#I’d love to see a cultural clash of this in fics more

[awakefor48hours]

Fun fact about the Avatar universe that I don’t see touched on often: Fire Lord Sozin made gay marriage illegal, meaning that gay marriage was illegal all throughout the original ATLA story

Source: The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars part 1

#do you guys have any idea about the angst potential this has #I’d love to see a cultural clash of this in fics more #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #the legend of korra #tlok #lok

[kris-mage-fics]

1, 5, 12, and 24 for Kyrah and your preferred LI for her? c: though if you don't have a preferred one, I will always want to see love for the ladies especially lol. maybe Tallys??

I was actually trying to decide between Shery and Tallys before I finished reading your whole ask. So Tallys it is! And I agree, we need more love for the ladies! (Romance Asks)

1. What drew your character to their LI and vice versa?

I’m pretty sure Tallys thought Kyrahlise was hot, so wanted to bang her, lol! Tallys found that Kyrah was good company, relaxed and steady, kind, and thoughtful (both thoughtful of others, and insightful), which certainly helped things along. Kyrah being raised by Elves also made Tallys a little more open with her.

Kyrahlise found comfort in being around someone with a shared culture. Frankly if that hadn’t made her feel at ease so quickly with Tallys, I don’t think she would’ve been okay starting a FWB with her so soon. (Kyrah is demisexual.) Tallys’ calm demeanor, subtle wit, and intelligence, along with their shared interests, like cooking, being out in nature, and being around animals were also big draws to her.

5. How do they comfort each other when they are sad?

Kyrahlise will let Tallys vent if that’s what she needs, but the whole time she’ll stay physically close. Also hugs, lots of hugs, or hand holding! If Tallys initiates an emotional support makeout session after, well Kyrah won’t complain about it in the slightest! Tallys quietly holds Kyrahlise until she’s calmed down some. Then she’ll make her a cup of relaxing herbal tea. Kyrah isn’t much for talking when her emotions are running high, but once she’s come down some she’ll often talk about what’s bothering her. And that’s just a little easier to do with a cup of tea in her hands.

12. Do they have similar goals? If they clash, how do they deal?

They both want to live on their own terms, and adjacent to that, make the world a better place for their fellow Diminished. The possible issues come with their ideas of how to achieve those goals, especially the latter. Kyrahlise doesn’t have the negative view of Norms overall that Tallys has when the game starts. So she's happy to work with Norms to change things, whereas Tallys wouldn’t be to begin with. 

Kyrah has been nudging Tallys towards being less harsh on Norms, and seeing things with more nuance. Hopefully it’s enough to get Tallys to change, because if she stays hating them, that will be a dealbreaker for Kyrah. Indiscriminate hatred of Norms feels too much like some of the hatred Kyrahlise has endured. There’s no way she can stay in a relationship long-term with someone who holds those views, even if those views don’t personally harm her.

24. Is there any moment that happens between them that you know happens and just makes you melt?

So I’m pretty sure this moment will happen in-game, but I think about it a lot. It’s when Tallys first calls Kyrahlise “elan”. Kyrah is going to melt inside, and I will too! I’ve thought of different ways it’ll happen, but I doubt any of my ideas will be as satisfying as the real thing. Otherwise I’d probably try and write a fic about it!

Of course the moment will be especially impactful since Kyrahlise knows exactly what elan means. Plus it’s been so long since anyone has called her that. Her father called her ‘elan’ almost as much as her name. Hearing it again is like a stab in the heart, it brings up a lot of pain but it’s also so very comforting. (Her mother called her something that would translate to ‘little flower petal’ or just ‘little petal’, on account of her hair being rose gold.)

#answering this has given me so much brainrot for the two of them! #I've come up with some really good ideas because I've had these questions on my mind #and now I'm itching to start writing about the two of them lol #once they are past the 'hating Norms' issue and the difference in lifespan they will be very happy together! #romance asks #tallys ironwoood #oc: kyrahlise niriviel #shepherds of haven #shoh #sorry this took so long #this week was a very low spoon week

[ulouism]

A mermaid!Percy fic sounds so interesting!! I’d love to hear more about it :))

ahhh thank you! :D

it’s actually part of an established universe (a long-ish fic i wrote called tears like shooting stars). tldr: oliver almost drowns in the great lake and, seeing this, mermaid percy saves him! yay! thirty chapters later of dancing around each other, they’re finaaally together. once oliver graduates, he moves in with percy in the great lake (with the help of some water-breathing charms of course).

death’s door is a little oneshot, not too long. basically, oliver goes down with the flu and rests up a little in percy’s cave. he’s a lil out of it but it’s nothing too bad. unfortunately sickness in wizards vs in mermaids is veeeery different. realizing oliver is sick, percy immediately assumes he’s going to DIE (which is what usually happens when a merperson is sick) and cries over his body for hours until oliver is lucid enough to open his eyes and go “ime okay :)” only to pass out again immediately.

basically just wanted to write potential mermaids vs wizards culture clashing between the two of them bcs it is (potentially) the silliest thing ever.

excerpt below!

But inside, he’d think that his Oliver really had created magic, the way he cast it. And, sometimes, he could even delude himself into thinking that those hands held the entire world.

Perhaps that was what first scared him. Seeing how weak those hands had become, barely rising at the sight of him, instead laying uselessly at his side. It hadn’t even occurred to him that his Oliver was capable of weakness, and the sight of it terrified him. Before that, however, he was sailing towards their cave, ready to see him again.

[dragonkingz159]

You know I’m surprised after Any Sport in a Storm that we didn’t get a Boscha attempts to join the Emerald Entrails as their sixth member to replace Hunter fanfic from like anyone. I think the idea has potential what with her getting some comeuppance, maybe some possible reflection and change for the better, and just some fun exploration on peoples relationships with their palisman and one another. The group dynamics of the entrails are already fun but then throw in a bitch like Boscha and ooh it’d be interesting.

Fun things that I think a fic like this could do.

Have Boscha be really bad at Flyer Derby, she is great at Grudgby but the third dimension that flying adds in makes it hard for her to keep track of everything. Also could be a great teaching moment too, her having to learn something new from someone she previously looked down on?

Boscha is naturally competitive so having her being Bad at something that she supposed to be Good at (ie Sports) it would be interesting to see her drive to be the best Period. Be blunted over time through her interactions and playing the game into her being the best She Can Be while still having fun. It’d be a good change

Have Willow’s leadership skills be juxtaposed against Boscha’s. Willow wants to build a Team. Boscha wants to Win. While they clearly clash and don’t get along at first, Boscha eventually realizes that Willow’s way is not only more rewarding but more fun.

Skara just laying into Boscha like full ham ripping into her with Viney backing her up. It could be played for laughs or this tragic angry mess that is what makes Boscha realize she was wrong or needs to change but ooh Skara having a group of people who support her more and being brave enough to tell Boscha off for previous bullying would be great.

Lumity background cheerleading/fearleading. fearleaders would be a hilarious culture clash. Luz would have a blast and I would love to see our girl trying to “scare” their team to victory. With Amity just trying to stop her own nose bleeds because of the short skirts and pompoms.

Speaking of Amity, just her getting really protective of Willow since Boscha would be hanging out around them more due to being on the same team? Luz also just having doubts but willing to give a chance?

Hunter “testing” Boscha to see if she meets his standard for a replacement. Him referring to her as a lousy seventh or something along the lines would also be hilarious. Boscha getting beaten by a witch with No Magic whatsoever would also just strike her pride hard.

Probably be really fun to write some one sided Boscha/Willow stuff while the Willow/Hunter shippers are going feral haha. But hey I’d rather see some fun team building friendship stuff then anything but EVERY fic MUST have a ship right?

Anyway thoughts? Or send me a link if you want to write this, I want to read it please

#the owl house #toh #fanfiction ideas #boscha #the owl house willow #willow #any sport in a storm #emerald entrails #toh viney #toh skara #toh gus #Gus #hunter the golden guard #Hunter #imagine the sports montage? #Amity having an excuse to pounce on Boscha #fearleading is boiling isles cheerleading fight me #flyer derby #willow park #Gus porter

[sashimiyas]

I think mother-daughter tension is a hallmark of many first gen family dynamics! It took me many years to even begin picking apart the tangles in my relationship with my mother and I'm still working on it. Thank you for your kind offer.

I think the vibe is not just this feeling of tension in the interpersonal relationships that is familiar in your writing. It's the way love is stored in the kitchen, and how there's a lot of intention in the relationships you write. I learned about stories through east asian media when I was a teenager and sometimes pick up on others who did too. For those people, longing even between people who are already close seems to be a common thread. Those media are also clearly deal with situations where duty and obligation must be dealt with before directly addressing interpersonal relationships, because outside situations affect those relationships.

I don't know if you also grew up stateside, but if you grow up in an individualistic cultures, that clash between parents and close family of older generations telling us to put obligations first and society saying to take care of what you want and need first and foremost (including parts of relationships) seems to emerge in a certain way among writers.

I have only read the Burden of Being and a few of your specials, but I felt that balance in Burden of Being especially. It had already been a hard week, but reading that sincerely made me tear up more than once because the main character's way of dealing with stress was and grief was so familiar. It was incredibly cathartic to see her emerge from that with the knowledge of her own resilience but also to have the chance at love returning.

