#whether those arcs ever actually happen. thats. thats another thing

[tallymarkbrothers]

🌠

[🌠 SHOOTING STAR - if they could make any wish with no repercussions, what wish would they make?

Prime would wish for Megan to still be alive (no matter how much he insists he's moved on), Four would wish for everyone everywhere to be happy and safe, and Three's and Commish's wishes have spoilers for potential future story arcs 🤫]

[eneiryu]

This might be such a silly question and I'm sorry to bother you with it but I saw you answer the ask about the Soulmate Mark!AU and now I'm curious; I know you don't really read or write those kinds of AUs but I was thinking about writing one myself and just wanted to ask what you think the McCall pack (or even just Theo and Liam) would have in a wings!au or a daemon!au? As for wings, I can imagine Theo having some utterly ruined and ragged wings that are missing feathers and patchy with scars in some places that slowly heal over as he joins the McCall pack. For the daemon!au could also see Liam having something like a golden retriever (Liam coded) but also a pitbull or another typically dog bread thats not actually so viscous but is treated that way (IED coded), and I can also imagine Theo having one thing as a child but it unsettled (changed form when it shouldn't during times of great stress or trauma) during his time with the Dread Doctors only to resettle into something entirely different after the skinwalkers prison. I don't know, I'm sorry to dump this on you especially because it's not something you enjoy but you've always got such great thoughts and even if I don't even up writing it I'm sure someone might..... sorry

Absolutely no apologies necessary, I take it as a compliment that you’re interested in my thoughts at all. 😊

I will be 100% honest, I am not familiar with what Wings!AU’s even are. But going off of context clues, it seems like a type of story where people have wings that reflect who they are as people? If that’s the case, then I think your idea for Theo having ragged and scarred wings that heal would definitely work—that would track with how I generally see his arc. I could also see him having mechanical wings, especially very steampunk-y. He was an experiment, he was made in a lot of ways. It’s possible that something could have happened to his original wings, or that the Doctors thought they could “improve” them. I think it could be especially interesting if they were mechanical but also designed to look organic.

Or—and this just occurred to me—the wings could be his chimeric half. To really crank up the angst factor, they could be, y’know, his sister’s. 😬

As for the daemon!AU—this one I admit I get! I loved the Golden Compass series. I like your idea for Liam’s, I think that makes a lot of sense—something that seems dangerous, and can be, but whose nature isn’t necessarily to be. Theo is harder. I like your idea a lot of Theo having one thing only for it to start changing again during his time with the Doctors (though admittedly, I can’t remember what the theoretical age range is for daemons settling, and he may have been to young prior). I am also taken with the idea of it never settling, either because of the trauma, or out of a deliberate effort—either Theo’s or the Doctors’. It would fit into him being a spy—being able to change to his shape at will—and also into the whole “unnatural” bit about who and what he is. In that vein, I’d have to admit I’m torn as to whether I like the idea of it ever settling—I’m kind of taken with the idea that it doesn’t, and Theo learns to accept and appreciate that part of himself—or it does settle, and that’s the sign of his beginning to heal.

Anyway, thanks for letting me weigh in! 😊

[and-stir-the-stars]

Oooof, first of all good luck with college and dealing with whatever is happening in your life, it gets better and worse but thats life

Anyways, so about the sisrer location arc in the saffron pawn au, how does Michael get involved in it in the first place?

If im remembering correctly, William is dead by now, so he probably didnt tell mike about it, then again, he might have find out through Williams notes or something like that...

And for michael to accept, i dont think its that hard, specially if he knows elizabeth might be down there...

Does evan know about the possesed animatronic things in this au? Are they even a thing in this particular take? If so, did he tell michael about it?

How does Evan notice Michael is working for afton robotics in the first place? Does mike tell him? Or does he discover it after mike doesnt get home in night 4?

(sorry for rambling it, i actually really like sister location implications in general and this au just intensifies that :>) alsoo take all the time you need to answer!

so when the sister location arc takes place-- when Evan is 17, about three or four years after the Arrest-- William is on death row but is not yet dead. On death row, he sends Mike a letter-- likely an encoded one that could get past inspection by authorities and that only his children would be able to understand-- that tells Michael he can find his sister (who "went missing" when they were kids) if he comes to talk to him. Mike doesn't want to, but he's scared what "finding" Liz means.

Is Liz dead? Did William isolate and manipulate her to a degree even more intense than he did Evan? Is she abandoned somewhere now that Will is in jail?

So he goes to talk to William, in secret, not telling Ev or Jem about it. William honestly partly wants to take in the glory of his would-be greatest accompliment (Mike, who was so close to being "Like William") one more time. William also just wants the control of being able to make Mike come to him even tho Mike clearly doesn't want to-- control is one thing that Will desperately needs and is lacking in this high security prison. And another part of William wants one more last-ditch effort to make Mike be Like Him by showing off the "glory" of all he accomplished, and Will sees the sister location as the best way to do that since 1) Liz is there and he knows Mike can't resist and 2) that location was William's most successful, "grand" creation in terms of luring and killing kids. If anything can make Mike see the "beauty" and efficiency in what he does, it's the SL, right?

Anyway, Will doesn't give Mike specifics. Liz is down there he says, but refuses to answer whether she's okay or if she's dead or what happened to her all those years ago or what's been happening to her in the meantime. Maybe part of Mike thinks he might find his sister, kidnapped and hurt and seriously malnourished and even more thoroughly brainwashed than Evan was, but still alive down there.

as for whether possession is a thing in this universe. It is, but I don't want the au to become "Evan and Mike risk their lives every day and night trying to free souls and right their father's mistakes." The point of the au is to give them some distance from that, and let them grow and heal without the weight of what William did weighing on them, yk? So there is possession in the universe, but it'll definitely be a less common occurrence, with a lot of the famous ghost cast from the series not present in the au. I know I want Charlie/the Puppet and Liz/Baby to be possessed, but as for all the other spirits, I'm not sure which ones, if any, exist as ghosts. There are probably only a handful of ghosts other then Charlie and Liz.

Does Evan know about possession before the SL arc? Yes and no.

He knows his dad would put children's corpses in the suits. And he knows that the suits don't quite act right. I don't think Evan ever consciously makes the connection that it's possession that causes this. It might weigh on his subconscious, especially since there's all these rumors around town about living or otherwise haunted animatronics, but he's never consciously aware of this. He tells himself he's being irrational and childish, likely parroting Mike and William's words about his old (and current, as much as he tries to deny it) fear of animatronics.

Evan DOES find out that one of William’s animatronics killed Liz when Ev gets a glimpse at some of Will's notes that he wasn't supposed to see. Evan is haunted by the information and confronts Will about it. Evan mayhaps even starts to understand that his sister is posessing Circus Baby, but the knowledge-- especially when paired with William's anger and violence toward Evan's reaction, esp if Evan sneaks away to see CB-- is too horrible, and Evan represses it away. So in effect, Evan doesn't know about possession or what happened to his sister. The Sister Location arc starts to tug at these repressed memories, and Evan is increasingly sure that Mike is in danger but can't name WHY Mike would be in danger. Not until he and Jem get to the Sister Location and they see for themselves. So Evan wouldn't have known about/remembered possession to be able to tell Mike about it, not until it was too late.

The sister location is supposed to be in Utah, either under or near the Afton house. I don't know exactly where the brothers are living by the time the SL arc rolls around, but it wouldn't be in Utah. So Mike wouldn't be coming home every night while working at the SL; he'd be returning to a motel or hotel room in this au.

When he gets Will's letter, he asks Jeremy to watch over Evan for a bit and leaves, essentially refusing to say where he's going and refusing to take no for an answer. He comes up with some excuse that neither Ev or Jem really buy for why he's leaving.

Evan or Jem end up finding Will's letter in Mike's room, and they end up having to talk to William, too. I don't think Will would purposely tell them where Mike is, but he would either let it slip or accidentally say something that triggers a repressed memory of Evan’s about Circus Baby's, thus revealing Mike's location

From there, they go to the SL-- both of them tense and terrified, not knowing what they'll find-- and narrowly save Mike from being scooped (and only narrowly saving themselves)

[toftie]

ok just bingeread final 30 chapters or so of orv in a stupor cuz i was tired of emotionally edging myself on the commute everyday from deciding whether or not to hold back tears while on the bus umm spoilers under the cut for final thoughts ig

its genuinely really good, though i feel like i did rush it reading the end but only mostly because there was a lot of timeskips happening and a lot happening within a short span of chapters that i got more and more impatient as i read the story because as soon as i thought it would be the actual epilogue conclusion, the story kept going. like it really kept going lol. im not complaining though because i think it was done pretty well, and i dont feel like the story dragged because of it. i think it just surprised me tbh that there was so much more layers and surprises to the story even during the epilogue, but i still did fully appreciate it and understand what happened of course

i think the only thing im left confused about is like what happened to the people in kim dokja's 4th wall, nirvana, eater of dreams and the cinema dungeon guy? did they manage to break free from the library in the end or did they just. like. choose to stay there? lol i mean they didnt seem unhappy being there but still, i thought that would be kind of funny. otherwise, everything, including the ending and the execution of the time loop narrative was very satisfying to me.

this was my first korean webnovel that i've read and i'm just kind of shocked at how good the writing is for it. i wouldn't say i was aversive to reading webnovels, just that i had the (wrong) notion that most webnovel plots mostly consisted of like isekai, transmigrating, video game becoming a reality or something idk etc. etc. and i wasn't super interested in those types of stories tbh. and also a part of me thought that the writing wouldn't be onpar with like actual serialized novels. but now i know i'm super wrong. for how simple the writing is, it manages to convey a very in depth and delicately crafted tale that juggles multiple themes without ever breaking continuity or having plot holes. for some reason, certain parts of the writing have stuck with me so well that i could visualize how it would have gone if it was done in a film/anime/manhwa, like it was a delicately crafted storyboard. just when i thought one arc was going to be my favourite one, the next one easily manages to surprise me once again and tops it and it kept doing so over and over for like 500 or so chapters. thats insane, and insanely difficult to do for a writer, to make things stay engaging while raising the stakes higher every time for such a long span of serialization

i think another reread of the story would help me understand certain aspects of it more knowing what i know now but i probably need to take a break from it because ive been reading this almost everyday since august so yeah, something more calming would be nice but regardless im really glad i had the pleasure to read it to the end

[bellamyblakru]

omg ok so idk how many im allowed to ask for the otp ask game thingy BUT if this is too many just do the ones you really want:D (SORRY I GOT EXCITED)

merthur & 2, 6, 7, 13, 24, 29, 30

oh my god roya i went ham on these. i apologize in advance 💀i got so excited too siskksksksks thank you so much for this holy shit, it was literally so much fun

2. Big spoon/Little spoon?

omg i think it depends on who got the drama arc that day ajclajfefkafn i would say normally merlin is 100% the big spoon LOL he just has that “need to comfort and protect” vibe, you feel?

