#they're not a god. they're not a character from a fairytale (lol). they're not an idol or celebrity

[chaos0pikachu]

I liked your explanation about the opening sequence to The Sign. I will start by saying I have a background in literary analysis, not cinema, which is a whole other ballgame which is why I am writing to you. (Which is also why books and movies are not one to one translations, they can't be). Lately there has been a lot of negativity toward the confusion surrounding Phaya's and Tharn's powers, especially how Phaya and Tharn got to the cave. I was not surprised by the lack of explanation though. If this was a book I would say that the characters themselves are caught in forces they don't understand, grasping for how to fight against a literal God and so confusion in the narrative parallels that confusion in the character POV. We see a little of Docs POV but only in connection with Tharn or Phaya. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Have a good week!

There's been a weird negativity towards The Sign since like, ep07 when they banged and idk why but I refuse to let it get me down lol The Sign is one of the few BLs that's ambitious and I gotta give it it's gold stars of the week for that alone

For me, I'm willing to see if the powers thing is just the show withholding information or if it's leaving it ambiguous on purpose. Personally I'm not the type of viewer that needs everything laid out for them in logical order. Like, I don't need to know if all the kitchenware in Beast's castle was actually a human, the castle is enchanted ergo all the shit inside is also enchanted. Why are the servants also cursed, cause it's a fairytale and they are? They're an extension of the Beast himself as a character? Sometimes adding explanations or over explaining sucks the magic and fantastical elements from a story.

Like, I'm a One Piece fan so I'm really used to information being withheld for a very long time lmao

That said I also understand the frustration because there does seem to be a set-up happening for the "who" or "why" of the golden light powers. It could be a lot of the things, I like reading the theories. If none of them happened I think I'd be a bit bummed but honestly that just opens up a ton of possibilities in fic.

I continue to be disappointed there's not more fic for The Sign since it's one of the few BL shows that really lends itself so well to a vast amount of possibilities for diverging from canon, or exploring the worldbuilding, or AUs etc etc.

Either way, The Sign is def one of the better BLs I've watched and I'll stand by that lol

[inchidentally]

please tell me your parasocial theory about the lando effect on his teammates i'll shrivel up like a raisin without it actually

god. I'm gonna try and keep this coherent and not TOO weird. obv this is completely without knowing any of these people personally and it's just me theorizing for fun without any actual private knowledge etc etc !

(I've had to edit the hell out of this bc I don't want to like outright offend anyone since this isn't meant to be super serious at all but I'm mortified at how long it is anyway lol)

so we all know that Lando has always had the whole main character fairytale prince/princess quality that started from taking so incredibly long to finally grow up right up to his version of grown up vacillating between devastating fuckboy to coquette fetish sweetheart. and we all know that Lando is fully aware of how he looks and how he's perceived bc of visible social media presence and interactions and also just being around mirrors. he's stunning and charismatic because he makes no effort to be and there is an aura of destiny and magic around him with whatever he does. but he's always seemed like someone who needs to know what exactly he means to his close friends, mainly guys. in a way that's almost like 'yeah you have a girlfriend but does she accept that I'm ✧Me✧ and not just a Normal Blokey Friend?' or 'will your friends accept that I'm ✧Me✧ or will I have to put up a front?'

the reason Lando's so magnetic to people is because he's a ✧Me✧ but also because he's a ✧Me✧ while being a guy which guys aren't usually secure enough to be ✧Me✧. a lot of guys dress up or play up acting like one but Lando's authentically a ✧Me✧ and not to be classed with guys who are Normal Bloke or Normal Friend. they are very very rare.

to expand on this further and because I have insomnia let's take a walk through our perceptions and occasional facts of fandom observation over the years...

I feel like somewhere in the process of his first few years of F1 Lando went from awkward paddock baby who was probably a fall risk to realizing how incredibly adorable he still was even as a pro racing driver. he was literally everybody's baby (and honestly still kinda is). he was thrown into F1 so young it's not surprising.

I am a diehard carlando fan here so please understand that I'm switching to speaking in real life and not fandom terms (and I prefer fandom terms lol) real life Carlos is 100% hetero to me. my family and friend group are sort of UN levels of diverse and what seems like fruityness in non-American or sometimes non-British men is completely standard for straight dudes outside those countries. straight euro guys in particular flirt and get physical with their bros one way and then have an entirely different type of flirting and physicality with women they're attracted to. I don't think this is the case with Carlos at all but a LOT of these euro dudes can even compartmentalize so well that they're actually homophobic while fully kissing and cuddling with their friends. like I say Carlos doesn't seem at all homophobic but there have definitely been tiny, subtle moments with other drivers or during social media challenges where he's been like 'okay that's far enough for me'. which imo is him drawing boundaries and is totally fair.

AND YET WITH LANDO? Carlos has had a verrrrry hard time classifying Lando up until recently I think. for a while after signing to McLaren it was clear he viewed himself as protector and big brother/uncle to a very skittish and weird child/toddler/pet. then when Lando started to build his F1 personality around Carlos and was able to do some give and take with him, Carlos started to see Lando as a fun little satellite buddy and we got some of their silliest most adorable moments (the squawk laughing and the horseplay etc). but Carlos very much still viewed himself as the superior and Lando was just happy to have someone patient and considerate of him rather than a serious competitor.

to me Carlos and everyone else in F1 shifted how he saw Lando around the time of Daniel showing up on the scene (and Carlos' shock at how upset Lando was when he went to Ferrari). Lando got a LOT more confidence on and off the track from here on and he absolutely saw Daniel as a competitor and gave as good as he got off track too (in a fun way). he was never a satellite of Daniel's like he was with Carlos. he also physically started to grow and appreciate his own beauty and sexuality (not as in his identity but his effect on others sexually). he started dressing more consciously and mixing flirting with cuteness to win people over and play the media. youtuber/streamer Lando began to merge with F1 paddock darling Lando into something new between having Carlos and Daniel as teammates.

I can just tell you right now that a dude like Carlos would have ABsolutely no idea how to classify what Lando was becoming at that point in terms of their friendship. Lando was too pretty and still too small to be considered a Dude and apart from on the race track Lando doesn't have the natural douche-ness of Dudes. but Lando also had an active sex life and women were already crazy for him so he wasn't a child anymore either. since F1 drivers literally for bodily safety reasons can only identify as straight Carlos couldn't even class Lando as a rainbow guy.

personally I think that's when Carlos elevated Lando to Hot Bitch/Great Dude status. Lando can still take roughhousing and stupid jokes but he's also got this intense genderfluid glow that poor straight man brain have a tough time with. so Lando's this still confusing hybrid but one that Carlos accepts and loves.

in such a short time Lando went from notice me senpai over Carlos as a teenager on twitter to showing off how they exclusively hang out outside race weekends and he can breeze into the Ferrari garage like he owns the place. one teammate down :)

obv this whole time Lando has had Max F in his life and I think they've known for a long time that they're the sort of best friends who are also common law married. their gfs have always seemed really good natured about it. (**this will be relevant when Oscar comes up later) before Carlos, Max was very clearly the stronger public personality Lando had latched onto as a kid and stayed that way until about 2020/2021. since then I feel like Max is watching Lando in a kind of proud wiping away a tear and claiming that it's raining way. he was down before he probably knew it :)

honestly I'm not a big fan of Daniel Ricciardo for specific reasons and I've chosen to just edit out what I'd written about him and Lando since I truly don't want to piss anyone off over this pointless post lol. it's enough to say that for all Daniel's cockiness making gay jokes etc I get a lot of joy from the fact that Lando has ended up combining Lewis Hamilton-gender norms are for losers attitude with his own genuine rising stature as a future WDC and basically blew Daniel out of the water in every way. they're absolutely still good buddies but damn, Hot Bitch Lando had Daniel stuttering and staring with how little effort it took for Lando to outshine him, on and off the track. Daniel is usually the one in charge of his F1 relationships but Lando got him fucked. up. and begging.

another teammate down :)

do I even need to go into detail about Oscar . we know so incredibly little about Oscar's real personality yet we fully know that he's been replying to Lando's tweets and watching Lando's content since boarding school in the UK. you can take a tour of just the McLaren youtube content from the 2023 unboxing onward and watch Oscar go from dazed and stumbling over himself to not look a tool in front of Lando to Prema-era humor Oscar being able to banter with Lando.

here's what's different with the Lando/Oscar friendship tho. Oscar came in weirdly grown up for his age bc he'd left home so young and went from boarding school to being set up in his own flat by Mahk Wibbah. he already had a long term girlfriend and after waiting a year for his driver's seat he'd made the extremely ballsy move to publicly decide his own fate in F1. Lando was probably expecting to have a typical rookie on his hands but instead he got someone who's already more emotionally mature and responsible than Lando's other two teammates combined. then Oscar is so incredibly talented that he's pushed Lando to such a massive new level that P3 and P2 and (currently) 4th in the WDC are already losing a bit of their shine. Lando wants the whole thing and in a way he never has up til now. Oscar is a not insignificant part of that.