Although it may not exactly explain the vibe, there was certainly something about it....

(sorry this is so long, but I love that piece and appreciated your reply. If you have any book recommendations I would love some!)

you clocked me so well. like i’m getting heebie jeebies (pos) bc i kinda feel naked rn lol. just bc i’m baffled you were able to get that from a couple of things i’ve written. hope you don’t mind me contributing more length with some of my thoughts

the collectivist and individualist clashing ideals is so true! one of the reasons why i love reading books by asian authors and specifically, asian immigrant authors is because of that conflict of identity. to be borne from a love that’s usually in tandem with guilt, obligation, and suffering but a desire for a sense of self is so conflicting on its own.

and i feel like you find that most in asian mother-daughter relationships. being a woman by itself requires sacrifice just by societal definition alone. and for asian women, a daughter is a mirror to their younger self, the idealized vision who can pursue all a mother’s dreamed of without the sacrifices she had to make.

and for you to find familiarity in the main character of the burden of being simply swells my heart. that fic was untouched for a very long time and part of that reason was because i didn’t know how to tackle her journey through grief. a lot of fics that i admire are able to send messages of growth and healing through therapy and i wanted to do that too. but it felt like a lie bc in my personal experience, it is not that easy to seek help in healthier ways.

i was afraid that by being honest, by showing this reader go through relapse after relapse and drink her troubles away, i’d be sending the wrong message and promoting poor habits. but i’m glad i did and that by finally telling a truth that i see often, i was able to finish the fic. and it makes me think i made the right choice when people tell me they were able to relate to it! learning lesson indeed on that one.

i forgot my password to my goodreads account so my recs list might be basic because i’m pulling them off the top of my head but!

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee literally changed my life and i always recommend it. It explores family dynamics across generations.

Crying in H Mart, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and The Joy Luck Club are obvious contenders.

Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina is an autobiography. It’s the author’s first published book I think so while I do find flaws like the lack of complexity in her storytelling/sentence structure, I found it still enjoyable to read.

The Girl With Seven Names: A North Korea Defector’s Story is an autobio that read more like a thriller with complex mother-daughter relationships.

#reina.receives #and here in the tags comes the gratitude #thank you first of all for reading the burden of being! like… i cannot express how much that means to me #and literally for going in depth and explaining to me what you’ve noticed in my writing :( #i feel like i’ve just bared my heart out to an attentive stranger at a bar #like thank you for making me feel heard #oh! i hope your weeks have been better than before

[aplaceofstone]

AO3: faceofstone

(with treats enabled!)

Dear Yuletide Writer,

All prompts and ideas are just suggestions, if you are the kind of Yuletide writer who likes to follow them. If not, cool, they are certainly not the end-all of what I love about these fandoms and characters.

If you like visual prompts, this entire blog is 20% recipes and 80% aesthetics that mostly fit my requested fandoms…

I like found families, oddball friendships, sympathy toward outcasts, characters who fully embrace being outcasts, melancholy, a sense of place, bittersweet accomplishments, and a stubborn flicker of hope in an overall bleak world. Dreamlike atmospheres that aren’t necessarily scary, some sort of reassurance that can be found in the weird and the profoundly unnatural.

My only ship in these three fandoms is Atrus/Catherine. DNW CW/Farley and Margot/Turner.

Myst: any (Atrus, Catherine, Yeesha, Worldbuilding)

30th anniversary! 🥳🍉 how about "30 years later" as a prompt? Counting from whenever you want. 30 years after Myst 1? After Yeesha left Tomahna? After Atrus (or either other nominated character) first made contact with the people of an Age he wrote? After the ice cream expedition first brought cones to the Cavern? Or "celebration" or anything with a celebratory twist. Atrus and Yeesha reuniting after End of Ages? Catherine having a nice day? Yeesha in Chiso Preniv?

I love the whole cast, so feel free to set the fic in any era of canon, following pretty much anyone along with the worldbuilding or nominated characters. If you want to play with, idk, Ri'neref or the Watcher or Gehn or Esher or Zandi or Nelah or some schmuck on Releeshahn or whatever, go for it! I am not particularly well-versed in pre-Fall D'ni shenanigans - I’d be interested in reading something set anywhere in those millennia, just please write it assuming that your reader may not be already up to speed on what was going on historically at the time.

Obduction: any (Farley, CW, Josef, Worldbuilding)

What’s your favorite spot on Hunrath, dear author? What’s your favorite odd item (is it RIUM+’s Myst book or the Unwritten manual)? Tell me a story about it. Or tell me about how it’s like to live in that new world, humans, villein, arai and so very few mofang, and Farley’s plan was what got them there for better and for worse. Or a night at that cute little pub they added with the patch. Tell me about the differences between Farley’s worldview, since Hunrath is all she knows, and CW who misses his life on Earth so much. What’s Josef’s story in this regard? Or focus on any aspect of Earth culture that got lost on Hunrath, or one that got preserved, or how the 19th century habits of some obductees clash with their neighbors who come from a few centuries later, and how it all eventually becomes Hunrath’s unique culture. Or what are your favorite character’s feelings on the Sorian sky hanging on their head? Is there someone in Hunrath who insists on calling the seeds #spacepinecones, to everyone else's dismay? What's the smallest recorded obduction, a tiny seed that barely got the person from hair to toes, and what's the largest?

I don’t ship any combination of main characters but I am interested in all platonic interactions between the main trio (as well as actually seeing them forced to act like a trio. What would it take?). I am also interested in seeing any of the characters who are only mentioned in the various journals getting fleshed out a little: if your story needs an additional character or two, you could see if anyone there suits your needs! (and if nobody there does, actual OCs are welcome)

Firmament: Margot | The Mentor, Worldbuilding

Journals? Got any journals, dear author? Notes? Codes? Anything to make the Realms feel more lived-in, from the perspective of Margot or any Keeper? Or what do they find after the end, how do they settle?

I'm not necessarily looking for a fix-it for Margot, but if you've thought of something, I'm listening. Or at least, is it possible for the survivors to know what she's done for them, and to understand who she was as a person, what she went through? (which I suppose brings us back to "journals?" ;^; ) In general, has anyone ever tried to hack the memory loss situation through the written word? Were songs composed and shared from Keeper to Keeper until at last they made it back to the ears of their author?

While I didn't request Turner, and I'm not interested in fic about his character pre-amnesia, I'd be good with any worldbuilding idea that features him freshly post-canon coming to terms with being a blank slate with such a weighted past.

If you're into any of the irl Founders, I'd also love a deep dive in-universe on what their angle was in sponsoring the expedition. Like, Marx, I have Some Questions, and I'm sure there's plenty to say about the others as well! What they hoped for, which of their ideals were pivotal to the eventual success of the expedition VS which ones could've been thought through a bit better maybe…

#yuletide letter #yuletide signup Cyan edition for Firmament and Myst's 30th anniversary!

[trisshawkeye]

Yuletide 2023

Dear Yuletide Writer...

It's that time of year again! Hello, and thank you in advance for writing for me—I am super-excited to see more fic in any of these fandoms! In this letter I’m including general things I like to read, and then some specific likes and prompts for each fandom, but I will be genuinely delighted by anything for my requested characters, so if you have your own ideas, please be my guest to write what your heart desires. And if you’re looking to treat, I am always keen for multiple cakes!

AO3: Triss_Hawkeye

I Do Not Want: non-con, incest, porn without plot*, omegaverse, pregnancy, mommy/daddy kink, underage, soulmate AUs, mundane/modern-day AUs for non-modern-day settings

*I’m not opposed to characters having sex, but I don’t want it to be the focus of the fic and would prefer it non-explicit.

I enjoy: friendships and familial relationships, deep platonic and it’s-complicated partnerships, weird power dynamics, antagonistic friendships, friendly rivalries, strange intersections of violence and intimacy, navigating mixed-orientation relationships, mentor&protégé dynamics, established couples, polyamory, asexual characters, complicated gender feels. World-building, case-fic, adventurous romps, backstory, character development, atmospheric writing, nonlinear storytelling, all kinds of tenses and POVs, epistolary or experimental formats, unreliable narrators, bittersweet endings, inevitable tragedies. Moral dilemmas, angst, pining, misunderstandings, trust and loyalty, mutual head-over-heels-in-love, interesting social dynamics, culture clashes, friendly arguments. Science fiction, stories set in space, stories about music, horror, religious themes.

My nominated fandoms: Space Brothers, Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, The Hermux Tantamoq Adventures, Ya Boy Kongming!, Transistor, Wu Ming | Hidden Blade

Space Brothers

Nominated characters: Nanba Mutta, Nanba Hibito, Brian Jay

Relationships I like: Mutta & Hibito brotherhood, Brian & Hibito mentorship, Mutta &/ Serika, friendships all round

Space Brothers is a 99-episode anime about a man who becomes an astronaut in the footsteps of his younger brother—the anime can be found on Crunchyroll (the manga is on-going and published by Kodansha, but is generally less accessible, so while I am up-to-date with the manga, I'm only requesting the anime—but feel free to write as up-to-date as you like). I love sibling relationships, and I love space! I especially love Space Brothers’ in-depth exploration of the long process of becoming an astronaut, dealing with and overcoming trauma, and how people can help each other through difficulties. I adore the storytelling style of flashbacks to a past event informing the emotional journey happening in the present. I’ve nominated both Nanba brothers and also Brian Jay, but if you’d rather write a story that focuses on just one of those characters, that’s fine! And feel free to include any other wider cast members you like. No shipping Hibito with Olga beyond a one-sided crush on her part, please, but otherwise anything goes!

