#for example the events of the life series canonically happened in this au

[faerygardens]

Anyway. Straying from the negativity I’m finally actually writing that superhero au, I might be too optimistic here (we’ll see if I ever actually get around to posting it) but I’m currently working on 3 fics from 3 different perspectives, one is sbi, one is flower husbands, and one in desert duo, if you’d like to know more abt them and the au or you wanna know about anyone else in the au lmk bc I love talking abt it and it’s gotten so much bigger than it was last time I talked abt it

#fae.txt #mcyt #one little note for y’all is that I adapted a couple servers and events into comic events #for example the events of the life series canonically happened in this au #but they’re slightly altered for superpowers and they take place on various ‘battle planets’ #named like battle planet 3D-L and shit #sorry I’m autistic for comic books #I also came up with several events so uh #if you wanna know more abt those pls lmk #please ask abt them #I wanna talk abt this au so bad

[cosmiclion]

If you thought I couldn't outdo myself more with the fluff for this AU then you haven't seen my true power yet 😈

I don't know if I got OCiel's bangs right but, realistically speaking, human hair never stays in the same place, that's how physics works so whatever lmao.

Anyway, trying to write a Black Butler AU with some fluff where Sebastian and Ciel have a parent-child like relationship WHILE keeping them in-character (Sebas more than Ciel tbh) and still basing it on canon material but making changes and making said changes make sense requires a bit of work ngl.

I mean, I know it's just a project I'm doing for fun and technically there's nothing stopping me from going nuts and making them completely OOC and disregarding canon at all, but I feel then it'd become a separate story with new, original characters who simply happen to be inspired by Kuro (which is also okay, and who knows, maybe in the future I'll repurpose the whole thing to create my own Kuro-inspired original story, even if I don't think I'll ever fully lose interest in Kuro, this cursed series has me in a chokehold lmao). Full ramble under the cut.

Sebastian is the hardest one to write, though I think I'm finally more or less figuring it out. I didn’t want to write him as suddenly learning to love the way humans do thanks to the power of cute children or something, as it just didn't feel natural (or I couldn't personally make it feel natural, I know other people have managed to write that concept very well). What I have so far is that when he does act nurturing he’s simply imitating the behavior of human parents he has observed, but he doesn’t love the kid the same way humans do because he literally doesn’t have that ability. BUT that doesn’t mean he feels nothing at all and that it doesn’t mean anything to Ciel, after all this weird creature is the one who saved his life and raised him with care and patience. The closest comparison I can think of is the relationship between people and “unusual” pets like reptiles, amphibians, insects, etc. We know they can’t love us the way other people (or even other mammals) would but that doesn’t make our bond any less significant! Some bits of canon material also come in handy here, for example I based the fact that familiar Sebas finds Ciel adorable as a kitten on the canon fact that he likes squishing his cheeks because they remind him of a cat's paws 😂 Just know he's an awkward demon who doesn't know how to human but is doing his best 🥺

I think in Ciel’s case I have more freedom since he is, after all, human, and a human’s personality is strongly shaped by their environment and life experiences. Like, what exactly counts as making a character OOC? Sure, I can agree that in a fanwork set in the exact same universe with the exact same events as in canon there’s some things a character would never say or do, but I think AUs were created as a way to explore what-if scenarios. What if this character had been raised by different people? What if they had grown up in a different place? What if this or that event hadn’t happened or had gone differently? Tbh I think it’s just fun to explore endless possibilities, it’s maybe a form of character analysis in some way. And if we think about it, canonverse Ciel was originally sweet, shy and affectionate, and if he’s the complete opposite now it’s only because he went through an utterly horrific and traumatic event that forced him to grow up before his time and toughen himself up because it left him with little to no support system, on top of having to be hyper vigilant because the only thing that "saved" him from that is a literal demon who wants his soul and is haunting him.

So I just wanted to create this alternative timeline where maybe things aren’t as terrible, or they start out as terrible but then some good things come from the most unexpected sources. Ciel is five years younger and thus has more time to process everything and try to heal as he grows up. Sebas isn’t entirely a bastard and willingly does nice things for the child, even if he still doesn’t understand human needs, and while he stills views him as a potential meal (at least at the beginning) he's actually respectful. There’s another demon who understands humans all too well and is happy to lend a hand. His friends and the relatives he has left are more involved in his life. So Ciel more or less has a support system now, albeit a weird dysfunctional one, and doesn’t entirely lose his sweetness (also like... he's 5/6 at the beginning of the story, we really can't expect a preschooler to be an edgy emo who craves violence and revenge ☠️). I imagine he grows up to be just as calculating and cunning as canonverse Ciel, maybe even just as ruthless in his job because it’s a requirement, and is still pretty much a little shit, but this Ciel is not as cold and undemonstrative. He’s still very much an introvert who prefers to be left alone, but he smiles (as in genuinely smile) more often and it’s a little easier for him to express emotions and feelings (more through actions than words, but still meaningful). Hell he may allow himself to be playful and silly sometimes if he’s in the moment.

And if it wasn’t clear from the picture, little Ciel ADORES Sebastian. Sure he's (understandably) a bit skittish around him at first, but once they bond he comes to fully view him as a parental figure. Yes, he's hurt, sad and traumatized, but he's still a resilient little kid, and with enough kindness Sebas can coax his old self to come out of his shell, and until the kid becomes more independent they're like a mama duck and her lil duckling. Their constant banter and bickering when he's older is more a teens being teens thing than anything.

#eli’s art #artists on tumblr #art #digital art #drawing #sketch #eli rambles #canon divergence #kuroshitsuji #kuroshitsuji au #kuro familiar au #black butler #black butler au #sebastian michaelis #dadbastian #mombastian #ciel phantomhive #our ciel #ociel #o!ciel #i am going to create an au that is so self indulgent #procreate app #not yoi

[prolix-yuy]

PedroStories HallowReads Celebration 

A Spooky Salute to Writers! 

There are literally hundreds of fics out here that have stolen my heart, but here are a few of my favorites. Forgive me if I wax poetic about some of these, but I think you'll love them just as much!

For other stories I've loved, check out my fic rec tag!

🎃 Here are my recommendations for @pedrostories’ HallowReads Celebration 🎃

My favourite fanfics I read this year

Point A to Point B by @amywritesthings Description: Escorting a former Empire prisoner of war to a Rebel Alliance safe zone? It should be a piece of cake. Absolutely no problems whatsoever. My thoughts: My space sister even when she's off in another galaxy far far away (aka another fandom), Point A to Point B was one of the first Din series I read that was in progress at the time I started. Nothing made me quite as excited as giving my blow-by-blow reactions to Amy's spectacular story, and I'll come back to a few of those...ahem...firsts time and time again. The writing style is crisp and gorgeously detailed, and I love her religious Din so very much.

Lie to Me by @iamskyereads Description: A recent transfer to the DEA from the FBI makes you a target of hazing from your co-workers. Choosing to forget your bad first day at a bar puts you on a path towards meeting a new acquaintance. An expert on deception and psychological profiling, you are adept at catching liars. What happens when an increasingly stressful work environment begins to test the limits of your personal life and the one man at the center of it all, Javier Peña? Afterall, everybody lies about something. But how many are you keeping from yourself? An AU of Season 3 of Narcos My thoughts: Skye writes some of my favorite "it's canon now" stories, and Lie to Me is a shining example of what her creative mind can do with Season 3 plus an incredible reader character. I have never read a story where the reader was so different than me but also someone I'd so badly like to be that I could really imagine it to be true. Plus her Javi is so thoroughly rendered in perfect introspection I half expect scenes from the show to have Carino in the background. A must read!

Surrender by @ezrasbirdie Description: Weeks after the events in Kansas City, Joel and Ellie stumble across a woman lost in the Nebraska wilderness. With her knack for foraging and unending patience for Ellie's ceaseless questions, Daisy quickly becomes an asset on their journey. But between Joel's capriciousness towards her presence and Ellie's fierce loyalty to her guardian, she can't help but question her place with her new companions--especially when she catches Joel's gaze lingering more and more when he thinks she isn't looking. My thoughts: Listen, I know there's a lot of Joel out there right now, but this Joel? You need to read this Joel. A glorious character study of an intensely broken man finding a new start through the eyes of a complex and powerfully realized OC. There are whole chapters that have me in a chokehold, and the pain is so stunningly offset by the beauty they find in each other. One of my favorite things Birdie has written (and there are lots to choose from!)

Celestial Navigation by @write-and-buried Description: Dumped and drowning in a summer storm, you duck inside a coffee shop to hide from your broken heart. Covered in plants and hand drawn images over exposed brick, it seems like a slice of heaven. The owner brings you a blueberry muffin and a promise; you’ll fall in love with him before the new year. My thoughts: How can I not mention the story I salivated over every week waiting for a new chapter? This Dieter has all of the hallmarks of canon Dieter with so much more depth and a unique twist to his character that works perfectly in this sort-of AU. Every description is lush and ripe, sensuality used to lull you into horny heaven. Gorgeously realized and a wonderful contained read again and again.

Intimidation Tactics by @whataperfectwasteoftime Description: You and your partner, Marcus Pike, are investigating a case that brings you far too close to something much more dangerous than your average art thief.   My thoughts: Penny came out of the gate SWINGING with this series. Marcus and Dave's chemistry is electric, and the three of them together weave attraction and devotion into something much more grounded and confident than I expected. Their relationship blossoms so fully I can't imagine it any other way.

Wild Abandon by @starlightmornings Description: Post-WWII, set in the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. Ezra Joe Collins came home from the war looking to hide away in the wilderness. His simple, quiet life is turned upside down when you show up in his garden, hungry and desperate, with nowhere else to go. What starts out as a grudging friendship quickly transforms into something that will knit your very souls together — but as you soon discover, such a bond comes at great cost. My thoughts: Kaylie's masterful execution of this thematic story kept me on the edge of my seat for weeks! The setting and voice is some of the most unique writing I've come across, and the threads she weaves together to make the full picture come to light had me gasping. Plus Ezra is the perfect balance of hedonistic and mysterious, just the way I like him.

Beloved fanfics with my comfort characters

First Class to Tatooine by @mandosmistress Description: You’re a flight attendant who’s so entranced by your melancholy, beskar-clad passenger that you decide to cheer him up with some first class treatment. And although the Mandalorian seems to think he can forget his woes between your legs if he tries hard enough, despair and violence seem to follow him no matter how hard he tries to shake them. My thoughts: Mari's fic was some of the first I read in the fandom and if I'm ever missing Din I come back to this story. Her young Din fics are transcendent, but I'm so in love with this post-TBOBF story and the angst she pulls out of it.

Kinktober 2022 by @chaoticgeminate Description: You’re a fanfiction writer turned novelist, which was great since it was the path you wanted your writing to take you down in life. What you never thought would happen was meeting the Javier Gutierrez, who you actively write smutty fanfiction about from his film with Nic Cage, and you especially didn’t expect him to have a crush on you. Fast forward several months of dating, with a good chunk of your relationship being distance due to his constant traveling and having to go home to Mallorca, when he surprises you with a prompt list and a vacation planned around exploring it. You haven’t even worked up the nerve to tell him about what you write and post to Tumblr about him as a character yet. My thoughts: Who doesn't want to live in a world where some happy accidents bring you together with Javi Gutierrez in a sexy funfest full of feelings, healthy relationship conversations, and mind-blowing smut? Plus Kelly made me almost cry several times featuring my beloved Murch in her stories and now our RCs are best friends forever.

Palomino by @fuckyeahdindjarin Description: Unable to get a refund for a week-long horse-riding pack trip you’d booked with your ex, you decide to go solo. As it turns out, a rebound with a cowboy named Jack while traversing the wild landscapes of Wyoming might just be what you need. My thoughts: Palomino is a triumph of a fic by the incredibly talented Cee that is a must-read if you like anything horsey. Even if you don't, come for the soft-spoken cowboy we were robbed of in TGC and their adventures together. Cee took so many unique turns that had me intrigued with my heart clenching at each new chapter, and the ending is truly something beautiful.

Fanfics I wish more people knew about

Calculated Risks by @pedrito-friskito Description: I took a calculated risk, but fuck, am I bad at math aka - this started as friends with benefits but you’re ridiculously good in bed and not as much of an asshole as originally thought and now I’m kind of in love with you? a saga. My thoughts: Kay's Dieter is a chaotic mess in the best way, and she pairs him with someone just as messy and perfect for him. They traverse some highs and lows together, but the love is so carefully threaded through you have to root for them.

Vibes by @mandoblowmybackout Description: Sex toys, Din Djarin, neurodivergent reader and so many feelings? What's not to love? My thoughts: The number of times I've closed my eyes and thought of scenes from this series is too large to count. As sexy as the concept sounds, the trust and care that Ash takes to give these two the love they deserve is even more exhilarating.

