#yes I already have some idea of a plot for them even though they've just been revealed what of it

[hypocriticaltypwriter]

People Are Strange (ROTTMNT VAMPIRE AU)

OMG, IM GONNA THROW UP SO MICH INFO ON YOU GUYS IM SO SORRY BUT VAMPIRES ARE ON THE BRAIN AND THEY MAKE ME DO THINGS

A TAD bit inspired off of Lost Boys, so it's got that 80s cliche/grunge to it - also @m0nster-fluffer TOTALLY didn't encourage or inspire me to finally write all this stuff out... Totally not 👀

This is inspired by a Roleplay idea I came up with... But was never able to act out so I'm glad I was able to write some if the stuff down!

BASICALLY... It's just like the brothers and MAYBE April (but I think she'll just be a normal human they let tag along, and maybe she does some of their... Hunting for them) are vampires, usually come out late at parties or do their own thing, riding around on motorcycles, being nuisance to many, and threats to others.

I feel if it were a scenario, it'd probably go one (or your whole group, depends on if you want your character to already know the guys or not) of the Roleplayers moves into this small secluded town where all this happens, and somehow gets wrapped up in meeting the four weirdos + April, and then starts discovering the creepy and spooky blah blah ect.

The Hamato Brothers are something no one wants to be around with, cause eventually, you go missing. You get lost. Never to be found, it's kind of difficult when their very... Persuasive.

Basic twist/plot for this whole thing: Everyone in this town but you know the guys are vampires. You and your family have no clue until you find out why the people of this town don't want you to leave, try to keep you trapped in this so called, happy, campy, little peace of heaven off somewhere deep in the woods. You're new meat- new faces. New prey.

The guys had started getting more relentless and more brash toward the townsfolk until you showed up... They can't just give you up that easy.

(And my rant about what I think the guys would be like HEE)

Raphael Raph is one of the more docile of his brothers, he isn't as peer pressuring or over energetic as his other three, usually he's like that big brother 'come on, leave em alone' energy if he can see someone getting stressed over his brothers trying to get them to jump like- twenty feet from the beach pillars. But, as much as he seems like a chill dude, his vampirism is... Different. When he's mad, he isn't afraid to let you know. He can get aggressive and almost animalistic, a LOT of 'accidents' involving people can be from Raphs... Temper-tantrums.

Any vampire powers? Yes! The guy is a total brute, and it's not just for show. He could lift two trucks with both hands with absolute ease if he wanted to.

Leonardo Oh yikes, one of the brothers that a LOT of people tend to be persuaded by. Leo has the tendency to make some of the riskier decisions and ideas of the group, just to see how freaked out they can get new comers, what makes em run away screaming. It makes it more enjoyable for him. He loves- and I mean LOVES a chase once in a while, even if it spreads out into an entire week, he doesn't stop, as long as your in his town, his territory, you can't escape him or his brothers.

Leo's vampirism is one of the MANY faults and reasons the brothers have almost been caught. The guy pushes and tests limits like the little ass he is and waits to see what happens. Raphs killed people, sure, but Leo's killed people, critters, and he tends to leave them on people's doorsteps just to freak them out- especially if they've pissed him off. Or he's... Taken a liking to you.

His actions have gotten him locked up in the Church by the people a few times. And even though he continues to do it, he HATES getting chained up cause he's stuck their for a damn week, and all his brothers do is ridicule, taunt, or scold him. Any vampire powers? Yes! Leo's got some kind of... Trance inducing powers - it isn't like it is in shows or movies. It's a lot more... Subtle than that. It's he can make his point or voice sound more alluding, more conniving, and it almost feels like you can't refuse the guy.

Donatello. The lesser known of the vampire brothers, Donnie is extremely quiet and keeps to himself. And not in a shy way, this guy's seemingly resting bitch-face/death glare looks like he's looking directly through you and into your deepest darkest fears. He probably is.

But once you get to know him - as rare as it is unless he decides you're worth his time, he's still pretty blunt and cold, and he's almost cruel in some way. You can see some dark joy behind his eyes watching you get scared or squirm under his cold arm over your shoulder.

He doesn't seem like it, but he's got that persuasion and slight bloodlust that his twin Leo has. He just more collected about it. He tends to be the one who doesn't cause much of the missing accidents, (he's much more intelligent to clean and hide a crime scene, please, the man isn't a reckless idiot like his brothers.) But the one or two he's done are because someone pissed him off. The someone is his twin. Those two get in nasty- and I don't put it lightly when I say NASTY fights. Ranging from verbal to physical, it's rare that they actually get along so much so that they barely even talk to each other cause it ends in yelling or biting and scratching.

Any vampire powers? Yes! Same as his twin, maybe he dpes it more with that smolder or look he has rather than his voice, but it still gets the job done.

Michelangelo

And finally, the youngest of the Hamatos, Mikey. Of course, don't let that fool you. This vampire tends to be the most welcoming of newcomers out if all his brothers, while he's eerily sweet and calm, it does the trick to put people's minds at ease and get them to join their little rag-tag group.

He's usually the one you'd go to if you feel on edge about everything, him and Raph being more docile to newcomers before they decide to pounce.

While he gives on the laid-back persona... Don't get him mad or threaten his brothers. It'd like a whole new creature from the deepest darkest part of your soul is unleashed if you get on this vampires nerves.

And he's fast. They all are. Don't get me wrong, but the stealth this guy has sneaking and sprinting through woods. You're not gonna escape.

Any vampire powers? Yes! Super speed and levitation! The levitation is usually on his part - meaning he's the one floating around a few feet of ground and picking things up of the floor a few feet away from him. But he can pick people up if he decides he's too tired or annoyed to chase.

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

Okay so i rewatched the first episode of rebirth and have... thoughts.

generally negative, but some positive.

I've already expressed my hatred of the first 50 seconds, but something else i'll mention about the opening is that it really... diminishes Zenix... and it is one of my least favourite things in the world.

The first three characters we ever see on screen in the OG are Zenix, Garroth and Vylad. And i think it's really interesting how these three are all characters who have both worked for and against Aphmau's favour throughout MCD. But the major point is that they're all important, though have varying degrees of on-screen relevance. And even when they're not physically present, they have a big significance to the plot.

them being the first characters we see is a big deal. They've been around since the beginning and were likely to remain important until the finale, if we ever got it. Them showing up FIRST, even before Aph (because we do see Vylad momentarily before Aph), is a huge deal. It sets them up really for their later significance.

But This is taken away from Zenix in Rebirth.

We see 4 characters before Aph in rebirth, but i like to work in 3s, so we will ignore Hyria for this point. i don't like her inclusion in this moment anyways so. boo.

We meet Vylad first, which I'm actually entirely okay with. It makes sense. Of all of them, he is probably the most significant for how MCD turns out as he was the one who led Aph to PD. But... then we get a little flash of... Zane... of all characters.

And not only does this little Zane moment spoil that he's evil, it is just fucking infuriating. Is he an incredibly important (and iconic) MCD villain? Yes... but i don't actually think he was significant to the level that Zenix was. And maybe that's controversial... but he only got Garroth's SECOND face reveal... Zenix gave us Garroth's first. And i just cannot fuck with a second-place bitch taking such a significant spot in the intro.

MCD is not about the Ro'Meaves. It's not even, as a whole, about the conflict of O'Khasis trying to take over Ru'Aun... It's always been about the Shadow Knights, and their little reign of terror, and trying to bring back Shad. O'Khasis was a significant plotpoint, sure, but MCD was never going to end with defeating O'Khasis... it was gonna end with defeating the SKs... 'The King' in earlier episodes is the prototype of Shad... we see SKs are villains constantly. Shad is introduced as the Big Bad before we even know O'Khasis exists...

So why is Zane there?

It gives a very O'Khasis Conflict-centric idea of MCD that isn't accurate at all. Even when Zane is a major issue, he is still contributing to the SK storyline... He is literally spending S1 trying to reform Shad's relic...

and i dont... i don't understand why Jesson did it other than fanservice...

it just pisses me off.

I can get more into this, and why i think Zenix deserves to get that recognition more than Zane (and i do understand the scene is Vylad trying to express why he's putting Aph in PD, but it's about what Jesson was trying to tell us too), but i am very angry and will just insult Zane the whole time.

So i'll simplify it to: Vylad/Zane/Garf intro is very O'Khasis-centric. Zenix/Garf/Vylad intro shows us some of the most major characters in MCD and foreshadows their later significance, as well as sets up that both O'Khasis and Shad are major threats.

[factorialsotherfandoms]

(Happy Ending AU, goes after Fit talks to Pac and Mike)

It's early, too early in Forever's personal opinion. Nothing specific woke him up, however, so he gets to work in his base. He isn't really up to thinking right now, so he simply grabs items from the witch farm and dumps them into barrels - he'll be able to find it later, he's sure.

After ten minutes or so he feels a little more awake and no less alive, and his communicator pings.

Ph1LzA whispers to you: hey m8 u up?

Seeing the message from Philza, Forever's heart skips a beat. He cannot help the grin that sneaks its way onto his face as he types out a reply.

You whisper to Ph1LzA: heeeeey~ do you need me?

Ph1LzA whispers to you: yes

Ph1LzA whispers to you: need a second pair of eyes on something

Any message from Philza is usually enough to peak Forever's interest - they've found a balance now, a comfortable one even, but it's still always wonderful to hear from him.

You whisper to Ph1LzA: I can come over?

Ph1LzA whispers to you: can I come yours i need a break

You whisper to Ph1LzA: always

By the time Forever has walked over to the warpstone, Philza is already there. He seems fine, and isn't carrying anything, just waving with an "'ey mate!"

"Philza!" Forever jogs the rest of the way over. "I knew waking up early was a good idea!"

He didn't, but it seems like one now.

Philza laughs, "appreciated. I've been trying to catch you for weeks, but god am I tired. Here, can we sit somewhere?"

"This way."

