#that was just for the crossover but it’s interesting nonetheless

[solargeist]

love when artists give a character a random tail . Creature mode

[anthurak]

Takeaways from the Volume 9 Epilogue:

--

One thing I really like about Oscar’s ‘If there was anything I wish I could borrow from you…’ monologue is that it laid out/confirmed something I’ve always felt was a major aspect of Oscar’s dynamic with Ruby that I nonetheless feel a lot of the fandom has missed: That Oscar very much sees Ruby as a mentor and an example to follow, and how their dynamic is specifically a foil to what we saw between Ruby and Ozpin. That Ruby acts as a mentor and example to Oscar in the same way Ozpin was to Ruby, and that Ruby is a far BETTER mentor and example to Oscar than Ozpin ever was to her. Which, as an aside, is a dynamic I can’t help but feel a lot of people have been misinterpreting as ‘ship-teasing’ and is one of the main reasons I’ve simply never been able to see Oscar as any kind of viable love-interest to Ruby. Frankly the dynamic of ‘Ruby is the mentor and example to Oscar that Ozpin couldn’t be for her’ is simply so much more INTERESTING than any kind of romance could ever hope to be.

--

Even in animatic form, Winter basically going overdrive on the maiden powers was a sight to behold. And her own monologue had all the self-deprecation we were expecting. Our girl is clearly holding on by a thread and it’s going to be REAL interesting seeing how she reacts and adjusts to her sister not actually being dead. As in, I can imagine a situation where Winter tries to throw herself into a heroic sacrifice with the belief that Weiss would make a better Maiden than her.

Also, Winter’s monologue giving major focus to how Penny is super-super-dead-dead-and-definitely-not-coming-back-for-really-realsies, as she is talking to the sister who she ALSO believes is DEFINITELY also dead? Specifically with the words that Penny is gone, when Penny’s last words to her were that she’d be ‘part of you’?

Yeah, there is no way in hell we’ve seen the last of Penny XD

--

The CROWN. Like it was only a few shots, but as someone who read the CFVY Books (which you totally should if you haven’t, they’re great), holy shit I was NOT expecting them to pop up here.

I mean, in hindsight it makes perfect sense that they’d be involved in Volume 10. They’re basically Vacuo’s equivalent to Vale’s criminal element and the White Fang splinter faction as Salem’s co-opted insurgency group, with Jax and Gillian joining Roman, Adam and Jacques as the latest of Salem’s unwitting patsies. It’s definitely going to be real interesting seeing the crew deal with them. Like it’s really fun to imagine Team RWBY in particular being kind of exasperated at seeing Jax’s probably doing a whole ‘With Salem’s help I shall be King!’ shtick after everything they’ve seen with Roman, Adam and Jacques.

Oh and if you don’t know, Jax has a mind-control semblance, so him trying to use that on Yang could actually lead to a sneaky callback to the Justice League crossover, ie; Yang doing a ‘Yeah, I’m not doing THAT shit again.’ XD

--

Qrow’s whole vibe through this is fascinating. Like his section may have been the one we already saw, but after seeing the abject depression and growing despair of all the other characters, Qrow actually being OPTIMISTIC hit so much harder.

--

Raven showing up at the end is… interesting.

I’ll admit that ever since we saw that specific clip a few months back, I’ve been rather conflicts about Raven showing up to deliver RWBY+J to Vacuo, particularly after Ruby’s tree vision. Like for one it felt a bit random and unnecessary. The tree already deposited the Ever After team outside of Vacuo so they didn’t exactly need help getting there. Not to mention that it kind of clotheslines the story-thread set up by Ruby’s vision; that she now has a reason to track Raven down to get the ANSWERS to what happened to Summer. Finally, it’s just kind of… random? Like where did Raven even come from to get the team?

But now having seen the clip with its intended context, I’m definitely more on board with it. Particularly hearing from Kerry and Eddy that the original ending for the penultimate episode had RWBY+J going through the portal to arrive at their memorial stone, and met by a ‘Mysterious Figure’, ie; Raven. Here it feels like were getting more set up to get answers later as to what Raven was doing at the memorial.

And really, now that I’ve thought about it more, this method kind of puts the thread of Ruby going to Raven for answers even MORE into focus. Like the story reintroduces Raven in the present right after Ruby got a vision basically saying ‘hey, Raven is important’. And now going into Volume 10, we’re pretty much perfectly positioned for Ruby to pull Raven aside for those all-important ‘Why were you fucking my mom? What happened to my mom?’ questions.

--

Finally… yeah that ending hit me a LOT harder than I was expecting. Like that ending was HOPE in its purest form and it was honestly beautiful to see. Particularly right now with the future of the show seeming so uncertain. I’ve personally been optimistic about RWBY’s future (in a manner not unlike Qrow’s vibes I suppose lol), but damn the hopefulness of that ending hit especially hard, and was something I’ll admit I needed. And I imagine the rest of us could use as well.

We'll be getting Volume 10. And 11, and 12, and however many more it takes to finish this story. At this point, I have no doubt of that.

[ozzgin]

So I was wondering how Lisa Lisa, Caesar, and Joseph react to accidentally awakening Pillar woman reader( who is EXTRA Buff) . And while the three of them think Reader’s a threat, the reality she’s just a gentle giantess. And just pats Joseph head, and doesn’t seem to understand that they’re humans per say, but thinks their younger Pillar men?

Love the idea! After writing the Baki x JoJo crossover my mind has wandered to a Pillar Woman, too. A proper one. I also played around with Midjourney to see if I could get a glimpse at a potential Pillar Woman, and it’s not as muscular as I would’ve wished but it looks interesting nonetheless.

JJBA Headcanons: Pillar Woman! Reader

Featuring Lisa Lisa, Caesar, Joseph, and an awakened Pillar Woman that’s not as threatening as her male counterpart.

Joseph and Caesar are not only irritated by each other’s company, but by the sheer pointlessness of this task that has interrupted their training. Three Pillar Men have emerged from this site and fiddling around unturned stones only serves in delaying their fight. Their whines are quickly silenced by Lisa Lisa’s orders to continue their search. If they have time to moan, they have time to look for clues. The UV lights have long been discarded after the gory incident, so the narrow rays of flashlights only add to their frustration.

A faint sound catches their attention and they simultaneously turn towards a pillar at the end of the chamber. “Is that an unfinished sculpture or something?” Caesar ponders as he gazes as the bizarre block of stone with a vaguely chiseled arm protruding out of it. “I can’t believe this. I should be perfecting my deadly moves and here I am listening to your art commentary instead. Should we have a little séance session so you can ask them directly?” Joseph responds in a mocking tone. Their bickering continues under the scolding glares of the woman supervising them.

Her sigh of annoyance is abruptly drowned by the loud cracks of collapsing rubble. The bulky pillar seems to be disintegrating and they quickly cover their faces, scrambling to avoid the thick clouds of dust rapidly flooding the room. Once the smoke clears out, their faces twist in shock at the sight of yet another Pillar person that has somehow evaded the previous investigations. Although this one seems to be a woman.

The group is taken aback by the colossal size of this specimen. She’s significantly larger than all the Pillar Men they have encountered, with impressive muscular mass. Joseph and Caesar have already positioned themselves in strategic fighting stances and Lisa Lisa bites her lower lip, stressed by the unexpected encounter. They haven’t managed to lay a finger on the original Pillar Men. Would they stand a chance against this behemoth of a creature?

You stretch your limbs and lazily scan the area. How long has it been since you’ve gone to sleep? You don’t recognize a single thing. The humans before you are small are slender. Children? You’re not quite sure. You hear them mumble among themselves and you realize it’s a language foreign to you, although you quickly pick up the vocabulary. You approach Joseph and place your large hand on his head, trying to reassure the young boy of his safety. “Are your parents nearby? Perhaps they could explain my situation better.” You state in a soft voice. Caesar cannot help the laugh that erupts out of him, having to rest on his knees to manage the convulsions. Joseph barks at him, annoyed and embarrassed, and politely removes your hand, explaining he’s a grown man. You can only stare in shock.

Once it is confirmed that you are indeed no threat, Lisa Lisa describes the recent events to you. You listen intently, arms crossed. You don’t particularly care for humans, but you don’t like the cockiness displayed by the awakened Pillar Men, nor their supposed intentions. In your current state, you could use some entertainment. You might as well lend a hand to the amusing individuals that found you.

[tobiasdrake]

Okay after that ask about Ranma at a Tenkaichi Budokai, I have been haunted throughout my entire day of work by this concept. So this occupied my mind instead. And now I have a tournament bracket.

Please note that this is not based on, like, Versus Feat Analysis and stuff. Just thinking about what would make for an interesting crossover tournament arc.

Note: I am not a writer so this is all probably pretty janky but these are just the broad strokes ideas I had.