Kitten by @boliv-jenta Description: The reader meets Nico at a swingers party. Will he just scratch an itch or carve a place in her life? My thoughts: Liv has so many fics I adore, but the exploration of Nico as a character and how his and Kitten's experimentation grows is just masterful. Plus she gives us one of my favorite OC side characters and so many twists and turns I was gobbling up each addition the moment they came out!

Fanfics with my favourite trope/AU

Love Triangles by @littlemisspascal Description: Soulmates with Identifying Marks AU, including a ridiculous amount of pining, misunderstandings, and Dieter being Dieter. My thoughts: Rae's writing never fails to make me feel the widest spectrum of emotions. This AU is so fun and thoughtfully fleshed out, with a wild but kind Dieter, hilarious nicknames, and a soulmate twist that had me a gooey mess by the end.

Stranger At My Gate by @leslie-lyman Description: A time-traveling Pero. A modern woman trying her best. A kitchen full of possibility. A helping of Midwestern kindness. A dash of magic. And a whole lot of Christmas spirit. My thoughts: I read this around the holidays and it was the perfect treat for my time-travel-Pero-loving heart! The world Leslie creates is so warm and homey I want to live in it always. Plus big gruff Pero melting down for Tessa makes me want to cry, it's so wonderful.

A Galaxy Far Far Away by @grogusmum Description: This fic is as much a story about Din, Grogu, and Reader as it is a little love letter to an old home of mine, during an idyllic time in my life. As with most authors, there are characters who are a reflection of them, and that is certainly so for reader characters in fics. And it is so here, but only a little, but the cottage, the town, the festivities are directly from life. I hope they come across kind of like characters in their own right. My thoughts: Every time I get a new piece of this story it melts me again. The love in this is quiet and gentle, and Grogu is a sweet little menace we adore. The slow growth of love is truly the star, and I'll forever want to live in this town with a big teddy bear of a man and his mischievous son.

The Language of Flowers by @lowlights Description: You’re the only daughter of a wealthy Victorian family living in the countryside. The head gardener, Din, catches your eye and your heart. A series of clandestine rendezvous put both of your futures in jeopardy. One question persists: could you ever truly be together? (A Din Djarin AU) My thoughts: Gardener!Din owns my heart, my nethers, a large piece of my brain. The Victorian vibes are off the CHARTS, and while there's the looming doom of their secret relationship always present, I still fall back in love every time.

Fanfics I NEED to read

A Girl Walks Into a Bookshop by @oonajaeadira Description: Set a couple of years after the events of the film. Ezra owns a bookshop. You walk in. My thoughts: This has been on my TBR forever and I feel like I need to set aside a day to just binge it. I know it'll make me soft. I know it'll give me all the feels. I just need to prepare myself for it, preferably with a warm drink and a cozy corner to melt in.

Meant to Be by @radiowallet Description: Oberyn Martell has spent his life as a second-born prince enjoying all the pleasures that Dorne has to offer, staving off any notion of an arranged marriage under the guise of searching for his soulmate. But after defeating The Mountain and avenging his sister's untimely death, Oberyn returns home to his brother still without a true heir. And so Doran states his plan: To name Oberyn Lord of Sunspear and have him take a wife, soulmates and lovers be damned. So what happens when the fates of Westeros send him an independent and troublesome woman from the north that just happens to fit the title of both bride and soulmate? Which feelings does one bow to? To bend or to break? And what does it truly mean to be meant? My thoughts: Cat's unique take on a Soulmate AU with an unlikely Pedro boy has been tantalizing me for months! And to hear her say that it's one of the formative stories that's developed her unique voice just makes me want to read it more!

Clean Sheet by @haylzcyon Description: Former FBI agent turned tortured crime-author Marcus Pike has never gotten the hang of complacency. The weight of monotonous days stuck writing a loveless character into predictable plotlines is heavy - but he finds ways to shoulder it. Newly divorced and the owner of a print shop where Marcus orders copies of his working drafts, a slip-up in order packaging sparks a fast blooming friendship between you, and reveals a side to Marcus that you've only dreamt of. My thoughts: AUTHOR MARCUS AUTHOR MARCUS I know this is going to get me yearning and I cannot wait for him to meet-cute his way into my heart.

Like a Moth to the Flame by @the-scandalorian Description: monster!Din, sort of a dark Beauty and the Beast AU My thoughts: Oh god. Oh godddddd. Monster!Din. I can't. I need a minute. I'm gonna be such a problem after this story and I need to be ready for that. I'm looking so disrespectfully at this story Simone.

Thank you to each and every writer who's on this list (plus dozens more) and whose words are forever imprinted in my brain, for better or worse. Happy Spooky Season!

#pedrostorieshallowreads23 #prolix fic recs

[yukidragon]

Since its almost Halloween can we get some yandere werewolf Joseph head canons, please?!

Ho, hoooo~ That sounds like a fun little AU right there. I hope you don’t mind if I specifically use my version of sunshine, Alice, for this answer. It might help me get inspired to make another AU short fic for her and Jack... or rather Joseph. ;3

Hmm... lots of ways to take this. For example, I could go with a similar angle I used for my Vampire AU, in that everything is basically the same, just Joseph was a werewolf before he died, which now makes him a werewolf ghost(?) who was released from this cursed VHS prison by Alice.

Buuuut that would be Jack and not Joseph wouldn’t it? After all, he would be in the persona of the character of Sunny Day Jack, so let’s go with the college AU as our basis, shall we? I’m sure that version of Joseph would make a fine yandere werewolf.

BTW, for those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s a picture of Joseph in the College AU that Jambeebot/Sauce drew and posted publicly on their twitter.

A tired but handsome lad, perfect for some wolfy shenanigans, don’t you think?

Just as a quick reminder, please don’t repost any of the pictures posted privately on the Snaccpop Studios Patreon. For just $3, you can get a peek of the good stuff, and that’s cheaper than a cup of coffee like the one Jojo here is holding. You could also consider joining the Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack kickstarter. It recently hit $45,000, so the Nick route was just unlocked!

Oh, and while I’m plugging stuff, why not check out Sunshine in Hell or Sunshine in Another World, my Sunny Day Jack fanfics? I’d love it if you read them and let me know what you think.

Also, I want to remind everyone this series is an Adults Only game, and there’s probably going to be a smutty headcanon or two in the bunch. I mean, we are talking about a werewolf AU. I’m practically obligated to mention knotting at least once.

Oh, before I forget, here’s the obligatory tags for @channydraws and @earthgirlaesthetic.

Thanks for indulging my side-tangent, now back to the headcanons.

I haven’t really touched on the College AU before, but now’s as good of a time as any, just with a little supernatural twist to it. There’s not really any “canon” lore to this AU, just Joseph looking pretty stylish as a college student, so I’m just gonna go crazy and have fun with it. Okay? Okay!

First off, it’s modern day, with cell phones, super fancy coffee drink shops, and obscene student loan debts. Joseph’s family/school life has been shit like in the normal universe, with parents who don’t love him (and probably regret ever having him), but he didn’t run away from home (or if he did, he eventually went back). Instead, he doubled down on his education to get a college scholarship that’ll get him the hell away from his shitty home life and hometown.

Of course, being a student reliant on a scholarship for his funds, Joseph has to work his ass off to maintain high enough grades to keep it. This leads to a lot of late nights, dark circles under his eyes, and a rewards card at the local Sunbucks coffee shop that gets used more than his phone. He gets so much coffee there that the barista even learned how to spell his name right!

The college happens to be the same unnamed college that Alice(/MC), Shaun, and Ian attended. Joseph, being interested in acting, winds up in some of the same classes as the three.

Now, we could say things in this continuity are mostly the same as canon, with Alice and Ian dating at the start of college. This would be when Joseph gets to meet his sunshine while being an ordinary college student instead of a ghost(?) clown actor. Jealousy and love triangles ensue.

But, nah, let’s shake that timeline up little more with some of that werewolf spice, shall we? In fact, let’s rewind the timeline just a little to some events before college starts.

Joseph comes from a pack of werewolves. His parents are still unloving and don’t pay attention to him, but man does being a supernatural creature complicate matters even more. There’s the whole pack hierarchy with alphas and what not (which even Joseph knows is something real wolves don’t do, but then again real wolves don’t transform or have supernatural nonsense going on with them either). You have to be the biggest and strongest to get any power or attention, which is more reason for him to go through a rebellious stage... only this period of teenage angst involves fangs and claws instead of a pocket knife.

So why then, did Joseph not run away from home in this universe when things feel even more isolating for him? He did, but this time it was during a full moon after a particularly rough tumble with his pack. He made it to an area without local wolves of any variety, and on that moonlit night he found himself a ray of sunshine.

Alice’s childhood home has a large backyard that leads into a forest. Being familiar with these woods and with no dangerous wildlife to speak of in the area, it wasn’t at all out of the ordinary for her to take a late night stroll. When she heard a faint whimpering, she assumed it was one of the family dogs. What she found in the dim light of the moon and her cell phone’s flashlight app was a juvenile “dog” with dark chocolate colored fur that had a pretty blue shine where the light hit it.

The poor thing was all covered in cuts, and growled at the strange human approaching him when she got close. Alice felt sorry for it, but knew better than to get too close. Joseph wasn’t exactly happy about being found, and was relieved when she left, only to be surprised when she returned with a couple bowls, one filled with dogfood and the other water.

Joseph figured out her misunderstanding and found it kind of funny. This stranger was treating him as a dog more kindly than his parents or his teachers ever did, speaking soothingly and not getting too close. He snubbed the dogfood because he wasn’t that desperate yet, but he was thirsty after running away so far.

Alice smelled pretty nice to Joseph, really nice in fact. He got closer to her to get a better sniff of her scent underneath the artificial perfumes of her soap and deodorant. She knew better than to move when he got closer, lest she startle him, and he decided to be cheeky and lick her hand when he noticed some cookie crumbs still stuck to her fingers.

What Joseph didn’t expect was that Alice took that as a sign he wanted to be petted. It was startling, to say the least. No one had ever pet him before, not even his parents!

Then again, they didn’t hug him either.

It felt... nice. Far nicer than it had any right to feel, especially after he felt so shitty after getting roughed up by his shitty pack. Joseph melted under the touch and leaned into Alice as she used both hands to put him so gently, his tail wagging for the first time in forever.

Werewolves hid among humanity, but didn’t have much respect for them. Joseph didn’t see a reason to respect humans or werewolves, but this one... this one felt nice, really, really nice. Maybe it was just because of the full moon making him feel more wolf-like and instinctive, but he thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be this human’s pet... at least until he recovered from his injuries. He shouldn’t stay too long in case one of his pack decided to track him down to punish him for running away. 

Alice felt so warm, and Joseph wanted more of her touch. He could’ve cried when she hugged him and called him a good boy.

Unfortunately, such a beautiful moment didn’t last long, as Alice started to cough and she backed from Joseph while covering her mouth and nose. “I guess your owner’s a smoker, huh?”

Joseph never batted an eye whenever a teacher caught him with cigarettes. Their detentions, wagging fingers, and warnings of the danger of teenage smoking never reached him. If anything, their obnoxious lectures just made him want to cut class to light up another joint. It was only when Alice, the first person to hug him in forever, had to put some distance between them so she could breathe did he regret ever picking up the habit.

Even still, Alice brought Joseph back to her house with the intention of taking him to the vet to get him treated in the morning. The family dogs were wary of him, as was expected since they had a better sense of the danger a werewolf posed, but her human family were welcoming. Fortunately, acting friendly enough convinced them that he simply was a very wolf-like breed rather than an actual wolf, let alone a werewolf.

Still, they kept a more careful distance from Joseph than Alice did. They looked him over, and he allowed a few pets, but none of them smelled as appealing as Alice, or cuddled him like she did. Unfortunately, being indoors made it harder to avoid the smell of smoke, so she was forced to keep her distance.

It made Joseph feel a little lonely.

During the night when everyone was asleep, Joseph raided the fridge in a form that actually had opposable thumbs and prowled around the house. He found Alice in her room, but he couldn’t stay long when she started coughing in her sleep. He did linger long enough to notice that she had some fantasy romance novels, a couple of which involved supernatural creatures like werewolves.

Joseph wanted to stay and get to know Alice, but he was a danger to her. Not only would the pack find him if he didn’t keep going, but something as stupidly mundane as a smoking habit was keeping him away from the first person to make him feel warm and cared for in his life.

That night, Joseph reconsidered what he really wanted. He wanted to find a new life, a better life, one with actual love in it. Before he didn’t know how to do it besides forcing his parents, teachers, peers... just someone to finally look at him like a person and not a burden. Now... now there was a chance. He found a ray of sunshine in his dark life. He had a goal to work towards.

Joseph returned to the pack, but not before getting some information he could use, like Alice’s home address and phone number. He would sneak back to watch her from a distance, waiting until it would be safe for him to see her again. He quit smoking, but it would be a while until he stopped smelling of smoke.

