Regular text conversation between Benrey and Gordon

All Valley Skills Challenge FAQ's

What is it? The All Valley Skills Challenge is a monthly event designed to encourage all forms of creativity within the TKK/CK fandom.

How does it work?

Each month, we will select a theme and post 3 correlating moodboards, which will serve as visual prompts. Choose the one that inspires you the most - or choose them all! - and get creating! Whether it's writing, art, or other forms of media, the goal is to inspire creativity and community participation, in all its many and varied forms. What's the time frame? The theme and moodboards will be shared on the first day of each month. You will then have the entire month to complete your creation(s). If you wish for us to share your work, please make sure you have submitted a post by noon, CST, on the second to last day of the month. This should give mods enough time to reblog any submissions before the start of the next prompt. We will schedule deadline reminder posts for each month and include the deadline in the moodboard posts. We reserve the right to make adjustments to the schedules depending on the amount of submissions, we will post updates whenever any changes have been made. Be sure tag us so we can reblog it here. How do I tag you?

@allvalleyskillschallenge and #allvalleyskillschallenge Sometimes, things slip through the cracks on this hellsite, and sometimes life just gets in the way. If we somehow missed your post, please feel free to shoot us a politely worded message and one of our mods will take care of it as soon as possible.

What kind of fan works are allowed?

This is a skills challenge, so it's time to step onto the mats and show us what you've got! Our goal is to showcase all forms of talent and creativity in our badass little fandom, including but not limited to:

Fanfiction

Fan Art (Digital or Traditional)

Comics

Meta

Edits

Playlists

Moodboards

Mixed Media/Arts and Crafts

If you have any questions about the eligibility of your submission, please feel free to message us and one of the mods will be happy to clear things up.

Does it have to be CK/TKK specific? 

Generally speaking, yes. We ask that all works be connected to TKK/CK in some way. Any TKK/CK character, whether major or minor, is fair game. AUs, crossovers, and actor RPF are also welcome.

What pairings are allowed?

All pairings either directly or tangentially related to the TKK/CK universe are accepted. This means that if you wish to include a character from a The Karate Kid or Cobra Kai actor's other projects (i.e. Shootfighter, Naked in New York, Blue Beetle), we'll accept those works as well.

To make things easier on our mods, please make sure to tag all pairings accordingly. Include the names of the characters, the actors and the shows/movies they originate from.

What ratings and types of content are allowed?

Works of all ratings are allowed for this challenge, as are works that contain sensitive content, provided they do not violate Tumblr’s Terms of Service. But please be courteous and tag your works appropriately.

Please note that the mods reserve the right not to share or promote works that ignore these guidelines.

What about NSFW Art?

We recommend that any uncensored NSFW Art be posted to ao3. Please be advised that if you are sharing explicit art directly to tumblr, it should cropped/censored to abide by the community guidelines. We have also created an ao3 collection for your submissions. If you would like to add your fanworks to this collection, you can find the link here.

How should I format my submission?

Along with your submission itself, please state which prompt(s) inspired your work, the rating, the main characters/pairings included, and any valid content warnings.

If you do not wish to use warnings, please place your content under a Read More link.

To keep things neat, we also ask that any writing longer than a few paragraphs be posted under a Read More, along with all NSFW content.

If your work is hosted on another site outside of Tumblr (such as ao3), please provide us with a working link, along with a brief summary. Is there a word count minimum for written submissions? Or a maximum?

The minimum for a written submission is 100 words (or haiku length for poetry). There is no maximum. From drabbles to epics to in-depth meta, feel free to write as much (or as little) as you want. Just keep in mind that your work must be submitted before the end of the month in order for us to reblog it. Can I submit more than one thing? 

Yes, absolutely! Our goal is to inspire you to create!

That being said, we will only reblog 6 posts per participant, per month. This is mainly to keep from spamming everyone's dashes.

So if, for example, you choose to write multiple drabbles or connected drabble sequences for a prompt, keep this limitation in mind. Consider either posting them to ao3 as a collection and sharing the link, or condensing them into one tumblr post.

Again, please only @ us in 6 posts per month. Posts that exceed this limit will be disregarded.

When will my post be reblogged?

Our current plan is to reblog your submissions in batches, twice a week. There will be one drop in the middle of the week, and another over the weekend. So if your post isn't reblogged right away - don't worry! We will do our best to make sure everyone gets their time to shine.

We are also currently working on creating a tagging system to keep things as organized as possible on our end. We ask for your patience while we sort things out.

One last thing!

Remember, this a challenge, not a competition! The goal is to further develop and showcase your skills - and most of all, to have fun!

We know it's a slow time for the fandom right now, but we hope this event will encourage participation and foster a greater sense of community. Reblogs and comments are encouraged! It is our dearest hope that you will support each other's efforts and cheer each other on!

That being said: While we will do our best to tag ships and any sensitive or potentially triggering content, please remember that this is a fandom-wide event. Any and all pairings and ratings are allowed.

This may include content that you are not personally comfortable with. But while you are free to explore themes of intolerance or bigotry within your work, hate speech and harassment directed toward your fellow participants or mods WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. Under ANY circumstances.

Someone wrote or drew a ship you don't like? You disagree with someone else's opinion or are squicked by a particular kink? Be respectful or just keep scrolling. Unsolicited critical feedback and bashing are not allowed in this dojo.

To paraphrase Mr. Miyagi - our root karate might be the same, but we all choose our own way to grow. Everyone's form of expression is unique. So please be respectful when engaging with creators and their works. Anyone found to be harassing their fellow challengers (or the mods) will be banned and disqualified from participating in future rounds.

If you have any other questions, comments, or suggestions for future themes, please feel free to contact us and we will get back to you as soon as we can! Our asks are open. And if for some reason you need to contact a mod directly, your senseis mods with their inboxes open and ready to answer questions are: @desolateice and @wicked-jade.

Welcome to Kirby: Soul Journey!

Hello!! My name is Bugthing, I use he/xey/it/they pronouns, and I am the mod of this account. This is a sideblog made very specifically for all things regarding my Kirby AU, Soul Journey! I store whatever Kirby-related content I make here, including a project I’ve been working on since the 20th of December, 2022.

If you’ve been following me for long enough, whether here or on my main blog (@goblinbugthing), you know very well what that is, but for the new people, allow me to introduce you to the biggest project I have ever worked on in my entire life…

The Kirby: Soul Journey AU fic!

As I said before, this has been in progress since 2022, and it is currently unfinished. I had put the fic itself on hiatus for months before I said anything, though the announcement of the hiatus itself was only posted in November 2023.

At the time, I had been working on chapter 2, and eventually gave up on it entirely because it wasn’t living up to my (unreasonably high) expectations.

However, soon after I announced the hiatus, I decided I would be rewriting the entire fic from scratch.

And that brings us to where we are today! The rewrite is in progress, research is being done, changes are being made, and I’m slightly more confident in my writing than before. So, make sure to check in with the blog every now and then to see any updates!

Everything else, under the cut!

(Divider gif via @/animatedglittergraphics-n-more)

Stats:

Currently in the planning stage.

Chapter in progress: None

Asks: Open

Send in anything regarding the AU! I love answering questions!

Ref sheets:

Hara

Galacta

Kirby | Adult Kirby (Soullite Knight))

Ione / Meta Knight

Athena

Empress

I must add that ArtShield desaturates the colours slightly after shielding, so please reference the hex codes written down in the post for the correct colours!

Voice claims:

Voice claim masterlist doc is readable here!

Hara

Chapter Index

IT RETURNS. (Teaser A) (AO3 / Wattpad)

The Destruction. (Teaser B) (AO3 / Wattpad)

A Reaper’s Blade (Prologue) (AO3 / Wattpad)

Read the Original (VERY OUTDATED) (AO3 / Wattpad)

Teaser A - The True Ultimate Life-Form (Tumblr ver.)

Teaser B - Threat to the Multiverse (Tumblr ver.)

Prologue - Preparations (Tumblr ver.)

Chapter 1 - Return of One and Introduction to Another (Tumblr ver.)

Read the Oneshots (ALSO VERY OUTDATED) (AO3 / Wattpad)

MERCY (Tumblr ver.)

Hold the Stars (Tumblr ver.)

Taboo (Tumblr ver.)

Exile (Tumblr ver.)

Once So Great (Tumblr ver.)

Awaken (Tumblr ver.)

Gentle Angel (Tumblr ver.)

Righteous Anger (non-canon) (Tumblr ver.)

Comics

Wanderer’s Curiosity (OUTDATED)

If any of the links are broken, please let me know! I'll get to fixing them right away!

Tag Key

#sincerely - mod bugthing — Posts from me, the mod, ranging from nonsense to progress updates.

#k:sj au — Things generally regarding the AU itself (e.g. voice claims, character refs, worldbuilding).

#k:sj voices — Character voice claims.

#k:sj characters — Character reference sheets.

#dreamland’s mailbox — Any asks you send in.

#dreamland’s polls — Any polls I make here.

#dreamland art exhibit — Original art regarding the AU.

#not k:sj canon — Things not canonical to the AU (e.g. what if scenarios, crossovers).

#not soul journey / other aus — Posts unrelated to K:SJ, and/or other people’s AUs.

#kirby: soul journey — Actual, real, canonical, proper chapters and oneshots.

I tag triggers with #cw: (trigger)

I tag OCs with #oc: (character)

Please note that this section may be updated in the future.

