#really thought I’d done that one already oof

[insomniac-dormouse]

Evenenen MORE Flag Birbs 🦜🦚🏳️‍🌈✨

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Here

[louroth]

It’s been a few days since I found Ouroboros and I… I just can’t stop thinking about it! 🥹I’d be going about my day and randomly start wondering what will happen next?? 👀 Who is the traitor?? What will they find?? Will Id ever be tangible again without armour?? The world you have created is truly unique and My GOD, the writing! I can’t remember crying so much over feelings I can’t really relate to irl. And I’ve been bawling my eyes out, reading scenes I've already read three times before! (you story might have broken me a little 🤣i love it!) And of course I have completely fallen in love with L, hook, line and sinker, wrapped around pinky, will burn down the whole damned world for them. No celestials, vicars or whatnot will stop my phlegmatic healer MC turned choleric on a warpath!

A certain line that really hurt and had me freeze for a moment like WHAT HAVE YOU SAID MC?? but it's kinda true tho... in the game made me wonder, and sorry if this has been asked before, I did scour the archive for more L content 😂, how would L react if MC died instead of them? Would they have ever retired like MC? Or would L still be with the hunters, or on their own, still searching? Would they have made the deal with Lena for answers?

Feel free to ignore if it’s too spoilery or anything! 🤗And sorry for the long message! I mostly just wanted to send you and your absolutely spectacular masterpiece IF some virtual love and admiration! Hope you have a wonderful week! 💞 *goes back to daydreaming of Leith every 10 minutes*

🥹 this ask is everything to me and I want to frame it. Thank you so much for your kind words & all the cool ideas you have!! OOF how I love the idea of swapping the hunters and L's positions. And instead of answering it (because I think they would act differently for every person that imagines it, because of how L is built as a character) I propose a playthrough where you ACTUALLY swap their spots in the story. Looks, name and everything.

Though, I can only imagine the fear and hatred and absolute agony L would go through, especially with the latest chapters. In my head, they haven't stopped grieving- it has become a part of them. They are changed, lonely, and can barely hold themselves together, no matter how much time passes. The hunter, whether lover or friend, was their person, the one they latched onto and just never let go, and still haven't. Even if the chance of them being alive is slim, they would go on this mission like a terminator with a singular goal, to find them or die trying.

I can't believe I haven't done a swapped playthrough before myself, or even thought of it! You have really given me something to chew on, and a fun experience for when I have to read through the demo for the millionth time again. Thank you :>

[anstarwar]

Some Wooley and Crys softness been sitting on since Xmas cuz I wanted to put a little bit of a story with it, under the cut…

“Crys…you good vod?”

Of course he was good, what a strange question, Crys thought.

“Yeah? You?” He replied, not looking up from his task. The task he’d been doing for the last two hours and hadn’t made any progress on. He felt, more than saw Waxer shift. He probably had a dumb concerned look on his face too.

Crys looked up.

Yup there it was. Force love him.

“Listen, Wax, I gotta get these mousers up and running before end of shift, the naties’ve been complaining about the trash piling up on level…”

“Just got word Marsh’s lartie landed,” Waxer interrupted, a slight lilt to his voice. He began picking at the various MSE parts haphazardly peppering Crys’ workbench.

Crys’ breath hitched, and he swears he wasn’t trying to knock Waxer over. He just happened to be between him and…where he needed to go.

“Sorry Wax!” Crys shouted over his shoulder as he disappeared down the corridor.

He’d made his way from the tech shop to the hangar bay a thousand times before, but sometimes, sometimes on the way he forgot his left from his right. He had a lot to think about, not his fault, really.

“Kriffing hells,” Crys grumbled as the corridor dead-ended at the freshers. He scrubbed hands over his face in frustration, his ears perking up at the approaching dull clank of armored, heavy, and deliberate steps. He hoped it wasn’t anyone looking to chat.

“Thought I’d find you here,” came a voice from somewhere behind him, quiet and a bit raspy.

Crys wasn’t going to admit that his pulse sped up or that he was trying to suppress the grin spreading across his face as he turned to look.

Wooley was back.

“Oof, careful Cr—,” said Wooley, barely catching Crys as he leapt into his arms.

Still wearing his full ARC kit, and running on the fumes of just an hour’s sleep, Wooley staggered a bit trying to keep both of them upright, clasping his hands together under his partner’s butt.

Never one for hiding physical affection, Crys pressed soft kisses to the top of Wooley’s head, forehead, and nose, ending with a soft kiss to his lips, whispering “missed you a lot” between each peck.

“Same,” Wooley smiled and whispered back, pressing his forehead against the other’s, sighing in contentment.

“You sound tired. D’ya at least sleep during transit?” Crys asked, already knowing the answer.

“Course I didn’t. You’ve been on the Jai’galaar before” Wooley rolled his eyes, shifting his grip on Crys to find better balance. “Not sure when, but one of these days Marsh is…”

“...going to be grounded,” Crys continued, mimicking Wooley’s exasperation. “If he hasn’t been yet, love, he’s not going to be.”

Hoping to distract his partner from the familiar post-op rant, Crys began running fingers through Wooley's hawk, his nails catching lightly in the tiny knots that formed after days in a helmet. He delighted in the shiver he felt from Wooley as he smoothed palms over the scruffy grow out on either side of his head.

“He must have something on someone that he’s still flying is all I’m saying,” Wooley huffed.

Crys gave him The Look that meant ‘I’m done with this, let’s move on.’

Wooley shrugged, smiling like he’d been chastised by a trainer, and made to set Crys down, keeping his arms wrapped around him as he did.

“You done with your shift?” he asked.

“Nah, not yet,” Crys replied. “Soon-ish, though, just one more mouser to fix and…aww come on, that’s not fair!”

Wooley had lowered his head, looking up at him through dark eyelashes, his lip stuck out in a pout.

“Wooley I have to…” Crys tried to argue. “Alright, ok, the natborns can wait one more day for their karking MSE.”

“Thought so,” Wooley replied, grabbing Crys’ wrist and leading him down the corridor towards the ARC barracks.

+++

Crys fidgeted in the cold of the bunk room as he waited for Wooley to return from the freshers. The blue glow of his data pad was all that illuminated the small bunk space and was doing a fine job of planting the seeds of a headache. Didn’t matter, he needed to find something that would distract him from the thought “What if he didn’t come back” that had wormed its way into his head.

But Wooley did come back. He always came back and…

He felt the bunk dip behind him as warm arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him - rather un-gracefully - to sit between undersuit-clad legs.

“I could hear you thinking all the way in the fresher,” Wooley whispered in his ear, squeezing Crys around the waist. “I’m safe, you’re safe. That’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, but…” Crys started.

“Nope, not tonight. Tonight is for us,” Wooley replied, tugging the datapad from Crys’s hands.

“That was cheesy,” Crys teased, settling against Wooley’s chest, the warmth of the contact instantly relaxing his keyed up muscles.

“You love it,” Wooley replied.

“I do,” said Crys, snuggling in closely.

[atopvisenyashill]

What are your thoughts on pol!jon? I’m no fan of j/d but pol!jon feels so out of character and cruel that I really can’t see it

Oof okay that’s an interesting question.

I think there's a lot of elements to the political!jon theory that people tend to just conflate into one big theory similar to how the grand northern conspiracy has some parts that are a little galaxy brained and some stuff that makes perfect sense and has a lot of grounding in the text.

So for anyone who is unaware - I know a lot of my oomfs didn't get into the series until after the show stopped airing - the pol!jon theory came from s7 of the show to explain the absolutely inconsistent and stupid decisions jon makes in s7 and s8. The idea was that, basically, like Torrhen Stark before him, Jon Snow bent the knee to Daenerys at Dragonstone not because he actually wants the North to be tied to the Iron Throne again or because he's loyal to Daenerys but rather because he is attempting to manipulate her; when he realizes that she will not come North to save his people but did cross the Wall to save him he makes the decision to seduce her in order to bring her to the North to defend his people.

