#they’re just in their own category of friendship that is so romance-coded

[deus-and-the-machina]

Ranking the Xenoblade Games based on how straight they are

this is a mix of legitimate grievances about the writing and just goofing around. starting at least straight to most. Also not including X sorry I havent played it.

1. Xenoblade 2

Most of the romance in this game is light due to it being a sort of cute puppy love. Nothing actually happens between the characters and it’s mostly contained to the main characters with most side characters being free from clumsy straight love plots. There’s a couple of blushy scenes between Pyra/Mythra and Rex but most of their serious/emotional interactions are genuine and honest and don’t really get into romance or some hidden feelings they need to confess to. Even Nia’s confession is more of something for herself and she never really changes bc she’s in love or focuses on it that much. 

Beyond the main characters, sheba exists, jin and lora can be considered one sided at least romantically (she’s the one to make flirty comments in Torna and he always responds along the lines of ???) and he’s explicitly not motivated by her death, while it did obviously impact him it’s something he’d accepted and used as fuel for his ultimate goal. and of course there’s Malos, who’s own voice actor was like “cmon he was in love with Jin”. Morag and Brighid also exist. There’s even some old man furry yaoi implications with gramps and azurda in that one scene??? ngl its kind of cute. 

2. Xenoblade 3

Got a lot of points in the heteronormative category here. The main characters are paired up in m/f duos, but while 2/3 of them are romantically coded, Sena and Lanz aren’t really and Sena’s most focused relationship is probably Mio. To the game’s credit, it also doesn’t restrict them to these pairs and lets the whole group interact and have friendships and dynamics outside of the shippy ones. 

An emphasis is put on the true nature of humanity being to fall in love and have kids, but considering the context of the scene only certain parts of it really make me go “mmmmmm”. these characters are test tube babies who have never seen a real human baby and so it’s wholesome and understandable, but Monica’s wording about specifically couples later does lean towards heteronormative “everyone must grow up and have a kid.” Considering she canonically had a teenage pregnancy though and her baby daddy clearly isn’t around I expect she’s very shaped by that experience though. 

After that scene we don’t see a ton of heteronormative sentiment from city members (Ghondor, Shania, and Masha dont have any romantic sentiments, grey and rozana dont have kids and have a rather atypical but trusting relationship in general) and the focus on legacy and family is shown to have its toxic sides with Shania’s mom (who is also just. no 1 messed up lesbian in my heart).

Mio and Noah do start to have their characters focus more on romance and have their whole doomed soulmates shtick but I feel like they’re still given focus as individual characters in the main story post that revelation so I kind of forgive it, and the unhealthiest possible manifestation of their relationship is one of the main villains so. Also ngl they’re just cute, so I’m a bit biased here. I get if you’re groaning at the game pushing the main straight couple hard but at least they don’t suddenly lose all their personality when it happened. 

3. Xenoblade 1

Hoo boy. There’s just a lot of it in this game. Ngl it took me a while to properly get into Xenoblade bc while I liked the first game overall, it also just had some things that rubbed me the wrong way and 2′s general reputation didn’t make it seem much better (then I played it and fell in love and retroactively appreciate 1 more but yeah) and one of those things was how the game very quickly fridged the only female character as a love interest. Yaaaaay. 

Like yes she comes back later but at the time I was just kinda like. oh. ok then :/ and even when Fiora comes back, she’s super Shulk focused. Girl, you’ve been kidnapped and forcibly made into a cyborg and house a god who was walking around in your body but ig you’re mostly thinking about how your bf would feel. seriously when she’s fucking DYING her main concern is that Shulk doesn’t find out. like ok. Even her interactions with melia have that whole love triangle hanging over them as subtext. I greatly appreciate they didn’t got he jealousy angle and had Fiora genuinely want to reach out and be friends, but it does definitely feel like shulk is a matter constantly lingering whenever they talk.

And poor Sharla man. Seconds into meeting reyn she’s comparing him to her missing fiancé, despite still feeling he’s alive and wanting to find him. The game gives every hint that Gadolt may still be alive and rescuable, Meyneth even says smth like “I can feel this Homs still there” but not only does he die, he basically says “take care of her” to reyn like BOY you don’t know this man??? why would you say your last words to him and not your fiancé like ok. It felt like they wanted to make it “ok” for them to get together by killing him off and having him say that, even though everything until then had hinted with a hopeful tone that he could still be saved.

Ngl Melia’s unrequited love isn’t that bad but it does feel unnecessary considering how much she already suffers. Like you just really gotta rub it in huh. The fandom is wayyy worse about it than the game though, because canonically she moves on and is still surrounded by her friends and subjects and whatnot and doesn’t become some bitter scorned lover, but the fandom constantly jokes about it/acts like she is.

also some of the alt outfits, esp Sharla and Fiora’s are just...very obnoxious sexy fantasy armor. esp for flora when most of her body is supposed to be replaced with mechon parts but ig her tits were miraculously intact. They both deserve better writing ngl.

[ao3feed-tododeku]

Tagging System

As it’s a new year, I thought I’d offer a reminder about what the symbols produced by the automatic tagging system mean, and some more details on the filters themselves.

♥️ = Romantic (“/”) Tododeku is the main ship, and there are no side ships with either Izuku or Shouto listed.

Romantic “Main Ship” Test:

A) It’s the First Slash Ship, found within the first four Relationship Tags B) It’s the Second Slash Ship, after a Family Member or Teacher ship (Toshinko, Erasermic, Touyahawks etc.) while Izuku and/or Shouto are mentioned in the Title or Description

In all cases Izuku and/or Shouto must be mentioned in the first four characters or in the first two relationships, or it is moved to the next category.

♡ = Romantic (“/”) Tododeku is not the main ship, but there are no side ships with either Izuku or Shouto listed.

For “main ship” factors, see above.

Searching for all possible ship names would be unreasonable, so the code detects side ships by looking for ships where they first four letters before or after the slash mark are NOT an expected part of Izuku or Shouto’s name.

Side Ship Test Example:

Midoriya Izuku/①②③④_____ ________ ①: Doesn’t Start with “S” or “T” (for Shouto or Todoroki) ②: First one matches, but no “h” or “o” after (for Shouto or Todoroki) ③: First two match, but no “o” or “d” after (for Shouto or Todoroki)  ④: First three match, but no “u” or “o” after (for Shouto or Todoroki)

The code then searches specifically for Slash (“/”) Ships with the rest of the Midoriyas and Todorokis, and other common nearly matching names (Shouta Aizawa), to block them specifically.

♣ = A Polyamorous Romantic (“/”) Ship including both Shouto and Izuku is the main ship, but there are no side ships outside the polyamorous group for Izuku or Shouto.

“Main ship” test is as above, only step B isn’t restricted to Family Member or Teacher ships first.

The first/last four letters of the characters in the polyamourous group are added to the “side ship” test, and any known family members to the family member secondary check.

Poly ships with their own feeds include Todobakudeku, Todokirideku, Todobakukirideku, Todoshindeku, Todoiideku, Todochadeku and Todomomodeku. Other poly ships can show up courtesy of the Tododeku Plus feed, if they tagged “Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto” separately, though the extended restrictions mentioned below apply.

♧ = Romantic (“/”) Tododeku is included, but there are side ships, OR a Polyamorous Romantic (“/”) Ship including both Shouto and Izuku is present, but it is not the main ship or there are side ships also.

Basically, if it fails all the other criteria it ends up here.

Adult/Child ships are skipped with the help of a master list of common adult characters. This filter cannot detect misspellings or characters I didn’t think to include, so some ships might slip through. Please report any works with untagged, mistagged or unskipped adult/child ships. (Note, Canon Young Adult/Canon Student Ships are fine as long as it’s a future fic or an AU where they’re all adults. For Example: Adult Izuku/Hawks is fine as a side ship).

Because predicting all possible ships is impossible, anything tagged with an “Underage” warning or anything in a list of common “NSFW” tags is skipped. Again, my NSFW list isn’t infinitely long, so please report NSFW works with Izuku or Shouto side ships.