Lando suddenly has an equal! their age difference is negligible and their competitive level is the same. the fact that Oscar's racing mentality is so vastly different to Lando's is perfect because there'll never be a Lewis/Nico situation. Lando needs to stay within his own head to a certain degree for race weekends and Oscar looks forward to his next opportunity as soon as he's done with one. Oscar even has a much more laid back Max F style sense of humor which means Lando doesn't have to play up and perform as much as he used to for social media shit.

then there was the awful start to the season followed by Lando definitely being shook up by how hot Oscar came in as a rookie. AND YET Oscar has always gone out of his way to celebrate Lando's successes literally no matter how his own performance went. he's never once opted to peace out until needed for media or pictures (or straight up left) after a DNF or finishing poorly. there's this moment from the Dutch GP that breaks my idiot fandom brain bc Lando had just qualified second and Oscar (Q8) is shaking his hand and congratulating him and. idk it feels like one of those 'oh!' moments where Lando realizes Oscar is rooting for him even when they're competing and it's not a one-off nice gesture or bare minimum effort

(which honestly that bare minimum is totally fair in racing and I don't judge drivers who need to lick their wounds, it can take a lot to come out of that adrenaline mindset and be happy for your teammate who is also your competitor).

and that's the thing, Oscar came in already won over by Lando. he simply expects them both to do their jobs well and whatever Lando has to offer outside that is cool with him because Lando is ✧Lando✧. if Lando wants to bring him more into his non-F1 life at some point that would probably be great but Oscar's also got his own stable non-F1 life so it's fine either way! if Lando has other commitments and Oscar needs to step up more with the team then that's fine! I know I've been superlative with this post but like, Lando never needed/needs to do anything at all for Oscar to like him and accept him and root for him. Oscar clearly doesn't feel the need to prove anything to Lando or force the relationship. everyone else is dazzled by Lando or watched him/helped him grow up but Oscar just really Finds Lando Neat and Wants to Be Around Him. he seems to like being bossed around by Lando but he also likes when Lando is being really cool and when Lando is quiet and moody he just waits until Lando wants to be around people again. he's like a cat that proves their devotion to you by remaining in proximity rather than meowing or shoving their face in yours.

so like, part of me feels like Lando saw his new teammate having this whole life(**girlfriend?? but does she accept me as ✧Me✧?) already before even meeting Lando and had no idea how they'd develop a relationship. both Carlos and Daniel had (and still have) very bachelor style lives where a relationship with the current teammate is top priority and everyone else in their life has to deal. work comes first, then work friends, then everything else until the babies are made.

but then Oscar just shows up all content with his grown up life and smiles at Lando all the time and doesn't take anything for granted and respects Lando's space within F1 and McLaren and never complains even about doing things he doesn't like and Lando's like oh! I've already got this one down for the count and I didn't even do anything! nice :)

anyway thank you for asking and I hope this was remotely worth reading aakfgsjgfjgafagla

[fluffykitteninabox]

Hey... I'm curious about something. How do you and your family treat Greek mythology and superstitions? 👀

Do you believe in them to a degree? If there were Gods and Goddesses, why wasn't it a full religion?

I hope this isn't rude. I'm more than happy to talk about mine.

Don't worry, it's not rude

Sorry, this took so long, it's a surprisingly hard question to answer because I needed to think about how I view Greek mythology vs how the rest of the world sees it and this accidentally turned into a rant 😅

also some of my opinions might be considered controversial but... I don't care! lol I guess the 5 Greek followers I have can unfollow me if they don't like this or whatever 😂

Anyway have some sparkles because this is kind of long oops ✨✨✨

WARNING: me trashing on Americans

The Greek pantheon was like any other religion in ancient times, but it's not really treated like one anymore. The main religion of Greece now is Orthodox Christianity, and the largest religious minorities are Islam and Catholicism. My parents and I are atheists. I'm certain there's still people that practise it, but they would probably be seen as foolish by the general public.

We are taught part of our mythology in school at the age of 8 (unless they changed it idk 😂). It isn't taught like a religion, but more like fairytales.

The way it's taught is very lacking in my opinion. Instead of explaining for example how sexism influenced the creation of these myths and what a giant asshole Zeus was, we are just told Hera was "the jealous type" and that's why she's the antagonist in most of the stories she appears in.

Achilles and Patroclus were definitely gay, but no one ever talks about it. According to our school books, they were just really close friends! In fact, this specific topic is avoided so much that I first heard about it from foreigners on the internet! A lot of people deny this, even saying that "friendship was just different back then, it was deeper"!! I'm sorry sir, I don't think I'd ever ask to be buried with the ashes of my just a friend™ no matter how close we were! Technically speaking there's nothing explicit in the original text, but Aeschylus, Phaedrus, Plato and Alexander the Great all read it as a romantic relationship and the first 3 even had their own headcanons about it, so that's enough for me!

I'm guessing a lot of these depend on what type of teacher each person has, and it's been a long time since I was 8, so teachers might be more open about it now, but if you just read the 3rd year history (mythology) school book this is the content you'll get. I don't think withholding this information is done because it's being taught to kids, it's not a "they're 8, so they wouldn't understand sexism". That would be a silly argument considering our mythology is filled with incest, rape and gore, which our school books very openly mention throughout. They are just trying to avoid it.

From 9 and up, we are taught more actual history than mythology. We focus on real historical figures and events, so most of the less know myths get forgotten. At 13-15 we're taught the Odyssey and the Iliad (by Homer), and Helen (by Euripides). Yes, that is in fact the order that they teach us these 🙃!! Supposedly it goes from easier text to harder text for each year, but I personally think that's stupid because the story is completely backwards now, and we get it translated to modern Greek anyway, so what's the point of telling it backwards???? It's not convenient, it's confusing! Anyway, these are taught in a similar way to literature. We analyse the text and characters and all that.

Ages 16-18, I honestly have deleted most of these from my brain tbh 😂. OK, not exactly, the first and third year are more historical texts and philosophy. The second year we do another play, Antigone (by Sophocles). Actually wait, the first one was about a war and there was a ton of political intrigue in there, and it was super interesting. The third one was more about philosophy.

The plays aren't exactly the same as mythology, it's more like fanfiction about historical figures and gods! I mentioned them because..... I just like them lol

I kind of deviated a lot from what you actually asked me and answered more generally. For me and my parents specifically, religion isn't really something we participate in. My grandma is very religious though. She used to go to church every Sunday before covid. Now she watches it from the TV (there's a specific Christian chanel that broadcasts church service from different parts of the country). I personally hate how brainwashed some people are by Christianity (including my grandma). Thankfully, we haven't reached American levels of religious fanaticism.

Mythology isn't really something that's on our minds often. My grandma didn't go to school, so I doubt she knows much about it. My parents probably learnt some of it. Outside of the school environment, ancient Greek mythology isn't really a topic most people think about (maybe I think about it more than the average Greek person, because I'm an art student and a bit of a history nerd). But even then, I've seen more about Greek mythology from people who treat it like a fandom on the internet and make AUs with their characters and stuff like that. Now, I know I made jokes earlier about fanfiction and headcanons, so this is probably going to sound very hypocritical of me...

However, Homer's poems and other ancient Greek plays are not the same as myths. They're not treated the same. They are theatrical performances based on historical events/figures. I don't care much about people's modern interpretations of these, because they are fictional stories. Now, myths are also fictional, I even compared them to fairytales at the start. But they were still based on ancient people's religious beliefs. People practised it as a religion, they had rituals and traditions, some of which are still done today (though they have changed and evolved over time). The myths were more like the framework for what the Gods represented in their lives. Kind of like how most Christians don't believe the events in the Bible literally happened.

I'm fine with people taking inspiration from a myth and doing a modern retelling as long as they're respectful. I've seen some modern, more feminist retellings of Medusa that I personally really liked. I've even thought of making my own version of Arachne (=spider) but without the religious propaganda and classist undertones.

What I'm not ok with, is people wearing bedsheets to "dress up as Greek"! I'm sure you can probably relate to this because Americans do this with a ton of cultures. If you want to "dress up as Greek", do this:

I'll respect you more!!

(this is obviously a joke, don't do this either, you'll get laughed at. This dude is part of a parody show)

And secondly, I'm not ok with people taking mythology and twisting it into something completely unrecognisable that doesn't even seem like it's from the culture it was based on. Basically, Americans shouldn't be allowed to make movies about other people's cultures!!! Ok, I'm exaggerating, but if you're going to do something based on mythology/religion of some other culture, you need to do proper research and be as respectful as possible.

Good example: Dreamworks-Prince of Egypt, 1998

Even as an atheist who was only taught religion in school, I can tell this is a very respectful adaptation. The team that made this met with religious experts to make sure they got it right.

Bad example: Disney-Hercules, 1997

This is the most American a Greek myth has ever been! It's more like Superman than Heracles. Don't do whatever the fuck Disney did here guys. I'm actually planning on tearing this film apart in a future review, so I'm not going to say anything else right now.

I'm not saying don't make changes. Greek mythology is very "fluid" in a way. Every myth has multiple versions, with minor or major differences between them. Changes are fine, even making a parody is fine. But I think the end result shouldn't just resemble its inspiration on a superficial level. It's not enough to have your characters wear a tunic and sandals and have them say Zeus instead of God every couple of sentences. The important part is why a particular myth exists. What is the original message? What does the story/character represent? That needs to be kept the same, otherwise the adaptation won't be an adaptation anymore. It will be a different story disguised as an adaptation. At that point, you should just make an original story.

Alright last thing and then I'm done talking I swear 😂!

You also asked about superstitions.

Here's a small list:

if you spill coffee it's good luck

if your right palm is itchy, you'll get money, but if your left palm is itchy, you'll give money. The first one is usually interpreted as like: "you'll find coins on the street or win one of those scratch lottery tickets". The second one is like: "a sign that the electricity bill is coming, or you need to pay rent". (my dad believes this one)

if you're born on Saturday, it means you're lucky (I was born on a Tuesday 😔)

evil eye: a curse when someone "glares" at you/has bad intentions. If you have blue eyes you're immune to this, otherwise you can wear an evil eye charm. (this comes from the Middle East, I think. You might know about this, because there's a ton of different countries that believe it. I personally just like the charms)

when you visit a house for the first time, you need to enter with your right foot first for good luck. If you enter with your left, it's like wishing bad luck for the people who live there. This is also done for the first person to visit the house on New Year's Day.

if you enter a place from one door you can't leave from another door, you have to use the same one. (supposedly it ruins your matchmaking if you do that)

if you're talking with someone, and you say something simultaneously, you say "touch red" and then you need to touch something red before you continue speaking. (I remember doing this a lot as a kid)

if you talk about something bad happening hypothetically, you knock on wood or say the phrase "knock on wood", so it doesn't happen

if you get served the last drop of wine, you get bitches 😎!!

There are a lot of traditions that are really old that a lot of people still follow, even if they're not religious or the tradition comes from a different religion. I'll tell you one of my favourites that's relevant right now. Every first of March people in a lot of Balkan countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia and others) wear a bracelet made from intertwined red and white threads. This is worn for the whole month of March, and it is supposed to protect you from getting burnt by the sun. At the end of the month, we take them off and leave them for swallow birds to use in their nests. Swallows are believed to bring spring.

hand reveal lol:

If you read this far, you are a legend.

It's your turn now. How do you and/or your family view Philippine mythology? What about the people in general? And also, do you have any traditions for spring?