Forever doesn't really think before dragging Philza into the witch bar, grabbing a random potion for each of them and the atmosphere. His friend laughs and takes it, though it is quickly swapped for water instead.

Forever checks the cupboard. Potions of harming. Oops.

Still, Philza doesn't bring it up, just pours the water into a shitty cup and taps a nail against it.

The longer it goes on for, the more worried Forever gets.

"Is..." he hesitates a little. "Everything okay?"

"Just haven't been sleeping well," the words come with a yawn and a stretch. "I'll head back after this. Just gotta... This might sound really dumb, okay? I need you to tell me if it sounds dumb. Because I'm about at the point of asking Cellbit for help working this shit out, and I do not want to send him on a wild goose chase."

Those words really do not help Forever's worry. Still, he nods, and plasters a grin to his lips, "you could never be dumb, Felipe."

"Oh I can be plenty dumb. Do it all the time," Philza laughs a bit, but it tastes sour. "Anyway, the plan. Fit didn't laugh me off, and Missa actually gave me an idea. But, the idea's still a few bone short of a broth, and I'd tell you anyway, and well... Yeah."

"Yeah?" Forever considers the two people. It's... Whatever this is, it's not going to be related to why Philza is so tired and so strained - that's okay, he'll try again another time, for now he just wants to hear what he is being trusted with.

"Before I start... I trust you, okay? You can tell whoever you like about this, but you've /got/ to be sure they won't let it get back to the Feds - even if its via other parties. My judgement's shit on this, so I'll trust you with that."

Philza pauses, clearly waiting for a confirmation. Forever also pauses, then nods back - tries not to think about those words so casually said, the trust and the faith and the hope placed in him.

"And I know you've got a lot on your plate, so I really do just need you to tell me if I've completely lost the plot," there's something haunted in Philza's eyes with those words.

"I know, Philza," Forever flicks the name with his tongue, playing with it in his mouth. "I will. What do you need."

"Okay. So," Philza pauses after just those words. "For a bit, I've had this idea, right? Half of us don't have lives we can take the eggs with us, and nobody wants to get split up after. So? What's the point in escaping? Other than being free of the Feds. And I'm pretty sure some people will keep the Feds to keep the community. My thought then is, what if we don't /have/ to loose the community? What if we find an uninhabited world and rebuild our lives together there? Can bring the eggs, get unlimited respawns for everyone, portal through to the hubs so everyone can come and go..."

"Could it work?" Forever's mind is thinking. "It'd need a strong foundation, and a patron... I think? Worlds aren't really my strong point."

"But they are one of mine," Philza grins. "I should be able to hold it myself, for a month or two, even with fifty inhabitants. During that time, I can get in contact with my wife - she's a goddess so she should be able to hold it longer. If she agrees. And if anyone else knows anyone who'd help out, well, having Death as the only influence is probably a bad idea anyway. Forgot to mention that bit to Missa, probably should have, but details there can be worked out later. Need the rest of a plan first."

"Like the actual escape part?" Forever asks, not wanting to interrupt, but seeing Philza starting to doubt himself.

Philza nods, then frowns, "kinda? I have half an idea, but it needs stuff we don't have."

Forever's ears twitch up, "like?"

"My wings," Philza shakes them, hesitating a moment before pressing on. "I'm still not sure how to get the rest of you out, but... If I had them, I could get out, scout, maybe find help?"

Everyone has heard Philza complain about his wings, but few have seen the damage to them truly. Forever isn't sure how bad it is, but he's not even sure he could tell if he saw them.

And then Philza is, somewhat nervously, taking off his backpack, and then the cape which hides his wings. Nervously he unfolds them, and lets Forever see.

Gently Forever reaches out, running a hand down snapped feathers. They themselves are broken - far more of them than would be needed to ground Philza, every single one is cut in half or further - and the flesh beneath... In spots where the feathers are plucked, the skin is angry and raw. Under everything it is uneven, heavily scarred and warped like entire chunks were ripped away.

And the shape, when he looks... Philza's wings are different shapes, the bones of one - maybe both - snapped and regrown out of alignment.

"You just said clipped," Forever whispers. "This is..."

Philza shuffles uncomfortably, "they are clipped."

Forever doesn't wait longer. He opens his arms, and captures Philza within them. Squeezes his friend, holds him close, holds him tight.

"Does it hurt?" he asks.

"Sometimes."

There's a lie in Philza's eyes and the way he holds Forever a little tighter. Always, then, and Forever's fragile heart snaps again.

"Are they..." He hesitates. "Can they even be fixed?"

Philza turns and looks at his wings, shuddering at the state of them, "the feathers will be replaced in a few months, but last time the Feds came and clipped them again. The rest..." a hesitation. "Yes."

"How?" Forever demands. "How do I help you?"

"The End," Philza shakes his head a little. "The End would heal them... Maybe surgery, or some magic, but... When I've hurt them before, I've always returned to The End."

Forever wants to ask, he desperately does, to know why the End would heal Philza in a way nothing else can. He doesn't, though, he does a look struggling to stay present well enough. Instead he starts thinking - as President he doesn't really have the power to do anything, let alone to demand Philza be permitted to visit the End. There's no doctors here, and their closest thing to a witch is Cellbit...

There are tools Philza is unfamiliar with, though. Maybe... Philza's knowledge of the natural world is incredibly - Philza is incredible - but Forever knows he is less capable in the hands of redstone and machines. Perhaps, perhaps...

But no, not yet - speak to the other engineers first, at least. It's just a case of knowing who would keep Philza's trust. Pac and Mike, perhaps, they'd enjoy the challenge.

"And once they're healed, what would you do?" Forever asks.

"Fly," Philza says it like that word holds the hope of humanity and the life of the worlds in its hands.

"I meant about escaping and making us a home," Forever teases.

"Oh," Philza snaps back. "Yeah, that, um. So if I could get to the End I could just jump off and into the void, get out that way. Otherwise... There's a trick, with tnt and the bedrock. You know it?"

"Yeah, but..." Forever hesitates a bit, and he feels Philza emotionally close in the silence. "That's a one way ticket to death."

"Nah," Philza softens again. "You worried about me, king? I'll be fine."

"It's the void!" Forever objects. "You need a train, or a boat, or - or some protection! Otherwise you fall and you die."

"Hence the wings."

"Won't you suffocate?"

"Not if I'm careful; I've done it before."

Forever thinks in horror of the idea at Philza flying through the void, lacking in air, scorching himself. He grabs Philza's face, checks it - checks him - for scars from the void, for the pain it must have caused.

Philza's hands gently close over Forever's, "I'm okay, mate; it's not a method I'd recommend to anyone else. Wouldn't risk it carrying one of you, either."

Fuck, no, Philza definitely shouldn't.

Forever goes to object, but then he remembers... The End. Philza's insistence such a place could heal him. If - if - that is true, if Philza hasn't been madder than they thought this entire time... Then perhaps the void would love him as his own.

Calls into doubt if those are crow wings, however. Not that Forever could tell - he's never met a crow.

"You'll be careful?"

"I don't even have my wings, mate, it's only theoretical."

"You promise?"

"Alright," Philza relents. "I'll be careful, I promise."

Forever searches Philza's face for a lie, and finds none. Instead he grabs another bottle from the witch bar - this one on purpose, experimental painkillers. He gives it to Philza who looks confused, but doesn't even sniff it before he downs the bottle.

"So your plan is... Beg the Federation for wing surgery, blow a hole in the bottom of the world, fly in the void, find us a new place to live together... somehow get the rest of us out, then we're happy and free?"

"When you put it like that, it's really not much of a plan, eh?" Philza laughs a bit, that awful laugh that means he hates himself. "I guess... back to the drawing board. Missa was just talking about me being able to fly away if they healed, and I remembered maybe I actually /could/, you know?"

"It's not... The worst plan," Forever hesitates, considers a bit. "I would help. Don't beg the Federation, though, we're better off studying. If you did..."

"Yeah, I know," Philza pulls a face. "I just don't know where else to go."

"Try Cellbit," Forever shrugs. "He has so many books. Maybe one has an answer?"

"You think its worth bringing this up to him, then?" there's almost hope sparked in Philza's eyes. "It's not really like any of its actionable."

Forever nods rapidly - he knows Cellbit, and knows him well. He can see the hope fading, his friend being crushed by a torment without end. It's only half a plan - not even half of a plan, really, missing every key component possible - but it is hope. It is someone promising an after, one where, maybe, they can all be... happy.

He can't say that, though, so instead he grins. "He's already working on getting us away, why not join forces?"

"Ah, then I'm sure he has better ideas," Philza laughs again. "He always does."

"At least let him know he's not alone in trying?" Forever suggests. He knows Philza, he knows Philza, now he just has to convince him that, yes, talking is the correct plan. "He might like bits of your plan. And he can show you where to help on his."

"I guess I can carry his backpack and get his notepaper for him," Philza says. "... But you really think the plan is good enough to share?"

"I think Cellbit will appreciate knowing about it," Forever says, because the plan is missing parts, and it's so dangerous, and his eyes are still watching Philza's wings. "Do you brush those?"

"Brush... Huh?" Philza twists, and looks at his wings. "Oh, right, no? It's called preening. Like..." Philza twists further, further than a person should, and starts using his fingers and a needle to clear muck from his feathers. "Like this. Fit helps me with the bits I can't reach - or Missa or Wilbur or Chayanne, but Missa and Wilbur work and... I don't really want my toddler having to do it, you know?"

"I could learn," Forever offers. "If... If that's not too forward?"

Philza hesitates a moment, then plucks another needle from a pouch and extends his wing.

"We start where I can see you," Philza gestures to the soft, mutilated underside. "And... Maybe somewhere more private?"

It's not just about helping, though Forever wants to help - Fit is around so often he doubts Philza would ever need Forever's help. But, if he's going to make something... Then he his research done.