Now...a lot of people really dislike this theory. They feel it's too cruel of Jon to do, it's OOC, I've even seen some people say that any sex between them is noncon (which...aight), etc etc. I do understand to a certain point why people think it's out of character for Jon to do this but the thing is...he literally has already done something very similar in canon. Look at his relationship with Ygritte:

Two hearts that beat as one. Mance Rayder’s mocking words rang bitter in his head. Jon had seldom felt so confused. I have no choice, he’d told himself the first time, when she slipped beneath his sleeping skins. If I refuse her, she will know me for a turncloak. I am playing the part the Halfhand told me to play. His body had played the part eagerly enough. His lips on hers, his hand sliding under her doeskin shirt to find a breast, his manhood stiffening when she rubbed her mound against it through their clothes. My vows, he’d thought, remembering the weirwood grove where he had said them, the nine great white trees in a circle, the carved red faces watching, listening. But her fingers were undoing his laces and her tongue was in his mouth and her hand slipped inside his smallclothes and brought him out, and he could not see the weirwoods anymore, only her. She bit his neck and he nuzzled hers, burying his nose in her thick red hair. Lucky, he thought, she is lucky, fire-kissed. “Isn’t that good?” she whispered as she guided him inside her. She was sopping wet down there, and no maiden, that was plain, but Jon did not care. His vows, her maidenhood, none of it mattered, only the heat of her, the mouth on his, the finger that pinched at his nipple. “Isn’t that sweet?” she said again. “Not so fast, oh, slow, yes, like that. There now, there now, yes, sweet, sweet. You know nothing, Jon Snow, but I can show you. Harder now. Yessss.” A part, he tried to remind himself afterward. I am playing a part. I had to do it once, to prove I’d abandoned my vows. I had to make her trust me. It need never happen again. He was still a man of the Night’s Watch, and a son of Eddard Stark. He had done what needed to be done, proved what needed to be proven.

Now, I don't think this is rape on either side but it's certainly uncomfortable, dubious consent wise, and not meant to be just a straight romantic scene. Ygritte isn't aware - though she does suspect - that Jon hasn't truly joined their side. Ygritte feels he's holding onto his vows out of stubborn pride or perhaps ignorance; she does not suspect he's actually going to betray them, but she can tell he's clearly conflicted over his desertion. Jon, meanwhile, is only having sex with Ygritte to prove he's a true deserter; he is actively manipulating her by playing on her fondness for him and invoking Wildlings customs like bride stealing when they have sex here.

So the idea that political!Jon is out of character doesn't really work because while Jon is clearly guilt ridden over it, he can and has used sex and romance as a manipulation tactic before. As for it being too cruel, well, let's ask Gilly about Jon's capacity for cruelty then hmm?

“You will make a crow of him.” She wiped at her tears with the back of a small pale hand. “I won’t. I won’t.” Kill the boy, thought Jon. “You will. Else I promise you, the day that they burn Dalla’s boy, yours will die as well.”

Jon is quite capable of cruelty when he wants to be just as surely as he's capable of manipulation. This doesn't mean he doesn't feel guilt or that he doesn't care for the people he manipulates. On the contrary, I think part of why Ygritte continuously echoes in Jon's mind as a sort of mentor figure is because of the guilt he feels for leading Ygritte straight to her death. When Ygritte briefly opens up to him about a past abusive relationship, he doesn't dismiss her at all, and seems to make an effort to otherwise be kind, affectionate, and loving to her. He's just also planning on betraying her because he feels the Wildlings as they are currently organized are too dangerous to just be set free on the unsuspecting North (and he's not wrong - his alliance forces the Wildlings to put down their arms, yes, but it also empowers the Wildlings to come to the negotiation table as equals, as people of Westeros rather than as nameless, faceless barbarians).

So no, I don't really think it's OOC for Jon to realize that the enemy he is facing is too dangerous to deal with as is but if he maneuvers them in such a way that they have to listen to him and negotiate as equals, he can keep his own people safe while in a prime position to deal with the threat if it gets out of control. He is also capable of ruthlessness - the entire battle at the ending of ASOS, killing Qhorin, the baby swap, killing Janos Slynt, etc - and cruelty and sexual manipulation.

I also think - and basically everyone agrees, it's not just me - that their "romance" is written incredibly badly and weirdly. So much so that I think it made sense that people would wonder if Jon has an ulterior motive. I reblogged this gifset to my personal a few years ago and you can really see Jon is just over everything that's happening on Dragonstone, he's incredibly unimpressed with Dany, he refuses to even indulge in her fantasies the way he does with Ygritte (like when Ygritte makes that "oh let's disappear into the caves" comment, Jon is wistful! He brings it up as she's dying to comfort both of them! He doesn't like what he's been doing even though he feels it's necessary!), and I know Kit has never been particularly gifted at emoting but he looks just straight up miserable the entire time he's with Dany.

So...even back in s7, I didn't think Jon was actively plotting to murder Dany but I did think he was manipulating her to get the end goal he wanted (protection for the North) and that there was a high chance he was going to turn on her later when the time was right. It wasn't like he was thinking "alright so once the Long Night is ended, here's my twelve step plan to get Dany off the throne and murder her" but I do think he felt like well, once the Long Night is dealt with, there's still a lot of other problems we have to deal with and who knows what might happen as those problems arise. I never thought he was interested in her long term. Some people seemed to think that was beyond the pale but like, that's literally how he felt about Ygritte - he never considered this a long term relationship even if it was a serious one.

If we get anything like that in the books - Jon seducing Dany to get close to her dragons - I generally imagine it going that once he figures out how to ride one of the dragons, he just makes off with it and leaves her high and dry. Maybe he plays up the "we're the blood of the dragon" angle as a distraction of some sort. But like - is he actively manipulating her specifically to usurp her? No. But is he worried about the North and willing to once again put his sexuality, emotions, honor, and body on the line to protect it? Yeah, I think that was the initial plan when they wrote s7 and if Joner.ys happens, I do imagine it's going to go like that; not actively trying to kill her (anymore than he was actively trying to kill Ygritte) but definitely using her feelings for him to get the goal he's aiming for (protection for the North).

[imaginespazzi]

Hey pookie,

First off, since you achieved your goal of keeping part 2 shorter, imma try to do the same with this ask! So here goes my thoughts on part 2:

I should have already known as soon as I saw the lyric/song you chose that this was gonna hurt bad, but I still was not prepared for how bad. Side note: I listened to Happier while I was reading it for the second time – I do not recommend if you don’t want your heart to break even more.

I know I said I wanted Paige to suffer… WELL I TAKE IT BACK- my favourite blonde has suffered enough 😭

Her entire drunken monologue about what she would have done if it was her that took Azzi on a date- fuuuuuck I can’t- but oh man it was so well written and so heartbreaking.

And then oh- that last part and when she realised that it wasn’t her that Azzi was looking for (although I still believe that subconsciously, it was a certain blonde that she was searching for in the crowd)

ZOE WHEN I CATCH YOU 🫵 (you did nothing wrong, BUT STILL)

I did let out a lil giggle tho (In between my crying) at blondie running into a wall cos she was so desperate to get away 🤭

Side note: the first scene was top tier; I just love Paige and the Fudds interactions and Azzi and Drew interactions 🫂

Side note 2: Angela being chosen as one of the menace teammates, I see the vision truly, she would be that girl lmao

Favourite line/quote: “she’s who you were supposed to be…” 💔

So overall, my heart was as cracked as paige's screen protector was by the end of it, and I just want blondie to finally get to take her bestie out on their dream date. BUT I do love angst so maybe I can handle just a tiny bit more suffering (I guess I’m taking back my earlier takeback), sorry paige 🙈

Thoughts on what’s to come (potentially):

I know I said in a previous ask that in my mind, summer breaks are when it gets especially messy and seeing as we’re up to a summer break in the timeline, oof bestie I can’t wait to see what you have in store for them (and us).

