#they have every single one of my fave themes

[persistent-wallflower]

@demonrunningwild tagged me to do a favourites moodboard. That was fun, thanks! <3

If you wanna do this, tagging: @msva9 @senjukannon @privateschoolfeline @forxstboyfriend

Template:

#it's very early tumblr I love it #ok so #a bit of a contrasting red/blue moment #in the mood for love cause that film rules my life #and man if I was bisexual... #Maggie Cheung is perfect and I'm forever obsessed #my hobby is me haahHHahha #It's actually a grainy filter it is #I meant like artsy stuff that I like doing and I like seeing and yeah #animal's pretty much every creature from the depths of the ocean bc they fascinate me #I blame Endless ocean on wii for that #character was tricky cuz I don't have a single fave... #but I chose Susan Sarandon in anything I've seen with her in it apparently :) #pictured as an 80s vampire #color's from a museum and I'm sort of into different shades of red rn. Not on myself I just think they're neat #place... Taipei 101 is my muse and I miss her... #season... Autumn. From my hometown that one #Album... I went with Trinity by Eartheater cause I love it and it fits the theme <3 #aand some plums cause I like plums :) #mine #about me

[marysong-mp3]

evermore is just. that bitch. 'this outfit really screams 'TIS THE DAMN SEASON'. champagne problems. gold rush. tolerate it. no body no crime and haim. coney island and the national. ivy. long story short. one of the best title tracks of her discography and bon iver. right where you left me. the situation with evermore park being the most bizarre crossover event for swiftie theme-park fans. the different "[blank] witch version" remixes of willow. the willow tour performance. the moss piano and taylor's 'what a shame she's FUCKED in the head' eyes. I COULD GO ON

#this has been sitting in my drafts WAITING for her birthday #happy birthday evermore <333333 #is the evermore park bit basically just a joke for myself because i have watched that whole jenny nicholson vid at least ten times? yes #but perhaps there are some other theme-park swifties amongst you who share my two loves <333 #tho i suspect the centre of the venn diagram on that one is pretty small #also pls do not be mad if your fave track did not get listed. i could have listed every single one but that would have been slightly absurd #tho also proof of how GOD TIER the track list is!!! #i just chose my most listened to and called it a day!!! #dee speaks #taylor swift #evermore #evermore album #evermore taylor swift

[nicksbestie]

Omg the Johnnie fic was just wow.. honestly loved every part (def my fave post so far) which is why I’m here begging for another haha

Could you write a Johnnie Guilbert x reader where the reader is Tara’s friend and is invited to a hangout with all of the friends and Johnnie meets her there for the first time and completely falls in love. Like imagine he greets her and then turns to Jake “I need a ring” “what for” “to propose”

And just FLUFF ugh I love awkward and sweet Johnnie.

this was so sweet ily tysm :( <3

this fic was a tiny bit rushed just because i'm struggling with motivation and trying not to let reqs rot in my inbox but i hope you love it anyways!

Party

warnings : mentions of alcohol

pairing : Johnnie Guilbert x fem reader

word count : 1158

enjoy!

<3

Your best friend was having a Valentine’s party, and you were nothing short of completely ecstatic.

Despite being single, Valentine’s Day was still one of your favorite holidays, because your friends always did something so fun. You had no idea who was going to be in attendance, but you knew that your best friend, Tara, was inviting people from her inner circle, which included some people with a lot of reach. You couldn’t deny that you had a little bit of nerves about it, just because of the fact that Tara was quite literally famous. There would probably be a ton of super important people there, and you didn’t know if you were completely ready for that. 

You had made some features in Tara’s videos every now and again, and you had a solid following, but it was nothing like hers, and you also knew that she was inviting her best friend and ex boyfriend, who had a solid following of over two million, so the nerves were definitely there. Tara had told you that you were definitely overreacting, but you really did not want to be that person who accidentally embarrassed themselves in front of people that were on such a pedestal. Not to say that they were perfect, not by any means, but you were sure that some sort of footage from this party would make it to social media, being that Tara always recorded funny moments, and you did not want to go viral for the wrong things. 

You had gone over to Tara’s house about two hours before the party to get ready with her, as you always had the most fun doing that. You two shared a ton of clothes, helped each other with doing makeup, setting things up, and just in general having a good time. It was always a fun time for the two of you, and you had done that many times before many parties, hosted at both of your houses. So that was where you were right now, in Tara’s bathroom, her helping you even out your eyeliner on both eyes, as that had often been something that you really struggled with, and Tara had a natural talent for it. Tara was going over the guest list, and though it was pretty small for one of Tara’s parties, it was still a large gathering for you. 

Tara was a much more social person than you, and she found a lot of fun in spending time with large groups of people, whereas you had more fun with smaller, more close-knit groups. Her parties always reflected that, but due to the fact that normally there were a lot of people you knew, and also a lot of alcohol, you normally loosened up pretty quickly and always had a great time. You learned at this point when Tara was listing off who all was coming that Jake’s other best friend, Johnnie, was coming, and you knew of him, but had never met him in person. Tara had a devious grin on her face when you brought that point up, explaining that he wasn’t really a party person either, and she mumbled something about you two being perfect for each other. 

You hit her on the shoulder, causing her to laugh, which made you laugh as well, because Tara’s good mood and laughter was contagious, and you couldn’t help yourself. You and Tara had similar styles, and began sifting through her closet deciding what to wear tonight. Obviously it was red and pink themed, but that didn’t mean that you weren’t going to sneak in a little bit of black. It went with everything, so you had a valid reason to get away with it. After picking out a cute outfit, you still had some time to kill, and you and Tara began setting out food, drinks, and removing any possible breakables from common areas of the house. She laughed and told you a ridiculous story about Jake accidentally breaking an expensive valuable when he got too drunk at one of her parties, and now she’s learned to make sure that they’re all put away. 

The next forty five minutes went by so quickly, and you two had an amazing time setting up, and just getting to spend time with each other. Not for the first time, your nerves had completely disappeared once Tara had gotten you to open up, and you were nothing but excited for the party that was due to be starting soon. As Tara began opening the door and introducing guests that you either didn’t know or barely knew, you mostly relaxed, eating a couple of snacks and hanging out in the kitchen with Tara and the rest of the people. Nothing really picked up for the first couple of minutes, until a specific car pulled up outside of the house, music blasting loud enough for you to hear it inside the house, making you wonder just how loud it was inside the vehicle. You motioned to Tara, gesturing outside, and she rolled her eyes but had a smile on her face. 

“That would be Jake, wouldn’t it? Something about him always having to make an appearance.” 

You agreed, moving to make conversation with a couple friends you recognized while Tara let Jake in, accompanied by Johnnie. You looked up and saw Tara hugging the both of them, and took in their appearance. Jake, you had seen quite a few times, but you had never seen Johnnie in person. And you couldn’t lie, he was much more attractive in person. Unfortunately, due to your luck, Johnnie looked up from hugging Tara, and happened to make direct eye contact with you. You immediately looked away, ignoring the heat rising to your cheeks, and hoped on everything that he hadn’t noticed. Unbeknownst to you, he had, but also unbeknownst to you, he was blushing just about the same, it just wasn’t as visible because of his makeup. 

He turned to Jake as soon as Tara turned away to greet someone else, and elbowed him in the ribs. Jake doubled over, swearing under his breath as he asked what he needed. 

“Dude, what the hell?” 

“I need a fucking ring or something.” 

He looked at Johnnie like he had just lost his absolute mind. 

“What? A ring? For what?” 

Looking at his best friend’s face, he realized he looked like a lovestruck puppy, a weird expression to see on Johnnie’s face, and slightly disturbing. 

“To propose. Jesus Christ, look at her. She’s gorgeous.” 