One time when Joseph snuck by to see Alice, he saw a scrawny human boy by her side. It wasn’t unexpected - humans spent time with humans, though it did make him feel lonely to see her spending time with someone else when he couldn’t. Worse, was how much fun they were having, laughing, playing around and joking together. They were close.

Then Joseph caught wind of the boy’s pheromones... and hers as well.

The two of them were attracted to each other.

It irritated Joseph, which wasn’t helped by his nicotine withdrawal. Yes, humans were meant to be with humans, and he was supposed to mate with another werewolf and all that bullshit, but fuck that! He hadn’t even gotten the chance to talk to Alice yet, and here was this little toad daring to hug and lust after the first person to show him just the smallest scrap of warmth.

Joseph couldn’t handle it.

Ian had some incidents coming home from Alice’s house where he was stalked by a wild dog or a wolf that chased after him, snapping teeth and growling. However, it would mysteriously only go after him when he was alone and somehow always avoided his attempts at snapping a photo on his phone. On those nights, he wasn’t even truly safe at home, as he would hear scratching at his windows, only to find nothing there, and he thought he heard whispers warning him to stay away from Alice. It made him paranoid and afraid to walk alone when visiting her, and his mom twisted his experiences as being demonic in nature, a warning that he better not have any sinful thoughts about his friend...

It created some distance between Ian and Alice. They were still friends and still close, but he visited her house less often and felt more anxious about his romantic and spicy feelings towards her. This made it even harder for him to gather the courage to ask her out and try to go from friends to something more.

Which suited Joseph perfectly.

It was at least a year after that first encounter that Joseph arranged an ‘accidental’ first encounter with Alice in his human form while she was out and about in the city. Although she kept a greater distance from him as a human than she did as a “dog,” he managed to act cheerful and friendly enough to get her to lower her guard.

The time waiting to see Alice wasn’t spent idly. Joseph had been preparing for that “first” meeting with her, studying more about how to act than he ever did at school, though he did pull his grades up. He stopped acting out, ironically now trying not to attract anyone’s attention in his hometown, so that no one would realize he was sneaking off.

His pack might have hid among humans, but they kept their distance and felt humans were beneath them. They would never accept Joseph’s obsession with one, not unless he became the leader of the pack and changed the rules, or could earn the right to leave the pack, both of which would require him to battle and defeat the alpha.

It was an exhausting balancing act, but worth it to Joseph. He got stronger, pulled up his grades in school, and visited Alice whenever he could. They became friends, and got close enough they exchanged cell phone numbers. He was elated, and the more time he got to know her, the deeper he fell for her.

Joseph did intend to just befriend Alice, he really did, but when she gave him a hug while he was in his human form, he didn’t want to let her go. He wanted more.

He wanted her to be his mate for life.

You know, sometimes werewolf romances have mystical mate bonds, so let’s go with that. It’d be fitting since it’s similar to the connection between Jack and his sunshine in the main universe. Werewolves have one mate for life when they make the mark and all sorts of perks and all those fun tropes.

Joseph did his best to appeal to Alice, and he was thrilled the first time he caught scent of her interest in him - not Ian or someone else, but him! He nearly acted on it right there, but he knew her better by this point. She was shy, took things slowly, and when sneakily prying about her thoughts on romance, he found out that she’d only want to date someone she was friends with first.

Fine, fine, Joseph could wait. He had to take care of his pack’s potential interference anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to secure a good future too if he was going to start a family. Alice did admit she wanted a big family with a bunch of kids in the future, and he was quite happy to imagine having a whole litter of pups with her.

Joseph managed to defeat the alpha by the time he graduated high school. He could have taken over for the pack, but screw them all. He was free, more or less. He had a scholarship, he made sure to enroll in the same college Alice was attending, and he even managed to arrange it so that they would be staying in the same dorm. He wanted to be roommates with her, but the damn school decided that students of the same gender couldn’t stay on the same floor, let alone share a room.

Now that Joseph finally was free, he asked Alice out on the first day of classes, and she shyly accepted.

The fact that Ian just happened to be in earshot at the time really was a total coincidence. Really.

One date led to more, then a relationship. Joseph was the ideal boyfriend, kind, considerate, and very loving. Alice was wonderful to him as well, so cuddly and affectionate. She made him feel so loved and appreciated in a way no one else could.

Joseph swapped out his nicotine addiction for a caffeine addiction, but that was fine. Alice liked the smell of coffee, and although she didn’t really care to drink it, she didn’t mind the taste of it when he kissed her. After a while the smell of coffee would remind her of him, especially when they kissed.

Now that they had gotten this far, Joseph had to gently warm Alice up to the idea of werewolves. She enjoyed horror movies as well as gothic romances, so he had something to work with, getting familiar with some werewolf romance media to show her and talk to her about. It was so romantic how a human and a werewolf could make a relationship work despite all odds, wasn’t it?

Joseph would feel insecure when Alice made friends besides him, especially if he caught wind of any sort of attraction they had towards her. Shaun also had the annoying stink of cat on him. Joseph was quick to make it clear early on after meeting him who Alice wanted to be with, much to her embarrassment.

After all, she hadn’t been expecting Joseph to (gently) bite her neck while she was introducing Shaun and Joseph to one another.

“Joey!” Alice hissed breathlessly as she pushed Joseph back, her face cherry red. “Not here!”

Joseph chuckled, unrepentant as he admired the new mark he left behind on her skin along with the others that made it clear to everyone that Alice was his. “Sorry, sunshine, I just couldn’t resist.”

During a full moon, a werewolf’s instincts are much stronger, which made it that much harder for Joseph to hold back his urge to mate with Alice. He had to take it slowly with her, mindful of her comfort, but oh how she drove him so crazy sometimes. It seemed to get harder and harder to stop when she signaled an end to their make out sessions, but he would never, ever do anything she didn’t want, even if it left him with blue balls and with the urge to tear something apart in the woods to burn off the extra energy.

But all the waiting in the world is worth it for Alice, as far as Joseph is concerned, especially the night she finally, finally tells him that she loves him. He gently pried for it, not as forward or as confident as he would as Jack in the game, but he was absolutely just as giddy and relieved to hear it.

Needless to say, when Joseph reveals the truth about his werewolf nature to Alice, she’s very skeptical, thinking it’s a prank at first. He offers to prove it and shocks her when he manages to actually transform into a wolf, and a rather sizable one at that. Although intimidating and world changing, she quickly accepts this side of him, much to his delight.

Wolfy cuddles, petting, and tail wags follow... then Joseph reveals his hybrid form, with a human physique and wolf features. (It’s not too much different than Bo’s “feed me” form.)

It happens to be a full moon, and Joseph, high off of her love and acceptance of every side of him, gets very affectionate. Though intimidated and very nervous, Alice consents to going all the way with him for the first time. She marvels at how a big and dangerous werewolf like Joseph can be so gentle... and how many times he can keep going.

It was quite the learning experience for Alice. First she learned that her boyfriend was a werewolf, then just how big he is, and finally that she can handle someone of his size without pain with enough loving preparation beforehand. Joseph made sure to shower her with praise through the experience, especially when she managed to take his knot.

Needless to say, the two of them skip classes the next day. Joseph is only too happy to carry Alice around until she can walk properly again, much to her embarrassment.

The mate marking happens either during their first time or afterwards, but, in any case, Alice is consenting to it. After all, it means she and Joseph can be together forever. She’s never felt so happy and accepted before. How can she say no when he’s such a wonderful guy who loves her so much?

Sure, Joseph gets a bit territorial, and Alice always has kiss and bite marks that she can never quite hide when out in public, but that just shows how crazy he is about her. How can she not find it flattering?

Although Joseph’s size and werewolf nature can be intimidating, Alice isn’t afraid of him. How could she? He’s the sweetest, most gentle, friendly, and loving person she’s ever known. The idea that he could hurt anyone is completely absurd!

Joseph is the happiest he’s ever been in his life. He finally has his sunshine, and, someday, they’re going to have a nice home and a bunch of happy pups to call their own. As long as no one tries to get between them, everything will end happily ever after.

If they do, well... this wolf knows how to hunt.

#Sunny Day Jack #Something's Wrong With Sunny Day Jack #SunnyDayJack #swwsdj #sdj #Werewolf AU #Headcanon Ramblings #Ask #Sauce-y Art

[usukustwiceperyear]

Announcing:

USUKUS Twice Per Year 2023 Part 2: "Across the Universe"

Themes based upon the fusion of USUKUS and other media franchises. This can include other AUs, such as Star Wars, Good Omens, Skyrim, and other TV shows/films/videogames. (* Due to the recency of the "Based On A Book" event, unfortunately we are disallowing book-based franchises. Please contact an admin if you would like to base your work on a series that originated as a book but is now multimedia, i.e. has a TV show.)

SIGN-UP FORM

⮞ CLICK HERE ⮜

Form closes on October 2 at 11:59 PM PST.

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General Rules

General - Progress updates are required monthly for the next 3 months before works are due. We will contact you on the dates below and give you some pointers on recommended progress. This does NOT mean that we expect you to have your work completed at time of check-in. People work at different paces, after all!

Check-in #1: October 15, 2023 - 25% complete Check-in #2: November 15, 2023 - 50% complete Check-in #3: December 15, 2023 - 75% complete

FINAL DUE DATE: December 31, 2023 at 11:59 PM PST

Regarding Drop Outs - If you have to drop out of the event at any point, that’s totally okay! Life happens, or sometimes motivation wanes. Just let us know via Discord (@narcoleptic or @verusmayaii), email (usukustwiceperyear (at) gmail.com), Twitter DM (@usukusnetwork), or Tumblr Ask so we can adjust for you. - However, please note that if we notice you’ve dropped out of 2 consecutive events, we reserve the right to bar you from the following Twice Per Year event (next soonest half of the biannual year). You can reapply for the one after! (I.e.: If you dropped out of 2023-2 and 2024-1, you will be barred from 2024-2 and eligible again for 2025-1.)

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Event-specific Rules

About Crossovers/Fusions - Every submission must be based on an existing media such as a manga, anime, videogame, film, or TV show. - The work must include America and England as the focal characters and elements of the selected media. Characters from the medium itself are NOT ALLOWED to be included directly in your work.         >> Example: If Pokémon is the selected media, England and America can engage in a Pokémon battle and exist within the known Pokémon world. However, they cannot interact with the canon cast (Ash, Red, Team Rocket, etc.) - The selected media must be submitted to the admin team ahead of time so choices can be reviewed and approved. If you want to change your choice at any point in time during the creation period, please let us know as soon as possible so there is time to re-review. - The admins reserve the right to reject any media chosen by creators and categorize works as NSFW at our discretion. - If there are any questions regarding crossovers/fusions you may have, please don't hesitate to message the admin team via Discord (@narcoleptic or @verusmayaii), email (usukustwiceperyear (at) gmail.com), Twitter DM (@usukusnetwork), or Tumblr Ask. We're happy to help!

Crossover/Fusion Rules - All variations of USUKUS are allowed, including but not limited to 2P, Nyotalia, Nekotalia, etc. - Non-English language media is allowed, however, the submitted works must be in English.         >> We encourage you to select media that has an English option (dubbing, subtitled, iteration, etc.) so that people can appreciate your work as both a fanwork for USUKUS and the respective media. - Please try your best not to spoil any important plot, story, or character elements from the selected media. This is at your own discretion. - If the media you wish to select contains explicit material (referenced drug use, sexual activity), any work made for it will be marked as NSFW regardless of if your work contains any NSFW elements or not. >> If you are an underage writer or artist, any media selected that contains NSFW elements will NOT be accepted.

Writer-specific Rules - If your selected media includes terminology that is not otherwise discernible from the text alone, please do your best to elaborate/explain in the story itself for people who may not be familiar with your selected media. Likewise, if there are any unique aspects to the media's world or its functioning, please do your best to elaborate/explain in the story itself. Do not assume the reader knows anything.         >> World Example: If Genshin Impact is the selected media, then explain its in-universe magic system, especially if applicable America and England within your story.         >> Terminology Example: If Star Wars is the selected media, then explain in-universe proper nouns like the Force, Jedi, and Sith, especially as it relates to America and England within your story. - OCs are allowed to be used as long as they are not the critical focus of / do not have a significant impact on the story.

Artist-specific Rules - Outfits, iconic poses, specific locations/scenes, are all allowed, however, please use discretion when considering any spoilers for the viewers. - Please use any direct visuals listed above at your discretion as this can be considered plagiarism.

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As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us!

#usukustwiceperyear #tpy:announcement #tpy:2023 #tpy 2023-2: across the universe

[singlecrow]

🦈🦋💌!!

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

I was going to say, ahh, well, I cheat at things and don’t write for characters I find tough to write. But I find Margaret Houlihan hard to write and have been doing her a lot lately. She’s tough because you have to keep her interior monologue straightforward: Margaret doesn’t like words, she likes action, emotion. It’s hard to keep paying attention to that.

🦋 Which character is your favorite to write?