Also, the first meeting between Zoe and Paige- I know that would be explosive, like Paige would just be constantly trying to prove that she knows Azzi best 👀

“you don’t even know the things I said to her before she left for LA. And she’s still here” – another teaser of that fight, ugh I so desperately wanna know, but also not know, what she actually did say that night.

As always, thank you for this incredible story. I was so prepared (well, not really but I could have been) to wait at least a couple weeks for this part cos ya know we never wanna pressure you and I know you still got actual life to deal with, so the fact that you put this out ONE WEEK later - we don’t deserve you, truly. 🥺

Ok omg lemme wrap this up now, and ignore the part where I said I’d try to keep this ask short(er) because I’m pretty sure this is my longest one yet? I’m sorry – the key word there was obviously: try.

Much love always 💗

-🙋‍♀️

Hi bestie <3

Please I love your long asks, don't ever stop.

Fun fact I was torn between using Ed Sheeran's Happier or Oliviia Rodrigo's Happier (does she mean you forgot about me) but also kind of wanted to use The 1 (if my wishes came true, it would have been you).

I KNEW YOU (and everybody else) WOULD FLIP THE MINUTE I GAVE Y'ALL SAD PAIGE like y'all love her too much (me af) 😭

We're gonna come back to Azzi and her searching the crowds during the game next chapter (also just gonna add here, the anon asking if Azzi knows Paige was at the game, she doesn't...yet)

WAIT okay, do we want Zoe to be a good kind gf or no? Cause I have two ways this could go lol

Poor Angela caught some strays. It was between her and Emily Bessoir and I was like nah Angela fits better, so I'm glad you agree babe

Aww babes I'm sorry to break you like Paige's screen protector 💀 (is this a bad time to tell you that it very much is not getting better anytime soon so hopefully you can handle a lot more than little)

SUMMER BREAK I'M SO EXICTED (muahaha)

Mini confession, I also don't actually know what the argument before Azzi left for UCLA actually was...very much a work in progress oops-

Let's see if I can actually stick to my weekly timelines (hmmmm)

Love you always pookie 💗

[exuberantocean]

Ted Lasso s3e01 - Observations

And anyone who guessed the starting close up for s3 was Ted would be right (I thought Keeley or Roy)

I also like that we can see some gray in the stubble (he’s in England so should I say grey instead?)

Also that text...oof  way to set up Ted’s headspace though.  That whole start was like a punch in the gut.

I’m adding the “I remember being left at school when I was Henry’s age” story as another to my list of “Ted’s parents not showing up/abandoning him” situations in his past...”Until my dad remembered to pick me up” 😭 )

Also what a crazy story all around though

And Ted cleaning up after Henry is all kinds of heartbreaking

Still uncertain if Ted’s flat has a bedroom for Henry.  I’d imagine he’d ask for one.  No clue if the fort and Ted’s bedroom is where he slept and, if so, if it was because he wanted to or had too. I suppose it doesn’t matter, just a little detail.

Is that a new shower scene or did they reuse the last one?  His hair looks longer in the shower than it does for the rest of the episode.

Brendan’s partner and kid!

Ted’s still nosy about Doc’s personal life which is...iffy to me but makes sense for his character

Rebecca.  Rebecca.  The thing is, this is exactly what Rupert’s after.  Whether you win or he does is, on a deeper level, immaterial.  He wants her obsessively thinking about him and he’s getting it.  The truth is, West Ham will sometimes win, sometimes lose and she needs to learn how to divorce (heh) her feelings about Rupert from the game. 

I’m glad that she has Higgins, Ted, and Keeley to bring her back down to what matters.  I hope she starts listening.  All three might need to be a bit more blunt going forward though.

Keeley babe.  I think you need help.  It’s 100% normal to be overwhelmed and I’m glad she’s reaching out but it sounds like maybe she’s trying to do too much too quickly.

I was thrilled that Higgins also has mascara stains.  I would hate to imagine the Higgins-Rebecca-Keeley trio is gone.  It thrills me that Higgins is still obviously in Keeley’s life

I love the team’s anxieties and the way Ted takes care of it.  I love Jamie stepping into “Ted Lasso” for the team shortly after.

I feel like the situation with Nate and Rupert really shows how well an abuser starts a toxic relationship.  Obviously they’re setting us up to look at Ted and Nate’s relationship some more this season, but I’m also hoping we get a look and Rebecca and Nate.  I feel like there’s some strong parallels there.  There always has been.

This is why I had Rebecca be the first one to talk to Nate in my fic “So Close”

I really thought the car thing was a good illustration of that.  It’s a gift but a rather backhanded one.  No fucking way Rupert didn’t know he was towing Nate’s car.  He set the whole situation up.

The whole conflict between Ted and Rebecca about taking the team to the sewers was interesting to me.  Something I think I need to think about.  But Ted’s doing the work that needs to be done and Rebecca’s worried about image.  “Rupert’s laughing at me, Ted.” But Rupert’s relationship to people and things is always shallow and condescending.  He’ll always laugh at Rebecca (or otherwise look down on her). That said, she’s not 100% in the wrong, as a business owner, to be concerned about image.  I’m not saying she’s right, just that she’s maybe not 100% wrong either (Ted was still right to do it, the need to get the team out of their own head was more important.) idk I need more time to think about it.

Not 100% sure I like the scene with Ted mocking himself.  I get why he did it and it was effective, but particularly when it came to mocking his own mental health.  It made me wince both because we know Ted’s struggling already with anxiety and probably some amount of depression and because, well, a lot of people with mental health struggles really aren’t taken seriously.

Overall, a great episode and good start to the season!

[vacantgodling]

🖋️,❤️, and😭 !! Don't have a specific wip in mind, so you get to decide !!

thank youuuuu 🥺💛 i can talk about the liminal space series for these lol :3

🖋️"what inspired you to write your WIPs?"

donut wip was inspired by my frustration at not being able to finish a story, and i thought if i just plotted out an easy, straight to the point, horror novel (cuz whoops donut wip is straight horror p much) that i’d be able to finish it. i wrote like 15 chapters in 2 weeks and then burned myself out when i started a new job in 2021 BUT as i was thinking about it, more and more could i see it fitting into the universe that already existed in jenna the reaper. but… there was no bridge from point a (college horror) to point b (high school supernatural horror literally across the country)

this is where the inspo for noi, alone came in. i’d had noi as a character in some form, for about as many years as i’ve had jenna but i never knew what to DO with them. but it seemed so perfect to make them the bridge between juls and jenna’s stories, even if they must also go through the horrors 😔 them having a demon entity thing in their eye was always a thing so that makes the transition even better (well, worse for them but better for plot)

and then jenna… tbh i never “had” inspiration for jenna. i was literally chilling at my ex’s house in hs when all of a sudden jenna just knocked on the door of my brain like “hey yeah i’m here now.” with all her plot already figured out LMAO. 💀💀 so in case you were wondering she’s always been like this. all i’ve really done is just tweak it and fit it better into the world with the other two wips, and add stuff on etc etc.

mason at the airport sort of came about from me wanting to take a slightly different direction with liminal spaces, like explore different kinds?? so mason’s story, while it’s in the universe it is Slightly different than the rest of them just cuz i wanted to try something new and LESS horrific lmao

❤️"what are your favorite scenes from your WIPs?"