Socials

YouTube (I rarely upload, but I do use community posts sometimes)

Wattpad (My fanfics’ second home)

Cohost (Not used much, but definitely still used!)

Archive Of Our Own (All my fics live here)

TikTok (The impulsive thoughts won. Rarely ever used)

$$app (Consider supporting me by donating)

DNI list

Pr0shippers

NSFW blogs

TERFs

Transphobes, homophobes, racists, ableists, sexists, misogynists, antisemites, zionists, etc.

H4rry P0tter fans

D4nganronpa-specific blogs

People in support of the genocide against Palestine

AI-generated anything supporters

H4zbin H0tel & H3lluva B0ss fans

M3tasusie shippers

For now, that appears to be it! Have a good day, and enjoy your time in Dreamland!

— Mod Buggie

I’m not really sure as to the specifics on how troll reproduction works but in It Rang Like Scripted Verse we know that GHB has been with Travye for a long time. During that time I’m assuming that they filled various buckets together. So could Gamzee possibly be related to Travye as well?

Okay so.... from a meta standpoint, no! and from an in-universe standpoint...possibly, but it's kind of a nonissue!

So, a groundwork primer, assuming you haven't read canon: no troll is related to any other troll in the way humans are. Trolls contribute in pairs, but the genetic material gets given to a Mother Grub back on the home planet, who churns it all together and then spawns a LOT of new grubs out of the totality of it.

Consequently: trolls don't have parents/relatives--Gamzee and Kurloz are kind of "related" in that they're Ancestor and Descendant, which in a troll context basically means, out of this weird genetic lottery, chance has thrown out another grub whose genetics are an unusually high match with yours. Vaguely like a human descendant, but more like a new, slightly-altered clone. Which is fitting, since the only A+D sets we see in the comic, the water is muddied by time travel and cloning technology.

WHICH BRINGS US TO POINT TWO: technically-speaking no, Gamzee can't have Halore's genetics, because him, Karkat, and the other trolls from the most recent chapter are all paradox clones, and so are Meenah, Kurloz, the Sufferer (Kankri), etc etc. They're the Ancestors in this universe only because they got sent back further in time by the game (SGRUB) which they play in Homestuck (canon) and which no longer exists here (AU baybeee). By the nature of the fact the game never gets played, the main trolls really shouldn't exist! And neither should Alternia! It should all be Beforus, the original troll planet/universe where Gamzee would have been Kurloz's ancestor! But it's my AU and I flagrantly disregard whatever paradoxes I want haha.

My point is, we the reader can infer that Gamzee doesn't have any of Halore's genes, because he was made through weird time-travel shit, but as far as anybody knows or cares in-universe, sure, Halore could be in the mix! So could the empress, or, fuckin, Uumbrage's matesprit Tolran, or any random Joe Schmoe who never shows up, because any troll could have genes from any other troll who donated before they were spawned. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

reverse robins au? your choice if it’s jaytim

Aaaaaa thank u for coming in and asking abt it!!!! Reverse robin aus are one of my fave fandom specific concepts!!

Okay, so basic ground here, but my main reference points for divergence are the 4 male robins, just for linerization sake, and just because I’m most familiar with Tim he’ll prolly be the one that gets the most expansion, but i hope i can do this the way i prefer it to, which is w the most consideration i can towards canon changes affected while also letting each of them mostly keep their original arcs!!!!

- To start off i think it could be interesting to have Bruce work/train duke at the start, and the possibilities of how that would affect Bruce’s attitude towards metas in Gotham, and maybe give a little flavor to how it feels being a mentor to a kid that’s still mostly independent from him with his own family. How well this will actually be handled i still dont know.

- having Damian be the first kid he actually has to try and kind of parent right in the early bat years also come with a few considerations, i think. On one hand Bruce is definitely softer, maybe a bit more tempered having mentored before, and damian may be fresh off the league but since there’s no previous robins for him to need to fight his ‘birthright’ for, maybe there isn’t a need for any drastic measures. (I mean he’s definitely gonna fight duke on principle but i want them to gain the friendship they do in canon and since duke isn’t like, Bruce’s direct partner i think that can track.)

But then again they’re still them, and damian still has a lot of hangups on worth and legacies and is in the worst stages of blustered arrogance while bruce still doesn’t know how to communicate his feelings in effective ways and happens to have an eldest child that is equally as emotionally repressed so????? Maybe its still a really rocky road.

(I’d like for Damian to keep some of his friends here, mainly Colin and Maya to start with, maybe. I honestly dont know how likely it is for him to set up a teen hero group, but i think that’ll end up happening once he sheds his robin-equivalent mantle.

We’ll let him have his nomadic self-discovery journey i guess :/// something ala williamson’s robin maybe, but like, with his actual friends xjsbdhssbdbd we can even keep Bruce and Talia’s playing tug of war w him towards their respective ideals as a catalyst, and maybe its a bit cleaner without all the baggage of morrison’s interpretation of her.

Let’s put him at idk, 17/18 at this point.)

- One thing that i think definitely changes with having Damian in the first iteration of the dynamic duo is how the mythos is perceived. The kid is capable and ruthless and for awhile at the start, mostly cared more for animals than whoever they were saving. Definitely made rogues think twice to leverage him over batman, but probably mostly didn’t endear him much towards the ppl they encounter, though I’d like to believe that changed as he did. Though the extent of that change i need to think on lmao.

For Steph I think I’ll have her start a little before Tim’s robin-equivalent, staying as spoiler, right after Damian leaves so it goes a bit before anyone notices.

Tim’s start here might be a bit tricky to speak on logistics, he starts as a nightwing character and i mostly want to keep in spirit with that, so Damian’s got to be the fixation here. There’s not really a signature flip that could reliably be imprinted in Tim’s memory but maybe it can be simpler. Like idk a kind act at a gala during Damian’s early years that made tim take notice of him, of a verbal/physical tell that one day robin-equivalent gets caught doing, idk- but now we’re officially in Tim’s stalker era.

A recap on where the rest of the vigilantes are, i think duke is rlly nice w the outsiders i kinda want him there lol Damian’s just abt to start his shounen battle arc and steph is slowlinh appearing on Bruce’s radar but as like, a minor villain.

Something something Tim tries to find Damian, can’t seem to manage to, ends up going to the manor to ask, gets halted by alfred, somehow ends up spilling everything he knows to bruce, ????? Profit -> he gets the mantle.

(A bit clunky, a but out of nowhere, sure, but considering I’m p sure that bruce called jason ‘robin’ the moment he decided to bring him home u can gleam that the man misses having a sidekick :////)

Steph’s story is intertwined with Tim’s for better or worse, and while i like her better when she’s striking out on her own i think tim trying to prove himself before official training by like, capturing her would be a serviceable segue into Bruce training them both. Or try to at least. Steph resorts to her own resources, Tim’s parents get poisoned in Haiti.

And now with Tim and Bruce- a rocky start on the vigilante side bcs well, he may have played the mentor role before but Duke’s a meta, Damian was a ready-made assassin, and Steph, although neither, was still noticeably more athletic than Tim is, its not a big deal, but his initial benchmark was already kind of screwed (would love for tim to still end up getting unplanned training from shiva, somehow.)

But bcs of circumstances that are oh so v different than the one in canon bruce has the patience to teach him firm but kindly 👍 and since Jack is still in a coma (or maybe just kill him off fr ://) they can form a proper healthy-ish bond.

Tim’s tenure in canon is prolific but also threads through the groundwork that Dick’s run paved, and i honestly dont know how well that would’ve faired without him vouching for Tim, but it could be interesting to explore how the dynamic duo’s perception changes with a robin-equivalent that places heavy emphasis on cooperation and is definitely more approachable than the last one. I would v much like to keep that aspect of tim that knows everyone lmao

Also young justice running around without the teen titans as a precedent sounds like a hilarious concept.

We’ll say Damian finds out when Jon brings up that his little bro Kon is in a team w the new-bat partner?? I didn’t know u had a new one?? So ofc Damian storms Gotham demanding an explanation.

And see, while i definitely believe that Dami would’ve grown as a character the lack of a Dick Grayson influence makes me think that maybe he still wouldn’t be above attacking a kid in righteous anger :///// and like, he’s pissed at Bruce of course, that name wasn’t his to give, but maybe it’s all the more worse just bcs of how,,, Tim Tim is. Took his name and changed it’s association, came into his house and became his father’s partner lowkey son in aspects that never came easy to him, and has the audacity to greet him with a smile????

Oh yeah Damian definitely hates Tim. Needlessly cruel abt the one definite edge he has over the kid. And like, poor tim :/// never meet ur heroes in any timeline i g.

But anyway!! Dami might move to Bludhaven, might be somewhere else or other, definitely not anywhere near Tim if he can help it. He should be there for all those big events though, although I’m not sure which ones to keep in. Maybe Tim and Steph can coordinate for No Man’s Land. Then enter Cass, who’s also gonna be in contact mostly w those two.

This is getting soooooo long but like, then Tim dies, because he has to. We’ll pull it to be a Joker Jr. situation and give everyone that good good character development. And then there’s Jason.

- The logistics for Jason becoming robin-equivalent is also real tricky, there’s definitely the factor of making bruce laugh via attempted robbery, but i think the actual nudging can be helped along by Steph, as like, a fellow crime alley kid, idk.

But well, Jason’s time in the mantle- unfortunately he yet again can’t escape the giant shoes of his predecessor, but al least now he has a full support system in the others. And so does Bruce, this time around. It’d be nice to keep that happy status quo for long.