[blazernot]

Tell me more about Tr!gger? (If you want, haha.) I keep seeing stuff about your OCs, and I'm curious about the story's overall premise! (Or character relationships, if the premise is still super loose.)

Oh bestie im always down to talk about Tr!gger ask chikai or starlight lol.

A lot of the world building is vague and based on dream logic but the basic summary but in the past there were a bunch of different gods and superpowerful beings that ruled over stuff but over the years due to different factors like weakening grips on power and stuff like that they either started dying out, blending in with society, or fleeing west where only they could go.

Also another important addition is a group that started when a bunch of people decided that being ruled by gods sucked and life was really hard because of all these magic things and people running around doing whatever so they formed a secret society focussed on seizing control. In the modern day they're the Trigger Agency.

There's a bunch of other things about the gods like how they each govern different things, Like Ayako is light and used to be a dragon, and I've been calling them domains but I'll probably change that. And there's also different ways they're born or created and they can transfer their abilities to others but you asked for the plot not this stuff so I'll actually get to that after explaining one more thing lol

People have basically super or magical powers and there's fairytale creatures around but it's not a big deal it's like being left handed. Like neat fact bro but you know a few people like that. Stuff like witchcraft and the paranormal are just facts of the world- though note that everything used to be a lot nastier but thanks to Trigger and the nasty stuff dying out people are blissfully unaware of how bad things could really get.

Okay now to actually get to the plot lol. Erica is the protag and a pretty normal lady living in Starlight City. She's a private/paranormal investigator but you can also fix her to pay your car or whatever. Her ability is hammer space. She's moved into a new apartment and is just living her life when a random person just shows up one day and won't be normal. This is Momo. She is later revealed to be a robot and has a mission or something Momo has no idea where she came from but it's not affecting her that much and she won't. Fricking. Leave. So Erica just kinda has to put up with this person.

So that's the start through doing different jobs she meets people like Shield and Venus until she starts getting wrapped up into a major conspiracy concerning Trigger and what the team in Starlight City's and maybe the whole agency's goal actually is. Basically shes the protagonist against her will and that's the basic premise

[pictureofdoriaaaaaangay]

chaotic book ramble so I can stop spiraling into the abyss: my childhood favorite books that I've been thinking about lately

I start college in four days, where I'll be pursuing an English degree. I've been both a reader and by extension a writer my whole life. lately, I've been thinking about the books I loved when I was younger that fueled this passion and thus helped me along to where I am now <3

The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer. I still have my old copies of these books, and when I tell you they are well-loved, I mean they are well-loved. they're sort of fairytale retellings, and take place in the Land of Stories, which exists as a parallels world to this one where fairytale characters are real and living beyond their happily ever afters. the books follow twins Alex and Connor, who find out (spoiler?? lol) that their grandmother is the fairy godmother. all sorts of stuff goes down, and honestly I only remember half of it like a fever dream, but I remember really loving it in book five (?) when they get to meet the characters from stories Connor wrote. honestly, I probably read the entire series over fifty times, and that's not an exaggeration. first read them the year the third book came out, when I was nine. waiting for the rest was, I recall, absolute torture.

the Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. this is so funny to me, because these books basically set me up for my later teen years and loving the Folk of the Air series by Holly Black - but I digress. I first read these at age eight in a high-stress time of my life, and as a result they were likely deeply formative. they follow twins Jared and Simon (more twins ??) and their older sister Mallory (thinking back, she was absolutely part of my bi awakening). they move with their mother into the old Spiderwick mansion, and soon discover a fieldguide all about faeries and different fae species that live in the woods surrounding the house. I honestly think that the plot of these books is batshit, but I still sort of love them. there's a movie, but it's terrible, and aggressively condenses the plot into something completely unrecognizable.

Harry Potter, by... Harry Potter. isn't it great that, after his time at Hogwarts, he decided to write a seven-book autobiography?? so funky of him!! anyways - I read these at the ripe age of ten, and stuck by loving them since. HP was my first fandom, and maybe the one I'm fondest of (actually, thinking on this, no), and Hogwarts in general holds a lot of nostalgia for me. this being said, I still love the books, but I have to say that I reread them last year for the first time since I was maybe 14/15 and um. wow. Mr. Potter you are?? problematic??? someone please tell me why the adult man who was allowed to abuse children in a position of power for sixteen years got a redemption arc but the literal CHILD who was born into an abusive and power-hungry family didn't. also why is Dumbedore hailed as such a bloody saint?? he's worse than fucking Voldemort. I said what I said. also it's super confusing that Harry never mentioned in his autobiography that his Sirius and Remus were happily married and living at Grimmauld place. weird storytelling choice I guess!!

all those damned Warrior cats books by Erin Hunter. I swear to god these books had crack in them I ATE THEM UP from the ages of like. eight to eleven?? maybe??? genuinely, I must've reread them a hundred times, but I could tell you NOTHING about the plots. a few vibes, maybe, but zero plots. did they even have plots?? were plots a thing in those books??? how was I so obsessed with them???? funniest part is the fact that I see people talking about them on the internet now and it's just. insane. actually insane.

Lockwood and Co by Jonathan Stroud. full transparency: I read these for the first time at age eleven (around the time the fourth book out of five came out) and now remain an active member of the fandom. I love these books, and these characters, with my whole heart and I want nothing more than them to be happy. the Netflix show, though I have some pretty severe gripes with it, is still really amazing and absolutely deserves a second season. the books are set in London, where ghosts are real deeply dangerous, and follow the main trio of Lucy, Lockwood, and George. I reread them at the start of the year in preparation for the show, and they're genuinely just incredible works. I sobbed a lot reading them. they're absolutely comfort reads for me; 35 Portland Row is home.

wow. that was a lot. there's honestly several more I could talk about (School for Good and Evil, Percy Jackson, etc), but this is a long enough post for now, ha. love you all <3

[lesbianspirirt]

Masterlist: D.R Ideas

hey! this is a masterlist (obvi) of D.R/I.R ideas for you<3 please let me know if you like it, what reality you're going to shift to, and what other shifting content you want to see from me

just a nsfw warning, there are some mature themes in a lot of the media listed, as well as some jokes, swears (i think idk tbh), all below the cut

ALSO: please remember that reality shifting brings you to real worlds, the people in those places are REAL they have feelings, thoughts, they aren't just characters there!

Once Upon a Time (it's a T.V series based on fairytales, but it's kinda dark, never watched it tho so idk much about it)

The Wolf Among Us (telltale video game, similar vibes to Once Upon a Time)

Stranger Things (never watched it, but it looks horrifying so yknow)

FNAF/Five Nights At Freddy's (might start working on one for myself, kinda want to be a paranormal investigator in that world)

Elden Rings (I know nothing about the game so if this suggestion is ass just ignore it lol)

Halo (looks like a cool world but again idk what its like so)

Squid Game (don't remember if this was in my other lists and too lazy to check)

Minecraft (maybe not blocky cuz like that's nightmare fuel)

Days Gone (video game)

World War Z (never seen anything from it but i think there's a story and characters with personalities)

Scooby-Doo

Detroit: Become Human (i think i already added this in the other lists but whatever)

Red Dead Redemption

Doki Doki Literature Club (maybe, like, a normal version without the sentient computer storyline)

Yandere Sim (maybe remove Yan-chan cuz obvious reasons 😨)

Life is Strange (idk, seems pretty chill but idk much about it either)

Heavy Rain

Watch Dogs (kinda boring unless you're a super-hacker but hey, i need to fill this list lmao)

Pokémon

The Walking Dead Game: Michonne (don't think a lot of ppl know about this one)

Beyond Two Souls (kinda scary ig but cuz of the paranormal shit going on in that world)

that's all the new stuff, everything below this is form my other 2 lists since this post is a masterlist lol

Disney (I personally want to shift to experience the story of Frozen and Tangled since it's hinted that they're connected also bc I'm Norwegian)

Modern! A.U of media from your current reality

TMNT (whatever version you prefer)

X-Men

Teen Titans (i can't remember if I added it to the last one lol)

Justice League

Villain (not an excuse to kill, torture, etc.)

Sims (there's lot's of lore, lot's of the pre-made characters have cool stories, some are hot too)

Domestic (live a domestic life style with anyone you want to, you could have a few children or live like a house-spouse)

Divergent (recently. the movies were added to Canadian Netflix, it's kind of like The Hunger Games and isn't too bad other than the horrible love interest it should've been Christina and Tris they would've been so cute)

High School! A.U of media from your current reality (for example: Arcane in a high school setting, can be set in whatever decade or world you want)

Decade! A.U of any media from your current reality (script out the bad things cuz good god if it's anything like this reality, you'll be leaving asap)

Time Traveler (y'know, time travel)

Totally Spies

The Princess Bride

Percy Jackson

The Wizard of Oz

Avatar (the blue one)

Pirates of the Caribbean

Criminal Minds

Bob's Burgers

Modern Family

Artemis Fowl

The Maze Runner

The Owl House

Z Nation

The Walking Dead Game

Deadpool (his sidekick, side-chick, im not judging)

The Outsiders

Ouran High School Host Club (be rich, incredibly desirable, both, neither, whatever)

Your own Spiderverse world

Avatar The Last Airbender

The Legend of Korra

The Last of Us

Everything Sucks!

Birds of Prey

Victorious

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun (make manga with an unlikely group of friends)

Royalty D.R

Victorian Vampire D.R (maybe like just make yourself need rare steak instead of humans or something)

Animal D.R (try out living as a cat with some sweet folks or live as an ant idk just make sure that you can still think DO NOT let yourself forget to keep your human consciousness)

No Nips D.R (can you tell that I’m running out of ideas?)

Decade D.R (you got a favourite decade? one that has music, fashion and movies that you love? yeah)

H2O: Just Add Water (stay away from the condensation tho)

Genshin Impact (powers and you could be a god ig)

D&D (basically a fantasy D.R)

Randomly Generated Rom-Com (you don’t know what kind of story you’ll get to live through plus it’s a rom-com, no sad shit here)

any Tremors movie (movies are scary af, not really recommended but its your choice)

Arcane

Miraculous Ladybug (make sure you script out the uh, odd things)

Ghost D.R (scare, harass, haunt, whatever you want!)