Well if recent months indicate anything, probably Hawkeye Pierce. (probably it’s always been Hawkeye who’s my favourite!) How much fun, to write a character who loves wordplay and silliness and wit, is well-read enough that you can throw literally anything into his dialogue as a literary allusion, and can honest-to-god make a speech and capture room. He canonically speaks for paragraphs at a time and then goes silent again for pages. I love Hawkeye. I tend to write him largely in line with my own interior monologue, and no one has ever complained.

As well as him, though: Hilary Tamar. Hilary (gender unspecified) is the main character of a series of detective novels by Sarah Caudwell, which come up as a yuletide fandom every year and I love them and I love writing for Hilary in particular, but it is impossible to explain why without an example. Here is me, writing in Hilary’s voice:

“Further to your last: there is no necessity in the slightest that you return. Your postscript in particular embodied the magnitude to which you have misconstrued the situation in London. I have no doubt that the lawyers of Edinburgh and Glasgow, should there be any such, continue to have need of your expertise and a precipitate departure will neither endear them to you nor assist with matters here. I assure you that Julia is quite well. Now the charges are dispensed with she is wholly at liberty. There has been no injury to life or limb. There was a perhaps some trifling damage to the fabric of the building but the litigation arising thereof may be dealt with in camera, if one may repurpose the term, and there is no reason at all for concern.

However, if it should set your mind at rest such that you may lecture unimpeded, if I recall aright, on the Purpose and Perfidy of the English Chancery Bar, I may perhaps offer you the following account of events.”

I was particularly proud of the Purpose and Perfidy of the English Chancery Bar.

💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?

SADNESS. No, that’s not true. Actually, it’s Star Trek and daemon AUs. I’ve done about ten Star Trek AUs, all for fandoms that aren’t an obvious fit (my favourite ones are the MASH one, the West Wing one, and the Big Bang Theory one - yes, I had a weird time in the summer of 2014 and wrote a lot of Big Bang Theory fic without ever seeing the show, it was bad, it was a bad time, but it’s a good story). The daemon AUs are fewer but just as tropey, again my fave is the MASH one but the Star Trek one is also good fun.

I also love a five-things fic and am always unhappy they’re now well out of fashion. My last two have been “four things that never happened to Jonathan Sims, and one thing that never happened to everyone else” and “five times Aziraphale attempted to tempt humanity and failed, utterly and completely, in service of God’s plan”.

(you can still ask me things!)

#mash #tma #hilary tamar #my fic

[99fandomproblems]

My fandom worships BNF's, if you aren't a BNF you don't exist. How can I become a BNF?

Hi, Nonnie!

For those who don't know, ‘BNF’ means big name fan. It's a term given to blogs/accounts/fans with a lot of followers. 

Nonnie, there isn't a short answer for this. One might ask how do I write a bestselling book or a number one hit single? There's a mix of talent and good luck involved in all of those. 

I'll answer this in two parts, firstly addressing 'hit' fanfics and secondly addressing ‘BNF’ fannish culture. Hopefully some of this advice will help you out!

Tips for hit fics:

write what is popular: popular tropes, a popular ship, a popular/active fandom. Write what gets the most traffic. If a particular ship is popular for canon fics, write canon fics. If another ship is popular for au's, write au's. Hit all the favorite tropes. 

Building your readership: have a presence online, post often/regularly to build your readership, write multi-chaptered works or series so readers can subscribe. One-shot fics can often seem one and done, and readers move onto the next one-shot. If you write a multi-chaptered fic for example readers can subscribe to the work and return to it. Whether you write as you go or post with a schedule is up to you. Regular updates on a WIP really do bring in more hits and readers over time. It doesn't need to be that long, even two or three chapters is more chapters than a one-shot.

Engage with readers: reply to their comments, post about your work on your socials (Tumblr is good), share your work so new readers can find you. Don't rely on readers to promote your fanfiction, be proactive about it. 

That's about it for tips. 

You'll have to put in the work to create and write the story yourself. I'm only pointing out the obvious for advice here. Pay attention to your fandom and look at what is popular now. Fandoms go through trope trends, so don't be afraid to try something new.

Please bear in mind that there is no guaranteed winning formula, or we'd all be doing it all the time. You may do everything right with a fic and somehow the timing wasn't right, or the reader base was distracted by something else (the source material blowing up can do that!) and your work got buried. It happens. 

It happens to the source material too, I've seen amazing shows or movies fly under the fandom radar due to poor timing. Chance and luck does have a play in it, so all I can advise really is do your best, post it, then let it go. Move onto the next project and try not to obsess or dwell over it. Let it go, and move on. 

Next up, ‘BNF’s:

This can vary fandom to fandom, even ship to ship, but BNFs (big name fans) usually boil down to clique groups. So if you're asking me how do you get into a clique, the answer is you either do or you don't. Most cliques are exclusive by nature and they enjoy making outsiders feel jealous.

Falling in with a clique can actually hold you back. Cliques aren't much fun if you're in them as there's often a cycle of abuse, bullying, harassment, and minimising others inside the clique to uplift one queen bee. This is not the way to have fun. So stop looking at cliques.

No, really. Stop looking at them. 

Unfollow, mute, block, ignore. Unfollow those who keep sharing their posts, and don't join fan events that have cliques in or are run by cliques. 

If observing any clique from the outside is upsetting or triggering for you, remove them and their acolytes from your dash. Curate your own experience online. The entire point of clique culture is to make others feel small and excluded, even those within the clique not just those outside. Don't let them have that power over you. Mute their names, unfollow them, and forget about them.

In time you’ll feel better for ignoring them. 

And if you're in the clique yourself and you feel unhappy for any reason, leave it. Mute, ghost, distance yourself. Life's too short to feel this miserable for no reason.

In summary: 

The trick to enjoying online fannish spaces is to focus on your own joy.

Don't focus on other people, and don't compare yourself to them. Comparison only robs you of your joy, this applies to looking at other writer's stats or number of reblogs online. Stop looking, stop comparing.

Focus on yourself.

Find new friends.

There are fannish spaces that aren't exclusive, spaces that are inclusive and supportive. Seek those out. I promise you not every space succumbs to this BNF/clique mentality. You always have the power to curate your dash and unfollow or mute whoever you want. It makes for a more enjoyable and less stressful fandom experience.

Good luck, Nonnie! Focus on your joy, not stats!

#99 fandom problems #answered asks #clique culture #bnf #fannish culture #fandom #mod lilah

[thekaijudude]

Ok, so this isn’t a vs qn, but I’ve been thinking about asking it a lot today.

Now, before I start getting to the actual qn, I have a warning for you about this qn: you may, very well, not be the right person to ask this. I know you do calculations but pseudoscience does not seem to take much part in them. So, given what the premise of this qn is, you might not be the right guy for this qn.

I don’t know if that’s the case, but I’m just letting you know.

Anyways, onto the qn:

In my fanfictions, there’s a habitable, Earth-like planet called Ozarvis 32, which is about 12 times larger than Earth in size and about 8.5 times larger in mass. However, there’s a problem with that: it’s too big for “conventional lifeforms” (which obviously do not include Kaiju). I say that because, apparently, the rough maximum mass a planet can have while being able to support life is about 5 times bigger than Earth’s mass.

So, judging by real world physics, conventional lifeforms should not be able to survive on Ozarvis. 

That said, I already have an explanation: Ozarvis has large reserves of Mana, an energy substance which affects the density/mass of the substances around it. In other words, an object composed of Mana has decreased mass, and Ozarvis has a lot more Mana than any other habitable planet in the universe.

Either way, I’m not sure if that explanation makes any sense or if it really sounds that much like an Ultraman explanation for this sort of thing.

So, here’s the question: would my explanation work pseudo-scientifically, and if so, how well would it fit the Ultras series as an explanation?

I mean as said before for all AU-related asks and the reason why its kinda pointless to ask me whether so-and-so plot settings will work is because at the end of the day, its a fanfic AU so one can literally write anything to literally make anything work.

But if your question is whether you can find some form of analogy in the ultra series. I suppose one can kind of say that the amount of light within an Ultra essentially also affects the mass/density and power of said ultra as we've seen with Max with his adjusted size due to the Max Galaxy, Glitter Tiga, Z being powered with the light of STORAGE, Decker with the excess energy from the Eternity Core etc

Except that your idea of mana here is far more prevalent and more accessible as the Ultras would just need to absorb more on the spot to further power themselves up if indeed they can utilize mana?

I guess itll be equivalent to canon Ultras fighting on the surface of the Sun where they can theoretically do the same and never be exhausted and achieve + maintain Glitter state (Since Glitter state is not exclusive to Tiga, but simply a state of excess energy for all Ultras).

But obviously, it'll be broken unless their opponent has some way to negate this effect.

So this concept sort of already exists in canon, just that we dont see any fights happening on the Sun, closest example would have to be Ultra Flare event that happened in X's Universe where after throwing Greeza into the Sun, this somehow triggered a very weird solar flare that was able to digitize X and caused the awakening of Spark Dolls (This specific Sun, in particular, reacts very suspiciously similar to the Eternity Core and the Plasma Spark but tbh this is very, VERY deep cut bottom-of-the-iceberg lore stuff that I wont go into here)

In fact, the canonically equivalent option would be far more convenient than just having a single random planet that can provide essentially the same effect (but to a far lesser extent) as a Star that could literally do the same and it exists in every solar system (Plus, aint no way a 12x Earth sized planet is gonna have more energy for Ultras to harvest than an entire Star, so this particular planet would at most be a convenient pitstop in the grand scheme of things)

Thanks for the question!

#ultraman #asks

[palaces-in-every-paragraph]

AO3 Name: LadyReisling

Thank you SO MUCH for writing for me. I know I’m going to love whatever you come up with! I truly appreciate the time and effort you are going to put into this. PLEASE do not stress over it; I am really very easy to please and just looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I’ve jotted down some basic prompts here, follow them or don’t--the choice is yours!

Style Stuff:

Girl power/competency is absolutely my greatest kink. I also have a decent-sized hair kink and love hair-touching/stroking/brushing, etc. I like friendship in love, equal partnerships, ass-kicking females, friends to lovers, grudging respect that becomes not so grudging, fluff and cuteness, light angst (angst over the perfect gift, for example), caretaking, hairbrushing, cuddling and tender kissing, blanket/bed-sharing in a totally platonic way, all the non-sexual intimacy and tenderness, late-night talks, letters. Tenderly-described safe touch makes me squee. I don’t mind sex so long as it’s consensual between adults, well-written, driven by emotions, and true to character. My favorite AUs are coffee shop and library.

My A03 bookmarks are pretty heavy on MCU and Hamilton, my two latest obsessions. I love mission fic/casefic, adventures, unwinding/caretaking after a mission, celebrations, and all the happy things.

I adore setting detail and good descriptive writing. Fall and winter ate is absolutely my favorite seasons--so perfect for walks, crisp air, toasted marshmallows, apple orchard trips, cider and donuts, colorful leaves that crunch underfoot, hay rides, cozy sweaters, knitting, lazy weekends, bonfires (or fires in fireplaces) new pens and notebooks, etc, ice skating parties, hot drinks, etc. I also love holidays and celebrations--all of them equally, so whatever feels natural to you and the characters is great. Cultural descriptions and events are fabulous, as well as seasonal details. I’ve been blessed to grow up and live my entire life in a place with four distinct seasons, and as long as I’m not driving in them, I actually adore blizzards and being snowed in. If you happen to live in a place where you don’t have seasons, I’m sorry! But pull up some Google images and describe away and I’ll love it. In general, I find myself really in the mood for fluff and humor and softness these days.

Dislikes:

D/s relationships, PWP, A/B/O dynamics (I don’t understand how these work), dark/dystopian or supernatural AUs. Please no kidfic.

Hard Squicks:

Please no rape/non- or dub-con, underage, graphic violence, suicide or self-harm, depression, or non-canonical character death. All of the above are major triggers for me.

Specific fandoms and prompts:

Schitt’s Creek: David/Patrick, David/Patrick & Stevie:

I’m not done with this show but OMG I adore it. “Grad Night” is the episode I go back to when I’m feeling down because I love the chemistry between these three in particular. I love Steve’s sass and how David and Patrick play off each other and bring out the best in each other. Give me all the seasonal dirt on Rose Apothecary–fun classes, gift boxes that have to be sourced and tested, floor picnics by a hella tacky fake fireplace that someone appropriated from Roland and Jocelyn, that time the heat goes out at home and they cuddle for warmth. The town’s midwinter festival or Valentine dance gets hilariously out of hand. David and Patrick have a fight just before Valentine’s Day and Stevie intervenes with quiet, earnest snark.

The Baby-Sitters Club (TV):

This is one of the first series that my grade school voracious reader self devoured when I was a kid and the modern TV adaptation made me sigh with nostalgia and squee with delight. I’m very OTEveryone here and would love some babysitting shenanigans or something with all the girls working together on a big community project for Valentine’s Day. Or, does the club do some sort of secret Galentine/Palentine exchange or a club slumber party? Does Janine pop in with a boring history of the real St. Valentine and the girls are just all about the candy and silly gifts? Does someone have a secret admirer? Play hard in the Stoneybrook sandbox and I’ll love it.