Enter- ‘Tim wasn’t actually dead but take a guess on who wanted it to look like that so he can take him away.’ Anyways, you know the drill. Ra’s would definitely leverage his remolding of Tim against Bruce, but he wouldn’t send him back, probably. Tim’s at a low enough point to likely agree.

Maybe Tim also didn’t come out the pit right though, maybe his brains still fractured. He doesn’t come out the way ra’s wanted and although he kept trying, one day he could’ve decided to just throw tim back to gotham like a defective toy.

Should we give Tim a villain arc? It could be done, but it’ll always be rooted in duty and the belief of serving the greater good. If he does take it up it wouldn’t involve getting in trouble with the bats, or telling them hes back- unless of course, that serves a goal, but even if tim is jealous and resentful of jason getting things like damians approval and official adoption status his self-worth issues are more,,, the internalizing kind. The ‘batman needs a robin’ ethos stays true and nothing would be gained from hurting him.

A vague idea for Tim’s comeback schtick could be operating in plain sight as Drake Industry heir. Since there’s a vacuum of any oracle position he could also dabble around in that. Maybe as loose as his morals would be its still in the service of keeping batman and robin the symbols they are idk!!!!!

- All said and done we can have Dick as proper robin, coming into the house heartbroken and angry and looking for justice and like, early resonance with Damian and idk sometime after we do Batman RIP.

(But before that we get Jason’s sheila arc maybe, he’ll survive. We could potentially pull a Tim and have his friends die on him back to back to back but idk!!!! This might be getting too bloated!!!!)

On the romance side ty for letting me choose my ideal reverse robin au is probably a damitim LOL its the genuine hatred turned remorse,,,, the obsessive affection turned cold indifference,,,, the care of it all,,,,,

V easy to turn it into a jaytim too though, the lack of murder attempts probably also make it smoother snsnsnsbdbdbd good luck trying to convince baby jay that he’s in that league though lol (the annoying little brother to lovers that could be employed here is rlly cute tho,,,, regardless of anything id def want there to be crushing)

OOF OKAY THIS WAS REALLY LONG!!!!! IM SORRY!!!! I’ve always wanted to tackle this eventually but I haven’t finished my reading lists enough to confidently make timeline decisions djsnsnsns i hope this still read clearly, tysm again for coming in!!!

@fire-fog Thank you for a great couple of questions in your tags on my meta.

I  have indeed been writing costume analysis for a while - I started doing one for each 911 episode in season 5, but I’d written more general and overarching ones before that. I’ve also written for previous fandoms before as well. All the 911 costume metas are linked in my pinned post at the top of my blog. its something I love to do and something I enjoy sharing - I hope others get pleasure from it to and that it maybe helps people derive deeper meaning from the show. The teams working behind the scenes - set, props, wardrobe, hair and make up etc all work incredibly hard - they are the unsung heroes of film and tv and I hope my metas bring a little bit of attention and love to the work they do because so much of it goes unseen and unrecognised!

Its incredibly hard to predict based on some bts pictures or the show stills, however I’ve been correct a few times - the biggest and most obvious one was actually the prediction I made on Bucks outfit from this episode - the green jumper and yellow ochre trousers - when we got the bts videos of Oliver in that costume, I said that it would be for some sort of AU, that it was preppy and teacher like and that it was important for Bucks journey. I’ve been proven correct on all fronts on that one! I also spoke about Eddie wearing black singlets when we got the bts of Eddie in a black singlet for Animal Instincts and how it represented moments when Eddie was vulnerable - again the original post is linked on my pinned one - and I was proven correct when we got to see the scene play out. 

I’m pretty good at spotting themes and patterns that the wardrobe team are using to help tell the bigger story and to connect arcs etc - its something that adds an additional layer to parallels that the show makes use of, or it helps build specific characteristics for a character - Buck wearing a lot of blue this season especially is a part of that, as is the use of military colour ways on Eddie (and Athena), it emphasises traits or meanings and changing the tones or the brightness/darkeness of a colour can indicate things for that character!

As for the blocky use of colour - yes you’re very right about its use in coma land - its very much about the world being a creation of Bucks mind - the details that make the real world so rich aren’t there - unless its important narratively. We saw the same thing with all the physical spaces - they lacked detail - Chimneys apartment being very basic and lacking personality etc is the most obvious example of it, but even Bucks loft had very little by way of art and things beyond things important to the story - things that are hints at the real world, or the basic things of what Buck imagines are the things a teacher would have in their house! Its not necessarily about being childish or child like - but I know why you used that term - it is about simplicity - because his brain has conjured this entire world so the finer details are missing - its an impression rather than a lived in universe.

I hope this answers your questions and feel free to pop into my inbox if you have any others!! 💜💜💜

All of my OCs

I just wanna share my OCs today :) You can find them and their artwork on my refsheet (NSFW warning there) but here's the basics and some images.

I try to use only my own art for all of these but I HAD to share the Amea x Zant commission because it is one of my absolute faves. I scoured my entire back log of bought commissions because they didn't put their name on the art but I think it was this person?? If not them then... they may have deleted their account from where I bought it.

Saphira Nightingale, my main tippy top OC

A shapeshifter and the last of her kind. I use her for lots of original stories as well as series where I don't have a dedicated character. The rule of thumb is "if she has clothes, it's an AU".

Mako Bianchi, Saphira's ex

A reaper that I used to pair with Saphira. She is now with other people and he is back to being the guy I draw sexy because I crave men. It's a toss up whether he's a skeleton or an elven winged man at any given moment.

Valus Nesrine

An incubus I used for my original novel. You can read about him there and in a short story, but they're both pretty naughty hahaha. He's charming and sweet. I love writing him.

Thorne

A mothman and the focus of some more stories. He's a bastard. But a sexy bastard. Honestly, that's all he has going for him.

Tarine

A bio android OC for Dragon Ball. She's mostly just there for pairing with Piccolo, lmao. But she did have some cool fights in the server where she was made.

Majin Mani

Same boat as Tarine, but for more of a "I like messing with these guys" vibe than the former. Mani was made for Dragon Ball Xenoverse so she is a time cop (ranger? whatever they were called)

Amea

A mercenary in Twilight Princess. I have her for an AU specifically but she is my Zant lover OC. She is half Twili and half Hylian. Does that work? Not really, but I really loved the idea.

Arin Ferris (and all of her Pokemon)

Arin is an Ex Rocket (which placed her at around 30 at the time so that's just her age now) and now owns a daycare off the coast of Hoenn. I like giving her the poison aesthetic but she doesn't use too many poison types.

Lia (Alix) Bech

A keyblade wielder who kinda sucks at fighting. She far prefers staying out of fights. Yeah she's just here to bang the organization. But she also has identity issues :D

Pire

More of an "everyday" OC for Zelda. I use her in all other Zelda games while Amea is for Twilight Princess only. She is a tech whiz and she makes mechs, hahah. And this was before TOTK was even announced!

Celeste Wade

An OC for Final Fantasy 9. She's a noble in Treno and she captures monsters to sell as pets and manor security. So she packs quite a punch without lookin like she can! I haven't designed her monster hunting get up yet.

Boriell

You know Lawachurls from Genshin Impact? Well I didn't like the game, but I loved these guys <3 So I made one for myself. He's the only remnant of my Genshin knowledge.

Velka, the Arcta Knight

My Kirby OC. She is a bad guy and I use her to antagonize everyone in the game. She has a vendetta against Meta Knight. And she got her powers illegitimately from Nightmare.

Thalia Vanfin, another favorite

A fishwoman bar owner/bounty hunter. Yep! Another one for shipping. But I love writing her encounters and drawing her being cute with people. Not always romantically but mostly romantically.

Fatei

Monster man with mask face and tentacles~ He's got a human form since he was turned into a beast like everyone else. But I usually only draw his monster form.

Dia "Dragoon" Chambers

A depressed college student who uses the Dark World as escapism from her life. Anything that makes her feel like she doesn't have to go back home. She comes with some friends! Laguna the Rogue and Phish!

Laguna the Rogue

Phish does not have any character traits beyond "is an Addison", but here's Laguna! She was originally made for an Undertale AU but now she's just a crazy ass monster and the only one looking out for Dia.

This is primarily a fandom blog, currently focused on BNHA, previously active in BBC Sherlock.

Here you'll find fandom things, headcanons, rambling about fics (and writing in general), occasional meta, as well as other miscellaneous things I find interesting.

AdventureOfTheDancingGirl on AO3. Writing updates are tagged: dancing girl writes

Sideblogs:

@seeyouafter a collection of my thoughts and various ephemera related to my ongoing tdbk epistolary fic "See You After"

@ordinaryoffensivemagic various content related to the manga/anime 葬送のフリーレン (Sousou no Frieren)

Notes and helpful tags:

Asks are open if you want to chat. Give me an excuse to talk about my writing notes or headcanons if you want to make my day. Anon is usually on but be kind. There is a real human on the other side of the screen.

Replies are tagged as dancing girl asks. If you want to say hi but don't know what to say, feel free to check out the ask games tag.

🏷️Tag Index:

I have a comprehensive tag index that I finally updated but these are the tags that I'm using most often these days:

💜Personal Tags:

dancing girl rambles - random thoughts, generally not fandom related

dancing girl writes - tag for my fics and general thoughts on writing (previous tags: my writing - this one has mostly Sherlock stuff, writing updates)

also: see you after fic, sya writing log

dancing girl's reblog themes - sometimes I go down a rabbit hole and reblog a bunch of related posts. It's a fun time.