Rage Room D.R (have a D.R thats just a room full of shit to break)

Pillow D.R (lonely and tired? just shift into a world where you’re sleeping on a hot persons thighs/boobs)

Mario Universe

Zelda D.R (based on whatever game or the show from like the 80s)

[chalkrevelations]

In the wake of Ep 11, I'm seeing an increased number of outraged defenses of poor Button in the tag, this time with the observation that Vegas belongs in THERAPY OMG, and I must once again ask you, which one of these Mafia-ass motherfuckers DOESN'T? I'm tempted to go find my previous post on how, oh my god, did the Mafia man do a bad thing? and just find-and-replace "THERAPY OMG" for "JAIL OMG," but frankly, I'm not willing to exempt even Chay on this one, because god knows he could use a good therapist. Like EVERYONE on this show.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at posts about how it's not Pete's JOB to fix Vegas (which I don't remember anyone ever saying, although I think it speaks to certain things about Pete's character if he does hold out the gift of acceptance and whatever healing he can offer) and how Vegas needs some CBT or whatever - from his THERAPIST, not Pete (come on, did you think I wasn't going to take a swing at that softball? lol) - and then I'm looking back at my manic street preacher posts analyzing Vegas's and Pete's storylines through the differing lenses of various fairytale archetypes, and I'm realizing that we're talking about this show on fundamentally different levels, and I gotta tell you, I don't think MY reading comprehension is the issue.

I also suspect people are dragging Twtr bullshit over here, if they're not just taking swings at strawmen, and I really wish they'd cut that shit out. Besides the just generally poor life choice of besmirching my Much Better Hellsite (Affectionate) by shoving its face in a bowl of food it DOESN'T WANT TO EAT, if you don't have the balls to vague over there to their faces, at least don't drag that bs over here, where you end up face-punching innocent bystanders in the tag. It's BAD BDSM ETIQUETTE.

Anyway, for my next trick, I'm composing a post about stuff that's coming from INSIDE the house that's giving me hives.

[assortedvillainvault]

I'd like to ask back, but I forget who your f/os are

Lol that's fair, a good chunck of my 'will write' list are actually my F/O's but I realise I didn't put any indication as to who was who. I don't think I had the confidence to actually announce that when I started this blog.

Anyhoo I'm in a mood for scales, so I hereby select Repton and Sir Pentious for the games! Oh God this got long

Repton:

R - Rainbow - what colors do you associate with them and why?

It's always deep olive greens and harsh dusty yellows for Repton, his colour scheme is pretty consistent and pretty much matches his territory. I find it very soothing almost? Like watching a savanna landscape, which is technically where he lives so, win.

E - Emotion - is your f/o open with their feelings or do they keep them close to their chest?

If it ain't rage or exasperation then he ain't showing it. He absolutely feels a wider range but frustration at his limitations rules his judgement 99% of the time, which is a work in progress. Makes those rare time's he is openly happy that much more delightful!

P - Pets - do they have a pet? if so, what kind and what is/would be its name? would you have a pet together?

Canonly, no, but I've always figured the wastelands around his terra would hold some kind of cool monster that he would take delight in taming, so in my head he has pet dragons. Not big ones, but if Gwythents were more bat like that'd be ideal. Atmos is criminally underdeveloped ok I can make up animals if I WANT

T - Teach - what skills of theirs would they teach you? what would you teach them?

I have an aversion to motorsports but you literally cannot get around atmos without a sickass flying motorbike, so I would def be accepting dirk-biking lessons from the guy with the coolest ride around.

As for what I'd teach him... I'm honestly not sure what I have to offer that he would find interesting or useful, but I can offer lots of geology/geography knowledge that would probably be handy for raids and crystal formations? Alternatively how to speak nicely to his siblings

O - Online - what is your f/o’s social media presence like, or what would it be like if they had internet in their world/era?

'Officially' he wouldn't partake, seeing the dumb shit his brothers watch online would drive him insane. Unofficially however, he would totally stalk his enemies facebook posts just to plan an opportune ambush.

N - Nostalgia - what’s your f/o’s favorite memory?

Canonically, probably the day he defeated the Interceptors. That was a serious victory that shook the Sky Knights and their teams across Atmos, and he relished in the leverage it gave him.

Sir Pentious:

S - Story - if you and them were in a fairytale, which story would you be and who would play which character?

Oh a reverse fairytale for sure, a runaway noble of some descript get's kidnapped by maniacal (artificer I guess in this case?) for ransom, only to find they're both terrible and have much more fun encouraging his shenanigans.

I - Image - show us a picture of them that gives you a lot of feelings. if they aren’t a visual character, describe your mental image of them!

Oh see GIF above, this man is SO happy to be gatecrashing even when his shit is already wrecked, my mans THEATRICAL and loves his job.

R - Rainbow - what colors do you associate with them and why?

Black, Yellow and Fusia. Pretty self explanatory - the high contrast is gorgeous and luxurious in his design and yet attention seeking like a particularly villainous traffic cone.

P - Pets - do they have a pet? if so, what kind and what is/would be its name? would you have a pet together?

Do the Eggs Count Idk if you can have snake pets in hell but he is absolutely the type to have boa contractors and cobras draped all over his ship. I'm more than happy with this.

E - Emotion - is your f/o open with their feelings or do they keep them close to their chest?

Sweetheart this mans emotions are broadcast to the fucking moon. Everyone in hell knows how he's feeling at any given moment and he hates it, but he doesn't have the restraint to keep a lid on them when things don't go his way.

N - Nostalgia - what’s your f/o’s favorite memory?

Extrapolating from the crumbs of the single pilot we have, probably the birth of his son. He seems the type to have Gomez Addam'sed the shit out of his family, and I don't doubt he cried more than the mother and baby combined.

T - Teach - what skills of theirs would they teach you? what would you teach them?

I'm signing up for lessons in firing lazer beams and rockets and you cannot stop me. I would probably teach him what modern slang and style suits him becuase the secondhand embarrasment I recieve watching this 19th century supervillain attempt to integrate into modern culture is nigh lethal.

I - Image - see above.

O - Online - what is your f/o’s social media presence like, or what would it be like if they had internet in their world/era?

It's cringeworthy and mortifying for want of better words. I wish he would stop chasing the overlords accounts and getting into screaming matches in the comment sections. At least the latter results in him blowing up someones house occasionally, but it hurts to see him ruin his own reputation which he cherishes so much. Less of more here, really.

U - Uplift - how do they help you when you’re stressed or sad and vice versa?

When I'm sad it's cuddle time. He's fantastic at it, and his scales are much softer than they look. It's weird to feel his eyes blinking, but the pressure and attention feel wonderful after a bad day.

When he's sad or frustrated - I'll admit that I'm not the best at feelings things and would much rather offer practical solutions, he appreciates a second pair of eyes and opinions on his projects. I can compliment his engineering no end and belittle the bastards that made him feel workthless forever, so if I bitch whle we work it's a win-win.

S - Story - see above.

Thanks so much for asking!

[onewomancitadel]

Relatedly this topic of empathy in storytelling (and bad guys and good guys) is why my hackles were raised for so long about R/WBY and still kind of are, especially with the potentially cynical take on fairytales and storytelling in general. It's very very hard to watch a show that uses fairytales and myth and then have them turn around and make fun of them and their purpose (as hard as it is to watch stories make fun of themselves for being stories... lol), like this is something that's given your story flavour, why are you mocking it?

I would say so far that this isn't the case and they're not, and their approach is actually excitingly humanistic and quite fun, but I still reserve doubt just because it's so easy to slide into a bad take.

But on the flipside, how did Salem 'wrong' the brother gods; they were the creators who hurt her. We're already in a position where we expect her to be bad. It's exactly the same with Cinder - what is the 'other side' of Cinder's story if she's literally already the bad guy, and we already otherwise had a semi-heroic interpretation of Atlas (and a main character literally from there)? We already see her through Rhodes' perspective (he's the one who finds her having just risen up against Madame and her 'stepsisters'), as this terrifying little thing reaffirms the words of abuse as she's being tortured and gripping Madame by the neck. Like, where are we supposed to go from there? Oh, sad story, but if you think about it, the Glass Unicorn needed enslaved labour because... I don't know, the taxes were too high. :( That is pure fucking nonsense.

Well anyway, Cinder's a bad guy so her backstory doesn't matter! Then what was the fucking point of telling it if it changes nothing.

It's such an easy thing to fuck up because so much shitty moral reasoning propagates as a result of nonsense utilitarianism, moral arithmetic, and narrative cynicism.

[author-a-holmes]

heyy ari! i hope you’ve been well. for the october-themed ask: 👻 ghost: can you tease some wip ideas that have been haunting you/something you want to write in the future? –🌊

Hello anon! I've been surviving! Which is all we can ask, really lol I hope you've also been doing well! <3

Can I tease some idea's? Oh good gods, can I!

I have so many idea's, I genuinly get scared of not having enough time to write them all.

Let's see what I can pull out of the brain for you today...

One...

I have a couple of idea's for interactive fiction stories, or CYOA type stories that I'd love to get to eventually, but they're not just writing, they're coding too, so they're a definite time commitment.

One of those is a story that started out as a novel idea, and morphed into an interactive fiction called "Words of the Witches". It's about a witch, whose city is under seige from demons. A portal opened, but no one knows how. Due to the lack of warning, and the suddeness of the attack, the covens of the city only had time to cast a barrier, trapping the demons within the city limits. The demons, however, now rule the city. Magic is outlawed, and they are systematically tracking down and killing anyone with seraphim blood.

The player's character is a witch... and that's the only thing that's kept her alive, as the scent of her magic has masked the fact that she also has seraphim blood.

I'm sure I'll get around to this one eventually, but it's most definitely a backburner piece.

Two...

I've got about an 8 year publishing plan, but my furthest planned out book series is Chronicles of Verald.

I want to explore a very specific romantic dynamic with this story, so that was it's foundation. I wanted a MMC who'd done truly horrific things, but for good reasons, such as protecting their family. But I also wanted him to have been alive so long that he no longer felt any guilt or regret for those actions. For him, they're just a part of surviving.