MCU: Steve/Peggy, Kate/Yelena, Kate & Matt Murdock

Look, no one is as surprised as me about how much I adore the MCU and all of its denizens, but these are some of my faves. For Steve/Peggy, I’d love something set during the war, like maybe a coffee date while Steve is still a performing monkey with the USO or when he’s just gone from monkey to soldier. My favorite Agent Carter episode is the one where Peg teams up with the Commandos, so bring them in too if you want. WWII is my favorite time period, so I’d love some good setting and historical detail with this pair.

For Kate/Yelena: Banter. All. The. Banter. A grudging team up that becomes not grudging. Fake dating that becomes more? Undercover as a couple? Doing absolutely everything to avoid going undercover as a couple but they have to anyway? A friendly training competition gets REALLY friendly?

For Kate and Matt: I feel like they had a connection before Kate became Hawkeye. Did Matt do legal work for Kate’s family’s business when he was an intern? How do they meet and team up? Does Kate get in a tight spot while Clint is away at the farm and run to Matt for help (however reluctantly)? How much help is Matt in improving Kate’s hand to hand skills? Does she moonlight as a receptionist/paralegal to make extra money or when they need to meet up to trade intel?

I know I’m going to love whatever you write. Thanks so much, in advance!

#exchange letter #fic exchange #candy hearts

[eirian-houpe]

TMI Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

Okay, full disclosure - I’m scheduling this so that I can make sure it gets out on time - like in the morning not at six o’clock at night.  I probably could have written something Monday evening, but honestly, I was too damned tired to string words together sensibly.  Maybe later today, right?

Posted this week:

Not a damn thing.

On the cards for this week:.

Not Yours To Keep - Chapter 8

While grieving the loss of the fourteenth Cleon, the younger brother he loved as a son, Day seeks distraction in the company of a new concubine from the Gossamer Court. No one could have predicted the events that follow - nor the way in which Cleon XIII decides to deal with the situation.

No Saving Throw - Chapter 2

Eddie saves Chrissy not once, but twice - doesn’t seem to matter to his reputation nor to the threat of arrest, Carver and his cronies see to that. This is an angst ridden reworking of Stranger Things season 4 (and maybe beyond) if Chrissy had lived - for @deliriumsdelight7

Laer o Faen - Chapter 27

A near fatal encounter with the Serpents of the North leaves Greenwood the Great’s queen with but one choice, one that cost her own life, but she makes a promise to her beloved King, born of a love that has already lasted through more than an age of Middle Earth, and remains the only hope to warm a heart fallen behind a wall of despair. (Mingled Movie/book canon, the span of the entire story takes in events from the 1st - 4th Ages of Middle Earth.)

Ask suggestions

Ask something about any of my fics (full list is below the cut). If you want specifics from some fics that are already outlined, you can ask about:

Disparate Pathways, Chapters 46 through 57 All Our Past Mistakes, Chapters 11 through 44 Lover’s Leap Series, Stories 15 through 31 Time’s Curse, Chapters 4 through 10 Laer o Faen, Chapter 27 & 28 Stargate: Atlantis, Harms Way or any of the 20 fics in the series.

Ask something of any of my characters in general or you can get really specific if you like - for example you might want to ask Gold from Pawn Shop a question about a chapter, a thought, a feeling… (the world is your oyster really)

Ask about my process as a writer, what makes me tick,, or even ask about me personally. Almost nothing is off limits.

Also, if you want to see a specific character or fic featured in Three Things Thursday, or Saturday Secret, feel free to send in prompts, if no one does, then either the choice will be random or they just won’t happen at all. I made an analogy for why that might be in a different post about a car stuck in the mud with spinning wheels. Those wheels are still spinning!

Please remember: if you read a fic you enjoyed on AO3 or on Tumblr (not just mine), please take the time to comment and/or leave kudos, and to reach out on TMI Tuesday. It means a lot to the writers and artists.

You can find all my fics currently on AO3 here, and there is a full list under this cut.

Storybrooke’s Best Kept Secret - Rumbelle

Darkness In Hyperion Heights - Woven Beauty au

Seven Tastes - Rumbelle

Tuesday - Rushbelle AU

The Language of Flowers Series - Rumbelle

Disparate Pathways - Rumbelle AU

Scattered - Rumbelle AU

All Our Past Mistakes - Rumbelle AU

What the Actual Fuck! - Sutherelle

Breathe - Rushbelle

The Lover’s Leap Series - Rumbelle

Awakening - Rumbelle

War Is Coming To Storybrooke - Rumbelle

Given No Choice - Rush

Thoughts On A Happy Ending Series - Rumbelle

Darker Hearts Series - Wish!Rumbelle

Modern Wonders - a OUAT/Alice crossover

Time’s Curse - Rumbelle

The Pawn Shop On Main Street - Rumbelle

The Mansion On the Edge of Town - Rumbelle with a side of Jefferson

Cobra: In Your Prayers - Cobra/FatWS/UC:Undercover et al

To See Series - Rumbelle

Nobody Knew (Bingo) - Rumbelle

Secret of the Seas - Rumbelle AU

Butterfly and Phoenix - ST:DSC

Laer o Faen - Tolkien

Ship’s Rats - ST: DCS

I Amar Boe Men Heb - Tolkien

Coming Down - Halt and Catch Fire

Armor of Ice - Halt and Catch Fire

Duath i-Achas Eriol - Tolkien

Balance of Terror - Sleeper Cell

What To Believe - UC: Undercover

If: In The End - UC Undercover

Precious - The Mummy Series

Forbidden - The Mummy Series

Power Is - The Mummy Series

Angel of the Heart - The Mummy Series

Star of the Morning - The Mummy Series

Not Yours To Keep - Foundation (TV)

No Saving Throw - Stranger Things

Here are fics that haven’t yet been started, but are in the Muse’s bucket.

The Miner’s Day Festival - Rumbelle

Aftermath - Rumbelle (with a side of madness)

Saving The Dark One (WT) A twist on a twist of Rumplestiltskin.

Brought To You By The Color… (Red)

Calcul(us)

(In)consistent equation

The Boston Storybrooke Line

Breaking the Waves (Movie AU)

ILP (or IEP) for Rumple.

One Last Wish

In Service to My Son

Playground Games

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

“Only Remembered For What We Have Done.”

Librarian: UC

Exquisite Harmonies

#TMI Tuesday #asks #send asks #send me asks #ask me anything #ama #feel free to prompt me

[musicallyfomentingchaos]

How to AO3: a complete guide

I have realized that it takes actual time to learn how to find and respond to fanfiction so here I am as a reader, author, and beta reader to explain as best I can. Go forth and read fanfic!

HOW DO I FIND THINGS I LIKE????

Searching

Don't use the browse tab, it's just the most recently posted things and won't help you find anything specific at all. Use either the fandoms tab or the search tab as your starting point.

Fandoms tab

Start from the fandoms tab to find the fandom you like.

Use control+F or the alphabet buttons.

Use the filters tab on the left to narrow down your options.

Use the include tab to choose relationships, ratings, other tags, and whatever that you'd like to see in a fic.

Use the exclude filter to choose relationships, ratings, other tags, and whatever that you'd like to avoid.

Crossovers involve multiple fandoms

If you type a word count into the word count box, that is the minimum you'd like to see.

Pay attention to whether or not you'd like complete or non-complete works

Your life will be easier if you choose the language you'd like to read in, especially if you're in a big fandom.

Search Tab

Very similar to the fandoms tab, but less is given to you

There is no "exclude" in a search, so anything you click on/type in is something you want to see.

Don't get too specific in the tags when you're browsing, a general search will get you more options.

Ratings

General: PG movie

Teen: PG-13 movie

Mature: R-rated movie

Explicit: porn

Archive warnings

Most of the warnings are pretty self explanatory, but it's important to know that there is no universally accepted criteria for when warnings are necessary.

Imagine you're reading a Harry Potter fic where Luna Lovegood dies. Some authors may consider that a "major character death" and check the warning as such. Other authors may not consider a death to be a "major character" if it's anyone other than Harry, Ron, or Hermione. Read the tags, they'll give you a better idea than the warnings will if you're not sure.

You may also think that "No archive warnings apply" and "creator chose not to use archive warnings" sound like the same thing. They are NOT. "Creator chose not to use archive warnings" means those warnings may or may not still apply. READ THE TAGS.

Relationships

Ships are a great way to find content you like. It's important to notice how the relationship is tagged. Take the following example:

Harry Potter/Hermione Granger

Harry Potter & Hermione Granger

These two tags are not the same! The first implies a romantic or sexual relationship between Harry and Hermione. The second implies a platonic or friendly relationship. This detail is so important for finding works you're interested in.

Person A/Person B/Person C is a threesome or polycule

Person A & Person B & Person C is a friend group.

Okay I know who's in it and the content warnings, what's this thing about?

There are two broad categories of fic: Canon compliant and alternate universe.

Canon, in ao3, means the content/events of the source material

Canon compliant: You can assume that everything that happened in the source material happened in the fic. These include post canon works as well as "omitted scenes."

A post canon work happens after the events of the source material, for example, Harry Potter's career post-hogwarts

Canon compliant scenes can also take place during the events of the source material as long as they don't disrupt the events of the plot. Like a conversation that happened over lunch one day.

Alternate universes (AUs) mess with the events of the source material.

Some AUs are canon divergent. This means that the fic takes place in the same general universe as the source material, but at some point something changed. This is very similar to the Marvel series "What If...?" asking questions like "what if Peggy Carter was Captain America instead of Steve Rogers?" The time period and actions taken by the Nazis and Hydra stay the same, but one event changes.

Other AUs are quite literally alternate UNIVERSES. This is saying "what if Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers were Professors at the same university?" The plot is completely ignored, sometimes along with the time period and other pretty basic information about the source material.

Don't knock an AU until you try it, I've been amazed by what I've liked after being skeptical at first!

So I've read a fic. Now what?

I read it and I liked it

Kudos: the ao3 equivalent of a "like." You can only leave kudos once on a fic, even if it has multiple chapters.

Comments: literal author food. Even short and simple comments like "love this!" make an author's whole day, so if you liked something comment!

Bookmark: the ao3 equivalent of your favorites tab on TikTok. A bookmark makes things easier to find again in the future.

Collections: don't use collections, it shows up on the fic for everyone and the author can't modify them. Just tag and add notes to your bookmarks.

Subscriptions: Get email notifications for new content! There are three kinds:

Subscribe to work: If a work has multiple chapters and some of them are yet to be released, you'll get an email for any new chapters

Subscribe to series: Similar to subscribe to work, but instead of new chapters you'll get an email for any new works!

Subscribe to user: You'll get an email any time the user posts a new fic.

Add ao3's automatic email to your contacts, especially if you use Gmail, because a lot of email services send these notifications to spam.

Authors don't see when you've subscribed to something.

I read it and I didn't like it: ao3 etiquette

Just leave. No one is making you read something you don't like.

You can leave mentions of typos in the comments, as long as you're nice about it, but don't come at people's ships/headcanons/whatever. People can like what they like.

Some other vocab

Podfic: an audio recording of a fanwork, similar to an audiobook

Beta reader: someone who looks over a fic for spelling, grammar, and anything else the author wants checked before they post it. Like an editor but free and for fic.

Please reblog this with anything I forgot I just want more people to read fic if they want to!!!

#ao3 fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic authors #ao3 #ofmd #good omens #harry potter #fanfiction meta

[memryse]

The magic of 3rd Life, or why such a simple hardcore miniseries works as well as it does

For a series which only lasted for eight sessions, 3rd Life has had a profound impact on the MCYT fandom. While it did go comparatively unnoticed on Twitter (as is consistent with YouTube-based Minecraft content as a whole, admittedly), Tumblr and other platforms have fallen in love with this series, and it’s become a vector for many fans to familiarise themselves with Hermitcraft and Empires SMP as well. But at its core, 3rd Life is a simple vanilla survival series with a gimmick. What about it resonates so much with so many people?

I would argue that its simplicity, its small cast, its vanilla gameplay “with a twist” is certainly part of it. It’s an easy series to consume, with many POVs totalling four hours or less, and it doesn’t require any prior knowledge of any of the members. Its mechanics are easy to understand. As a standalone, it functions perfectly – it’s immersive and can be followed easily by anyone, regardless of any prior knowledge they may or may not have. However, these factors alone don’t quite encompass what makes 3rd Life so special. Its true charm point lies in the format of the series, and how well it utilises improv.