"You don't want the witches watching?" Forever teases, already getting up. "What a prude. Come downstairs, then, we can use the couch."

Philza gets up to follow, "are you sure you want to learn? It's kinda fiddly."

"Of course!" Forever replies. "Who wouldn't want to brush your beautiful wings!"

"Preen," Philza sighs. "You- never mind, let's just get somewhere comfy. It'll take a while."

"That's okay," Forever says. "I don't mind."

'If it's you' he doesn't complete it with - it's true, though. He might not be after Philza any more, but he does love him. He loves all his friends, the eggs, the islanders... But no matter what, Philza is always a little special. it's not burning passion any more, but it's there. It's there, and it always will be.

He wants to help. Forever can see a problem and a solution that hasn't been tried. Between him, Pac, and Mike, he's sure they can make Philza some sort of flying aid - he just needs to know better the shape his wings are in.

It's not even about the escape, the new home, with Richas, with everyone, the reward that could be promised to him if he assists... It's about a bird who is probably not a bird, and two broken wings, and an open sky.

It's about the fact Forever loves his friends, and one is hurting, and if he can help... Why wouldn't he?

[fixaidea]

This is not something I intend to sit down and seriously write up until I've read all the relevant bits of Xiaoge's backstory first-hand, but the idea won't leave me be, so here's a Concept:

At the great joint-effort Mystic Nine dig in the 1960s, an amulet is found. Those present theorise that it is something that can give the user a glimpse into their future (and yes, I've written this plot before AND I WILL WRITE IT AGAIN!). After much Shuffling of Feet and Averting the Eyes from the others Xiaoge decides to test it himself.

After entering the vision, he immediately calls the amulet's authenticity into question, as he finds himself in bed with a naked man.

It is a testimony to his calm willpower that he doesn't immediately kick the guy right through the wall, but pauses to asses the situation first. He is not restrained and feels perfectly clear-headed, so this supposed future self of his probably got into this situation on his own accord.

He gets up to investigate - and in the process wakes the stranger up. Thankfully all he does is grumble about how early it is, and then asks Xiaoge to check something in the garden when he's done training.

...All right then, so this future Zhang Qiling has known this man for a while, long enough for them to have an estabilished morning routine. Curious.

Instead of training though he explores the house. He finds another, much more sparse, bedroom with his own black-gold sword hanging on the wall. ...So he's supposed to live here? With that man? And it's not even just the two of them, he can hear someone snoring further down the hall. Do either of these people know who and what he even is?

...And it is at this point when he spots a large portrait of himself hanging on the wall. So yeah, they probably do know. Or did they assume it depicted one of his ancestors?

He intends to keep assessing the situation and observe the other inhabitants (the guy he woke up with and a slightly older and much larger man) but the two clock that he's acting weird with surprising ease. Apparently he has a number of different silences.

He tests the waters by telling them that he doesn't recognise them, which is met with some dismay, but no surprise at all. Again, curious. Instead of acting hurt or panicking they introduce themselves (Wu Xie and Wang Pangzi), tell him where and when he is (Yucun, 2020) and ask him what's the last thing he remembers. Seems like they've been through this before?

At this point he decides to take the risk of not being believed and tells them the truth. The two are bewildered, but not entirely incredulous. Sure, Pangzi half-seriously checks for a human skin mask first, but they do take him seriously, and soon they are deep into a discussion about the details of his situation - a discussion that makes it obvious that this Wu Xie is fully in on all the secrets of the Zhang.

Could it be that he's some officially assigned partner of his? It would be a bit strange, but then again, the world was already rapidly changing just in the couple of decades Zhang Qiling can remember, and this is more than half a century later still, who knows what counts as normal these days? He might have to ask though, because so far Wu Xie himself hasn't brought up the matter, he was more focused on the possible mechanics of this time travel situation. Zhang Qiling himself expected a simple vision but now he's interacting with the people in his supposed future, and one of them is rambling about 'the question of a time-loop versus the Multiverse Theory'. Zhang Qiling thinks he gets the grist of it, but the one thing he learns for sure is that Wu Xie is very bright and he likes the sound of his own voice a bit too much. That is, when he gets to hear it, because Pangzi is even more talkative.

How did he end up living with these people?

(...Meanwhile Wu Xie is internally screaming over what he can and can't tell this younger Xiaoge, like, what would even be relevant if this is a parallel timeline and not a time-loop? Maybe THEIR Zhang Qishan is a perfectly nice, standup guy? Because if not, and if there's and way at all of sparing this version of Xiaoge 20 years of medical torture at Golmud then WU XIE WILL DO IT, CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED!)

(...At least all this overthinking keeps him from dwelling on the small matter of waking up beside a Xiaoge who is at this point a virtual stranger.)

[miela]

From a Submission:

"i thought about it too, you know, your recent reply to the anonymous rant

it's a male-centered fandom... simply because all the original canon characters are male, and the only characters we have at least any information on are male, too (i'm talking about rhe marauders) so people kind of knew what fandom they were going to be a part of... no?

i also don't understand why we need to question jegulus when it's basically just another interpretation of how things could be (i also dont agree with jegulus raising harry... BUT i believe that harry is a surrogate baby if we talk about the possibility and lily is a separate character from her canon child, and they've no mother-son relationship, for the purpose of representing jegulus as gay dads, so they can have harry as their kid. lily could have harry too, if we say she raised harry in a lesbian couple or etc... well, if that's so, that's not a problem, it's just a au and a perspective).

I also agree that in most fanfictions, the girls are used as background characters (sometimes very poorly written) for the plot to work out, for conversations to happen, and I would love to read more works with memorable and meaningful storylines. to see a new perspective on lily, mary, marlene. that's another reason why i loved coptp the most, even though it's a muggle AU. the characters have personalities; they exist because they are all tied together, and they have common and separate stories that simply make sense.

i see where choices can be problematic. you haven't read it yet but you already got a spoiler. the work implies polyamory, which means jegulily (kind of), which means a lot of people hate it. i also don't see how pairing james with regulus can be problematic with JUST A FEW canon compliant AUs in the fandom. yes, we have very few works that tried to follow the original idea with a few fancanon additions that doesn't affect pretty much anything overall. wolfstar isn't canon too at this point and we can ask the same question... why do we focus on men and make it all man focused then (it's literally one of the most popular ships in the whole fandom!!!) and won't let remus and sirius be friends instead and then lead remus' storyline to tonks x remus, because like with jegulus, there's not even a hint of wolfstar, except that they were close friends and that iconic hug

it's all about different interpretations and different ships. we can give jegulus a chance simply because some people are curious as to how a relationship between a dark arts hater and a death eater could go. and we know for sure that regulus betrayed Voldemort, it's canon! so it means that it didn't come out of nowhere, but there was (possibly always) something in regulus that made him disagree with his family values and traditions to kind of follow Sirius' steps. why do we forget about that? i love james x lily, like a lot, it's wholesome, we often see a good, healthy, and mature relationship examples but i dont see why if i like them i cannot like jegulus just as much. we don't want to forget whose son mr. harry i-wanna-save-them-all potter is lol. yes, James'... so why, during Hogwarts, don't we think of a possibility that there was a circumstance in which James and Regulus were somehow connected? hello? it's literally james' closest friend's brother. i bet sirius and james talked about regulus like everyone does when they have annoying siblings who lost their true self, he'd rant to james and be angry with regulus and james would be the one getting all this information. there's a possibility for jegulus to exist. we know they didn't, but it's ALL fiction at this point and life can be so so unpredictable that we can't be sure one hundred percent about pretty much anything.

the only thing I agree with is that we need more interesting, deep, well-written female characters, and we don't need to make Lily a certain sexuality just because we want Jegulus to be a thing. lily is brilliant as she is, but still.

every single character deserves a queer representation and not just the same one from one fanfiction to another. the same character can represent a different sexuality in different fanfictions. it's like 'Oh, the description gives me the idea that the character I'm reading about is james potter (there's this common interpretation of his character that most of us can agree with so we kind of have a general idea of who he is as a character, the same i can say about sirius or remus)... in this fanfic he is straight and in love with lily, so canon compliant... but in that one, he somehow had a chance to interact with regulus and they felt a connection and james realized that he is not straight indeed, but maybe bi... or gay or...'. it's that simple, and that's called interpretations, from different people, in different ffs, and that's the point of fanfics. imagine things, try to make them work and nake sense.

it's just that the fandom likes a certain ship more and if people like jegulus, it doesn't necessarily mean they are supposed to hate lily.

if we rant about characters in fanfictions... why don't we talk about Peter then... people are literally not interested in writing him most of the time or talk about his sexuality, to be honest; he is a marauder for god's sake!!! didn't you notice that? it's because in the canon and fanon too, most of the time, '"he's short, fat, and ugly ish compared to his friends" and a Voldemort's most loyal follower in the future, so f*ck him,' so the only interpretations we get are... oh, where they are? there's like one, and uninteresting. you see what i mean?

there's so many things to complain about. so many possibly new interpretations and having jegulus as one is not the biggest problem. the oppression of female characters and the lack of their development isn't on jegulus alone, it on unskilled authors and people who read problematic fanfictions and make them popular.

a lot of things happened to Mary; one triggering event after another in multiple works. there's established tropes in the marauders fandom that a lot of authors feel obliged to follow in their works i believe (like, wolfstar, twink sirius, tall and smart remus, soft in the head peter, james' nice parents who love and accept everyone, etc...) i understand that some people think that what happened to mary in ATYD is her oppression and humiliation... but why dont we remember how many bad and humiliating events other characters were put through (like regulus was literally and constantly harassed by his best friend in one of the fanfictions i read because he was a closeted gay and also manipulated). so you see, it's not about gender, it's not like having more gay ships between the main male characters oppress female ones. it's about why we need to write in a smart thoughtful way and why the events in our works should make sense without blaming other characters for it to happen, why we don't need to oppress ones for the sake of having an interesting plot twist with the others.