On the flip side, is the FMC, who is sunshine and butterflies. He thinks he's going to crush her to get what he wants, but... there's a core of iron to her that he grows to respect.

And her outlook on life, will change his perspective on his actions and decisions moving forward.

It's, as I said, a very specific dynamic that I wanted to explore, but it's also a dynamic that needs to take a long time to develop, so when I went into the worldbuilding for Chronicles of Verald, I knew I needed to build a world that I, and my readers, could spend a LOT of time in.

CoV is a very intimidating project for me. I've described it as feeling like someone is standing behind me holding a baseball bat.

Right now I have my biggest map yet for this project. I have a functioning magic system, and a cultural system for the starting continent. But yes, that's starting continent. CoV will span years of the characters lives, at least 10 books, and depending on how my outlining goes, potentially two or three times that.

It's a beast, but I'm also not letting myself outline it properly until I've made some progress on my earlier projects, so I can't give numbers for sure.

Overall though it's something I'm very excited (but also mildly terrified) to dig into.

Three...

And then, a more recent project, just to even things out. Obviously, right now I'm working on my Fey Touched Trilogy, but December/January for me are always very busy IRL times, so I'll be taking a stab at something a little easier, a little lighter on the wordcount, for Dec/Jan.

I'm going to have a go at a Robin Hood retelling; but make it fantasy.

And by that I mean, "fairytale retellings" usually change the genre, and the setting. This gives me a chance to do something a bit different with Robin Hood. Because it's an English legend, there's nothing inherently magical about the story, so that's going to be my twist.

So far my notes cover Robin's entire backstory, from birth to the start of the tale, and how he and Marion were childhood friends, how he first met the Prince, who will become King.

There's elves, and druids, and magic, and possibly some other fantasy elements, and I think it'll just be really fun to play with a legend, and put my own spin on it.

[reversewerewolf]

for ALL of them: 9, 13, 16, 17, 21, 38

leoven: 1, 8, 11, 14, 26, 45

oleander: 8, 22, 60

my boy naveen: 18, 27, 63

and idk how far you've gotten with soleil and kalliope but: 5, 30, 39

I THINK MAYBE THERE ARE MORE OF THEM THAN YOU KNOW BUT BY GOD I WILL DO MY BEST

D&D character asks here!

From least to most recently created/played:

Naveen Galanodel (drama queen wood elf bard, college of lore):

9. What is their favorite scent?

Sandalwood, the forest after heavy rain, the air when you get close to a body of water

13. If they were a body of water, what would they be?

An ocean. Big personality, lots of drama goes on there, salty

16. What keeps them going?

THE POWER OF LOVE. Like for real. Whenever he wants to give up he thinks about his family and he's like OKAY... OKAY DO IT FOR THEM

17. Does your character swear? What’s their favorite phrase/word?

Not as constantly as you'd think, but yes. "Fuck" is a classic, but he's also kind of mean, so "dumbass" comes up a lot.

18. How does your character act when they want to seem inviting?

Big smile, open stance, polite mannerisms in the sweetest of voices... He tries to be friendly generally, but if he's really TRYING, it gets laid on a little thick.

21. If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.)

Potion of Naveen would come in a pear-shaped, green-glass bottle with a short neck and a simple cork stopper. A black ribbon is tied around the neck in a bow. The liquid inside smells and tastes strongly of blackberries, and it's milky white but thin like peach calpico lol. There is a pale green swirl inside. Drinking it gives you a d12 inspiration die.

27. If they were a ghost, how would they haunt in the afterlife?

I think this maybe meant to say "who" but I'm answering both. He would haunt his husband affectionately by like... leaving messages written in fogged glass or helping him find things he'd lost or singing to him... And he'd go prank all of his party members by hiding their stuff and making scary noises when they're trying to sleep(/trance).

38. What fairytale/myth suits your character the best?

Beauty and the Beast but he's the beast. He had to do a lot of character growth throughout the campaign lol

63. Which party member would they pull a prank on? Who would they plan a prank with?

He primarily played a lot of pranks on our poor ranger, Rael, who put up with Naveen's bullying like a champ, in their defense... He also played most of his pranks alongside the party's monk, Libra, his BFF. They liked getting up to trouble. <3

Haven Lafrelli (drow wizard, school of transmutation):

9. What is their favorite scent?

Tea leaves, ink, and the pages of an old book

13. If they were a body of water, what would they be?

A creek. Slim and unassuming and flowing slowly along to wherever it ends up...

16. What keeps them going?

His loved ones, the memory of his father and what he would want for Haven, the pursuit of knowledge, and the well-being of his community. He's a nice lad (and if I ever use him again, he'll be a cleric, lol)

17. Does your character swear? What’s their favorite phrase/word?

He doesn't, and according to my group, he was legally not allowed to.

21. If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.)

Potion of Haven would come in a square, clear glass bottle, with a spherical topper made of light-colored wood. The liquid inside smells vaguely minty, but it looks and tastes like black tea (the best cup of black tea you've ever had, though). If you drink it, you get advantage on Intelligence checks for an hour.

38. What fairytale/myth suits your character the best?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but the story is changed to just be about Snow White trying to wrangle the dwarves who have no sense of propriety or self-preservation. So uh... I don't actually know lol

Dro'gul Tem'bukra (the only character I'll ever abuse the apostrophes with) (half-orc barbarian/ranger, beastmaster conclave):

9. What is their favorite scent?

Wood (cut or still in the form of a tree), the heat in the air near a cooking fire, and roses (a favorite of his wife's, and also the name of one of their daughters)

13. If they were a body of water, what would they be?

A river, one of the wide ones you need a long bridge to get over. Normally, he's all good, but if something agitates him he gets a little rough

16. What keeps them going?

His family. He's a wife guy. He also got out of a bad childhood situation that left him with a strong drive to live in general, and to enjoy that life, so I guess he's constantly pursuing happiness

17. Does your character swear? What’s their favorite phrase/word?

He does, and - you MIGHT see a pattern form here later - the word is "fuck"

21. If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.)

Potion of Gul would come in a lightbulb-shaped bottle with a cork stopper. The liquid inside is a nearly-black red like a dark rum. It smells spicy and a little woody, and it tastes like cinnamon with an implacable sense of "green," like biting a leaf. If you drink it, you feel a brief contentment like being wrapped up in a bear hug.

38. What fairytale/myth suits your character the best?

...........................Cinderella lmao

Mattias Papajohn (yes that is his actual surname and the table hates me for it) (human fighter, samurai archetype [but we play it like a knight]):

9. What is their favorite scent?

Onions and garlic being sauteed, leather, and citrus (primarily oranges)

13. If they were a body of water, what would they be?

A tributary stream flowing into a huge river. He is a relatively insignificant man who is rapidly, unassumingly, and irreversibly heading into something much bigger than him. Lol

16. What keeps them going?

Formerly a sense of duty, but he's about to become an enemy of the state, so... right now he's kind of just... exploring and thinking about where his new place in the world is going to be, lmao

17. Does your character swear? What’s their favorite phrase/word?

Nah, he's too polite... for now

21. If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.)

Potion of Mattias would come in a chipped, stained-but-well-loved porcelain mug. The liquid is not-quite-opaque and dark brown, with a strong smell, nutty and a little burnt. If you drink the potion, your stamina increases for several hours. It's coffee. It's just coffee.

38. What fairytale/myth suits your character the best?

His life has been too uneventful as of yet to really say. Uhh. Maybe Jack and the Beanstalk if the giant was a nice man. He's met giants. They were lovely!

Oleander (it never came up, but his real name was Roshan Halloran lol) (tiefling monk, way of the kensei):

8. What is something they cannot resist?

Peaches. And cake. He would steal either of those off a companion's plate if they weren't looking.

9. What is their favorite scent?

You know that sort of spicy scent that comes off of tomato leaves? That, as well as baking bread, and ocean salt, in spite of himself

13. If they were a body of water, what would they be?

A little pond that's only disturbed by raindrops or animals moving through it. Passive and reacting to its environment as its main form of change

16. What keeps them going?

Helpin' people. He adopted the party's triton sorcerer as his little brother whether or not said sorcerer was aware of it, so mainly he wakes up each day like "ok, gotta try and keep Aeos out of trouble today." (It never works, but they have fun)

17. Does your character swear? What’s their favorite phrase/word?

Honestly I don't think Oleander talked too much? He's a quiet kind of guy. He doesn't swear habitually or have a favorite expletive, but he's not morally opposed to it.

21. If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.)

Potion of Oleander would come in a tall, thin bottle with a long neck. The glass has a magenta-to-clear ombre from bottom to top. The liquid inside is a milky, pastel pink that smells like apricot with floral undertones and tastes subtly of peaches. Drinking it increases your speed, as well as your flight response. Despite the name, it's not toxic.

22. What kind of person would they never side with?

He just wants to do good in the world, lol. He doesn't side with people he thinks are morally corrupt, but that can be vague - his hard line is people who treat kids badly.

38. What fairytale/myth suits your character the best?

The Little Mermaid lol

60. Who do they go to when they need to bounce ideas off of someone?

His best buddy, Aeos, despite Aeos' proven track record of, uh... not having the most common sense. Ollie values his opinion regardless.

Leoven Silverfrond (half-elf sorcerer, divine soul with homebrew wild magic):

1. What does your character typically keep in their pockets?

Not necessarily in his pockets, but he always keeps a healer’s kit on his person, as well as his journals (and a pen), an emergency dagger or two, some coin for just in case, and the spell components necessary to re-summon his familiar(s) if something happens to them. Most of his belongings stay in his own pack or the party’s bag of holding, though.

8. What is something they cannot resist?

Any food with honey in it, an earnest request from a person in need, certain pretty faces. Up until fairly recently he was also a doting big brother who gave his little sister everything she asked for, but he's had to step up and be disciplined and he hates it, lol

9. What is their favorite scent?

Rain stuck between blades of grass, cold mountain air, the cologne his hotshot airship captain wears

11. How does your character blow off steam?

Journaling, hiking, reading, cooking, [redacted] His ability to walk it off isn't terrible. Luckily. He hasn't punched anyone yet...

13. If they were a body of water, what would they be?

A hot spring, but there's a secret geyser in it.