Jake followed his eyes to see who exactly he was looking at, also at the same moment that you looked back up to try to check out Johnnie again, and watched you blush for a second time, awkwardly looking away and pretending you hadn’t seen them. 

“Well, looks like last year was your last Valentine’s alone.”

You enjoyed that party so much more than you had ever expected to.

#johnnie guilbert #johnnie guilbert fanfic #johnnie guilbert x reader #johnnie guilbert fic #johnnie guilbert fanfiction #johnnie and jake #fanfic #jake webber fluff #jake webber fanfic #jake webber fanfiction #jake webber #jake and johnnie #johnnie guilbert smut #johnnie guilbert fluff #the tinas

[wisellamawerewolf]

Heaven has a point and it's ruining the show's entire premise

*rant under the cut*

It has probably been said before by other people who can articulate their thoughts better, but considering the way VivziePop chose to tell her story, Hazbin Hotel's premise just doesn't work.

At first the show's main idea was presumably about how it's never too late to become a better person. The themes of Hotel and providing redemption to damned souls if they CHOSE to become better was fitting for that concept and it could've worked well without much involvement from Heaven. Yearly extermination (although arguably not necessary) added stakes and a sense of emergency, but making Heaven fully involved in the situation was a very questionable choice. Now the main theme of the show is less about "self-improvement" and more about "Heaven is hypocritical", and it just doesn't work well for one (main) reason: every single sinner we have encountered are absolutely horrible.

I already sense some that people might bring up the "They're in Hell" argument, but here's the thing: it would've worked fine with the initial premise, but you can't say "Heaven is bad for exterminating souls" when these souls a.) killed, hurt and ruined people's lives when they were alive; and b.) kept killing, hurting and ruining people's lives in the afterlife. Is there a better solution than just killing these people? Probably. But that doesn't make Heaven seem hypocritical and unjustified. At worst it makes them look stupid, because if they knew most people would find extermination of souls abhorrent, they could've just send someone to rearrange hell and completely isolate the most vile sinners from others in order to prevent them from hurting people, instead of just letting them continue doing their shit but in a slightly worse place.

Another argument that comes in mind probably sounds something like "well obviously not EVERYONE is irredeemably bad in this place, and Heaven is surely unjustifiably sends people Hell for stupid reasons if it's overpopulated". And if this statement is true, I have a couple of questions:

Why then literally none of these people are in the Hotel? Surely Charlie could've find at least some of such people and convince them to participate in her experiment. This is probably better to live under the protection of one of the strongest beings in hell than being potentially killed in the streets, so what do they have to lose? If none of these people believe in Charlie's idea, why every time we meet a non-resident, they are always murderous assholes, with almost no exceptions? If Hell is full of wrongfully condemned souls, why doesn't Charlie address them in the seventh episode, instead of going to the cannibal town to ask for help?

I think I've said it somewhere before, but VivziePop wants to criticize religion for scaring people with eternal punishment for doing arbitrary and harmless stuff, but also wants to treat said punishment as a playground for her edgy OCs most of whom are the exact people who by all logic should be in hell.

She wants her story to be about redemption but then turns around and says "actually, my homicidal OC's did nothing wrong, the SOCIETY that condems them is a true villain. Please ignore corpses my faves piled up in the corner". Viv wants to have her cake and eat it too, which results in a sloppy writing.

The most frustrating thing about this that it could theoretically work if handled more carefully: Charlie is already naive and Vaggie is a freshly exiled angel so just make them believe that all sinners have a legitimate reason to be in hell and need to be "fixed". Let them run into Angel Dust and try to make him improve, only to later learn that better people were turned down in heaven and send to hell because of the arbitrary reasons.

It could've both drived the message of "you can always chose to be better" and provide a valid critique to the religion in regards to what counts as a "sin" and wether it deserves such a hursh punishment or not, but ut VivziePop just can't decide what she wants to do and talk about so she just throws in everything at the same time.

#hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel critique #thanks tumblr for posting my half-baked post again because of “bad connection”. geez. #i was full of tequila yesterday and my Spotify decided to “bless” me with “You didn't know” #and the lyrics were so stupid I made another rant. So enjoy i guess?

[stjohnstarling]

I did a little googling about Fifty Shades of Grey's origins as a fanfic and oh my god I have opened a terrifyingly deep rabbit hole. It's so much more than Fifty Shades. I think all of self-publishing might be an offshoot of the Twilight fandom. I'm going insane.

This essay explains a lot. Twilight fans got sick of Twilight but still wanted to participate in the fandom, so they got creative:

There were stories where vampires didn't exist (like Fifty Shades of Grey). They got CRAZY popular within the community because they were essentially just generic romance novels with characters we already knew (made it easy to write and consume, as we already liked and cared about the characters). Though there were always nods to the original Twilight series within them, you didn't even have to know Twilight to enjoy an All Human-AU. I've gotten tons of reviews on my fanfic where readers say they've never even picked up the book. By 2010, probably a good 75% of Twilight fanfic being produced was All-Human. It was literally a chore to find a fanfic that had anything to do with vampires.

Twilight fanfiction diverged from its source material to the point where it was only a minor tweak for most popular authors to drop the Twilight link entirely and publish their fanfic as original novels. From a comment on that essay:

Seriously, Twilight fandom got really crazy big for a few years there. It was not totally uncommon to get multi-million clicks on a semi-popular story. It's weird looking back on it and calling it "Twilight fandom" because it was really more like "Romance Novel fandom". For real, for a period there, calling a Twilight fanfic author a 'Twilight fan' would be the ultimate insult. But they never stopped writing about Edward and Bella! It's so weird

And from the main Twilight article on Fanlore:

So what we've created in our neck of the woods are people using their fanwork to gain a huge audience, then removing the fanwork, filing it, publishing it, and sending cease and desist letters if the fanwork is shared. (The published works are then marketed back to the fandom via author profiles and banner ads on the archives.)

Fifty Shades of Grey was the first of these to explode, but it's far from the only one. Every single one of EL James' fanfiction contemporaries I've looked into is not just a self-published author but among the biggest self-published authors in the world, many of whom were foundational to shaping the look and feel and tropes of the medium. Twilight fanfiction is absolutely foundational to all of self-publishing.

This explains so much about the mainstream parts of the industry to me. I don't think they've ever fully gotten out from under the weight of the Twilight fandom, even to this day. It's still the same stuff, look at this. From a former fan's ff.net profile:

My BFF Angel and I (who met through [writing Twilight fanfiction]!) are co-writing writing a dark YA series of standalone romances, with so many of my fave themes. Trauma, bullying, addiction, social issues, violence, pretty rich high school boys being douchebags, hurt/comfort, frantic dry humping, you feel me you feel me.

The resulting book series from 2021 has tens of thousands of Goodreads reviews.

#original post #fifty shades liveblog #I'm going insaanneeee

[greenscreen-dress]

Hhheeeeheheh I love these skins so much I CANNOT wait to see them in-video... But until then here's my ranking of them, long rambly full thoughts below.

Also here's the tierlist!

Ultimate Slayage: no discussion these 2 are the best. Every single one of Sausage's skins are a smash hit & this one is no exception, it's just so well done. The eye make-up the little tied shirt thing the HUGE extravagant sunflower, contrasted by those big clomping boots... The GENDER of it all aough I love him.