Prompts:

Mutta and Hibito finally meet on the Moon! I’m always interested in takes on how that meeting might go down, and what day-to-day life is like for them up there.

An incident during Hibito’s training as Brian’s backup, that once again becomes relevant as Hibito is training in Russia to return to the Moon. Maybe a strange scenario that Brian and Hibito train together that comes back up when he trains with the Soyuz module. Or maybe Hibito imagines what it would be like if Brian were training with him in Russia?

Missing scenes from Brian’s time on the Moon, and ways in which Hibito is unknowingly retracing his steps - or doing things differently! Could be how they interact with the Moonbase, something small that Brian changed or left behind and that Hibito encounters later.

Mutta’s canonically a trumpet player - I’d love a fic about music while training together, making improvised instruments in downtime in the simulation habitats, or the brothers (or other characters) sending each other playlists for encouragement.

The story arc with Hibito’s accident on the Moon is still my favourite - anything set in that time or the aftermath, from the perspective of either brother (or maybe Brian Jay, looking on from the afterlife - or the perspective of the oxygen generator!)

The Nanba brothers (and whoever else you might want to include with them) go on a road trip or camping or some other adventure. Hijinks ensue!

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Nominated characters: Motoko Kusanagi, Batou, Togusa, Hideo Kuze

Relationships I like: Hideo Kuze &/ Motoko Kusanagi, Batou &/ Motoko Kusanagi, Batou &/ Togusa (I like all of these as either platonic or romantic relationships)

Stand Alone Complex (which you can apparently watch for free on Adult Swim?? amazing!) is my favourite iteration of the Ghost in the Shell franchise—I love the convoluted mind-bending plots, examinations of collective human behaviour in the context of an ever more connected society, heroes grappling with being agents of a flawed and corrupt system and anti-villains with noble motives, and the deep, complicated closeness of many of the characters. Given Kuze’s on the list, I’d particularly love a 2nd Gig-based story, but don’t feel that you need to stay in that season if you have other ideas, and I'm happy with any subset of the nominated characters. I’m not as big a fan of SAC:2045 as I am the rest of it, but I’ve seen it and it’s in the continuity, so I’d be happy to receive something set in that part of the timeline too if you like. 

Prompts:

Post-2nd Gig, the Major goes searching for Kuze in the net - did he succeed in going on ahead and uploading his consciousness? Did he maintain his individuality, or become something other than human?

A canon-divergent AU in which the Major encounters Kuze under different circumstances that sees them being able to work together to achieve justice for the refugees.

A look into Togusa’s family life outside of his Section 9 work. Does Batou ever interact with them? What is his partnership with his wife like compared to his partnership with Batou? 

Motoko, Batou, and Kuze, all being full-prosthetic and ex-military, have similar circumstances yet different attitudes to what it means to be human and embodied, and I’d love to see some philosophical exploration of that. What does having a body, having a face, actually mean to them? Do you have gender thinky-thoughts about any of these characters? I would love to read them!

Section 9 case-fic that explores more of the setting. I’d particularly be interested in something that explores how religion has adapted to the reality of cyberization (be it Shinto, Japanese Buddhism, or something else).

There’s something very unsettling about your very perceptions being vulnerable to hacking, and not being able to trust your own senses any more—the potential for losing track of reality, places that seem both less real and more real, like the shop where the Major encountered her and Kuze’s old bodies. Would love something that leans into more of the potential for psychological horror in this setting.

The Hermux Tantamoq Adventures

Nominated characters: Any (Hermux Tantamoq, Linka Perflinger, Mirrin Stentrill, Tucka Mertslin)

Relationships I like: Hermux/Linka, Hermux & Mirrin, Mirrin/Birch, Tucka/increasingly inadvisable villainous love interests, Hermux & Tucka as best nemeses

The Hermux Tantamoq Adventures are a series of four children’s novels (beginning with Time Stops For No Mouse) featuring watchmaker turned amateur detective Hermux Tantamoq, an everymouse in the eccentric rodent high society of Pinchester, solving mysteries and getting embroiled in adventures, trying to figure out how to confess his feelings for the dashing aviatrix and adventuress Linka Perflinger, and clumsily navigating the world of high fashion, scandalous art, and unscrupulous academia that he is surrounded in by his friends and neighbours. I love how vibrant and bizarre Pinchester life is, and the way the stories weave between the city and various escapades in jungles or ancient tombs or snooty seaside towns. If writing for Tucka, I think part of her charm is that she keeps getting away with the most heinous of things, and I would rather that she does not get any kind of comeuppance, but lives on to endlessly frustrate our protagonists in the future!

Prompts:

I’d love some case-fic with Hermux and friends solving a new mystery—maybe something related to the film industry. Old-timey Hollywood meets some kind of conspiracy and scandal (with Linka flying plane stunts!) Or at long last Hermux gets the dream commission of giving the Choo-Choo Cheesery model trains a tune-up, only to find that they’ve been used to pass around hidden messages between members of a shady organisation.

Linka is a professional adventuress and daredevil! I’d love to see more of her own adventures pre-canon, or taking Hermux along with her for a mission (with Hermux joyfully supporting his terrifyingly competent crush/fiancee/wife). 

The second book brings up a lot of interesting worldbuilding related to how mice cemented their place as the most civilised of rodents through the underhanded actions of a particular dynasty. I would love more exploration of the place in society held by other species, and the work to undo the legacy of mouse supremacy. Also, whatever happened to the cats after they were overthrown? Did they really all die out, or are there still some out there to be found by intrepid adventurers?

More on the history between Mirrin Stentrill and Tucka Mertslin. Was there ever a time that Tucka really was the bright and hopeful student that Mirrin thought she was? How did their relationships with art develop up to the point at which they fell out? Maybe they do a reluctant arty team-up for publicity reasons and have to figure out how to work together without going completely mad? 

Gosh, I love Tucka so much. The ultimate girlboss. She is completely unhinged and always steals whatever scene she’s in with her eye-gouging fashion and awful personality. I would love more from her perspective, on her ruthless pursuit of success and the horrible little man who keeps getting in her way.

Ya Boy Kongming!

Nominated characters: Zhuge Kongming

Relationships I like: Kongming & Eiko platonic devotion, Kongming &/ Kobayashi, Eiko/Nanami, Eiko and Kabe besties

This is a delightfully bonkers on-going manga published by Kodansha and 12-episode anime available on HIDIVE (I'm more-or-less up to date on the manga, but don't mind if you just want to write in what's been covered by the anime so far). I love the absolutely outlandish premise of legendary ancient Chinese military strategist reincarnated into the party life of modern-day Shibuya and becoming personal tactician to an aspiring singer… actually played in a heartwarmingly sincere fashion, with Eiko gaining self-confidence and a team of supporters, and Kongming getting to enjoy the life without war he always wished for while still putting his strategic mind to good use. I love that while Kongming is a fish out of temporal water, his smarts and experience mean that he adapts to modern day life well (if eccentrically to outside observers), and while there’s some lovely angst and grief over the past, he’s also very happy to throw himself heart and soul into the modern-day music industry and embraces this time period as his own. It’s wonderful and bizarre and utterly delightful. I just want more of this guy, with whoever you like from the rest of the ensemble thrown in.

Prompts:

Having started out as a military strategist, Kongming doesn’t shy away from strategies that are somewhat ruthless and ethically dubious, and always seems to have contingencies to hand, some of which may be far more brutal still. It’s mostly played for laughs, but also I want to see Kongming with the gloves off if Eiko is seriously threatened in some way. 

I love the idea of Kongming becoming such a known quantity in Shibuya, and generally regarded as a cool guy who’s fun to party with, that everyone just kinda rolls with it and there’s a sort of reverse kayfabe going on. Oh that guy? Oh yeah, he’s the legendary strategist Kongming, he lives here now. I’d love this getting explained to an outsider POV, or Kongming’s own feelings on being almost-but-not-quite seen for who he is.

Kongming/Kobayashi - I ship these two an unreasonable amount. I love how much Kobayashi admires Kongming (even when he’s usually the one to fully comprehend just how shady some of Kongming’s schemes are), and how he’s the one who most fully knows him (or at least has the potential to), and gets closest to accepting his true identity. And for Kongming’s part, I think he appreciates someone he can talk to about the past, and who is as equally invested in seeing Eiko succeed as he is. Also they both live at the club OH MY GOD THEY WERE ROOMMATES

Since last year I have been through an entire Romance of the Three Kingdoms hyperfixation so if you want to incorporate historical flashbacks, parallels to other 3K stories, other transmigrators, or whatever else you like from it, please do! Particular favourite characters are Zhao Yun, Zhou Yu, and Lady Huang.

Three Kingdoms tale-telling: here’s how Kabetaijin or Kobayashi or Sekitoba tells it (everyone knows this (Eiko: I don’t????)), here’s how Kongming tells it (I was literally there), here’s what really happened (no one here is a reliable narrator).