[more below the cut; this is a fairly long post about 3rd/Last Life meta and my love of its improv. I'm mostly talking about 3rd Life here as it's a completed series, but this most definitely does apply to Last Life as well]

3rd Life is an entirely improv-based series. Whilst members may have a brief concept of the direction they’d like to take their series in – how heavily they want to roleplay, for example – the actual content of each session is fully improvised. Each episode is recorded in one three-hour block, and members are not allowed to play on the server outside of the allotted time other than specifically to finish builds. This time constraint prevents any planning from going into each episode, and interactions between players are completely spontaneous. Players simply run around the map looking for others to interact with (which is significantly easier with the limited world border) and chat about various events on the server, form alliances or deals, etc.

By definition, this almost completely negates the possibility of bad writing. Each player’s reaction to any server event is spontaneous, a legitimate reaction; they aren’t trying to play any specific roles or shoehorn in any specific events (with the exception of the Red King/Hand of the King roles, who were still completely improvising). Even the finale – a distinctly heart-wrenching and tragic scene – was improvised without Grian or Scar attempting to tell any specific story. According to Martyn, they weren’t roleplaying, they didn’t have any aims with that scene. It just happened to turn out in the way that it did, and they were legitimately sorry to one another. The server progressed in this natural way, and every person’s perspective tells a completely different story. It’s hard to identify any specific heroes or villains – fans of the Dream SMP can surely relate to this feeling, but I would argue that 3rd Life takes this one step further. 3rd Life is a tragedy from all perspectives, a tragedy which tells one cohesive story in its entirety before stopping as abruptly as it began.

3rd Life hinges entirely on its interactions between its members. Whilst solo content does exist – base building, for example – the majority of each session is spent interacting with others. 3rd Life is carried by its dialogue; nothing else drives the story, and yet many episodes are between 30 minutes and an hour long. It’s that dialogue-heavy. Members of the server have expressed trouble with even editing their videos because there is so much key dialogue that they don’t want to cut. People don’t watch 3rd Life for the actual gameplay, at all – there’s so little of it! They watch it for how each member interacts with the people around them. This is something not found in any other SMP I’ve encountered. SMPs livestreamed on Twitch have plenty of downtime, and people will happily watch streams on that SMP no matter what’s occurring on the server; people often watch them for their interest in specific members. Other currently popular YouTube SMPs, namely Hermitcraft and Empires, are well-balanced between solo content and interactions, and all server content hinges on the members’ various skills like building and redstone. 3rd Life is, to my knowledge, the only SMP which does not rely on building or redstone skills (what’s the point, when they’ll be dead the next week?), it doesn’t rely on the creator doing solo work talking to their chat, it doesn’t rely on planned roleplay. People legitimately just want to hear various members talking to each other. It’s a fascinatingly unique series in this regard. This dialogue-heavy aspect of 3rd Life ties back to my earlier point about 3rd Life feeling like a completely different series from all perspectives; with all of this dialogue being conveyed through proximity chat, so many events are entirely left out of other POVs, or presented in very different lights.

The pure improv format also helps significantly with worldbuilding, whilst also leaving plenty to the imagination. MCYT fandoms always require a significant amount of imagination to become invested in them, let alone make fan content of them, and 3rd Life is no exception to this. As discussed in this post, which was incidentally the inspiration for me to write this one, 3rdLife is full of lines which flesh out the series, which illustrate what happened better than can be shown in Minecraft. These lines are improvised on the spot, and are often complete throwaway lines in the creators’ eyes. In the fans’ eyes, they make 3rd Life feel alive, they provide plenty of material on which to base headcanons. Again, this isn’t necessarily unique to 3rd Life, it’s a common aspect of all Minecraft series, but I think this is where the rather angsty nature of 3rd Life comes into play. A dramatic survival game, entirely unscripted, with all events hinging entirely on your interpretation of them? It’s not hard to see why 3rd Life fans are so creative with character designs and fanfiction – hell, a lot of 3rd Life fics simply narrate canon in their own more dramatic light. Canon-compliant fics are significantly more common for 3rd Life than other fandoms I've encountered, because people hear these simple lines and want to dramatise them, put their own spins on them. I don't feel that this would be possible with any other series, not to the extent that 3rd Life fans do it. Other series' canon is either already dramatic, and so rehashing it can feel repetitive, or so lighthearted that people write AUs/new storylines. 3rd Life strikes a brand-new balance.

The development of its characters is also bolstered by improv. As no events on the server are pre-planned, members have to react completely spontaneously to anything that occurs. They don’t get time to think – only to react as though they genuinely were in that situation. As I said at the start, 3rd Life inherently lacks bad writing, because it’s not written. Ren, for instance, began 3rd Life as a kind and harmless person, with others often walking right over him. His reaction to his death by Grian and Scar’s trap spurs him to become the Red King; he raises an army and goes to war, and ends the series having taken countless lives, becoming hardened by war. He begins Last Life by isolating himself from others, seeming jaded and unwilling to form alliances, ready for another war to break out. Being improvised, it’s impossible to say how much of this was deliberate, or if Ren just started building his base without thinking about continuity from the previous season. This improv is what makes it feel so natural. It isn’t planned beforehand. This is Ren’s natural reaction to starting Last Life. It makes his character feel so much more real than it would if this was all scripted beforehand.

3rd Life is, overall, a testament to the power of improv. It manages to be compelling and dramatic without any acting feeling forced or wooden. Its characters’ arcs feel natural, because they are natural. Placing such a heavy emphasis on dialogue, with the gimmick of the server being a vehicle for interactions to happen rather than the sole appeal of the series, makes it truly feel as though we’re getting a glimpse into the characters’ lives, rather than watching a story which has been written beforehand. We get to watch everything unfold in real time. 3rd Life has a magic to it that, to my knowledge, no other SMP has been able to recreate.

#3rd life smp #last life smp #trafficblr #mae analyses #THIS IS REALLY META BUT I JUST <3 I HAVE SO MUCH LOVE FOR HOW WELL 3RD LIFE DOES WHAT IT DOES #THERE'S A *REASON* IT'S SO COMPELLING #it has this different feel to it #one that i've never encountered before because there is NOTHING like 3rd life out there #ohh i love 3rd life a normal and reasonable amount

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Do you have any advice on writing Tom Riddle? I know it’s a broad question…

His inner dialogue is difficult for me. He’s a very interesting character but because of that it can be difficult to get into his mental space especially once he is canon Voldemort and I love how you write him so if you have any advice I’d love to hear it

Ooh, a broad but intriguing question indeed.

So there's a few things here and all of them are... some varying shade of difficulty. I should also note that I'm a freak and, for god knows what reason, writing Tom is fairly instinctive for me. He's a narrative voice I can fairly easily slip into even in very AU off branches of things.

Vs.... If I tried to write Hagrid I'd have a hard time.

General Things: Writing Very Intelligent People

A very broad mistake I see a lot of people make, in general, is when they try to write intelligent characters. It's very easy for writers to slip into two traps a) tell not show and b) not understanding what intelligence fundamentally is.

In the first case, you'll have your super serial smart character. Rather than have the character make any intelligent decision at any point in the story, the author will make up for this by having every other character tell the narrator how smart X is. Narrator walks into a room, Y and Z are having a conversation, this conversation is always about how smart X is. Always. Have they mentioned how smart X is?

Every time you do this, I as a reader demand that much more proof that X really is that brilliant.

In the second case... Authors will have characters draw what I call National Treasure conclusions. Character X looks at a set of disperate clues, they then put them together in a genius way nobody else did, and this is because what they did is the dumbest thing that had no basis in logic or any realm of intelligence. Mount Rushmore was actually created by aliens and houses El Dorado. Other characters then applaud X's genius so that we know he's smart.

This doesn't work, don't do it.

The other is Character X might be able to, oh, I don't know, read War and Peace in two seconds. Whether X understands War and Peace is a different matter entirely, but the author conveys that just by reading it so quickly they must be a genius. This is not intelligence, it is simply a skill.

The way I think of conveying intelligence is to try to follow through a character's conclusions. They are likely to be able to conclude things faster than an ordinary person would and in ways that might not be obvious to an ordinary person in their situation. However, and here's the key, they can be wrong. They may not have all information available to them, they may have wrong information, they may have very strong internal biases, nevertheless what they conclude usually makes sense and is in its own way creative and very clever.

Take Light Yagami, particularly from the first half of Death Note. Some of his schemes (while overdramatic and ridiculous) were insanely clever and he routinely walks us through the steps of his logic and how his plans all come together. Light is a very convincing highly intelligent character.

Writing Tom

The first question you have to ask yourself is who the hell is Tom Riddle? This blog is filled with my musings on Tom, but the point is, that all of this was rattling in my head long before this blog was written. And all of it informs how I approach writing him.

You don't have to agree with me, many don't, but if you wonder why the Tom in my fics is the way he is then it's usually informed by at least some of what's above.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have to get into Tom Riddle's headspace. Think about why he is the way he is, what different events in his life will do to him, how he would react to scenarios that never happened in canon, how does he talk or narrate, etc.

Then it becomes the easiest thing in the world to put him in any situation you want.

Tom Riddle voyages into space and is attacked by mutant bunnies? Hold my beer.

This really applies to any character you write and especially one you want to have narrate: try to understand who they are at their essence first and the rest will follow.

Tom Riddle's interesting in that we see so little of him and have no examples from JKR to guide us (vs. Harry who is our narrator from the original series). This, of course, is the fun of it.

#writing #writing advice #tom riddle #writing meta #meta

[princessofgayskull]

Hi sunflower, what's your thoughts on T Swift's Betty being a catradora song???

Me, taking a break from spop to focus on my mental health and setting better boundaries:

Me, reading this ask:

This ask woke me up from like a deep, sleeping beauty type slumber, not joking. I don’t get asked to talk about Taylor Swift often, despite being a fan of hers since I was nine years old (I’m 22 now *wink*) and we are about to find out why. But I pride myself on taking any fiction piece of media I interact with and connecting it somehow to Taylor Swift. I can do so to varying degrees of success (usually depends on the ships and romance of the world) but there are so many songs of Taylor’s that have just fit Catradora so well for me, both in and out of canon. 

Some of my favorite examples: out of the woods (AND IT KEPT ME UP AT NIGHT WHEN NOELLE SAID THIS WAS HER TAYLOR SWIFT SONG FOR CATRADORA LIKE GAH CASUAL TS LISTENERS WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND) bad blood, lwymd, don’t blame, dancing with our hands tied, the archer, breathe, you’re not sorry, the way I loved you, forever & always, should’ve said no, safe & sound- I could go on.

But I won’t because I wanna stay on topic and talk about betty. Now I have a number of songs from the folklore/evermore series that are for me catradora songs (we’ll get to that in a minute) but this one is… challenging. Because I could be like “yes, because [insert casual reason here]” or “no, because [insert casual reason here]” but I can’t because Taylor feeds her children well and there’s several aspects of this song I feel like should be considered.

This biggest one to be considered, for me, is the love triangle aspect. Folklore features at length the betty/james/Augustine love triangle, each of them having one main song on the album from their POV. Betty's is cardigan, augustine’s is august, and james’ is betty. (also I’m going to throw out the gender component for a second; I know taylor says that Betty is about a guy’s apology and I totally vibe with her reasons why she wanted to write a song about a boy apologizing BECAUSE HOW GREAT WOULD THAT BE?) The love triangle makes the application of Catradora iffy at best. Because it’s like, who would be who? I am going to go out on a limb and assume that you’re seeing Catra as James? I think that personality wise, Adora as Betty and Catra as James is not a stone’s throw away from fitting actually really well. Adora’s canon journey is one of coming to realize “I know what I want and I know that it’s okay to want it” and a big part of Catra’s arc is her being like “Well shit… there goes my plans. Kind of feeling like a dumbass rn” especially in s4/s5. 

(That s4/s5 distinction is important; I’ll show why in a second) 

But for me, there’s no augustine. Or one that’s obvious anyway. I never imagined that either Catra or Adora dated or even had any inclinations with anyone else during the five season run- that’s just my personal opinion, people are completely welcome to feel free to disagree. I don’t think Catra acted even out of distraction with Scorpia or DT, and I think Adora was so focused on being She Ra that when she wasn’t thinking about failing/abandoning Catra when she alloted time to do so, she was thinking about the crushing weight of her responsibilities. So you know, not that much time to get back out there. So I rule out what causes James to apologize in the first place- cheating.

Side note about James cheating- I’m pretty sure Taylor confirmed this, in the long pond studio sessions doc, when she’s telling Jack Antonoff (MY BOY JACK) and Aaron Dessner ( GRAMMY AWARD WINNING KING) that James “was a fool!” And James did sleep with Augustine as confirmed in august, but cardigan makes it seem like he was definitely dating Betty before the summer. Maybe Taylor took inspiration from friends and they “were on break.” I also believe that the kiss in the Heart is the first kiss, that Catra and Adora were never ‘together’ together before Adora found the sword and defected (again, that’s just an opinion, but Adora just looks so wonderfully gobsmacked), so…

We can rule out cheating, and I think we can accomplish this and still reserve the essential meaning of the song of “I did something wrong, I see that now, I apologize for doing it, and I still love you” by widening the lens of what the “did something wrong” was (or “did something bad” you know *wink*). In that wider lens really you could fit either Catra or Adora into the song, but I’m still going to assume Catra is the James in this scenario based on how much of her redemption arc is formed around her refusal to say sorry and then eventually doing so. Of course there is no standing your porchlight but rather standing while wrestling a bunch of murderous clones…. Hmm….