I like men, and I like women, i like reading about both too, in any fandom, but i am not ashamed to admit that my favorite characters are male, simply because i relate to them more thus they're more interesting and dimensional to me. but I don't see a problem with a male-focused fandom simply because, in the canon, it is male-focused like i said, and we all started from the same place, and we all liked the said so-called male canon first and then we discovered and made up new female characters which is amazing. i agree we shouldn't write about triggering topics just for the sake of a work being angst and dark and all mysterious... I agree that female characters shouldn't be rebounds for the male characters (but doesn't what happened to Mary in atyd happens in real life? yes, it does. the problem is how it was written and maybe some people thought it was written poorly but that's their opinion which should be heard too).

let me know what you think, mae! sorry for my "little" rant haha i just saw your post and wanted to share so we could discuss it further 🫶"

My response:

Hieeeeee ☺️

No need to apologize! You know i love yapping! Lol!

I do agree that since the marauders era is central to the Marauders members does make it very male-centered. Absolutely! And we absolutely have the most information on them. 

(And omg i never thought about raising harry that way. Imagine being raised by two gay moms AND two gay dads. Give that boy all the love for he deserves it! I need the au immediately.)

I'm excited to read more of coptp and see how they are written as characters! I love the valkyries and skittle girlies so much, and I would love to see them shine more. I would also love fo read/write them as main characters too and see the world from their perspectives!

I think what the other person im my asks were trying to say was (correct me if im wrong) that jegulus is problematic because of how some people treat lily in the process.  

And I can see both sides on how jegulus can work in canon and in fanon. There are good arguments for both honestly! For me, I'm not against them being used in canon-compliant fics. i find it fun and interesting! BUT my view of canon is just so jily-centered that it makes it difficult for me to headcanon jegulus in canon compliant at all. And that's mostly coming from an atyd lense too. But I'm still exploring and reading so my thoughts are subject to change! For all we know Jegulus could have been a moment in canon. Like you said it's all on interpretation. Like I have two different versions of canon in my mind; original canon and fanmade canon, and depending on which version is being talked about depends on my interpretation. 

Let's make it marvel for a second, yeah? It's a multiverse. That's how I see it. Anything can happen. Each of us are the anchors of our own marauders universe. For example, In one universe there's jegulus and marlily and in another universe there's jily and bartylus. I think it's beautiful honestly, but I agree that the fem characters should be uplifted within these universes too! And I agree with you about multiple characters having different types of traumas and that authors (me included) need to write in smart and thoughtful ways, despite obligations. Obligation kills creativity.

And on the subject of Peter, i COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU. I can go on for literally HOURS about Peter getting sidelined as a Marauder. They're the four marauders not the three musketeers. There's SO MUCH to unpack there too. SOOOOO much to unpack. (I have my own version of Peter in my head that I'm excited to share at some point. Literally, anybody ask me about my Peter. I love him. He's my pookie.)

Overall, I understand both views and understand that this fandom has a lot of things to unpack and much to discuss when it comes to different characters and how they're perceived based on how they look or who they are. There's stereotypes and tropes that need to be broken down and internalized misogyny and fatphobia that needs to be dismantled.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! ☺️

[linalilia]

[meet the prisoners!] prisoner 001: miyagawa akio

oh god we're really doing this.

so yeah, remember when i said that i actually have milgram ocs? i'll start posting them now!

here's our first prisoner! his design looks a bit boring, i know, but i think it fits him well! sorry for making him look like mikoto's long lost brother i wanted him to have that "basic anime protag" vibe, if you know what i mean. though his personality is not like that at all, haha. also i'm sorry if the symbols on his prisoner uniform look weird, i'm still trying to figure out how to make them look good and i can't see them that well even though i use references 😔

also, some notes: this story happens before the events of canon milgram project + novel (yes, i know the plot of the novel but i'm not sure where to read it in english, i'm sorry!), so es isn't the guard yet. this time milgram prison has not one, but TWO guards and both of them are polar opposites of each other. one of them wants to vote everyone innocent and believes that they're actually good people, but the other one thinks all prisoners should be voted guilty and all of them deserve to die for their sins.

this time the prisoners are much less sympathetic than the canon ones because if the canon prisoners are kind of "morally gray".. well, maybe these guys' cute designs will be enough to make people vote them innocent :') i will write their mv descriptions, voice dramas and interrogations as well, though honestly, i feel like i actually could try writing songs for them because i like composing and writing lyrics.. but i'm too lazy for that right now djsjsksk.

also almost forgot to mention, don't take their mv descriptions too seriously (or do take them seriously. i'm not your mom), like, for example, if i mention a character being treated badly by someone in the mv, it doesn't necessarily mean that this thing actually happened. it doesn't mean that my characters are able to lie through their mvs, it's more about how they personally saw their crimes. and considering that a lot of my ocs are very dramatic and they believe that they've done nothing wrong.. yeah, trusting their every word is not a good idea.

and if you guys find my ocs interesting, maybe i'll actually do polls where you can vote them innocent or guilty! and if not, that's okay, i already have canon verdicts for them in mind, so :'D it would be fun to see people choosing something completely different from what i expected though

anyway, you can read this boy's profile under the cut!

General info:

Name: Miyagawa Akio (宮川 昭雄) (kanjis in his last name stand for "temple, shrine, palace" and "river" and kanjis in his first name mean "bright" and "hero")

Age: 16 y/o

Gender: Male

Status: Prisoner 001

Birthday: September 4 (Virgo)

Height: 166 cm

Blood type: A

Image Color: #D5C7E5

Occupation: High school student (first year)

Personality: Akio is a very prideful and arrogant boy who has an extremely high self-esteem. He believes he's innocent and refuses to admit that he really did something bad. Whenever his crime is mentioned, he claims that it wasn't his fault and his victim deserved it anyway. However, he's actually very smart and it's easy for him to fool people and make them believe that he really is a good guy. He claims that he was the best student in his class and he's been getting perfect grades since elementary school. He says that he never had any rivals because he was so perfect, however, it doesn't look like he had any friends either. He also doesn't believe that Milgram is an actual prison and thinks that it's all just for show and even if it's real, he's sure that he will never get executed or anything like that.

MV info:

Which canon Milgram song he would cover: It's Not My Fault

Which DECO*27 song he would cover: Reversible Campaign (i wish i could say that i have a deep reason for giving him this song, but.. i don't have one actually! i just like this song a lot and it's very special to me because if i'm not wrong, it's the first deco*27 song i ever listened to (or at least i have many good memories associated with it) so i thought that it would be a good idea to give it to the first prisoner!)

If he could cover a song by a different Vocaloid producer, which one would it be: Abnormality Dancin' Girl by Guchiry (i do have a reason this time, but i think you'll be able to figure it out yourself :))

His MV description: His MV would have this royal theme/aesthetic, similar to Muu's INMF MV with its whole queen bee thing, however, his video would still feel and look completely different. His MV would mostly have dark/dull colors.. until one specific scene.

His video starts with a crowd of people sitting in a room that looks like some kind of a concert hall and even though it looks beautiful and detailed, it's mostly gray and black. All people look like black silhouettes and don't have any defining features, however, judging from their poses, you can tell that they feel awkward or even anxious. And then, suddenly, Akio appears on the stage while dressed like a king. Even though he's supposed to look unique compared to the silhouettes, his colors are still just as dull as the room's. He smiles and starts singing and while he does so, he appears not just as a king, but as other important figures, for example, a movie star, a popular singer, a president and even a god. The lyrics mention Akio being the only person here who's actually interesting, unique, skilled and talented. The silhouettes follow him around all the time and you can actually see them having bright green eyes, but they show them only when Akio does something cool, for example, defeats an enemy, executes a criminal, etc. Everything goes well until Akio notices that the colors of the MV start becoming brighter and he sees that the silhouettes are not really interested in him anymore and they're following a very bright figure that looks like it's literally made out of light. He starts getting more and more nervous as he sees his loyal followers leaving him. There's a shot of him standing with a glass case full of all kinds of prizes and trophies in the background and the glass suddenly breaks right when he sees that figure again. The glass hurts Akio in the process and one of the silhouettes notices it and decides to check if he's okay. Akio sees that this silhouette's eyes are different and they're not green, but pink instead. He smiles and the MV ends with the "more popular student" being executed by Akio, who got his crown back and right when Akio looks at the pink-eyed silhouette and nods, the colors turn dark again and the lights go off.

His Trailer 1 Voicelines:

"My name is Miyagawa Akio. You two.. You two are not much older than me, right? So why the hell do you even have a right to judge us for our crimes? Honestly, I'm the one who deserves this right more than anyone else here."

"He really doesn't know his place, does he? So annoying.. Hey, can you help me out with something? Come on, I know you like me."

Trivia.

He sees himself as innocent and hopes to get a verdict like that as well.

He didn't commit any other crimes except murder and he claims that he had only one victim.

He's secretly embarrassed of his height and wants to grow taller.

He's very proud of being popular with both guys and girls from his school.

He's not really close with any prisoners except Prisoner 009, who's only one year older than him and was quite a popular student as well. Prisoner 002 wants to become friends with him too, but he keeps ignoring her and finds her annoying.

You can think of him as Haruka's "foil" or simply his opposite because of them both being the first prisoners, but having completely different personalities. Haruka constantly apologizes, believes that he brings misfortune to other people and he's not the smartest guy here, meanwhile Akio really was the best student in his class, he never apologizes and takes his words back and he believes that he's better than everyone else. They're also almost the same age, though Akio is one year younger than Haruka.

Even though Akio and Muu's videos (we're talking about the second one) have a similar theme, they feel very different. No matter how much Muu claims that everything is not her fault, she still appears as a monster in her MV and she constantly says how pitiable she is (i am NOT going with the official eng translation) and even if she's a "bad girl", she still asks to forgive her. Akio doesn't feel like that at all and he really does believe that he's innocent and he also doesn't see himself as a monster or any other scary creature, HE LITERALLY SEES HIMSELF AS A GOD. He never asks to forgive him because he thinks that people will do it even if he doesn't ask.