Transistor

Nominated characters: Red

Relationships I like: Red/Mr Nobody, Red/Sybil, Asher/Grant

Transistor is the second game from Supergiant Games, and can be played on a variety of platforms. I love the initial setting of this game, this beautiful yet ephemeral, dream-like semi-virtual world, ever changing to the whim of its inhabitants, who have this almost religious reverence of the city they inhabit. I love the character of Red, and the game’s playing around with her agency, in which the voiceless character is the one ultimately making the decisions of what to do, despite the advice of the narrator (and/or the will of the player!) I love the well-intentioned-extremism-gone-horribly-wrong of the antagonists as well, and I’d love to explore more the problems they were trying to solve in an awful way that ultimately backfired in enormous tragedy.

Prompts:

It’s clear from Red’s songs that while she loves Cloudbank, she also has her own complicated feelings about its society. I’d love a story exploring her life before the game and her own frustrations with the city. What is it like to live somewhere where everything changes at the whim of the majority? If you want to lean into the worldbuilding, please do so!

Villain AU in which Red, instead of being a target for the Transistor, becomes a member of the Camerata inner circle. What is her dynamic with the rest of the group? Could she find a better way to achieve their goals?

What the heck is the Country? It’s euphemistic, yet seems to indicate less of a death and more like a permanent retirement or logging out. But what does that mean for Red, who sings about it like maybe it’s something she’d like to do?

What if Red had stayed and rebuilt Cloudbank? Could she have restored the city? If given the power, could she have fixed its problems? Or would it inevitably end the same way, when it came down to it?

One of Red’s concerts, or an encounter with her, from the perspective of a Cloudbank resident or one of the minor characters. How is she seen by her fans? How does she interact with them, and with the people of Cloudbank?

Wu Ming | Hidden Blade

Nominated characters: Secretary Ye

Relationships I like: Director He &/ Secretary Ye, Director He/Ms Chen/Secretary Ye, Officer Watanabe & Secretary Ye fucked up mentorship, Secretary Ye & Captain Wang fucked up friendship

Wu Ming (Hidden Blade), starring the stunning combination of Tony Leung and Wang Yibo, is an intense, visually gorgeous, somewhat non-linear film about Communist party spies working to undermine the Wang Jingwei regime, the Japanese puppet government during WWII. While Director He is secretly passing messages in pastry boxes, his vicious and moody underling Secretary Ye is doing bloody work and ingratiating himself with Officer Watanabe, the Japanese overseer of their department. When Director He's spying is discovered, Ye is sent after him, culminating in a mesmerising, no-holds-barred, knock-down-drag-out fight between the two of them, landing He in prison and Ye as Watanabe's trusted confidante. I love the glimpses we get into the intense trust and suspicion between different sets of characters, and the moments when the masks come off. If you're interested in writing for this, go watch the movie before reading my prompts to get the full effect of the twists and turns of the story.

Prompts:

Ye is such an interesting little chameleon. We see him interact closely with a number of different characters, in different languages, with different dynamics in play. Only right at the end does it seem like the real man is allowed into the light, so I'm really interested in his interiority through the story, how he compartmentalises and justifies everything he does.

We find out late in the film that Director He and Secretary Ye are on the same side, and maybe the only other one in their entire situation that they can trust and who truly knows them. I'd love to see what kind of relationship develops out of that proximity, whether it's a fucked-up kind of co-dependence or pining for something they can't have because the danger is too great. Especially a relationship with the kind of trust that allows them to get into the kind of no-holds-barred fight that they do, really messing each other up but stopping short of killing the other.

Ms Chen is really interesting here because she and Director He have been married and working together all this time yet never coming into contact to preserve his cover. Secretary Ye doesn't seem to be aware of who she is during the fight, but then that could be part of the act. It's an interesting moment when he buys her coffee at the end—an apology, perhaps, or an invitation into a friendship? Did they meet or know each other before everyone went undercover? Wang Yibo's managed to be in couple of short films with interesting chemistry with Zhou Xun now, so it's almost a shame they didn't directly interact in this movie, but I'd love to see her looped in to whatever Ye and He have going on.

I also love what almost amounts to a seduction of Watanabe on Secretary Ye's part, only for more of a mentorship or even pseudo-parental role. Ye makes himself into the last person that Watanabe can truly trust, and only turns on him right at the end when he has lost everything, in a darkly satisfying way. I'd love a closer look into that relationship.

Thanks again, dear writer! I very much look forward to seeing what you come up with.

-Triss_Hawkeye

#yuletide #yuletide 2023 #space brothers #ghost in the shell #hermux tantamoq #ya boy kongming #wu ming #hidden blade #transistor

[no-gorms]

I'm getting weirdly invested in Supernatural and Destiel. Do you have any must-see fanarts or must-read fanfics for someone who hasn't watched a single episode in their life and wants to get into it? :D and if you don't mind me asking, what are your favourite Destiel tropes?

Hello! And hah, the noise got to you, did it? Unfortunately “must-see/read” is really difficult for me to narrow down in a juggernaut fandom that is twelve years old (counting from Cas’ introduction), no matter that I’d stopped gorging on the fic quite a few years ago and I can’t offer anything very new-ish. The pairing itself has changed dynamic and Cas’ characterisation altered over the years, too, so depending on when the fic was written, there can a be wide range on the types of stories being told.

Personally, I was into them because of the deliciousness of a human who thinks himself simple and “just the muscle” somehow emotionally connecting to an angel, a literal cosmic being who has been alive for millions of years and seen so much. It’s a culture clash on multiple levels, with both of them changing each other profoundly. So I tended to gravitate to fics that highlight that difference between them, like by having Dean teaching Cas about humanity, and Cas being intensely devoted to Dean in ways that Dean cannot wrap his head around. Other tropes that are also great: pining, wingfic, spicy religious flavouring (more during the Apocalypse era), epic love gestures.

Anyway, recs!

For art, I reckon the easiest way is to share my fanart tag.

As for fic, a lot of my favourites rely on canon knowledge, but I’ve picked bunch that I think are readable if you haven’t watched a single episode. 

Canon-verse:

Castiel Decides to Write a Novel - thecouchcarrot (4000+ words) Exactly what the title says.

Equinox - luchia (12,000+ words) Cas time travels through Dean’s timeline.

Down Like Water - museaway (14,000+ words) Season 9, Cas is dying and Dean takes him on a road trip.

Don’t Ever Change - whelvenwings (4000+ words) Dean and Cas keep ending up on “dates”.

There are Many Things - imogenbynight (28,000+ words) Newly-human Cas and hurt/comfort.

AUs:

Happily Alone - violue (14,000+ words) Rockstar!Dean and non-rockstar!Cas.

Domesticated - kototyph (15,000+ words) Cas is still an angel, but Dean is.... well.

What the Future Holds - Niitza (67,000+ words) Dean believes he’s going to die in a year, so what does he do with the time he has?

Rvr R011435 - Ferritin4 (67,000+ words) Rom-com in NASA. This one’s archive-locked, you need an account to read it.

The Last Moonlight Serenade - gankyourdarlings (59,000+ words) WWII AU, mind the tags.

Your Heart Makes - schmerzerling (51,000+ words) A difficult romance in a Disney theme park, PLEASE mind the tags

A Song of Wind and Wings - triedunture (10,000+ words) Game of Thrones fusion.

Convenient Husbands (39,000+ words) This one’s a self-rec, magical marriage of convenience.

#scaramouche answers asks #anonymous #scaramouche recs fics #deancastiel #supernatural

[god-of-dust]

You ship Zukaang and ShikaNeji?!?! You are a person after my own heart! My heart always goes for the rarepairs, for some reason. I'd love to know what made you ship them, if you don't mind sharing. Either way, I love your blog and I hope you have a good day/night!

hello anon!!! i’m the same for loving rarepairs, so i really appreciate seeing that someone else out there ships both zukaang and shikaneji XD

as to what made me ship them...

zukaang: my favorite tropes are ‘soulmates’ and ‘enemies (to friends) to lovers’, and this ship really has it all. it was as simple as seeing their absurdly queerplatonic relationship in canon and going “okay, this is something that’s already very beautiful and soul-deep and i can also picture it sliding into romantic territory when they’re older”. (not that queerplatonic relationships are “less” than romantic ones, or that they eventually have to become romantic, i just like it that way for them.)

zuko and aang have opposite temperaments and work so well together because of that. zuko is hot-headed and impulsive where aang is calm and reflective, so they balance and bring out the best from each other. i can see them having a mature relationship built on mutual trust, respect and acknowledgment of each other’s duties to the world and their cultures.

shikaneji: i actually began to ship them because of another rarepair. one of my favorite itanaru authors wrote a shikaneji fic called A Fate Foretold and it opened my eyes to the potential of the ship.

the thing is: even if shikamaru hides behind his ‘meh’ attitude, i can’t imagine him being with someone who doesn’t stimulate him intellectually as well as emotionally, and the same goes for neji. they’re both passionate, though shikamaru is more low-key, and there’s a natural contrast between them, caused by neji’s competitive side and general bullheadedness that clashes powerfully against shikamaru’s laziness and lack of ambition; because of this, they’d never be stagnant together. their dynamics to me is sort of like ‘unstoppable force VS unmovable object’, and if they play it correctly there’s an immense capacity for growth by learning to soften their edges and be together without tearing each other apart.

thank you for reaching out, i’d love to hear more from you! have a good day/night ♥

#zukaang #shikaneji #avatar the last airbender #naruto #ask #the rarepair anon chronicles

[migila]

Shikamaru’s Story: Mourning Clouds

This is a post about that novel, so this naturally contains spoilers. Note that you mustn’t confuse this with the older novel about Shikamaru, Shikamaru’s Story: A Cloud Drifting In The Silent Dark. That one was written in 2015 and translated to English in 2016, while this one was written in 2018 and translated in 2021. Anyway, on to the book itself.