This tag doesn’t have it’s own feed, but can be added by either the Tododeku Plus or Polyamorous Tododeku feeds.

♦️ = Platonic (“&”) Tododeku is a main ship. No Romantic (“/”) Ships including Shouto or Izuku are present.

Platonic “Main Ship” Test:

A) It’s the First Relationship. B) It’s the Second Relationship, or later in the tags with Izuku and Shouto as the First Two Characters, ALSO there are either No Slash (“/”) Ships OR the first Slash Ship is a Family Member or Teacher Ship.

The same “Side Ship Test” above is done in the “Additional Tags,” so any ships besides Tododeku listed there will result in the work being skipped.

♢ = No listed relationship, but Izuku and Shouto are the first two characters.

This tag doesn’t have it’s own feed, but can be added by both the Izuku and Shouto feeds.

♠️ = Solo character stories. The focus is either Izuku and his family, Shouto and his family, or Izuku and Shouto both but not as the first two characters and with no listed relationship.

Because Izuku based stories are more common, the Izuku’s feed requires a main Platonic (“&”) Relationship with him and at least one family member. All for One, Toshinori and Aizawa are considered family members if there are “Dad for One”, “Dad Might”, or “Dadzawa” tags respectively.

Any Character Death, Villain Izuku (sans Villain Shouto), Female Izuku (sans Female Shouto), Suicidal Izuku, Chat Fics, and Crack Fics, are also removed to further trim down Izuku stories.

The Shouto feed accepts other Todorokis simply being listed in the First Four Characters, or First Two Ships, and only trims out Chat Fics and Major Character Death.

Both feeds ignore all the previous rules (except the Chat Fic one) if both characters are listed in the combined First Four Characters and First Two Ships.

Because of past issues with badly tagged ships, Platonic Izuku & Katsuki, Ochako, Toga or Shigaraki, OR Platonic Shouto & Momo or Inasa are never allowed listed first, and cannot be listed at all without additional platonic Izuku or Shouto ships present.

If there are Slash (“/”)  Ships, they must be Family Member or Teacher Ships, and unless Izuku or Shouto are in the description, or the Slash Ship is later on in the ship list, they will be tagged as below.

♤ = Solo character stories with a Family or Teacher main ship.

If either Izuku or Shouto aren’t in the First Two Characters AND explicitly mentioned in the Title or Description, while the first relationship is a Family or Teacher Slash (“/”) Ship, this tag is added in place of the one above.

While family centered stories are quite likely to prominently feature the kids involved, that’s not always the case, so this tag acts as a bit of a warning.

FanFiction.net Stories:

All these rules were replicated to the best of my ability for the FanFiction.net feed.

Since platonic relationships are not a thing on FanFiction.net, stories where Izuku and Shouto are the only characters listed, or are the first two characters while one of the genres is “Friendship”, are those tagged with “♦️”.

If Izuku and Shouto are the only characters and either one genre is “Romance” or “Tododeku” is in the description, it is assumed they were meant to be in brackets it is tagged with a “♥️”.

Since multiple ships per character can’t be tagged, the “♧” tag will only occur if other common ship names (like “Bakudeku,” “Ochadeku” or “Todomomo”) are in the description, while Tododeku is the main bracketed ship.

The “Romance” genre with no bracketed ships, and more then two characters, will cause the story to be sent to this feed’s draft folder. There is no good way for the auto tagger to tell what’s going on, and I don’t always have time to manually go through the drafts, so unless something pops out at me they’ll usually just be deleted. Sorry!

Other Details:

If you’re wondering how First X Characters are determined, my code deletes all brackets, finds "Characters:", deletes common non-Characters and fluff words (Class 1A, Class 1B, UA Staff, "Some", "Mentioned", etc.), and then splits up whatever is left. (The same is done for "Relationships:") Useful groupings (1st, 2nd, 1st & 2nd, 1st-4th, and 1st-8th) are set as variables, which are referenced by all the steps to follow.

Sometimes people tag very strangely which can mess things up (why there are weird tags occasionally) but it works a vast majority of the time.

[data-monkey]

AO3 stats project: correlations

Okay. Now for some really fun stuff: correlations between different categories of metadata (like, correlations between ratings and tags, character tags and genre tags, etc). And as with the previous post in this series, some of the content I discuss may not be strictly work-appropriate.

The Data | Basic Questions | Fandoms | Tags | Correlations | Kudos | Fun Stuff

Thanks to @eloiserummaging for beta reading these posts; any remaining errors are my own.  A Python notebook showing the code I used to make these plots can be found here.

All right. We've got a list of top tags now. How do those tags relate to each other? That is, if I have a work labeled "Fluff", does that change how likely it is that that work will also be labeled "Angst"? I'm plotting, here, a matrix that answers that question directly. I can compute how often "Fluff" and "Angst" would appear together if they were just randomly assigned to all 4.3 million works that I collected metadata for. The blocks I'm showing below are colored by whether the actual number of times "Fluff" and "Angst" appear together is greater or lesser than that expectation. (We do it that way, instead of just counting the raw number of connections, because otherwise it looks like everything is correlated with "Fluff", just because there are a lot of works labeled "Fluff" in the data set.) If I pick two tags--say, "Fluff" on the bottom, and "Angst" on the left--I can follow them to where they intersect, and the color of that little block tells me about whether they're correlated. Things that are pink are less likely than you'd expect to appear together, while things that are green are more likely. The diagonal line is always that pale green-grey color because, by definition, "Romance" appears with "Romance" exactly as often as you'd expect, and the graph is symmetric across that diagonal line because it doesn't matter if we take "Fluff" then "Angst" or "Angst" then "Fluff."

So one really interesting thing is that this plot is mostly green (so things are correlated). Not only do these tags appear a lot, but they appear together more than you’d expect, and even when they’re anti-correlated--that is, when being labeled one makes you less likely to be labeled another--it’s not by very much. The strongest correlation is between “Romance” and “Humor”, so I guess the rom com is alive and well! Angst and hurt/comfort also appear together a lot, which I suppose makes sense.

We can make correlation plots like this for other things. How about pairing types?

Per the AO3, “Multi” means “more than one kind of relationship, or a relationship with multiple partners”, and “Other” means “everything not covered by the other labels”. The structure of this is kind of interesting, too. Remember, pink means things are anti-correlated (appear together less often than expected) and green means they’re correlated (appear together MORE often than expected), so M/M is the Lone Ranger of pairing types, making all other pairing types less likely if it's included. Even more than Gen, which you’d expect to exclude other categories!

Now for the REALLY fun stuff: how do all of these things correlate with other things? Here's an obvious one: ratings vs tags. No more symmetry, because we're showing different things on the two axes.

Not too surprised by this: “Smut” has a really strong relationship with rating, because most works of erotica deserve the higher ratings. The other tags are much less correlated with rating; Fluff and Humor incline to lower ratings, Established Relationship to higher ratings, and the others are kind of in the middle.

Do ratings and tags correlate with pairing type?

Hmm. Interesting. Romance is way more likely to be F/M than you’d expect. (Do we not write as many M/M romances, or do we just call them something else? A couple of friends also pointed out to me that this might mean “romance” as in “the publication genre of romance” not as in “romantic plotlines generally”, which makes sense and would make them more M/F-heavy given publication trends.) Established relationship is very skewed to M/M. Gen anti-correlates with most of the tags you’d expect. Apparently only single-pairing romantic relationships can be fluffy. F/F is neither as funny nor as angsty as chance would indicate.

I think this pattern can be explained this way: Gen is way more likely to be a low rating, and the trend you see for most other things is just that we’re comparing to the average--if Gen is way more likely to be rated General Audiences than is typical, then the other pairing types have to be slightly less General Audiences than you’d expect to make up for it. (This argument doesn’t necessarily apply to the other correlations I was showing, because in those plots there are a bunch of tags I’m not showing and because non-ratings tags can appear together.)

How about the top relationship tags--do they correlate with anything?