donut wip (gasp that i’m actually willing to talk about Some spoilers lol):

the donut sharing scene is the most important scene To Me

the elevator flashback that talks about juls’s past & trauma around elevators

when juls and joaquin kiss (even tho the poly is alive and well in my head, this relationship is kind of the only one that gets enough time but it’s something i wanna change when i try to write draft 2)

also a particular scene involving news anchors that i don’t wanna spoil but i LOVE it

noi, alone:

tbh i haven’t plotted this one out that well but when noi meets seph is gonna be soooooo funny bc they’re lowkey attracted to him Immediately and lilly loves making fun of them about it. secondly, when the three of them break into the dorm i want it to be kind of messy

jenna the reaper / jenna the witch king:

the scene where noi reveals their demon

the scene with vega that is sad……. ough……

the scene where jenna tells carlos about frankenstein, i actually have that written out lol

the scene where jenna and yehna merge is gonna be OOF

mason at the airport:

i also don’t have much planned yet but i’m excited to write the beginning when mason realizes that there’s something Wrong with the airport and that he’s Alone (or is he)

😭"what are the biggest challenges writing your WIPs?"

honestly for all of these wips it’s just attention span. i enjoy all these stories but sitting down and writing them since 2021 and i burned myself out on donut wip has been a challenge. i’m hoping i can come back around to wanting to write them, but it’s probably gonna be a Long while (cuz i’m projecting in terms of original projects, i’ll write paramour then vampires don’t take road trips and then perhaps after i’ll come back to these)

[forabeatofadrum]

El WooWoo Wednesday! Thank you @confused-bi-queer and @larkral for the tag.

Yesterday started out terribly with me having a breakdown during a meeting at my job (oof) but it ended on such a high note. I don’t really share where I live on the internet (anymore) cause ya know internet security but now I kinda wish I did cause I mentioned several times that I organised a week filled with queer events and my big event was yesterday and I am still high on energy. I was so nervous beforehand but it went really well and the actress we invited was super chill. People also complimented me and said I didn’t seem nervous at all so +1 self-esteem there.

Gah, it was so good.

Apart from that, no writing is happening. Like I said I had a wee breakdown because I’d been living with constant stress for the past 1.5 weeks, partially due to the events, but also my studies, including my thesis. How’s my thesis going? It’s going. I am almost done with the analysis but it’s still very hard and frustrating and there is a lot of second guessing.

And of course, when I am not being Responsible, I am playing Zelda. I actually gave some more thoughts to the Zelda fic idea that I shared on Monday, but I’ll once again put it under the cut for spoilers.

And now, the weather: @quizasvivamos @blurglesmurfklaine @coffeegleek @esperantoauthor @otherworldsivelivedin @caramelcoffeeaddict @sillyunicorn @bazzybelle @dragoneggos @raenestee @tectonicduck @nightimedreamersworld @urban-sith @thnxforknowingme @captain-aralias (congrats on the baby!!!) @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @takitalks @justgleekout @cerriddwenluna @tea-brigade @ivelovedhimthroughworse @moodandmist @whogaveyoupermission @bookish-bogwitch @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @ionlydrinkhotwater @1908jmd @special-bc-ur-part-of-it @chen-chen-chen-again-chen ​ @cutestkilla ​ @nausikaaa ​/@wellbelesbian ​ @artsyunderstudy ​ @martsonmars ​ @facewithoutheart ​ @shrekgogurt @boyinjeans @rockitmans @bitbybitwrites​ @blackberrysummerblog

Okay so I reread Any way the wind blows and I forgot that Aryll is fucking 110 in that fic. That’s old! I mean, she had to be old cause the Calamity happened a hundred years ago AND Aryll needed to be old enough to properly remember her brother, but damn.

Now, I actually don’t know how many years are between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. We do know that Link is 17/117 in BOTW. Time has clearly passed, since children have grown up and places have changed. One change is that Link is an adult who can now drink alcohol at the bar in Gerudo Town (lmao). Someone (who also organised the aforementioned queer event) looked up the legal drinking age in Japan, which is 20, so does that mean there’s 3 years between the games?

That would make Aryll 113. If 110 was already pushing it, then 113 is really pushing it. Aryll was already weak and old in my fic, but man. So when the pirates attack Lurelin, is she still alive or did she die from old age? It’s established that Hylians have a human lifespan. But say she is alive in TOTK, then damn how will she flee Lurelin? Will Kiana and co. take her with them? But Aryll will have a lot of problems traversing through Hyrule. Even Faron is already difficult to traverse since it’s a big forest.

BUT

BUT

What if.... after Link and Aryll reunite..... and Link saves Zelda....... and Zelda sees the situation.............. Zelda goes to Purah. Purah reversed her age with Sheikah tech. And sure, it went a bit too far and she became a literal child, but she’s a teen/young adult now. This also kinda fucks up the 3 years idea, but also this is Purah so I won’t be surprised if she now sped up some aging in order to reach the age she wanted. What if, between games, Purah reverses Aryll’s age to match Link’s? Hmmmm. HMMMMM. Again, I’m just mumbling. I don’t know if this is a Legit Fic Idea, but I like to think about it.

[ramshackledtrickster]

What are some ideas you have for your version of AC Embers?

Oof ok so these thoughts are so far kinda half baked since 1. I need to do more research 2. I’m an amateur but I’m gonna try my best to communicate my thoughts. I’d really love for other Chinese/Hongkong/Taiwan fans for input as well and I envisioned it as a collaborative effort honestly since I’m just one guy.

More under the cut

1. First things first get actual Chinese consultants and actors. Especially for Shaojun. Her accent was really poorly done in the short and could be seen as distasteful, even if that’s not the original intention. I personally wasn’t comfortable with it, and neither was my mom when I asked her opinion (native Chinese) and a few of my other mandarin speaking peers. It’s just something I’d rather get out of the way.

2. Have more of an equal/even exchange between Ezio and Shaojun learning from each other. Most of embers was Ezio sharing his own wisdom, which is fair since Shaojun sought him out to learn from him. But I feel like it’d be more dynamic if he actually learned more from her as well, even if he hadn’t realized that until he reflected on it later. I like the idea of how the old dog could still learn new tricks, so with Shaojun sharing more of her own experiences and teachings under her own mentor would have been cool, and how philosophy from her own branch of assassins have informed her worldview. I’d also be down for Ezio asking Shaojun to teach her some of her own martial arts and weapons handling in order to better right off the invaders that come the next night. But I’m more interested in Shaojun telling him of her own internal philosophies since combat and fighting shouldn’t be the only thing worth learning about it glorifying when it comes to other cultures. More genuine interest on Ezio’s side would have made the message of “love of different cultures and people makes us stronger” line in this (I’m paraphrasing but still)

3. I can’t speak much for combat, but I was hoping to see a little bit more footwork to add interest (maybe that buildup would have made the reveal of shaojun’s foot blade cooler — even though it was already admittedly pretty cool). I just feel like there could have been more done to make the action more entertaining, like using the environment to your advantage (they did some in the inner balcony within the house, but again, there just could have been… more). Kungfu has different divisions of discipline and application, like personal defense and combat, vs performance and show (both are effective in what they seek to achieve, and kungfu has been a long-standing tradition in Beijing opera especially), so I wish they took more advantage of reference and inspiration available, especially considering assassins creed is a series that is more lenient with fantastical badass combat.

4. Flesh out Shaojun in embers a bit more !! She’s not just a student to me, and I wish they displayed a bit more of those dimensions. Express her curiosity with Florence some more, or how she dwells on her own lack of a childhood when she sees Flavia or other children. She has her own load of baggage, and I’m sure Ezio could sympathize and reflect on this, and how the life of an assassin can take so much away from you, and time you could never get back. We don’t have to know everything in embers, since this is more of an Ezio centric story, but I just wished she had a bit more character and expressiveness in her own way that hinted at her upbringing rather than just an all-at-once verbal exposition to Ezio.

Maybe this is all just me nitpicking, and to be fair the short is good in what it accomplished with Ezio, showing how he’s worn out from this life of assassins and his final speech and ultimately passing away. It’s powerful stuff.