But there are some stupid friends! I wholeheartedly believe Catra is James because of the dissing of Betty’s friends. That’s what Catra does to Bow, Glimmer and the rebellion et al., for most of the show and by the end of s4 she has no friends for Adora to even mock (terrible and cruel of me, I know, but it’s true). Also I know people are like “he called her friends stupid and then expected betty to take him back?” but I scream sing the line “WILL YOU KISS ME ON THE PORCH IN FRONT OF ALL YOUR STUPID FRIENDS?” every time. It brings me serotonin. 

Along those lines we can ask “Who’s Inez?” in this situation. When I think gossip no one from the show really comes to mind, well, expect for Double Trouble. But Double Trouble doesn’t ever speak to Adora about Catra. This happens vice-versa, and in Betty, James reveals that Inez told Betty he cheated on her. 

I want to say something controversial… Glimmer comes to mind when I think “who’s the Inez?” And this is based off of two things: 1) Inez’s closeness to Betty, and 2) Inez drags James out to dry, rightfully so. And when I think of that I think of Glimmer screaming “Do one good thing in your life!” directly in Catra’s face. James gives Inez a bad wrap in Betty. Not cool James. 

Of course there’s the pivotal, “would you tell me to go fuck myself?/ or lead me to the garden?” To me this a fun way of showing there’s vulnerability to what James is doing, so automatically I’m led to is the scene where Catra asks Adora to stay, or each time in s5 when Catra risks, basically an identity crisis to let Adora in how she really feels, but there’s always the potential that Adora could spurn her by not returning her feelings or rejecting her outright. 

I think the best argument that can be made for “is betty a catradora song” can really be encapsulated by the lyric(s): “the worst thing that I ever did is what I did to you” and “the only thing I wanna do is make it up to you.” That is what about the song SCREAMS Catra to me. And yeah, it could be argued that Adora hurt Catra pretty brutally (Shadow Weaver makes that point EVEN THOUGH SHE HAD NO RIGHT TO) that she messed up by abandoning Catra- but Adora feels guilt for... literally breathing. Adora is the quintessential embodiment of “pick your battles, no that’s too many battles, put some back,” but Catra picked one battle first and foremost (yes, she had a few others but this was the one) and that was Adora. Everything that motivated her was surrounded around a narrative of surpassing Adora for a multitude of reasons, and because of that she pretty much hurts Adora every chance she gets after Promise. Adora is really Catra’s first casualty, it makes sense that she has to be her first apology. And I think that after being vibed checked back to back by DT and Glimmer and realizing “oh hey fuck, I’m still in love with her” and then almost dying just to not die because Adora saves her, I think much of Catra’s motivation shifts to “how to do I get Adora to want to stay?” 

That’s my logic for how Betty could be a catradora song in canon. Now not all of my Taylor associations are with canon catradora, many of them do belong to uws catradora, because it’s a lot easier to apply the more modern details of Taylor’s songs to a modern au. The song Breathe is big that way. (it’s in Upper West Side, it’s the song Adora listens to and cries to after that first ride, I just never mentioned that it was taylor because my conditioned reaction to bringing up taylor is to have my head bit off with someone’s semi incorrect and slightly sexist opinion that I never, ever ask for) And this ask got me thinking about what it would look like if I applied not Catradora to Betty, but Betty to Catradora. What would it look like if Catra skateboarded and wore black lipstick, Adora wore a cardigan and they had homeroom together until Catra really messed up? What would it look like if they were seventeen when they admitted their feelings for each other instead of 21? What would it look like if they spent a summer fighting but dreaming of each other? What would their love story look like if Catra and Adora were in that town where Taylor envisioned this “same event that affected three people in different ways?”

I think it’d look something like this. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31141973/chapters/76952048

what do you guys think?

quick but INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT thank you to @gimme-tea-bitch for helping me with this, being my beta, and listening to me talk about folklore/evermore.

#I am literally SHAKING as I post this you guys have no idea #like vibrating through a wall shaking #i've been working on this for like the past two months #and I know everyone wants cruel summer but my goblin brain is like #AHHHHHHHH WRITE A FOLKLORIAN AU FOR CATRA AND ADORA YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO #IT'S 23K WORDS NO ONE WILL NOTICE #this was supposed to go up with two parts but tbh with you guys i have high key been feeling when jenny slate said #'i don't get the love until something beautiful goes out' #please be gentle with me

[mirror-vicit-omnia]

If Ignis were a YouTuber, I could see him doing cooking episodes where, of course, he teaches you how to make a five-star meal. Gives tips and tricks on everything from oil to temperature to handling the knife to what shape to cut a strawberry for a presentation.

And sometimes he tries to replicate food wars recipes or other dishes from pop culture.

But what's important is that he makes it as close to the original concept as possible, and then afterwards does his own take on it. Shows how he would make it.

The background music would be classy soft violin. Less Vivaldi's four seasons, more Brandenburg Concerto No 3.

Other videos are inspired by conversations with Prompto in particular. Ignis has an entire series dedicated to things that Prompto has been confused by, complained about, and showed a lack of proficiency in. This includes table setting (nine different utensils and three different glasses, at least), how to tie a necktie (30 styles + tips on formal wear co-ordination), and the basic steps of five different ballroom dances.

It would be very cute to have a Choco Bros YouTuber AU where the four of them all know each other and have separate channels with wildly different topics. And then they do crossover episodes. You get all the shenanigans.

Iggy invites Noct over for a cooking episode. Noctis seems very resistant. He takes the bed of lettuce off his plate when he thinks Ignis isn't looking. Ignis' motherly look of disappointment becomes a meme.

Gladio might do fitness and bodybuilding videos, or!

Basic training techniques with medieval weapons.

We know he's a literary fanatic, so maybe it shows in how he names things, his steel blades and practice swords.

Now the image I have is that the four of them mostly have their own channels and don't cross over too often. However, I could see a filmed sparring match between gladio and ignis.

Noct is dragged into the self-defense videos. He is used as an example of how not to do things. Gladio corrects his form for the camera. Noct looks pissy.

Prompto could have all kinds of things on his channel. A vlog maybe, some lovely nature hikes where he was going to take some beautiful expert shots anyway, might as well videotape himself dying as he hikes up hill.

Definitely a vlog. One of his most popular videos is of him going to a chocobo farm and getting very excited.

And Noct. In one version he might have a YouTube channel, but it would be very funny if he didn't. He doesn't have a YouTube channel. He's just dragged into everything by his friends.

He's that cryptid in the background. He'll conk out in the background, asleep in a chair, slightly off camera as gladio and Nyx discuss armor and hold up different pieces for the camera.

In one of igneous cooking videos, his elbow and me can be spotted through the entryway of the kitchen into an immaculate dining room. When igneous sets his perfectly plated creation on the dining room table, staged with the proper table settings, Noct's hair and folded arms poke in from the top of the frame. Ignis just set up around him.

There's only one video where anyone has seen this mysterious emo cryptid happy, and that is in the Prompto videos.

It was really know who this guy is, and if you only know their channels in passing, and don't know about the crossover episodes, you would have no idea that these three people even know each other, much less are childhood friends.

And people are like, so what is the guy in the background do? What's his deal? Who is he?

And I don't know where to go with this from here, but in my head it's really cute.

Update 8-5-21:

Why did I say that Gladio would only tie in literary analysis to the names of weapons? I was a fool. A complete and utter fool.

Gladio compares book styles of the same Legends told by different authors. He talks about translators, and through the process of reading all these different translations of ancient poetry, he discovered that there is an incredible bias amongst translators that misrepresents the original source material. You know, like in real life.

He does videos on historical accuracy of costumes, fighting styles, the works. But he also points out when the TV show or movie got little details right, little cultural things that no one would know about unless they knew. Something like... Having the seidr sort next to the jarl at the head of the table, because she is feared and disgraced and respected highly all at the same time. Or something, history nerds, throw us examples.

He cares about when cross lacing became a thing with corsets. He's pleased when he sees spiral corseting, it shows that they did at least some research.

If Cindy is a part of this, I want her to be a guest on the shows. But especially gladio, because I want them to collaborate on metalsmithing. Together, they forge Noctis' engine blade. It's a birthday gift. He loves it. The last 30 seconds of the video is a fast short clip compilation of everyone taking swings at different things in the backyard with the sword.

The engine piece doesn't do anything, it just makes the vroom vroom sound, which makes everyone's day.

Prompto definitely has some sort of travel vlog, something he saves up for and takes time off of his side gig to do.

The viewers don't know this, not explicitly, but Noct shamelessly pushes to foot the bill so that prompto can come with him to boring places he doesn't want to go. Like venice, italy.

See, Noct either doesn't want to be too much on screen or recognizable, or his father has a huge problem with it. Because his son is going to inherit a multi-million dollar company, and should anything scandalous happen on those videos, the whole world is going to know and he's just going to be a hard time for everyone. His life could be over before it's even started. How is Regis supposed to pass this down if everyone believes his son is incompetent?

Noct doesn't care, of course. He doesn't even want to be a part of the company. It's so stressful, just like being a prince in canon.

This means, of course, that he gets dragged all over the world to important events and meetings with his dad. Not often, but it's becoming more often the older he gets. And Noct hates it. So having Prompto along to goof off with is an ulterior motive.

He is edited out of every scene to the best of everyone's power. However, sometimes his voice does catch on screen. And if he's not easily recognizable, a blurry thing that's not even halfway into the frame, Noct will just shrug and call it good enough.

Also, those crossovers? Those seem almost for business. They do it for hype it seems. Oh it's so exciting, ignis is going to show prompto how to cook! And the two different videos on each channel show a different side of the experience. There's the crossing over points, like when they're in the kitchen and igneous hands prompto and onion and a knife and shows him the correct way to hold it, but then there's a whole bunch of other stuff that you get from prompto's vlog.

He records his entire experience. It's just as enthusiastic and fun as his videos always are, the same flavor and delivery, but it's in Ignis' apartment, and it's exciting. Prompto is very personal in his videos, so every single time he doesn't understand something, he puts in those narrative one-on-one moments, like in the office or in a reality TV show.

The video from ignis' perspective has an entire section of him explaining how the dish is made, a little bit of History on the meat and spices, the ingredients, and a breakdown of the steps of how to make it before anything happens with prompto.

And then you get the delight of Ignus trying to teach pronto how to cook. And it's a very wholesome video. Prompto probably messes up several times, but Ignis is infinitely patient. There are definitely puns. All sorts of puns.

All the crossovers have puns.

So, it's a big shock to learn that these three seemingly unrelated YouTubers are actually childhood friends. And it's the second biggest shock.

The biggest shock is that that weird sleepy emo cryptid, whom you only get blurry out of focus shots and barely there snippets of cut out conversation, is this high profile Rich boy who's going to inherit the titan company, an equivalent of Stark industries.

#final fantasy xv #ffxv #ignis scientia #noctis lucis caelum #gladiolus amiticia #prompto argentum

[daydreamreality]

Thinking about actor availability, and how that affects my perception of Jess and how strongly I feel about shipping Literati.

Really thought this would only be a few paragraphs going over the points where Jess could have disappeared never to be seen again, but it turned into a freaking essay so LONG POST warning if you decide to click ahead. 

If the last we saw of Jess was hanging up the phone in the season 3 finale: "Well, it was fun ride while it lasted. That's about how I thought this would end." Still have a lot empathy for this kid and wish him well, but you screwed with Rory's heart like I knew would happen. Was that intentional? No. But he was so immature, out of control with his emotions, zero communication skills, not trusting in others...the list of reasons why he wasn't ready for a serious relationship, even if the feelings were serious, goes on. There was no way Rory wasn't going to end up as collateral damage in his personal breakdown that I could feel was going to happen. And this is the thought I had as a teenager with no dating experience watching this show for the first time. Did I want to date him? Hell no! I could see that trainwreck from a mile away. Rory was naïve to put her heart in his trust but that's part of her good qualities - she's sees the best in people and champions for them. I could go on a tangent about why exactly Jess was such an important character to me when I first watched the show (and probably why he stuck around unconsciously until I decided on a whim to rewatch GG in lockdown) but...I don't know, maybe some other time.

In the context of the entire show, I would look back at the relationship as my favorite one to watch of Rory's in the series (The build-up! The connection! Their deep belief in and respect for each other! The angst!) and Jess being a really fun character to root for (and yell at) but endgame? It was a short lived but important relationship. It’s fun to think about what ifs and how circumstances could have changed to make it work, but we can move on.