& Pix of course. Pix my guy just STUNNING. Idk about the other skins but this one is very likely made by Pix himself (bc of a thing he tweeted) & that makes it all the more impressive bc it's just?? So good??? The floor-length the off-the-shoulder sleeves leading into long gloves(?), the corset-y bits with golden buttons or lacing up the front, the BRIGHT BLUE bodice bits which (based off the colour) are definitely Ancient Capitollian Dodo feathers or inspired by them at least... It's just a masterpiece. The only comment I might have is maybe make sure you match your foundation right, Pix... But I've also decided he's in a full white lace/mesh bodysuit under the dress so. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Surprised &/or Delighted: honestly this category fits all of them purely bc I don't think anyone expected these ^^. Oli & Jimmy are in here specifically because, while they're not my ultimate brain-frothing faves, these dresses are extremely good adaptations/elevations of their regular skins— Oli's especially looks so natural on him bc it's in exactly the same glitzy faux-medieval style as his bard outfit. The purple is a staple colour with him, fits the royalty theme, & somehow looks both elegant and like a Halloween costume with its bright shade & tinsel-like gold trims. It's silly and fantastic and VERY Oli Orionsound. Cannot wait for him to play the fainting damsel-in-distress at every occasion <3

Jimmy's is plainer but just as faithful to his sheriff skin: off-the-shoulder sleeves appear to be a theme with these skins and they look amazing on everyone, Katherine is so epic if this was her Royal doing. Jimmy looks AMAZING in a long jean(?) skirt & the slit just elevates it even more... I am beginning to notice I have a Thing for long skirts and big boots ^^;. This is going to look stunning with the hat, and just plain adorable at Jimmy's current height.

Fits the brief: ok so these skins are fantastic and I LOVE the colour on both of them, but there's not as much tying them to their Empires... fWhip's goblin skin is so intricate with that embroidered waistcoat & bright primary colours so it's a shame to lose that, though the plain red looks very elegant on him & the shape of the dress stands out from the other skins in a very fun way. It's definitely between the 2 categories and I will likely be swayed by the first bit of fanart I come across for it, but for now: yeah.

Joey's is the opposite case, where it fits the brief and the simplicity of it not only looks good but makes some sense (semi-broke pirate usually wearing tattered sailor's garb). I just wish it had gone a bit further to match Joey's big personality. The slit and shape is lovely (as is the neckliiii— wait where does that neckline end? /pos), but what about some more gold, or prismarine accents? Fishnet gloves, or stockings striped like his shirt? It just feels like it could go much further, & maybe fanart will push it there for me. Also I'm removing points for no dress + epic pirate boots /j

Expected more: oh this skin... Yeah I'm not blown away by it. The colours that are present are very nice but there just aren't enough of them, and the shape... The cutaways at the hip are very nice, but Girl. That is a tank top. & for some reason the skirt refuses to register as one in my brain despite the pretty gradient. With the vibes of Chromia I'm picturing Scott in something shorter and frillier, high-heeled boots, feathered hat and cape— real Barbie and the 3 Musketeers kind of vibe basically. I need to draw that. Definitely more colours though, that's the first step. Bi-coloured bodice, tie-dye skirt with petticoats, a flower crown, something!! Maybe there's custom items involved to accessorise, maybe this is a temporary self-made dress while waiting on a commission, idk but I'm going to need to see some out-of-this world fanart to salvage this skin as it is. :/ Sorry Scott, sashay away.

And finally...

Joel: Joel. Joel Smallish "Massive" Beans that is a recycled MCC skin I am SURE of it. Joel this is so lazy and stupid and perfectly on-brand I love it I hate it this is peak Wish/Aliexpress cosplay. Keep it up you bastard (I still want to see / draw him in proper femme greek garb. But alas).

ANYWAY.

Big long ramble, thankye for reading this whole thing & feel free to make your own lists / yell at me for interpreting these pixels wrong. No matter my minor gripes the fact we have these looks at all and go insane over them is so so SO fun ^^

#HOOH BOY this took me an hour to make the tierlist / type out my onions lol #but these looks are ✨worth it✨ #esmp s2 #empires s2 #empires smp #esmpblr #empiresblr #esmp ensemble #namemc spoilers #fwhip #joey graceffa #mythicalsausage #oli orionsound #joel smallishbeans #scott smajor #jimmy solidaritygaming #pixlriffs #WOOOH. LOTS OF TAGS ^^; #eMerambles

[clingyduoapologist]

CLINGYDUOAPOLOGIST'S TOP 5 FAVORITE DSMP FAN-COMICS OF ALL TIME

OK NOW this is just a list of some of my personal faves, ones that make me literally feral so

Cheating a bit here but first off honorable mention to Boneless (?) by @thelostmoongazer

Idrk why i remember this one so fondly but it's really cute and always gets a chuckle out of me when I remember it, certified banger 👏

ALRIGHT ON WITH THE OFFICIAL LIST

5: A TIE BECAUSE I GENUINELY CAN'T TELL WHICH I PREFER BETWEEN Au in which Wilbur and Ghostbur merged when Wilbur was revived. AND Dreams I can’t remember both by @moldyhay

ugjughugh honestly i consider the ghostbur merging au more canon than the "limbo forever" stuff just because it makes so much sense to me and y'know what it's 2023 wilbur soot can't say shit to me @sootings fuck you

As for Dreams I can't remember like what else is there to say besides get me that fucking ccrime vaccine stat i don't have much time left

4: The Fox and the Grapes by @space-robinhood

Okay I am not the biggest c!fundy girlie but like COME ON, the way the fable just fits so perfectly, the art, the emotion in every facial expression, the fucking photo of fundy as a baby like I lose my fucking mind every single time I read this comic.

3: mentorly advice by @minecraftsz

Legitimately this was probably my fave dsmp comic for a while. "Shitpost that makes you cry if you think about it too hard about it" is a very specific and difficult-to-master niche of art and minecraftsz has written a dissertation on it in the form of this short comic.

2: friend sweater :) by @kettitrium

I go feral every time this comic comes on my dash like, the way it showcases c!tommy's personality so well, being resourceful, a bitch, and so painfully sentimental, it's brilliant. And the art itself is also gorgeous. Of all these comics, this one probably has my favorite art style.

1: Tommy by @space-robinhood

Like, what can I even say about this one? I literally almost tore my hair out just reading it while trying to copy the link to paste it here. Such a simple, small conversation, but one that manages to carry such a haunting theme of the loss of innocence. The final shot of Tommy standing with his back to the readers, his general's coat slightly tattered, a bow in his hands, it's such a poignant summary of his character, one that I will literally never be able to get over, probably ever. Go read it, then reblog it so I can read it again.

-

AND THERE IT IS my extremely based and awesome picks for some incredible fanworks. I see so many people regretting their time in the fandom recently, and I just wanted to share some of the awesome stuff we were able to do also i may have just wanted to compile all of these is one place so i don't have to do detective work to find them but shhh SO go forth and read and like and REBLOG and enjoy :D

#HERE IT IS MY DEFINITIVE LIST #noticing now there is a bit of a crimeboys bias but like #y'know what they deserve it #tho i do wish there was some cclingy up here :( #but yeah these go fucking crazy #dream smp

[indiaalphawhiskey]

Hii! First off I absolutely adore your writing and I'm super excited for your upcoming fics, but I was wondering what are your favorite go-to fics (by other authors) that you want to read again and again?

Hello, love!

I did this once, but I can’t seem to find the post (go figure) so I’m happy to do it again. ❤️ I actually have a folder on my Kindle titled Comfort Fics and these are what’s in there. (I also have a bunch of fics from the same authors, but I thought it best to rec one per author. Check out their other stuff if you haven’t already.)

Most Re-Read Fic

🏈 Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can’t Lose by dolce_piccante

This fic has, without a doubt, my most favorite version of Louis ever written. But more than that, I think that this is just a very nostalgic fic for me, because it was released about six months into me falling into the fandom, and so it kind of reminds me of that time where I was discovering fics and fandom and Larry for the first time. I feel like whenever I go back to it, it feels like that slice of time all over again. Epitome of a comfort fic.