Huh. Well, most of these ships have preferentially high ratings--I think that’s the same effect as in the rating and pairing correlation: things without a romantic/sexual relationship have lower ratings, so on average the works containing relationships will have a higher rating. That’s not universal--look at Magnus/Alec, for example--but it’s common. The other two obvious things here are 1) Dean/Sam really skews to high ratings, 2) apparently Harry/Louis fans reject the rating system.

Okay, that’s...less interesting than I was expecting. Lots of Harry/Louis smut, lots of Keith/Lance modern AUs. The most likely established relationship is Derek/Stiles. Magnus/Alex and Yuuri/Victor are the fluffiest. Not much romance, except for Draco/Harry, and that pairing also has an unusual amount of humor.

What about character tags?

Hmm. Looks like there are a lot of teen-rated Marvel works, and Supernatural leans towards the higher ratings (which we already knew).

This basically just repeats stuff we already noticed in the relationships plot, I think. One thing I didn’t notice up there is that John and Sherlock are not that likely to be tagged in Established Relationship works, which is kind of interesting as they’re long-term partners (not necessarily romantic partners) in most versions of the canon.

How about characters and pairing type...are there characters that appear more often in one kind of pairing than you'd expect based on randomness? (Note that all these characters appear most in M/M stories, because those are by far the most common--this is just asking a relative question about how much they appear in other kinds of stories.)

Mostly not super interesting, I have to say. Steve, Tony, Natasha, and Harry Potter are all more likely than usual to appear in poly relationships or in F/M stories, apparently, and Stiles and Castiel are less likely than usual to appear in gen works.

Finally, a really fun thing (that I have to link to an external site to do, because tumblr doesn’t like javascript in posts). Instead of just looking at the top 10 tags, here are the top 100 tags portrayed as dots, arranged in a connected graph: the dots represent tags (with the popularity of the tag represented by its size), and they’re connected by lines whose thickness indicates how often the two things appear together, relative to chance. You can also use this kind of setup to work out sets of interconnected tags that are more closely tied to each other than to the other tags. I colored those sets with different colors, so you can identify them. Hovering your mouse pointer over a dot should tell you which tag it is.

Here are the blocks of tags that the algorithm found:

Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Christmas, Crack, Cute, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff And Humor, Humor, Light Angst, One Shot, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff

 Angst, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Dark, Death, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Magic, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sad, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Torture, Violence

Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Crossover, Drabble, Drama, Family, Friendship, Future Fic, Post-Canon, Pre-Slash, Spoilers

Alcohol, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, Fluff And Smut, Jealousy, Kissing, Mpreg, Polyamory, Sex, Sexual Content, Slash, Smut

Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Bdsm, Blow Jobs, Bondage, Dirty Talk, Dom/Sub, Dubious Consent, Hand Jobs, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Rimming, Rough Sex, Spanking

Angst With A Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff And Angst, Friends To Lovers, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Love, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags To Be Added, Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Swearing, Unrequited Love

I love this! To me, those sets look like: fluffy plot-based tags, violence and disturbing content tags, more action-oriented plot-based tags, less explicit vanilla-ish erotica tags, more explicit or kinky erotica tags, and romance. That’s so cool. (Not everything makes sense--why is Drabble where it is?--but still, cool.)

Or in other words: some numerical routines correctly identified the porn. :)

Up next: what gets kudos?

[creative-frequency]

Connor|RK800 x Reader: Ocularity Ch. 7

Word count: 2711 Warnings/Categories: Rating up to explicit, romance, friendship, fluff, light angst, bad language, uncle Hank Notes: A nasty flu caused a delay in updating. After this chapter, it’s 98% Connor party. I hope you’ll enjoy this!

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October 20th 10:04 AM

You jump out of the cab and gaze at the red-tiled manor ahead. A smile curves your lips. It's just another house in the rich neighborhood, but somehow it emits a strong, warm aura that makes invitees feel welcome. You've visited the place countless times during the years of working for CyberLife. It’s always a pleasure to go there again, though it has been some time since your last visit.

The doorbell's deep chime echoes inside the house and soon an android opens the front door.

“Welcome, Doctor,” he says with a smile, “Come in.”

“Thank you.”

Prototype RK200, serial number 684 842 971, or as you know him: Markus. The android gifted by Elijah Kamski to the famous painted Carl Manfred after his accident. The reason behind the gift, besides the obvious, remains a mystery to the world.

Markus takes your coat and scarf, and you rub your palms together to warm your hands. The mornings are getting colder, reminding you to buy new gloves for the season. The weather reminds you of the first time you visited the manor.

“Carl is in his studio. I'll see if I can get him to take a break,” Markus says. He leads you to the living room and motions for you to sit down.

“Okay. Sorry if I came at a bad time...” you say.

“Not at all, I think he's been waiting for you,” Markus reveals with a hint of a smirk.

You let out a short, delighted chuckle. “And here I thought I came to see you.”

Markus enters the studio while you make yourself comfortable, take out the datapad from your purse and turn it on.

The living room of the Manfred Manor is a world of wonders, but with a quick glance around, nothing major seems to have changed. You still think the stuffed giraffe looks menacing. Someone, presumably Markus, has left in the middle of a game of chess. Hopefully, you will soon have the chance to challenge him again, even though it will certainly lead into a devastating loss. You hum at the thought and turn your attention to the datapad.

The purpose of your visit is to run a system check on Markus and interview him about anything related to his functions. It's a standard procedure with all prototypes, which there are several in Detroit. You visit each one once or twice a month.

Markus has been your responsibility ever since you started in your current job. He has always been stable with zero worrying symptoms, and that has led to your visits becoming more of social calls than work.

Markus’s most notable ability is the preconstruction of outcomes in real time. You’re not aware of any other model having the capacity for it. Thus, you have silently come to the conclusion that Kamski has coded it himself and hasn’t shared his secrets.

“Nice to see you, Doctor,” Carl grunts as Markus pushes his wheelchair from the studio.

You get up from the couch and can’t help the smile on your face. You missed him. “Good to see you too, Carl.”

He has specifically told you not to call him Mr. Manfred or any abbreviation of that. According to him, you see each other too often in his own home to not be on first-name basis.

Funny thing is, when you told Carl about your education and doctorate, he has insisted on using your title ever since because of the “hellish amount of work you've done to get it.” He is right, so you acquiesced to that.

Markus parks Carl's wheelchair next to the couch and you shake the old man’s hand, though it’s more of a warm touch akin to a hug than a formal greeting.

“Would you like some tea, Doctor?” Markus inquires.

“Yes, please. Black, if you have,” you add before the android can voice the follow-up question.

You and Carl have at least one thing in common: You both love tea. Carl has made sure he always has different varieties at home in case you’ll come for a visit.

When Markus disappears into the kitchen, you turn to see Carl looking at you. He looks contemplating, like he is about to say something, but is unsure how to phrase it. Or he is just scrutinizing you.

You sit back on the couch and hold back a sigh. “How've you been?” you decide to ask to lift the silence.

Carl shrugs dismissively and nods towards the kitchen. “Shouldn't you be asking about him?”

Your brows rise up. Salty, you think. You undoubtedly deserve it.

“Yes,” you say slowly, “but it's my job to interview you too.”

“Oh, so that's why you keep coming back to keep company to an old man like me. Figures.”

Finally, he cracks a smile, but it’s a slightly sad one.

“I had to… take some time away from work. I apologize.” You look at your hands resting on your knees.

Carl scoffs gently. “Bah, don’t.” He comes a bit closer. “I’m glad to see you didn’t quit for good.” His rumbling, low voice is warm and it’s easy to hear the relief in the words.

“Thank you,” you say, “I should’ve called you myself. Sorry.” Voicing the statement causes a slight pinch of shame in you. It’s been two months since your last visit. Two months since you almost made it to the news.

Carl swats your apologies away. “So, they cleaned up the mess pretty quickly?” he asks casually.

A whole different kind of mess relating to what Carl is asking about jumps from your memory. He is waiting to see your reaction, but most of it is just the block of ice that falls into your stomach – a new tip to the iceberg you’ve been trying to get rid of for weeks now.

Your lips purse together and you honestly don't know how to answer.