Most of my fixes then would be put on Shaojun and her usage as a character and interactions with Ezio, since having a Chinese assassin really does mean a lot to me representation wise. I know she has chronicles, a manga, and a podcast drama (with a Chinese actress!!), but this still makes for a poor first impression in my eyes.

I haven’t gotten around to the rest of the Shaojun media, but I’m critical of embers out of love and interest in my first time seeing a Chinese assassin’s creed character (and being wary because I’m also unfortunately super used to very poor Chinese representation in some pieces of media I like)

I’m free to more ideas !!

[nirvanai]

major spoilers under the cut, was looking at some of the dev commentary from the files from the cutting room floor site. I’m just gonna cherry pick out some of the comments relating to Ryuki that’re most interesting to me.

so first i found This, in regards to ryuki’s dream at the opening of the game. and.

Supplement: Behind the scenes

This file pretends to be Ryuki's dream in the past (6 years ago), but is actually Ryuki's dream in the present. Ryuki has this dream after drinking and getting drunk at Brahman. So, the blue people and Boss being halved is not a "precognitive dream," but rather caused by past trauma.

I’d seen and thought about this as a headcanon before, but knowing it’s intentional canon.... ow. my heart. it makes perfect sense, but man its always so oof when a sad headcanon is confirmed canon. It also... kinda makes it extra sad that you can answer ‘Date’ to one of the trivia questions, huh. Because he still is under the belief that he’s the reason Date is dead.

next up, the dev commentary here seems to be suggesting that the person Ryuki saw in Brahman when he’s saying “ Maybe to the mirror world...? “ could refer to Date in the Gen suit and. oh hey more pain. I don’t think that lines up with the timeline, I dont know if it would’ve been possible for him to get back from Atami and talk to Gen that quickly and i forget what Date says so this is probably just an earlier comment before they smoothed out that story bit but. its fun to think about.

Just before, Ryuki witnessed "another sack man"*

*Comments often call Gen "sack man" to account for Date wearing his disguise. Likely referring to the both of them here. (the italics here im assuming are translation notes)

and then also, this.... I’d assumed the police ID you investigate is Date’s but never really gotten a good enough look to confirm, and knowing 100% it is makes me. sad. Also makes me sad knowing Mizuki confirmed it for herself.

“ The rubble from the ceiling falls, burying Ryuki. The rubble piles up on Ryuki, showing only his head and right arm and shoulder. Ryuki imagined how painful it would be if he were in Date’s position, and dreams of it often…”

plus this is just.... Man. my heart. he’s so not ok. I love getting even more painful little details going on here.

Iris: Don't you know today is February 11? National Foundation Day?

Ryuki: Oh, right...

//  Because of Ryuki’s time blindness, he wouldn’t remember even if he’s heard it before.

Interesting here to note that this is the conversation from Sekiba high, which suggests Ryuki’s issues with time were present pre-cathedral. Which is something I’d already headcanoned myself, but that being shown in such a subtle way is a nice touch.

The comment translations aren’t done yet, it’s only up to tokiko’s somnium, but it’s extremely fun to read through. shoutouts to the ppl who are working on all of this stuff btw, its so fun getting to peek through all the little notes and details that’d never be seen normally.

[bookloveravenue]

Up in Flames by Eden Finley & Saxon James

SANDEN

When it’s your job as groomsman to tell the groom his wedding isn’t happening, the smartest thing to do is get it over and done with and then tell the guests to leave.

Yeah, well, I never said I was smart.

I might … accidentally, maybe on purpose, suggest to Remy that the best form of revenge is to have a party anyway. I mean, he’s already got catering, a DJ, and guests, so what better time to throw a petty party?

My loser high school friend never deserved him anyway. If I’d had the chance, I would have locked Remy down years ago.

Only, when the party leads to a drunken kiss, going on their honeymoon, and sharing their marital bed, I have to say, I’m not entirely sad that their wedding went up in flames.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124945464-up-in-flames

June 18, 2023

My Review: 5/5 Stars

Sanden has had feelings for Remy since the moment they met. But unfortunately before he could ask him out, his friend (but not really a friend) gets there first. Three years later, it's Remy's wedding day and he is left at the altar by Eman and Sanden is the one to tell him. And somehow that leads to having a petty party where Remy can get drown his sorrows. They even after end up finding themselves going on the honeymoon together so Sanden can be there for Remy. Remy has had mixed feelings bout his so called fiancé for a while now and after being left at the altar he begins to think his gut was right. But things are so complicated. Like Sanden. The man he once had a crush on but thought never liked him after he started dating Eman (along with some nifty lies from Eman as well). And the more Remy dwells on his new ex, the more red flags are going up. Sanden becomes a great support to Remy and things for them get complicated when feelings for one another come to light. However, their love story will be anything but easy. The two of them have a lot of things they have to deal with emotionally. And they know the dangers of starting anything too fast could hurt their future. A future that the two of them want more and more each day. I really loved this story! But oof, the angst and hurt and comfort that these two have to go through is quite a doozy. However, you can't help but cheer for the two of them to work their way back to one another once they can start to heal and solve these unresolved issues of their pasts. But! There is definitely plenty of romance between them and lots of laughs from them and other favorite characters throughout. I couldn't put the book down! This is one you don't wanna miss!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[best-of-brassbox]

Apologies for the many asks, but I just realized something that blew my mind. Everything that Curio has done to strive towards their goals has gone against what Link stands for both in his past life and now what he's being told to do and obediently following. In a regular Zelda game, I would bet that Curio would be a major antagonist, not Ganon-level antagonist, but Kogha with a lot more emotions behind the story.

Not only is Curio straight up in kahoots with the Yiga Clan and is damaging Zelda's reputation to prevent the monarchy being re-instated, but they also use necromancy, a type of magic that is frowned upon in the core of the franchise. Most monsters are undead and used as pawns by Ganon(dorf), and who else uses the undead as pawns to reach their goals? Curio. Not only that, but Curio manipulates their own friends (Beedle, Kilton, and Bolson obviously know though it's the thought that counts and the fact that Curio's winning 5d chess with them), and openly states they have ulterior motives to everything. Meanwhile, Link seems to accomplish tasks out of the good of his heart. Curio's got a heart of charcoal, whilst Link's is made of gold. Everything Link has been told has been from people who oppose this manipulative, self-serving way of life, and he does it very obediently. The only reason us as the readers can see Curio's perspective is because we are viewing the events of their eyes and thoughts. We get Curio's egotistical, down-right scornful thoughts, which would make it all the more heartbreaking if Link, who manifests their only and most purest form of innocent love, rejects them for all they've done.

The question now is when Link finds out, will he go against Curio and back to living an honourable life as a forgotten hero, or will he rebel against light and embrace a more chaotic way of living with them?

I know this is really stupid to ramble to you about because you know all of already, but the idea that it only just clicked in my mind is baffling me.