Also please note that it's been like a decade and a half since last time I read Ranma 1/2 so my memory's pretty fuzzy on a lot of things. But like here are some vague notes for what I think would make a fun and interesting Dragon Ball vs Ranma 1/2 tournament arc.

Some narrative considerations to take into account:

We want every match to be a Ranma 1/2 vs. Dragon Ball fight, so that means two characters from both have to win their matches in the quarterfinals. This is a bracketed tournament so in story terms it wouldn't be specifically these four guys against those four, but for the purpose of storycraft that'd be the intent nonetheless.

Goku and Ranma have to be the final, so they're on opposite halves of the bracket. Both of these guys are going to fight their way through 3/4 of the other guy's cast, including each other. That's just how tournament arcs go.

Dragon Ball cast are at an ambiguous placement in ability. Somewhere after 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai but before Raditz landed on Earth. Somewhere in the general ballpark of 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

Ryoga is Ranma's biggest rival so it would be sensible for him to make it to the semifinals, but we have two women in this tournament and I don't want them both to get creamed in the first round.

Instead of a Tenkaichi Budokai, this may work better as some other undefined tournament to allow use of weapons. Ryoga, Ukyo, and Shampoo all utilize varying degrees of weapon fighting in their arts, so standard Tenkaichi Budokai rules would be a significant nerf. If the DB cast get to fly, then the Ranma cast should be allowed their weapons.

There should be a sudden inconvenient rainstorm that sweeps in, timed at a moment when all the cursed Ranma characters can be forced to shapeshift but not in a context where it will decide the outcome of the fight. Like. Three of the four Ranma characters here have curses, and I don't want Ryoga or Shampoo to lose because they turned into a pig and cat respectively in the middle of their fight. So it should start pouring during one of Ranma's matches, preferably quarter- or semi-final.

The Kamehameha is generally portrayed as unimpressive compared to other ki techniques in Dragon Ball; It's pretty basic but its versatility allows practitioners to do tremendous things with it. For his part, Ranma's self-taught Moko Takabisha, a variant of the Shishi Hokodan he invented because he can't get as depressed as Ryoga, is powered by his own self-assurance. So I think it should be treated as stronger than the Kamehameha when Ranma's cocky but weaker if a fight's turning against him.

So, brackets and some vague outline notes.

QUARTERFINALS

Round 1: Ryoga Hibiki vs. Son Goku

If Ryoga's only going to get one fight then it should be a good one. An opening quarterfinal match worth of a semifinal or final round, to set the stage for the fights to come and establish Goku as the Guy To Beat for Ranma's cast.

Fighting Goku would give Ryoga a great opportunity to pull out all the stops and unload everything in his arsenal. Bandana missiles, using his heavy umbrella like a sword, his Breaking Point technique, and of course, his signature Shishi Hokodan.

Ryoga's Shishi Hokodan is shown to be tremendously powerful, potentially rivaling Tenshinhan's Kikoho. The qualifiers would be a great place to show off its full might and set up tension for this match. Ryoga blows away a formidable Dragon Ball character, maybe Jackie Chun, by blasting them with a full-power Shishi Hokodan.

But I think his reason for losing the match would be because he can't bring out its full power. It's fueled by depression ki; The more Ryoga allows himself to be absorbed in depression, the more powerful it becomes.

But Goku historically is fucking fun to fight. He has always had a knack for not just enjoying his matches with others but being enjoyable to face off against. Most of his rivals were redeemed specifically by how much they enjoy fighting him. Even the ultimate evil Frieza has made suboptimal decisions out of a fascination with matching fists against Goku.

Even if you don't like to fight, it's hard to be unhappy when you're trading fists with Son Goku. He is the embodiment of pure martial arts enjoyment. Despite himself, Ryoga would simply be enjoying himself too much to unleash a full-power Shishi Hokodan, and be undone by how fun this fight is.

Unable to access his ultimate technique, Ryoga opts to remove Goku's options. Using his Breaking Point technique, Ryoga destroys a corner of the ring under Goku's feet, but when the dust settles, Goku managed to make it away from the corner and avoid ringout. Implied but not directly shown that he used Bukujutsu. Ryoga keeps it up, destroying chunk after chunk of the stage until there's only a little bit left. Goku baits him with a Zanzoken/Afterimage into destroying that as well, appearing behind Ryoga and striking hard enough to send Ryoga out of the ring and into the dirt.

Round 2: Ukyo Kuonji vs Krillin

Okay gonna be real with you at first I was gonna put Shampoo as the other Ranma character who makes it to semifinals but then I was thinking about Ukyo's abilities and realized I wanted her to fight Goku so, so bad you have no idea.

Krillin's built around sucker punches and unpredictable techniques. For her part, Ukyo's culinary fighting style is fucking weird and difficult to read. From tempura bombs to flour smokescreens to adhesive batter and yakisoba binding ropes, Ukyo's got her grill and her giant melee spatula (plus smaller throwing spatulas), and she's here to cook up a victory.

Krillin mistakes Ukyo for a boy? As a flip-flop reference to when he thought Upa was a girl by way of Ukyo's canonical androgyny and non-binary presentation? Is this something? IDK.

For the first exchange of the match, Ukyo brings out her grill and cooks up some tasty okonomiyaki, then gives some to Krillin as a gesture of good will. It's a bomb, comically exploding in his face; Ukyo draws first blood before Krillin even realizes the fight has started, and they begin trading blows from there.

Krillin has Ukyo on the ropes for the first portion of the fight. He surprises her with his quick movements and distracting ki blasts, every move and exchange meant to pull attention away from where his next punch is going to come from. Physically, he's tough; Ukyo clonks him on the head with her spatula full strength in an early attempt at a KO, but he's just too strong. But he starts losing steam as the battle progresses.

He only realizes what's happening too late, as the adhesive batter that the okonomiyaki bomb covered him in sets in. The heat from his own ki attacks makes the batter harden more quickly, slowing his movements over time.

Once Krillin realizes he's mired in glue, Ukyo detonates tempura bombs around the ring for her victory plan. Then she lassos Krillin with her yakisoba and ejects him from the arena before he has a chance to break free from the batter.

Round 3: Ranma vs Yamcha

I had to. It's tradition for Yamcha to go down in the first round against one of the major plot characters, typically the main rival to Goku. One of Yamcha's two main jobs in these tournaments is to act as a yardstick to establish how tough the other guy's going to be.

But he still usually gets to put up a good fight. The 22nd match with Ten had him debut his Kamehameha, while his 23rd gave him some solid moments too. Yamcha's going to lose this match but he should get to apply some pressure to Ranma while he's at it.

This might be a good place for the rainstorm. IDK. Would need to seriously consider how Yamcha would react to Ranma sexshifting mid-battle and whether that would make the fight more or less entertaining.

One image I have in my head for this match is Yamcha using his Rogafufuken/Wolf Fang Fist, only for Ranma to match his moves. The technique is based on a relentless assault, an overwhelming flurry of attacks. But Ranma's Chestnuts on an Open Fire training - cultivating striking speed by grabbing chestnuts out of a firepit without getting burned - taught him incredible manual dexterity, allowing him to parry each and every strike of the Rogafufuken.

Yamcha needs to break out the Sokidan/Spirit Ball in this fight, surprising and pressuring Ranma with his ability to remotely control his ki bullet. Ranma eventually stops dodging and uses a small Moko Takabisha to deflect, but this distraction opens him up to Yamcha rushing in with Rogafufuken. Yamcha admits that he borrowed this idea from his bro Krillin.

This is where we see Ranma's chestnut training allowing him to match Ryoga's strikes, and he starts backing off from the assault. Letting Yamcha push him back while pulling Yamcha into the spiral motion. Then, right at the crucial wolf-bite moment that ends the Rogafufuken, Ranma lands his punch instead and blows Yamcha away with the ensuing tornado. An ironic end to a technique that, in Japanese, is called "Fist of the Wolf Fang Hurricane".

Thus setting the stage for how formidable Ranma truly is, and giving Goku a chance to start doing the analysis for what he'll need to beat in the finals.

Round 4: Tenshinhan vs Shampoo

This is going to be such a weird match. Tenshinhan's got all the bizarre techniques: Taiyoken/Solar Flare, Shiyoken/Four Witches, Shishin no Ken/Multiform, enhanced three-eyed perception, etc.

For her part, Shampoo is highly proficient in a variety of weapon styles. Since weapons have been permitted here, she's got an endless supply of blades and staves and polearms to bring to fore. However, her most dangerous arts are what she's capable of when she gets up close, as she has an encyclopedic knowledge of bizarre pressure points that can do anything from memory erasure to instant KO to puppeting someone's body.

I don't remember if it works like this. But I have this image in my head of Shampoo sitting on the shoulders of a Tenshinhan copy and Ratatouilling him against the other Tenshinhans. And I would be very happy if that is a thing that is possible to happen in this fight.