“I saw the news. Sorry to see what happened,” Carl continues with a questioning intonation.

“Yes. I suppose...” You shift uncomfortably in the seat and avoid Carl’s inquisitive gaze. It’s hard to stay in the role of a good CyberLife worker in his company.

“What's the verdict, then?” he asks.

“The detective prototype will be back in action next week,” you parrot automatically, not even hearing the words yourself anymore. You’ve been counting days in the back of your mind, consciously trying to ignore the looming uncertain future.

“Mhm. And?” Carl shoots a look at you.

“I haven't been given any instructions yet or an assessment of the evaluation on my work with it.” You can't hold back the sigh and a wall breaks. “They just said ‘thank you for the hard work’, but I wish I knew what they're going to do with him. I feel like it's my fault–”

“It's not,” Carl says decisively.

You smile faintly. It’s easy to believe him, but he doesn't know everything. You partly wish he did. There is no one else who could offer so valuable and objective life advice – from a seasoned veteran to a rookie.

“Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment. I guess they're letting me keep my job,” you laugh dryly. The sound is too hollow for the warm environment.

“Take your victories where you can.” Carl shakes his head. “How’s your agenda going?”

Your heart makes a different kind of leap. “The one we’re not supposed to talk about?” You smile and glance towards the kitchen. “Good. I… I feel better knowing I’m doing something.”

Carl lets his gaze wonder around the room as he sighs through the nose. “This world could use more people like you – good people, who are willing to fix what’s wrong.”

You chuckle at his poorly concealed praise. There are two sides to you: The conscientious tax-payer slaving away for a multi-billion dollar company and the vigilante running around the city saving deviants.

“As long as that fixing is as literal as what I’ve been doing now…” you say quietly.

Carl laughs too and looks up to see Markus arriving with a tray.

“Thank you,” you both murmur as the android pours tea into two cups. It smells spicy with cinnamon as the dominant flavor. Exquisite, as expected.

“We can get started as soon as you wish, Doctor,” Markus says and nods towards the datapad on the coffee table. The LED on his temple whirls in brighter blue and a box pops up in the display.

Connect to RK200 #684 842 971?

“Alright then.”

November 1st 04:30 AM

It’s the small hours of the night, when you’re roused from a calm sleep, awakened to blink in confusion and listen to the quiet footsteps in the corridor. It requires a moment before you’re able to collect the pieces of the slow world and form a sensible image of what’s happening.

Liara is walking down the stairs, quietly, but you’re able to hear the creaking of the wood under her feet.

Someone is knocking on your front door in short, urgent series.

You glance at the time on your phone without realizing anything about the numbers besides that it’s really late, or early, depending on the point of view. Definitely not the common visiting hours.

You crawl out from the warmth of the bed covers to grab your bathrobe, and head downstairs.

“Welcome, Markus.”

“Liara, who’s the– HOLY FUCK,” you scream and while your body is still jumping in the air, you have already realized who stands at the doorway.

“Please–”

You run to the door, simultaneously pulling your sleeves up. “What happened?!”

You pull the android covered in dirt and sopping rags inside, take peek around to the street to make sure no one is there and hastily close the door.

Markus is functioning well, but he looks absolutely terrible. You can’t help but wonder how he was outside in the neighborhood looking like that and no one called the cops. His clothes are torn and muddy, and his skin mask is cloudy in spots which is the first sign that he has been in critical state recently and is in dire need of Thirium. He looks like he has been through hell, literally.

“Carl– he always said I should come to you in case anything happens–”

“Are you damaged? Liara, can you scan him, please?” You hover around the android, unsure of whether to touch him or not, or how to help.

“All systems fully operational. Thirium levels are low, but not critical,” Liara informs immediately.

“I’m fine,” Markus says in an utterly unconvincing tone.

You grab his shoulders and fixate a dire look on his eyes. The right one is blue instead of olive green. If Markus is here and something happened to Carl… You need to push the thoughts away to focus on what has more dire need for your attention.

“Are you a deviant?” you ask after taking a short breath.

Markus looks back at you, his mouth falling open and closing. His expression is pained. He closes his eyes and scrunches his nose, tilting his head to the side. He is hurting. Anyone could see that.

“They thought I did it,” he says, voice filled with desperation.

Your hands drop down his arms, as does your heart sink to the pit of your stomach.

You’re scared to ask, but you need to know.

“Tell me.”

It takes significant amount of effort for Markus to start speaking. You can see the situation unfolding: Leo in Carl’s studio, snooping around and thieving. Carl aggravated by his good-for-nothing son’s arrogance and presence, telling Markus not to answer to his provoking. How Markus only watched, hoping he would have chosen otherwise. He had to pay the ultimate price for his inaction – or so Leo and the police, who shot him and then dumped him into the landfill, thought.

You’re rooted in place in the vestibule, listening to the android tell you how he felt. His words burn with emotion and love for his master, and that same fire is what he gets to thank for standing in your home on his own two feet after the ordeal.

You don’t usually ask how androids become deviants. You don’t need to know their reasons and the hideous wrongdoings humans direct at them, causing so much emotional trauma that they force a machine to wake up and become alive.

Some of them could well be murderers. Others might weep for having to leave their previous life behind. Whatever the case may be with each individual, it’s not your decision whether they’ll be allowed to live their newly found life or not. So, you help everyone who asks.

There is a long pause when Markus stops speaking. You’re still standing in front of him, staring at his chest. You can’t believe Carl Manfred is gone. The strongest floating thought in your head is that you owe it to him to help Markus.

“I need to get to the Ferndale Station,” Markus says quietly, making you look up.

“Jericho?” you ask.

He nods. There is peace in the resolve etched into his features – a destination instead of grief and confusion. It’s a good thing. It’s what saves most deviants.

“Shower, before anything else. Liara, please…” Markus almost starts to protest, but you raise your hand to interrupt him: “You need to clean up before we can check your new parts. I’ll find you some clothes.”

It’s not often that deviants wander behind your door, but you’ve accumulated a small storage of clothes to give to any who come looking too much like androids, asking for help. Blending in is the most efficient way to survive.

After the shower, clean cargo pants, a dark grey sweater and a bottle of Thirium Markus looks like himself again, though slightly shaky. He sits down in your study, elbows leaning on his knees and head hanging. It’s impossible to know what goes through the mind of an android who has just deviated, but the reaction is well-known to you.

You roll your chair in front of Markus and he straightens up. Liara walks in with a cup of coffee and places it on the desk. You sneer lightly before taking a long sip.

“Got rid of the LED?” you ask and carefully touch the place on Markus’s temple where the light was. An android’s LED is easy to tear away with brute force and minimal mark left on the frame. There seems to be none on him.

“Yes,” Markus nods. “At the scrapyard.”

“Okay, good. Then it shouldn’t be a problem if it’s found.” You force a calming smile. “What components did you have to replace?”

“I uh, legs. Both legs. The pump regulator was damaged.” Markus touches his chest.

You might have to take a look at the biocomponent to make sure it’s in perfect condition. Any errors or malfunctions in regulating the Thirium pump will have fast and dire consequences.

“And the eye?” you ask as you move on to inspect the blue iris.

“My right optical unit and audio processor,” Markus says.

Your gaze turns to his ear and you sigh. “Well, you did look like shit when you came here. At least they didn’t take your ear shell. That’d be harder to fix.”

Markus manages a half-smirk. “Thanks, Doctor.”

You roll the chair away from him and take your datapad. The information from Liara’s scan is open on the screen. You’ll double check the compatibility of the new and borrowed biocomponents, and then test their physical and working condition. You might be able to snatch spare parts from the CyberLife assembly plant if needed.

“I should go as soon as I can,” Markus says.

You look up from the datapad and reach for the coffee cup. “I agree, but…”

He leans forward on the chair, clasping his hands. “But?”

You chew your lip in thought instead of drinking. “I think you should wait for a day or two here. You– you just became a deviant and… I don’t think you should be alone right now. And we need to talk about Carl.”

Markus looks troubled, but after a while of examining the look on your face, he nods in agreement. He trusts Carl’s judgment and you only hope to be worth it.