🩵General writing & fandom stuff

on writing, writing reference, fandom life, AO3 tips, tumblr tips

💚BNHA Content

dancing girl’s bnha thoughts - includes my personal reactions, headcanons, misc. thoughts related to bnha

bnha fanfic - includes my fics and others I recommend

I use the tag bnha for all my hero academia related reblogs. spoilers are tagged bnha manga spoilers

Chapter reactions/thoughts are tagged with the chapter number as bnha xxx,  see also: bnha meta (not all meta is mine)

images: bnha manga, bnha anime, bnha art (for my favorite bnha fanart)

Multi-ship friendly but TDBK is my OTP. (that being said, a lot of my reblogs with "ship" tags are purely for organization purposes and many can be viewed as platonic.)

I just want a happy todofam au so I made a tag for it (other favorite AUs: fantasy au, winter au, childhood friends au)

The ladies of this series don't get enough love so I like to highlight them with the tag bnha girls

Todoroki Shouto tags: shouto loves cats, sleepy shouto, todofam, shouto art, shoutocat, strawberry shouto-cake, shouto birthday

Bakugou Katsuki tags: dynamy, sleepy katsuki, katsuki comfort, bakugou family

Other commonly used character tags: class 1a, origin trio, remedial squad, dadzawa, eri-chan (If you're searching for someone specific I generally just tag the character’s name as it shows up in AO3’s tagging system) 

misc collections: 2023 bnha xmas sketch

💛BBC Sherlock

Main tags: sherlock, johnlock

Sherlock Fic Recs - Mostly BBC Sherlock universe. Most of my own Sherlock fics are under the My Writing tag

BBC Sherlock: sherlock meta, series 4 theories (also: season 4 theories), sherlock parallels, mirrors

Original Canon: acd canon, AStudyInCanonBookClub, acd parallels, sherlock analysis

see tag index for additional tags and other fandoms

🧡Misc. Tags (not fandom)

mental health, reminders, encouragement

otterly adorable, cute animals, beautiful things, reasons to smile

bookish things, reading log, quotes

💭Random Facts:

I share my birthday with Dabi and Burnin'

My username is a play on the Sherlock Holmes story "Adventure of the Dancing Men".

Even though I'm not active in the Sherlock fandom anymore, I decided to keep the same username because dancing is part of my IRL identity and I didn't want to keep track of a separate account. Also, Mina is my dancing (alien) queen so the name still works.

for the ask prompt: York?

i really love your art, stories, and interpretations on the characters!

hope you have a good day! <3

First impression

I saw the Freelancer flash-backs before Out of Mind, so my first impression of him was a little different than some people; I at first thought he was kind of the "office slacker" kinda dude, like he's really chill but not especially close to anybody... and I wasn't entirely wrong about him being chill, but obviously there is MORE to him than that~

Impression now

A lot of his aloof attitude is intentional to either put people at ease or make them underestimate him; now that I've seen a small glimpse of him VERY early in the Freelancer program (thanks to Wash time traveling), I feel like York used to kind of set aside his real feelings. When he put his armor on, he was Mr Serious! After a while though... this attitude clearly wasn't working. For one thing, EVERYBODY was super stressed-out, and it started to carry over to when they were supposed to relax. So, York would try to make them laugh, remind them of what fun was, but not in a totally irresponsible way. He was just really calm and funny, and it worked! Not only did his companions feel more hopeful because of him, when he started joking around with guards or other enemies, they assumed he was no threat... which meant he had an advantage. York was just an effortlessly charming dude, and the only thing that got in his way was when he tried to hard to no-nonsense

Favorite moment

All the bits with him on the mission to get the Sarcophagus; he was very York-tastic through it all

Idea for a story

I had an AU idea once for a Freelancer/AI/Sim Trooper swap; in which the AI were Freelancers (with Greek Alphabet code-names; Alpha is still the original AI, but he's had his memories taken away and given a false identity as a Freelancer), the original Sim Troopers are now AI Fragments (because they're still supposed to be Alpha's friends that represent ways to help him), and the PFL agents are now Sim Troopers in Blood Gulch. York and North were the dudes on Red Team who just stand around talking all day. York also picks locks so he can hide in closets or storage rooms to take naps and get out of work

Unpopular opinion

I'm not sure how "unpopular" it is? I think York would have bonded fairly well with the other AI as well, and while he perhaps wouldn't have become the Meta (that feels like a specific Maine and Sigma situation), he also would have listened to Sigma and tried to help him (again, the situation would have been different... would it have been better? or worse? hmm!!!)

Favorite relationship

My MOST favorite is him with Delta; they were so close and genuinely cared about each other so deeply... and Delta wanted to stay with him, even when York was dying. That's just EVERYTHING. Obviously him and Carolina is wonderful, and his friendship with North and Wash is good too... but remember what I said about him having a serious side, while also joking around with people? I wish we could have seen more between him, Maine, and Wyoming. I feel like they actually worked really well together (they were even a team against Tex), and had a unique sort of bond. Still, nothing tops York and Delta. I got the vibe that, they didn't always understand each other BUT they understood that it was alright, they could talk about pretty much anything, and they just made each other feel comfortable and safe

Favorite headcanon

I can't think of too many that aren't canon in some way... my own personal HC is that he was genderfluid, York just never got to really talk about it much

Thanks for asking~

Hey y'all! I saw a bunch of people sharing their COD fandom stories for @onlycodcanjudgeme's weekend event, and it was really neat seeing how y'all got into COD! I figured I'd share my story too ovo

Like with art, my love for video games is lifelong—I've been playing them since I was old enough to sit in front of the computer on my own. COD was always kind of in my periphery, but I didn't really get into shooters for a long time; I usually played simulators like the Sims and Zoo Tycoon, then moved on to stuff like Assassin's Creed, then got into Dishonored shortly after its release. I played many other games, too, and enjoyed lots I couldn't play via YouTube, but most of the genres I played didn't really cross over much with COD, and I had little interest in it prior to one of my partners introducing it to me in high school.

In tenth grade, my partner proposed running a crossover RP with me, where we'd merge my fandom (Dishonored) with theirs (COD: Modern Warfare). Neither of us knew anything about each others' fandom, so we both sat down and made little guides for each other breaking down the story of the games, each character, and, in my case, specifics of Dishonored's worldbuilding and available tech. (Part of me wonders if I can still find mine, even.) Then we exchanged our guides and I was drawn into COD the moment I laid eyes on Soap, lmao. I had to wait until summer to start playing it properly, because my parents were...weird about video games, but once I started playing, I was hooked. I binged the entire MW trilogy in a few days, and since then it's become one of my most important special interests.

I will be the first person to say that the original Modern Warfare trilogy is one giant, corny, propaganda-ridden plot hole held together with chewing gum and duct tape, and the characters have about as much depth as a supermarket parking lot puddle—but I love it sincerely. It's brought me so much joy, and all of my headcanon- and meta-crafting has helped me become a better writer, a better artist, and helped me process...well, a lot of things, ranging from my experiences with marginalization as a queer, disabled trans man of color, to my struggles with mental health and trauma.

Someday I wanna get into the other COD games (World at War and the Black Ops games are on my list), though I keep finding myself coming back to the Modern Warfare trilogy. I love the characters (and I love rotating them in my mind), I love thinking up headcanons and discussing meta with other fans, I love working on my fics and AUs and making art of the characters I like. And sometimes, I just like to sit down with COD and have some mindless, nostalgic fun with my favorite characters.

Reflections & HCs: H!Sunny and Camping/Hiking

So I have been having a lot of fun with Sunny as of late, specifically his human self, and I figured I could talk a little about his love for camping, why it's a thing I even had him being into cus it might seem... Odd, considering his bot!self has literally nothing to do with camping... And also go over again Why he likes camping so much from his history and a character stand point.

Why Camping in the first place?

So Sunny was created for an AU for all of my closest friends' human FNAF characters, which, you guessed it, was inspired by "Camp Camp" by Rooster Teeth. We wanted to make a cute server where all our muses were little kids, and they all went to a summer camp together. The camp leaders were Sunny and Moon (yes his name is Moon, Moon Davis actually, my fiance is a creative genius *throws kiss*), and Sunny was actually inspired by, be ready for it...

Mud from TikTok

Yknow this guy:

Let's just say that once he was explored more, got a backstory, and eventually became a part of our College AU as a professor in Early Childhood Education, his personality did a bit of a sharp turn.... But those sure are his origins!

Needless to add, but of course David from Camp Camp also inspired Sunny.

Here's him and lil baby Elio

And here's him by the time College came around

Can you tell I'm a whumper? Fucking destroyed this man xbbddv

When it all started

But that information is meta. Why does Sunny love camping, as a character?

From here on out, there are trigger warnings for cults, religious trauma, child abuse and neglect, as well as a brief mention of homophobia!!

To not go too deep into it, if you know Sunny's history, you know he grew up in an abusive household. His dad often beat him, controlled his life, and made it a habit to lock him in their basement with the lights turned off. He lost his right lateral incisor when hitting his mouth on the stairs once, and he now has a lifelong nyctophobia. When he was out in nature, was often when he got some peace and quiet for himself, he felt like he could breathe. He barely had any friends to spend time with after all... When his dad had the family move out to a small community in the sticks created by the leader of a religious group that he had been indoctrinated into, nature immediately became an even bigger part of his life. They sustained themselves out there, worked together and were a big family. Sunny finally felt like he was part of an actual family.