In any case, Shampoo's weapon arts and pressure point techniques give Ten some trouble. She has potential instant-wins if she can get her hands on him, which he's able to learn about after using Shishin no Ken to tease out her abilities at the start. But after reforming back into one, he counters her with Shiyoken, using the extra dexterity of four-armed fighting to parry and counter her weapons while keeping her at arm's length and getting hits in of his own.

While also baiting her into mistakes by using Zanzoken/Afterimages. This is a pretty straightforward fight, and Ten's weird abilities let him clinch the victory.

SEMIFINALS

Round 1: Son Goku vs Ukyo Kuonji

For the first exchange of the match, Ukyo brings out her grill and cooks up some tasty okonomiyaki, then gives some to Goku as a gesture of good will. He ravenously devours it in seconds. The bomb explodes in his stomach and he comically opens his mouth to belch out the smoke from the blast.

This sets the stage for what the fight is going to be like. It's Ukyo's culinary martial arts vs Son Goku's bottomless stomach. He eats her tempura smoke bombs. He eats her yakisoba ropes. He eats her adhesive batter. He eats and he eats and he eats everything she has to throw at him.

He just. He won't stop fucking eating her moves. Finally, she goes to her grill and, in seconds, comically cooks up the largest okonomiyaki ever made in history and slams it down on the arena stage, crushing Goku beneath it. It spreads out so far it even reaches the audience stands.

As Ukyo watches Goku inhale her giant okonomiyaki, she concedes defeat and forfeits the match. Goku shakes her hand and thanks her for the most delicious fight of his life.

Round 2: Ranma vs Tenshinhan

Ranma's chestnut training allows him to parry attacks from Ten's Shiyoken, not unlike how Goku's Hasshuken once did. Still, I want Ten to really pressure Ranma for the first half of the fight in hand-to-hand, much harder than Yamcha did. Ten is stronger, faster, and better trained than Ranma, is the vibe.

First appearance of a killer move is when it works; Second is when it's thwarted. With that in mind, this is a good place for Ranma to pull the Hiryu Shoten Ha again, only for Ten to catch himself in midair with Bukujutsu and continue the fight; Forcing Ranma to grapple with the complexity of fighting an opponent who can freely levitate. With attention drawn to Goku on the sideline, studying Ranma's technique.

This leaves Ranma in the unenviable position of having to fight a Tenshinhan who is able to levitate in the air out of reach and fire Dodonpas. Ranma returns fire with his Moko Takabisha, but Ten easily floats sideways to evade the shot.

But then Ranma brings it back, landing a surprise hit on Ten's back. He's had time to think about Yamcha's Sokidan and how he can incorporate its remote-control movement into his Moko Takabisha. Once this reveal is made, Ranma raises the stakes with his Double Moko Takabisha, controlling each with separate hands - while filling one with hot ki and the other with cold ki.

Ranma harasses Ten in the air with his twin Moko Takabishas while Ten takes shots at Ranma with the Dodonpa. Unbeknownst to Ten, Ranma uses the two shots to form another spiral in the air, concluding by crashing them into each other and creating a new Hiryu Shoten Ha - This one snatching up Ten and drilling downward, driving him into the grass outside the ring.

FINALS

Final Round: Son Goku vs Ranma Saotome

Having devoured Yamcha and Tenshinhan, Ranma brings everything to this match. They fight up-close in quick and brutal melee exchanges where both give as good as they get, and they fight at range with ki blasts and Moko Takabishas.

There's a lot of I Know You Know I Know to this match. It's as much a chess game as a fight, with Ranma and Goku matching and devouring each other's skills. Goku takes Ranma by surprise with a Zanzoken, but Ranma figures it out pretty quickly and gets in a Zanzoken exchange with Ranma, flickering attacks in and out at each other. (Goku wins that exchange because of his superior sensing of an opponent's presence).

Ranma hits Goku hard enough to knock him up in the air, but Goku catches himself with Bukujutsu. Ranma attempts his spiraling remote-Moko Takabishas against Goku, but Goku's been watching his fights and is ready for this. He avoids the shots while following their motion and quietly building a pair of Kamehamehas, one in each hand. When Ranma's ready to collide his shots, Goku flies up between them and fires outward in both directions, dissipating the two Moko Takabishas with his twin Kamehamehas.

After landing back in the ring, Goku and Ranma go at it again, with Goku taking the upper hand and overpowering Ranma enough to hurl him from the ring. At which point Ranma catches himself in midair, revealing he's worked out the principles of Bukujutsu himself after going over that fight with Ten in his head. Neither opponent will be easily rung out. Ranma and Goku then take to the sky, pummeling each other.

The fight rages until both combatants are exhausted, left standing in the ring and unable to muster the ki for Bukujutsu - though not completely drained. This is Ranma's moment. All their blasts and heated fighting has filled the arena with lingering residual ki. Hot ki.

Meanwhile, with the last of his strength, Goku takes his stance and begins to intone. "Kaaaa meeee"

Similar to the Hiryu Korin Dan, Ranma uses a small spiral of cold ki to draw in all of the residual ki floating in the arena around them. He's two steps ahead of Goku, spinning all this floating energy up into what amounts to an energy grenade. The hot ki of Goku's Kamehameha will be drawn in with the rest of it, and the impact force will detonate it into a Hiryu Shoten Ha, firing back on Goku and blowing him out of the ring.

"Haaaa meeee"

Ranma hurls his grenade at the same time Goku fires his Kamehameha. And then Goku begins to curve his beam, twirling it in a large circle and getting steadily smaller and smaller. Rather than being drawn into the cold ki of Ranma's bomb, Goku's Kamehameha is drawing in all of the hot ki from it as it approaches.

Because Goku's been watching Ranma. And he's figured out how to adjust his ki's temperature from seeing Ranma do it so many times. Goku's Cold Kamehameha collides with Ranma's bomb, reversing its intended effect and detonating the Hiryu Shoten Ha back at Ranma. The blast hurls Ranma into the back wall, ending the match.

Goku ends the match on a friendly note, helping Ranma to his feet and showering him with praise for what a great martial artist he is and how cool it was to fight him. This fight really came down to the wire!

CHAMPION

The Winner: Genma Saotome

However, when it comes time for Goku to take his prize, it turns out Genma already plundered both the prize winnings and the trophy. Racing out the door, he physically picks a confused Ranma up and books it over the hills.

The Saotomes did not win the championship trophy. Nonetheless, they proudly have it in their possession.

[elodiah]

WIP Wednesday

Because somewhere in the world it’s Wednesday… which is here, where I am.

Thanks to fanart, I’ve been inspired to maybe possibly write a Loki/Star Wars crossover, specifically involving Loki and Obi-Wan, my beloveds.

And thanks to WIP Wednesday, I’ve just written the first lil tidbit.

Loki never pays much attention to the actual missions Mobius attends to on the timelines. As long as he’s not in any obvious danger, Loki just appreciates the opportunity to check in on him, make sure he’s okay. He watches on as Mobius confers with the two hunters for a moment, then one of them opens a time door and the hunters step through. Mobius turns to leave as well, but before he does, he hesitates and looks skywards for a moment, wistfulness in his eyes. Loki smiles. Mobius always does this when he’s outdoors, and he knows that he’s thinking of Loki, possibly hoping he’s watching.

Loki longs to tell him that he is.

Mobius finally departs, returning to the TVA, and Loki goes back to browsing the timelines, looking to select one that might be of interest. It’s reminiscent of the way one might flick through articles of clothing in their wardrobe, or swipe through photograph galleries on their electronic devices.

Huh. That’s new…

On this one here… there’s a tiny blue spark. It’s minuscule, but it pulses like a beacon nonetheless. Loki frowns. This is not like anything he’s seen before, although admittedly he’s hardly scraped the surface of the vastness of existence he holds within his hands.

Intrigued, he delves into the timeline, casting his View upon the luminous anomaly. Closing in carefully, following the gently glowing blue thread that trails off either side of it. As he does, fleeting feelings and impressions begin to assault him.

Oh.

This one… it is a life of pain.

Tagging @kcscribbler , @lokimobius , @loki-is-my-kink-awakening , @in-my-loki-feels , @thosegayoldmen , @silentxsymphony , and anyone else, as usual!

[commonblackbirdxx]

Heya, Written by the victors is back for chapter 2.

Crossover between httyd and rotg.

Pairings: Hijack, Hiccstrid (past)

Alternate History for httyd where the dragons did not go into hiding and that dragons coexist with humans in modern society. The guardians of childhood need to seek out a group of elusive autumn spirits to gain information on Pitch and his allies.

Chapter 2 summary:

Jack and the other guardians try to make sense of Man in Moon's message.

While a certain someone reads a news article about themselves.