6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

oooo so interesting, like physical features? id wanna say merlin loves arthur’s hands the most. like he can just sit for hours watching arthur signing documents and writing speeches and all that shit, plus arthur is definitely a hands on man (since he was touched starved to the max) so merlin always craves those little moments where arthur’s hand lingers on his own, or on his neck, or on his chest. the first thing to come to my mind for arthur is that he absolutely adores merlin’s hair. like when he forgets to cut it short and it gets a bit longer and more curly, the wildness just fits merlin so nicely. his hair in the morning is just so messy and perfect and the way the light hits it makes merlin feel more ethereal--its in those moments, right before merlin wakes up, where arthur just stares at this magical king and wonders what god he should thank for giving him someone so lovely.

7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

OH GOD. dude, the first thing that changes for merlin is what he thinks about as he helps arthur dress for the day. now, he notices the subtle way arthur leans into his touch, the way arthur smiles softly when merlin fixes his collar, the way his own hands tremble, ever-so slightly, as he smooths out arthur’s shirt. ARTHUR. man, the first thing that changes for arthur when he realized he has feelings for merlin is EVERYTHING. my mans tries to not change a fucking thing about the routine or day--but he tries way too fucking hard and its painfully noticeable that something is happening in his mind. merlin notices it, of course, but thinks arthur is stressed about something kingly. you know who tells him to fucking stop? LANCELOT. that man walks up to arthur, drags his ass aside, and gently, but not weakly, says “you suck at this” and helps him understand that merlin is already head over heels for him wjsjjsksksks

13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first?

arthur. 100%. touch is his thingggg™️. merlin has probably ached to hold arthur’s hand for years, but arthur does it first. i imagine two different scenarios: one, its fucking chaos out. there is some bad guy or some shit they are fighting, the knights are scattered, they are bloodied, bruised, and tired, but merlin hasn’t left his side for even a moment. the warlock’s back is still straight, his chin is still high, the defiance burning so brightly in those eyes that arthur cant help but reach over and grab the man’s hand to try to gain some of his resilience and passion and strength. two, it could be the laziest fucking day of the year. the knights of the roundtable are laughing and eating in arthur’s chambers, lance and gwen are making doe-eyes at one another, gwaine and percy are stealin little glances, and arthur is just so fucking content. like he looks around to smiles, and laughing, and happiness, and he turns his head to see merlin staring at him in concern. and he cant help it, man, he just reaches over and squeezes his hand. merlin’s eyes widen, but a soft smile grows there. arthur just doesn’t let go though, so merlin leans over and puts his head on arthur’s shoulder being completely beautifully content together.

24. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times?

BRUH THIS SCREAMS MERLIN. I'M LAUGHING SO MUCH FKHNNSKNR. dudee. imagine it?? they are seated at a Very Important Dinner™️ with some Very Important People™️ and arthur is just about to make a toast and BAM-merlin whispers something outrageously fucking dirty. ARTHUR SPLUTTERS AND TURNS SO FUCKING RED ASDFGHHJK. merlin just smiles (his most regal smile) and turns away to talk to Very Important Someone™️ and arthur has to wait a few more minutes to compose himself and vows to get back at merlin later (he never does because merlin always beats him to it). OR LIKE DURING AUDIENCES? like this fucking farmer is complaining that he thinks his neighbor stole his chicken named Clucky and merlin just walks up to arthur and Says Something™️ that makes arthur cough...violently...and merlin turns around, solves the farmer’s problem, and goes back to his spot like nothing happened. arthur stares at him for much longer than he is suppose to before leon steps in and taps arthur’s shoulder to continue LOLLL

29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

oh lord,,, where to start? im not sure if this is a common headcanon or not, but that merlin actually could have saved arthur. he is the most powerful warlock to ever fucking exist, and he couldn’t save him? i call bullshit. i think he had the power to, and i think deep down he realizes that when its too late (like arthur’s eyes fluttering shut too late) and thats what breaks him. what haunts him for literal centuries. the simple fact that he could have saved him. i think he didn’t know enough about his magic yet, or that he refused to acknowledge that kind of power simmering under his skin, or that he just didn’t believe enough in himself because of how many times shit had hit the fan when merlin did magic near arthur. so..yeah…yikes

30. one headcanon about this OTP that mends it

LOL im full of angsty headcanons so hmmm. during arthur’s reign, they used to stay up late at night in arthur’s chambers. it didn’t matter what they did: whether it was arthur teaching merlin how to play chess as merlin complained the entire time that strategy at midnight was a cruel and unnecessary punishment, or arthur helped merlin clean his chambers as merlin hummed an old song his mother used to sing to him before bed, or just the two of them sitting in front of the fireplace with two glasses of wine talking about everything and nothing all at once. but once the quiet hits, its never, ever, uncomfortable. they can sit in silence for hours and never be bored or scared to break it. they just sit there, side by side, leaning on one another like they do in everything in life.

thank you again😭💖💖 akakakakak i might have gotten too excited?😂

otp ask game

[semi-imaginary-place]

the weight of time, the other side, enemy 6. webtoons up to the other side 10

alright back to kubera, timey wimey shenanigans and maruna growing a conscious.

so kuberas one of those series where spoilers dont change the experience so i knew yaksha was going to show up but ah im so excited yaksha and og airavata??? thank you currygom. oh yeah and we got more on brilith's soul's past i guess.

huh so the ancient human cycle of reincarnation is breaking down. ptsd is being inherited across lives. humans were suppose to regain memories of their past lives when their minds and bodies were fully matured but violent deaths are leading to them regaining their memories before their minds are ready to deal with the trauma and as a result instead trraging each life seperately like we saw with the humans maruna interacted with, the humans ran meets there is no seperation between one life and the next its bluring together and thr grudges are growing as people life out the past. I love it!

...thats ananta. damn currygom is going HARD this arc, all the big names are here. also i just love ananta, yaksha, and og airavata having a breakfast club. ananta is half way to having the dead anime mom hair but joking aside the two foofy braids are super cute. currygom.... why you keep killing off all the nice ones... oh no yaksha has bad regeneration doesnt he... ok i just spent a week with a literal toddler and yeah gandharva

ok i cant tell how much of this heart talk is metaphorical and how much is literal ie yaksha physical heart is effecting ran emotionally. now that i think about it why is hanuman in their female form in the current timeline. wait maruna couldnt interact with another alive in the current time but ran can? i love yaksha why are all my favorite characters doomed. LET ME PROTECT THE CUTE OLD MAN. he's even white haired, has a tail, and is fluffy! fluffy! ran is watee attribute like yaksha too. wait i just remembered samphati told maruna that ideally a natiska parent would mentor a 5th stage rakshasa since 5th stage vigor and what not works more like a natuska and isnt that what yaksha is doing for ran. oh so this is what they meant by suras natures are to destroy. natiskas take of their attribues and astika create

ah so ran's half phobia isn't just trauma from the cataclysm but being afraid of himself. yeah where'd the wind transcendendal come from, ran is water water water

oh wow that experiment was more important than i thought. everyone is there

ooh naver commenter pointed out how sura sometimes scheme names their kids and raltara's parents name might be taraka the natiska name kali took to make yuta

this cute old man is bad for my heart. also ananta is precious. maruna continues to underestimate people but i will say him mistaking to most powerful being to have ever exisged in the universe for a 4th stage rakshasa ia pretty funny.

yaksha is basically a catboy. that explains a lot actually.

im enjoying the characterization of sagara. to sagara power is everything. ananta just wants everyone to be happy, he's uncomfortable with exterminating the ancient humans but he'll do it for sagara. this isnt true to himself or what he wants but he'll be what those around him want him to be. oh wow so the name/role of ananta was designed to take on a portion of every sin ever in the universe. also callback to brilith's conversations on whether its better to have gods that are too weak to do anything or have the power but choose not to help. oh shit and by brahma asking his consent in the destruction of the ancient humans (and ensuring it via sagara) she ensured the sins of killing them would fall on to him.

oh and somethings up with tilda but we dont know what yet. shes going to be important

where is marunas coat? mmmm head hurts... so gods forget things so that they arent weighted down by desires and reach the top/enlightenment. but once they reach the top the dont have to keep forgetting? about doomed willarav(??) all the deaths are turning point in which the characters didin't choose compassion. this is also the outcome that kali averted. ok im with maruna ran is giving me bad vibes. oooooo the maruna ran raltara gandharva situation! the tension! the drama! i was so caught up if the eye of punishment was going to be used by maruna or shess that a couple years ago i didnt even consider the possibility of a new character.

we also see the payoffs of the weight of time and the other side as well ran and maruna have come to see things from the other side (sura and humans). as others have pointed out maruna has spent several millennia among humans and discarded the sura cultural mentalities taught to him (obey superiors, no compassion etc which we see directly in his confrontation with samphati but everywhere after this time adventure) and taken a mentality closer to that of the first ancient humans. if humans using silent magic is said to lessen their humanity and make them more like sura ruthless calculating and cold, the maruna has become more human. the opposite is true of ran having spent many years living as a rakshasa and living far beyond a human lifespn. literally he has become more in tune with his sura side coming to terms with his grand parent being hanuman, yaksha's heart within him, and his power which killed his mother and he attacked the two next most important people to him lutz and rana. silent magic was said to need a desire for power, a lack of compassion for ones enemies, and a willingness to give up everything for one's goals. and mentally his mindset has been shifting from that of a humans to the one we usually see in sura. remember when he was introduced ran was the nicest character in the cast after leez.

so god kubera put the konchez party in a transcendental to stop their minds from merging with the maruna and ran of the current chapter. but thats what made them too late to stop taraka dying and 4th stage yuta. unless they wouldn't have made it aahhhhhhhh my head hurts i infinite possibilities gah! time travel! anyways but im still not sure what god kubera wants to begin with. wait no the mental transcendental preserved the minds of their former selves. the merge did happen that's how the clothes got "restored". oh yeah i forgot former kubera drew the sword of re before giving it to leez.

one of the currygom afterwords or something mentioned it but there's many more characters recently that do not neatly fit into the established boxes. perhaps its because at the beginning and and ending of the universe reality is looser. we have confirmation that yaksha clan bunny girl petupan that ran met has a chaos attribute but other sura we have met has chaos-ish aspects to them like other bunnygirl sona who maybe could be petupan's daughter? curiosly hanuman has a weird left arm when ran met him but doesnt in the modern day. then there's taraka that maintained their minds and forms like samphati and makara. then we have ran whos a human rakshasa (hanuman wondering if they forgot about a child with yaksha is still funny)

3-195 the other side 13 is the last we see maruna with his red fluffy coat in a flashback with raltara. it isnt seen until maruna goes to the abandoned timeline or n23

its probably intentional on currygoms part that yaksha's source attribute is water and that the inheritor of his heart ran was born with 3 water attributes. the interesting part is when ran starts using wind transcendentals and hanuman's source attribute is wind. so its almost as if he were a rakshasa with light as a clan attribute and water and wind as heteditary attributes. what im not sure of is in the fight with maruna ran seems to use some sort of lightning based attack and i cant quite remember so he either mixed partial surification with divine magic, has a sky attribute???? or there's sky transcendentals that dont require an attribute?

the abyss is the water channel of th sura realm?? omg and maruna cant remember the thing in the abyss that was chasing them because its existence has been replaced with yuta.

[kamalahkhan]

I’m going to say some stuff that’s been on my mind for sometime: I’m scared to produce content the way I want to. 

I’m scared of how people will view what I put out there, afraid that they will misunderstand and my writing and misjudge me based on the content I produce.