Snack Fic Re-Read

🌬️Fugue by iwillpaintasongforlou

This is just the most perfect single-sitting fic ever. It has everything you need to feel like you’ve read something full and all consuming. I’m a really big fan of the romantic build up, and I love that this has that, even in what is technically an established relationship trope. Love, love, love.

Fave Bedtime Re-Read

🕊️ Counting the Steps Between Us by zarah5

I keep crawling back to this fic like a long lost lover. It’s just written in such a way that hits the spot every time, with the perfect amount of tension and storytelling for you to feel like you’ve earned it by the time they get together.

Best Smut Re-Read

🫦 Hike Up Your Skirt (and Show Your World to Me) by Brooklyn_Babylon / @twopoppies

When this was being written, I told @twopoppies that it was going to overthrow Are You Gonna Be My Girl? by LoadedGunn as my holy grail smut fic and I wasn’t wrong. I mean… this fic’s reputation precedes it. It just gets the job done in the most delicious, dark, dirty way. I get that the themes might not be for everyone, but it’s definitely for me. If you’re specifically looking for something that can only be described as delectable debauchery, you’ve found it. (Read the tags!)

Specific Mood Re-Read

🪐 Saved Tonight by Anonymous*

Harry's the world's most persistent seduction-baker, a questionable dog-sitter, and Louis' biggest fan. Louis hasn't written in years, is trying to pass loneliness off as cynicism, and absolutely hates his fans. It's probably destiny.

This fic is just really, really special to me. It’s soft in the most weird and wonderful way, and I’ve not found another fic that makes me feel the way this does. I think the best way to describe this is that it’s a fic that envelopes you in such a specific setting that you find yourself going back to it to live in that place for a little while.

*The author has since taken it down, and I don’t know by what username they prefer to go by, so I just listed it as Anonymous.

A/B/O Re-Read

🐺 Where You Lay by HamPalpert

When Louis's upcoming heat threatens his success at his new dream job, he asks the best (and only) person he can think of to help him through it: his best mates' best mate, Harry Styles. Harry reluctantly accepts, and together the two navigate a strange friends with benefits relationship that quickly turns complicated.

A/B/O is my most favorite trope ever, but because there are a lot of different permutations of the “rules”, it’s often hard for me to find an A/B/O fic that includes everything I really really really love about the trope. This is that fic for me.

Best Soft Re-Read

🎵 Make Your Words A Weapon by HelloAmHere / @helloamhere

The way Harry is written in this fic is everything to me. This fic is soft in the most lovely way, and there’s something so healing in the way it discusses trauma without ever sacrificing the romance in the fic. This has a piece of dialogue that I think about nearly monthly, but I won’t share it cause I want you to experience it for yourself first.

Holy Grail Re-Read

⏳my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach

Let me start off by saying this fic is an investment, but Jesus is it worth it. This is just the most unique blend of canon and Larry lore ever, and it just does it so, so perfectly. If you’re looking for a fic that will make you see Larry’s love story as the most perfect insider version of it ever, this is the fic. It’s so good that I never want to read/watch the original Time Traveler’s Wife. As far as I’m concerned, this is the original. (Don't forget to read the companion piece feel myself fall, make a joke of it all.)

Honorable Mentions

(I haven’t re-read these yet only because I feel like I’ve just finished them and I’m giving myself some time to miss them so much that it feels like the first time all over again.)

🗽 Mine Would Be You by @crinkle-eyed-boo

An exes-to-lovers for the ages. This fic is painfully beautiful, and there’s something about these characters that have stood (and will continue to stand) the rest of time. I think this is a gorgeously mature fic that deals with the complexities of love and romance in a way that’s rare. This is one of the most realistic depictions of Harry and Louis that feels true to who they are in every era.

🦋 of the divine by @thedevilinmybrain

Harry in this is literally ethereal, but also, the way the romance is layered over religious themes is just done in such a fulfilling and delicious way. I love fics that manage to marry such specific knowledge with a story that’s still romantic and wildly sexy. This is a journey, and just thinking about it makes me want to pick it up immediately.

#iaw re-reads #iaw fic rec #iaw anonymous #iaw ask

[ohbo-ohno]

bo, first of all i adore your writing!!

but you've mentioned a few shall we say 'darker themed' books you've read in asks here and there, can you give some recs of your faves?? pretty please??

first of all, i love you! and also yes always, i never mind giving book recs! i sorta ramble under the cut, sorry lol

alright i'll start with the darker romances. these are hard noncon, and depict abusive relationships that aren't always framed as bad. when i say dark i mean dark lmao, always be aware of what you're going itno before you read a dark romance

If you like my fics, I can almost guarantee you'll like Taken by Felicity Brandon. This is about an author who writes dark erotica and gets kidnapped by a fan, who forces her to live out some of her scenes. Includes petplay! I have my issues with the book (and I DNF'd the sequel) but ohhhh the smut is so good

I mentioned them a while back, but Measha Stone's Owned and Protected series is a 6 book series with noncon/dubcon petplay in every single book. Calling these "romance" is a stretch, but god if you like my noncon petplay stuff (and you're alright with reading explicit noncon and forced relationships), you might like these

I haaated the ending of Distorted by Nyla K. but dear fucking god it is a good prison dark romance. Also it is SO Ghoap coded, I would recommend reading the first ~80% of it lmfao

Corrupt Idol by Dinah Harper is the first book in a series that will probably never get finished, but honestly it's pretty good as a standalone. Dark step-brother romance, and I thought the writing (at least in the first half) was so good, I genuinely felt for the FMC at times (even if I was screaming at her)

Ok I'm not confident in this rec because I'm still not suuuuper sure how I feel about this book, but Torment by Dylan Page is a dark step-brother biker romance. The FMC is the MMC's "rock", and the only thing that keeps him from flying off into a violent rage when he's upset, and he develops an unhealthy attachment to her that everyone around them allows because they don't want to deal with him. I never read the second book, but this is another one where you really feel for the FMC

One of my favoriteeee dark A/B/O (specifically the first book) is Born to be Bound by Addison Cane. I would suggest not reading anything past the third book, and I'm not a huuge fan of the side plots, but the stuff with the FMC and MMC is just. God it's the perfect brand of dark A/B/O (in MY head)

I've recommended it before, but for my truly fucked in the head followers - Under His Heel by Adara Wolf is probably the darkest book I've ever read. It's a four book series (and I think the whole thing is worth reading) and it's got every single trigger warning except for (i think) scat, pedophilia, and necrophilia. it has rape, incest that's also rape, extreme body modification (though it's not permanent), severe public humiliation, severe mental torture, and just about 0 aftercare for our MMC. The book follows a man in a far distant future who's working as an indentured servant to pay off his debts & his incredibly sadistic and evil master. These books are far from "for everyone", but if you really want some fucked up romance (with heavy smut) I think these are worth reading!

aaand some softer dark romances. to me, these are books with some lighter kidnapping or soft noncon, abuse in a mental but not physical way, and MMCs who just think they're in the right

Gemma Weir's Montana Mountain Men is like an acid trip and it's kinda crack, but i read all 7 in like a day, so take that as you will. Each book is about a different brother in the same family as they fall in love - except, in this family the men supposedly know who their soulmate is the moment they lay eyes on them. So there's some light kidnapping, some manipulation/unhealthy behavior, and some birth control tampering in these. For what they are, I enjoyed almost all of them lmao

The Darkest Temptation by Danielle Lori is like a kidnapping romance written for non-dark romance readers tbh. It toes the line of noncon/dubcon, and it's definitely a kidnapping romance, but it's really not that dark.

Nicky the Driver by Cate C. Wells is (in my opinion) not as good as the first book in the series, but it's way lighter in terms of darkness level

Shiver by Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine is a stalker romance that fell a little short for me, but was overall enjoyable (iirc lol). It's about a young man who goes into a kink club and attracts the attention of the owner, who then stalks him. I think it just wasn't as dark as I wanted tbh, but if you like lighter dark stuff I think you might like this!