So when they all turned their back on him when rumours spread that he was gay, and they began to hurt him like his father had, nature once again became the one place where he was free and away from the stressors of reality. This time it was the Only escape he had, because there was nothing else out there. If he wanted peace of mind, this was where he had to go. The beautiful foliage became a warm, comforting blanket, the bird song became his lullaby, as he made a fire that he slept close to all night, just to avoid going home again. It was fine, as long as the fire burned bright enough.

In time he finally had enough, again to keep it brief, since this was a long and difficult process for him... But he packed his things, food and supplies, and ventured out into the woods, walking as far and as long as he could, until he reached society once more.

Hiking saved him, in a way, and it will forever be something that soothes his soul and brings him peace of mind.

The Scouts

Sunny is a part of the Scouts, a long term member, and incredibly reliable as a scout leader. You might not believe it, considering what he's like anywhere else! He's good with the kids since he was part of a community where everyone helped raising the younger ones, being expected to act as their older siblings no matter age, and his love for nature, as well as survival, is nearly unmatched. He wants nothing but for the children to feel like if they had to survive out there, they'd feel safe and capable, and hopefully as they got older, they'd develop a love for nature just as he did, just.. under kinder circumstances.

He believes nature is a gift that must be treated with respect and kindness, as it does the same for us, as long as it's mutual. If you have a younger muse, you bet I'd ask if they could be a part of his scout troop. The troop is part of a co-ed program and accepts scouts of any gender, so come on in!

Hiking & Camping Solo

Like earlier mentioned, Sunny is a very skilled survivalist. Robert Baden-Powell's book "Scouting For Boys" was one of the few books of substance available at the cult, and he read it about as religiously as they had them read their sacred texts and the Bible. While he works as a Scout Leader on weekends, he very much enjoys going out on his own hikes and camping trips, sometimes them even lasting for several weeks. That's what he considers a summer break well spent!

He does hiking, camping, row boating, canoeing, mountain climbing to a certain extent (he has the tools and skill set, even if it isn't actively something he partakes in), skiing, etc etc. As long as it can be contributed to the outdoor experience, he wants to do it. These days he often brings his faithful companion Ollie with him, as long as he considers it safe. Ollie is perfectly fit for the outdoor life however, Golden Retrievers being skilled and hardy dogs that are popular among hikers!

Any tips on how to grow your own blog by chance?

Aah man I've written a response to this kind of question many times but I always delete it because I'm afraid of coming off as self centered or arrogant, but I definitely have some tips on what works and doesn't work (on tumblr.)

I will say that I never believed I would get to the "Big Fandom Artist" stage. I've seen people drop my name in conversations or descriptions and just assume other people know who I am and that's still incredibly wild to me. I never really pushed to get a big blog it really just happened.

But! I do have rules and personal guidelines that might help if you are thinking of actively building your blog!

1: Keep personal information and vent posts to a minimum

It should go without saying that its not a good thing for your personal information to be on the internet. Once its out there its near impossible to erase. This is for your own safety.

Vent posts give out more information than you might think, but also some people who are following you may be going through difficult times themselves. I go on the internet to get away from my stressors and problems and i've specifically catered my dashboard to reflect my desires. I have no doubt others are the same.

I've unfollowed mutuals because they vented too frequently. I enjoyed what they made! But it stressed me out to read their vent posts because I couldn't help. I realized it was taking a toll on my mental health and I made the tough decision to unfollow.

It is very tempting to vagueblog because its nice getting out all the angry feelings, but a blog with thousands of people following it is not the place to do it.

2: Shitpost vs Quality Foley

I could go into a massive essay on this alone (ive even written out an outline already) but i'll keep it as brief as I can.

Throughout my time on Tumblr I’ve seen a number of posts of artists complaining about the lack of notes on their serious work compared to the abundance of notes on their shitposts.

This is because Tumblr IS a place of shitposts. It's like squeezing a clown nose and expecting it not to honk.

However! It's more complicated than that and i've broken it up into four parts organized by importance.

A. Relevance/Meta: Is it something that people are already familiar with? Is it something that's currently going on?

People want to enjoy things they're already familiar with. For example, people getting into Hollow Knight are more likely to follow a blog that posts HK content regularly over a HK blog that posted a picture of Grimm once and then is full of original content. It's not that people don't like your original stuff, its just not what they're looking for.

If you like striking while the iron is hot, meta jokes are the way to go. Making references to games like Among Us during the height of its popularity for example would get you lots of notes.

B. Hilarity

Is it funny? Does it subvert expectations?

Shitposts will always be more popular than a well drawn post. People like to laugh and share things that laugh. A cool, well drawn post is more often than not met with a "hm, cool. scrolls down."

This is a polished comic I made 10 months ago. I'm very proud of it and i'm pleased with the amount of attention it got. It took me 2 days to finish.

This is a shitpost I made 3 years ago that I still haven't been able to top. It took me 30 minutes to make.

That's not to say a well drawn post can get popular! It's just that people enjoy a good laugh over something shiny. This is a factor of knowing your audience. Some things land better than others and you'll be better off if you just roll with what you get.

I will say tho I appreciate the people who reblog my oc posts 200x more than people who reblog my shitposts and fanart. Those are quality followers and you must cherish them.

C. Appeal

Is it cute? Is it fluffy? Is the design easy to understand? Does it make people emotional? Is it angsty? Is it relatable?

People like cute shit. People like things that make them hurt (albeit not too much). People like things that they can see themselves in.

D. Skill

There is some merit in being good at what you do. People do like funny things more than shiny things, but shiny things are cool too.

If you post things that are funny? You're normal horoscopes.

If you post things that are well drawn? (its really telling that I can't think of someone right off the top of my head)

If you post things that are funny AND well drawn? Well then you're iguanamouth

3: Know your boundaries.

There's a difference between being understanding/tagging things correctly and catering to people who want you to be someone else.

I know that many people get upset with others who gender the vessels in Hollow Knight. While it doesn't bother me, I can recognize the misgendering of vessels as a source of dysphoria and I tag accordingly.

If someone comes into my inbox and tells me to stop drawing a character because they're "problematic," I'm just going to block them and go about my day.

4: This is your blog, its your rules.

I'm apologetically myself on my blog. I post what I want and what inspires me. The reason why I have so many AUs is because its my blog and I like AUs. If a large portion of the fandom doesn't like my AUs, its their loss, I make great AUs.

In fact, its just a good mindset in general to have. If some people don't like what you make, its not your problem. It makes you happy and it makes hundreds of others happy then continue to do what you do. It's impossible to have a large following and not have someone who dislikes you purely out of spite.

Make stuff for yourself, not because you want numbers.

5: Don't feed the trolls.

If someone sends you hate, take a picture of it, share it with your friends, laugh, block the person, delete message, move on with your life.

It's really fun to feed the trolls, but feeding trolls attracts more trolls and soon its not fun anymore. Just laugh when you get your first anon hate, maybe frame it in your room, and don't even acknowledge them with a "fuck you."

6: Recognize your position.

This is more advice for when you do get a big blog. You get to a point when you realize you have a portion of your audience who value much more than a regular human being and are willing to take up arms for you.

Do. Not. Weaponize. Your audience.

It's incredibly shitty and can ruin peoples lives.

7: Post Frequency/Schedule

Now this is one I can't do. It's normal for me to become incredibly active for 2 weeks and then end up posting nothing for a month. I don't have the patience to build up a queue of new things.

However! If you have more discipline than me, posting daily or twice a week builds up anticipation for your next post. You're dependable and people have the chance to look forward to seeing something from you on their dash on Friday.

Thats all I can think of so far.

There's no TL;DR you'll miss my important advice within these tips.

Recap on the Book (+ a theory on Atsushi)

The Book is an element that received little attention compared to the character drama in Bungo Stray Dogs, but it's actually the element instigating it, as the thing almost everyone desires. This time, I want to make a recap on it, and take a look on an interesting theory regarding the connection between it and Atsushi.

The first one to mention it is Fitzgerald. He describes it as pretty much Aladdin's lamp from the original fairy tale: something to make all wishes come true, in his case the resurrection of his daughter. Appearently, Atsushi is the 'guidepost' to the Book, and that's why there was such an hefty bounty on him at the start of the series. Whatever that means, we are all still waiting to know.

It also mentions that it is 'impervious to fire and all abilities'.

But Fitzgerald was in cahoots with two other amiable fellows who were after the same thing: Fyodor Dostoevsky and Agatha Christie. While the latter has not appeared since except for Dead Apple, the former has given us new infos on the prized Book.

He too wants to use the Book, but in his case, the goal is a little more lofty: he wants to recreate the world, one without the 'sin' of ability users. So, the Book's powers aren't limited to just bring back the dead, they really have a reality-altering scale.

(translation by @akai-koutei)

At the start of the Decay of Angels arc, Chief Taneda gives Ranpo a few more informations about our object of interest.

It is in the hands of the government, and it has been studied, via a single page extracted from it, that holds the same power as the whole Book (like a Death Note).

Moreover, we find the first limitation to the power: 'the written content must conform to the rules of karma'. In other words - and we're going deliciously meta here - it must have narrative consistency, unlike the 'real world' in which accidents of any kind and without any meaning happen all the time. Of course it does! If a book had inconsistent plot development and characterization, wouldn't we all be complaining about bad writing?

Lastly, it's suggested that it was created by an ability user, which set its rules to prevent excessive and senseless destruction.