14. Does your character value promises? Are they good at keeping them?

He values them highly and he tries really, really hard to keep them. Sometimes there are circumstances that prevent that, but he doesn't just brush a promise off because he doesn't feel like keeping it.

16. What keeps them going?

The vague shape of goals that he needs to reach. He's still sort of figuring out how to reach those goals, but it's important to him that he does. He is also waking up every day to save his family from weird stuff that's going on, and he wants to help his friends, and his friend's family...

17. Does your character swear? What’s their favorite phrase/word?

Hilariously, up until very recently, he didn’t; he wouldn’t even write curse words down in his journal, he just wrote the first letter followed by a long dash. But, a few weeks ago, he found out that his dear friend, Tennessee, and Tenn’s mother, were being spied on by an archmage, and he got so mad that the floodgate finally broke and now every other word out of his mouth is “fuck.” He had, like, 20 years of them all saved up. He’s really making up for lost time.

21. If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.)

A Potion of Leoven would come in a heart-shaped bottle with a fancy stopper. The liquid inside would be dark blue, with a golden shimmer when shaken, and it would smell lightly floral. Drinking it makes you feel calm (but only for a few minutes)

26. What would they want for their funeral?

Y'know, I think he's the only one of my characters who have actually thought about this? Since he has been keenly aware for the past eight months of his life that He Could Die At Any Moment. With that said, he also can't really afford to be picky about it... He really just hopes that his family can say goodbye in some way and that he's remembered fondly, but sometimes he doesn't think that'll happen.

38. What fairytale/myth suits your character the best?

Is... is there one where the main character is possessed, maybe

45. What would they never forgive themselves for?

Oh he has LOTTTTTS that he already won't forgive himself for lol. Killing innocent people (even though it was in self-defense, and he keeps telling himself self-defense made it okay because if he stops to think about it for even a minute he'll fall apart), compromising his morals even a little bit to keep the little devil in his brain from going completely berserk, accidentally giving his little sister the idea to run away from home due to leading by example...

Kalliope Kalymnos (satyr paladin, oath of the ancients):

5. How does your character express they’re comfortable?

Lounging lol. Flops over anywhere like a content rabbit

9. What is their favorite scent?

Wine, salt, and jasmine

13. If they were a body of water, what would they be?

Also the ocean. Beautiful, powerful, and if she's mad enough, she'll drown you

16. What keeps them going?

She's got monsters to kill!! There's no time to stop!

17. Does your character swear? What’s their favorite phrase/word?

Not particularly often, but she's not against it. It doesn't quite count, but one of her party members taught her to make the jerk-off motion and she thinks it's very funny.

21. If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.)

Sticks and leaves in a hole in the woods

30. What never gets old for your character? Something your character can’t get enough of?

Light-hearted antics, bacchanalian parties, and straight up salt, which she regularly ate handfuls of out of her ship's stores.

38. What fairytale/myth suits your character the best?

A goat... one. A goat one

39. What does your character believe their party lacks?

Common sense and self-preservation, which means a LOT coming from her. The campaign dissolved so I'm not sure how it would've gone long-term, but the fact that she was trying to mom-friend is INSANE lol

Soleil/713705 ("arcanamist" [homebrewed race but essentially a robot] cleric, forge domain):

5. How does your character express they’re comfortable?

If she jokes around with you, she's probably comfortable with you. I don't think there's a big difference between her being especially comfortable or just... normal, but UNcomfortable Soleil talks a lot, frantically. She's also very physically affectionate with people she's comfy around <3

9. What is their favorite scent?

Y'know, honestly, I'm not 100% sure she has a sense of smell, but if she does, she likes the cold kind of stale air smell in caves. Also the smell of flowers

13. If they were a body of water, what would they be?

An abandoned lake underground, full of crumbling, long forgotten ruins

16. What keeps them going?

She just woke up from a 2500-ish year coma and she has NO idea what she's doing, really. I guess the idea of finding a purpose is keeping her going for now.

17. Does your character swear? What’s their favorite phrase/word?

I don't know if she does? She tries to be polite, so probably not too often.

21. If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.)

Potion of Soleil would come in a stout purple glass bottle with two small handles next to the neck. The liquid inside is transparent but incandescent, constantly changing colors. It is almost odorless but it smells very subtly floral if you concentrate hard enough, and it tastes like violets but in a subtle, La Croix way where maybe someone threw a violet through water. Drinking it gives you an odd, vague sense of nostalgia.

30. What never gets old for your character? Something your character can’t get enough of?

Hugs tbh, she loves them and thinks it's great that people invented them. She also really loves oranges; she kept peeling them and giving slices to the party as a form of affection.

38. What fairytale/myth suits your character the best?

Sleeping Beauty lol

39. What does your character believe their party lacks?

Cohesion and focus lmao. They didn't all vibe and they got distracted easily. Campaign is on hiatus but hopefully we get to explore together more later

[curejiraiya]

I feel very bad and in an effort to try and get my brain to disassociate from this mortal realm I am going to tell you all about one of my OCs. if you read this thank you but if it bores you do not worry I do not mind.

okay so today I'm gonna ramble about a guy named Chris Sanders. Chris is 27? iirc I have it written down somewhere. 27 or 28. He's married to his husband Nick, they took Nick's last name (low-key I forgot what his maiden name was lmfao)

They got married on Valentine's Day 2020, but we're engaged like 2018 just some stuff:tm: happened and the wedding had to be held off. It was a funny thing like I had that wedding planned for Valentine's Day and in real life shit was getting co viddy and I made a conscious decision in story to have it be like the last "big" event the characters got to go to before they started staying inside for safety. that's not relevant, anyway.

Chris and Nick actually got together when they were like 14 and 16? Chris met Nick a year before and was very like fairytale love at first site about him. Really he was a 15 year old boy he wasn't thinking logistics other than "boy in my friend group cute."

There's a whole thing with Chris, Josh, and Jay as teens has a weird relationship where Chris was openly gay, Josh hated him for it (Josh is gay/bi? but it takes him 10 years real time to figure it out) Josh and Jay were best friends and Jay was gay but very very in the closet. and the only person who knew Jay was gay was Chris, who were secret friends because Josh hated Chris. Publicaly Chris pretended to hate josh to keep up appearances but in reality Jay had only said good things about Josh so he didn't really mind him. He was just kinda a hormonal teenager, and he liked fighting and Josh kept fighting him lmao.

God there's a lot more here lol like they're friends because the three of them plus a handful of other people, some who literally have died in story since, were in a "school club" together? I'm also keeping the details vague because I wrote them when I was 13 and it's cringe.

You can tell what age I was when I wrote something if you know the ages of any character, cuz me and Nick Sanders are the same age. Derrin is one year older than Nick. Chris is two. Josh, Jay, and Liam are both three, and Collin is five years older. Jay is also actually older than Collin but maybe I'll write about his tragic backstory another night.

But speaking of tragic backstories Chris was born to a single mother, he has a younger brother. neither of them knew their father but they don't care. his mother was decent for a single mother in poverty until he started showing signs of being gay as early as 10. she was super religious so she asked her church what to do and they only suggested various child abuse lmao needless to say Chris was removed by CPS at 13. that's why he knows the rest of the guys cuz they were all in the same "orphanage". his mom wasn't weird to his brother, but his brother has a moral compass and left the house at 18 because he couldn't stand what she did to his brother (he's only like 20 now very baby.)

holy shit remember what I said last night about how everyone is in a duo or a trio? Chris's brother is ALSO in a duo lol I literally do not have a character who exists as a single personality without a friend to be their foil. anyway Chris's brother and Chris are decently close, Chris's brother is trying to make it as a music manager and conveniently Chris is in a band lmao. His brother lives with a friend Josh made during a hospital stay. that's a whole story but essentially he was a cancer patient throughout all his teenage years and it was his first time being 100% free of visiting the hospital at least once a week since he was a child. the band was looking for a place for him to stay because he was scared of living alone and conveniently Chris had an 18 year old brother who needed a roommate. now they're bff's or something.

hey this was supposed to be about Chris but two characters who I don't even remember the names of have taken over

anyway uhhh god I could spout Chris facts for days not even joking. one of the characters who died is essentially a self insert for specifically 13 year old me. like she died before I really became an adult lol. but Chris was her best friend until her death, so for awhile Chris was the character I focused on the most. nowadays that's Josh but I mean Chris and Josh live in the same house so it's not like he doesn't come up often.

right this second Chris and Nick are staying with a musician friend in New York. they're actually fighting because

well

how do I explain this that doesn't go on for a long time

so remember earlier when I said they were part of a school club as teens. well the world actually has a magic system because all good worlds have magic systems. and specifically Josh, the dead girl, Chris, & Jay are some of the best at magic in the entire galaxy and like . cringe at myself but the gang like we're all orphans in some way but they lived in 1 of 4 us based orphanages specifically for magician children. I never use the term wizard they're strictly magicians. magicians also live outside the US it's just other countries don't have weird orphanages. or didn't at the start of the story at least. anyway fuck so idk skipping 10+ years of lore. Chris has a lot of inherit magic skill, but he doesn't practice he stopped right after highschool to focus on their band and music. in highschool every one in the club like saw a private magic tutor but Chris didn't really continue. not that he doesn't do magic all the time like he does, he just doesn't study to learn how to do his magic more efficiently or learn more magic. fuck. anyway Jay DOES still study and stayed with his tutor like 10 years later. and you can tell because Jay has become one of the strongest magicians in the world. of course Josh is the strongest magician ever because of plot conveniences that could be talked about if I was talking about him. but Chris is mega jealous of Jay and angry at himself for not continuing his studies. So one day a random magic being (we have those here) contacts Chris from like a very far away dimension (even this is lore filled and complicated.) he promises to help Chris surpass Jay but he has to wear his super special necklace. the necklace is like logging information on Josh so this being can attack him later but I mean Chris doesn't know that this is like a RIGHT NOW plot. a lot led up to this lmfao. so Nick and Chris are fighting because Chris is suddenly WAY better at magic (Because of the necklace) and because of a lot of unrelated stuff Nick is thinking about moving to California. and he tells Chris and Chris unknowingly mind controls Nick into being happy with where he is now. Because like his magic has gotten so strong that if he wants something he can just mind control people into giving it to him (and unknowingly has been for a few months) but Nick's only magic power is that he can tell when magic is being used (and he only has that power because of another crazy plot where he died lmfao) so he notices pretty quickly that hes being mind controlled and hes pissed. so Chris confesses about the necklace but tells Nick to keep it a secret. Nick tells him he's being stupid and that he needs to get rid of the necklace. Chris doesn't think it's the necklace he thinks he just can't control his new power yet. and after one big fight they're now like both just avoiding talking about it again and being really distant from each other. it's sad rlly I don't like seeing the besties fight 😔 I kinda know how the plot is going to play out but I'll give them time.