His crime is pretty easy to solve compared to the other prisoners. I wanted to make it more complicated at first, but then I thought that it makes sense for a first prisoner to have a crime that's not as mysterious or difficult to solve as other characters' murders.

[kimwxler]

Actually, a ton of overall thoughts on OFMD 2x04 - 2x05 under the cut instead of me inevitably making 10 different posts

Anne and Mary were everything I could have dreamed of. I love their terrible marriage, and yes I do believe in their love

I like that we're not meant to think that they're right about Ed and Stede overall, but that yeah--Ed and Stede are like teenagers, not people in an adult relationship.

Love Ed's terrible "celebrity/influencer" type apology and that it was called out in the narrative for not actually including the words "I'm sorry".

Also, Stede is doing better with the crew but he still just went ahead and invited Ed back onto the ship after about 12 hours. Them all being on the same ship is necessary, but I think it's obvious this isn't really great behavior as a Captain. I definitely think Ed and Stede being self-centered and not really seeing the crew fully as people despite them being friends/family is going to be called out and improved some more.

I'm not sure how I feel about the tone switches and general rushed pace, but I'm trying to roll with it knowing they should've had 10+ episodes this season. I really like what they're doing in terms of actual themes/plots, though. The focus on healing, facing your trauma and the things you've done, making amends, changing to accept love and to love in return. Half the crew being severely traumatized, and then everyone coming together to help Izzy, who is (physically and emotionally) hurt more than anyone else--it's so good.

Izzy lore: he can read, whittle, has whip scars on his back, and taught Ed everything he knows. (I saw some people saying this was Stede manipulating Izzy, but I don't know, combined with some lines in the first two eps, I think we're meant to take this as pretty truthful. I'm sure Ed taught Izzy things too because he's a genius, but they've known each other so long that Ed really did learn a lot about fighting/piracy from Izzy.)

Pete really bothered me in ep 5. I appreciate that he also went through something traumatic, but it hasn't actually been long since this all happened, yet alone too long that Ed's been back on the ship. He could stand to be a little more patient and supportive before lecturing Lucius.

That said, I like this realistic approach to healing where sometimes you just... have unhealthy coping mechanisms. Not that Izzy saying a shark ate his leg is a good thing or the end of this arc, but sometimes it's about what keeps you alive. Izzy isn't doing well, but he's making it through each day and opening himself up to good experiences.

The fact that Ed is still a pirate but not Captain is really interesting. On the one hand, of course not? But even if piracy and the loneliness of being Captain made Ed miserable, I think he also loves and relies on the respect he gets. If 90% of the crew are still wary of him, he's now gone from isolated but respected/admired to just isolated. And if he's just sick of piracy in general, how does that work when Stede is starting to thrive?

It also makes me wonder about the first mate business. On the one hand, if Buttons isn't here, Izzy is and his relationship with Stede and the crew has already improved a lot. But again, Izzy as Ed's First Mate was such a point of pride to him and such a big part of his identity. I do wonder if they're gonna make this into an actual plot point, and if it'll tie into the Ed and Izzy confrontation that needs to happen.

Coming back to the idea of Ed and Stede being like teenagers, it feels like they addressed some of the issues--moving too fast--in a healthy and mature way, but they do need to think and talk about what would happen long-term. It's kind of like they're entering their senior year of college and not discussing what colleges they want to apply to.

They need to work on the lighting for Season 3. Beloveds I can't see anything 💖

[thegeminisage]

SIIIGH it is star trek update time. last night we watched tng's "preemptive strike" and ds9's "the collaborator."

preemptive strike (tng):

well well well, if it isn't picard racially profiling more bajoran women. because that went SO well for him last time

yes it was also because of her "training" or whatever but like. it was because she was bajoran

rough time w this episode because picard was being awful to ro the whole time and it's so clear she loves him and cares about his opinion SO MUCH! but ro herself was amazing. i literally was cheering for her to defect the entire time and she finally did and i was SO HAPPY girl get her off that spaceship

on the other hand, it sucks that all her life is about the cardassians. she either is oppressed by them or fights them and she doesn't ever really get to break free of that ever. i guess it's better than serving under picard but :/

i looked up why she wears her earring on the other side and apparently it's to keep vedeks from feeling her pagh ie she's an atheist. queen.

did NOT like the section where she and picard had to pretend to be making out. her also fr making out with that other rando was gross. like, they put her in this situation, and she immediately has to pull a captain kirk and start using her body/sex as a tool in her arsenal.

icing on the shit cake is sending riker out with her to make sure she stays loyal when riker was the most skeptical of her at first and even made her TAKE OFF HER EARRING. he calmed down eventually and he was really nice to her here (and his outfit did slay) but that's still adding insult to injury

the collaborator: (ds9):

the emotional rollercoaster this one sent me on.

i hate vedek winn with a passion reserved for people who hate fictional characters because they've known people exactly like that in real life. the way she's like no i am nice and kind YOU are the mean evil one for always being so angry :) makes me homicidal. every religious south carolinian ever. so initially i was like "bitch shut up we all know youre framing his ass"

EVEN THOUGH I ALSO DON'T LIKE. BAREIL. it's a tough life i lead

i thought kira's orb vision where they were naked together was REALLY creepy*, and i was extremely disgusted when they fucked in whatever episode that was, so him and her fucking for a good section was like. gross.

*possibly this vision was supposed to be sexy instead, but i never stopped seeing him as slightly predatory after this

anyway, then i was like, i don't want winn to be kai because she sucks so bad, but it would be cool if he did it because then he and kira will break up! and kira can get back to having no romance whatsoever with odo until like season one million, but i'm a patient woman and i can wait.

IMAGINE MY SHOCK when kira was like talking about her problems to odo, who had alerted her to the prisoner being moved JUST as a consideration, and was doing all these data lookups for her JUST to be nice, and she goes "i love him" and his approximation of a head snaps up like it's on an approximation of a string

LIKE. HELLO??? WE'RE ONLY IN SEASON 2????? i got the impression they didn't get together until WAY late in the show and this is pretty direct confirmation that despite his very loudly objecting to the idea of romance in general he is ALREADY CARRYING THE TORCH........perhaps has been for some time?? me pointing to the ds9 soup hey is there PINING in this?????

i really hope kira/odo is good when it happens. i'll be so sad if it happens but it's bad. in my mind palace it's amazing. not that i don't love odo and quark, but quark has yet to connect with my psyche on a deeper level and odo and kira live in there rent free with sisko and julian bashir.

anyway, the plot twist about kai opaka was really REALLY good an unexpected, kira was FANTASTIC in this ep, and of course i'm insane about odo pining, but ultimately this is a bust bc we got the absolute worst of both worlds: winn is kai, AND kira and bareil don't break up. i was LIVID.

i then looked up to see when/if winn and bareil die and was relieved to discover he dies soon but she lives until the finale 😒 fuck offffff

TONIGHT: the SERIES FINALE of tng!!!! our suffering is almost over.......

[hyperbolicgrinch]

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time? 

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Im sorry there's so many. I'm just a simp for my author wifey, and you can ask me anything forever 💖

ASKS FROM BANG?!! I'M ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Don't apologise, I adore you for it. Thank you, 🥜, for taking the time to send me anything. ☺️

(huhuhuhu permission granted, let's go 👁️👄👁️💖)

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

Hmm. If it's like punctuation (and grammar too, I guess), I'd say it's like 4 (1 being the best thing ever sgsggdj) cause 85% of the time I know exactly what to to with that and love fixing little low stake slip-ups that have laid out rules I can follow and don't really need to overthink about.

Editing, like going through and punching everything up a notch or cleaning up flow is hmm, still pretty high. Like a 5. Cause even though it can be daunting and painstaking, I love that I actually have words on a page to play around with. I think it let's the ideas and scenes reach a closer version to the ones I had in my head. It's a lot of work and can drive one crazy but getting things to sing or spark is so satisfying ngl. 😌

Editing when you have to overhaul and rewrite large parts and fix one big problem but maybe make ten more is a quick and easy way to go insane but I still think it's not that bad. Like a 6 or 7. Cause, once again, I've already got words to fuck around and find out with and I'd take that over a blank page any day.

Proof reading editing can be really fun because spotting inconsistencies and lining them all up so they match makes brain go brrrrr so like a 5 or 6. Especially because at that point I know I'm so close to the finish line and the pay off is right there if I just get my shit together. 😂

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

fuck it, more than 5 be upon ye: 🥣🚩🫀🧵🧲😤💋🦋🏴‍☠️

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?