This rule begs the question - do Fitzgerald or Fyodor know about it? 'A girl suddenly springs back to life' doesn't have much narrative consistence, and neither 'all Ability users suddenly vanish'. A way to work around this limit would be rewrite history itself: Fitzgerald's daughter never died/Abilities never existed in the first place. It would erase the timeline in which these events would be impossible, and create another in which they have consistency.

This would also be the reason for the initial plan of the Decay of Angels, using the page to depict the ADA as terrorists ... but before that, they had to 'create' their crimes by killing relevant people that had spoken against the Agency, giving them plausible actions and motives.

It also fits with the Sky Casino: a building that was woven back in time with a complete backstory, instead of just popping out from nothingness. Still, this also show us that there's no need for the details to be absolutely accurate: Dazai managed to figure out that the building had been written from the Book because the 'top secret' details of its creation didn't exist in the first place. Still, these details are ones that do not 'disturb' the flow of a story: it's a freaking flying casino, who is going to think about the funds? Just enjoy the story!

But then we find an outstanding exception: Sigma. A whole human being brought into existence by the Book, without any past that he can remember. He appeared three years ago, in a desert, with only the clothes on his back and a train ticket. No backstory from him.

How was this possible? It's not very narratively coherent, a person popping into existence.

Well, we must consider that we know only what Fyodor says about it. He might be withholding information from Dazai and the audience, or even lying to confuse his opponent; or maybe he doesn't know the answer himself. He recruited Sigma, likely after hearing about his Ability, but did not create him personally.

Maybe Sigma's 'parent' actually did have a backstory and purpose planned for his 'character', but for some reason, they weren't received. Or maybe they knew some trick to circumvent the limitations of the Book. Maybe the government was experimenting with it, and for some reason someone was like 'hey, let's see if we can make a person pop out in the desert, without anyone being around to check if it happens or take care of the eventual human being!'.

Yeah ... this part is rather confusing. I look forward to an explaination on Sigma's origins.

The last time that the rules of the Book are mentioned, is to show us a way to circumvent them. Fyodor had written that 'no police officer will believe the Agency's innocence' ... but he didn't factor Tachihara in. As a member of the Hunting Dogs, he is a police officer; but during his infiltration of the Mafia, he acquired this second identity. He is an officer, and at the same time, he is not. As soon as he inquires other mafiosi on the matter, he becomes clear to him the ADA's guiltlessness, in which he couldn't believe when talking with the othe Hunting Dogs.

And Ranpo in later chapters used a similar strategy, bringing his proofs to a group of journalists to make the masses think; and in turn, this divided the police between those who still obeyed the rule and those who adopted a new perspective.

The human ability to put ourselves in other points of view is the uncontrollable variable that can break the Book's powers.

(By the way, I wonder if that was actually Fyodor's plan. He seems too smart and well-informed to not take this possibility into consideration. Considering that the clashes among the police resulted in riots and chaos; and he commented earlier, talking to himself, that he didn't create the 'perfect' plan his colleagues required because that would be boring ... maybe this is his own plan to undermine Fukuchi's power and get him out of his way, to be the one who will actually puts his hands on the Book?)

After that, an interesting comment was made: the Decay of Angels planned to use the Book 'the next full moon'. It's uncertain if it's because it can only be used in this time frame, or if it can be just be found (in both cases, the Book has another rule that limits its use)

The last time any piece of the Book made an appearence, it was with Fukuchi dangling the famous page, and the possibility of rewriting it, in front of Atsushi and Akutagawa; but that was also the first sound defeat for the Shin Soukoku. Fukuchi still has the page, and now our hopes reside in Tachihara, currently about to face him.

Then, there is supplementary material: the BEAST AU. I haven't read the light novel or manga, so any information I can provide is from the wiki and @looking-for-stray-dogs 's summary.

In this AU, Dazai has managed to obtain the Book, but thanks to his Ability, he retains his memories even in different universes. But didn't Fitzgerald say that the Book is immune to all Abilities? Or only those which try to destroy it?

Still, Dazai used the Book to create his own pet universe - kind of like Fyodor wants to do, but with a much more personal goal: creating a universe in which Odasaku lives. This appearently can happen only if he never becomes Dazai's friend.

However, the definition of 'make what is written in it into reality' is not exact: it is more like a 'container' for every possible universe in existence, and what is written in the pages will not 'rewrite reality', but 'call forth the universe in which it happens'.

Think of it like Michelangelo's ideas about sculpting: the statue is already in the block of stone, the artist merely brings it out.

Beast!Dazai then mentions another clause: if three or more people know the truth about a world created by the Book, the stability of said world gets compromised, and it gets higher possibilities of ceasing to exist. Which is pretty much what is happening in the canon manga.

And this is all we know insofar. Is it enough to make theories? Of course! Anything is enough to make theories!

One I've seen circulating, and that I really like, is 'Atsushi is a creation of the Book'.

Supporting it:

• Atsushi is considered so valuable because he is a 'guidepost' to the Book; it would actually make sense that someone created by the Book mantained some connection to it.

Contradicting it:

• There already is someone who was for sure created by the Book: Sigma. And he is already in the Decay of Angels: if all sentient beings created by the Book mantained a connection to it, wouldn't that mean that they don't need Atsushi? Instead, not only they are still looking for tiger boy, but Sigma needed to threaten and use his Ability on Taneda to find out just where one page was.

Solution: maybe Atsushi was specifically written to be a 'tracker' for the Book, while Sigma wasn't?

Supporting it:

• Atsushi doesn't have any certified past, someone threw him on the streets without giving him anything that could lead back to a birth family. And appearently, nobody noticed someone had a suddenly missing child, or tried to investigate on the abandonment of a toddler.

Contradicting it:

• Who the hell creates a supernatural being that can lead to an even more supernatural book and then throws him in the trash?!

Solution: who the hell creates a supernatural being who can exchange informations and throws him in the desert?! Whatever the keeper of the Book is on, it can't be legal, or even well-cut for the matter.

More seriously, we are told that Atsushi's parents abandoned him, but it was the Headmaster that said it, and he's not the most reliable guy around. Atsushi not only does not have any proof for that, but he also has a faulty memory due to trauma: if he forgot Shibusawa, what else could he have forgotten?

Supporting it:

• The Book can appearently be used - or maybe retrieved, the phrasing is a bit ambiguous on that - under the full moon. Atsushi's Ability is called 'Beast Beneath the Moonlight', and he himself is called a 'weretiger', derivated from 'werewolf', a creature that has a traditional connection to the full moon.

Contradicting it:

• It might be a coincidence?

Supporting it:

• Shibusawa took a very specific interest in him, even going to the point of torturing him to make the 'Beast under the Moonlight' manifest

Contradicting it:

• Shibusawa was obsessed in finding the 'ultimate ability'. The fact that appearently Atsushi has it does not mean that it is related to the Book, or even that it is an objective statement.

Supporting it:

• Fyodor took a very specific interest in him. He was the one who directed Shibusawa to him, as far as six years ago, when Atsushi likely hadn't manifested his Ability. So, how did this rat, who is very interested in the Book and probably spent a lot of time finding ways to get it, know about him?

Contradicting it:

• Dazai appearently knows nothing about it. Considering how smart and careful he is, it would be expected that he did his research on why everyone was so fixated on the Agency's newest recruit. Instead, he looked genuinely shocked when he's told about Sigma's birth. So, whatever Atsushi's connection to the Book is, it's not of that kind. Moreover, Fyodor hasn't had a single interaction with Atsushi insofar. Wouldn't be more logical trying to somehow secure his willing cooperation if he needs it? From his side, Atsushi doesn't seem to know how he looks like (when he thinks about him, the face is always obscured), nor he acts like he vaguely recognize the name before - something that instead happened with Shibusawa

Possible solution: maybe Dazai isn't God the All-Knowing for once in this manga?! Or maybe he was lying to keep a margin of advantage. And Fyodor rarely acts in a very direct way, usually putting other people and convoluted plans between himself and anyone who could be involved. Sending Shibusawa to Atsushi might have been such a case.

Contradicting it:

• Fukuchi has no problem attacking Atsushi. The whole Decay of Angels's plan put the life of Tiger Boy in danger multiple times. An odd thing to do, if they goal is something that can be reached only through him.

Possible solution: they know he has regenerative abilities on a nearly Koro-sensei level? I admit, I'm not very sure on this point.

All in all, I think it's a very plausible theory. And do we want to talk about the drama character development it would bring about? Atsushi already questions his right to live, how would knowing that he had been created for some purpose decided by someone else impact his worldview?

In conclusion, I think that the Book is a very interesting, mysterious element, and I really look forward to see if it will be used, by whom, and why Atsushi seems so connected to it.

Thanks to anyone who bothered to read my ramblings!

Sparktober Bingo 2021!

Back for a new generation: Sparktober Bingo!

Instead of coming up with an Atlantis-specific list of prompts, I compiled a bunch of 2021 -tober prompt lists into one google doc here. (Links to original prompt lists are on the google doc.) Add in a list of Atlantis episodes and...

How to play:

Choose a “flavor” from the prompt sets below the cut, then paste it into this fandom bingo card generator.

Adjust your browser size til it looks right and take a screenshot, or use the html script if you’re familiar with using html on tumblr. Tag @sparktober​ if you want us to reblog it so everyone knows you’re playing!

  Sparktober Bingo Rules:

Complete a row/column, corners, or a blackout of your card by November 1, or not! Update as you go.