The words: Abusive, toxic, abuse apologist, and a few others have been frequently tossed around as of late. While these are valid criticisms to make of any content I find that these criticisms are (more now than ever), being placed on content that is disliked by the person critiquing it and not, instead, used for any actual critiquing. Meaning that there is no criticism happening at all, no constructive way of breaking down harmful content. Instead it is slapping on the word abuse and walking away because you didn’t like how an author portrayed a specific character.

You may disagree with the choices a character made and that is fine. However your disagreement does not make the piece of media you’re consuming ultimately bad and ready to be written off entirely as ‘problematic’. You are not the creator of the content you are critiquing (unless you actually are but that’s another argument). A creator may have a reason in mind for the actions of a character, your disapproval is seen but this is the creators work and ultimately their decision for how the story and the characters arc, should progress.

Disagreements with the actions of a character do not equal problematic/harmful content. Something written to romanticize or stereotype a certain group of people, is harmful content worthy of criticism but disliking a character’s actions is not reason enough to write off an entire piece of media as 'wrong’.

For example, a woman, who is a lesbian, has to choose between saving her wife, who is bisexual, and their adopted son. She chooses to save her son.

Her choosing to save her son over her wife does not make her biphobic, it does not make the creator biphobic. This is a plot point, her choosing her son is a plot point and not a reason to label the creator as biphobic.

Now could this be labeled as biphobic if the character was killed off not for a plot point and without reason, or perhaps because the other wanted to say something against bisexuals. Absolutely, and in those cases your criticisms would be valid. But if it is just a plot point, if it is just a way to make the character experience a sense of loss or make a difficult choice, then that is what it is. You may look deeper, you may analyze why that specific choice was made and why it was the son over her wife, but that choice does not automatically brand someone a biphobe.

If a movie depicts a toxic and/or abusive relationship between lgbtq+ characters, can you criticize it? Yes you can when the abuse or a power imbalance or both, is being romanticized. Abuse exists in lgbtq+ relationships and honest portrayals can be powerful to watch or to read. An honest portrayal without a romanticism aspect to it, is simply a story about abusive relationships and you can criticize how the relationship was written and how the abuse was portrayed (all valid things to criticize) but you shouldn’t write everything off as romanticization. Not every relationship has a happy ending.

If a child gets to know that their parent is actually a rapist and is unable to deal with the reality or denies the reality, then that child is not a rape apologist. They are experiencing grief, they are going through trauma, and they are struggling to understand that the person they have cared for and who has cared for them, has an entirely different side to them than previously known. A person of any age can go through such similar form of trauma and can try and block out traumatic experiences. Of course there are ways that this could be written that would make the character a rape apologist and again, the criticism of this would be understandable. But you have to look past the plot point and at the story as a whole to understand the difference.

This post is not about ableist horror movies like Split, for example, in which DID is painted as the reason the character is a villain or a film like. This post is also not about movies that romanticize abuse/disguise it as BDSM such as the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise or 365 Days. If you watched or read Fifty Shades of Grey or 365 Days and liked it, thats okay. But you try to formulate your view of the real world through such content then that is absolutely not okay.

What this post is about is the careful consumption and criticism of content. It is looking at the elements as a whole rather than focusing on a singular detail without seeing it as a part of a plot.

Critiquing content for romanticizing certain topics vs portraying them in a realistic way that sheds light on the subject are two different things and should be treated as such. People should be more aware of what/how they are criticizing content because whether or not they like something is not the same as - this topic was written/shown in a poor way and elevates/perpetuates stereotypes.

If I have misspoken in any way feel free to add on and educate me. My word should not be taken at face value and I know that there will always be more to learn. This is simply my perspective at this time.

[Additions provided + edited by @locke-writes]

[discountdyke]

I know nothing about TMA but I’m a gossip pls release the rant if you’d like 👀

firstly id like to say this ask is a christmas gift in itself, i LOVE an excuse to rant about tma. this is gonna be long tho so lets head under the cut

tma is a podcast produced by rusty quill which really means that it started with a few white guys, and as such, the voice cast is almost completely white and its one of those media with “aracial” characters. however, they’re clearly written as white bc, well, there wasnt any effort to do otherwise. so this is the beginning of many problems.

the biggest instance of racism is with a family of avatars of the flesh - a horror power involving flesh/meat. the family is chinese, and sells ppl human meat in their chinese restaurant. this is extremely and overtly racist, and back then they didnt have any sensitivity readers or common sense i guess, so they just. did that. one of the episodes involving them had a “horror” element in which one of the characters speaks in english. this is supposed to be scary bc “how could a chinese person know english??” in order to avoid addressing this, in a later episode the characters only refer to them vaguely without names. this issue was unaddressed for YEARS before an apology was given, only for them to do what? more racist shit.

two of the main characters in tma are cops and as such are a heavy-handed metaphor for police brutality. one of them, daisy, commits violent atrocities bc she is an avatar of another power called “the hunt”. she basically just kills whoever the police tell her to. her cop partner, basira, excuses her actions bc “they were criminals”. its clear that these characters are supposed to be bad but then things get weird - theres an entire arc about whether its morally correct to kill daisy. bc she has a little redemption arc. unfortunately, if ur a cop, u dont deserve a redemption arc. so theres this big thing about “well shes a better person now” etc coming from all of the characters, not just her partner. it really waters down the message imo.

so, what do you do when you write a horror podcast with themes about capitalism and police brutality? you write an episode about a white person going to prison and experiencing police brutality. i cant even begin to express how inappropriate that is - especially since its a lazy attempt at horror. their excuse was “well, 2020 is unprecedented”. uh, cops have been committing police brutality since their invention. the blm movement started in 2013 - no excuse for saying ‘we wrote the eps in advance and theyre just hitting close to home”. 

and, tbh, it could have been written well but it just wasnt? and then there was a high profile police brutality case in the us so they delayed release until the next week - bc police brutality only happens once in a while, right? imo it wasnt the episode itself that was the most offensive, it was the idea that black ppl are only murdered by cops every once in a while and its just a topical issue, not something that happens every day.

i started off with the racism bc i think thats tma’s biggest problem, but the thing about it is this: tma is well written. or it was, up until season 5. but when season 5 started airing it was bad. it was really bad. it throws away the entire formula that it used for the first 4 seasons, has a couple that constantly argue and try to undermine each other, the main character has suddenly flipped into full murder mode so that each week they just kill off another character. it became extremely bland, the horror which was generally surreal - random doors appearing, uncanny valley creatures, skies that never ended - into everyday horror. it was a huge tonal shift and now instead of hearing about an endless neighborhood with no people, it became “capitalism sucks. the government sucks. the police suck.” over and over again which, while true, does not a good horror podcast make.

the point of this is: when you look at how bad season 5 is, you realize how bad the rest of it is as well. it doesnt hold up under its own writing. little details that could be ignored, or even huge problems like the continual racism suddenly became glaring issues. not to mention character arcs which had developed slowly suddenly took huge turns in s5 out of nowhere. 

the worst example (which i stopped listening so ive only heard this second hand) is a character who was a spooky woman who had a weird door that made u crazy, turns out to be politcally conservative the whole time. and she was about how, like, you think you know ppl, and then theyre conservative. or something. just, really bad political analysis. 

id also like to point out that in the prison episode in s5 which is a culmination of the “police are evil and bad” theme ends with the characters talking about how this one guy deserves to be in prison. liberalism at its finest here. 

there are a lot of narrative issues in tma but it really boils down to this: we excused a shitload of racism bc there was good writing. and now theres no good writing. also jonny sims singlehandedly created the most annoying gay characters to ever exist.

i dont think that jonny is a bad guy but he is woefully inequipped to deal with the big real world problems and themes he built on. its sad, tbh, bc its something that COULD have been really amazing. 

he tweeted once that the s5 finale would be a “chocolate torte of tragedy” where i assume hes going to kill off either one or both of the gay characters, but the real chocolate torte was the way he ruined his own podcast.

tldr; tma’s writing built up to something it couldnt actually do. and that made the whole thing collapse. also its really, really racist. 

[glowstickhaloboy]

AU where jack is a librarian and bitty accidentally studies

jack loves books. bitty hates studying.

but bitty needs to try something, bc whatever hes doing now is not working, and finals are coming up, so he thinks maybe if he gets some silence and solitude things he needs to know will start sticking

so he goes to the library and lo and behold theres an adonis behind the counter with a pencil tucked behind his ear as he intently reads a biography on Joan of Arc. bitty hears his conscience speak to him in beyonces voice, telling him that this boy is his

but hes a nervous wreck now that he knows theres someone hot here so yeah hes definitely not getting any studying done

except the cute boy doesnt even look up, and bitty remembers that hes probably straight anyway because thats the way the universe likes to be, so he keeps his head down and makes his way to an empty table (but he chooses one that keeps the cute boy in sight, and he isnt sure if thats because he is a masochist or isnt one)

he does his best to vibe this guy, who only looks up from his book when someone comes to check out or ask for the bathroom key, and bitty decides that hes gotta play it cool. that boy likes knowledge, so bitty will have to pretend that he also likes knowledge and isnt absolutely boy crazy, so he opens his textbook and gets down to business, hoping that that cute boy will look over at least and notice how studious this southern young man is

and almost three hours passes where bitty actually studies. he looks at his phone and realizes what hes just tricked himself into doing. he checks back on the cute boy, who is looking at him holy hell it was only for a second and then he quickly looked at his book again and relax eric relax he was probably just zoned out and happened to be staring at your face but maybe he could also sense how good you are at making pies and is deciding whether or not your boyfriend material

its already been three hours, but bitty definitely cannot leave now that developments are taking place

but its only fifteen more minutes before someone else shows up and takes the cute boys place behind the desk. the cute boy walks into the back and comes back with a jacket slung over his shoulder. “see ya, chris,” he says, and bitty wonders if hes being loud enough for his voice to carry on purpose, and when cute boy leaves, bittles insides all start screaming and he wonders if hes being blessed or punished because that boy must do squats or something.

bitty plays it cool for another half hour after that, because he cant look like he was only here because that cute boy was, but hes really only on twitter now. then he packs up his bag and spends the entire walk back to his room thinking about the moment he glanced up and the cute boy glanced down.

and he comes back the next day. bittle may play the slow game, but he has to see where this is going. day one, a glance, and maybe if hes really lucky, by day two he might get a pleasant “good afternoon. welcome to the library.”

he doesnt. he walks right in and sits in the same spot as yesterday, and the cute boy is reading the same book, but bitty tries to keep his face controlled, because this time cute boy looked up as he came in, and unless bittle was reading too much into it, cute boy looked down again as though this wasnt supposed to mean anything, like that was what he wanted bitty to think, but secretly it did.

they continue like this for two weeks, and eric is blessed to discover that the cute boy works a four hour shift every single day. which means theres never a day bittle has to miss out on seeing his sculpted-by-the-gods face.

and then valentines day rolls around.

bitty wonders what in the world am i doing so often while he bakes on february 14th that he knows he has lost any semblance of self-control

he walks into the library thinking the exact same thing, and of course, theres the cute boy, who has moved on to reading an account of the cuban vie for independence from spain, and for the first time, bitty actually approaches the counter

“um, hi,” he says, slightly breathless from the cold, and the cute boy looks up and smiles and says “hi” back. bitty has to ignore his pounding heart and continue on with the words hes been rehearsing since he turned the oven on.