I have no complaints about the plot or the structure of the story. The plot was clear and didn’t really have any surprising points, yet it was still pleasing to read. I liked how some easy to understand, predictable scenes, instead of being played out with lines and all, were simply shortly explained. It didn’t have too many characters, and most were ones we already knew from the manga or the other novel. Being from mainly Shikamaru’s POV also made it easy to follow, especially since it jumped away from it only twice, once for Shikadai’s POV and once for Temari’s.

I liked the way Shikadai was included, shown in the way that a father who works all the time would see him. I also liked how the one part from Shikadai’s point of view gave us a look to what his father’s actions look like through his eyes. Of course, it’d been nice to have more of him and the new generation, but I suppose that wouldn’t have flowed well with the story.

Shikamaru also comes across as quite dark in this novel, and it makes the way he treats Kawaki in the anime and manga seem more in character. He refers to himself (and Sasuke) as Naruto’s shadow, which made me think of The Third Hokage and Danzou. I mean, Shikamaru’s clearly not as dark as the eye thief, but his actions in this novel certainly made me think of the possibility of him becoming like that. After all, world was different in Danzou’s time and by the time we get to know him, he was an old man already. If the ninja world were to go to war again and Shikamaru could protect the village better by stepping in to the darkness, who’s to say he wouldn’t? I like to think that Shikamaru wouldn’t do quite as bad things as the head of the root did, and that he’d be more regretful about whatever he’d do, but when put under pressure, Shikamaru’s actions might not differ all that much from Danzou’s. For those who are skeptic, do not forget that he wanted a child to get kidnapped by a dangerous group just so that the daimiyo would owe Konoha one. That’s low, Shikamaru, that’s low.

We also get to see Mirai, who is apparently also some type of genius, or so Shikamaru says as he recalls how his student picked up fast anything he taught her. Ro and Soku from the other novel are also back, which I loved, especially Soku’s return. Which brings us to our next subject.

So yeah, Shikamaru is an awesome character, but he can also be a little sexist and too stuck on gender roles. He tells Soku that it might be time for her to start a family already, though that would mean the loss of a good ninja, like it’s a given that she becomes a house wife if she gets married. Of course, that does seem to be a trend in Konoha, but it still puts Shikamaru in a rather bad light to be saying that. It just shows bad taste. And likewise, Shikamaru’s whole family dynamic is so cliche in the old fashioned way here that it’s kinda ew. Very in character in Shikamaru’s part and same could probably be said for Shikadai, but Temari? It’s just so hard to see that fierce ninja giving up everything just to become a housewife. Maybe it’s just a cultural difference; maybe Japanese just see it as obvious that a woman ought to give up everything she’s gained in life for family if she decides to have one or something. But still, ew. If I ever get around to writing those ShikaTema fics I’ve been planning, I’m gonna fix that issue.

One more thing is me wondering why wasn’t this in the anime. I mean, it still could be added there with some adjustments. Tento’s kidnapping has already happened in the anime, but Shikamaru could still use him being saved by Boruto’s team as a leverage against his father. Shikadai’s a chuunin in the anime, but that shouldn’t get in the way too much. And those are the only issues I can think of that would currently clash with the anime. I can think of one more in the manga, but since we’re talking about anime fillers, that’s irrelevant. And I’d kinda want to see Shikamaru carrying that huge bouquet of yellow flowers in the anime.

Anyway, that’s about it. Am I forgetting something? Probably. If I am, I might complain about it later, but oh well, for now I’m stopping here.

#shikamaru's story: mourning clouds #naruto #boruto #novel #nara shikamaru #nara shikadai

[bigskydreaming]

One of my favorite headcannons is that Dick not only considered Haly's Circus his home, but the people within it his family. And I don't mean the basic, "I grew up here and this is where my parents raised me" type of family. I mean, him calling the srench strongman Uncle Arthur and getting him to toss him up in the air when his parents were practicing. Him calling the fortune teller Aunty Shya and them sipping tea together whilst she tells him about his future and what the lines on his palms mean.

While it's so fun to think about, it also gets me sad because when Dick was taken away, he lost his parents and his only other connection to "family" left :(

Oh man, I’m with you there and I know I’ve actually expanded on this a lot, just not recently, and like....in a way that’s easily organized and searchable. Because I’m just a winner like that.

BUT YEAH. I’ve long maintained that as much as people and canon focus on the similarities in Dick and Bruce’s early/initial tragedies, there’s an element of disconnect too because Dick’s came with an angle that Bruce’s didn’t, which was not just the loss of his parents, but the loss of his entire extended circus family and his previous environment, way of life, etc. Essentially, his parents’ death was trauma compounded by a culture clash of epic proportions as he was in the aftermath forced to assimilate to an entirely new way of life, in entirely new surroundings.

This is a big part of why I’m so fixated on seeing the Batfamily and his friends be respectful of the meaning and significance behind him keeping his childhood nickname despite all the insults and jokes that come with it, and being respectful of his costumes, etc. Because its fucked up that he never got the chance to grow up in the environment that was his first home, that he was forced to adapt to new circumstances and surroundings that were so often nothing but contemptuous and disrespectful of where he’d come from, let alone what it meant to him.

And I think this is absolutely connected to his fierce independence and commitment to doing things his own way, living his own life....he’s manifesting in adulthood the control of himself, his destiny and his environs that he didn’t get the privilege of having a say in when he was first torn away from everything he knew and loved back then.

And personally, I’d love to see more of his family and friends being written UNDERSTANDING that about him, and sympathizing and helping him retain what he can of his childhood and its importance to him, his emotional connection to it and fond nostalgia for it, rather than see them utilized as mouthpieces for the latest joke about his name, circus origins and costumes, and thus becoming just one more reason/variable attempting to influence him to change even further, give up even MORE of himself in order to fit expectations others have for how he SHOULD act or be.

Ultimately, that all boils down to the fact that even if most of the jokes about him are only said by the other family members instead of random side characters because the stories are focused on the family instead of others......it can ALWAYS be assumed that whatever is said in stories would likely be also said - if not moreso - by other people in Dick’s day to day life, off the page.

And you kinda want Dick’s family to be BETTER than the random assholes in his life offpage, otherwise like, where’s the found family fixation so many of us are supposedly here for, y’know? The idea, IMO, is supposed to be that its a tragedy that Dick was forced away from his first family, not just his parents because of their death but everyone else he knew and loved alongside them, like his honorary uncle the strong man and honorary aunt the fortune teller, people who knew him and understood him and respected him for who and what he was and weren’t constantly trying to change him to match their (usually superficial) expectations.....but at least he ended up with a second family that could fill in the gaps in his life that being torn away from his first family left for him, and that could and would appreciate and respect him the same as they did. IMO, the Batfamily is SUPPOSED to be a REFUGE for Dick, away from the constant attempts of the rest of the world to wear him down and get him to conform to their expectations for him....the Batfamily SHOULD be where Dick can just rest from all that and not HAVE to constantly struggle to maintain a grip on HIS personal sense of self and identity, the him that he wants to be.

But so often what we see in fic and canon is just them adding to the stress, being more expectations for him to push back against, instead of the defenses they COULD be, giving him a breather so at least some of the time, for a little bit, he doesn’t have to constantly be on guard against attempts to change him or make him adapt or conform.

[bloody-wonder]

re: the ask you previously answered about kandreil, do you think — aside from shippers having overly aggressive approaches sometimes —interpreting anything romantic or sexual in the text with Kevin and Neil erases Neil’s demisexuality? I’ve always been unsure of that as I’m not a-spec, and I know that there are a-spec aftg fans who ship kandreil but I’ve never seen a discussion about Neil’s demisexuality specifically regarding it. Not sure I’m wording this right, just curious what you think.

well it’s a good and complicated question!

i’ve been thinking about it for the last couple of days and instead of giving a clear and concise answer i’m going to acesplain demisexuality and canonsplain neil josten in another lengthy post.

so there are two components to this question - 1) whether kevineil interactions are romantic or sexual 2) whether asserting that they are erases neil’s demisexuality.

1) so first of all kevineil is where the aroace dogma “relationships can be intense without being romantic or sexual and interpreting every such relationship as potentially romantic or sexual erases the experiences of many (not only) arospec/aspec people” clashes with the shipping culture dogma “these two characters glanced at each other once or had an ambiguous dialogue or both like bread and are therefore with a 95% probability already in love”. what can i say to people who think neil has romantic or sexual feelings for kevin? should i shout “people can be friends you guys are just brainwashed” at them? that seems very unproductive. this is a debate that can never be won but still i’d like to remark that interpreting kevineil interactions as romantic or sexual has more to do with this acquired urge to interpret all intense interactions as such than with what’s actually going on between the two. (bUt ThEy WeRe CaNoN iN tHe eArLiEr DrAfTs - i don’t know what you’re talking about, i’m talking about the three books that constitute aftg). i on the contrary rejoice in their romance-less dynamic and firmly believe that they wouldn’t be together even if neil weren’t demi. because some people are just friends. if neil weren’t demi it wouldn’t also be considered in any way problematic to ship kandreil, but neil is and some people like you begin to wonder - because now a rare “endangered” sexuality is involved.

