounced and uninvited, and rather than incinerate her on the spot, Regina puts the kettle on the stove and doesn’t insult her god-awful pastel sweater. She busies herself with readying two mugs while Snow sits at the counter and taps her fingers on the marble.  Eventually, Snow sighs, and after taking a long sip of the tea Regina offers her, she asks: “Do you think it’s odd that Emma and Henry are staying at Granny’s? There’s plenty of room at the loft.” There is not plenty of room at the loft, Regina thinks, but does not say. It has also occurred to her as odd, that Emma would prefer a sub-par bed and breakfast over her parents house, but felt it was none of her business, and kept her mouth shut. But now she looks at Snow, at the large swell of her belly and the hand she always seems to have resting there, and it doesn’t seem so odd anymore. Regina sighs. “Give her time, Snow,” she says simply, leaning against the counter. “She’s adjusting.” “Adjusting to what?” Snow asks, looking confused, and gods, Regina thinks. How can a fully cognizant adult be so oblivious? “You’re eight months pregnant, Snow,” she deadpans. Snow’s shoulders drop, and the expression on her face turns heavy and sad. For a moment, Regina fears Snow will start crying, and that she’ll have to do something truly horrifying like comfort her. Undo it undo it undo it her brain shouts at her, almost panicky.  “He kicks. In his sleep, Henry kicks,” she blurts out rather awkwardly. “Emma’s probably trying to avoid sharing a bed with him at the loft.” Snow smiles sadly at her, like she doesn’t believe a word of it, but appreciates the gesture nonetheless. Regina, suddenly incredibly uncomfortable, skin crawling with old, unwanted instincts to lash out, clears her throat and busies her hands with mixing her cup of tea.

this was VERY difficult, but very fun. thank you for the ask! :)