All fan-works are allowed: art, edits, fic, meta... bonus points to anyone who picks the “sprinkles” flavor and goes full mid-aughts by filling their bingo cards with 100x100 pixel icons.

You are allowed to pull multiple cards until you get one that inspires you, and you can also go through the prompt list of your choice in advance to pull out squicks or things you absolutely won’t write. I recommend not googling unfamiliar words from your work computer.

Use the prompts liberally! Episode titles can be treated as the episode or as generic prompts (e.g. “Epiphany” can be for an episode-related fic or a prompt for an epiphany of your choice).

  Flavor descriptions:

VANILLA: Gen prompt lists from Fictober, Inktober, Trektober Gen, and Trektober Trek.

CHOCOLATE: Zesty prompt lists from Trektober NSFW, Kinktober, and Whumptober. The multiple-prompts-per-day from Kinktober and Whumptober have been broken into individual prompts.

CANDY CORN: Fall / holiday themed prompts from TUA-tober.

SPRINKLES: Atlantis episode list (in order, in case you only want to copy certain seasons), along with characters and a few Atlantis-specific prompts.

TWIST: All of the above! (You can also manually mix and match different flavors, of course.)

Text blocks to copy into the bingo card generator are below the cut. Enjoy!!

VANILLA

“I need you.”; “You have no proof.”; “I’ve waited for this.”; “Fine, I give up.”; “I’m not saying I told you so…”; “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”; “That could have gone better.”; “This is it, isn’t it?”; “There’s no right side to this.”; “It’s so quiet.”; “I swear, it’s not always like this.”; “You keep me safe.”; “The things you make me do…”; “Your information was wrong.”; “I like that in you.”; “Not this again.”; “I’m with you, you know that.”; “This was not part of the plan.”; “I feel strange.”; “That’s what I’m known for.”; “What did I say?”; “No promises.”; “This time, do what I say.”; “Is this supposed to impress me?”; “Do you know what time it is?”; “I’m sure this has never worked, ever.”; “You could have died!”; “I don’t have to explain myself.”; “Why are we whispering?”; “Don’t ruin this.”; “Take me with you.”; Crystal; Suit; Vessel; Knot; Raven; Spirit; Fan; Watch; Pressure; Pick; Sour; Stuck; Roof; Tick; Helmet; Compass; Collide; Moon; Loop; Sprout; Fuzzy; Open; Leak; Extinct; Splat; Connect; Spark; Crispy; Patch; Slither; Risk; Meet-Cute; Amnesia; Age Difference; Pining; Sick Fic; Fake Relationship; Accidental Meeting; Epistolary; Secret Identity; Historical AU; Nightmares; Monster Hunter; Reunion; Soulmates; At Pride; Angst; Seasons; Fix-It; Coffee Shop; Movie Plot AU; Kid Fic; Actor's Other Crossover Work; OT+; Getting Together; Only One Bed; Pirates; Making Up; Forbidden Relationship; Tattoos; Halloween; Prime Directive; Lower Decks / Background Characters; Away Mission; Ship's Bar; Aliens Made Them Do It; Observation Deck; Crew with Family; Holodeck; Science Crew; Character Survives; Headcanons; Diplomacy; Decontamination; Trek Crossover; Replicator; Worldbuilding; Redshirts; Sex / Love Potion; Medical Crew; Transporters; Medbay; Interspecies Relationship; Mirrorverse; Uniforms; Mutiny; Stranded on a Planet; Rec Room; Academy Era; Second Contact; Command Crew; Off-Duty

  CHOCOLATE

A/B/O; Soft; Anonymous Sex; Penetration with Object/s; Sleeping; Intercrural Sex; Restraints; In/Under Water; Group Sex; First Time; Possessive Behavior; Dry Humping / Grinding; Overstimulation; Roleplay; Rimming; Stretching / Fisting; Power Imbalance; Food Play; Fingering; Body Worship; Sex Work; Voyeurism / Exhibitionism; Safewords; Technology; Oral Sex; Omorashi / Wetting; Crying; Underwear / Lingerie; Friends with Benefits; Pain Kink; Dirty Talk; Trick or Treat; All trussed up and nowhere to go; Talking is overrated; Sticks and stones may break my bones...; Trust fall; I've got red in my ledger; Touch and go; My spidey-sense is tingling; Coughing up a lung; Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated; Oops, I did it again; Just keep swimming; It'll be fun, they said; That's gonna leave a mark; Under pressure; Feed a cold, starve a fever; On a need-to-know basis; Field care 101; The doctor is in; Just a scratch; Lost & found; That's where the blood's supposed to be; They made me do it; You break it, you buy it; One down, two to go; Hide & Seek; You will go down with this ship; “I'm fine, I prom...”; It's (not) just in your head; All work and no play; Digging your grave; Hurt & Comfort; “You have to let go.”; Garotte; Taunting; “Do you trust me?”; Betrayal; Bruises; Helplessness; Pneumothorax; Presumed Dead; Hospital; Adrift; Torture; “This is gonna suck.”; Crush injuries; Delirium; Recovery; “Please don't move.”; “Now smile for the camera.”; Bitten; Trunk; Bleeding through bandages; Cursed; Auction; Self-induced injuries to escape; Escape; Fallen; Passing out; “Good, you're finally awake.”; “You're still not dead?”; Major character death; Disaster zone; Barbed Wire; Choking; Insults; Taken Hostage; Misunderstanding; Touch Starved; Numbness; Exotic Illness; (Blind) Rage; Flare-Up; Drowning; Made To Watch; Burns; Beaten; Fever Dreams; Scars; Hemorrhage; Doctor Visit; Bleeding; Trapped Under Water; Pressure; Demon; Ransom; Flashback; Flight; Waterfall; Vertigo; Nightmares; Too Weak To Move; Left For Dead; Trauma; Bound; Gagged; “Who Did This To You?”; Pushed; Broken Nose; Hunger; Blindness; “Definitely Just A Cold”; Tears; Ice Chips; Dehydration; Begging; Cauterization; Force; Bees; Aftermath; Dread; Cpr; Stabbing; Solitary Confinement; Blood-Matted Hair; Obsession; Pursuit; Revenge; Hiding; Trap Door; Collapse; Panic; Overworked; Ghosts; Prisoner; Losing Control; Threats; Caning; Mercy; Forgotten; Head Injury; Screaming; Comfort; Self-Sacrifice; Trapped; Near-Death Experience; Regret; Tragedy; Battlefield; Anxiety; Gore; Petplay; Bimbofication; Panties & Lingerie; Bondage; Double Penetration in 2 Holes; Breeding; Humiliation; NTR; Incest; Emeto; Omorashi; Free Use; Crossdressing; Public; Three (or more) some; Daddy & Mommy; Double Penetration in 1 Hole; Distention & Cockbulge; Xenophilia; Shotgunning; Watersports; Pregnancy; Lactation; Waxplay; Grooming; Human Furniture; Feet; Prostituion; MacroMicro; Spanking; Cockwarming; Glory Hole; Somnophilia; Body Modification; Temperature Play; Leather; Size Difference; Sounding; Stockings; Tentacles; Medical Play; Stripping; Orgasm Denial; Master & slave; Scissoring; Titfucking; Frottage; Knifeplay; Formal Wear; Breathplay; Fisting; Pegging; Scat; Beastiality; Fucking Machine; Tickling; Boot Worship; Bukkake; Collaring; Foodplay; Non or dubcon; Feederism; Sensory Deprivation; Oviposition; Clone & Selfcest; Exhibitionism & Voyeurism; Impact Play; Sadomasochism; Bloodplay; Praise Kink; Body Swap; Sweat; Branding; Massage; Role Reversal; Armpit; Masturbation; Inflation; Sex Toys; Burnplay; Menophilia; Stuck in Wall; Deepthroating & Facesitting; Dacryphilia; Hate Sex

  CANDY CORN

Birthday; Sick Day; Autumn; Candles; Plaid / Flannel; Leaf Piles; Sweaters; Baking; Cinnamon; Pumpkin Spice Latte; Carnival; Movie Night; Candy; Graveyard; Black Cats; Goosebumps; Pumpkin; Party; Monster; Ghosts; Witch; Vampire; Traditions; Magic; Mask; Haunted House; Trick; Treat; Costume; Monster Mash; Halloween

  SPRINKLES

Rising Part 1; Rising Part 2; Hide and Seek; Thirty-Eight Minutes; Suspicion; Childhood's End; Poisoning the Well; Underground; Home; The Storm; The Eye; The Defiant One; Hot Zone; Sanctuary; Before I Sleep; The Brotherhood; Letters from Pegasus; The Gift; The Siege Part 1; The Siege Part 2; The Siege Part 3; The Intruder; Runner; Duet; Condemned; Trinity; Instinct; Conversion; Aurora; The Lost Boys; The Hive; Epiphany; Critical Mass; Grace Under Pressure; The Tower; The Long Goodbye; Coup d'Etat; Michael; Inferno; Allies; No Man's Land; Misbegotten; Irresistible; Sateda; Progeny; The Real World; Common Ground; McKay and Mrs. Miller; Phantoms; The Return Part 1; The Return Part 2; Echoes; Irresponsible; Tao of Rodney; The Game; The Ark; Sunday; Submersion; Vengeance; First Strike; Adrift; Lifeline; Reunion; Doppelganger; Travelers; Tabula Rasa; Missing; The Seer; Miller's Crossing; This Mortal Coil; Be All My Sins Remember'd; Spoils of War; Quarantine; Harmony; Outcast; Trio; Midway; The Kindred Part 1; The Kindred Part 2; The Last Man; Search and Rescue; The Seed; Broken Ties; The Daedalus Variations; Ghost in the Machine; The Shrine; Whispers; The Queen; Tracker; First Contact; The Lost Tribe; Outsiders; Inquisition; The Prodigal; Remnants; Brain Storm; Infection; Identity; Vegas; Enemy at the Gate; Ronon Dex; Teyla Emmagan; John Sheppard; Carson Beckett; Elizabeth Weir; Rodney McKay; Jennifer Keller; Samantha Carter; Aiden Ford; Radek Zelenka; Kate Heightmeyer; Evan Lorne; Laura Cadman; Kolya; Chuck; Peter Grodin; Steven Caldwell; Lantea; Ocean; Ancient(s); Richard Woolsey; Athosians; Daedalus; Wraith; Nanites; Asurans; Genii; DHD; SGC; Stargate; Earth; Antarctica; Ascension