“so, ive been spending a lot of time in the library recently, and i bake a lot, and since today is valentines day, i thought it would be nice to make these cookies for everyone today, so would it be alright if i left these on the counter and people sort of just... helped themselves if they wanted one? i made a card to”

bitty reaches into the basket and holds up a card designed by his friend lardo that reads “happy valentines day! please take one (1)”

the cute boys smile widens, and he says, “yeah. wow, they look great!”

after all the work bitty put into making them, they damn well better. he hasnt worked this hard on a batch of cookies since he campaigned for ninth grade class president. still, he cant help but turn as pink as the frosting on them when the first thing this boy ever says to him is a compliment on his baking.

“its nothin’” says bitty, setting the basket down and stuffing his mittens into his pockets

the cute boy latches onto bittys damnable accent and asks with interest “where are you from?”

“oh, georgia”

“nice. im jack, im from montreal.” he sticks out his hand and bittys suddenly clams up with sweat. oh no this cant be a horrible first handshake, it needs to be warm and nice

bitty decides he has to keep the mitten on, though, because that could be considered cute, right? sweat definitely couldnt. “eric,” he says, and doesnt allow himself to think about the fact that hes just put a bright red mitten in an adonis’s hand. they both seem to be running out of charm, though, so bitty muddles through

“um, they might be a little frozen from the walk over, but they should be good in a few minutes,” he says, then scurries over to his table because two weeks is way too soon to start talking

he distracts himself with literature homework to try to forget what a darn fool he just made himself out to be, but he cant completely tune out the rustling coming from the front desk as jack makes a careful display out of bittles basket and card, even allowing it to block the laminated sign warning patrons the repercussions of keeping overdue books.

a few more students trickle in, and a couple of them go for the basket, and Professor Whitmond tromps in with his two grandkids, who leave covered in powder and sprinkles, but bitty exercises all of his willpower to block it out because he cant believe he did this

but he also wonders if jack is going to take a cookie. hes obsessed with the thought of it. he needs jack to eat one of those cookies and realize that bittle is not just a pretty face. bittles entire body is on high alert, praying for it.

and then it happens. jack reaches into the basket, pulls out a cookie, and takes a bite. bittle thinks, checkmate.

he notices jack glance over at him, and bittle is now confident enough that he chances a bright smile. those cookies are good. they would never have made it out of his kitchen if they werent his best.

jack points at the cookie, his expression one of utter astonishment, and mouths, these are amazing.

bitty raises an eyebrow. i know.

jack makes another expression of astonishment, then waves bitty to go back to his studying. bitty pretends to, but really, hes wondering if bringing in a batch of cookies every friday would be too much.

(he does it anyway)

fridays become the staple of his relationship with jack. bittle brings in a basket of cookies, jack says something that makes bittle wonder if hes flirting or teasing, and bittle feels satisfaction drop into his gut as jack helps himself to the first of the bunch. there has never been a day where every cookie is not eaten.

and then jack changes the schedule. bitty comes in on friday with his usual basket, and jack says, “Eric. I had a question.” and bittles heart starts thumping in its stupid, traitorous way, and jack continues, “About these cookies...” and bitty thinks, oh great, theyre too much, hes only been pretending to like them for my benefit, enough is enough, “Would you mind making me a batch to send to Montreal? My parents want to try them.”

and bittys mind goes completely blank. Something about the way Jack says it completely straight throws bitty off guard. Because, yeah, hes caught on to the fact that Jack can be a bit socially awkward, but this definitely takes the proverbial cake.

“Your parents?” asks Bittle. “How do they know about my cookies?”

“I told them,” says jack, as if its obvious. “We call every friday night, and I always talk about your cookies.”

Bitty’s mind hurriedly re-writes his knowledge of the past few weeks to include the fact that Jack From The Library Has Been Speaking To His Parents About His Cookies And Now Jack’s Parents (IN MONTREAL!) Want To Eat Them.

“So, would that be too weird?” asks Jack.

“Not at all!” says Bitty, laughing slightly because hes terrified. “I can bring some in tomorrow if youd like!”

Its only when Jack smiles that Bitty feels relieved, like hes successfully navigated a minefield correctly. “Thatd be great!” says Jack. “I’ll pay you, if you want, to cover the cost of the ingredients-”

Bitty waves him away. “That’s not necessary, Jack, I’d love to.”

he goes to his seat and cuts his study time in half because he cant stop freaking out about making baked goods for jacks parents, who have never met him, and need to decide within their first taste whether bittle has any worth in their sons life

hes up half the night, and it definitely shows on his face when he brings into the library the next day. all he wants to do is say get them out of my sight.

jack accepts them with a confused look on his face, thanks bittle as bittle marches to his table and begins spreading out his books

oh yeah, and bitty has been getting weirdly good grades since all this started?? it turns out that bi-weekly flirting is the perfect reward for someone who needs to study more. his test scores have gone up dramatically, and even his GPA has gotten a modest boost.

thats only the secondary goal here, though, his real goal has always been getting jack to notice him

for three days, including baking night, bittle sleeps horribly, angsting over what jacks parents - whoever they even are - will think of his cookies. on monday, he gets his answer

“Eric!” jack greets as bittle walks into the library. hes smiling wide. “ive been told to tell you that youre moving to montreal to become my parents’ personal dessert chef.”

relief smacks into bitty like a forty-pound fist. he feels slightly whoozy. “they liked them?” he repeats.

jack just stares at him. “Eric. Have you ever had one of your cookies before.”

“No, I mean, well, yes, obviously I have, but it’s just that I’m always worried whenever new people try them that they’ll hate them, and since baking is the only thing I’m really good at, it’s important to me that people, you know, like my stuff.”

“Eric,” Jack says, for what feels like the thousandth time. “Everything you make is incredible. And baking isn’t all you’re good at. You study like a champion.” He offers Eric a fist bump.

Eric takes it for what it is, a sign of friendship, as he belatedly registers that Jack just called his baking skills amazing. Even if the boy is straight, he knows how to play Eric like a fiddle. And Eric is just gone enough to let it happen.

spring weather is finally setting in, and bitty starts to think about just how many days hes spent in the library this year, all so he can gawk at a boy he doesnt have a chance with. all this time, and he couldve been actually out there looking for someone who will genuinely be with him and make him happy.

he stops going to the library on a tuesday. by friday, he feels bad because the people on campus have come to expect his cookies every week, and he owes it to them to keep their stomachs satisfied with finals approaching. he makes a batch, not knowing what hes going to say to jack, or if jack will even care that bitty has been out by the pond enjoying his afternoons with his friends instead of hanging out inside.

he walks in with his basket, and jack seems to look both relieved and slightly cross. “Eric,” he says, because thats all he ever says. “You haven’t been here.”

Bitty shrugs. “I made cookies,” he says, and offers Jack the basket.

Jack’s brow furrows. “Is something wrong?” he asks.

“No,” says Bitty, which, because he doesn’t know what on Earth he’s feeling, is almost the truth.

Somewhat stunned into silence, Jack accepts the basket Bitty offers him and watches Bitty leave again. Bitty walks until he’s out of sight of the library, then sits on the nearest bench and wipes his eyes. He’s being ridiculous. There was literally never even anything between him and Jack. It was all made up in Bitty’s head, a fabrication based on a few standard conversations and lies garnered by baked goods. Maybe Bitty is crying because he’s such a fool. Why did he waste so much time on a needless fantasy? What was wrong with him.

“Well,” he mumbles to himself, standing. “At least your grades went up.”

this is the part where he looks up, hoping that jack might have followed him and was now waiting, out of breath, to say something meaningful and restore all of bitty’s hopes. but the sidewalk is empty, and bitty is left exactly like normal--creating a version of jack that doesnt exist based on the picture he has in his head

he goes back at the end of the day, when he knows jack will be gone, to collect his cookie basket from the library. a boy named chris hands it to him. “yeah, thanks for bringing these in today!” says chris. “the guy i work with seemed kinda down, so i think he needed a pick me up. i mean, he said that theyre for the patrons, but i got him to eat one, and i could tell he even felt better afterwards. theyre super good! i mean, i always ate them, i didnt know jack didnt, but-”

“thanks,” said bitty. he thought that if he didnt interrupt, this young man would never have stopped talking. “er, thats sweet of you.”

so for three weeks, bitty only comes in on fridays to drop off cookies. he and jack dont say a lot to each other. but as bittys mood steadily improves, jacks mood steadily worsens.

im healing, bitty thinks as he walks in on the third friday. that wasnt healthy, eric, it was sensible to get out of that.

“hey jack,” he says happily, setting the basket of cookies on the counter. “special delivery.”

jack squints at him for a moment, with a smile that seems more like a grimace. “thanks,” is all he says. he says it in a very particular way. flat. thanks.

bitty’s brow furrows. he thinks about asking, but he grew up in the hospitable south, where the popular motto was let everyone get on with their own business or get cussed out for pryin’. “um. youre welcome.”

he almost walks out, then shouts screw it! in his mind and turns around. “are you mad or somethin’?”

jack looks up as though feigning ignorance. all the lines on his face look hard. he sighs. “no, eric. its nothing to worry about. thanks for the cookies.”

“because my mama used to teach me lessons in passive aggressive bullshit when i used her pan sheets without askin’.”

“its nothing. its me. have a good day.”

“only she never tried to brush me off when i wanted to talk to her about it.”

jack considers him. “you dont come into the library anymore,” he admitted. “im not mad at you, im just... grumpy.”

bitty has to fight hard to keep his heart bolted down. he misses his friend, he tells himself. do. not. read. into. it.

“Oh,” says Bitty. “I, um. I didn’t mean to make you upset. Er. Have you been reading anything good recently?”

jack defrosts a little and they have a nice conversation about the true crime novel jacks gotten into. bitty feels a little bad for ghosting him, and maybe he misjudged things a little by saying there was nothing there, because hey certainly got along well, but he wasnt naive enough to think there was any use kidding himself about something romantic.

by the end of it, jacks laughing, and eric finds it in himself to giggle along too, and it feels like a nice resolution. maybe you cant have it all, eric thinks, but you can have this.

he bids jack goodbye, feeling better about the whole mess, glad that he said something.

at the end of the day, chris returns bittys basket, and bitty cant help but ask how jack was today. all chris says is, “Glowing.”

For the first time, bitty and jack run into each other outside the library. theyre at the campus coffee shop, perhaps both gearing up for finals week, and jack is leaving just as bitty is entering.

“Eric,” says Jack, genuinely smiling. Bitty’s smile is also completely real.

“Jack.”

“It’s weird, but it just kind of clicked for me that you’re a real person,” says Jack, then makes a soft face of pain. “I mean, obviously you’re a real person, but I’d only ever seen you at the library before. Now that we’re somewhere else-”

“I get it,” bitty assures him. “Are you working there next year, too?”

Jack shrugs. “Who knows? I’d like to, but someone with work-study might take my place. I’m always getting yelled at for reading when I should be re-shelving books. And I get cookie dust all over the counter on Fridays.”

Blushing, Eric says, “That is entirely your fault and no one else is responsible for that.”