The ill-fated spin-off: I have no idea what this show would have been about except focusing on Jess and Jimmy and I’m not about to theorize. I still like Jess at this point so it would probably make me like him more since we’re getting a deeper dive into his character, but in regard to shipping him with Rory, this opinion would not change unless he all of sudden showed some great maturity. But I doubt this show would have even gotten a whole season so that probably wouldn’t happen. And then he’s living in California…this is too much, moving on.

If the last we see of Jess is in season 4: About the same feeling as above. Life, as expected, has not been treating Jess well. At all. His jadedness and hostility is at an all-time high when he shows up to get his car. Do I see the reasons informing his behavior and have empathy (once again, for a KID)? Yes, but he's also being a jerk. "The years don't seem to have hardened you." Well this year sure has!

I love the "I love you" scene but too little too late, buddy. That's probably why I love it, it's all a bit hopeless. Just keep shoveling the angst at me. I do like fics where this scene is reimagined with Rory running after him to give him a piece of her mind or Jess finding some other words to say (I really feel like he had more to say there but got overwhelmed), and coming to a tentative reconciliation: exchanging numbers, "don't fall off the face of the earth," but getting back together? No. You hurt her and you're feeling the consequences. Rory is not obligated or responsible to reciprocate those feelings, nor is she in a place to do that right now. 

But season 4 does cement that Luke and Jess's relationship is one of my favorites in the entire show. There's probably a whole other post in me regarding that so I'll keep it brief. Because of his respect for Luke, Jess makes tentative steps towards maturing in interpersonal relationships. He shows some vulnerability and honesty with a veil of sarcasm and awkwardness because, well, it's JESS.

But then of course this all goes to hell when applied to Rory. Sometimes I like to think how this dorm scene would have gone down if Rory stepped back for a second and went, "Hold on. You're not making any sense, chill out," and they could have talked a bit and had a similar reconciliation like I said above because I really think that’s all he was going for - to talk to her, apologize, and make an attempt at reciprocation like he did with Luke. But getting back together here? Canonically, he hasn't made enough progress. He set aside his personal feelings to be in his mother's wedding and used the knowledge from the self-help book to apologize to Luke, but I don't think the book's message has sunk in all the way yet and he’s still got a massive chip on his shoulder preventing him from making a good life for himself. Getting rejected by Rory here is an important moment and I really like it. It's fun to think about the AU if Rory had said yes (hello road trip!), but it's very in-character for her to not be able to handle Jess's crisis and just shouting "NO, make it stop." This is one of my proudest of Rory moments: Protect your heart girl, he ain't ready. The seeds have been planted that Jess will continue to grow and I wish him well on his journey. Endgame material? Nah. Goodbye forever, take care my friend...

Even though this scene doesn't feel like closure at all, I really thought this was the end of Jess Mariano. So imagine my surprise when -

SEASON 6: HE'S BACK. Coming out of the shadows, [literally] it's Jess Marianoooo *air horns* *confetti* *jazz hands* *Jess rolls his eyes at the fanfare*

Alright, that's out of my system. But for real that's what my mind did at this point. For context, the way I watched this show for the first time was getting the DVDs from the library while a couple of seasons were still on the air; when a new season was available to borrow, I would rewatch all the seasons up to the current point so my memories and favorite parts of the show are seasons 1-4. Because I was not bingeing the show all the way through, seeing Jess here seemingly so different didn’t feel out of place. A shock, yes! A happy surprise. But nothing about him seemed OOC. A year had gone by, we’d seen some signs of maturity in him, and getting rejected by Rory was a big kick in the ass for him to start making bigger changes in his life. I really cannot emphasize how satisfying and sensical his positive character development felt to me. 

The slight maturity we see in season 4 in its full potential. Jess is still Jess: guarded, self-deprecating, and a bit prickly but he shows a sense of calm and feeling more comfortable in his skin. This is really satisfying to see as someone who always "knew" there was a kind and capable heart underneath the exterior just like Rory did, and that tough guy, must protect myself at all costs posturing has melted away. But that side of him isn't gone, it's not like the writing did a complete 180 on his character. I love this. He's just...more at peace with himself but he's not a different person, and he's found something to direct his focus and intellect on. He's made his peace with Luke, and now he has something of worth to show Rory to try to mend that hurt as well.

Yes, it would have been nice to see how and why he decided to write a book and work in publishing but this course of events is not out of left field, nor is Jess enough of a main character at this point for scenes like this to be necessary to the show unless they were tied to Luke and showing another side of him. Jess has shown in the past that he has a good work ethic if he feels it is worth it. The problem wasn't him being lazy, just poor decision making and focusing on RIGHT NOW, "I need to get out of Stars Hollow and live my life," and not considering the consequences of his actions. Which as an immature kid whose life had told him he can only depend on himself...not out of the ordinary. The dude’s life passion is literature and has probably read every book he can get his hands on, it’s not crazy that he had his own story in him. 

Here is where Literati becomes endgame material for me. Prior to the revival it was always my feeling that post-series they would reconnect while Rory was on the campaign or afterwards. It would be low drama (except for Lorelai criticism), slowly gaining trust in each other again, and eventually starting a committed relationship within a year or two of being friends with sexual tension (lol). They made their adolescent mistakes, hurt each other, but learned from it and started over on infinitely better footing.

The match just makes sense to me at this point for many reasons; I don't feel like I need to list them all out because you can go to any pro-Literati post and I'll probably agree with the majority of the points. The biggest issue they had was timing: “Right heart, wrong time.” I like especially how they even out each other's more extreme personality traits. For example, Rory learning from Jess to consider her own feelings instead of sacrificing herself for others, and Jess considering others before himself all the time. Or professionally, I can see Jess encouraging her to step away from her ultra-organized, “everything has to be just so” ways when it benefits her to seize an opportunity right now, don’t worry about the details, you got this. Maybe Jess has another book in him, but his self-deprecation and disorganization prevent him from getting it done but Rory helps him be more objective and focused. There’s this…synergistic energy I feel with the two of them: they’re great by themselves, but form something better together.

Judging from Rory's reactions towards him in this season, I don't think it's OOC for her to have romantic feelings for him again. She's extremely proud of his accomplishments and not unhappy to see him (not holding a grudge). They fall back into their comfortable dynamic even if it makes them both a bit nervous. Now some could argue that this means that Rory only wants to be friends with him but...when have Jess and Rory ever been just friends? If "Another Year in the Life" comes out (I've got serious doubts but would love to be proved wrong) and Rory rejects him or he's not even a part of it, fine! But I just don't see anything in canon that says explicitly she'll never feel romantic towards him again.

Now the kiss...there's a lot of ways to read that scene. Do I think Jess was in the right to assume "everything is fixed" as a go ahead? No. But that's part of why he is such an engaging character: he's impulsive and acts in accordance to his feelings, and yes, this gets himself and others in trouble. 

Do I think Rory purposefully went to the open house to "use" Jess to get back at Logan? No. I think she genuinely wanted to support him, and Logan being out of town meant she wouldn't have to explain why it was important for her to go. I see the kiss paralleling the one in 2x22 but instead of Rory not being able to hold her feelings in any longer, Jess initiates. The way I see it is she was unaware she still had lingering feelings towards him (not out of nowhere, I mean their relationship has "unfinished business" written all over it) and that scared the crap out of her, just like at the end of season 2. So she runs away to the "safe space" that is being with Logan. Because she's in love with Logan, she has a sense of obligation towards him, and Rory has shown many times that she does not react well to change and highly emotional situations.

Is this scene a deal breaker for a future relationship between them? I don't think so. Jess says that he isn't sorry she came, which I take as "I'll never be sorry to see you no matter the context." Yes, this hurt him and made him pretty mad, but I don't think he's holding a grudge against her for this; even in the moment he's more concerned that someone cheated on her and her safety getting to her car. He sets a boundary that he doesn't deserve his feelings to be pushed around like this and Rory agrees. Not that I condone this sort of tit-for-tat hurting of each other (which I don't think Rory was going for in the first place) but it's almost like...that cycle is now broken. The whole scene is so open ended, it doesn't feel like a "good bye forever" to Jess.

"But Rory is so in love with Logan!" I don't know about you, but that "I'm in love with him despite all the bad he's done..." sounds so defeated and sad. It's almost like she's resigned herself to being in love with Logan. The first time I watched this, I thought this was foreshadowing that the relationship was on its last legs. To keep them together, Logan almost dies so Rory will bury her hurt out of guilt for holding a grudge against him. She is completely entitled to feeling hurt by Logan's actions, and I hate that she feels like she has to do this. But it happened, moving on.

"But Rory is a cheater!" When I think about Rory's characteristics, "cheater" doesn't make the list. She feels entitled to the men that she's loved and this isn’t super great behavior, but I don't view her as inherently unfaithful or okay with cheating. I give her leeway on the season 2 Jess kiss because she was a teenager with a lot of conflicting emotions and everything around her was pushing her to stay with Dean. The season 4 Dean debacle...she was still very young and naïve. I put most of the blame on Dean for manipulating her; I say most because if Rory really wanted to be with him, she should have been more sure of the status of his marriage, but I repeat: he manipulated her and she was very young and naïve. I dare to say she has been conditioned to view Dean as nothing but safe and trustworthy so why wouldn't she believe him... Season 4 was all about her being out of sorts when away from the Stars Hollow bubble and trying to reclaim some normalcy. Narratively, I see why this makes sense and I don't think the intention was to say “Rory is okay with cheating,” but to show very explicitly that Rory isn't perfect. This show goes to extremes, at this point I kind of just accept it and don't jump to "this person/character is terrible!" Certain characteristics and behaviors I have less patience for (mild) or will make me lose all respect for a character (extreme - honestly very few GG characters fall into this category for me); you may feel differently and that's fine. When other plot points in this series are much more bizarre and OOC, while this turn of events makes me uncomfortable and angry, at least it makes sense to me.

The 6x18 kiss I've already said that I don't think Rory had premeditated intent to cheat on Logan judging from the fact that Jess initiated it; yes, she went with it nor was it a complete surprise, I get this. The "I couldn't even cheat on him..." line I think is an outburst of guilt and regret, not her saying she had a plan in mind. Maybe I'm being too soft on her, I don't know...she did stay there late but maybe she just got lost in the book while waiting to say bye. We've seen her not know how to deal with conflicting emotions and change to her status quo, and attempt to distract herself when life isn't panning out the way she wants and not think about the consequences in the moment, so I don't find this scene OOC or intentionally cruel. The revival...I don’t think I can even go there right now because it would just be me screaming incoherently about how much I hate "full circle" and how bizarre the entire thing was. Maybe something of value would eventually come out with a lot of editing. XD

This isn’t to say I’m 100% on Rory’s side all the time. Pretty much every character in this show has at some point made me smile, made me laugh (generally with them, but some characters it’s more like at), made me want to give them a hug, made me roll my eyes, and made me want to throw something at them. That’s why I love it so much! Even if the drama is turned up to 1000, I still get the sense that these characters are human. My favs end up on my “will protect at all costs” and “shit” lists throughout the series, no one is immune. Except Lane. She really is the best person in this entire show. #JusticeForLaneKim

If ASP had written season 7: (Remember there being some sort of theme to this post? Only two episodes in s6, but Jess sure does make an impact.) I bet Jess would show up at some point. MV is loyal to the creators and not the show, if it was important for Jess to be there I’m sure his shooting schedule would have been accounted for. Storyline would have been similar to the revival because AYITL is ASPs season she didn’t get to do without considering how time passing affects the characters (I’M STILL SALTY) except Rory is at Yale and I think the book was a new idea. Shipping as endgame doesn’t change, and I bet there wouldn’t be a nice little Literati ending because we’ve got to end it the same way, right? I don't even need them to be together at the end because Rory has greater plans to focus on, but just a moment! One moment is all I asked for... I don’t know if this makes me mad because I felt like the narrative had been pushing us along this path for so long even if actual "endgame" was going to be offscreen or if I kind of like just having it in my imagination. Little bit of column A, little bit of column B. In any case, it could have been cool to see Jess present for the birth of his half-sister and giving Luke some support. 

Like I said, I'm not touching AYITL right now. The whole starting point of this was, "huh, if MV never came back to the show, how would I feel about Jess and Literati?" And he was in it so it doesn't really fit into this even though we've gone on a meandering journey as pieces of discourse that have never sat right with me but didn't quite know how to express that disagreement until now popped in my mind. So there you go. If you’ve made it to end, claps to you, what a champ.

At the end of the day, Literati is the ship that makes me feel the most things, it's kind of just a gut thing. This really isn't any sort of argument just an outpouring of love for the show and these characters. I don't know how well that's communicated, but hey, I try. I’ve got a lot of nostalgia for the pairing and I always viewed Jess as being Rory’s, and only Rory’s, choice.

#Gilmore Girls #Literati #rory x jess #Jess Mariano #I've been writing and editing this for 2 weeks and just accidentally pressed post and uhhhh #I don’t think there's more you can do self #Just run with it