2) i personally want to say yes, interpreting neil’s thoughts about kevin and interactions with him as they are presented in the books as sexual erases neil’s demisexuality - the key word being neil’s.

because demisexuality is a spectrum in itself and many aspec people will experience it differently. how strong an emotional bond does a demi need to have with a person in order to feel sexually attracted to them? it can be anything on the range from once in a lifetime soulmate to basically any person they know and like well enough. this lower side of the spectrum is where the line between demi- and allosexuality gets blurred and is probably also the reason why lots of people deny that demisexuality exists, seeing as they also usually get attracted mostly to people they know and like well enough.

anyway i suppose it’s more common for an average demi person to have had one or more of those emotional bonds that result in attraction by certain age even in order to identify as demi. so i imagine a lot of aspec fans who ship neil with foxes other than andrew, project their experience of demisexuality onto him. if you’re someone who identifies as demi, has deep emotional connection with several of your friends and feels attracted to them, you will probably want the very rare specimen of a fictional demi to have experiences similar to your own. if you’re also a kevin fan and are fascinated by the idea of kandreil, then you’re going to ship it without any concern of erasing anything. “neil’s demi and i’m demi so therefore anything i feel or do concerning sexual attraction he must feel and do as well”.

but neil’s version of demisexuality is quite different. based on andreil it really looks like he’s higher on the ace spectrum than that. even when he reaches the point where he’s like yep andrew is totally the person whom i’d let riko torture me for he still isn’t attracted to him sexually and only when andrew explicitly shows that it’s something he’s interested in does neil begin to explore the idea. when he knows he’s attracted to andrew he specifically checks if he’s able to think of his other male teammates in that way and the answer is no. but the most important thing about neil figuring out his sexuality in my opinion is the fact that he never defines himself as someone who “swings” at any person he establishes a profound connection with, but rather as someone who’s attracted only to andrew. (i’m not even sure if neil would use the demi label if he knew about it). he literally says “the only one i’m interested in is you”. so his situation looks much more like “once in a lifetime soulmate” one to me.

so the question is where do you begin to interpret neil’s sexuality? if you begin with the text then you’ll perceive him as someone who’s attracted to nobody at first and then only to andrew. (haha that’s some very wishful thinking on my part - see the shipping dogma above). but if you begin with your preconceived notions about the demi label then you might expect neil to form those special bonds that enable him to feel sexual attraction as often as you like. maybe if an average demi person was in neil’s place they would end up getting attracted to more foxes. but neil isn’t average, he isn’t a stand-in for the entire demi-dom, he’s a very specific person with a specific way of forming connections with people which is why if you want to write him in character i think it’s much more productive to take into account his personality as it’s showcased in the books than to research what demisexuality is or to self-project. so in the end what’s happening here is really not people erasing neil’s demisexuality by shipping him with this or that character but rather them erasing his canon personality by making him do the things he wouldn’t do.

that being said, fanfic is definitely the place for self-projecting and exploring things that aren’t canon. there are multiple ways to write demi neil in kandreil or other ships ranging from rewriting the canon and increasing the amount and quality of neil’s interactions with the new love interest to doing the same in post-canon to writing an au where they all come from different circumstances and nothing matters. the commonality between these types of story is that they all will be about a different version of neil with a different version of demisexuality which is just the way of fandom life and is perfectly normal.

however what i’ve been observing in post-canon kandreil fics is that the absolute majority of them are established relationship which means that their authors and readers think that whatever happens in the books between kevin and neil is enough for neil to form an emotional bond powerful enough to feel attracted to him (provided they at all agree that neil’s demi because if they don’t it’s a different kind of erasure discourse altogether). but that is just not true and totally erases neil’s demisexuality the way he experiences it. but can i really point out this particular facet of his personality being thrown over board when so many other facets get discarded along the way? neil is probably the aftg character whose canon personality gets misunderstood, ignored and rewritten the most. if a neil from some kandreil fic is a sweet peaceful gentle boi then what does it matter to me that he’s already kevin’s bf? it’s not the neil i know from the books. if neil’s canon personality isn’t important or appealing to this fic’s author then it’s only logical that the specific way neil experiences demisexuality won’t be important to them as well.

tl;dr: apart from those fans who don’t think neil’s demi and write him as allo, do kandreil shippers erase neil’s demisexuality? not necessarily. but do they rewrite the way neil experiences sexual attraction to better fit their ship? probably yes.

i want to end this by a disclaimer: like i said, i’m an aroace person talking about demisexuality which isn’t strictly my identity. andreil is very important to me as an ace because it reflects my personal understanding of relationships. of course andreil’s “once in a lifetime” soulmate situation speaks more to me as a person who doesn’t feel any kind of attraction and generally has trouble connecting to people beyond that. i can’t relate to most relationships i see in fiction because they are founded on attraction which is a language i don’t understand, so nora writing andreil in a language i could understand was a pretty big deal to me. consequently i feel very sceptical towards all other ships including kandreil because my views of romance are ace, not even demi. so basically i’m biased too.

#neil josten #demisexuality #kevin day #andrew minyard #all for the game #aftg mine #asks #i don't even want to tell how long i've been writing this monstrosity #is this jumble of words intelligible at all? #idc anymore #gonna go reblog some gifsets now #i earned it #aftg ask

[acecademia]

What fandoms have you been a part of (both currently and in the past)? How do you feel like fandoms have changed?

Hi, nonny!

I've been in more fandoms than I can count, honestly. Looking back, the ADHD is super obvious. I hyperfixate on a piece of media for a while and then suddenly lose all interest in it. So there have been a lot of those that have cycled through. There are a few that I routinely come back to, usually when I'm between my more brief hyperfixations.

The ones I tend to come back to every few years are Star Wars, Narnia, the MCU, Harry Potter, Supernatural, Dragon Age, and Merlin. And there's probably a couple others I'm forgetting.

I'm the kind of person who's been very into things my whole life. I do not enjoy things casually--I get very invested and have to learn absolutely everything about my new obsession and then infodump to everyone I know. (Do you see the ADHD yet?) The piece of media that introduced me to fandom was a French cartoon called Code Lyoko. That was my shit in elementary/middle school. One day, when I was like 10, I googled it. And the first link after the official website was for a site called lyokofreak.net, which sadly is no longer around. This is what it looked like around the time I first found it. There were links off to the side called things like "ships" and "fanfiction," and I just started clicking through all of them and stumbling further and further down the proverbial rabbit hole.

From there, I found fanfiction.net which brought me to other fandoms and fansites, and then it was just like game over. I'd found my thing.

That was around 2005, so I've been kicking around in fandom for about 16 years now. And a lot has definitely changed. I think there was a pretty big shift in fan culture around the time that Glee and Twitter were on the rise. Twitter was one of the first places where fandom stuff was not just public but on a very public platform. Glee also referenced some fan culture stuff (like shipping). Between the two of them, fandom started becoming more mainstream. We saw another shift around the time of Dashcon (Sarah Z (@dingdongyouarewrong) did a great video on that) where fan activities started to be considered more "cringey" and we went from being unironically enthusiastic about things to feeling like we needed to inject some level of irony into our fannish behaviors to avoid embarrassment.

Sites like Twitter (and other social media platforms) also broke down some barriers between fan and creator. Sometimes, this is a good thing, like when fans have an easy avenue to reach out to a small creator they love to gush about their work. And sometimes.... it's a garbage fire. I think we've all heard enough horror stories about celebrities and creators being bullied off of social media by asshole fans to know what I'm talking about here.

There are also some generational differences within fandom. As always, I'm in a weird position on the cusp of two generations. I'm young enough to be considered part of one fandom generation, but I've been in fandom longer than most of them since I found it so young. I could write a whole book on the shifts in fandom culture, but suffice to say, younger fans are much more likely to be openly vocal about things like fanfiction and shipping and whatnot even when talking to creators than older fans are. A lot of older fans still carry that fear of being literally sued over writing fanfiction (thanks, A*ne R*ce). Now, we see younger fans getting mad at AO3 and the OTW for not following the purity culture trend while older fans tend to be utterly confused by this behavior as, like, literally, that's why we have AO3??? Because of all the purging and rules and bullshit we went through on other platforms?? And it's often these same younger fans who get confused about the existence of disclaimers that older fans still habitually include in their fics as an ingrained form of self-defense. There's a general lack of understanding, and it often feels like a huge culture clash. Because these younger fans didn't experience fandom and the internet the same way that older fans did. The internet and social media changed fandom to a completely unknown degree. I'm definitely not an expert on this, since I'm still fairly young and also have only been in fandom since 2005, but one of my goals is to do a lot of in-depth interviews with "fandom elders" and really get a sense of how fandom has changed from their perspective. That'll be a book I write (or co-write) one day.

#replies #anon #nicole speaks #nicole rambles #fandom history #fan studies

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with @that-english-nerd (she/hers)

what are you working on right now? Three things!