Next Chapter

Tagging (lmk if you want to be tagged or not): @sevansheart​ @precursor-ao3​ @gberryb​ @owlwrites​ @lucianhuntress​ @singlebecauseofthechocobros​ @bleucommelhiver​ @sherniwrites​ @n-ulll​ @mccastle-boi​ @toastyfiction​ @touzokukana​ @imaginovator​ @avispate​ @kuolematkorjaavat​ @caladheil​ @lusiifer​ @shadows-echoes​

[setepenre-set]

Can u recommand some good books pls?

I DEFINITELY CAN! 

(I’ve divided them up into categories, and included a short summary of each, so that you can choose more easily, and put the list under a cut, since it’s fairly long.)

Comedic Fantasy With Emotional Center

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (part of the Discworld series; everything in the Discworld series is excellent. main characters of this one are a god stuck in the form of a tortoise and his last believer.)

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (Discworld. Death has to take over the duties of discworld’s version of Santa Claus in an attempt to keep the world from ending.)

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (Discworld. Death gets fired and decides to live as a human—as near to human as he can, at any rate. eventually he has to battle the New Death to save the discworld.)

Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett (Discworld. Sam Vimes, leader of the disgraced and dying Ankh-Morpork City Watch, regains his self-respect and his interest in life as he works to solve a mystery of who is summoning a dragon and killing off citizens of his city.)

The Bromeliad by Terry Pratchett (small ‘nomes’ live secretly in this world, hiding from humans. the perpetually out-of-his-depth and put-upon nome Masklin finds himself in charge, tasked with leading them to safety and finding their way home.)

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (an angel and a demon tasked with seeing that apocalypse happens as scheduled decide to try to avert it instead. completely and utterly fantastic.)

Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams (murder mystery involving Norse Gods, record contracts, and the Ultimate Bubble Bath.)

The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber (novella told like a fairy tale, full of wordplay and beauty and fun. this one just absolutely shines.)

The Gates by John Connolly (young boy, his dog, and an extremely minor demon try to stop the end of the world.)

The Infernals by John Connolly (sequel to The Gates, featuring the same characters.)

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (a young lady is cursed to be old, decides to become cleaning lady for a wizard rumored to be dangerous but actually just vain, overdramatic, and irresponsible. so very fun and romantic.)

Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien (a local peasant finds himself unwillingly roped into facing a marauding dragon.)

Comedy

All of the P.G. Wodehouse books, particularly the Jeeves and Wooster series (wonderfully fun and lighthearted comedy set vaguely between the edwardian era and the 1920’s. Rich, cheerful, and kindhearted Bertie Wooster has a habit of accidentally getting engaged to girls he has no desire whatsoever to marry; his clever valet Jeeves gets him out of trouble every time.)

With One Lousy Free Packet of Seed by Lynne Truss (hilarious and surprisingly touching at the end. lots and lots shenanigans. really fun.)

Romantic Comedy

Cotillion by Georgette Heyer (romantic comedy, fake relationship, regency era.)

When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rhinehouse (romantic comedy with a stolen jewels mystery plot. cast of characters stuck in a house together.)

Romance

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (historical romance with intrigue and comedy. The main character crossdresses and, to me, reads as genderqueer. The love interest is basically a villain who accidentally becomes the hero. I LOVE IT.)

Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan (regency romance novella. hero is bisexual. subplot about bicycles being scandalous. this is the one that I have Roxanne give Megamind in Code: Safeword.)

The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan (regency romance, the last in the Brothers Sinister series, all of which are good. main character reads as autistic. her love interest is younger than she is; they’ve secretly presented her groundbreaking scientific work as his, so that people will take it seriously.)

When a Scott Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare (regency romance; main character has social anxiety and made up a fiancee years ago to get out of her impending social season. but now a man with the same name has shown up claiming to be this fiancee, and intending to marry her.)

Mystery

Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer (1920’s murder mystery with comedy and romance. The characters are wonderful.)

Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (murder mystery featuring elderly heroine Miss Marple, who seems fluffy and harmless but is really a sneaky, nosy, and terribly sharp woman. I love her.)

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (murder mystery featuring detective Hercule Poirot. intricate and enjoyable.)

Death Comes As the End by Agatha Christie (murder mystery set in ancient egypt. both the mystery and the historical features are extremely well executed.)

Difficult to Categorize

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann (A group of sheep decide to solve the mystery of who killed their shepherd. Funny and moving. The point of view is amazingly well done.)

Watership Down by Richard Adams (A group of rabbits set out on a journey to establish a new home. The worldbuilding and characterization are fantastic.)

Kiln People by David Brin (science fiction mystery. amazing worldbuilding. One of the main characters is a robot who, due to a slight malfunction, has developed a personality and will of his own.)

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (A love story set during the zombie apocalypse, between a young woman named Julie and a zombie known as R, who isn’t quite as dead as zombies are supposed to be. Horrifying and romantic and uplifting.)

Dreams of Sex and Stage Diving by Martin Millar (Main character Elfish is basically the living embodiment of ‘fuck you’. She’s a guitarist on a mission to claim the name Queen Mab for her—just at present nonexistent—band from her ex-boyfriend Mo.)

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt (a young woman in the medieval era gets lost in the forest and nearly dies. When she meets Death, though, she convinces him to postpone her demise—she claims that love is stronger than death, and he tells her that if she can prove it by finding her true love within one day, he will spare her life. Full of joy and sorrow and love.)

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury (A group of children go on a fantastic trip through time with a mysterious man called Moundshroud in an attempt to save the life of one of their friends. Fun and dark and beautiful.)

The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson (An epidemic wipes out all of the adults in the world. Ten year old Lisa Nelson bands together a group of survivors and shapes them into a new society, with her at its head. Satisfying.)

Fantasy

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (Gorgeous worldbuilding, kidnapping, romance, magic, and adventure.)

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (The last of the Unicorns goes on a quest to find out what happened to the rest of her species. Fun and frightening and hauntingly beautiful.)

Transformation by Carol Berg (The Emperor’s New Groove for grown-ups. Formerly a magician and currently a slave, Seyonne finds new meaning in his life when he and careless, proud Prince Aleksander work together to defeat the demonic forces that threaten the kingdom. Slavery and freedom, loyalty and friendship. Intricate worldbuilding.)

War For the Oaks by Emma Bull (Urban fantasy. Eddie has just broken up with her boyfriend, and, in the process, broken up the band they both played in. She has enough problems of her own, without getting dragged into a war between the Seelie and Unseelie courts of the Fae.)

Young Adult Fantasy

So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane (Young adult fantasy adventure. Preteen protagonists Kit and Nita journey into a terrifying shadow world to fight a dark entity. One of my favorite depictions of magic of all time.)

Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson (The Great Evil Wizard Arriman has decided to take a bride! The members of the local witches’ coven are invited to a contest—whichever witch performs the most dark and wicked act of black magic will be Arriman’s bride. The young witch Belladonna is absolutely smitten with Arriman, and desperately wants to win the contest. The only problem is that Belladonna is a white witch.)

Megamind: the Novel by Lauren Alexander (A little darker and a bit more grown-up than the movie; still incredibly fun. It features additional scenes from Megamind and Roxanne’s developing romantic relationship.)

Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde (Teenage Kerry is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ends up being taken captive by a group of people who are holding another person captive as well—a young man they insist is a vampire. Kerry thinks they’re crazy, and helps the boy escape…but it turns out they were actually right. And now she’s being held captive by a vampire on the run.)

Young Adult

Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going (Depressed teenage protagonist Troy almost commits suicide, but is stopped by a homeless teenager named Curt, who is also a local punk rock legend. Curt convinces Troy to form a punk band with him, featuring Curt on guitar and Troy on drums…even though Troy can’t actually play the drums. funny and angry and deeply moving.)

The Undertaker’s Gone Bananas by Paul Zindel (Thriller. The misfit teenage protagonists are convinced that their neighbor murdered his wife, even though no one believes them. They set out to prove it.)