idk did you actually learn anything about Chris from this? he's 5'4 he has black hair and it's currently really long so he keeps it in a bun most of the time. he's a death metal singer. hes super masculine and no one questions his height because he comes off as so masculine otherwise lmao. he's really into like 80s and older metal and idolizes rob hellford. he wears pleather a lot cuz he has a leather allergy but thinks leather jacks kick ass. he's definitely like kinda a stereotypical metal head / punk? very like a day to remembers "fast forward to 2012"-core. that's his theme song I just decided.

what else are u supposed to say about a character. since I mentioned magic I can say that his like magic skill set is about defence so he can make giant shields and force fields. he's super important if they ever have to like fight someone which doesnt happen often but does happen.

oh he plays guitar but also like every instrument. I always imagined their band to have a two singer setup where him and Nick switch off or sing together. but I mean most of the band has been doing this 10+ years and can play whatever role so they just do whatever is fun for that night.

uhhhhh idk if I got any more facts on the top of my head. Chris uhhhh played trumpet in highschool band. He speaks fluent Japanese, Spanish, German, and French. Derrin is the only member of the band with a degree but Chris has an honorary degree from some university he donates money too. Chris is like very punk politically active he actually goes to protests and is always talking about causes important to him. he's a good guy but his flaws mostly lie in his jealousy, and he definitely has a little big of an ego lol. he cares too much about looks too imo like he doesn't THINK he does but he does.

but idk big baby man who's hard on outside but heart of gold on inside. do I know how to write any other kind of character?!

omg I didn't even talk about how Chris is disabled. or how he has a vaping problem. that's the problem with having these characters for so long, how the fuck can I reasonably sum them up?

idk but it did work. 😴 good night if u read this far idk why u did but ty there's no payoff. sorry I did not proofread this.

[theskyexists]

Ok. I enjoyed that quite a lot. That start was completely and utterly unnecessary. They had it spelled out in episode already. Episode was fun, dynamic, dt did a good job. Catherine Tate did a pretty good job too but their chemistry wasn't quite...the thing - she played it a lot milder which makes for less comedy. The meep looked fan-tas-tic. Best Donna moment was def poking meep in the eye. Really loved Donna's mum's role. DT does suffer from... Well being an old Doctor. I recognised that science officer from somewhere...like vividly. Sonic screwdriver can do crazy stuff now lol but it was cool. They clearly have Disney money now, them exploolsions, the TARDIS set. I was so relieved to return to civilian side-characters not being relentlessly killed when no longer narratively relevant. Happy to see a return to finding a least violent way. And the ones that DID die, were honored, not forgotten by the narrative. Lots of meta jokes and callbacks. Everybody in the room chuckled at a lot of stuff. The side characters, the kid, they were full of life.

The Doctor is gender and no gender etc. which is nice - clunky - but hey its babble during the episode climax whatever. It's nice to have stated, though. Still, so fucking clunky (like - I would have loved some more on that, leading up to it. Especially because the tenth doctor has before implied he's not a man. Make another reference to that? Seed it? 'not quite a bloke. Not at all, a few hours ago.' etc.)

It was all good except the end... Dudes.... gals.... Non binaries..... Rtd came up with an.. ..ok. ...solution... .rose shared in the metacrisis burden... Donna is free ... I really would have loved more hints to it - like a subtle close up of the toys Rose makes BEFORE the reveal. that even makes the Doctor giving her time to ever have a kid....not ok. But part of the solution. Not part of a plan but an act of love nonetheless, a tragedy, a violation still, but ALSO worth it yeah, still, because hey...Rose.

BUT THEN WHAT WAS THAT???? WHAT WAS THAT SEXISM WRAPPED UP IN WOKE LANGUAGE???? GOD!!!!????

'men never think to let things (power) go' or some such and they just go pfoo and all is fixed. Damn! Why didn't the Doctor think of that?? Because he's a man apparently lol!!!!!! Look you can't be presenting the case as the Doctor EVIDENTLY overlooked a hugely simple fix last time and then in the word of God moment say it was and is because he's 'male-presenting' and give NO alternate explanation - OBVIOUSLY you will have the audience take it as the intended takeaway. Echoing daft 'men are power hungry and women are zen' or whatever bullshit that was.

WHAT???? as a feminist I must say that is...just deeply offensive lol

AND IT WASNT EVEN NECESSARY! HE'D ALREADY FIXED IT!!!!

Then the denouement was a bit.... No Rose shouldn't come along even though she's dreamed about those creatures forever and she's quarter doctor ? (Or something? But not anymore? Or?) Why??? She deserved more development in the end there. But Donna SHOULD visit Wilf ?? - why not take them all to wilf if the TARDIS is the vehicle they're gonna take for one hop. This is the age-old problem of Donna - how to get rid of her? It shouldn't have been a given that she's staying behind on Earth now. The Doctor and Donna, in the TARDIS, forever! She's got that back! In her head, all of it! Denouement should really have been about that. Something serious. A conflict between what was, what she used to want, and what she's got now...which she won't leave behind. Something sad, but glad. The chance has passed. Rtd had Donna's anger about what happened played for laughs to keep it light but... The classic slap and a hug? I know that's very Kipling though.

I don't know....wouldn't it have made more sense if yeah... The metacrisis got shared - it gives Donna more time...but....doesn't it shorten Rose's time? Rtd seems to have said to himself: whatever, let's do fairytale magic in this one. When... I really adored that part of RTDs stories, that death and loss has weight, and decisions about it make the Doctor a horrible person. If you actually wanted to elaborate on the solution, give it something extra, then the Doctor should have gone in for another wipe and Donna should have actually stopped him this time, maybe he'd gone for Rose? Donna descends. But really, I think he should have left it at them being DoctorDonna and DoctorRose forever. So they're super geniuses? Who cares? Leave them that way. That's something that Moffat did RIGHT. So the companions become overpowered - let them!

I adored the subtlety of bad wolf once upon a time. That rewired my brain at a young age. Think a bad guy of the week mentioning the big bad in the loser speech is such a... letdown. At least it was self-aware.

Very happy about Rachel Talalay being back as director.

[venusmoon]

10, 16, 17 📚📚

hii 🤍

10. do you have a guilty fav?

i really tried to think about it but i don't think so! i aven googled "guilty pleasure books" to see if i could relate to some answers but nope... i mean maybe i have one that could be considered as such by most people but i don't feel guilty about it so idk lol

16. how many books have you read this year?

so far i read 28 books :-) the last one being housekeeping my marilynne robinson (loved it. it's beautifully written)

17. top 5 children’s books?

omg what a fun question :-) i love children's books! i can't make a top 5 but here 5 books that i loved

the fox and the star by coralie bickford-smith. god don't get me started about this book!!!! it's so gorgeous. coralie bickford-smith is a cover illustrator at penguin books and her illustrations are incredible. the style of this book is ispired by william blake and william morris and it just creates the perfect fairytale atmosphere. the story is sweet <3 a fox who loses his only friend, a star, and is sad and forced to wander through the darkness alone, until he learns how to enjoy his life again. a story about loss! suffering! grief! love! acceptance of the change!!!❣❣❣

pezzettino by leo lionni, who was a renowned italian-american (born in the netherlands) illustrator for children's books. "pezzettino" means "little piece" in italian and it's the name of our protagonist who is a small, orange cube. the world he lives in is populated by big, colorful and strong creatures and he feels so small in comparison that he thinks that he must belong to someone… but oviously eventually he learns that he perfect how he is!!!!😭😭😭 i swear it's so heartwarming and lovely… and the mosaic style are always loved by small children <3

before/after by Anne-Margot Ramstein and matthias arégui. a silent book with delightful illustrations. the idea is quite simple: its aim is to show the little one show things change and transform (ex. a caterpillar emerges into a butterly; an acorn might become a oak tree; a set of ingredients can become a cake…). what i love about this book is that the illustrations have like… a philosphical nuance, sometices also comic! i really loved it, and i think that wordless books are really fun and can also target a group of readers, especially children, who are non-verbal or just prefer looking at pictures rather than words :-)

imagier du vivant by martin jarrie another silent book. idk if there is a translation of imagier in english… i know that in france they're very common- they are basically picture books that present photos or illustrations of a series of objects/ animals/ clothing/ fruit/ vegetables/ etc. they are generally made for children and their goal is to make them more aware of the world around them. i couldn't find the english title, maybe it hasn't been published in any english speaking countries yet. this book is filled with vibrant and phenomenal illustrations that evoke the atmosphere of the countryside- flowers, vegetables, animals. what is cool is that there isn't an obvious order of these illustrations, they're mostly associated by color. i think it's a great book that can stimulate a child's creativity and imagination :-)

the book of everything by guus kuijer. okay this book holds a special place in my heart because it was the very first book i read for a reading club at my local library like 5 years ago <3. this book was chosen because it was the first meeting of the club, and since a lot of people agreed last minute to participate, the librarian opted for a short children's book that everyone could read. it was great seeing grown adults (except from me and my friend, who were just teens) discuss a children's book with such vehemence and spirit! to be fair, this book features themes such as domestic violence, the characters are very interesting and the story is so powerful <3

book asks

[k-sci-janitor]

Newmann fic recs - The AU’s

Okay so I've been meaning to do this for awhile but I'll just do it now with no particular plan in mind. I've obviously read a lot of Newmann fic and I've decided to drop some suggestions!

Disclaimer: Please remember to look at the tags on ao3 if you continue onto the link, I'll try to add more tags or description here if I think the ao3 tags leave something out but also read those first to avoid any unwanted content for sure.