My next chapter for my witch!AU where Bellamy is the son of a witch, and Clarke enlists his help to find out what happened to her father and his sister.

And a prompt for @bellarkefic-for-blm  with princess!Clarke and knight!Bellamy. It's a little outside of my comfort zone but I enjoy writing it. I currently have stumbled upon some technical difficulties where I lost everything I wrote for it so now I'm back to square one.

I’m also looking for the next chapter of a Voltron fic I’ve been working on. It’s super silly but it’s ridiculous amounts of fun, I want to write so much for it.

what’s something you’d like to write one day? I think it's been a pipe dream of mine to write a novel that captures the spirit of the YA books I grew up on but that people of all ages can enjoy. I want it to be my ultimate self-indulgent fantasy where I combine all the things I loved as a reader. A fantasy/sci-fi, action, a good satisfying romance, complex emotions.

It's also important to me that the main character is brown-skinned like I am, and that the book discusses different philosophies and cultures without ever saying one is right. Growing up as the child of immigrants, I've always struggled with clashing cultures and it took me a while to learn that neither culture is more right than the other, and that our differences in how we think are what makes being human meaningful. I want something that acknowledges those parts of the human experience without villainizing or glorifying its existence.

what is the fanwork you’re most proud of? Honestly? It's this moodboard I made for my Winx Club!AU. I really like how it came out aesthetically speaking, and I'm fond of the story. I do have some things I'd change about the story stemming from the fact I wrote it one sitting but I don't know if I'll ever make the changes. Still. It was a fun piece to write.

why did you first start writing fic? I really, really just wanted to write some more scenes for my favorite couples who I felt were robbed in books. I just wanted to write some cute shit, man. Since then I’ve written for 39 Clues, Maximum Ride, Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Powerpuff Girls, Hush, Hush, Danny Phantom, Giver, Legend of Korra, Jimmy Neutron, Code Lyoko, 100, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Lucifer, and Penryn & the End of Days.

what frustrates you most about fic writing? plot. specifically, non-emotional plot. like what even is that. If the plot is driven by emotional development, it’s still hard to come up with specific structures for moments but like if things need to happen outside of their emotions, oh whee boy do I struggle. For me, emotions tend to naturally evolve from one thing into the next and it’s easy for the characters to lead me where their emotions take them. It’s harder when things need to develop outside of that.

Other than that, motivation is a big roadblock. Struggling with depression, anxiety and my other responsibilities, I can go without touching a piece of writing for months. I feel the itch very often but it’s one that goes unindulged.

what are your top five songs right now? - Experience by Victoria Monét with Kahlid, SG Lewis  - BALI by Rich Brian with Guapdad 100 - Etch by RILEY THE MUSICIAN with Iker - Culver by Mac Wetha

what are your inspirations? Usually pictures or stories! My witch!AU was inspired by an aesthetic picture I saw on tumblr and most of my other stuff has been inspired by other stuff I read. It’s not necessarily specific plot points—though, sometimes some plot threads are too good to give up—but rather the emotional journey the characters go through. Poems and other media also feed the old noggin.

what first attracted you to Bellarke? what attracts you now? It turns out I have a thing for reluctant partners turned lovers. I really liked how the two shouldered responsibilities that no one else really had, and that despite their differences, they had the capacity to understand and empathize with each other when no one else would. It would've been so easy for Bellamy and Clarke to fall into an endless cycle of blaming each other for their decisions. We see it in the other characters, in other TV shows--a constant battle where only one person's philosophy can prevail. But with Bellamy and Clarke, they have always shown empathy and accepted each other. It might not have been right, maybe they themselves would've done something different, but at the end of the day, Bellamy and Clarke try to understand and accept each other for who they are. Present tense. I think that kind of, frankly mature, love is something we don't see in media all too often.

BESIDES Bellarke, what character or pairing do you like best on t100? hmmmm

I do enjoy memori, they make me happy. I also have a soft spot for Raven and Roan. Anything with Wells is gold bc I really want to see how he could've changed the show. Oh, and Minty. This wonderful idea will always be a favorite of mine.

why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm? I’ve been wanting to do more for a bit because I, personally, avoid social media activism. @bellarkefic-for-blm  is an amazing way to leverage whatever platform I have to incite awareness and action by using my strengths. I can do this really cool thing that I enjoy to help something critically important.

what’s your writing process like (esp for prompts, chopped!, etc)? it’s a hot diggity dog mess. I kind of do whatever I feel like. If I want to write a scene, I’ll write a scene. If I want to write dialogue, I’ll write dialogue. If I want to write an outline, I’ll write an outline. Chronological order is not guaranteed. Because writing tends to be an extremely emotionally exhaustive task for me, it’s easier for me to write more if I let go and follow whatever whims I have so that I don’t compromise my urge to write. My guarantee is that I try to milk the whim for whatever it’s worth. If I start an outline, I’ll finish it. I’ll have music in usually but I’ll pause it often to think about whatever it is I need to say.

what are some things you’d like to recommend? Some bellarke fics that’ll make you chuckle: So put your hands down my pants and I bet you’ll feel nuts by Chash You know you drive me up the wall by coffee_grounders The (Bullet Pointed) Life and Times of Bellamy Blake by crystalkei, dirtytrix

Other than that:

-       Albums: Ungodly Hour by Chloe x Halle, SAWAYAMA by Rina Sawayama, Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers -       Musicians: Matt Nathanson, Mat Kearney -       TV Shows: Nikita, Code Lyoko -       Books: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

You can find her on here on Tumblr @that-english-nerd, or on her AO3 here. Request a fic written by her via @bellarkefic-for-blm.

#bellarkefic for blm #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #bellarke #bellarke fanfiction #bellarkefics for blm interview

[ylizam]

dear creator: femslashex 2k20 edition

Hi, Hello, Hey. First of all–thank you! This is my standard you offered to write one of my fandoms, so thank you for being awesome opening spiel, full of generals likes and dislikes, I’m sure you know the drill. I’ll make sure the fandom specific stuff is up by the time assignments go out. (That said, if you already have an idea about how you want to write about the fandom/pairing we match on—wow, I’m jealous! tell me your secrets!—just skip over the fandom stuff and go forth with your bad self.) 

Things I like include, but are in no way limited to: fun with POV, fun with linear vs. non-linear storytelling, fun with tone, fun with writing. I really dig character studies, stories that really get into what makes a character tick (and something porny that can get at that is wonderful too), and I like relationships that are hard and prickly and worth fighting for. I like happy endings that don’t feel tacked on or forced. I like doubt, and hope, and theology; I like actors, and directors, and I like the random deity. I like fairy tales. I like (love) romance tropes. Forced to share a bed, marriages of convenience, fake dating, friends-to-lovers, idiots-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers: it’s all like unto catnip. I like interesting turns of phrase, I like the perfect line, I like any story written just for me. If you have any questions about my taste (or lack thereof), feel free to ask @summervillen​ who probably knows my fannish tastes better than I do.

DNWs: noncon, necrophilia, pedophilia, incest, animal harm or death, child harm or death, pregnancy fic, A/B/O. Things that I would prefer you not include—especially gratuitously; there are obviously ways to engage with problematic actions/thoughts/etc. in fiction, but there’s such a fine line there—are as follows: non-character driven racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-semitism, etc. etc. etc. I’d prefer no high school AUs. I also have a pretty big embarrassment squick. And while I'm mostly interested in these characters in the worlds in which we meet them, if you really have an AU (non high school division) you want to write I'm there. Just, you know, grounded in the characters and their relationships and all that fun stuff. That's basically it.

Babylon 5 Delenn/Susan Ivanova I just ship them post-canon so hard. Later in life chances at love are sort of a thing of mine, and add to that two of my favorite characters ever, well, it’s like this pairing is made for me. That said, if you can find a way to write them during canon (maybe John doesn’t return from Z'ha'dum, maybe Delenn and John just never get together at all, maybe you can think of something I can’t) I’d love that too. Delenn/Shaal Mayan I’d love a story about them that’s really Minbari–that understands that neither of them is human. Something set when they were young and just figuring themselves out (and first love is rarely forever but it feels like it must be) or something set when Mayan visits Babylon 5 in season one or, heck, something set after the series ends. (I have a thing for writing on skin, so if you can find a way to fit that in more power to you.)

Last Tango in Halifax Gillian Greenwood/Caroline McKenzie-Dawson Oh gosh I have so many feelings about Gillian and Caroline and their relationship. How it’s grown, changed, and now they’re at a point where they see each other all the time and talk about basically everything and it’s all so beautiful. And, I mean, come on, they both have the best chemistry with the other; it’s just a fact. So what if they get drunk and kiss (or shag or something in between)? Or just deal with things like adults (I’m sure you could convince me that’s possible)? (She wasn’t part of the tagset, but I also liked what little we saw of Olga, both how she interacted with Caroline and how she befriended Gillian when they both showed up late to the play, so if you want to go the threesome route–whether it’s a V or a triad or whatever confusing mess of emotions you prefer–I’m there.) (P.S. I haven’t seen the most recent season, but I’m spoiled and have seen all the gifs and screencaps so include or don’t as you see fit.)