Older Children

The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Bernard (Recently orphaned, the disagreeable young Mary arrives at her uncle’s house—a house full of secrets and mysteries.)

A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Bernard (Young, precocious, and strange Sara Crewe is sent to boarding school. When her father dies unexpectedly, leaving Sara a penniless orphan, the Headmistress forces Sara to work as a servant. Strength in adversity, the power of imagination, and an eventual happy ending.)

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Neatly Snyder (A group of children secretly play at being ancient Egyptians in a deserted lot. This one really captures the dangerous, wild, and intense feeling of childhood.)

Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix (adventure with young girl as heroine. genuinely creepy and exciting and so clever. my great-grandmother loved this one, too.)

The Witches by Roald Dahl (Young boy and his grandmother happen upon a convention of terrifying, evil witches.)

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischmann (Spoiled Prince Brat and his whipping boy Jemmy run away together, much to Jemmy’s annoyance. Adventure and friendship.)

Trapped In Death Cave by Bill Wallace (An adventure story with a secret map, a hidden cave, and an evil plot.)

[theanonymousbooks]

Hey! This might be an annoying question in which case feel free to ignore :) I'm new to the concept of queerplatonic relationships & I guess I'm just still not clear on the gap it's filling. I have a few "best friends,” male and female, whom I love dearly, cuddle with, and express my love to regularly. We go to dinner, have picnics, see movies, sleep over at each others’ places, etc. I'm not sexually attracted to them at all and have thus far used "best friend" to describe our relationship (1/2)

(2/2) because I see it as an umbrella term that implies essentially similar things to queerplatonic. I read your explanation and I definitely understand how frustrating it is to have an identity that you don’t relate to forced upon you. I’ve been trying to find more posts on the subject but I’m still kinda confused so I was wondering if you would mind explaining the distinction between the two a little more clearly. 

Hello Nony! I hope you do not think I was ignoring you, and I certainly don’t think you are being annoying! I have just been busy with work and tired because of depression. But here I am to answer any and all questions to might have!!I will however preface this by saying that I do not consider myself the best at answering this question. While I have a done research for my personal needs, to pretend that what I talk about is a well developed and well researched opinion that is popular and taken as universal within the qp community would be kind of pompous and most definitely shitty of me. Even the explanation you are referring to, if I’m thinking of the correct one, was made in annoyance and anger and was a little immature of me. With all that said however, I am glad to share my opinion with anyone who asks in a spirit of interest and learning and encourage you to also look elsewhere for other opinions as well in order to learn even more and create your own educated opinions!! Of course you might already know all that and I am babbling on for completely different pompous and immature reasons but eh, what cha going do?I understand the confusion, even those within the aromatic community as been confused by the term. Even those it applies to and who use it can be and are confused by it! It took a long time for me, until even after I made that original description, to fully understand what it is. And even then, it’s more of what it means to me rather than a universal ‘This is what it always mean to everyone.’ It’s certainly doesn’t mean ‘Just a fancy word for best friend’ but that doesn’t mean that doing typically romantically coded things with your friends means that you are actually in a qp relationship with them. You can cuddle and kiss and love on your best friend, I certainly do! And they are still my best friend. They are not my qpp nor would I want to enter into that relationship with them, though I could label it that if I wanted. But I don’t want to- nor will I ever I suspect- not because my love for them is less or not as important, but simply because the attraction I feel for them is one of pure friendship and, in fact, my love would be less or tarnished if I tried to label it anything else. My friends are so important to me and the best way I can love them and the most love I can feel for them is by friendship, full stop.But that’s not the same for everyone. I feel attraction for people that is not sexual, romantic, or platonic. Unless you define platonic as ‘not sexual, familial, or romantic’ then sure it’s platonic, but I don’t want them to be my friend, I want to something different with them because I feel something different with them then friendship. It’s not more, or less, just different. And it took of lot of self searching and realizing to find that out about myself. It’s especially difficult in the society we live in, where the only types of attractions that are acknowledged, and barely at that sometimes, is platonic, sexual, romantic, and familial. In our society there is no other way to feel love or attraction. If they’re not your family and you don’t want to bang or romance them, then they’re your friend. If they’re not your family and what you feel for them is different than what you feel for your friend, then it must be romantic and sexual! But society, as it is many, many times and will continue to be for many more, is wrong. There are endless ways to feel love and attraction and they don’t always fall within those four categories, and that is where queer platonic relationships come in. 

Certainly if I were ever to have partner I would want them to be my friend, require them to be my friend in fact, but that doesn’t mean what I feel for them would have to strictly be friendship. People with romantic partners also consider them their best friend all the time, why can’t I with mine? But that’s the point, I feel something else besides friendship with them and that attraction and love makes me want to label it something other than friendship, because it’s not strictly friendship, it’s something different. For me personally, with my own attraction, this means that I feel an emotional closeness that I desire to define in a relationship that is outside the bounds of romance, sexual attraction, and friendship. I feel a love that is not romantic, sexual, nor strictly friendship. Now I could try to tell you the difference between romantic, sexual, and platonic love, but that is essentially futile effort in my opinion and can not be defined universally. It is instead up to each individual person to find out for themselves personally; like you and I said, we cuddle with our best friends, that doesn’t make it romantic or sexual! The distinction between the three is ultimately up to what you feel romantically arousing, sexually arousing, and for lack of a better term, platonically arousing. And to be fair, the same action can entice different feelings with different people or even the same people at different time. Again, it really just depends on you and what you feel.The same is to be said for queer platonic relationships. If you feel that the attraction and arousal you feel is outside the norms that society as laid out, or in other words if you feel that it is not romantic, sexual, nor strictly platonic or strictly “friendship,” then you might find the term queer platonic relationship helpful to the type of relationships you form. All that being said, I also hold the believe that there is no reason why you can’t use it to describe a relationship that is strictly friendship. If you love your friend so much and in such a way that you feel “friend” and “best friend” no longer does justice in how to describe it, and you feel queer platonic might be a good label to use (or perhaps quasi platonic if you are uncomfortable calling it queer) then I say go for it. Queer platonic relationship can mean many different things and take on many different forms, and the one I described isn’t a “wrong” type. I believe others feel differently, but that is my opinion.I hope this has helped you, my nony. However unlearning societies “truths” is a long and difficult process, so don’t feel bad if you feel like no matter what you do, you are still confused on the subject. That is extremely common, and nothing to feel ashamed about. If you seek to no longer be confused, just keep learning. It’s will always bring you knowledge :) If you feel like something I have said personally is confusing, feel free to ask me to clarify, or try and explain further. I may be able to, I might not be able to, but I will certainly try my best. I will also later on tag some blogs onto this post that may be able to help as well, and that have personally helped me. I am tired again though, so I can’t bring myself to do it right now, sorry.In whatever way you feel safest and most comforting to define your relationship, I wish you happiness and love, no matter what that way is. May you have a life you love with relationships you cherish, my nony, no matter what form they take. :)

[raitrolling]

9, 14, 25, 27, 31, 40 and 41 for Katrin!

9. How do they manifest energy, exhaustion, tension, or other strong emotions?

katrin tends to keep a lot of her emotions to herself, and doesn’t really show them outwardly. she spends a lot of time in her own head, so she’s not really focused on how she appears to others and doesn’t think people would actually want to get to know her. when she’s stressed/panicky or particularly upset she’ll start talking really quickly and repeating words/phrases and basically go into stream of consciousness mode re: verbalising her thoughts. but otherwise, she’s usually fairly quiet and hesitant with her speech, which can make it hard to tell what she’s feeling apart from ‘probably feeling down, as always’.

she can be a little cheeky and mischievous when she’s around someone she’s comfortable with and she’s in a good mood, which usually manifests in somewhat unpredictable and almost out-of-character actions. 