“Not at all.” He’s still smiling, which Bitty thinks is ridiculous. “Are you doing anything right now?”

Bitty gestures to the line ahead of him. “Buying coffee,” he says.

“Anything else?” Jack clarifies. Bitty shakes his head. “I’ll wait with you. We can sit down and drink it together.”

He has to know what he’s doing, Bitty thinks. Once again, blind hope fills his chest and Bitty says, “Sure. That’d be nice.”

by the time their cups are drained, theyre too deep in conversation to move. when a pause comes, however, jack clears his throat. “Um. Actually. Eric. I, um, just wanted to clarify something, because I think I didn’t before.”

Bitty sighs dramatically. “I knew it. You’re using me because your parents want more cookies.”

Jack’s laugh is music for Bitty’s soul. “They seriously have not stopped asking about you since I sent those cookies. I didn’t know what to say to them when you stopped coming to the library.”

Bitty turns a little quieter. “Sorry about that,” he says. not because he feels sorry for not going, but because hes sorry that jack was hurt because of it.

“It’s okay, Eric, really,” Jack says, and hes so earnest that bitty believes he means it. “Anyway, what I wanted to say was, I think I didn’t clarify that when I asked you to sit down. You know. With our coffees. I sort of intended that to be. You know. Asking you out for coffee. Because I think you’re great.”

Bitty’s heart starts beating triple-time. His eyes turn to saucer plates. “This entire time, I was trying so hard to convince myself that you would never be into me!” he all but shouts. “I couldn’t deal with having a crush on a straight boy so I avoided the library like the plague.”

Jack blinks. “I never told you I was straight, Eric.” It’s not a reprimand, but it also totally is. Bitty puts his head in his hands.

“I thought I was being a fool for one thing,” he says, “but I was being a fool for something else entirely. I am so sorry, Jack.”

“You could make it up to me by letting me buy your coffee next time.”

Eric peeks at him through the gaps in his fingers. “Don’t try to fool me into thinking you’re smooth, Mr. Zimmermann. I know you too well.”

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico: How to Scare the Children

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~2.1k Rating: T for a tiny bit of self-indulgence at the end Time Frame: Maki is in med school. Nico is working as an idol producer. They are living together as a couple, but not married yet. Story Arc: Stand Alone

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: I started with the part directly related to the title and built out from there. And the bigger it got, the less the overall theme had to do with the title. But I like the title, so I’m keeping it.

That said, a quick Google search revealed that Trick or Treating is a little different in Japan than here in the States; not like that came as a surprise to me. Apparently, it is uncommon for such an event to occur in a given neighborhood, but some schools offer a “Western experience” for their students. As such, in this scene the former members of µ’s are volunteering to help hand out candy at a local school; an elementary school, not their old alma mater, Otonokizaka.

“How is that supposed to be scary?” Maki asked, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

“Oh it is, trust me.” Nico grinned, still holding the frilly pink dress against herself. “Especially when I carry around this.” She turned and swapped the garment for a plush cat.

Wait, was that a cat? Maki blinked at the white, fuzzy toy with red and pink markings. The strange creature with beady red eyes seemed mostly cat-like, but the problem came with what seemed to be a second set of rabbit-like ears spouting from the cat-like ones.

“I don’t get it.” The doctor-in-training admitted.

The idol producer smirked. “That’s ‘cause you don’t watch enough anime.”

Maki shrugged. “Well I’m sure it will be cute on you either way.”

“The No. 1 Idol in the Universe looks cute in anything.” Nico puffed out her chest with pride as she held up her signature gesture.

“Idiot.”

“You love it.”

“Maybe…” Maki moved toward her girlfriend to pull her into a loose hug. “See you this evening?”

“Right, at the school.” Nico tilted her chin up as the taller girl leaned down for a quick kiss. “I look forward to seeing you in your costume tonight.” She added, pulling away.

Maki sighed. “I still don’t know how you roped us all into this…”

“Honoka helped a lot. And besides, it’s for the kids.”

“Yeah, I know you’re popular with the kids.”

Nico pursed her lips. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” Maki pecked another kiss on the older girl’s forehead. “Have a good day at work.”

“Have fun in class.”

NishikinoMaki: I’m sorry everyone

NishikinoMaki: I’m going to be really late

NishikinoMaki: If I can make it at all

Let’sPlay!: but maki-chan you have to come!

BlackCat: yeah!

BlackCat: its not the same without you maki-chan!

Let’sPlay!: come play with us maki-chan

Let’sPlay!: forever and ever and ever

SonodaUmi: I’m honestly surprised you know that reference, Honoka

BlackCat: AYN REDRUM!

SonodaUmi: …

FamiliarofUmi: All work and no play makes Maki-chan a dull girl

SonodaUmi: Not you as well, Kotori

NiconiiMagica: He~re’s Nico!

NishikinoMaki: Yeah, there’s no way you’ll ever be that intimidating, Nico-chan

CaptainElichika: She’s been scaring plenty of people by asking them to make a contract

WashiWashiWitch: Mostly the adults though

CaptainElichika: And really they are more just creeped out than actually scared

RiceFamine: The kids really seem to like the costume though

NiconiiMagica: The No. 1 Idol in the Universe is popular even with kids

NishikinoMaki: Because you are one

NiconiiMagica: Hey!

RiceFamine: They like Umi-chan’s and Rin-chan’s as well

Let’sPlay!: of course they do!

Let’sPlay!: thats what happens when kotori-chan makes the costumes

NishikinoMaki: Anyway

NishikinoMaki: Home is in the opposite direction

NishikinoMaki: And I didn’t think to bring my costume so I could change here

NishikinoMaki: Not that I would have been able to carry it around all day anyway

NishikinoMaki: In any case, I just don’t think I can make it

WashiWashiWitch: Well if time is your concern, I have an idea, Maki-chan

WashiWashiWitch: I’ll send you a PM in a moment

“Maki-chan!” Nico waved a greeting to her girlfriend as she threaded through the throng of children in the hallway. “You made it!” She threw herself the last half meter or so into a tackle hug.

“H-Hey?” Maki shifted her position a little to change the angle of the incoming impact. “Be careful!” She chided.

“Huh? Why?”

“I came with props.” Maki opened her lab coat to reveal a breast pocket filled with various tools.

“A dentist, huh?”

“It was Nozomi’s idea.”

“Well you may make a few people uncomfortable, but I doubt you’ll scare anyone.”

“That’s fine.” Maki shrugged. “It’s a costume, sort of, and it saved me time having to go back home to change.”

“Well, it’s still medical related, so it suits you.” Nico smiled. “You look good.”

“Thanks.” The redhead replied, holding back as much of her blush as possible.

The twin-tailed girl pushed herself up to peck a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek before pulling away. “So,” She said, twirling “what do you think?” She finished in a dramatic pose.

“Like I said this morning, cute.” The medical student admitted. “And you dyed your hair pink?”

“Yup! It’s not enough just to wear the dress!”

“I see.” Maki nodded her approval. “Anyway, pink always looks good on you, Nico-chan.”

“I know, right?” The idol grinned, resisting the urge to tease about the honest answer. It was one thing for Maki to be honest in private, but a whole different thing while in public. Besides, the event was more than half over so she couldn’t waste too much time teasing; she could always do so later.

“C’mon,” she grabbed Maki’s hand “let’s get you some candy to hand out.”

“Alright.”

“Maki-chan, what did you do?” Nico asked, approaching her girlfriend.

“Buweehh?” Maki stood up quickly, stepping away from the crying child beside her. “N-Nothing!” She insisted. “I-I didn’t… I… uhm…”

“Nico Nico Nii~!” Nico performed her signature routine as she knelt beside the child. “What’s the matter, little guy?” She asked sweetly. “Did the mean ol’ Maki-chan scare you?”

“M-mean?”

“Nico-nii doesn’t want any of her fans to be sad.” Nico continued, ignoring the other girl’s protest. “So how about a big Nico-nii smile, huh?” She flashed her own award-winning smile.

The young boy sniffled a bit, but the edges of his lips curled up at Nico’s performance.

“That’s what Nico likes to see.” The idol ruffled the kid’s hair, earning a giggle. She held out a lollipop. “Here, this is Super Special Love Nico Candy, guaranteed to keep all the scary Maki’s away while you eat it!”

The young boy’s eyes sparkled as he took the offered treat before scampering off, already tearing into the packaging.

“Mean old, scary Maki?” the redhead inquired, resisting the urge to pout.

“Well you did make him cry.” Nico smirked. “What did you do, anyway?”

“Like I said, I didn’t do anything.”

“So, he just started crying on his own?”

“… Maybe?”

Nico fixed the younger girl with a flat stare.

“I was just handing out candy like I have been this whole time.”

“That’s it?”

“Well…”

“Well…?”

Maki reached up to start twirling a strand of her hair. “I also told him to be careful not to eat too much candy or I would have to come visit him.”

Nico snorted. “You were going to come visit him?”

“Nozomi told me to say it.”

“Ah…” Something clicked in Nico’s mind. “Say, you weren’t, by chance, holding one of your picks or something, were you?”

“… My drill…”

Nico bit her lip, trying to hold back, but after a few seconds, she burst out laughing.

“… I-it’s not that funny…” Maki mumbled.

“Of course it is! It’s hilarious!” Nico wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt to control her laughter. “You probably dredged up bad memories that kid had about having cavities or something. Oh gods, I can see him waking up in the middle of the night, scared that a cute, redheaded dentist is going to jump out of his closet and go to work on him because he ate too much candy.”

“Mohhhh…”

“I’m sorry, Maki-chan…” Nico said, trying to calm down. “Just be happy Nozomi didn’t see that. She’d’ve caught it on video to torment you with it forever.”

“But you’ll probably tease me about it instead.”

“Well, yeah, but isn’t that much normal?” Nico borrowed one of Maki’s age-old questions.

“I suppose…”

Still giggling, Nico approached her girlfriend and opened her arms. Maki sighed and closed the rest of the distance before wrapping her arms around the raven-haired girl.

“So…” Maki started after a moment. “Do you think I shouldn’t be saying that?”

“Well, that depends…” Nico replied.

“On…?”

“Whether or not you want to make another kid cry.” Nico chuckled.

“Mmmm…” Maki hummed, disapprovingly. “I thought it was good advice, though.”

“It is.” The older girl conceded. “But maybe don’t brandish your torture weapons while you say it.

“T-torture weapons?” Maki balked. “They’re just dentistry tools.”

“Yeah, I’m getting kinda creeped out by hugging you, knowing those accursed things are mere inches away from my mouth.” Nico sighed. “I think Nozomi suggested your costume on purpose to annoy me.”

“I… I…” Maki found herself at a loss. It had never been her intent to scare or even just creep out Nico.

“Oh, and maybe try smiling for a change.”

“Smi… for a change?”

“You can be quite intimidating when you scowl.”

“I was smiling!” The redhead protested.

“Hrm…” The raven-haired girl pondered. “Maybe I should stick with you for a while. You know, to see how things go and all.”

“I’d… be alright with that…” Maki admitted. More time with Nico was never a bad thing. Even when the older girl was teasing her.

“And make sure mean ol’ scary Maki-chan doesn’t make another kid cry.”