Lucifer Linda Martin/Mazikeen

Their relationship on the show is a thing of delight and wonder, so basically I want that but also MORE. Maze fighting people to protect Linda! Linda, well, trying to fight people but mostly realizing that Maze loves it and is good at it so. Maze panicking again about Linda eventually dying, but also MORE SO because now they’ve been fucking and also having weird candlelight dinners and um is this romantic this might be. (Whether Amenadiel is involved (romantically with either or both, as an active parent but no longer romantically, etc.) or off doing something else stage left and never mentioned is up to you, but please no bashing, killing off somehow, etc.) Feel free to include hijinks with the rest of the gang, but I’d prefer no focus on any police work. 

 The Old Guard (Movie) Andy/Quynh

Note: I haven’t read the comics, so this is strictly a movie request (I know they’re separate fandoms and listed thusly, but I just wanted to be clear). I’d love anything about them, in all honesty. Something in the past: a first time (they kissed, they said “I love you,” they refused to say “I love you,” they had sex, etc.), a fifth time, a mission gone wrong. Or something in the present/future: angst and fractured trust and fighting on opposite sides until they’re suddenly not. All too mortal Andy. Immortal Quynh. The options are basically endless. I also love everyone on the team, so feel free to include them however you see fit. 

Star Trek: Classic Timeline

First of all, I don’t know book canon, so include it, don’t include, whatever floats your proverbial boat. Second of all, I am more than happy with “this character lives” stories here. Obviously. Third of all, please no bashing of any other characters (even that one).

Beverly Crusher/Laris

So I came out of Picard with an undying devotion to Laris and a burning curiosity about what the heck Bev is up to these days. So tell me more about both of them. Is there’s a longstanding affair, often at a distance? Did they start out prickly and reserved, wary? How are Jean-Luc and Zhaban involved? (I am happy with whatever you decide on the Jean-Luc and Zhaban front, other than gratuitous death or bashing of either. Feel free to have them off having their own adventures and don’t mention them if you prefer not to involve them.) Is Beverly’s French as terrible as Jean-Luc’s? 

Kimara Cretak/Kira Nerys

Feel free to have Kimara escape/live/etc. I’d especially love something that recognizes that neither of them is human; play around with what we know of their cultures, about how those cultures might clash or unexpectedly mesh, how that can affect a relationship both positively and negatively. I’m always interested in Nerys’s faith and religious beliefs, and how that interacts with Romulan culture would be very much something I enjoy. 

K'Ehlyer/Deanna Troi

K’Ehlyer deserved better, and who is better than Deanna? I posit no one. This is another pairing where I’d love something about the fact that they’re not fully human and the implications thereof. (Feel free to include Alexander or not, as you choose. Ditto Thaddeus and Kestra. I’d prefer they not be a focal point though.) Whether you set it during TNG or Picard or in between, I’ll be equally happy (or an alternate version of reality works too! those are just the time references I can think of right now!). (Please note that I very much also ship Deanna and Will, so please, please, please don’t bash him or kill him off for no reason or have Deanna cheating on him or whatever. I’d much rather you don’t mention him at all if you don’t want him in the fic.) 

The Untamed Jiang Yanli/Wen Qing

Is part of this my desire to have two of my favorite characters pushed together? Yes. Is it also part of my desire to have them actually live? Absolutely. (Which is to say: I’d love a “Jiang Yanli and Wen Qing live” AU here. Or at least live longer than they make it in canon?) I’d also be fine with modern AUs here, but I’d prefer cultivation be in there somewhere even if it’s set in the present (or the 1980s or basically any time period). Maybe there’s a political partnership of convenience situation! Maybe something shifts in canon and Jiang Yanli helps the Qishan Wens out and things happen and trust grows and they fall in love! Maybe they have a secret fling! Honestly, it’s all good. 

#femslashex #femslash exchange #dear author letter #there will be more later #once i manage to write up the fandom specific parts #long post #(or it will be or it is idk) #the old guard #the untamed #lucifer #last tango in oh noooo #last tango in halifax #star trek: the next generation #star trek: picard #star trek: ds9 #stars trek #babylon 5

[frumfrumfroo]

What’s one AU that you’ve never seen for Reylo that you want to? What’s one trope that you wish was more common in fic?

I had a really good one a while back that I can’t think of now. Maybe I’ll remember later lol.

I wish there were more modern royalty AUs with ridiculous romcom tropes, you know Prince Ben and CinderReya (yes, I am proud of that pun). I know of only one. I will also take more royalty stuff at all, period. There is not enough Prince Ben in any form and this is an egregious crime because he is an actual canon prince and I feel like there’s so much potential there for amusing double-fish-out-of-water scenarios with Rey’s socialisation exclusively in seedy underbelly culture vs his Raised by Books and Droids. People tend to make him way more rough and tumble than he actually is and Rey way less so and it’s a waste lmao. They are both impulsive under pressure, but he is a social thinker, he’s curious about people, she’s the one who problem-solves by pretending there are no problems and hitting anyone who looks at her funny.

People do a lot of jokes about her teaching him manners post-redemption like he’s this half-tame bear she brought home, but it’d be the exact opposite. He’s stiltedly formal in canon, he’s solicitous. Meanwhile Rey has zero manners and is blunt to a fault, she is ready to throw down over her sense of justice at any time with no apologies. I feel like she’d be super overprotective of Ben/their relationship and I’d love to see more fics with that kind of Rey the secretive hoarder vs the outside world clash. It feels like such a natural extension of her canon conflicts.

Also set ups which acknowledge how Not Fine, sealed off, isolated and judgey she is. Like she’s a ranger who works with animals, loves animals with such soft compassion, but barely speaks to people, and he’s either a scientist or a developer, someone she can easily think is up to no good and a threat to nature. She thinks he’s an unfeeling brute, but obviously it’s complicated and he has some kind of tree-hugging past he had to abandon etc. etc.

(Back on manners and how they have a complex double-defrosting dynamic everyone tends to simplify into her being his opposite and her defrosting him, sunny well-adjusted social butterfly Rey to a broody Byronic man- which is NOT correct at all. He is emotionally available and immediately compassionate for her, he defrosts her inner self; she seems available to the ‘good guys’ but isn’t. Anyway, subversive swerve: My Fair Lady/Anastasia fusion AU where Ben is Eliza/Anastasia a secret foreign prince lost since he was 10, Rey is Higgins teaching him elocution while he teaches her how to people, F/nn is Pickering an aristocrat who picked Rey up as a foundling in India to be his companion shortly before he was orphaned himself, Han shows up as Mr Doolittle the con artist- he’s actually been in hiding with Ben because of a military coup in their country, Rose is Mrs Higgins, Leia’s the Queen of Transylvania- she doesn’t know where Han and Ben are, Luke is the Hungarian, R2 and 3P0 are both Mrs Pearce, and Poe is Freddy- he’s obsessed with the mystery of Rey’s origins and has always annoyed her deeply because of this but he’s 100% fooled by her Ben project and never questions his origins, annoying her even more.)

Arranged marriage is always great and I will always take more.

My BIGGEST WISH and constant frustration is still the one I’ve mentioned a few times, which is that there’s hardly any fics that actually play their forbidden secret relationship and have them get caught red-handed somehow. The entire set up is BEGGING for this kind of drama and no one does it. Basically, I just want Rey getting caught being in love with Ben by the Resistance and needing to deal with their reactions. I can’t believe how rare this is and I extra can’t believe that even when people do it they almost to a fault completely gloss over the fallout. Aka: the point of doing it.

I’m so big on that huge psychological shockwave of everyone !!finding out!! a person/situation isn’t at all what they thought. I’m super, super big on the melodramatic romance potential of her needing to defend how much she loves him in public. I have a thing about emotional vindication and given one of Rey’s biggest problems is her repression and refusal to face things, where one of Ben’s biggest problems is that he doesn’t believe he can be loved for himself or that anyone will fight for him…………………..

Guys,

the drama

the romance. The humour potential. The perfect character through-lines! WHY.

#tropes #reylo #the fact that no one has ever written the canonverse post-tlj fic I want to read means I should be writing it #but I'm the worst and still haven't finished my last fic #and I am forbidden from starting new chaptered stories until i do #also I should really take my rage about tros and use it to write an original novel with an epic redemption love story #I brushed off the fantasy adventure I wrote two chapters of and abandoned and I'm going to make the love interest a patricidal sad boy #rewrite the whole thing to have a monster romance redemption arc #the heroine is going to save him and they are going to have a disgustingly happy ending with weddings and babies and a field of wildflowers #some people do the FO finding out stuff but I don't really care about that #evil people finding out about your secret relationship just means they have a thing to use against you and it's pretty pat #Ben doesn't have real relationships with those people and they all just want to use him #what interests me is the people who think they know you needing to deal with a revelation and needing to reassess something they thought #was simple #this is probably exactly why I like monster romance as well #I like BIG gaps being crossed RADICAL reassessments #I love unlikely relationships being made public to disbelieving bystanders idk #so much reylo fic has them just as partitioned off and isolated as tros does- where the plots are in separate post codes & it doesn't matter #as much as I prefer the focus be pretty tight on the romance they need to exist in the world and desperately need to be reintegrated and #join society #both of them #but I want more fallout- like just in general always #let things have an actual impact which ripples through the whole narrative and AFFECTS the characters #I read so much fanfic specifically because mainstream fiction has become allergic to fallout and emotional consequences