Fatigue. 😅 Depression. 😅 Imposter syndrome. 😅 The stars not feeling like they've aligned correctly. 😮‍💨 The pressure to write a scene how it is in my head. 😩 The "what's the point?" poison to my whimsy and motivation. 🙄 The amount of time that's passed since I started writing the thing. 😭 The constant desire for instant gratification. 😐 The everyday horrors. 😵‍💫 My pedantic ass. 😮‍💨 Me forever renting real estate in the procrastination CBD. 🙄 I love to shoot myself in foot and just stare at a wall thinking about writing but not doing it. So just about everything under the sun, really. 🤪

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

I don't know if this is what the question meant sfsghfhjjj but arghh I want a modern au that's so specific and catered to my exact tastes and based on the rambles my sister and I have had hsjjajjsk but there's also like this canon divergent ??? fix it??? au??? manifesting?? idea I have been thinking about non-stop since it got inside my brain but that I'm worried to to do in case it gets my hopes up for canon but basically I want two characters (and their crews) (but also these other two random characters that are not related to the first idea or each other bwhhah but I have thoughts for too and need them to come back exactly how I am envisioning because it would honestly be the Best Thing to Happen Since Sliced Bread ppfft hshajjajahsh) to somehow find each other again and team back up and take no shit to get revenge and then maybe kiss a little bit in front of the 1️⃣☮️ or something agshshsjaka after a dramatic entrance and while they hold some huge threat off so Luffy can get the ultimate boss fight done hdhsjskjshdj (Oda I'm so fr like if you need a rest or wanna hand their arc off so you can focus on bigger things, I'm right here cracking my metaphorical knuckles, I'll do it for you so fast, I have Ideas, put me in coach you won't regret ittt🙂👉👈) but it would be like so much work to make a plot that even made sense for it because I would have to do so much reaching and hand waving unless I got real serious about it and even then I would have to make so much up because there is no word of Goda or known timeline yet or events to use for its structure. 😅😂

But just anyone. Anyone that isn't me should write it (like Oda if you've got a moment...I mean, you've already done most of it,, might as well keep going, man) 😂 Maybe they even have... I haven't had a chance to look. 😅

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

Any and all comments spark joy and make me hehehehe and teeheeteehee and kick my feet and then I put them in my "reasons to keep writing" folder so I can go back and look at them when I'm feeling like a fraud or giving up on the thing. I wish I could be more specific but I really do cherish when people take the time to just leave anything. If they say what they liked or quote something they loved, that's even better, but merely a kind-hearted bonus. ☺️

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Hhrrmmm. If the vibe check just ain't passing for whatever reason or the tone and character is off to an unforgivable degree. 😌 Maybe it's in character for them and the version of that character they have in their heads, but if it ain't clicking for me, it ain't clicking, and I can't push through it. 😩 I think this is a very common one but yeah, character makes or breaks a fic. Cause it's the whole point, at the end of the day, ya know? 😅

[halfbit]

help i am once again having to make Choices

so i discovered canva today, and now i really want to make little template thingies for sharing some of my projects in image format. problem. i overthink fonts

pls... help, which do you guys think would work best??? also this isn't for a text body font, these choices are a bit too flashy for that vv info about serpent's quest in the readmore below for vibe-matching (also if you have suggestions for a different font entirely, feel free to add)

serpent's quest is a high fantasy solarpunk isekai where every person has a reason for not wanting to go home, whether it be that the only thing they can return to is a destroyed planet, a family that was happy to see them go, and a family that never knew who they really were, for whatever their reason, they don't care if this is their last stop. and why would they want to leave? this beautiful land they've found themselves in, saonkaya, looks like one they'd only ever seen in the old art. the flowers are neverending, the creatures reach the clouds, and the towns are full of wonder. yes, there are monsters here, but isn't that just how these things go? and besides, what are monsters in the face of magic? let's explore this world together, and all the secrets it holds, and watch foe turn to tentative friend, as whispers of the new world's death thrum, and a serpent creature from the stars above constricts the protagonist, trying to pull him into it's carefully plotted path to return it to power. mankind needs to be pulled down from the sky, it says. and maybe it's right. even more information since i kinda started rambling below haha

for wolf, this world is still to be feared. he doesn't want to leave this place, but he's not cut out for it yet either. maybe it was the fact he nearly died on his first day, that tends to damper your mood. healing, it turns out, costs money, money he doesn't have. no money, no id, and no idea about where he's at. he's got magic now, but he can't really figure it out, and it doesn't seem to be able to protect him or fight anything, it just whispers in the background, concepts of danger, which might be helpful, if it told him where it came from.

but wolf decides to make the most of it, since he was finally able to escape the one place he needed to. and even though money is going to be a challenge to come by (and he's already starting his new life with debt) he finds people at his side, not really... companions. he doesn't want to keep people around like that, but, they'll work together, and life will be easier for it. they can discover the wonderful things about this world together, and maybe wolf will be able to compensate for his underwhelming magic with some cool items. just because he starts rough, doesn't mean he can't make things better with the right tools, right?

unfortunately, on his little adventures, he stirs a snake's nest. with the eyes of an imprisoned god now on him, he finds his choices are no longer entirely his own. something is moving things into place for him, locking down his other paths, until he only has one path forward, and even if its one he'd wanted, he now feels the eyes on the back of his head, and knows he's doing exactly what it wants. it's just waiting. waiting for him to keep doing it's will. and that pisses wolf off.

god i hope i didn't forget anyhthing since i can't edit polls

[incarnateirony]

Idk if you've talked about this before because I haven't found it yet while scrolling through this blog.

Does jensen now completely own the characters of spn? Mainly dean sam and cas I mean? I know it was said he isn't going to change anything about the entire 15 years of the show. But if he's thinking of making other shows besides TW, something like a sequel continuing from the finale or focusing on characters beyond the winchester family , involving all the characters from spn (other than the ones on TW) he can take the them any which way he wants, as long as it doesn't contradict the original's canon?

First, he didn't say "not going to change anything". That's a rephrasing. He said the original canon will remain in tact. The very sentiment of the spinoff is recontextualizing the main piece. The content remains the same, but the additional content and context gives it entirely different meanings.

Second, kinda yes kind of no. First of all, erase from your head the idea that corporate gives a fuck about any kind of continuity or plot holiness. They barely fucking know, ESPECIALLY now that it's new ownership and hierarchy.

Jensen does not *own* these characters (the old ones; the new ones ARE his). WB and Kripke own the characters, he just has permission and license to use them. But much to the chagrin of antis, with all this corporate takeover, there's nobody even CONNECTED to WB older than Jensen at this to HAVE a goddamn opinion.

Furthermore, he already secured that licensing. Zaslav cut the red tape on creatives, and removed the 3 tier reporting structure. Creatives that have their budget and shit already don't have to Ask Permission. They do what they do. He'll call if their numbers fuck up.

So while there's a (C) on the characters, nobody really gives a fuck about what he does with those (C) characters. He can do whatever he wants with them, within a cleared property.

The idea that Nexstar is going conservative is a manufactured lie from undereducated idiots. It's, as I've been saying, a white lib syndicate at large, and internally they've installed political-left presidents, heads of TV and more (such as, the current CW president using his Linkedin to signal boost ways to end the class gap.) Most of them worked in primarily black entertainment centers that lean blue too. Dennis used to work for Ted, for example. Now Dennis runs what used to be Ted's airwaves before WB picked it for parts to begin with.

The Conservative Panic people induced--some in ignorance, some in conscious manipulation for fearmongering propaganda--really is comical since this fandom REEKS of bland white liberalism and all its fakeness. So really they're just screaming that their own politics are toxic. People don't just suddenly stop voting blue after 35. 18-49 is not the jump they're pretending. It's just telling you that grown adults here need to stop acting like teenagers, as many do around here. Because we're going into the grownup verse now. But I digress.

Jensen is clear to use these characters for a few years. And seeing as The Winchesters is making hand over fist on their digitals, running about 3x the value of other "top shows" like Walker within the app, and the advertising packages very easily compared, there's little chance anyone--WB, Nexstar, anyone--is really gonna give him a hard time.

If TW is cancelled, it will only be to re-order a new replacement who's budget is already set from jump to comply with the new payroll, depending on how their licensing arrangements work out. They mentioned based on how many watch. So like, AA may be old and above the 3 year bloat point, that's flip flop potential but there IS internal talk of whether they keep one or both AA.

TW doesn't have that issue though, and is in like ZERO risk of threat, because it would take a slackjawed idiot to EVER even TRY to imagine that they're going to ax the product running the same or better lives than everything and triple-over their top in-app performers. *especially* now that the digital and live classic ads are sold in bundle marketing, because that triple digital value basically means average them together and they're about 2x value for their ad slots above, say, Walker. Just. Infinite amounts more value. Nexstar could just decide to scale their budget up anyway.

If Nexstar proves to be TOO inflexible, which is really unlikely, then yeah. Just boot into a next series already form fitted to lower budget, like a central roadhouse setting so half of it can almost film like a sitcom. So like The Winchesters-->The Roadhouse or whatever. But that would just really be means of budget fiddling without losing integrity of a show.

There's nothing to stop Jensen from signing it again. Roth was Jensen's mentor and was called in to personally advise Zaslav in which properties to ax, keep, or focus on and promote. Minding that Roth also told him to make CM to begin with and pitched him several spinoff ideas, I'm going to let you guess what that translates to.

It's Jensen's all the way down, regardless of the little (C) icon. He can't necessarily "take team free will and run" (he could take carlos and latika and run, possibly, depending on the fine print). But also there's really absolutely 0 people in the universe that can give him shit.

It's *why* he built his property the way he did. It's *why* he hired Renee Reiff to run operations, knowing full well the power she has in the LGBTQ community and ability to strike fear in Zaslav that DC itself could turn on him. And why would they need to? Roth had it. Just let Jensen do what he do, he's got this, here's your next harry potter franchise. Everything Jensen has done has been methodical, to ensure The Winchesters had maximum financial support (4 sources if you count CM's financiers as one unit behind CM), maximum social support (renee reiff, Out Hollywood), and so on. It's only the dying breaths of antis hoping there's a fellow homophobe to block them, and they think if they dream real real hard, one's gonna pop up out of the aether, teleport back through time to the last episodes filming, and interrupt it.

And it's not gonna happen. It's like Fletch. Stop trying to make it happen, it's not gonna happen.

I know that goes a little beyond your ask, but the surrounding context really helps put in what it all *MEANS* beyond "nope."

[science-lings]

Whoops I’m late to the party but here’s some tropes.

Positive trope! As a traveler Hyrule has a lot of interesting and funny stories to to tell.

Negative Hyrule is a completely ignorant cave boy with the rough intelligent and personality of a 5 year old.

Positive Sky wrapping his sail cloth around someone.

Positive Warriors going full burrito with the near infinite cape he pretends is a scarf.

Negative Time Twilight and Wild’s bonds are treated like they are the only one’s that really matter with the unspoken implication they are the only REAL family.

Positive item trading! One of my favorite trope if rarely seen tropes. Yes Wild show Four your slate and argue over the definition of science. Spinner race time Twilight and Warriors. Let Sky Wild and Wind compare gliding items. Give Hyrule a hookshot! Rings for everyone!