Gosh, please don’t apologize for asks. I love asks. I’d eat asks if I could derive nourishment from them. Who is “protagonist” and who is “antagonist” is basically a trick of perspective, right? We’re immersed in Curio’s biased perspective, a person who is very good at self-justifying, but normal people outside the situation looking in would point and say “that’s a villain, right there!” You hit the nail on the head with this analysis. Heart of charcoal, oof... Then again, it’s not necessarily so straight forward. Curio wants Ganon defeated just as much as Link, and has been earnestly helping him to that end. Curio is generous to strangers and provides valuable services at reasonable prices. Curio wants to deescalate the war between the Yiga and the Shiekah, and so on. You can argue about the methods (oh boy, could you ever!), but these aren’t villainous desires. In a game series like Zelda, the morality is a bit all over the place. Why, the good guys engage in casual necromancy in a number of games! The Hero of Time can sell ghosts he catches to a dubious fellow for spending money. The King of Red Lions of Wind Waker fame is he himself an undeparted spirit, possessing a boat for the purposes of extending his unnatural lifespan and furthering his personal agenda. In Majora’s Mask, Link transforms the souls of the dead into masks so that he can channel their skills, inhabit simulacrums of their bodies, and impersonate them in front of their loved ones. In Spirit Tracks, Zelda herself has her soul shorn from her body, and spends the rest of the game assisting Link with her ghostly abilities. But that’s just... ghost stuff, I hear you say. Not all ghost stuff is necromancy, surely? In Breath of the Wild, a game stuffed with friendly ghosts, Link’s body is preserved using magic long after the point it should have died, kept youthful by infusions of Sheikah shadow magic. Speaking of the Shiekah, for good guys who look down on necromancy, they have an awful lot of dead and mummified monks lying around that are reanimated for the purposes of teaching Link lessons. One of them can even kick your ass in a fight! If those aren’t examples of necromancy wielded in the name of good, I don’t know what they are. :) If the only difference between examples of “good necromancy” and “evil necromancy” are WHO is wielding the necromancy, it calls into question just why the practice is frowned upon in the first place. It’s the height of hypocrisy to categorize a field of magic as evil, and then use it yourself.

As far as the rest goes, what makes Curio so different from Twilight Princess’s Midna, for example? Certainly Midna has no qualms being unpleasant to Link, threatening and intimidating him, nor utilizing her shadow magic (or Zant’s-by-way-of-Ganondorf’s tranformation crystal, or the fused shadows). She has a secret agenda and hidden past she doesn’t immediately share with Link, who she openly uses to further her goals... but she changes, along the way. She becomes softer, an example of darkness not as light’s bane, but as its compliment in duality. What Link will choose to make of this is up to him, of course.

Curio stands on a knife’s edge, and could be a Midna as easily as a Vaati. As of now, Curio’s intentions remain largely good-aligned... but you know what they say about good intentions, haha. Thanks for your ramble, @russeliarat. Here is one of my own.

[dirtpie39]

Oshi no ko episode 1

15 mins in thoughts:

- I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn't uncomfortable... That doctor has a major issue ngl.

- Ai being 16 and pregnant is so f**king heartbreaking and I know it's supposed to be but still... 🙁

- The doctor dying like that was painfully avoidable... He just had to play hero huh?

- Also thanks to spoilers I already know what happens to Ai eventually so there's a higher chance I won't end up crying at her you know what scene

30 mins in thoughts:

- I’m still creeped out by the doctor now baby’s thoughts but whatever cause the twin sister is now just as bad if not worse then him.

- I knew the stalker would still be around but sweet Jesus... He's proven to be even worse with his talk of “having been tricked”. 🤢

- The twins pretending to be gods is priceless lol... And the producer's wife is a f**king nutcase tbh. I get her point I really do but still... VERY icky.

45 mins in thoughts:

- “After all, Sarina’s not my name anymore” OOF... I feel like that's gonna cause something yucky later tbh

- Oooooo the shot at 35:55 matches the pic I used for this post. And I used it exactly because it's so damn cool looking!!!

- The director really gave his business card to a kid... lol. But I suppose that will come in handy in the future.

- Also that's kinda clever of Ai ngl... To pretend the work she was doing for that minor role is something like being in a music video.

60 mins in thoughts:

- the twins reaction to what the other child actor said (50:35) had me ROLLING ya’ll... lmao

- “Even without any acting, you're plenty creepy already” damnnnnn that's a little harsh LOL

- Awww now I feel bad for that other child actor... 🥺 (52:54)

- I must say... Excluding some of the girl twins' creepiness towards Ai... I do feel a lot of sympathy for her now after seeing a bit more of her as Sarina.

81 mins in thoughts:

- the small bit with Ruby basically accepting that she can move/dance freely now as Ruby and is NOT Sarina anymore was very sweet ngl... (1:00:17)

- “On a whim, I decided to contact the guy I’d broken up with” FAMOUS LAST WORDS YA’ll

- “I have no memory of ever loving someone or being loved” ummm OWWW?? (1:04:49)

- “You went and had kids even though you're an idol” oh my f**king God ya’ll... Someone, please tell me spoilers that this loser dies too (1:08:16)

- (1:12:43) I didn't cry like I said and I didn't tear up either... But I wanted to so much ya’ll. That scene was so well done... When the little stars she always had in her eyes faded out (cause symbolism and all) I felt my heart sink. Such a tragedy ngl... But hey at least she got to see adulthood I guess 😓

- that evil f**king stalker committed suicide cause of the guilt he felt (1:13:28)... Honestly, I don't know what I would've done if I were him in that instance where Ai was talking to him directly about the truth. He had a kill count of 2 and all... Both-ish of which didn't deserve to die... Not at all.

- the art at 1:18:21 looks so damn cool... And I'm excited to maybe see “dark ruby” as tiktok is calling it anyways

- “Would you consider raising me?” LOL what a question (1:18:51)

One final thought for episode one of Oshi no Ko:

I really love this series so far even after just the first (long) episode. Series that come off as happy, fluffy things then turn out to be dark are so f**king awesome ya’ll. This is my first idol anime with that kinda thing going on. I've seen it with sports anime (ex: stars align-ish and Hanebado) and a couple other types of anime.

[goatskickin]

The last time we saw the Springs-Eternals, aunt Mercy had moved out of the family home to focus on work and be with her lady love, Cheyenne. Faith and her brother Temperance were typical teens (bratty and beleaguered, respectively), who were also about to start college.

Well, college has arrived! What’s in store for our heir and spare as they move out and become the first Springs-Eternals to attend Brainia U, post-apocalypse?

Brainia U looks a lot different than when founder Hope attended.

Some things have stayed the same, however.

“Aw, man!”

“Temps, come on dude – it’s the college experience. What did you expect?”

“Ugh.”

“I don’t even get my own room?!”

“Sorry! It’s standard for most freshmen. But you’re used to sharing a room, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah! But I thought that at college, I’d finally get my own space!”

…

“It’s fine. Just got my hopes up I guess.”

…

“Uh, you wanna go see if my dad is done with the kitchen sink? Remy and Seb are supposed to be here at noon after class. They might get freaked out if they see my dad poking around in the kitchen before like, being introduced.”

…

“Hey, uh, Mr. Waters –“

“Man! I wonder if all of the student housing has pipes like this. You know, if you don’t run them in the winter, well, any time it’s cold, they can freeze up!”    

“All set now though! Help an old man clean up this junk, will ya Temps?”

“Sure. You need a hand?”

“Oof! Yes. But don’t get older - I would not recommend it.”

“You got everything Dad?”

“Uh, hi? Hello?”

“Um, hi! I’m Wade! The door was unlocked, student services said it was okay for us to move in early –“

“That’s my dad, and this is Tempe, who will be sharing my room.”

“Tempe? Like ‘temperature’?”

“Oh, uh no…my name is Temperance…people call me Tempe, um…”

“He’s got a sister named Faith! Temperance and Faith! It’s a family name thing.”

“Cool! Nice to meet you.”

“A sister?...Is she hot?”

“Remy! Hey!”

“Sorry, I am Sebastian, and you are welcome to call me ‘Seb’ for short. This jerk is my twin brother, Remington.”

*yawn* “Remy is fine.”

“Oh! Wade is also a twin! No more sharing a room with Bettina though!”

“Dad!”

“Well! I’ll let you boys settle in! I’m going to go check on your ma and the girls! Be back soon!”

“So…where are you guys from?”

“Pleasantview.”

…

“Cool.”

“So. This has been thrilling. Um…I gotta pee.”

“Ignore him.”

“You guys wanna get some food?”

“Sure!”