1,000 years of history: Emperor Hiksti Hræðilegt Haddock III under the lens of modern pop culture

Roughly 1000 after his death, Emperor HIksti Hræðilegt Haddock III remains one of the most relevant and influential figures of history. From being the social pariah of his tribe to becoming an emperor, his story had captured the hearts and imagination of countless people.

With Nowflix announcement of creating a live-action series about the emperor and his dragon riders. The Daily NIghtfury recount how pop culture portrayed the emperor Hiksti Haddock III in the last 300 years.

How to train your dragon series (1704) by Cressida Howell

300 years later, Cressida Howell’s ‘How to train your dragon’ is still influential in how pop culture view the emperor. As one of the more popular children’s books in the North and South America, it ignited an interest about the life of the late Hiksti Haddock III.

Charming, dutiful, sarcastic and slightly awkward. The Hiskti Haddock III from ‘How to train your dragon’ (1704) by Cressida Howell is an adventurer and an engineer who wanted to explore the world and just happened to be a very endearing character. Originally released in America as a children’s book, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the gritty portrayals of the emperor in a serious and dramatic historical novel of Europe in the late 1600’s and early 1700s. It was released in Europe 5 years after its American release with mixed reviews from European critics. Though a century later, Europe have warmed up to the slightly whimsical portrayal of the emperor.

Where no one goes (1806) by Richard Broom

Introduced in 1856 to a polarising audience, it goes against the common depiction of Emperor Hiksti as a charismatic military commander in a dramatic historical novel full of glory of the war. ‘Where no one goes’ simply portrays King Hiksti III as a man in his 30s and so full of melancholy, unlike the popular novels which focused more during his youth and great battles he fought and less about his older self during the time of peace. Battle hardened and weary, ‘where no one goes’ depicts the brutally of war as the now adult King Hiksti recounts his youth. Of sleepless days where he dreams of enemy soldiers who burned to death by dragon fire, his question of morality as he builds another weapon of destruction and in the end of the novel ends with the emperor longing for the simpler times of his youth.

Highland seas series (1989) by Rachel Brook

Derided by the critics as a shallow bodice ripper novel, nonetheless it managed to have a dedicated readers to become a series. Set in an alternate universe where Hiksti Haddock III did not become a king and instead became a runaway before the final test against the monstrous nightmare, he finally become an adventurer he was meant to be. Readers have bemoaned the lost potential of the novel, setting aside the wonderful worldbuilding from the first chapters to focus on romance and softcore porn.

The Great King (2007) by Hiksti Blackwood

‘The Great King’ by Hiksti Blackwood took Emperor Hiksti’s steady image and shook it to its core. It’s a historical novel about Emperor Hiksti Haddock III but also works as a study on childhood and coming of age in medieval society, child marriages and traumas of war.

[liketolaugh-writes]

I know I've talked about this before, but God, I'm never going to stop resenting the hold that Harry Potter has on me.

As an autistic person, special interests never really leave you, and that's more true for longer-standing ones. I really can't explain how all-consuming they are, how much time and energy and love you pour into them, how much joy and comfort you get from them. I'm kind of between special interests right now, after finishing both Constellations and Blue Food Project, and it's unsettling. Makes me restless, leaves a lot of time in my day. (Time I can use to look for jobs! Positives.)

Anyway. Harry Potter was definitely my longest-standing special interest to date. It was my SI through most of elementary school, and given the choice, I would do nothing except reread them, over and over and over and over again. My parents had to institute a rule where every time I finished the series, I had to wait a certain amount of time before I read it again, and I always did as soon as the time was up. There are parts of it, useless stupid lines, that I can still recite from memory. ("And he was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one that turned out to be pepper" has always been my favorite example.) I don't engage much with the Harry Potter fandom, because it's a mutant factioned thing that kind of scares me, but the story stays with me nonetheless.

Like many other fans, this letter broke my heart; I'm sure you know the one even without clicking the link. She's only gotten worse since then (every so often I still look at her Twitter account and mourn) but this was the beginning of the end. Most authors, I can forgive their transgressions; I can trust that they've grown, I can accept that their work is flawed, and I can enjoy what I read despite that.

Every since that letter, and plenty of the subsequent scandals besides, I've been unable to do that. I read any part of Harry Potter and I can see nothing but flaws. I see sexism, and ableism, and cultural appropriation and colonialism and hypocrisy. I think, why are there so many crowds of tittering girls? and why does everyone hate Fleur seemingly just for being French and pretty? and why did she design the Slug Club without any acknowledgement of 'this is literally how to break into a career field?' There is nothing there for me but frustration and hurt.

I've seen people in the trans community complain about cis folk asking if they can 'still enjoy' Harry Potter, which I understand. (I consider myself nonbinary, but my gender identity is so unimportant to me that I still consider my place in that community tenuous.) But this isn't that. This is frustration. Harry Potter was carved into me years ago, and I can't seem to dig it out, and I have yet to decide what to do with that.

But the story stays with me. The memory of it is inescapable. I don't even really need to reread the books to write fanfics, most of the time; I know every plot point by heart. How could I not? And every unanswered question, every point of shoddy worldbuilding that drives me nuts about that world - I can fix those. I do it all the time in other fandoms. It's really not that hard to create the answers to the plot holes that bother you.

Most of the Harry Potter fics I write are crossovers - Harry Potter goes well with just about any world, kind of like Avengers does. But there's one I've been playing with that bugs me in a special way.

I mentioned finishing 'Constellations,' my two part series where Percy Jackson goes to therapy for everything he goes through in the PJO and HoO books. That was a love letter to Percy Jackson, to Rick Riordan's writing. Like any writer, he has his flaws and weak points, but I love it nonetheless, every part of it. I wrote it with the intent to supplement and highlight canon for everything I love about it.

Now, I find myself writing a similar fic for Harry Potter, with Harry Potter going through therapy. It's in the beginning stages yet (such stories are obviously difficult) but it's such a fascinating topic that I can't shake it. What happens when a survivor of such vicious neglect suddenly is accused of seeking attention at every turn? How can someone so victimized by the Ministry come to trust them enough to work as an Auror? Did Dumbledore truly understand what he subjected Harry to with the Dursleys?

But with Constellations, I had respect for Riordan's writing that I don't have for Rowling's. Such a story would come from a completely different place. And that's fascinating, too. It's just complicated.

I'm not going anywhere with this, I guess. It's just- frustrating, to so thoroughly resent a story and a cast that I also love so much.

[anneapocalypse]

🎇20 Questions for Fic Writers🎇

Tagged by @dreadfutures 💙 Thank you!

Tagging @chocochipbiscuit @farfromdaylight @rakshadow @skyeventide

Blank questions for your convenience! My answers are below the cut.

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

3. what fandoms do you write for?

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

5. do you respond to comments?

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. do you get hate on fics?

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? T

16. what are your writing strengths?

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

19. first fandom you wrote for?

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Answers!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

If I count everything, 181. If we're not counting meta pieces, 163.

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

802,674

3. what fandoms do you write for?

I've written for quite a few, but my big ones have been Fallout, Red vs. Blue, and Dragon Age. I've also written for The Penumbra Podcast, RWBY, Mass Effect, Person of Interest, and The 13 Clocks. (And now I'm also writing for Final Fantasy XIV, though I haven't posted anything yet and probably won't until after I'm caught up with MSQ.)

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

Homecoming (Red vs. Blue, Tucker & Junior, rated T)

Juno Steel & the Fox's Teeth (Penumbra Podcast, Juno/Peter, rated E)

Sensibility (Penumbra Podcast, Juno/Peter, rated E)

Respite (Red vs. Blue, North/Wash/York, rated T)

Home Front (Fallout 3, Amata/F!LW, rated T)

I was genuinely surprised and charmed at how well-received "Homecoming" was (and continues to be), as I considered it fairly niche at the time of writing, but then, Tucker is a popular character. The response to my Penumbra fics certainly caught me by surprise, in the manor of, "OH, this is what it's like to write the popular pairing!" "Respite" was one of my very early RvB fics and it's not one I'm particularly happy with now, as I think I would have done certain things differently had I written it later, but nonetheless it was well-received; not a lot of people were actually writing North/Wash/York at the time. "Home Front" is one of my favorite Fallout fics I've written; I'm still proud of it.

5. do you respond to comments?

Yes, I try to! Sometimes I take a bit longer these days, but I do try to reply to every comment, barring the odd rude one which I'll just delete or ignore.