14. What do they care deeply about? What kind of loyalties, commitments, moral codes, life philosophies, passions, callings, or spirituality and faith do they have? How do these tend to be expressed?

katrin loves two things: money, and daydreaming about being rich. she writes as a form of escapism, and uses her stories to create an ideal world where everything is perfect and she’s super rich and loved by everyone. because of this, she tends to create plans in this fantasy world about how her life and the world around should go, and gets upset whenever things don’t turn out as planned (nevermind the fact that her fantasies are completely unrealistic). while her motivation to write tends to waver depending on her mood, she’s still very attached to her fantasies and tends to use them as a method to pretend her real problems don’t exist.

her love for money is what turned her to a life of crime, due to her ex-moirail’s influence and the fact that she’s really bad at running legitimate businesses. she’s fairly committed to her red-eyed raccoon persona, if only because she can kind of live out her fantasies as her self-insert character who is The World’s Best Thief. however, her lack of sense and inability to consider the consequences of her actions tend to cause her to lose any money she gains incredibly quickly (usually by purchasing more alcohol or wasting it on get-rich-quick schemes), but she still keeps trying because she doesn’t know what else to do otherwise.

25. What do they need and want out of relationships, and how do they go about getting it?

katrin wants, essentially, a fairytale romance. a handsome prince (or princess) on his white horse who’ll scoop her up from her dreary life and take her to his magical castle and solve all her problems and give her all the gifts (but especially all the money) and let her do whatever she wants and she’ll never ever have to worry about anything ever again. unfortunately, that’s both A. incredibly unrealistic, and B. katrin’s own issues (a terrible combination of being horribly dependent on other people but also having a tendency to isolate herself from those she’s close to whenever she’s having problems) tend to put a strain on her relationships, especially since she makes no effort to better herself and never learns from her mistakes.

what she needs is someone who is kind, gentle, and patient with her since it takes a long time for her to feel comfortable around someone, but is also able to put their foot down and force her into recognising her faults and working towards changing her ways. they’ll need to have a high tolerance for bullshit (since kat tries to take advantage of her friendship with people to try and get free things out of them, or just outright stealing from them but expecting to not face any consequences), but if they come across as being too violent or forceful she’ll get panicky and lash out or start avoiding them entirely. she needs to start taking steps towards considering the consequences for her actions, and being a bit more emotionally available to others and healthily depending on others (i.e. being able to share her problems and talk about how she’s feeling, instead of bottling everything up and making people feel sorry for her so she can use them for money/food/gifts/etc.), but she can’t do it on her own.

27. What do they strongly like and dislike, in any category? Why?

katrin loves money because it’s something lowbloods can’t normally have a lot of. she thinks it’s unfair that highbloods get to be rich and have all these nice things while she can’t, just because she got hatched into the lowest caste. also, money can solve all of her problems: you can buy food, you can buy nice clothes, you can go to fun events where there’ll be free food and drinks, you can buy nice things to decorate your hive and make it look fancy, you can buy things that’ll make you happy, you could even buy friends if you really wanted to. she’s very greedy and materialistic, but also sees material items as showing status, and believes that people will like her more if she has cool things she can show off. she also likes comic books and superheroes (particularly Wonder Woman, Black Widow, and Rocket Raccoon) for the same reason she loves to daydream: they’re full of super strong and super cool people who always win their fights and are loved by all. her reasons for liking anything are fairly simple and childish, really.

she has a strong dislike and is terrified of firearms, due to previously having a stalker who used sniper rifles and would try to kill her because he had a blackcrush on her. she’s quite hesitant of blackrom in general because of this and relationship with her ex-kismesis, and her views on what is considered a healthy black quad are very skewed.

31. Is there anything that counts as a “dealbreaker” for them, positively or negatively? What makes things go smoothly, and what spoils an activity or ruins their day? Why?

despite constantly taking advantage of people’s kindness and cheating people out of their money/possessions, she hates it when someone does the same to her. she thinks it’s unfair and cruel that someone would do such a thing to her, but when she does it it’s fine because she actually really needs whatever she took from them. she also doesn’t like it when people tell her she can’t do something she wants to do, though rather than it being a ‘dealbreaker’, its more of a thing she’ll get pissy about and then try to do it anyway (and then wonder why she’s getting punished for it).

and for the reasons mentioned in the previous question, she won’t fuck with anyone who uses guns as their strife weapon or happens to have a gun on their person. at least, she won’t fuck with them unless she thinks she can get away with it.

40. What do they wonder about? What sparks their curiosity and imagination, and why? How is this expressed, if it is?

i’ve kinda already been answering this question through every single previous question, since her imagination is so focused on her self-insert fictional world and the fanfiction she produces as a result of it. but she usually writes in journals, then types them on her computer to upload online. while she mostly writes original fiction, she’ll sometimes swap out the names of her own ‘characters’ (read: real people she knows), to characters from whatever series happens to be popular at the time in order to create fanworks in hope they’ll get noticed and make her rich. hey, if it worked for the 50 shades woman, it should work for her, right?

41. What associations do they bring to mind? Words or phrases, images, metaphors or motifs? Why?

since katrin started out as a self-insert i started rping for shits and gigs, when she became a legitimate character she kinda developed into something that somewhat parodies her own origin. she writes her own self-insert fanfiction and lives in her own fantasy world where she’s the perfect protagonist who is amazing at everything and everyone loves her and she has the best relationships ever and everything she does is always right and always goes perfectly and all that jazz. like every babby’s first oc who is a self-insert because we don’t really know how to write proper characters yet, her fantasies are always super idealised and nothing can ever go wrong for her, until reality comes crashing down on her which she tries to recreate her fantasies for real.

the concept/theme of time is also a theme that tends to crop up for her frequently, too. her sgrub au counterpart is a time player, her ‘true’ psiionic power is chronokinesis, and in times of turmoil she often finds herself wishing that she could either have more time to figure things out, or that she could go back in time to retry everything and make it better. she tends to find herself preoccupied with the past and what could have been, that she doesn’t consider the future and how she still has time to improve and actually make up for all her mistakes. there’s nothing particularly symbolic about it, it’s just something that happens to crop up from time to time.

i tend to associate her with bookish heroines (such as liesel from the book thief, briony from atonement, and matilda from... well, matilda) due to her writing habits and tendency to live in her own head. although unlike those characters, katrin isn’t really an avid reader aside from comic books. on a side note ive wanted to read northanger abbey because of its premise reminding me of kat, but i always find jane austen books to be kind of a slog to get through.

[queensofmystery]

Re: this post

#because you already do all that with someone else #back when he made all the ‘you’re not meant for a normal relationship’ to Joan I started hoping against hope #that it would lead to them developing a platonic romance where maybe they would seek sexual relationships with other people #but emotionally they would fullfil each other’s romantic needs #and now it seems like they’re actually doing that #sort of #like Sherlock is a 100% up for it but Joan isn’t #(also we all know tptb wouldn’t really do it) #and it pains me cause it would be so great (via @margoleon)

Gloria. Gloria write it. You know what, me, you, @disheveledcurls, we’re all thinking variations of the same thing - polyamorous Joanlock. Queer platonic, aromantic, asexual, a combination or none of those things, polyamory is a thing with these two, I just know it is. And they’re soulmates in every way who understand each other more than anyone else in their lives and we’re gonna write it I don’t even care.