#recs #this got long sorry #asks and answers

[moonspirit]

TOP 10 favourite AA fanfics? (if you have one)

Oh hello xD That's a great blog name! Does that mean more questions will follow ._.?

Anyways, my reading speed has taken a nosedive as of late; too many things have been going on and I'm trying to stick to my own writing schedule too... so my recs remain mostly the same as the previous times I've been asked. Still, here are a few of my faves:

Bury Me in the Shadows of Spring & My Yellow Light in Your Soft Whispers by @annawayne . Features some of the most compelling story-telling I've ever seen. The former is a historic AU set in the 1920s and holy shit the immersion? Anna comes armed with a deep, impressive knowledge base of history and so the fic takes you straight back in time, as if you were standing in the time period itself. BMSS is a story carrying very heavy themes, and the dive into the character's psyches is simply stellar.

As for the latter, a post-canon fic set 10 years after the Rumbling, MYLYSW is a story that takes an in-depth study into the ways that an intensely traumatic event can affect people - both the victims and of those around them. It's a wonderful telling of grief, heartache, unresolved ghosts from the past, with stunning imagery and descriptive writing. :3

Black Water & everything else in @distortedclouds 's collection. BW is, as another reader very aptly put it, the single best take I've seen on Annie's relationship with her father, and how it affects Aruani's relationship. Clouds' mastery in prose and narration is on a whole other level, and every chapter literally hurts your bones. Aside from that, all the other fics in the collection are simply wonderful reads, with everything ranging from fluff to angst to smut and everything in between! My wife is very talented you see :3 Unparalleled!

Little Bird by @aquietjune . Simply a fantastic Annie-centric post-canon story, with writing skills that simply leave you in awe. June takes a deep dive into many of Annie's issues and problems that are still left unresolved, though the world may be rid of titans. Her dedication to period-appropriate research, and the how's and why's of in-world problems make the story a truly delightful experience, and coupled with her talent of being able to tell so much in so few words, this remains one of the best post-canon fics I've ever read. Please also check out her other works, she has an uncanny ability to make you laugh until your sides hurt xD

Coveted by @honeytheriot . One of the first aruani fics I read after the S4 P3 P1 dropped in March 2023, and holy shit xD Every chapter is a smut-filled goodness and delight, and honeyriot makes it WORK with her writing!

Children of War by @/SeaTempest . Primarily a Jeanpiku fic with Aruani as a side-couple, this fic features some of the best writing I've ever seen. Smooth prose and convincing post-canon world-building, plus very good character monologues?? Hell yeah. Hasn't been updated in a while, but has plenty of content, absolutely worth a read.

Tater Tots & Heavy Thoughts by Anonymous and everything in this collection. TT&HT is a modern AU Aruani fic primarily from Armin's POV, dealing with some very dark and heavy subject matter. The writing is really good, and while I haven't caught upto later chapters, I highly recommend it. The other fics in the collection are great too :3

There are many more tbh, but my head is mushy for the moment xD However, I'll add some fics I've been following as of late!

on the path that led me to you by @the-last-thread-of-my-sanity & By Each Crime and Kindness (I'm bound to you) by @aruanimess - two Cadet Aruani fics taking place that are an absolute delight to read! Wonderful writing, wonderful characterization, lots of fluff, and the impending doom of angst~

Who painted the sky? by @dudewhy3 & Hiding in Plain Sight by @midnightraine131, two Modern AU fics that take a look into the issues Aruani deal with from their past, in a modern real-world setting. Engaging and fun, with sprinkles of heavy angst now and then.

A Force To Be Reckoned by @luciensdefenseattorney . Inspired by Bridgerton, this is a wonderfully written and highly engaging Aruani fic set in the regency era. You just want Armin and Annie to kiss and find out all about each other already.

Legends by @mimiwrites2000-fun . Canon-divergence and wonderfully written, this is an Aruani fic spanning 32 chapters and counting! Lots of emotional, heart-wrenching moments, Mimi is a writer who embraces angst with a passion and doesn't shy away from hurting you T^T

#I have to catch up with the latest updates on many of these #T_T #please have patience with me #I'm doing my best! #ask #askingtheaafandomquestions #aruani #attack on titan #fic rec #aruani fic #armin arlert #annie leonhart #armin x annie #aruannie

[hatchetfieldtheories]

Workin' Boys: A New Theory

So, I’ve changed my mind.

A while back I wrote this theory, and while I do still think there is some truth to the theory that Hidgens began to have his apotheosis once he touched the blue goo, I think there is more to the story.

Note, the below contains one mild spoiler for NPMD.  Mild only in that I will briefly reference one character without any context added.  Feel free to skip this theory if you wish, or come back to it post 13th October to see how much I got wrong!!

Great Scott! It’s a Workin Boys theory!

The world will be blessed with Workin Boys next week, and I know not everyone will get to watch it, but it’s safe to say there will be things we learn from the show that will either answer some of our never ending questions, or give us more to puzzle over.  The latter being the one I’m expecting if I’m honest, afterall, this is Hatchetfield.  

And to be honest, we’ve not been given much to work on.  The trailer and synopsis are both pretty short, we’ve had a sprinkling of facts and figures over the last couple of years, and a few Hidgens cameos, so this isn’t really a theory of what I think will be the storyline, but rather an attempt to predict some of the themes and potential lore implications that might arise.

Also for reference, a good portion of the info used in this theory has come from these two wonderful compendiums of Hatchetfield knowledge:

@gone-to-oregone's wonderful Everything is Connected doc

@abiimaryy's amazing Hatchetfield Lore Doc

The Stage is Set

Professor Henry Hidgens and Doctor Emmett Brown have a lot in common.  They’re eccentric, they’re clever, and they both had a vision of something world changing due to an accident they had 30 years ago.

For Henry, this doesn’t result in any fun 50s hijinks, but rather he gets struck by lightning in 1988 and predicts the world ending by musical apotheosis. Super specific, honestly.  But what is important is that date.

Hidgens didn’t predict the events of TGWDLM after 2005, but rather before. If this had happened to him after 2005 we could easily put the lightning strike down to an event unique to the TGWDLM timeline only.  However, his accident happened way before 2005, way before the timelines split.  So just as Ted must be the Homeless Guy in every single Hatchetfield timeline, Hidgens must also be expecting a musical apocalypse in every timeline.

This must also include Working Boys, whatever timeline that ends up being in.  In Workin Boys, Hidgens would be under the impression that at some point soon, a musical apocalypse is about to happen.  So what does that have to do with said musical-within-a-musical?

Here come the LiB

It’s pretty safe to say Pokey is heavily influencing whatever happens in Workin Boys.  First of all, its a musical so it was going to be a safe bet.  But judging by the trailer, we’ve got multiple references to our fave goo gremlin. The blue light shining on Henry, multiple voices calling him in a Singular Voice, and Joey’s jumpscare where he looks like Pokey incarnate.

Who Joey is in that small clip is anyone’s guess.  I’ve seen a few theories floating about, including Chad, Mathias Waylon, and Pokey himself.  Honestly, I’m not sure, but what is important is how he looks.  Whoever this fella is, he’s got a blue hue, a cracked face, and ooze dripping down his chin.  If he’s not Pokey, he’s someone who has been Pokey-fied.

And this link was always going to make sense.  Workin Boys has had its biggest show stopping moment in Pokey’s timeline.  

But what if Workin Boys was created, because and for Pokey.