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's maybe cheating to say The Fall, given that it's the second in a trilogy so the story isn't actually over at the end of that fic. But that fic is a downer the whole way and ends with the main character's probable death, so. It's pretty angsty. After that, I'd say "Please (Don't Leave Me)", an RvB South/CT fic where CT doesn't live and South is dealing with the aftermath, poorly.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd say I've written quite a few--I'm a big fan of the hard-won happy ending. I'm going to distinguish happy from fluffy here--I could pick any number of my one-shorts for fluffiest ending--and say The Landing, because relative to what comes before, and also canon, it's an incredibly happy and optimistic ending for Maine.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Rarely. The vast majority of my readers are perfectly sweet and kind. For some reason, my Mainelina fic has drawn the most bad commenters out of any. I wouldn't call those comments hate, but I have gotten a few that were pretty rude and/or backhanded. My guess is that I hit a particular unfulfilled niche with a long Maine-POV fic that happened to appeal to a particular kind of RvB fan, a kind who like Maine and like the fic but also felt the need to like, flex on me about it. Most of them have seemed not overly familiar with fandom etiquette and transformative fandom culture in general. Embarrassing for them tbh. I just ignore or delete them.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Whatever kind I feel like! Less in recent years perhaps, but that's less a lack of interest and more that I get bored easily if I feel like I'm writing something repetitive, and writing non-repetitive smut can be genuinely challenging! We only have so many words, descriptors, euphemisms, and slang terms that actually sound appealing when you're trying to write erotica, so I think writing good smut requires no small amount of creativity and resourcefulness, and I always admire those who do it well.

Bondage is a theme I've explored repeatedly. I would say that I enjoy writing established relationship smut the most because it can be assumed that the characters already know each other's likes and dislikes. But first-times can be fun too. I think I most enjoy writing smut between characters who trust each other and have a high level of emotional intimacy, whatever the specific activities involved might be.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

To be honest I'm just not really a crossover person. I can find the idea of a crossover interesting, but at the end of the day I just don't enjoy transplanting characters out of their home setting as much as I enjoy exploring who they are within that setting and how it's shaped them.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. I had a kink meme fill straight up plagiarized once, very obviously, such that when I took it to the mods it was an open and shut takedown.

I've also had less cut and dry incidents, and those are much harder to know how to deal with. I have had people basically rewrite a scene that I wrote, using pieces of the same dialogue, almost as if they thought we were both interpreting a scene from canon when we were not, it was something that I had made up. And yet it's not really plagiarism strictly speaking, and it wasn't worth the social fallout of calling them out on it, so I never did more than grumble vaguely about what happened. I've also had things where like... I ran across something pretty distinctly inspired by a fic of mine that I know the author had read, without bothering to give me a shoutout. That's not theft, but it is a bummer.

In every such case if the author had just asked me, "Hey, can I borrow your idea here? Can I post a remix of your fic?" I probably would have said yes without hesitation. Hell, even if they had not asked and simply given me a shoutout in their author's notes, I would have been pleased to have inspired them. But they didn't do that, and there's nothing I can do about it but I am going to be cranky about it.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I did have someone ask about translating a fic of mine once, and I gave permission, but I never heard back after that, so I don't know if they ever did. (This is something I have blanket permission for, by the way, so long as you let me know about it!)

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sort of? A friend and I did post a polished-up RP as a fic once, though we ended up not keeping it up. In general I think I'm a pretty solitary writer, though I wouldn't rule it out entirely, but I'd have to really feel that both my style and my writing process meshed well with my collaborator.

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

I'm too much of a multi-shipper to have a real answer to this.

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

If I want on any level to finish it, then I consider it still on the table. It might take me years to get back to it, but I still mean to. I still want to finish Small Blessings. I still want to finish Radio Silence. I trust that their time will come, even if it's not now.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Character voice, I think. Both dialogue, and getting inside a character's head and writing a plausible inner monologue.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Combat, always combat and action scenes, though I do think I'm getting better with practice.

Selfishness. As soon as I need to write something as an obligation to someone else, I don't want to do it, which is why I'd make a terrible professional writer, at least one who has to write to order.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Just write it. You don't have to italicize it or put some kind of indicator marks around it. Language is language. I think it's fine to post translations as a footnote but I don't think it's 100% necessary all the time, when it's something the reader can easily look up for themselves. I know I'm willing to do that kind of legwork for a fic I'm enjoying. I suppose it depends on the reader, and what kind of reader you want.

There are also times when it's perfectly fine to just write it in English (or the default language of the piece) while indicating in the narrative that the character is actually speaking in another language, such as ASL. Again I don't think you need to italicize or use some kind of weird formatting. Just write "He signed," and what he said in quotes like you would any other dialogue. If you've firmly established already that a character primarily speaks in ASL, you might not even need that. The reader can keep up.

Things do shift a bit when you're writing in a fictional language, especially one that's very incomplete and not a true conlang. I'll go with the obvious example of Dragon Age's Elvish (and yes, canonically the language is called Elvish or Elven, it's not called Elvhen, that's the people, not the language). Even if I string the appropriate words together, the meaning might not always be strictly clear to the reader out of context because Elvish is a pretty simple cipher. It doesn't have conjugation, for example. Nonetheless, I think often context clues can be enough for an engaged reader, especially if it's a word we encounter a lot in canon. Where it might not be clear, and if it's very important to the story, I will usually simply work some kind of translation into the narrative itself. This can work particularly well when your POV character also has it as a second language. Example from my Briala/f!Tabris draft:

Gheyna and Cammen, having finished tending to the halla, stood aside, hand in hand, and Gheyna waved. "Dareth shiral, Keeper. Talith, Briala, dareth shiral. Sylaise ma ghilana vhenas." Cammen added solemnly, "Dareth shiral, Talith. Elgar'nan ma ghilana, lasa mala enasalin." At that, Talith's expression grew solemn as well. "Ma serannas, lethallen. Dareth shiral." Briala recognized a few words. Dareth shiral, "Safe journey." Vhenas, enasalin. And the names of the elven gods. Gheyna had bid the Hearthkeeper guide them safely home.

I personally prefer to stick to what we have in canon for Elvish (I'm not going to set myself up to be jossed if I don't have to), or if I ever really need an unknown word I'll make something up for myself. While there are some fanmade Elvish dictionaries out there, I'm not comfortable hanging too much of my own work on someone else's fanon, and also I inevitably disagree with some of their decisions on ambiguous canon words. (Ma does not mean "my," it means "you." This is consistent with every canon use of "ma" except one, and that one is in DA2 and is thus really, really likely to have been an oversight due to rushed development; every other instance of "ma" supports it meaning "you." Sorry, that has been eating at me for ages and I needed to get it off my chest. 😅) That said there are multiple fanmade Elvish dictionaries out there at this point, so if you're going to use someone else's, in this case I would strongly recommend supplying the reader with a link, both to credit the author and so the reader knows where to go to look up the words if they choose to. Don't assume that everyone knows you're using so-and-so's Elvish dictionary; I had never even heard of the big popular one until a couple years ago.

That was a lot, but at the end of the day, it's all about making a judgment call on how much you need to hold the reader's hand, as with anything; I personally tend to err on the side of trusting my reader, and if I assumed too much, well, maybe that's my mistake and maybe that reader wasn't my target audience anyway. 🤷🏻‍♀️ You'll figure out what's right for your work.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

The first fandom I wrote for was actually Dragon Age, but that early writing never saw the light of day. First fandom I posted fic for was Fallout.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

OH MAN. That's hard! I referenced The Drop, my Mainelina trilogy for RvB, multiple times in this post so obviously I'm still pretty fond of it. I'll add to that Inroads, my Kimbalina series. For Fallout, I'm real happy with Home Front (Amata/F!LW) and Cast Your Bread Upon the Water (Dr. Li/Star Paladin Cross, past Dr. Li/Catherine/James). And for Dragon Age, my current faves are No Woman Rules Alone (Anora/F!Tabris) and A Pot to Piss In (Sera backstory fic).

[hypernova-blitz-arts]

Okay so i have an idea- TMC but with a storyline based off of FAITH. basically a crossover. ik it's been done before but i'd like to present my own take on it. Long ass character info list under the cut

Btw if you wanna rb this, please do! It let's me know people are interested

To start, I think the AU would/should be called When Faith Prevails.

The cult still exists, Preacher is the leader of the lower ranking members. The cat is the cult mascot because yes. I'll elaborate later.

All of the humans are traumatized!! Yaaaaay!!!

Mark (Father Heathcliff)

- 36

- absolute wet cat of a man

- takes on a role similar to John

- decided he wanted to be a priest so he could help people. Only wanted to become a priest after an incident in his childhood in which he attempted to finish an exorcism. One which the priest that had been called to the scene died during.

- Continuing the above, the faithful boy did what he could, as he was instructed to by O'Brien. He wasn't fast enough.

- Insomnia, night terrors, PTSD, anxiety, depression

Dave (Father Lee)

- late 50's

- Takes on a role similar to Father Garcia because it's fucking hilarious to me to imagine Dave blasting a demon with a shotgun

- he's too cool that's why he dies later

- cares for Mark a lot, considers him family

- became a priest due to his Visions (TM) as a child. He's been revered as a holy prophet since.