Maki swatted her girlfriend on the top of her head, earning another bout of laugher in return.

“So, I never did ask, what kind of magic do you do?” Maki as she unlocked the door to the house.

“I mainly fight witches.” Nico explained, stepping into the entryway.

“Oh?” Maki raised an eyebrow. “You were avoiding Nozomi all night.”

Nico scowled. “Some witches aren’t worth facing…”

“So she had already defeated you.” While Maki was long accustomed to the spiritual girl’s antics, she couldn’t shake a pang of possessiveness from the desire to the only one who did such things to Nico.

“Can’t win a fight on threats alone.”

“Fair enough.” Somehow that made Maki feel better.

“I also grant wishes.”

“Oh?”

“You didn’t know?” Nico smirked. “Nico-nii’s super special magical powers can grant any wish you can imagine!”

“Anything?” Maki raised an eyebrow.

“All you have to do is make a contract with me.”

“And what is my end of this contract?” Memories of the reactions people gave Nico when she had asked them to make contracts with her ran though Maki’s mind.

“An astute one, I see.” Nico grinned. “If you must know, the cost of your wish is your soul.”

“I thought that was the devil’s trick.”

Nico shrugged. “Nico was the little devil of µ’s.”

“That is true.” Maki nodded. “But it’s a shame…”

“Why is that?”

“You already have my soul, so I guess I can’t make a wish.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Nico giggled. “But out of curiosity, what would you have wished for?”

“That’s easy.” Maki moved towards her girlfriend, reaching forward to cup her chin in her hand. “You.” She finished, leaning down.

Nico’s ruby eyes glinted in amusement. “Well then, you’re in luck.” She laughed as she slung her arms around the taller girl’s neck. “You can have me for free.”

Maki closed the distance between them until their lips met before moving a hand down to the small of Nico’s back so she could pull her closer.

After a moment, Nico pulled away. “I must ask though,” she started, still catching her breath “why would you wish for something you already have?”

“Because I still want it.” Maki replied, as though it should be obvious. “And I always will.”

“I see.” Nico smiled, feeling the familiar flood of joy that washed over her whenever Maki reaffirmed her desires. “So what does the sexy nurse want to do with the magical girl now that she has her?” Her voice became sultry. “Is she going to give Nico a physical exam?”

“Dentist.”

“Yeah, no, that’s not going to work.” Nico made a face like she had bitten into something sour. “Sexy dentist just doesn’t sound right.”

“But that’s what I’m dressed as.”

“Maki-chan has no sense of role-play.” Nico pouted. “Alright.” She said, pulling open the other girl’s coat “What if we got rid of these?” She removed the various tools she found and slipped them in the bag Maki was carrying. She then pulled the bag off Maki’s arm and dropped it, unceremoniously on the floor. “And then we just call you a sexy doctor?”

“But I’m not a doctor.” Maki said out of pure habit of reminding people she was still a student and had yet to earn her doctorate.

Nico sighed dramatically. “Just pretend for tonight, Maki-chan.”

“Alright.” Maki replied. “I am pretending to be a dentist.”

“Isn’t a dentist a type of doctor?”

“Yes…”

“And sexy nurse and sexy doctor both sound so~ much better than sexy dentist.”

“Maybe…”

“And besides, what is a dentist going to do, examine my mouth?”

“Obviously.”

“But that’s just kissing!”

“You don’t like kissing?”

“Ughn…” Nico was having a hard time telling if Maki was being serious or just teasing her.

“I could also give you an oral exam.” Maki offered, leaning forward to slide her head next to Nico’s

“But that’s still…” She gasped as Maki bit gently on her ear.

“I mean I intend to examine you.” Maki whispered, her breath hot against Nico’s skin. “Orally.”

“Oh…” Nico suddenly realized the implications. “C-Carry on…”

Author’s Note Continued: First off, for those who didn’t catch it, Honoka’s username is taken from her Halloween set card SIF. Eli’s is a nod to her recent Pirate card, which I felt made for a nice costume choice for her. Nico’s pays homage to her cosplay costume from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, an excellent anime that I would highly recommend; Kyubey is probably my favorite non-human character ever. The others should be a bit more obvious.

I also find amusing the idea that Umi and Maki generally do not buy into the whole themed username thing. They use their names and believe that to be sufficient.

Lastly, for those who missed the other reference in that scene, the paraphrased quotes were from The Shining; a Kubrick classic well suited for this time of year. I may eventually get around to writing the scene in which the girls of µ’s gather to watch a few seasonal horror films. Deities know I have enough notes for it...

[orionsangel86]

Yeah, I don't think Destiel is endgame sadly. The Sam/Eileen story made be believe a new is possible, but no, and they arent go have only one brother find love. I think the show isnt ever going to change, and thats its biggest problem. In the series finale Cas will be placed where Kevin, Charlie, Eileen were before him (the big finale death, for the biggest character after Sam and Dean) and Sam n Dean will drive off in the Impala like at the end of every ep; All quiet on the Western front.

THEY KILLED EILEEN. WHAT. THE. HELL. I saw your post, and I have to ask--does this seriously hurt your expectations of Dabb and where SPN is going

Ack! More asks that I totally missed. Sorry. I am gonna address these both in one post as they are similar themes and I guess I should start with a disclaimer here:

***these are my opinions only and do not reflect the views of other meta writers - seriously if you want positivity and hope please reach out to @tinkdw and @mittensmorgul who are doing a top notch job of controlling the fandom fire and who you should probably listen to more than me because I have become a grumpy old cow recently and am not doing the best job of controlling my cynicism and negativity.***

I should also mention that I have not, and will not, watch 12x21. I don’t need to feel more crappy and I couldn’t give a damn about Mary being brainwashed or Ketch becoming a stereotypical bond villain (or in fact, a stereotype of a parody of a Bond villain since his last act was closer to something Dr Evil from Austin Powers would do than an actual Bond Villain or so I’ve read) So I can’t comment on specifics from that episode.

“Yeah, I don't think Destiel is endgame sadly. The Sam/Eileen story made be believe a new is possible, but no, and they arent go have only one brother find love.”

Nonny I feel your pain, however I do still think Destiel is endgame. its funny, but I have thought about it a lot over the past few days and I cannot possibly see any way this show will end without destiel being part of it somehow. It does all depend on how you view ‘endgame’ though. 

Because if you mean endgame as in ‘Dean and Cas kiss and confess their love and settle down with a house’ happy ending then no, I don’t think they will get ‘endgame’, but if you mean ‘destiel will be canon on the show’ then yeah I still think its true. 

Sam and Eileen was the difference between Dean and Cas getting a moment of hand holding or a kiss before a big fight in which they die and its a tragedy, and Dean and Cas getting to live and settle down Jesse and Cesar style. Either way, Destiel goes Canon, but Eileen made the difference to how. 

Other meta writers are gonna disagree with this. But if Eileen remains dead then I do not see a happy ending to this show. Because they will not bring in another love interest for Sam at this late stage. Therefore, as you rightly say, they won’t give Dean a romantic story that ends in a ‘and they lived happily ever after’ kind of way. Saileen mirrored Destiel and the way I see it, without a mirror romantic arc for Sam, I don’t see how we will get any sort of romance for Dean either (unless they actually do decide to just end on a repeat of Swan Song though I KNOW that will piss off a lot of people). 

And yes I know that you can have endgames that don’t include romance, and that romance isn’t everything. I agree with that, but I am convinced that Sam and Dean’s endgames will be in balance with one another. Having Dean and Cas settle down together doesn’t make sense in this story if Sam is left alone. It is unbalanced and goes against a lot of what this show is about: two brothers and their lives hunting together.

(oh god I really don’t mean to sound like a bibro there but you know what I mean. balance is key. The fundamental core of this show is family and found family and it is so much more than just ‘two brothers’ but basically what I am trying to say is that you cannot round up one brothers story and leave the others open ended. It won’t work for the format this show uses.)

“I think the show isnt ever going to change, and thats its biggest problem.” 

I think if Bucklemming keep writing for them, and Bob Singer keeps his grubby little hands on the story, then yeah its not likely to change. This show will always have majorly flawed episodes. The thing is, I still believe Dabb is trying to make this show better. He has already come quite far in doing that. The season 11 finale showed us that, and Dean’s character arc this season is superb. 

The problem is more that Dabb seems to have a case of tunnel vision on Dean’s character arc. He is spending a lot of time chipping away at Dean’s mask and forgetting Sam, somewhat forgetting Cas, and pretty much completely forgetting to give us a coherent mytharc plot. 

Whether the whole Dean focus is to prepare the GA for his eventual coming out of the closet I can’t truly say (though I believe this is the case). It really annoys me how much Sam has been left behind. The one person who Sam had bonded with, who was a character that we, as an audience, could use to gain better insight into Sam outside of his brothers POV was killed off by incompetent buffoons. Dabb would have had to sign off on this terrible decision. Does he just not care about Sam’s development? 

The other major issue is representation. I thought season 12 was doing so well. Then they killed off three POC ladies and a disabled character in the second half of the season. Yet Lucifer gets an absurd plot when frankly, he should have been back in the cage or dead after episode 8. Why were the BMOL two freaking white guys? Why didn’t Lady Toni get Mick’s story line from the start? Why couldn’t either Mick or Ketch be black? or Asian? or Gay? or a Woman? or ALL of those things or ANYTHING other than a straight white guy?!? BRITAIN IS EXTREMELY MULTICULTURAL AND 51% OF US ARE WOMEN. USE IT!!! 

So yeah, its never gonna change. My advice? Don’t watch Bucklemming episodes.

“In the series finale Cas will be placed where Kevin, Charlie, Eileen were before him (the big finale death, for the biggest character after Sam and Dean) and Sam n Dean will drive off in the Impala like at the end of every ep; All quiet on the Western front.” 

Now this I don’t believe, because this would just be a major regression and would be the biggest mistake a finale could make since How I Met Your Mother. In the finale episode of the finale season, I reckon they are all gonna die. Then perhaps they will reunite in heaven with all their previous friends and family. I do NOT think that the series will end with Cas separated from the brothers. This is something I still have faith in. Cas IS a Winchester. He belongs with them. Whether they live or die in the end, he will be with them. Either they all die, or none of them will. Unless by that point Bucklemming are showrunners *shudder*can you imagine that?!? In that instance I would quit the show on principle.

I don’t think the show will end with the Winchesters alone in the world, living on whilst everyone they love is dead and the world is a burnt wasteland... you might as well put them back in hell... its not romantic or poetic no matter what your average bibro may think. I actually don’t think even Bucklemming would give us an ending like that. 

“Does this seriously hurt your expectations of Dabb and where SPN is going?”

On to Nonny No2′s excellent question which well, I probably answered above. But to use this as a summary. Yes. 

Eileen’s death hurt my expectations because it was the cherry on top of a lot of things this season that have slowly been chipping away at my positivity. 

Look, I think some of you may have noticed that I haven’t really been as active as I once was on here. I have struggled to answer asks and when I do, my tone has changed from the optimistic, enthusiastic tone I used to have. 

Honestly, SPN has been upsetting me for a while. The mytharc plot isn’t engaging me. Mary’s story doesn’t interest me because I don’t think they have done her emotional story justice. They instead chose to purposely make her unlikable to the point where a lot of fandom hopes she’ll be killed off. Do you have any idea how disappointing that is? I was so excited for Mary to be brought back, along with everything she symbolised for the show. I don’t think her character has been done justice. 