In TGWDLM, we get a whole scene of our cast of characters witnessing the meteor coming through the clouds.  Our cast of characters are busy going about their evening, finishing work, wondering what is coming through the clouds.  Notably, Paul is on his way home, from his work, in the business world.  Paul doesn’t strike me as someone who stays late at work, so it’s safe to say that the meteor hit the Earth’s atmosphere around.. 5 O’clock?

This is Pokey’s Workin Boys now

Let’s go back to that incident with the lightning strike.  Henry was hit by lightning and predicted the apocalypse.  I’ve referenced in a few theories (1 & 2) that I think lightning is more than just the LiB’s motif.  It’s the strike of inspiration, of interference, of the Lords in Black in the real world.  The Black Book contains references to lightning, we see a crack of lightning across each Hatchetfield show title, when the meteor crashes at the Starlight lightning is flashing through the sky.

Something to shock em, to bring them a crawling, a big time box office draw

When Henry was hit by lightning, he didn’t just see the potential musical end times. But he was also given Workin Boys - or at least, he was given his inspiration.  Workin Boys was always written for Pokey. It’s Hidgen’s story, yes, but the musical itself is for our blue boy.  It was a pre-destined self-destruction.

The musical Hidgens writes tells us the 5 O’Clock can’t come soon enough because in one timeline, that is when the meteor will strike.  This is why he is trying so hard to fund the show in every timeline, because in one timeline he needs to put it on stage for whatever Pokey has planned.  Whatever Pokey requires half of Hatchetfield to be in attendance for.

Prof. H and Miss H?

I’ll be honest, and apologies in advance.  I don’t think Miss Holloway is alive in the Workin Boys timeline.

We were told following NMT2’s release (via Jim Povolo’s watch series) that the Black Book we see in Killer Track was created for Workin Boys, which means providing things haven’t changed we should see the book.  If that’s the case, then Miss H doesn’t have it.  It’s possible that Hidgens somehow gets hold of the book, and when the show of his dreams doesn’t look to be going the way he expected - he does what Thrash told everyone he did - he sold his soul to the devil.  Or, well, to the Black and White.

As to when he gets the Black Book - who knows - but all I’ll say is it’s very interesting that Miss H is our 80s queen, and Hidgen’s divine inspiration also occurred in the 80s.

Encore

Well, that’s the main theory.  But we’ve got time for one last little theory that’s very loosely based on nothing.

Workin Boys: A New Musical, is based on Hidgens’ friends from college - old college chums in a beat up old house. Specifically - six of them - not including Henry.  I’ve seen a few theories regarding the six workin boys being a stand in for the LiB and Webby.  Is this a stretch? Maybe.  But it also kind of fits.  From odd instances in livestreams and tweets, it’s clear that Henry was not throwing that old pigskin around (specifically in one of Nick’s tweets that there are 7 workin boys, but 6 on the field).  Henry isn’t a part of that group.  Not fully.  So if we do get to meet any of the irl workin boys, I don’t think their dynamic is going to be quite how Hidgen’s pictures it.

Well, if you made it this far please help yourself to some interval ice cream and a show programme. And remember - there’s no exits from this broadway venue.

#starkid #team starkid #hatchetfield #workin boys #npmd spoilers #hatchetfield theory #hatchetfield theories

[mageknight14]

I think what’s interesting about Neku as a protag is that while I’ve seen some people talk about how he’s one of the deeper/most complex characters in the franchise, I’d argue that he’s actually one of the most straightforward characters in the TWEWY duology-and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. That’s not to suggest that he doesn’t have depth, far from it. His trauma and the way that he goes about in trying to dissociate from others while still genuinely loving them deep down, even if he says otherwise, is genuinely interesting to see in action, especially in how he approaches his relationships. But compared to the others, I don’t find him as fascinating to explore in comparison to, say, Shoka, Joshua, Sho, Kanon, Motoi, Shiba, Mr. H, or even Rindo as a protag, even if his reappearance in NEO as well as how he tries to keep his trauma/emotions under wraps is still interesting to see in action.

That said, he’s still one of my faves for how much he embodies TWEWY’s themes in general, his development just being great to see in action, and the impact he has on the people around him in various ways. In a series where a lot of the characters like to hide parts about themselves and how those affect the relationships around them, Neku in the first game is blunt to a tee, almost to a fault, and confrontational, which makes him the perfect receptacle for the themes/lessons the game imparts on him. We're privy to almost every single one of his thoughts, feelings, and emotions throughout the game, to the point that it almost becomes a first-person narration at times. He hates lying and it shows because when the characters have doubts about themselves, he’s the perfect guy for the job of setting them straight instead of trying to dart around the issue, getting them to look at themselves and try to press forward anyway.

This is also part of what makes Rindo such an effective foil to him as a protagonist. Like I said in another post, while Rindo SEEMS more socially well-adjusted compared to Neku on a surface-level, once you look into his actions and mindset, you can see that he's also quite the dysfunctional mess. Whereas Neku is blunt, brutally honest, and incredibly confrontational, Rindo is much more passive, self-contradictory, and incredibly insecure about himself and the people around him, which feeds into how he puts people at arm's length, including his supposed best friend. The kid can't even tackle a simple-ass puzzle without needing to consult his online friend first or ask them about their identity because he's afraid of rocking the boat. Whereas Neku is alone AWAY from the crowd, Rindo is alone IN the crowd.

This also extends to their inner thoughts, where Neku will let us, the player, view into his mind and have him lay out exactly what he's feeling, the conclusions he comes to, and be confident enough in what he's feeling to then express himself in exactly that manner (with some exceptions such as some of his interactions with Joshua, which is justified because he doesn't want to risk anything happening to Shiki if their partnership goes south so he tries to keep what he says in check, even if it internally kills him inside, and even then he still spills out how PISSED he is with Joshua towards the end.)

Meanwhile, in NEO, while we do play as Rindo and get the majority of the story through his perspective, we don’t get to see his inner thoughts/turmoil as much as Neku’s…because he DOESN’T want to recognize his issues, instead trying to rely on everyone else to solve his problems for him so that they can take the fallout in case something goes wrong and a lot of it shows through his actions/outspoken dialogue instead. Nagi’s Dive and Haz’s conversation with him are some of the only times someone directly calls him out on his flaws within the main story but when you pay attention to how he acts, his flaws pop up quite a bit. For example, how he claims that An0ther's quote of "never miss your chance to make a friend" is one of his favorite quotes yet he balks at the idea of recruiting other potential team members as well as grimace at the concept of the first game's Reaper's Game.

So we have a guy who’s constantly internally struggling with himself while putting on a cold/blunt persona because he doesn’t want to get hurt and recognizing that maybe he’s wrong on a point and letting us in on how he's feeling a vast majority of the time in his head versus a guy who constantly bitches and moans internally while passively going along with everything in spite of himself, constantly self-contradicting/being hypocritical without recognizing himself as such until he gets a much needed wake-up call later and I think that’s really interesting.

#the world ends with you #twewy #neo twewy #ntwewy #neku sakuraba #rindo kanade #analysis post #character analysis

[fullmetalgirl98]

30 days Hypnosis Mic challenge

DAY 9: favorite duet song

🎤 「Murder at the House of Magic (奇術館の殺人 / Kijutsu-kan no Satsujin) 」 - Gentaro & Dice (2nd duet)

(link)

Just to make it immediately clear: my obsession level is high (yes, this post is going to be super long, and yes, I apologize in advance for that). I'm not exaggerating when I say that I know every single word of this song by heart. I even made a fanart for this song. Check it out, if you're curious 👉 (link)

I became aware of the existence of this duet far too late, in April 2022, i think??, and in the saddest way possible: through the wiki while searching for only God knows now what kind of other stuff. Of course, considering that Dice and Gentaro are two of my fave characters ever, it was a scandal for me not to have known earlier about the existence of a new duet of theirs, other than Once upon a time in Shibuya, which is iconic in itself, so I went crazy, obviously, and dashed off in search of the song (with very little success, I have to say)... and when I finally found it and it started playing, I almost had a heart attack. What. the actual. hell. was. that.