“Okay!”

~~~

         “This is bullshit.”

“Faith…”

“I don’t wanna talk to her! She pissed me off!”

“Faith…she’s well past 40…I am surprised she didn’t move out sooner. If you would -“

“She didn’t even say goodbye! And she took the car. I was going to learn how to drive in that car!”

…

“Then you are welcome to tell her off if you feel like that will make you feel better. But, giving people a piece of your mind doesn’t work out every single -“

“Oh, she’s gonna hear what I have to say!”

     “FAITH! Isn’t this cool!? I’ve never flown before!”

“You know I can’t hear a damn word you are saying!!!”

“Hey Genesis! Looks like you got here in one piece! Proud day for us, eh?”

“Very proud. Thank you.”

….

“Where is Wade? Is Tristan with him? I want to make sure that Temperance -”       

“Oh yes! He’s helping Wade and Temperance get settled in.”

“I’ll bet you Wade’s already got a poster of a car tacked up, ha!”

…

“Hello Faith! How are you?”

“Hey Mrs. Waters….”

“Hey Faith –“

“- dibs on the bigger bedroom!”

“WHAT! Yeah fuckin’ right! That bigger bedroom is mine!”

...

“Hey, I’m going to go make sure they’re okay, see that the water is running.”

“Oh! The water system was of utmost importance for student housing. We were not able to have electricity working for anything more than the provided personal computer for each house, but the water should be potable and running.

The furnishings were another matter, really outside the realm of what us educators could expend funds on, but considering what was available, but I am sure that Bettina would appreciate -“

“Oh goodness, I’m teasing! As long as they have running water and a place to sleep I’m sure the kids will be fine. It’s…scrappy, you know? Shabby chic?”

...

“I’m sorry that I-“

“I really need to ask-“

…    

...

“You can go first.”

…

“I am sorry I left without saying anything. I just…really needed to go, and I was feeling guilty…I felt like I couldn’t face everyone to stay goodbye. Work has been…well, it’s been a lot!”

“It’s pretty amazing living with Cheyenne though. It’s actually quiet! That took me a long time to get used to.”

“I miss you guys of course, I am not saying that, but it’s great to be out on my own. Plus, after that break in at the radio station…I feel much better just being there for Cheyenne, you know?”

“Gen, don’t give me the silent treatment here! There’s –“

…

“Mercy, I think it’s wonderful that you moved out to be with Cheyenne. But I need your help. Please.”

“Okay? You need my help? What’s wrong? Something with Justice?”

“No, not Justice…me. I need your help. But I don’t know if you will agree to it. Just hear me out.”

“Gen, hey, are you in trouble? Something with work? Is everything okay?”

“Mercy, HCU-70 is here. I know it. I have to find him. You have to let me stay here. I am not getting back on that helicopter.”

“…what?!”

“He’s here. You know my helmet, his gift, the Thinking Cap? There are coordinates in it. 37.2431° N, 115.7930° W - that puts him right in Brainia U!

…

He’s here! I can feel it.”

“I have to try, I have to find him!”

…

“Gen….you know how crazy that sounds…right?”

“Please! Leave me here! I know he’s here! I have to try! We had so little time together when we met…”

“Gen! Listen! I hear you…but what you’re saying – just because a gift HCU-70 gave you has coordinates inside of it… I can’t just leave you - “

“But you can!”

“Genesis, if I…if the militia leaves you at Brainia U, no one can come get you, not even an emergency. We don’t have the funds to fuel the chopper for just one person.”

“We are the only way out of Brainia U. No one can come for you. Please, think about this. You would be stuck here, no shelter and no food, for at least a year- at least until next year’s freshmen are enrolled.”

…

“Genesis. Please. Do you understand what I am saying? I am the General of the militia. This will fall on me if they know that I let you do this. Do you understand me? I could be in a lot of trouble.”

…

“Mercy, I know. I know it’s a huge risk for you. But I need to do this.”

“I can’t just leave you here because you have a hunch!”

“I have evidence!”

“You have only circumstantial evidence!”

“Mercy…did you ever meet someone, where…you feel like you can finally take a deep breath? Be yourself?”

“Yeah.”

“Please. I have good reason to try and do this. I know the risks. I’m a survivor – I know this campus. Getting around and staying safe won’t be an issue for me.”

…

“What about your job?”

“I’m the Minister of Education! I’ll – I’ll say I am doing on-campus research…”

…

“I have to find him. I have to find out more. I feel like…I need to do this. Communicate with an alien race, at length, and truly understand them? I need to spend time with him and learn all that I can. I felt cheated before -“

“Oh, I am so sorry about that Gen, but look, at the time-“

“No, I understand completely why it had to happen. But things are different now. I know he’s here, and I’m going to find him, and I’m going to make up for lost time.”

“Please.”

 …

“Genesis, you are my friend. I just want what is best for you, and I want you to be safe.”

“We’re friends?”

 “Yeah. I think so? I don’t have a lot of friends. But I think so.”

…

“What do I tell Justice? The kids?”

“The truth?”

[sakarrie-creates]

2022 Fic Round-Up/Reflection

Am I over a month late? Yes. Is that going to stop me? Nnnnnnope.

Another year gone and another end of year summary! Yeash, it’s been a rough creative year haha. I’ve practically done nothing but school and work, which has certainly been problematic for writing. It’s been a productive adulting year though, so hopefully this dead period will help me find more opportunities down the line. My gosh I’m ready to be done with school already.

Since I’ve really not written much this year, this will be an abridged version of my reflection from last year’s template. That being said, I’m still very rambly so you can see the details below the cut!

2022 Stats:

Fics Started: 11 Fics Fully Written: 3 Fics Posted: 2 New WIPs: 7 Total WIPs: 20 (ish?) Words Written: 25,950 (33,176 if including documents of pure brainstorm ramble lol) Words Posted: 9,541 Fandoms Written For: 2 Events: 2 (+1)

Posted Fics

Carmen Sandiego (Gen): 1

So Long As You're With Me (7,804): It's been several months since Team Red rescued Player from the clutches of VILE and snapped him out of their control... mostly. His base personality is back, but he still doesn't remember them from anything other than the false memories VILE created for him. And it's just their luck that VILE painted Carmen and company in such a way that Player thinks that their attempts to help him is all some elaborate form for torture, and it doesn't help that he's currently recovering from an injury she caused. Carmen is near her wit's end, but she refuses to give up on her oldest and best friend.

Supernatural (Gen): 1

Still the Same (1,737): After a hunt, Sam and Dean watch the stars for the first time since Dean came back from Hell. Things are finally starting to fall back into place between them, but it's impossible to ignore the ways things have changed. 

Specifics:

Events Participated In:

SPN Summergen, Player Appreciation Week (Fic and Art), Code Secret Santa (Art), Miraculous Magic Zine (Revamp Fic), and Fandom Trumps Hate (Offered Art/Fic).

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

Oof, hard to answer. Definitely less than I’d hoped and maybe still a fair bit less than I expected, but I did know that my life was about to get swallowed by school and I wasn’t wrong. I definitely wish I had been able to participate in more events for sure and I’ve had a lot of inspiration for all sorts of stuff that I just haven’t had the brain power for unfortunately. What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

I mean, looking at posting, I only have two options lol. In general though, I stuck fairly close to my norm for all that. I poked around time travel AUs which was fun but most of that was brainstorming/animatic storyboarding rather than writing.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

Definitely So Long As You're With Me! That AU lives in my head rent free and boy howdy I’d love to share it all one day but there’s just so much to it. I swear, the pieces I have shared are hardly recognisable as the same story haha. Anyway, it’s definitely a little rushed at some points, but it was a very crammed piece that just kept getting longer, so I’ll take it!

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