- somehow the most stable guy in this entire AU, had a good family life, decent childhood, stayed out of trouble, a very good child. He's mostly chillin, save for the fact that he Witnesses The Horrors every night in his sleep.

Father O'Brien

- died during an exorcism.

- he done goofed.

Cesar Torres

- Died at 16, somehow aged as a ghost? maybe because he's still attached to his body.

- a spirit bound to what's left of his mortal form. Cannot be at peace until his body is killed.

- an alt possessed him and took his body during a botched attempt to exorcise it out of his house. Turns out there was more than one.

- "talks" to Mark sometimes (leaves things out that mean different things, writes notes)

- "bleeding" constantly

- hates seeing Mark spiral like this

"Cesar Torres"/Alt Cesar

- Killed Cesar and took over his body.

- watch it gain humanity later (i'm sorry but giving Alts humanity and then making them spiral is my favorite thing to do. It's so much fun to watch an unfeeling entity, one made to kill, drive itself insane over being a failure)

- they/it at first, he/it later on.

Sarah Heathcliff

- before i go on, this is only an AU loosely based on FAITH. That being said, Lisa (or any replacement thereof) x John (or any replacement thereof) does not exist.

- 32

- Mark's distant sister, lives in the Cult's apartment building.

- stays away from religion because of her childhood

- some flavor of emotional management issues, that's what makes her so easy for an Alternate to manipulate/begin to possess.

Thatcher Davis

- look, i refuse to make him as young as he is canonically. not as old as Dave, but close. bro is at least in his 40's here. maybe very early 40's but 40s nonetheless.

- cop that hangs around the church for security.

- hangs out with Dave, calls him old man a lot

- trauma. so much trauma.

- Dave taught him how to exorcise an alt out of a given place, but Thatcher has something stronger (a gun)

- "I'm a brave boy" *Sees an alt* "NOT A BRAVE ENOUGH BOY FOR THIS"

Ruth Weaver

- used to live in the cult apartment building.

- She was sacrificed.

- Thatcher is still looking for her.

- He won't like what he finds.

Adam Murray

- He's just Michael Davies here what else can i say

-17

- humanity? gone. none left.

- he's in so much pain all the fucking time help him

Jonah Marshall

- Adam's best friend

-18

- alive. for now.

- anxiety, so much anxiety, hallucinates a lot.

- he knows how to use a GUN in this one folks

Lucifer/The Morningstar/ UNSPEAKABLE

- you see how he looks in canon? make it worse. make it a million times more uncomfortable to look at.

- eyes. All of the eyes. So many eyes.

- limbs? Many. Wings? Yeah, he has those too. They're leathery and bat-like with a layer of blackened feathers along the top.

- merciless

- created the alternates to twist the world to his design.

- likes to watch humans go mental, it's so funny to him <3

Important side characters (mostly Alts)

Six/The Anglerfish

- lures children in to either make them join the cult or sacrifice them, often replaces them with an alt to "spread the vision of it's creator"

- Warned Mark of what was to happen, was there to observe Mark failing his best friend

- bastard. Kill him. Right now.

- him and stanley are one in the same. Six is the anglerfish hiding in the darkness behind its lure. A monster behind a friendly face.

Preacher

- Kind of equivalent to Malphas but usually takes a form like that of Miriam's

- right hand to the UNSPEAKABLE

- bastard boy bastard boy bastard boy

- manipulative little prick

The Sacrifices

- various sacrificed animals possessed by lower ranking alts

Goat

- THE fucked up sacrifice

- little fucking bitchass daddy's boy. Asskisser of the antichrist. Desperate for the UNSPEAKABLE'S attention

- Alu's replacement

[lets-try-some-writing]

I’d love to hear more about these:

- Shenanigans with Holoforms

- Continuity Crossover Reactions

- The Gravekeeper concept

I have already written a bit about Shenanigans with holoforms so I will skip that one for now. But as for Continuity Crossover reactions? That idea stemmed from the whole Wheeljack in Tfa au that has been floating around. I couldn't help but wonder how different continuities would see not just each other, but also the different laws of their respective universes. Here are a few basic snippets of what the reactions would look like:

TFP: Not a spark can look at the tfp universe and not gape. Gods live and walk among the living, relics of deities lay hidden and able to be used, creatures from times forgotten live and breathe, and literal demi-gods are forged through the Matrix. Not only that but science and magic might as well come as a package deal. There are strange customs and rules that the tfp universe revolves around, unspoken rules, but rules nonetheless. There is balance, but there is also eerie mysticism and something just... not right when the others look at it.

IDW: Primus... idw looks downright grimdark to the rest of the universe representatives. The gods are dead, or at least out of commission. The relics of the old age are lost or destroyed, Cybertron suffers, most hope has gone out the window, and nearly everyone is dead. Still the inhabitants of idw march onward, ever onward to a future that only looks darker with ever moment and honestly... the other representatives respect and fear that. The bots of idw are made of... different stuff, very different stuff.

Bayverse: The representatives have collectively agreed that whatever is going on in bayverse needs help, lots of it. There is so much pain and suffering, so much rage and loss, and there is so so much wrong with it. There is no Primus, yet there is Unicron? The Primes seem to be made through some form of lineage, implying some type of biological reproduction, but there is still an allspark? The lore of the bayverse universe is so convoluted compared to the others that the representatives have decided it is more of a distant cousin than anything else. Still they see the pains of the inhabitants and the things they must do to survive and they respect it all the same.

Animated: The other representatives only had to listen to the rundown of tfa for ten minutes to start feeling a terrible sense of dread. The Autobots are a bunch of brainwashed functionalists and the Decepticons are a group of exiles who have lost sight of their actual goals. Each faction thinks they are the hero but both are definably not and every representative, even bayverse agrees that whatever is going on in animated is a whole different level of fragged up. There are no gods, no rules, no magic, no artifacts, not even a matrix of leadership, just cold cruel reality where every bot can act as they desire but has no idea what freedom really is.

I am so going to get more in depth into this later, but as for your second ask... the Gravekeeper concept stemmed from the whole terrorcon thing. I looked at it and how the bots reacted, even the Decepticons and came to the conclusion that there was no way that Cybertronians wouldn't develop a new job to handle the trauma of that event.

Hence Gravekeepers. A position I conjured up where retired veterans, bots who feel the need to repent, or those who just find the idea interesting would watch over the dead. They would be an elite group, almost cultish in their way of going about things. They would watch over the bodies of the dead ensuring that none dare to pervert them with dark energon, experiments, or anything else of the sort. They would remain alert 24/7 and guide mourners to the correct grave, stop bots considering ending their own lives by taking them into the order of Gravekeepers to show them the value of life, and they would keep everything orderly.

It was just a random idea but I thought it fit considering how disgusted the bots were at seeing the bodies of the dead waltz around all zombified.

[ncisfranchise-source]

NCIS 21×04 “Left Unsaid” is proof of what has made this show so popular for over two decades. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about the episode. It’s a pretty straightforward case, and it gets solved more or less easily. No one gets blown up and there’s no one on the team in mortal danger.

Sure, NCIS: Los Angeles‘ Daniela Ruah directed this episode, but other than that there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about this hour. Except for the thing that always kinda is, which is that there is pretty great chemistry within this NCIS team, and there has always been, no matter who the players have been.

it’s a fun team, this team

NCIS 21×04 “Left Unsaid” is a pretty low-key funny episode, with Jessica and Timothy borderline mocking Nick as he suffers from having committed to being Parker’s “health” guru. Of course, Parker puts in a good face, but it’s clear to everyone that he will break before Torres does, if for no other reason that Torres is the most stubborn person on the team.

But the hilarious thing is the team dynamics and the way they are reminiscent of what we could have seen on this show a decade ago, with different characters. If NCIS has worked so well for so long it’s not because it’s tried to swap out characters and make the dynamics the same, but because it’s managed to create dynamics that feel honest and fun with new characters. This is not Tony/Ziva/McGee, but Nick/Jessica/McGee is pretty fun nonetheless, and we can appreciate what came before and what we have now in different ways. Very few shows manage that.

but there’s growth too

And yet the thing NCIS does really well is that, even as we get episodes like NCIS 21×04 “Left Unsaid” which are just about the dynamics, we also get episodes like NCIS 21×03 “Lifeline”, which are about growth for these characters. And 21 seasons there’s no sense that these characters have nowhere to go because these are not characters that have been around 21 seasons. The show has reinvented itself, quite a few times.

So yes, NCIS is indeed a show that feels somewhat new, even in Season 21. There are plenty of reasons for that Season 22 and beyond. There is quite a lot to explore with the characters that are present now, and with the dynamics that have been established now. Moreover, with the new shows in the universe, some interesting crossover possibilities should be explored even further.