I expected everything, except something of that sort.

Right from the very first notes, I knew this was gonna be BIG stuff. I mean, VERY BIG.

The vibe it gave me, initially, was something alien, the instrumental intro smelled a lot like the X-files theme song to me (link).

Then Gentaro started, in his usual calm and sexy tone, and I caught the word "satsujin jiken". But so far, let's say, nothing exceptionally new. I knew I should expect some mystery to solve... I mean, the title spoke loud ¯\(ツ)/¯

But poor little naive Anna, soon after the bomb was dropped straight to the center of an indefinite part of my brain.

A serious Dice.

A bloody serious Dice. A Dice that, instead of rapping, was literally speaking (or at least, the initial impression was seriously that). I...I've never heard Dice speaking in such a hard, deadly serious yet sexy, defiant, cocky and confident tone, like... I- ... I didn't even think he could ever speak in such a way!? Like. Dice. HELLO?! Where is my genuine idiotic cute drenched cat gone?! I'm scared?? But at the same time extremely intrigued?? WTF?! Help??!! Let's make one thing clear: when I first heard the song, I obviously had not read the translation yet. So, how shall I explain what I thought ... mhm... the impression was that he was speaking not in a good-guy-trying-to-be-cool sense, absolutely not. His tone was blatantly the tone of a thug. And a particularly dangerous one. The impact of the very first verse of his, "Danna shindanda na, zannen da" was something absurd. I swear. Something of disarming power. And then the tone used in the "tamannee na" immediately afterwards. Guys, I swear to you. I had completely lost my mind. I was totally in love with this new Dice, you have no idea. I was going crazy, I just wanted to know WHY he was talking in that absolutely crazy HOT way. I LOVE how it's clearly perceivable that Dice is speaking with a smirk on his face, that of someone who is sure that he cannot be set up. And I could go on listing word by word all the vocal proclivities that have slowly sent me further and further into the hyperuranium BUT I will refrain from doing so for your sake, because this post would probably become longer than it already is going to be. And then the refrain. Simply BRILLIANT. I mean, it's already not enough that this too, like Stella, is a song set up as a story told by Gentaro, in which he then becomes one of the characters in the plot (you can't tell I have logic behind my preferences, can you?), but a semi-occult code was also inserted?????? Who the hell came up with the idea of putting the spelling of Dice and Gentaro's names at the beginning of each verse of the chorus? WHO? Give a fucking award to the composer, I beg you: (A)Up & down, Rikou na yatsu wo, Sukkari damashite Ganchuu nai Wakattenda Dare na no ka Izure wa Subete wo raizarai;

Yurusan, Meshi toraeru, Nogasanai shi Genkei nai Takara, Rou sezu shite, Umaku moratte Say Good Bye I don't know if i'm making the point clear enough, here.

And then the whole Uh!(Ah!)Uh!Uh!(Ah!) thing. Gentaro firing off his "Ichi wa ichi, zero wa zero, hachi wa hachi" with that studied air of his who knows he has the other guy completely on the hook. And the way you can perfectly sense that the mood of the conversation is starting to turn against Dice, when he throws out that "Nani?!" and then that "Kuso!" so particularly intense (KYAAAAAHHH (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)).

OH, and I can't help but mention how the "Hachiji nijuppun" thing practically became a meme between me and @justanotherniky (fixed message in chat at 8:20 p.m.: "HACHIJI NIJUPPUN" when we don't happen to forget about it).

I swear guys, you have no idea how much I lost my mind behind this duet. Because c'mon, I don't know if you guys are realizing, but it's fucking genius. And, last but not least, how not to mention the classic "Uso desu kedo ne~" at the close. Epic.

#hypnosis mic #hypmic #30 days hypnosis mic challenge #day 9 #30 day challenge #murder at the house of magic #kijutsukan no satsujin #奇術館の殺人 #fling posse #yumeno gentaro #gentaro yumeno #arisugawa dice #dice arisugawa #gendice #fp & m + #anime #manga #japanese rap

[morningstarwrites]

I don't really leave comments in fanfictions anymore (since I stopped writing them) but I had to come here and tell you how much I enjoyed "saints and sinners".

I don't read anything rated below mature, mostly because all the teen ratings that I saw recommend ended up being poorly written, self inserts that don't understand the characters or stick to the theme... so when I was constantly bombarded by fanart of your fic here on Tumblr I thought "it seems fun" and decided to read it. I absolutely loved it! just finished chapter 13 and so far I've laughed at how awkward Lucifer is and how you write it as if it's a cartoon, with scenes that defy the laws of physics. it's like I'm watching new episodes of the show and everyone is on point.

also love how they actually become friends first and you pulled at my heartstrings many times over it. not sure how far you're going with the romance or if the rating will go up in the future but either way I'm very happy to have read your story and can't wait for more! ✨

THANK YOU SO MUCH 🥹 and here's a long reply under the cut:

I really wanted to express that wacky, hilarious tone that Hazbin Hotel set up, and a great thing about that show is the chemistry amongst the cast, which is why I try to incorporate every single main character in my fic haha.

And Lucifer is a really strange person in the show - he definitely lets his intrusive thoughts overcome him, he's super expressive and he's definitely awkward, but at the core you can see that he's quite a loving person, just has a lot of his own demons to work through.

That's so sweet to hear! Before writing this story, I thought extensively about how to tackle Alastor. For someone like him, I don't think he'd be willingly involved with anyone he doesn't respect; additionally Alastor may be charming, chatty, but he really has his guard up. So I wanted them to become close confidantes for one another first!

RE: romance, they will definitely end up dating and happy! It's going to really romantic, affectionate, and full of tension. And I have a trope I want to include that I THINK will be great fun! It's one of my fave tropes, haha. but I won't be writing anything sexual (hence the T+ rating).

Thank you again for giving my fic a chance and for leaving me this lovely message - I hope you'll like the rest of my story when it's here 💘

#radioapple #ao3 fanfic #ask

[door]

my friend asked me for murder show recs and i put together a list of a bunch of them and thought i'd also share it here in case anyone else who was not raised by the glow of mystery! on pbs might want an intro. extremely subjective commentary, obvs. enjoy.

hello. welcome to the world of finding television shows about people getting killed comforting. it's fucked up, but who isn't. here's a list of the ones i like and why and where to watch them.

midsomer murders (1997-current): this is one of those sterotypical "it ran for 25 years and did nearly 18 episodes" british shows. it was adapted from a book series, which are the early eps. they're really fucked up and great imo. the later ones lose that sharpness, but until seasons 20+ i think it's a really solid show. the theme song is performed on a theremin. pluses: every great british actor shows up at least once, incredibly great deaths, lots of hyper niche hobby groups, tom barnaby is the best. minuses: showrunner brian true-may quoted as saying that his version of "english countryside" is entirely white. he was booted from the show at that point, however. i've watched the entire series 2-3 times, except for s5e3 "Ring Out Your Dead" because there's a death in it that i found particularly tragic the first time i watched it and have no desire to revisit it (but ymmv). robyn's fave ep is s3e3 "Judgement Day," because a brass band plays the show's theme song at a village fete and also Orlando Bloom is run through with a pitchfork. (ACORN)