Negative tossing my own take on the Mipha’s Grace is Fairy Bottle With Extra Steps is that we have had some form of Heal by Death in every game except the first. Hyrule has dolls he can find and Legend and Wind even having non fairy items they can purchase to resurrect with. All of them should be aware of the possibility even if only a few have used it. If anything meeting other people who treat dying casually should far more horrific then the simple existence something they can all potentially do.

Positive saying fuck destiny and finding ways to meet again after having to part at the end of the adventure.

You're not late I'm still collecting for the part 2's

Hyrule being a super experienced traveler is so good, this guy has been wandering since he was like eight and he's got a lot of campfire stories. And while I think it's not outrageous to assume that schooling in this era is a little lacking that doesn't mean that he's dumb in any way at all, he's very clever and he knows how to read thank you very much. Maybe he had some education in Calatia. I mean he was smart enough to leave and survive on his own and save his namesake a few times so like.... not stupid.

Any large piece of fabric that the chain owns can and will be used as a blanket. Scarf, sailcloth, cloak, Wind probably has actual sails that he used to have on the king of red lions that he uses to keep the water off of him bc it's more like a tarp than a blanket. Snuggles are inevitable.

While I am a fan of the wolf bloodline, I do get why depictions of it may undermine the importance of found family. I think it's a very valid criticism to point out that it may sometimes put forward the idea that blood family is more valid than an adopted family which could be unsavory, though I doubt that's ever the intention of the authors/ creators. I think that family is a fascinating topic with all these guys who grew up in vastly different but still quite lonely circumstances.

I love it when aspects like items and spells and stories from the other games are shared between the links and utilized to show how vast and different their experiences are. Aside from hookshots, nearly all of them have those bastards.

I mean, anytime people legitimize game mechanics into plot stuff it can be interpreted in different ways so I don't think that 'all of them come back from the dead' is a bad take lol, I think people fixate on Wild specifically with this kind of thing because it is implied he's already died and gone through the whole resurrection thing but more long term, and if that could've just been fixed with a fairy then the entire 100-year sleep just wouldn't have been needed. So it poses the question of if fairies really can bring a link back from the dead. But now I'm rambling...

I'm completely on the side of 'they all meet up in the afterlife as the timelines are assumed to have converged at some point before botw, and it wouldn't mess up the timelines if they just meet up after a few thousand years of waiting. I like the idea that they're watching and rooting for each other. That they've never been alone and there were always some of their brothers watching over them. (I also like to think that Wild caught a glimpse of them when he was placed in the shrine of resurrection)

[dreaming-soundly]

Random Universe Idea that popped into my head

There's a friend group where one of the friends is immortal One day after one of the friends gets into a life-threatening accident(he survives though) the immortal one breaks down It freaks the others out because the immortal one is very calm and stoic 24/7 and even though they obviously like the group they're a bit distant (the others assume they're just not used to mortals like them, but they don't care and include and treasure Immo anyways) It turns out Immo wasn't always that distant, but they've watched those they care about pass on so many times it broke something in them, and they were attracted to the group and couldn't keep themselves away but they wanted to keep their emotions shut down so badly because they didn't want to lose people they cared about again (It didn't work, they cared so, so much and now they were going to have to watch their loved ones pass away again) Immo can't die, they're a true immortal and after nearly watching one of their friends die they kinda shut down in depression (later it is revealed by the friend that nearly died that although Immo didn't say((and assumed that guy forgot)) they saved him from the near death and they were in tears hyperventilating before running away after dropping him off at the hospital) So the group of friends decides enough is enough they can't allow their friend to be hurt like that so they go on a quest to get themselves immortality too

Kinda a twist on the villains big evil journey to become immortal

Plot twist; Although they were already long Immortal at the time, Immo has come across this friend group before (They, just like basically every other soul, reincarnate. Its just a thing that exists, I might go further in the world building later, however just keep in mind that souls are a thing, they reincarnate, and some beings can sense souls. It's not an immortality thing though, and if you have enough aptitude you can be taught, not matter what species((yes there is a soul-sensing goose, no I will not eleborate))) They're not always in the same country, or circle, or age-group, ethnicity or anything like that but whenever they meet they're always friends (Its weird to even them because sometimes it's a 6y/o girl being bff's with this kinda creepy 21y/o or this bubbly 23y/o himbo being the best friend of this 87y/o harsh veteran) They're not always born in the same time but when they are all born together, no matter how unlikely it seems and no matter how far apart they will always meet and Immo will never be able to stop themselves from meeting the group They never remember anything though, which hurts a lot, and also makes stuff a tad uncomfortable, because even though they accept anything about the others and don't really question each others shit, sometimes Immo mentions something that happened in a previous time, and then shuts down because they don't want to replace their friends by these are their friends in a way(?) Even though they don't remember and it just hurts So overtime Immo because very stoic and reserved and silent to the point of developing both slight haphephobia and touch starvation and just overall the big sad

I'm planning on having the group mostly have a different type of immortality (some will be connected though) and there will be one that will reincarnate with memories but still die

The others, unlike Immo, also won't be true immortals, not really

More later probably

Ask questions if you have them I might answer

Also, spelling mistakes? Probably, I am very tired, this is a late night ramble

[thezolblade]

So bdsm is gonna feature in some of the fics, right? Or really fucked up in no way safe, sane, or even consensual bdsm. I mean, I doubt Jon is gonna let Martin have a safeword. Or would he? You already talked about the gags and bondage. And also I think mentions of impact play came up. Would it be alright if you got more into the specifics? Like is Martin gonna get spanked or something else?

Yep! I've got some ideas for the sex scenes, but a lot of the details are yet to be filled in. The notes are mostly about the a-plot, which will create space for regular sex in their relationship, with the mood at various points depending on how recently they've argued or gotten into other trouble. I guess the more ideas I can come up with, the more scenes I can include. So, requests are welcome as prompts, even if they may or may not end up in there. Some thoughts on general tone, and some details:

Jon's going to set awful boundaries by pushing Martin to say 'yes' to as much as possible in broad terms, and expecting him to keep saying 'yes' throughout whatever power play or pain play he wants to do, so he wouldn't generally think to bring up safewords for that. He'd probably say that if Martin ever seriously asked to stop something, they'd stop. But in practice, Jon would probably only technically stop by switching to doing something else in bed instead of moving on to aftercare, or pushing Martin to agree to keep going for a couple more minutes before finishing earlier than planned - or if Martin dares to put his foot down too hard, Jon would stop but then pick a fight about it. (Sometimes Martin would try to avoid that by taking an extra subservient tone, like pleading for Jon to hold him until he feels better. Jon would maybe still be slow to stop, but he'd stay in a more indulgent mood.)

Jon's leverage varies, but generally, he wouldn't want to kick Martin out, place his life in danger, cause him permanent physical harm, or push beyond whatever Martin would submissively let him get away with, since he wouldn't want him to get angry and fight back. He'll carry on asking questions and switching tactics when necessary to avoid that. (Though he's awful at judging harm; choking Martin was far more dangerous than he'd have faced up to in the heat of the moment.) So the leverage he'd fall back on would be more like getting Martin to agree to do things Jon likes in exchange for doing things Martin likes another time, and if he ever pushes back too much, insulting and guilt-tripping him ("you said you were mine"), and punishing him by refusing to spend time together until Martin makes it up to him, even while they're still living and working together. And if things got that bad, Martin would worry that he was on the verge of being kicked out, without trusting that Jon was too attached to go that far. Plus, he’ll get worn down over time. So he’ll often say yes to things he doesn’t really want to do.

And, yeah, as mentioned, on the heavier side of this, Jon would sometimes use gags & bondage to avoid interruptions, and afterwards he'd soothe Martin until he was being compliant before untying him. Other times, he might just try out one or the other; bondage while Martin can still talk, maybe combined with temperature play. Cockwarming with a gag to make it easier.

With impact play, I kinda feel like this Jon would want to hit Martin, but wouldn't want spanking to feel infantilising in a 'child's punishment' sort of way, so he might be quite picky about the details. Like sticking to nudity or lingerie for Martin, there. He might try out impact toys, if they could agree on them, but that sort of thing would probably spook Martin at first glance, and take some research. Things like pinching and biting would often be easier to get away with.

As for other toys, he might want to try out a violet wand, e.g. quizzing Martin on facts from the statements and shocking him for wrong answers, with a forfeit punishment if he gets sick of the questions.

He might push Martin to get a tattoo, in a possessive way. And maybe get him a collar (the kind that looks like a slave thing, not a pet thing), if they go window shopping together; he probably wouldn't risk picking up one that Martin hadn't agreed to wear. (A lot of the bad behaviour is to avoid uncertainty and rejection.)

(This Jon probably wouldn't be into pet play; he'd want to imagine Martin shaping up to be smart and capable, even in a submissive role. Martin actually might be more the one to raise that possibility, at the level of 'let's both put on fuzzy ears and roll around on a soft rug by the fire, without any strict rules or anything'.)

Safewords might come up if they decided to try roleplaying scenes where either of them pretended to be someone else, since they wouldn't be supposedly speaking their mind for the duration. E.g., if Martin wanted to process some trauma by having Jon play a (non-wormy) monster who follows him home. If it got to be too much, the safeword there would probably be 'worms'. (And then after psyching themselves out, they'd want to check the doors and windows, and have a hot shower.)

In terms of the darkest routes, when Martin runs away, and Jon goes monster and takes him back, that'll change things, naturally. Once Jon's credibly threatened to follow him anywhere in the world and hurt anyone who gets between them, Martin will be far more scared of saying no, and Jon will be more inclined to order him to do exactly as he's told. He'll still be pushing Martin to give in, which he'd do out of pragmatism if he had no choice. In that context, Jon would frame noncon violence as a punishment.