Since I’ve only posted two new works this year, we’re going to go overall. Which would definitely still be Fragmentation. It’s got 20.3k views!! That’s only 400 less than it’s total word count and it seems like the hit count keeps going up slowly, which is wild to consider it’s on FF.net in a faded fandom and has been complete for like a year. Next up would be The Problem With Good Intentions at 11k, which also blows me away a bit cause Merlin ended a decade ago but I’m proud of the fandom for staying alive! XD

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

Probably still A Letter to Never Be Read on FF.net. It’s a pretty niche fic, so I can’t really be surprised but I felt artsy writing it way back when lol.

Most overdue story?

Welp, It’s Only Natural is certainly overdue, but I don’t think anyone is really following that one so it’s not in a rush. A Long Ways Home on the other hand drives me crazy cause I’ve actually been wanting to write for it, but brainpower’s been too low from school. Can’t believe it’s been a year. :’(

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

Tbh, not really? I pushed myself in what I did, but it was all relatively in my comfort zone. I guess I tried writing in S4 of Supernatural in Still the Same, but that doesn’t feel much like a risk. I also tried out some writing from screenshot prompts which was super fun and interesting, but unfortunately that was sniped by lack of time/energy too. So I guess not really this year.

How’d this year compare to your goals of last year?

Oh boy, I’m so intimidated to read these paragraphs haha. I bet I did like none of them. We’ll start with the bullet list though since that should be fairly straightforward. -Unfortunately, prioritizing school is honestly my biggest writing goal this year. So if I do that all successfully and get through any more than like, 1-2 of these, it will be a success haha. 

-A Long Ways Home (Gonna break it up into Chapter 3, Chapter 4, and if that’s not the epilogue, then an epilogue. I’m determined and really think it’s doable, I just need to be careful not to overestimate again) WIP Bang if not done by Summer. -SPN Summergen -PAB if enough interest -February week event -Loyalties AU Plotting/Drafting -SQZ Zines -Comments

If crazy inspired year: -Gencest Bang -WIP Bang with It’s Only Natural -Post More CS One-shots -Other Zines

Okay, so some of those crossings are a little generous, but I wanted to at least check off the school one haha. Tbh, though, it wasn’t as bad as I expected! I did a decent job of having low expectations lol.

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

Oh boy. See I wish that this last year being so sad would mean this year would be back to creative rush, but I’m already a month in and I haven’t even tried writing anything other than school papers. I’ve been getting surprisingly into Huntlow (omg, Sakarrie having a romantic ship that she’s like legit into????? whacK), so it’d be fun to experiment with some fic there! Willow needs more angst fic to balance out our traumatized golden boi. Trying to find some zines would also be fun! And I’ll be sad if I ever have to miss Summergen cause it’s 100% my favorite event of the year. Oh, and of course I’m hoping to be able to participate more in Player Appreciation Week this coming month!! Shameless plug.

I’d also like to make some progress on A Long Ways Home, so hopefully in my Summer break I’ll finally have a chance to sit down and write. I’m not going to be dumb enough to put time frame estimations on it again though haha. I also am not a huge fan of having WIPs just sitting out there so if I could knock off It’s Only Natural sometime, that’d be great, but it’s honestly not a priority and I haven’t been feeling Voltron for a bit.

As for other plans, Loyalties AU and EverYOnE is bROkeN AU both haunt me at night and then there’s the time travel au that just has my brain zooming whenever I think about it. They just all get so intense and I WANT to share that intensity cause I know they could be epic, but first I gotta finalize the details, then I gotta have the skills to pull it off, then I gotta actually write sooooooooooooo we’ll see where those get me.

Okay so comments. Bah that project is such a mindset monster haha. I want to be supportive and express thanks to those who write and comment, but also the more pressure I put on it, the harder it gets. I feel like it makes reading new fics very intimidating and makes leaving chill comments harder. I think it would be nice to get through, but I think my goal for this year is to let my 1000 tabs go and just comment/respond in the moment whenever I can and not overthink it. I do want to catch up on replies though so that can be my comment goal for this year. In terms of my numbers, though, I did meet my generous goal of 20k written and 10k posted this year! (Rounding a little but close enough.) And I met my ultimate wc goal if brainstorming essays count!

Bullet list time!

2023:

-Unfortunately, keeping my scholarship has to be my biggest goal this year again so gonna put that here in case it's the only thing I can check off come December. -A Long Ways Home (at least 1 new chapter) -SPN Summergen -At least 3/7 Player Appreciation Week days -Catch up on comment replies -At least do some more brainstorming for bigger CS aus -Huntlow/Owl House fics? -One zine?

If crazy inspired year: -All of A Long Ways Home -All Player Appreciation Week Days -WIP Bang with It’s Only Natural -Post More CS One-shots -Write out more big AU scenes -Other Zines

So with that, I’m gonna set my word count bar pretty low again haha. In fact, I think I’ll just leave it as it was last year.

Easy Goal Word Count Goal: 20k (at least 10k posted)

Stretch Goal (aka, if I don’t die from school): 40k (at least 25k posted)

Ultimate 2023 Word Count Goal: 30k

[mermaid--bride]

Diabolik Lovers || Dark Waters - Maria Dark Route [Dark 09]

--Scene starts at the school's hallway

Azusa: Ne, Lilith...

Maria: ...

Azusa: ... Oi, Lilith!

Maria: Hm?

Ah! Sorry, I couldn't hear you with my headphones on.

Azusa: Are you busy... right now...?

Maria: ... Well I was working on this drawing... but I guess I can do it later.

Azusa: Can you really...?

Maria: Sure! What is it?

Azusa: Yuma wants... help carrying some... boxes to the garden...

Kou and Ruki are... not around... and I am not that strong...

Maria: Oh? Well I'm not that strong either...

But maybe I can help.

Azusa: I am glad... you said that...

Follow me...

--Scene changes to the school's garden

Maria: Hmph...!

(These are quite heavy after a while carrying them...)

(Still I'm glad we finally made it!)

Yuma: Here we go! Nice job, you two!

Azusa: Hmm... My arms hurt... from all the... weight...

Heh... It feels nice...

Yuma: Che! I told ya not to carry too much, didn' I?

Anyway, Sakana! It's yer turn to work!

Maria: Eh? What do you mean?

Yuma: I want ya to create copies of me so I can get this garden planted as fast as possible!

Maria: Eeeeh!? I can't do that!

Yuma: Hah? What do you mean you can't!?

Kou told me what ya did in the library! So don' try shittin me and do yer thing already!

Maria: (So that's what this is about...)

Sorry, but I can only create illusions. That's all they are...

Yuma: Seriously!? Che! So yer useless after all?

And here I thought I'd get this done early...

Maria: ... Um... I can still help planting if you need...

Also, I can water them faster for you after we're done, since I can control water too.

Yuma: Hmmm alright, I'll take that.

Let's hurry up though! I don' wanna be here all night!

Maria: Ok! Please show me what to do!

*Timeskip*

Maria: Oof! That was the last one!

Yuma: Yeah!

Maria: (Then now all I need to do is...)

*Sound of water boiling*

Maria: (Perfect! I have a little cloud! Now I just gotta slowly lower the temperature over the crops and...)

*Sound of soft rain*

Yuma: Wohoho! Nice! Everything is watered and ready to go!

Maybe you aren’t that bad after all.

Maria: ... Thank you...

(I’ll take that as a compliment.)

Yuma: From now on ye're my helper for taking care of the crops!

Maria: Eh? But I'm not even good at gardening...

Yuma: Haah? You don' wanna?

Maria: That's not what I said...

Yuma: Then stop blabbing to yerself and make sure to be here every night to check on them!

Maria: Ah... Ok...

(My goodness... Somehow I ended up responsible for helping with the garden...)

(Though I guess it isn't too bad. Maybe I'll finally learn how to tender to my own plants.)

(Hmm... I wonder what kind of plant I could grow on my balcony... Fufu!)

--End of dark 9

[<--Dark 8] [Dark 10-->]