Poirot (1989-2013): truly the goat. David Suchet bodies this role. i don't know how familiar you are with christie, but hercule poirot was her recurring detective character, a fastidious little belgian living in 1930s England. in this show, it's the late 1930s for 20 years, and the sets and costumes are so good. not a single streamline moderne property in england is overlooked. the early episodes are short--40ish minutes each--but they transition to 90 minutes at some point. they adapt all of the poirot books, with the big ones--murder on the orient express and death on the nile--done as higher budget tv movies. (BRITBOX)

marple (2004-2013): another christie adaptation, with 2 actresses playing miss marple in sequence. they also adapted a bunch of non-marple stories to have miss marple in them. set post-WWII, mainly countryside english mysteries. (BRITBOX)

miss fisher's murder mysteries (2012-2015, film in 2020): set in 1920s melbourne, mfmm follows independently wealthy private eye phryne fisher. it's an adaptation of modern novels, so it's less conservative than the christies. phryne's best friend is a suit-wearing lesbian doctor. it's a sharp, smart show, and phryne herself (as well as her relationship with buttoned-up detective jack robinson) is very sexy. it ran three seasons and was followed by a crowd-funded film in 2020, which isn't GOOD, but it is FUN. there's another a spin-off set in the 1960s called miss fisher's modern mysteries, which follows phryne's niece. again--not good, but fun. nothing beats the og series tho. (ACORN)

lewis (2006-2015): this is technically a spin-off of the inspector morse series, which started in the 80s, but i've never watched it so you should be fine. this follows very un-academic inspector lewis and his very academic assistant DS hathaway in EXTREMELY academic oxford england. i really dig the pacing of this, as well as how profoundly weird smart people can be. the big downside is the actor who played hathaway is laurence fox, who's a real stinker of a dude. right-wing, racist, etc. so. ymmv. (BRITBOX)

vera (2011-current): vera is a nearly retired, irascible, set in her ways detective in northumberland. she heads her own department, so part of the appeal is definitely trim youngsters dashing to do her bidding with a "yes mum." she drives a huge old land rover, wears a raincoat everywhere, has no patience for class barriers, and in short i love her. in the newer seasons there is also a detective in her squad called Jaq who is a very cute butch. (BRITBOX)

dalgliesh (2021-current): adaptation of pd james novels following detective-poet adam dalgliesh. set in the 1970s, which sets it apart and which i quite enjoy. his character is really sensitive and thoughtful is a way that's unusual for cop shows. (ACORN)

annika (2021-current): i'm gonna dive into some of the weirder ones now. annika is still pretty serious, but the title character has a habit of breaking the 4th wall to loop the audience in on the meta nature of her thoughts--usually relating to a book or story. it's set in glasgow and they investigate marine crime specifically. annika is played by nicola walker, who full disclosure i find VERY attractive. she's norwegian, she's odd, and she's trying her best. she has a teenage daughter who's gay. (PBS)

queens of mystery (2019-current): this one is VERY odd. think british murders meets pushing daisies. there's a narrator, and occasional technicolor flights of fancy. it follows a very serious detective who was raised by her three aunts after her mother was killed. she comes back to work in her home town and has to navigate both sides of her life, plus still wanting to know who killed her mother. production was interrupted by covid, so the main actress changed between seasons, but the new person is also very good. (ACORN)

brokenwood mysteries (2014-current): this one is sort of...sillier than the rest? it's a new zealand show set in a small town. it's fairly queer (although not nearly queer enough), and one of the things i love the most about it is it maintains a roster of recurring characters (which i think is only possible because of the small size of the NZ film industry). pretty good maori rep, especially jared, a local who seems to know or be related in some way to everyone in town. i adore him. he's off the show now, and i miss him. (ACORN)

mcdonald & dodds (2020-current): set in bath, this is an odd couple partnership of an ambitious young cop lately from london and a shy older cop who has lived in bath all his life and hasn't seen action in a decade. their interactions are funny and lovely, and it's refreshing to see a black woman character allowed to be ambitious. (BRITBOX)

#took out the julie mentions left in the robyn mention #because their love of a tv show playing its theme song on the show is so funny and i love it #gentle murders #this is like. half the length this list could have been #and that's not even getting into the mini-series

[gaykey]

can you share your thoughts on the guilty promos? the outfits, the themes, the performances etc.

suuuuper late here anon, this has been in my drafts for ages, i'm sorry!

i can, but i make no promises that my thoughts will be anything interesting. i'm not really operating at full function at the minute, but, this ask has been sitting in my inbox for a little while now, and i feel bad.

so - i had to catch up with his performances and stuff for this, because i hadn't watched them all, but i have now, though i will admit, i'm not up to date with every single bit of promo he's done.

to start. outfits. now, i'd say they've been quite eclectic? in terms of? overall style and execution.

i think we've seen a few different sides of the taemin stage fit spectrum with this promo season. a few of my fave:

the culty uniform:

this was such a simple look but i really loved it. it's the fact that all of his dancers are wearing the exact same thing. not slightly more feminized versions like they usually tend to.

like, it's more of a totslly genderless vibe, in a different way to how taemin usually does it. his looks tend to be more of a straddle between tradition masculine and feminine styles, whereas this is neither. i think it's super unique.

and also, because it also is very fitting for the themes of guilty, and the music video. the themes of forced conformity ect. i find it really impactful for such a simple fit, paired with the 'no makeup' make up. it has layers. possibly my fave from his stages.

i have to talk about the fit that went viral lol

see, this is some standard taemin fare. the vampire vibes. lace, ruffles, victorian-esque, masculine and feminie touches. gloves. all around a good look. and it casued a little bit of hysteria too. very fitting for guiltys vibe. if it were anyone else, i'd actually say it was a publicity tactic lmaooo.

a few others are, the military-esque look he did, with that boxy black coat, the fuzzy jumper that he aldp wore to the fansign event, and the all white one with the rips, and drapes, and cut-outs (which is veeeery key during bad love era).

overall, i think the styling is really cool, and though it has some very taemin elements, and looks that we're used to seeing on him. it still is kind a new vibe for him? like, idk, it's giving more gritty dystopia. a slightly rougher look for him than we usually get with his solos.

still gender non-conforming, but yeah, rougher. dare i say, edgy?

taemin, usually has quite sleek and put together styling. this feels more chaotic, and thrown together, almost like something his ragtag group of escapees have rustled up themselves.

like the denim skirt look! i don't know how to explain it, other than that look gives me king of the junkyard vibes.

again, so fitting for guilty.

i'd also like to talk about the make up

like, on one side we have the cunty alien look from his the rizzness performances

because????? what a loook! obsessed actually. the make up, the nails, the baggy all black fit with the over the top gold accessories? so good. i really loved all of this looks for this song.

buuuut, he also did some really soft looks too which i loved. either pink blush right under his eyes, or just in his lids, with a bit of glitter. or, a total no make up look like i mentioned before.

almost 'clean girl makeup' but i really fucking hate that term.

the contrasting looks do it for me they really do.

something something "on that vague border between good and bad" something something.

and this one.

this fit was a grower for me. but now? wow wow wow. there's levels to this.

in terms of the overall promo, i think it's suuuuuper interesting, that's more focused on one, taemin's vocal ability, and two, how respected and loved he is as a veteran idol.

it's so great to see so much focus on his vocals because, they do tend to get overshadowed by his dance ability. he did killing voice! like, it's a crime that shinee or a member has only now been in killing voice but ok.

his musicality has been at the forefront this era.

and, wow. the videos featuring all his fan boys.

this was a taemin request, i'd fully believe it. he wants to feel loved and desired by boys, and he got his wish and them some with this promo.

i've never seen another male idols promo revolve around his desirabilty with men before. it's actually so interesting.

like taemin loves to perpetuate the parasocial realtionship with fans, we all know this, but, he's been doing that more on lives and stuff? lije more one-on-one fan interaction.

whereas his actual official promo has been all about how he's the 'idol of idols'. it's a unique approach.

um yeah, i think those are most of my thoughts about guilty era.

#anon #tae #shinee