I felt this way with Amara. I wanted to love her so much but they ruined her and turned her into a sexual predator. I wanted to love Lady Toni as a fully rounded character - a strong British woman having to fight for her voice in an ancient organisation run by old men. The made her into a one dimensional psychopathic rapist. Sometimes I think these writers just arn’t very good at writing female characters outside of ‘sexy twenty something waitress’ for Dean to screw around with to prove his heterosexuality.

The whole Lucifer storyline is driving me crazy. He is so boring and my god I miss season 5 Lucifer. Hell, even Casifer, but Pellegrino is just being absurd now and the joke got old quick. I don’t care about the Nephilim, even now that it has its hooks in Cas. 

What happened to the Grand Coven? Couldn’t we have got a war between BMOL and Grand Coven? I want more witches. More spells. Witch!Sam and Human!Cas. That’s the story they should be telling. I haven’t liked how they’ve handled the British Men of Letters because they don’t seem like a real enough threat to me. Plus I don’t like all the dumb British jokes like seriously these writers have no idea what British people are like. 

This season for me has been saved by 12x06,12x10,12x11, and 12x12. But I have been disappointed overall. Unlike many of my fellow meta writers, I am not all that enthusiastic about the finale. I want so very much to be excited about it and join in with the speculation and theories but I just can’t force it anymore. 

The one thing I have faith in is that we will get canon destiel before series end. Even if its just a shot of them interlinking their fingers and smiling at each other before they go off to their deaths. I am convinced that Dabb will give us that. My problem isn’t about destiel anymore. Its whether the destiel subplot is enough to keep me engaged whilst the main plot goes down the drain. Its whether the destiel subplot is going to keep me going whilst I have to watch them continuously butcher every female character on the show.

I’m not sure I can do it anymore. My faith in Dabb is at a record low after 12x21 and I dunno what it will take to bring me back up.

Well, actually I do know. Eileen. Bring her back, right the wrong and put the story back on track. Then pull your shit together and get some more original characters into the show who arn’t all generic white guy clones. Bring back Charlie. Put Cas in more episodes. Kill Lucifer off for good and make Rowena a series regular. Put Cas in the same fucking episodes as Claire Novak FFS. Give Sam a goddamn story outside of his brother. Witch!Sam!! Or Man of Letters Sam. And finally, bring Dean out of that fucking closet once and for all.

Do all that and I will kiss the ground Dabb walks on. Untill then? well, I dunno if you’ll be hearing much from me in the future that’s all. I may just well and truly be done with this show.

[dajoezenone]

REVIEW of The Devil Is A Part Timer! Vol 5 (novel)

I feel like I just posted my review of Vol 4 but I flew through this one I couldn’t put it down. Its hands down my favorite of all five volumes so far. Let me tell you why it is so good.

First off, its funny. The writing in this book makes fun of so much stuff. From cell phones to the death of TV in favor of the internet, to Pokemon, to anything else. The series always satirizes the life of the average Japanese person, but for whatever reason, this book does it in a way thats funnier than I think its ever done before, and its always relevant to the story and mixed in with humor making fun of the characters as well. Its perfect.

Second, I think this might be the most balanced book in terms of which characters get represented the most. Granted, the character that does get the MOST coverage is my favorite character, so of course I’d say that, but nobody feels extraneous or left out in this book. Other than Emeralda and Albert, of course. Eme shows up in a single conversation as always to drop some exposition and then never shows up again.

ANYWAYS though, without getting spoiler heavy (yet), there’s a lot more plot in this novel than usual. This book really gets back to the way the first book had a threat slowly creeping up throughout the duration of the story, not just for five minutes at the end. The climax is really long too. These books are always split into thirds, but the third act of this book seriously takes up about half of the pages. And those pages are filled too. There’s like 3 different twists and reveals that happen, plus multiple epic fight scenes. Its GRAND.

Overall, the writing is better. Smarter. More emotional. The illustrations are better. The epilogue is followed by bonus goodies again. Read it.

Okay SPOILER ALERT BEYOND THIS POINT.

The story picks up roughly where the last book left off, with the Devil and his cohorts moving back into Villa Rosa Sasazuka apartment 201.They discover that in addition to fixing the gaping hole Gabriel left in the wall back in Book 3, their landlord had an HDTV hookup installed. So now they can get TV channels. If they had a TV of course. Maou convinces Ashiya that they have room in the budget, and Suzuno decides to go with them and get one of their own. Ashiya invites Rika Suzuki, as he had previously asked her for help in the task of purchasing himself a cell phone (and to give her a souvenir he got her in Choshi during the previous book). 

As the book progresses, they slowly discover a plot by Gabriel (returning after his unsuccessful attempt to take Alas Ramus and the Better Half from our heroes in book 3) and a less powerful, but higher ranking Angel whos name I cant remember for the life of me, to find the rogue Angel Lailah (Emi’s mother, also implied to be the angel who inadvertently started Maou on his quest, as well as gifted him with the Yesod fragment that eventually grew into Alas Ramus) so they can punish her for crimes against Heaven. In the process, they end up hurting Chiho, which of course provokes the ire of the Devil, the Hero, and their underpaid comrades in arms. 

The first half of the book focuses a LOT on Alciel, which as I said in my last review, was something greatly needed, expected, and totally as good as I hoped it would be. He doesn’t exactly get much of a character arc, as he largely just goes from being totally unwilling to buy a TV, to getting one for as cheap as possible. But he gets development in other ways. In Vol 3, he seemed largely oblivious to Rika’s clear attraction to him, and his interactions with her seemed to largely just be because of his overly-polite personality. But, as their totally-not-a-date goes on, his politeness is revealed to have a bit of mutual feeling behind it, and he even tells her he may sometime tell her the truth about him and the others, something she doesn’t really question, as she never totally believed the story given to her anyways. Sadly, once the danger raises its head, she’s rushed out of harm’s way, and Ashiya stays largely quiet from that point on. 

Maou, as always, is in the forefront, but at the same time kept mysterious. He mentions early on that a TV could be helpful in knowing what is going on in the world, and being able to predict and fight any Heavenly (or Demonic) things that come to threaten the Earth. And after the threat is resolved, mentions that its not like they’ll try the same thing again, so the TV is less useful now than it was. So, did he know they’d try to use the TVs in some way? Probably not, but its not beyond reason. As always, then, he treads the line between being a silly character, and being the most serious, as he can flippantly ask Rika if she likes Ashiya to her face, and can very earnestly out-debate Suzuno (who, reminder, is the closest thing Ente Isla has to a lawyer) when the two discuss whether or not Rika ought to be made aware of who and what they all really are. 

She isn’t, by the way. I suppose we must wait for another book for that. 

Emi and Suzuno, seemingly unaware that their fates were bound in with that of the Devil King a long long time ago, have learned, through Emeralda, that Ente Isla is now engulfed in a Civil War, which was seemingly instigated by Heaven, Olba, and the Demons that seek the Better Half at his suggestion. They decide that, at all costs, Maou must not be allowed to join in this war, as he would likely reuite the Demons, and crush the un-unified countries of Ente Isla, particularly because Emi is unable to join, as siding with any part of humanity over another wouldn’t be proper as the Hero. Hence, Suzuno continues her surveilance of the demons, now with the renewed purpose of making sure no Demons come with the intention of pulling their King into their war. Emi, assured that Eme and Suzuno are capable of the tasks before them, goes looking for her mother, unaware of the two Angels out doing the same thing...

Emi’s story is an emotional one, as it often is. Everything she knows is slowly crumbling around her, and as her mother is unable (or unwilling) to reveal herself and speak to her directly, and the other main characters all either preoccupied or still enemies in her mind, she is left only with Alas Ramus by her side to help her to understand what she must do and where she must go. I dont want to spoil specifics of Emi’s story in this book, but its very good. I didn’t cry as much as she did, maybe, but I at least teared up a bit. 

Crestia Bell, meanwhile, has a lot more time in the limelight after last book forcing her to make sandcastles and do little else. She has slowly grown to be one of my favorite characters in the series. She’s far more multilayered than anyone else, with her background so steeped in religion and politics, combined with a fascination with Japanese culture, particularly the old pre-WW2 stuff, from when Japan was still traditional and religious itself. Plus, she really likes Udon for reasons nobody really understands. She’s funny, quirky, serious, and strong. And she gets a lot of time to show off all sides of herself in this book, and she manages to be awesome at every aspect of it, all with the calm serenity of a person of her religious station. There’s a reason she’s on the cover of this book. Heck, she’s more of the book’s standout character than Ashiya, I just was more happy about him getting focus so thats who I talked about more at first. 

Hanzo Urushihara, after a surprising amount of character development in the previous novel, returns to heaven on earth (the inside of apartment 201 of Villa Rosa Sasazuka) with great enthusiasm. He too wants a TV, but obviously he isn’t going to go outside the apartment to get it, nor is he at all going to be helping pay for it, so he doesn’t help Maou convince Ashiya of its usefulness as that would not help the case. He instead stays home through much of the book. Gabriel stops by about halfway through, and they have a great interaction, where we get an inside look on exactly how Urushihara thinks, and how he justifies his existence to himself. While he seems unaware of it, he really has evolved as a character; He does a lot to help during the climax, and at one point expresses great pride in the work he was able to do at the Beach House in Choshi. Overall, he’s written much better now than he was prior to book 4 as well, as he still feels like a fusion or extension of the disparate parts of himself that seemed kinda incongruous in the first books. In fact, he’s more bad*ss now, humming “Amazing Grace” as he shoos one of the series’ primary villains out of his personal space, than he did menacingly levitating Chiho above Hatagaya in the first book. 

I guess I should also talk about Gabriel, because he comes back, and he’s better now than he was. A nice effort is made to make him and the other Angel distinct characters, rather than Gabe feeling like a tamer, but more powerful version of Sariel like he did when he first showed up. He’s still not as good as Olba, or even Lucifer were as villains, but he’s still cool, and the threats he’s a part of feel really legitimate this time around, which is a really nice change of pace from both the previous books. 

Finally, Chiho. At first, I was kind of dissappointed that her injury was basically keeping her from actually helping with the plot at all, despite being its whole inciting incident. 

Without spoiling it, lets just say that uh, dont count Chiho out because she has a bigger role here than, like ever. I mean, she’s been damsel in distress, she’s inspired the others, and convinced Gabriel to delay his attack in Book 3. In this book, she basically saves the day. 

How does it make any sense when she’s just a normal girl? Um read the book ya dummy. 

[whentvsfly]

5, 13 & 37

5. Share one of your strengths.I think I’m good at getting feelings across to the audience? How a character feels, or reacts to things. Making characters Relatable ™

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?There’s probably so many I don’t think of because I’ve taken them to heart, but the best one I can think of right now is “said isn’t dead”. Using too many action-y based words during dialogue can upset the flow, and it’s ok to use ‘said’ because its accurate, and not at all distracted.  I’m glad I was taught this after middle school tried to convince me otherwise.