Things I think I think:

The cold open is my literal worst nightmare.

Will the intro without Ducky ever not hurt?

New roommate?

Also who brings grapefruit in a box?

I got a little tingly at “Directed by Daniela Ruah,” I’m not gonna lie.

Torres looks miserable and it’s kinda hilarious. Don’t give him even one fry, Jessica.

“Extreme adventures”?

Jimmy is the most stable one around.

But he’s not boring, okay? HE’S NOT BORING.

Did someone kidnap this guy from his fake kidnapping? You gotta be kidding me.

Me, this entire episode: Can things please not go badly?

Things: *go really, really badly*

That father and son hug moment? Worth everything else.

I promise, I thought Torres was going to pull out a box of pastries from his bag at the end or something.

[fly-pow-bye]

On his Twitter, Greg Eagles, voice of Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, said that he was back at (what is still remaining of) Cartoon Network Studios to do some "Grim" stuff. Did Cartoon Network change their mind on having a Billy & Mandy special? Is this voicework for MultiVersus? If a talent agency is accurate, it's neither one of those things, but it seems to be exciting news nonetheless!

The MJB Talent Agency has revealed just exactly what it was, a two-part Jellystone special! They even gave a description explaining why a Cartoon Network character is now among the Hanna Barbera characters in the show:

A rift in time and space sends unwanted characters from classic Cartoon Network shows into Jellystone.

This can be very interesting, much like the Crossover Nexus episode of OK K.O., but possibly even more topical considering the idea of "unwanted characters" and HBO Max's mass delisting of many beloved shows...including OK K.O., come to think of it! It may be a while before we hear more about this special, but stay tuned.

[thetomorrowshow]

Any thought on the hc esmp crossover? :]

SOO MANY THOUGHTS

ok a. ik that im like. a flower husbands main and all that but there is no hetero explanation for the team rancher reunion

joe's pov was definitely my favorite. he seemed so overwhelmed the whole time it was very relatable

SCAR AND JIMMY PAIRING UP!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i like the varying ways of storytelling here. we have a spectrum of rping from like scott and sausage on one end and grian on the other--fully in-character or fully meta. that way there's a pov for just about everyone!

i really think that grian feels uncomfortable leading mass storylines--he has no problem playing along with things like moon big or rentheking, but when he's in charge of the story he gets self-conscious. which i understand--imo, he's scared that everybody else will think it's stupid, so if he starts out by saying it's stupid nobody holds that power over him. very common tactic in people with anxiety. i just wish he felt a bit more comfortable with it yk? he could do a lot of fun stuff if he leaned into it more.

also scar said something that i find really interesting for lore purposes--he said when they went through the rift, he thought that grian was sending them to the next life series. heavy implications for how the life series ties into hermitcraft.

keralis seems almost flustered by sausage out-innuendoing him (in character, nonetheless). mans needs to up his game

it's so much fun that they're all just here. this is such a cool thing. it feels like smps haven't ever really crossed boundaries like that before, and i think it could lead into a lot of fun crossovers in the future!

also, it's been said that they'll be here for a while, so i'm guessing they all just thought a bit of a break from hermitcraft would be healthy/fun. scar and jimmy building a train together... grian opening up the idea that hermits can maybe just visit sometimes... joe settling down in chromia... tango being hired on by fwhip... they're all connecting i love it smmmmm

i think it would be fun if all the hermits started doing custom hats and skins to match where they're settling!

i saw someone suggest that while they're gone, grumbot will declare mumbo mayor as soon as he gets back, but i don't think that'll happen. grumbot's really pretty much grian's domain, and i bet he'll go kinda defunct while grian's gone.

anyways. go to namemc and check grian joel lizzie sausage and scar.

[edmundstxrch]

Until I Found You i.

peter ballard x reader | crossover au

tw : mild mentions of blood and violence

HENRY CREEL, 001, OR PETER BALLARD, never thought himself to be capable of ever loving, or possibly even growing an attachment to someone else.

It was, after all, in his firm belief that everyone, including those mediocre people he'd once called family, was fake. Façade after façade covered them up like secrets brushed under a rug. To him, they, or all humans in general, were a unique sort of pest. One which multiplied and enforced an undesirable structure of their own—to which he aims to one day wipe off the face of the Earth with the abilities he'd come to hone.

That was the plan, at least, until he met her.

Y/N "Number Zero" Hargreeves was an enigma so unlike the rest. She was a mystery. She was someone he just couldn't seem to get a grasp on no matter how hard it was he tried, and how much he desired to.

Perhaps it was that peaceful expression that rested on her face that day long ago when Papa had brought her unconscious form into the confines of the dull, white lab. Perhaps it was the familiar crimson colour that was trickling down her forehead, and the way she paid it no mind despite her awakening. Or perhaps it was the way her eyes seemed to hold a panic she dared not even hesitate to act upon, using these—much like his own, yet so different—abilities to blast everyone within a 5-foot radius away from her with some translucent, violet force field that she'd generated with a glaring gaze.

Nonetheless, there was always something about her that piqued his interest even from the very start.

The longer her stay in that peculiar location stretched out, along with it, died the embers of hope the Hargreeves had of reuniting with her dysfunctional family of misfits.

When the day she'd gotten to this timeline first began, it was but a normal day in the Umbrella Academy. That was, at least, until she and her adoptive brother and best friend, Five, disobeyed the old coot's orders, and attempted to travel through time together.

There was obviously a fluke in the said attempt, rendering her in a state of unconsciousness in an empty alleyway decades back in time, and Five, all alone in the desolate doomsday of a future with but a mannequin he'd come to name in Y/N's memory, to keep him company.

She somehow—never truly understanding how—ended up in the reach of a man named Martin Brenner, some sort of doctor who upon her awakening, insisted she from henceforth called him "Papa" and no later introduced her to a boy around her age of the name Henry Creel, or "Number 001" as the man had so deemed him and tattooed on his wrist.

There was always something dark and dreary about his empty gaze, something to which she, herself, too unknowingly reciprocated, only further provoking the blonde boy's sparking curiosity. However, unable to withhold interest, nor his frustrations of being unable to protrude her mind any longer, he later approached her with a stoically polite expression, unknowingly extending not only his friendship but also a part of his entire being to the oddly interesting girl he'd later come to love wholly as time passed them by.

Those plans of his on wiping off humanity came and gone, much like all the seasons they were never able to watch drifting off.

Bit by bit, piece by piece, they both slowly came to open up to one another in regards to their own dark pasts—Henry, on his once, albeit somewhat changing, pessimistic views on both the world and humanity and Y/N, with the body count that hung over her head and the harsh training she and her step-siblings received from their billionaire of a father.

Doctor Brenner was, of course, happy to note the pair's ever-growing bond despite being unbeknownst to just what it is they share with one another.

Why wouldn't he be, when this offers him the chance to not only one day, have gifted infants within his grasp, but also serve the pair a reason to forever stay within the confines of his lab.

Thus, instead of tearing them apart, he took to encouraging them in the strengthening of their bond-allowing them plenty of unsupervised time together in the rainbow room and turning a blind eye despite knowing that one of them more often so than not, sneaks off to the other's room in the dead of night.

It was practically part of their routine at some point, whether the reason was for the blonde to ease his closest confidant of her nightmares, to hold one another close, or even as they got older, to relieve themselves of this strange warmth within them, and coming undone for hours-on-end.

Nevertheless, despite the little challenges the doctor had at testing their limits, and whatever troubles may have come their way, they always had one another to return to at the end of the day—a thought to which kept them going despite whatever hardships they may have been surpassing.

Something that, of course, was the truest of true until the day came that it just wasn't.

It was the same old story, waking up in one another's arms, Henry, pulling his lover close to his bare chest before peppering featherlight kisses along her shoulder and neck. His intimate little actions, having the (H/C) stir awake and blinking up at him from her half-lidded gaze.

"Good morning, my love," he'd always utter as he caressed her tousled tresses with a touch so soft, and those fingers of his that threaded through, and parted them with that tender touch he dared not even think to show another.

Truthfully, both he and she shouldn't even be baring those locks that fell down to their shoulders, and tickling them with its butterfly-like touch, what with Papa's wish to shave them off. But of course, such an action seemed to be impossible with the Hargreeve's impenetrable force fields blocking and ceasing such an action before it could even have begun.

Somehow, it was during such times—when the sun shines warmth upon the outside they had long since caught a glimpse of, that they seemed the most at peace. Both hands scarred with murder, somehow tendering, fondled with love in every trusted touch; a sanctuary for them, it was.

But of course, such things, such private, loving moments, were, like always, cut short; the fear of punishment or something of the sort, driving them, or in this case, Henry, back to his blank, empty room with but a parting kiss that lingered on his lips before he'd gone, unknowing to the way that this would have been the final morning they'd spend in one another's arms in what would seem like forever for his scarred and tattered heart.