The AU's 🧑🏻‍🌾🧑🏻‍🏫👨🏼‍🎤🧜🏻‍♂️

These suggestions will all be AU’s I find really interesting or hot or just super fucking creative. I love getting people to read these even if they don’t care about the ship whatsoever because the story is just that fucking good! I think a good AU can hook any reader in.

“Sea Swept” by cypress_tree (11,995 words, 1/1 chapter, rated E)

This was probably one of the first AUs I ever read and every reread has been a delight. Written by one of my favorite fic authors ever, it’s a fun high seas fantasy fic where Hermann is a boat navigator and Newt is the sexy mysterious man that they find lost at sea. If you’re currently drowning in Our Flag Means Death nonsense right now, this is definitely a fun fic to check out.

D=S*T by seabass (6332 words, 1/1 chapter, rated T)

God I am just as obsessed with this fic as I was reading this 4 years ago. It’s weird and eerie and honestly just reads like a particularly strange sci-fi short story. Basic plot is that a hole is found in the desert and it’s weird and Hermann and Newt are two scientists brought out to figure out what the hell it is. I’ve done fanart for this in the past and I should do it again quite honestly, lol.

An Enthralling Holiday Abroad by Jay Auris (nighthawkms) (35,438 words, 13/13 chapters, rated E)

What’s funny is that this will definitely not be the only vampire fic I suggest for readers but it will definitely be the sexiest, dear god. Like, it's sexy for sure but the overall plot and story is super mysterious and cool and it's just a fun read!

Meet Me Across the Water, And We'll Start an Endless Storm by skepticamoeba (35,515 words, 15/15 chapters, rated T)

Oh man, I haven't read this one in awhile but if you want a wholesome lighthouse keeper au, please check this one out! I remember it being very atmospheric and wistful for the most part.

Vow of Silence by blairrabbit (35,686 words, 1 chapter, rated G)

This is less of a total AU as it's still dealing with the main plot of kaiju coming to earth but it's got enough AU elements that I'll include it anyway. GOD I love this fic tho, one of the only soulmate au's I fully jive with and it packs such a punch. Basically, it's a love language soulmate situation, you'll find your soulmate when you both speak and understand your special love language to each other. I like how the fic fleshes out other languages and it's just a really strong look at both their characterizations.

It Was Love at Second Sight by rednights (35,046 words, 3/3 chapters, rated T)

AU where they're just academic colleagues who have the worst first meeting of all time. Ugh, this is a another fic I'll revisit all the time because it's just that damn good. Lots of good pining and good Hermann characterization, probably my favorite depiction of his relationship with his sister.

Ghost: A Romance in Six Seasons by Skull_Bearer (15,255 words, 2/2 chapters, rated M)

OKAY BIG WARNING FOR MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. As you can see from the tags, Hermann has MS and he meets Newt who's a ghost and just to warn ya, Newt is NOT the major character death in the story. It's cute, it's incredibly melancholic because you see where the story is going but it's still very romantic and again, if you're uncomfortable with major character deaths, I'd probably avoid this. Otherwise, it's cute read if you're in the mood for something sad but hopeful!

The Prince and The Frog by curiumKingyo (5,758 words, 3/3 chapters, rated E)

Man, just a fun, straight-up fairytale au where Hermann's literally a frog who's found by Prince Newton. Also, there's sex once he's, you know, NOT a frog, lmao.

Witchy Hermann series by lazarwolff (multiple fics at 11,315 words, rated G-T)

Oh these are just fun, Hermann's a witch, Newt attracts all sorts of weird creatures to him since he's medium, chaos ensues! I think I'm just a sucker for a fun witch au...

Question: How Many Mathematicans from Cambridge have pen pal working at the biological engineering faculty of the MIT? Answer: Exactly One by JaredKleinman (8,001 words, 1 chapter, rated T)

Lmao what a title. Anyway, this cute non-kaiju universe au has possibly the best use of footnotes I've ever seen. It rivals Pratchett for SURE. Totally fun and definitely rec!!

It's All in the Hands of the Lazy Projector by patster223 (10,589 words, 1 chapter, rated T)

Another light AU where Hermann is cursed and can't remember anything from the day prior so he meticulously writes his day down every day. Naturally this leads him to question whether he's falling in love with this "Newt"....

Cafe of Light by orphan (9,954 words, 1 chapter, not rated)

I know next to nothing about Final Fantasy but still thoroughly enjoyed this fic where Newt and Hermann meet over FFXIV and the rest of the PPDC make appearances. It's not rated but I believe Teen would be fine!

Among Mountains by cypress_tree (27,244 words, 13/13 chapters, rated E)

My favorite dragon kingdom/arranged marriage fic! Super fun, super hot. By the same author as the sailing fic mentioned at the top!

Carcasses Lie Like Lovers by holyverse (13,244 words, 2/2 chapters, rated Teen and Up)

WOO BOY, so this fic knocked me out. If you happen to have watched The Strain, you'll probably like this very gritty vampire hunting fic. I will strongly suggest those who do not like gore or depictions of characters transforming into something inhuman to avoid this one.

Newton Geiszler: Doctor of the Great Unknown by buckgaybarnes (2,698 words, 1/1 chapter, rated M)

I'm going to restrain myself to just one of Maria's au fics and pick the only one I read aloud to a friend during a car trip. Fun and great for those who are into Victorian spiritualism! She has a bunch of other great au's but this has a very fun setting!

That's it for now! I'm sure I missed some but I already listed too many! Thanks for reading!

[19-bellwether]

Pre-Finale V8 Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who submitted a response! I ended up with 598 total! Here are the results question by question. Shout out to the twenty-eight people who think Yang is dead.

Is Yang dead?

95.3% No, she's in turbohell for gay crimes.

4.7% Yeah, the show's renamed to Red Wersus Blue.

Where does the void spit you out?

41.8% Wonderland. Oscar's fairytale had to be foreshadowing, right?

20.1% A world made of memories. Ruby's not running from her trauma this time.

8.7% The Underworld where they encounter the spirits of the dead.

6.8% They're sent back in time. STRQ lore, here we come.

5.6% An alternate version of Remnant. Your AU fanfic might become canon.

5.3% The Old World full of gods, magic, and humanity 1.0.

11.7% Other

Some notable submissions to this question: The real world. RWBY Chibi. A Lovecraftian Nightmare. The home of the gods or relic spirits. Wonderland meets Dante's Inferno. All of the above at once. Nowhere, you just fall. Nowhere, because superhell spits Yang back out since she's straight.

Can Spicecream defeat Newspaper?

41.1% They defeat Team RWB... except Neo then betrays Cinder.

20.1% Neo bites it but Cinder survives to claim victory. She forgets to thank Neo for her sacrifice.

19.8% Cinder's losing streak continues and she falls into a bottomless pit for the second time.

10.5% Total victory. Cinder gets the relics and Neo gets her revenge.

8.6% They both die or fall lmao

How does team green conquer the sandstorm?

68% Surprise backup! It's time to see Team SSSN's and CFVY's new models.

19.1% ...or maybe a surprise appearance from the summer maiden?

9.6% Jaune, Nora, Winter, and/or Penny arrive to turn the tide.

3.4% Lots of effort and more than a few casualties.

Does Winter lose two shitty fathers today?

67.7% She cuts down Ironwood. Good for her. She deserves it.

15.9% Inexplicably, they both make it out of Volume 8 alive.

13% Winter sacrifices herself to kill him and we're robbed of a family Schneeunion.

3.4% Ironwood kills her and sheds a single regretful tear before moving onto his next genocide plan.

Does Atlas fall? How about that bomb?

45.9% Gravity always wins in the end. Hopefully Mantle finished evacuating.

43.5% It falls and gets caught in the bomb's explosion. Kingdom of Atlas more like Kingdom of Ashes.

2.5% The staff is used to keep Atlas afloat once more. So much for the evacuation plan.

8.1% Same as above except the bomb doesn't go off. Atlas and Mantle are left mostly empty.

Anyone dying in the finale? (Falling into the void doesn't count)

Nearly everyone answered Ironwood. There were many variations on his name including Irondaddy and Irondick. The next most popular choices were Watts, Winter, Harriet, and Neo.

Is Cinder on the path to redemption?

39.5% She'll leave Salem and fly solo, but idk if she'll ever be a good person.

33.1% Fuck no lol

18.2% No opinion. I'm not touching this discourse with a ten foot pole.

9.1% Redemption or bust. I'm all in on Cindemption and ready to gloat when it happens.

What's up with Penny's new body?

54.3% She's pure aura. Hopefully Cinder doesn't break it.

39.3% She's an ordinary human with squishy guts now.

6.4% I don't care, I just want robot Penny back.

Is Bumbleby canon?

47.9% Yes.

52.1% Yes, but I really wish they'd kiss or confess already.

R8 Volume 8 Average of 8.4/10:

*The next two questions were checkboxes, meaning people could select more than one answer.

Most enjoyed parts of Volume 8?

72.2% Character Development

61.4% Story and Overarching Narrative

41.2% Fights and Action Scenes

Other

Common answers: Animation improvements. Memes. Thirst for Salem. Everything involving The Happy Huntresses. Plot twists. Thirst for Ambrosius. Redemption arcs. Topical themes. Thirst for The Hound.

Least enjoyed parts of Volume 8?

38.2% Rushed character arcs due to cast bloat

26.2% Inconsistent pacing/tone

21.5% Characters make dumb or illogical decisions

18.1% My OTP still isn't canon

4.6% I'm a bootlicker and hate how they've treated Ironwood

Other

Common answers: Ironwood is a douchebag. Some characters not getting enough to do, especially Weiss. Lack of fight scenes. No Pyrrha. Not enough Team RWBY content. One person doesn't like Nuts and Dolts.

Ideal post-credit scene(s)?

Common answers: Yang waking up in Wonderland. Salem reforming. Taiyang and Raven. Side characters arriving in Atlas from Ruby's broadcast. Summer Rose lore. "Hello again!" And one person wants a full graphic Bumbleby sex scene.

Any final predictions or comments?

This was my favorite response so I'm sharing it: "i would die of laughter if atlas fell and just as Salem regenerated she got exploded by the bomb"

Thanks again for participating! Any results catch your eye?