If he wants to get rough when Martin's being obedient and hasn't done anything 'wrong' recently, then he'll frame it as play, and praise Martin for being good by cooperating, even if he's visibly unhappy, and he'll go easy on him if he breaks down crying too badly.

If Jon takes over the Institute, he'll have an apartment built into the top floor, and he'll make sure the building's security team answer to him, not to a 3rd party contractor. By then, he'll also be in a position to punish Martin by controlling whether he's allowed to talk to anyone else or leave the building on any given day. And controlling his workload, and whether he can eat food he likes, and what clothes he can wear. And promising threats or favours regarding how Jon will treat other people, besides the two of them.

[mad-hunts]

🧊🚢 "OH NO, THEY'RE GONNA CRASH! HAHAHAHAHA!"

shipping meme!

do i ship our characters together?: yes | no | not yet but maybe soon

would i like to ship with you?: yes | maybe, i'm willing to try | no

type of relationship i could see: childhood or high school sweethearts | exes | engaged | married | long-term relationship | crushes | unrequited love | fling | long distance | online relationship | just dating | new relationship | toxic lovers | friends with benefits | enemies with benefits | partners in crime | love/hate

tropes i'd enjoy writing for them: friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | exes to lovers | fake relationship / dating | forbidden love | grumpy and sunshine | star-crossed lovers | surprise pregnancy | second chance | soulmates | amnesia / mistaken identity | forced proximity | secret relationship | slow burn relationship | didn't know they were dating | joking flirting turns into real flirting

would i rather plot first or jump right in and see where it goes?: develop their relationship first | jump right in | something in between ( alright, alright! so before i start... i just wanted to say that that titanic reference in your ask got a good chuckle out of me so thank you for that LOL. but as you may know already, i kind of like to do a blend of planning as well as just winging it whenever it comes to dynamics, including romantic ones or something that is adjacent to it. so i would of course love to hear your opinion about my choices here and stuff + as a result, totally feel free to hmu here in IM's or ask for my discord! and that way, we could talk about it :D but there's no pressure at all to get to it now or even later if you don't want to OFC. however, let me explain why i chose unrequited love in particular here first.

because barton has this thing against joker in pretty much... well, all universes, i'm not going to lie — i cannot imagine that he would want to accept that he has feelings for her in the case that he did and would just try to brush it off as that he just feels incredibly close to her in a way that is hard to explain BUT is still only platonic in nature. and in the event that this would be a thing... if your joker happened to like him romantically as well, then once he found that out, barton would be likely to deny his feelings for her even more and tell her that he doesn't feel the same way. which wouldn't be done out of any ill intent for her. i just genuinely feel like he would be stuck between thinking that 'oh, maybe i just like her a lot platonically' and 'well... uhh, friends don't think about friends that way, so maybe not' 💀

so yeahhh. this would basically be a case of barton complicating things yet again, as he always does / j LMAO i'm just kidding but i was thinking that eventually there might come a time where he's no longer able to deny that he does hold some form of affection for her, especially since it's been left to fester within him for a while rather than him actually properly dealing with his feelings. and that would be where the enemies to lovers / possiblyyy enemies with benefits would come in? yeah, because i did add a few things up there that i thought would fit them since a lot of the other's weren't really doing that for me. but i could perhaps imagine them just sort of having sex out of just the pure hatred they have for one another. though they miiight harbor a degree of care / genuine attraction for each other in a weird way? idk, it was kind of like i was saying above in that i could see it being a bit complicated.

i also like the idea of them getting together every once in a while and maybe grabbing a bite to eat or something, with it being left ambiguous as to whether these are actually just friendly dates or DATE dates. but then one of them figures out that, yeahhh, they've been considering them to be romantic dates unbeknowst to the other person until they reveal it. the joking flirting is something that i could picture joker doing, personally, and something barton might do as well at unexpected times / in very covert ways to the point where he doesn't even know that he's flirting with her. that's about what i've got for them right now however so if you like my ideas, and/or if you wanna discuss them, then i'm always down for that!)

what now?: let's plot something | send me shippy memes | i'll send you shippy memes | write me a random starter | i'll write you a random starter

anything else i want you to know about me / my character / my shipping habits: ( hiii, fifi! i honestly don't think i have much else to say but who knows... i might surprise myself LMAO but anyhow, we had talked about this very briefly so it's completely understandable if you don't really remember it, though whenever we were chatting in PM's - i recall telling you that joker is really one of the only people that barton feels like he can fully be himself around / that might understand him and he hates thinking about it. whenever you take into account what he does, however, it does make sense as barton had got a LOT of darkness within him.

but i feel like this could be the catalyst or at least one of them for barton potentially beginning to like her romantically. and i think i might've said something about this too, but the hate that he holds for her is partly due to barton seeing some of himself in her, i think. so i believe that would be an interesting thing to explore between them 👀 though i believe i'm going to end this here by saying that i like to think i am rather flexible whenever it comes to ships, again. so if there was a dynamic here that i didn't either italicize or bold that you had in mind for them then by all means...

tell me, and we can discuss it together! nothing here is set in stone though so we could absolutely just take some of what i said and roll with it, or come up with something entirely new. these are just my ideas but i hope you're having a great day and that you liked my response to this ((: )

[stryc-9]

Part 3 in my series of 5 obvious things Lauren Seal completely misunderstands about storytelling... screen time utilization

Any great story focuses on the right characters / plot at the right time and doesn't dilly dally for no reason. There is more leeway and freedom to meander and soak up the world in books, but in television, screen time is the biggest constraint on a production (budget aside). All things considered equal though, on an "hour long" network television show, you have roughly 41-42 minutes of screen time for each episode.

That may sound like a lot. Trust me, it's not. It's a delicate balance. You don't want to cram unnecessary scenes or plot points that eat up time but you also want to make sure everything you're trying to accomplish is done at a certain pace. This usually requires many outlines and established tent poles for the overall season plan, which is one reason it's completely baffling that after TWO years, the KE season 4 scripts were not completed as a whole. Instead, actors are receiving them week to week, which means things are constantly in flux, and for a serial show with already short seasons, that is bad news.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge said of season 1 that "Every moment in this show exists so these two women can end up alone in a room together." There you go. It's an incredibly simple outline, which she implemented with passion and intricacy. The goal of a season doesn't have to be convoluted. In fact, it's better in some ways if it's simple. The quality comes or goes based on the execution.

LN herself even said the show is about the relationship between these 2 women and how what they've received from each other makes them whole. (I'm not looking up the quote because she sucks. Close enough.) You all know she says a lot of things.

Reflect back on seasons 1 & 2 (whether you liked 2 or not -- there were a couple eps I hated) and try to think of a scene where either Eve or Villanelle were not present. There are very few. VE were the anchors, both alone and together. Every interaction they had pressed the story forward.

Sure, fans would've loved to see more of this or that, but the heart was there, in tact, and beating.

Similarly, there isn't a scene I can think of in Luke Jennings' books that doesn't contain one or both characters. They are not simply placed in the story. The story is about them and their relationship and how it evolves given the circumstances thrown their way. Yes, there's a plot. But it revolves around them and not the other way around. You can't, like LN did countless times in season 4 (and what even happened in season 3), take VE out of the narrative and have anything make sense. They ARE the story.

Because it was never about Konstantin or Carolyn or the 12, not ultimately. They're side players and were always meant to be as such. Nothing against actors or characters, it's just the truth. This wasn't their story, but THE story was pushed aside to make room for them. And that was a mistake...

The interesting thing about television vs forms of media with little to no time constraints, is that to show (and tell) enough story, you often have to enter the scene in the middle of the action and leave before the end.

This is why there are always wishes like "oh, I wonder what happened in 2x05 after the kitchen but before leaving the house." There's intrigue and mystery left there because there simply isn't time to see VE sorting their shit out (or not) in every episode. Either way, we don't know what happened. Maybe the writers did, maybe not.

Television is laid out around the gaps and usually further dissected into 4-6 acts, depending on the episode length, network preference, and commercial schedule.

LN doesn’t get that. Cramming new characters in and having to give them a reason for being there (which she didn't anyway) is a tenuous process at any point, but a terrible idea in a final season if those characters are not going to play an INTEGRAL role in the ending. NONE OF HERS DID.

Carolyn in the 70s. Cut. Pam with her weird side romance kissing a carnival guy. Cut. Gunn (though intriguing with the potential to be well utilized if she was brought in much earlier). Cut. Yusuf. Cut. V's foray into Christianity. Cut. Hugo's continued existence? Cut. And sorry if you liked them, but Helene & Eve also had no place in the FINAL season and I will not budge on that. Cut.

I bet I could give LN half a season of screen time back in 10 minutes for all the scenes and motivations that were not only unnecessary, but full on time wasters. Time that she wasted while NOT including things the story NEEDED for a resolution.

Twenty-two episode seasons can skate by with some "filler." QUALITY eight episode seasons cannot.

And LN proved that time and again by keeping VE apart just because she didn't know what to do with them together.

I guarantee you each and every one of us could've written a season with the 2 of them working together (in whatever capacity -- sometimes begrudgingly with delicious angst) throughout. They had so much shit, so much history to work through. Give an overall prompt as to what the season should accomplish and we could churn out in a week what she had 2 years to do... and it would be infinitely better.

What was V even doing all season and WHY was Eve doing whatever her thing was?

LN decided to keep VE at odds, for reasons I guess?! and then tried to cram an entire series worth of relationship development into roughly 15 min (pre boat) into one episode before ripping it all apart again with no rhyme or reason.

The romantic aspect of accepting this relationship as what they both wanted AND needed in episode 8 should've been revealed over half a season. Not half an episode. And the first half of the season at that.

Neither Eve nor Villanelle know what has happened to the other since the end of season 2!! They never had an honest conversation or confrontation. That's a betrayal to them, the story, and the audience. LN and SWG are the orchestrators of that betrayal.

The screen time was there. It was simply used up by hacks.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4