Clad in their grey sweaters and sweatpants, the pair of seventeen-year-olds were found seated parallel to one another in the familiar walls of the Rainbow Room; a chess set atop the plain table, separating them as they twiddled with the black and white pieces.

The match, leaning in Henry's favour, was coming to a close—that much too familiar sly, seductive smirk, twisting the edge of his lip as his piece knocked his lover's king down with a small, echoing thud. "Check-"

"Mate." A new voice suddenly interrupted, causing the pair to instinctively arise and back into one another's sides; their hands, threateningly outstretched towards the smirking brunette. "Good game, but it's time I take my sister dearest back."

"Who do you think you are?" Henry voiced out, eyes narrowed, and lips tugged into a thin line as he pulled his person closer to his touch.

The physically younger boy only smiled sarcastically; dimples creasing his cheeks as he looked the blonde's way in a condescending manner. "I said, you nitwit, I'm here to collect my sister." His smile suddenly softened by a fraction as he transferred his gaze onto the girl Henry protectively stood by—frozen in shock, she appeared to be, which made the tanned boy chuckle.

"Hey, Zero." That familiar name only he called her, slipped so warmly down his tongue; a watery chuckle escaping the girl upon such, unbeknownst to her significant other's questioning gaze. "Y/N?"

"Five," she uttered in the volume of a breathy whisper. Upon his slight nod, she wasted no time in rushing out of her lover's arms, and into that of her best friend's so heavily missed touch; her forehead, resting down on the top of his head, and burying her face into his hair, what with the new height difference.

"You look-" "Exactly the same, I know." A hearty laugh escaped her as he replied; a thought only then occurred to her, as she pushed herself out of his tight embrace, flicking his forehead like she often used to. "Ow!"

"What the hell happened, you imbecile!" She glared down at him, faced with his only slightly sheepish expression, avoiding her gaze altogether.

"Well, the old coot was right, alright?" He sighed frustratedly, bringing a hand up to his dark hair, and ruffling it up further than it already was, no sooner facing her with an impatient manner immediately after, "We'll discuss this later, okay?"

As she opened her mouth to disagree, he quickly went and cut her off—his voice, seemingly strained as his eye twitched in a held-back irritance. "Y/N, there is more to my presence here than just rescuing you from this hellhole, you got it?"

"All our lives are in danger, and an apocalypse is coming."

She quickly understood from his use of the name Grace, or their "Mom" had given her, that he was intensely serious. His killer gaze was only doing wonders for this fact as he outstretched a hand her way. "It's time we go."

She was just about to give in to his pleading peer when a thought occurred to her, and she retracted her hand back upon looking back at her puzzled partner's direction. "But what about Henry?" She questioned Five, who shook his head.

"But-" She met her lover's beautiful blue irises for a final time before a sharp pain was sent to the back of her head, and black slowly took over her vision—the blonde's distant yells and threats echoing the room, along with her brother's final words filling her ears before everything went black. "I'm sorry, Y/N, but you can't change the timeline more than you already have."

"What do you think you're doing with her?" Henry glared down at the shorter boy, who now crouched to his adoptive sister's side; a hand on her shoulder. An invisible chokehold, constricted the "thirteen-year-old"'s throat as he gasped out for much-needed air, glaring up at the Voldemort wannabe his best friend somehow found love within.

Despite seemingly being at a disadvantage, along with the sudden burst of security that entered the room, Five only smirked before a bright, blue visionary overtook him—leaving not a single trace of not only his presence but of Y/N's as well.

Henry stumbled back upon the sudden release of force he'd once been bending; his panicked eyes, flying everywhere in the room in search of his girl, his gravity, his source of sanity. "Y/N?" He mumbled out in a brokenly desperate plea as his eyes raked the room almost unstably.

"Y/N, love, this isn't funny!" He yelled, lips barely holding back their trembles as Doctor Brenner eyed the area Number 000 had once been gaping. "Astounding..."

"Y/N?!" For once, the cool and collected Henry Creel had gone; in his place, was a young man who had only just let the world finally crack him completely. "Y/N, love, where are you?!"

Everything, from the walls, the little figurines, and toys, all the way to the chess pieces from earlier, began shaking in a severe magnitude—the lights, igniting and bursting with sparks as the broken lover let out a pain-laced yell; all the nearby items and appliances, exploding with the burst of the lights. As darkness consumed the room, it too, came to overtake the fading out form of Henry Creel, who, due to his distracted state, was rendered unbeknownst to the needle that came plunging into his neck and having him fall to the ground in a state almost like death. His breathing, being the lone indicator of life within his blinking-out form.

He was only able to take in the nearby fallen figure of the black king's piece which he had earlier knocked over with a smirk, despite his lover's hold on it. The illusion of her pouty expression faded out, in accompaniment to his consciousness; a final thought echoing the walls of his head as he allowed all that pain, defeat, and fatigue to wash over him.

I will never rest, Y/N. Not until I found you.

[agentvharrison]

// I miss Vivian.  More importantly, I MISS Y’ALL. 

I know a large part of the problem is what I went through a year ago was just deeply horrible.  There’s no way to avoid the impact it’s had on Vivian (and other muses, but predominantly her), on rping as a hobby, on my interest in certain fandoms, on rping in certain fandoms, and on me. 

And then I went and accidentally deleted YEARS of headcanons, threads, meme responses, and character development.  I’m NEVER going to get all of it back.  I can’t even remember what half the headcanons I’d written were about.  I can’t remember even a fraction of the blogs I was following - blogs I’d rarely or never interacted with, but loved following nonetheless.  My tiny “Following” list feels like an accusation.

I’m still upset over everything I’ve lost - in every way. 

But I really, truly, deeply miss the people I’d been interacting with and following.  I miss seeing people’s ooc, and their headcanons, and reading their threads.  I miss throwing ideas around with friends and partners and would-be partners.  I miss the PEOPLE the rpc is built on.

And, finally, my offline life is calming down.  The stars are aligning.  I have some habits I need to try to break (though since I can’t actually build habits I suppose I don’t actually have habits to break), but honestly spending less time on my phone and more time on my laptop involves a lot of things that would be healthier for me.  

So.  I have A PLAN:

1. The next few days are going to be about loading up my queue.  I’m down to 19 posts.  And I have several hundred to add - across this and all Vivian’s sideblogs. 2. Reach out to friends/established partners to say HI!  I’ve been ignoring some of you for so fucking long and I’m so so so SO sorry.   I’ll also see who wants to keep the verses/relationships/dynamics we had, and who might want to start over or adjust things. 3. Make a list of what headcanons I can remember having written on the accidentally deleted blog.  Rewrite what I can remember.  Set aside what I can’t remember the details of to work on later.  Schedule headcanons to be posted over a reasonable span of time. 4. Clear out inbox and drafts.  I’m going to be ruthless.  Unless discussed with someone as part of #2, it’s going to go.  Sorry in advance. 5. Post a few memes.  6. RESPOND to a few memes. 7. Write up Vivian’s two main verses - default MCU, MCU/Spooks crossover. 8. Less time on phone, more time on laptop, as it’s more conducive to writing/being active on this blog. 9. Try to spend at least 30 minutes a day active on this blog while the cat throws her whole body down against my leg while I’m on the couch for the next two weeks. 10. Work on writing up Vivian’s other verses.

I want to be back here.  I am GOING to be back here.

[haru-sen]

i'm a trans man and tend to stay away from female readers because it's a bit dysphoria inducing for me, i'm not really invested in jack morrison, and i'm not interested in star wars. despite all of that, i can't seem to get enough of your fics! you write in a way that everything feels seamlessly blending together, from the pacing to the characterization. i love the way you indirectly describe the emotions the characters are feeling, and how even in the absolute behemoth of a fic that is 'in alio loco's, you manage to keep the plot interesting enough and the characters invested enough that i'm on the edge of my seat reading the whole thing! everything about your writing is so good that it never even crosses my mind to be uncomfortable about the female reader, and now i like jack because of the way you write him! i have no idea what all the star wars jargon means in your crossover fics, and nonetheless i read them from start to end because you're just that good! i don't know how to verbalize how good your writing is in a way that feels adequate, but it just feels like it hits all the write spots in my brain, feels effortless but at the same time so purposeful, and keeps me invested every word i read. i've re-read 'in alio loco' multiple times and if i'm ever bored i'll go back and find a random chapter from one of your works to entertain myself. you're my favorite writer out there, and you've been a huge inspiration in my own writing journey. thank you so much for posting your works!

Thank you so much for commenting. I have the warm fuzzies, and not just because it's scorching hot here. I'm glad the reader-pov isn't triggering for you and impressed that you're braving the SWTOR crack fic. Thanks for reaching out!!