37. Talk about your current wips. Oh boy…Uhm! Lemme scroll through my googledoc and see what I even have started hah!Ok so there are a lot more than I realized, and some I haven’t worked on in ages, but I’ll put ‘em here anyways! I’ll organize them by how much I have written for them. (it’ll be “title (as they are in google docs. probs wont be actual title for most)”. fandom. description.)Just a rough idea (no words, only outline)(most ones here were thought up as me and @pundeserving​ texted):1. “Disney”. Mp100. Where Teru just really loves Disney movies and gets Mob to watch Bambi with him but its Sad so Teru has to help Mob not reach 100% sadness. It would be real cute n kinda gay2. “Emojis” Mp100. A short hc based piece about how Teru would use So Many Emojis and Mob would only really use ascii emotes (teru: 😎😆😭 mob:  :) :0 ).  He basically uses them as punctuation at this point. After his Gay Awakening he gets worried that it seems too extra or flirty so he tries to cut back on using them but Mob picks up on that and gets worried like “why isn’t hanazawa-kun using as many smilies? is he sick? is he mad at me?” He mentions it to teru and teru is like crying internally cause holy fuck?? he noticed smth so small like that???3. “ritsu is an ok mom friend” Mp100. Spawned from that “when a group of friends is formed, the mom friend emerges” post. It was decided that Ritsu would try to be the most responsible of them all and thus the mom friend. (Teru does his own thing, Mob wouldn’t wanna ruin the others’ fun, and Shou…is Shou). Also spawned from a hc that, in short, is Teru and Shou would be Those Friends who would be real competitive and egg each other on and, if unsupervised, would be Bringers of Destruction). He has confiscated many “Bad Idea Materials “.The story would just be Ritsu tryin to keep his friends safe heh. Direct quote from outline “”ritsus always like! how the fuck! my guy! just stop this it’s like ur trying to get urself killed!!teru and shou just “we are” simultaneously and ritsu rly cant tell if its a joke but hes mildly concerned for a week after”“. I think the part I really wanted to write is Shou sayin he had a Good Idea (read: bad idea) and then stops texting and Ritsus like “holy fuck did he die” and panics and Mob helps him calm down and they go check on him together and it turns out Shou just passed tf out because he is bad at sleeping like a normal human at normal human hours.4. WoY. I don’t speak of it to anyone and therefore it doesn’t exist. What fic? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 5. One that i have only written in my head, not even in googledocs yet. Mp100. Ritsu trying to be there for his bro throughout the arcs. After the teru fight, the mogami incident, etc.6. I also have a few in-my-head Mp100 ones based on the sexuality headcanons of mine I posted about the the other day. Really wanna write those tooPartially written ones:1. Su. It was gonna be one where Steven went to Centi and ranted to her about all the Shit that has gone down. That was a few steven bombs ago tho I could make him rant about Even More.2. “possible sewuel to long fic“. UT. A sequel to ‘There Are Worse Things Than Being Alone, Like Being A Little Too Late”. It is a whopping 3 paragraphs, compared to its prequel’s 30 pages (20,000 words). I lost motivation, although I still do have scenes of it written in my brain.3. “pidge post season“. VLD. My idea of where Pidge may have ended up after S1. Completely pointless now, although I’m still wondering if it would be something interesting to post as a ‘what if’. I’d have to finish it though and I am not particularly motivated since S2 came out. I just kinda wanted to make a cool fic about Pidge being lost on a water-based planet and trying to get their lion functional again with whatever was around so they could meet back up with the rest of voltron (also I wanted to make another nonbinary pidge fic for the tag cause those fics Give Me Life)4. “shou u little fucker open up“. Mp100.  A loose sequel to “My Parents Should Have Taken Me Back for Repairs Before the Warranty Ran Out”. Snippets of Shou bein relatable and Depressed and Ritsu helpin him out as he can. Written so far: depression meals aka being too down to go to the kitchen for food let alone going to the petstore to get your hamster more food so you text your best bro to get hamster food for you and tell him to feed ur pet for you and bein discrete enough that he thinks youre out of the house otherwise he might not do it cause theres no way in hell youre telling him you didnt do it yourself cause you didnt have the energy to get off the couch for like 20 hours5. “Awakening“. Mp100. I realllly wanna finish and post this one. Its based on those lines those claw guys said. “HQ sent an awakened brat” “What? A kid went though that?”. Shou doesn’t know how bad his dad is, he is young and loves his parents. He admired his dads powers. He wants to be like his dad. He doesn’t know what it costs. (He is weak in power, and his dad wants him to be strong, an heir, so he takes him to a branch and has him tortirued to awaken his powers fully).Fully written (but in need of revision/I’m uncertain of whether or not to actually post it):1. “Ritsu worries for Shigeo, Shigeo worries for the cats“. Mp100. A post Mogami arc fic. Ritsu knows nothing of what his bro went through, but Mob has a new habit of feeding any and all cats on their way to school. One day two of the cats are fighting and mob stops responding and goes to break up the fight but he’s already losing himself to his powers so Ritsu has to help him back down. He is more confused than ever.2.”Instinct, and the Training of“. Mp100. A fic about ???%, or about Mob’s powers, personified. Whichever the viewer themself wants to read it as, I left it ambiguous on purpose. Personally I like to think of it as ???% but I won’t make others read it as that. Every time ???% happens, or nearly happens, or is implied to have happened, from the pov of itself. Written in such a weird style, I just need to reread it and see if it sounds ok and other last review things before publishing. I’ve been too lazy to reread it and post it though.aaand thats it! hooo, that was a lot sorry hah! Thank you for the ask!

[thatknittinglady]

Hmm... you know. I’ve been thinking of doctor who too

Despite my dislike for most of the modern episodes, (2000 and on) I have been thinking of a story which would rip peoples hearts out and consume them entirely or so I hope. So the thing is one of the older incarnations, I want to say the FOURTH doctor, if only because Tom Baker was a troll in that incarnation and would be good with children IMHO. 

It would start with a huge noahs arc of sorts which is made by a collapsed civilization to preserve its race, only this thing goes a bit hay wire and starts doing this for EVERY race and kind going extinct in the universe. Using controlled cybermen and daleks to make it grow larger to accommodate such a growth, and using probes and such. Now when all that shit was happening with the doctors race, a probe picked up three of doctors race, a woman her husband and their child. It was going to preserve these, but that would ‘kill’ them, so the mother and father make a deal to create a time machine for the arc so it can travel through time to save races and such that it couldn’t get to. 

They succeed, and hell breaks loose. the Arc doesn’t exist fully in any time now, an glitches around and in different realities. The father sacrifices himself to stop this and save the family, and in order to keep the living quarters in full repair the mother has to become a cyberman. Their child is now left utterly alone as it were among ‘dead’ races and a callous computer AI that uses her for repairs that can’t be reached by anything else. The four doctor, comes in, they have some good time together and he comes back on her birthdays and often because little girl is lonely. This goes on for his run basically seven years. 

After two years of not visiting she just figures he’s dead, or forgot about her, but then another doctor, not fifth, but one of the later ones comes by and is like WTF I know this place. And she is ecstatic to have her friend back, and shows him around and he of course promises to come back and does but only ONCE to get something that he needs to help people, so she feels used and such. The Doctor does you know feel sorry for this but the universe is in trouble and he has to help people, and one little girl isn’t as important as the whole universe. 

Then someone else starts visiting another Time lord, and this THIS is the master. Intending to put his mind in her and gain her regeneration, and such since she had never died. Only you know, still a child and he through spending time with her, (the arc is keeping him prisoner) he doesn’t actually want to HURT her and leaves. All that crap happens she is about twenty now, and now the master is back, and kinda wants a new body after being sorta expelled from Missy. So using collected DNA from what is left of his corpse, she is able to use the arc to get him one, though whether or not it gets regeneration is another matter. 

He is able to convince her she can get her friend back, if she helps him finish and make basically a new tardis from the arc and the failed time machine her father made. SO the doctor is like WHO THE FUCK is messing with time and goes to investigate, and now has to deal with the master fully back, and in his prime and a loyal subject who just wants to SEE her old friend back and say goodbye. Only she can’t exactly, since dead basically to the point where the Doctor doesn’t even truly recognize her at all, though she wears one of the four Doctors scarfs. 

Now, these two can skip through time and the doctor has to try to stop them, but the master is always a step ahead as he makes small changes in the world to push it so that he can dominate everything or... so you think. At some point the girl gets caught up with the Doctor and is furious with him of course but they kinda have to work together. 

“I WAITED FOR YOU! I waited for you to come back but you NEVER did! I needed you! Why couldn’t you even send a message?!” 

“You could have escaped! Why didn’t you leave that place and look for me?” -doctor

“HOW?” 

“What?” -doctor

“HOW CAN I FIND YOU?” 

“You...you....”-doctor

“I DID. I looked EVERYWHERE for you! I NEEDED YOU! I... I needed you. And you were never there. But who cares for me? I’m nothing to you. You were the world to me, but you can’t be bothered to even send a card.” 

“No... you....Im sorry. But there are more important things going on then...”-doctor

“You don’t think I know that? Maybe you’ll find all those messages I’ve sent you. *Scoffs* Maybe not. Who knows, I just want to say goodbye to the only father I ever knew. He will help me with that, its hard to do, he said, but I help him with what he wants, and he’ll give me what I want.” 

“Thats not what is going to happen! He’s manipulating you!” 

“I don’t care.” 

“.....O.O”

“I just want to say goodbye to YOU. The YOU I knew. Not this one, not the one who used me, but YOU.” 

“I... I’m sorry, this isn’t going to go the way you want, you have to help me stop the master!” 

“No, you aren���t even the *Doctor, just a person with his body, there isn’t any trace of the *Doctor in you anymore.” 

Just think about the conflict and that sort of biting comment. YOU ARE NOT THE DOCTOR ANYMORE. (addressing critics as YES they aren’t technically the doctor, they are the NEW Doctor, better worse? Who knows?)  Then when they part the doctor DOES find the messages. Turns out she had some serious damn trouble and the first one is asking for his help, and trying to fight off the master, only to get the arc to imprison him when she thinks about what he’ll do. She hears about the lives he saves, and sends the doctor well wishes, then as time passes we get more and more dour and depressing messages until the last one. 

“I don’t know why I’m even sending these anymore, I found out that this is a self repeating time pocket. Its like a small bubble in time or something,” *presses hand to head* “I don’t exactly understand it but someone else does and he is going to help me find you! Isn’t that great! I’ll be able to say goodbye! See you soon Doctor! I’ll give you your scarf back too!” 

Which should leave you with a chill cause how do you know this master wasn’t the one who caused this? Who kept the time pocket as it was, since now he has access to a tardis as it were. So how do you know if the wasn’t the one who was making the Doctor forget about her or making sure she couldn’t get out or send messages out? But NOW, now you have two enemies to deal with, one that might be reasoned with, but is LOYAL to the Master since he was the one who gave her hope, not the Doctor and the Master who might have behind this whole thing from the utter start. 

That’s just the idea I had, because I LOVE the master, I do love him and all his incarnations and I want him back in FULL and utter glory. Then I want someone there who is going to be his loyal subject who is misguided and hurt, but refuses to heal because you know, the master is manipulating her and she doesn’t even want to listen to anyone other then the Doctor she knew since the master is basically making her idealize him.