Also I could go off on a Watsonian rant on why Joan feels differently than Sherlock, but that ties into the whole jealous!Sherlock thing that I still haven’t been able to organize my thoughts on, so for now I’ll just say: The emotional angst and repression between these two is the most infuriating wonderful thing to ever grace the small screen IMHO and I am a disaster

disheveledcurls:

god, yes to all that. i can’t stop thinking abt where they’re going w/ this and i don’t want to hope but they’ve written themselves into a little bit of a corner here… i mean i’ll write the fic anyway but if they actually do anything that points to them becoming a “”“couple”“”“ (i’m using that term instead of referring to the concept of romance bc u know i think that word is useless for these two) in a polyamorous/asexual/aromantic way i’m going to cry actual tears of joy, ok. like –to be very cortesian abt it–, they’re already right on that edge, or at least i think LL and JLM are playing it that way. for sherlock to admit that he values his work mostly because of joan and then right after insist that he is what he does, is at the very least a strong indicator that his feelings for her are veering towards sth unclassifiable which doesn’t exactly fit in the category of friendship they already have. (and maybe it’s codependency and maybe it’s not but either way they need to talk abt it.) we don’t know what joan feels bc the writers give us nothing (which never ceases to be infuriating) but if i were her i’d be at least apprehensive abt starting a relationship if my last boyfriend died because of me and my best friend’s ex happens to be a psychopath. so idk!! realistically*, i guess by the end of the season we could be looking at a relationship that will be coded as "romantic” (i.e. w/ sherlock and joan as a “couple”, not dating other people or looking for a “romantic” partner elsewhere) and asexual/platonic (with the implication that either or both of them could be looking for occasional sexual partners elsewhere). i don’t dare hope for more. but i guess they could give us this much if it were left on the subtextual level. clearly, they’re not brave enough to come out and openly give us an asexual/aromantic interracial couple. (and particularly this couple, since they’re so //adamant// on respecting the canon all of a sudden. #yourracismisshowing) but even if it’s implied, even if it’s subtext, it will be important and i will embrace it.

if they were good writers –paging the people who wrote s1 please, wherever they are– this would naturally tie into the question of the growing rift between sherlock and joan abt their professional lives, as posed by 5.04 (and 5.01 of course), bc clearly for them the personal and professional are impossibly intertwined. if they were good writers, this would lead to a) an unearthing of the pain joan has been delaing w/ (or rather, burying and denying) for years, with sherlock stepping the f*ck up to help her address it as she has done for him in the past, b) an open discussion of their careers and a renegotiation of their partnership so that it’s fulfilling and right for both of them (it has to be their world not just his), which could possibly involve joan going back to medicine in some shape or form in addition to her detective work, and c) a renegotiation of their partnership on a personal level, i.e., can they take it any further in any direction, and if so, how? or if not, are they happy with how they stand & satisfied w/ what they can give each other? i don’t trust these writers anymore, but at the very least some of this should come up throughout the season.

ange – i wanna read that rant. please write it. gloria, u keep on ranting too & write the fic. i’ll write my fic as well someday (i’m so slow i hate itttt).

*though also “realistically” they could literally give us the world bc these two love each other so much you could come back from a midseason hiatus telling me they got married for Reasons TM and i’d be down w/ it. again, they’re not gonna give us much, but they oughta give us something, especially if this  turns out to be their last season.

@disheveledcurls "If i were her i’d be at least apprehensive abt starting a relationship if my last boyfriend died because of me and my best friend’s ex happens to be a psychopath.”

Rocío I’m so glad you said this, because yes I’ve considered how Joan’s traumas affect her complete lack of a dating life but /of course/ they would also affect any consideration of her deepening her relationship with Sherlock in any emotional capacity. I wonder if she’s even considered it consciously or if she’s buried that want along with the pain of her traumas so she can’t even properly recognize that’s something she would want.

Like, I just feel for Joan so much. I have to write with her because there’s so much she deserves that she hasn’t gotten. So much that I’m sure this fandom has already written the equivalent of several novels because her character needs and deserves that much consideration. As a writer and just, as a person who’s been through my own versions of loss, I want so much for Joan.

And like you I’ll write my own version of this amazing relationship regardless, but if this show even /comes close/ to implying that these two have more than a damn working relationship or a simple friendship, I will have some feeling of fulfillment. It will be small, but it’ll be something. Also #yourracismisshowing LMAO I agree sooo much but you knew that

[vodsel-prime]

Why Draining Your Retirement To Save a Doomed House from Foreclosure Before Filing Bankruptcy is a Mistake

Should I use retirement to pay a mortgage?

Twice in the last two days I have had the same discussion with two prospective clients. Each client owned a house that at the height of the market was worth over two million dollars. In each case, the client had encumbered the house with a loan for about a million dollars a few years back. Each client had suffered significant financial set backs related to the current economic recession. Both clients had been paying mortgage payments close to $10,000.00 per month from their retirement accounts for the past year, and both clients were now at the end of their rope, with their retirement accounts dwindled to a mere pittance.

Monday morning quarter backing on the eve of filing bankruptcy does not bring back a depleted 401K or IRA. But there is a lesson for others in these two cases. Before tapping out your 401K or IRA to continue paying a mortgage on a house that is doomed to end up in foreclosure, know your bankruptcy options.

Retirement accounts are often exempt in bankruptcy

Nearly all retirement accounts that are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA, as it is called), including pensions and 401Ks, are not assets of a bankruptcy estate because they almost all universally contain an anti-alienation clause that protects them from the reach of creditors. Due to recent amendments to Section 522(n) of the Bankruptcy Code, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and other similar retirement savings vehicles, while assets of the estate, enjoy special protection capped at $1 million.

What does all this mean? It means in most cases, all the money drained from retirement accounts to keep a doomed mortgage out of foreclosure for an extra year, could have survived a bankruptcy. Retirement accounts exist to help you survive in your twilight years. It does you no good to waste these assets to delay an otherwise inevitable foreclosure. If you find yourself in this situation, before draining your 401K or IRA, talk with a bankruptcy lawyer with experience in foreclosure defense about your bankruptcy options and foreclosure defense options.

How Can I Repair My Credit?

Whether you filed Bankruptcy or have faced foreclosure, repossession or a delinquency on a loan, it is a fact of life that your credit score can fluctuate. Access to credit is important when applying for a car or home loan or when starting a new business, the lower your credit score, the higher your interest rate will likely be.

Improving credit after bankruptcy or foreclosure

FICO scores range from 300 to 850; the median score is 723. To get the best rates, you’ll usually have to have a score of at least low- to mid-700s, so how can you repair your credit score after it has been damaged?

Credit Repair Steps to take

Unfortunately, it is far easier to bring your credit score down than it is to make improve it. Nevertheless there are steps you can take.

Step #1: visit annualcreditreport.com

Start by visiting www.AnnualCreditReport.com, a website set up under federal law to give consumers access to their credit reports. Be on the lookout for impostors, AnnualCreditReport.com is free, there will be no need to supply your credit card or make any payment. There are three different consumer credit agencies (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) that compile information that factors into your credit score. Not surprisingly, the three agencies don’t always agree. It is important that you go through each report and identify any errors. Did you recently pay off a debt that is listed as delinquent?

Step #2: Write to the credit agencies

It is important to write to the credit reporting agencies both to correct errors as well as to explain any delinquencies. It is perfectly reasonable to write a letter to the credit reporting agencies explaining why you have been late on a mortgage or were forced to file for bankruptcy. Lenders view your credit score in its proper context. Perhaps you have been a victim of mortgage fraud and were forced to file bankruptcy to protect your assets from an aggressive lender. Maybe the economic downturn has caused a salary decrease that made it hard to stay current on car payments. Whatever the Cause of your credit taking a hit, it is crucial that you weigh in on the problem and voice your perspective. It can help.

Step #3: pay your bills on time

I advise my clients who have filed for bankruptcy to be meticulous in paying every bill on time after filing. The same principle applies to anyone trying to repair their credit as payment history is one of the biggest factors in determining your credit score. It may be a good idea to open a single credit card, use it only for groceries and then pay the balance in full each month.

Step #4: debt to income ratio

Filing bankruptcy can actually improve your credit score. Why? Because another factor lenders use in their underwriting process is how much of a debt load is the potential borrower carrying? Are they swamped in debt? If the answer is yes, they will be less likely to be able to service more. When large chunks of credit card debt are discharged in bankruptcy it can often have a positive impact on credit just a few months after filing.

Step #5: be patient

Your credit history factors into your score as well. The longer you’ve been borrowing and paying on time the better. In some ways this is the lender’s way of developing a friendship with you. When you meet someone for the first time, you might like them but can only develop a friendship or romance over time. If you have been paying your bills for a long time, lenders are more likely to court you.

Be of good cheer, with a little patience and responsible use of credit, your score will improve.

Free Consultation with Bankruptcy Lawyer

If you have a bankruptcy question, or need to file a bankruptcy case, call Ascent Law now at (801) 676-5506. Attorneys in our office have filed over a thousand cases. We can help you now. Come in or call in for your free initial consultation.

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