 TWIST

“I need you.”; “You have no proof.”; “I’ve waited for this.”; “Fine, I give up.”; “I’m not saying I told you so…”; “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”; “That could have gone better.”; “This is it, isn’t it?”; “There’s no right side to this.”; “It’s so quiet.”; “I swear, it’s not always like this.”; “You keep me safe.”; “The things you make me do…”; “Your information was wrong.”; “I like that in you.”; “Not this again.”; “I’m with you, you know that.”; “This was not part of the plan.”; “I feel strange.”; “That’s what I’m known for.”; “What did I say?”; “No promises.”; “This time, do what I say.”; “Is this supposed to impress me?”; “Do you know what time it is?”; “I’m sure this has never worked, ever.”; “You could have died!”; “I don’t have to explain myself.”; “Why are we whispering?”; “Don’t ruin this.”; “Take me with you.”; Crystal; Suit; Vessel; Knot; Raven; Spirit; Fan; Watch; Pressure; Pick; Sour; Stuck; Roof; Tick; Helmet; Compass; Collide; Moon; Loop; Sprout; Fuzzy; Open; Leak; Extinct; Splat; Connect; Spark; Crispy; Patch; Slither; Risk; Meet-Cute; Amnesia; Age Difference; Pining; Sick Fic; Fake Relationship; Accidental Meeting; Epistolary; Secret Identity; Historical AU; Nightmares; Monster Hunter; A/B/O; Reunion; Soulmates; At Pride; Angst; Seasons; Fix-It; Coffee Shop; Movie Plot AU; Kid Fic; Actor's Other Crossover Work; OT+; Getting Together; Only One Bed; Pirates; Making Up; Forbidden Relationship; Tattoos; Halloween; Prime Directive; Lower Decks / Background Characters; Away Mission; Ship's Bar; Aliens Made Them Do It; Observation Deck; Crew with Family; Holodeck; Science Crew; Character Survives; Headcanons; Diplomacy; Decontamination; Trek Crossover; Replicator; Worldbuilding; Redshirts; Sex / Love Potion; Medical Crew; Transporters; Medbay; Interspecies Relationship; Mirrorverse; Uniforms; Mutiny; Stranded on a Planet; Rec Room; Academy Era; Second Contact; Command Crew; Off-Duty; Soft; Anonymous Sex; Penetration with Object/s; Sleeping; Intercrural Sex; Restraints; In/Under Water; Group Sex; First Time; Possessive Behavior; Dry Humping / Grinding; Overstimulation; Roleplay; Rimming; Stretching / Fisting; Power Imbalance; Food Play; Fingering; Body Worship; Sex Work; Voyeurism / Exhibitionism; Safewords; Technology; Oral Sex; Omorashi / Wetting; Crying; Underwear / Lingerie; Friends with Benefits; Pain Kink; Dirty Talk; Trick or Treat; All trussed up and nowhere to go; Talking is overrated; Sticks and stones may break my bones...; Trust fall; I've got red in my ledger; Touch and go; My spidey-sense is tingling; Coughing up a lung; Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated; Oops, I did it again; Just keep swimming; It'll be fun, they said; That's gonna leave a mark; Under pressure; Feed a cold, starve a fever; On a need-to-know basis; Field care 101; The doctor is in; Just a scratch; Lost & found; That's where the blood's supposed to be; They made me do it; You break it, you buy it; One down, two to go; You will go down with this ship; “I'm fine, I prom...”; It's (not) just in your head; All work and no play; Digging your grave; Hurt & Comfort; “You have to let go.”; Garotte; Taunting; “Do you trust me?”; Betrayal; Bruises; Helplessness; Pneumothorax; Presumed Dead; Hospital; Adrift; Torture; “This is gonna suck.”; Crush injuries; Delirium; Recovery; “Please don't move.”; “Now smile for the camera.”; Bitten; Trunk; Bleeding through bandages; Cursed; Auction; Self-induced injuries to escape; Escape; Fallen; Passing out; “Good, you're finally awake.”; “You're still not dead?”; Major character death; Disaster zone; Barbed Wire; Choking; Insults; Taken Hostage; Misunderstanding; Touch Starved; Numbness; Exotic Illness; (Blind) Rage; Flare-Up; Drowning; Made To Watch; Burns; Beaten; Fever Dreams; Scars; Hemorrhage; Doctor Visit; Bleeding; Trapped Under Water; Demon; Ransom; Flashback; Flight; Waterfall; Vertigo; Too Weak To Move; Left For Dead; Trauma; Bound; Gagged; “Who Did This To You?”; Pushed; Broken Nose; Hunger; Blindness; “Definitely Just A Cold”; Tears; Ice Chips; Dehydration; Begging; Cauterization; Force; Bees; Aftermath; Dread; Cpr; Stabbing; Solitary Confinement; Blood-Matted Hair; Obsession; Pursuit; Revenge; Hiding; Trap Door; Collapse; Panic; Overworked; Ghosts; Prisoner; Losing Control; Threats; Caning; Mercy; Forgotten; Head Injury; Screaming; Comfort; Self-Sacrifice; Trapped; Near-Death Experience; Regret; Tragedy; Battlefield; Anxiety; Gore; Petplay; Bimbofication; Panties & Lingerie; Bondage; Double Penetration in 2 Holes; Breeding; Humiliation; NTR; Incest; Emeto; Omorashi; Free Use; Crossdressing; Public; Three (or more) some; Daddy & Mommy; Double Penetration in 1 Hole; Distention & Cockbulge; Xenophilia; Shotgunning; Watersports; Pregnancy; Lactation; Waxplay; Grooming; Human Furniture; Feet; Prostituion; MacroMicro; Spanking; Cockwarming; Glory Hole; Somnophilia; Body Modification; Temperature Play; Leather; Size Difference; Sounding; Stockings; Tentacles; Medical Play; Stripping; Orgasm Denial; Master & slave; Scissoring; Titfucking; Frottage; Knifeplay; Formal Wear; Breathplay; Fisting; Pegging; Scat; Beastiality; Fucking Machine; Tickling; Boot Worship; Bukkake; Collaring; Foodplay; Non or dubcon; Feederism; Sensory Deprivation; Oviposition; Clone & Selfcest; Exhibitionism & Voyeurism; Impact Play; Sadomasochism; Bloodplay; Praise Kink; Body Swap; Sweat; Branding; Massage; Role Reversal; Armpit; Masturbation; Inflation; Sex Toys; Burnplay; Menophilia; Stuck in Wall; Deepthroating & Facesitting; Dacryphilia; Hate Sex; Birthday; Sick Day; Autumn; Candles; Plaid / Flannel; Leaf Piles; Sweaters; Baking; Cinnamon; Pumpkin Spice Latte; Carnival; Movie Night; Candy; Graveyard; Black Cats; Goosebumps; Pumpkin; Party; Monster; Witch; Vampire; Traditions; Magic; Mask; Haunted House; Trick; Treat; Costume; Monster Mash; Rising Part 1; Rising Part 2; Hide and Seek; Thirty-Eight Minutes; Suspicion; Childhood's End; Poisoning the Well; Underground; Home; The Storm; The Eye; The Defiant One; Hot Zone; Sanctuary; Before I Sleep; The Brotherhood; Letters from Pegasus; The Gift; The Siege Part 1; The Siege Part 2; The Siege Part 3; The Intruder; Runner; Duet; Condemned; Trinity; Instinct; Conversion; Aurora; The Lost Boys; The Hive; Epiphany; Critical Mass; Grace Under Pressure; The Tower; The Long Goodbye; Coup d'Etat; Michael; Inferno; Allies; No Man's Land; Misbegotten; Irresistible; Sateda; Progeny; The Real World; Common Ground; McKay and Mrs. Miller; Phantoms; The Return Part 1; The Return Part 2; Echoes; Irresponsible; Tao of Rodney; The Game; The Ark; Sunday; Submersion; Vengeance; First Strike; Lifeline; Doppelganger; Travelers; Tabula Rasa; Missing; The Seer; Miller's Crossing; This Mortal Coil; Be All My Sins Remember'd; Spoils of War; Quarantine; Harmony; Outcast; Trio; Midway; The Kindred Part 1; The Kindred Part 2; The Last Man; Search and Rescue; The Seed; Broken Ties; The Daedalus Variations; Ghost in the Machine; The Shrine; Whispers; The Queen; Tracker; First Contact; The Lost Tribe; Outsiders; Inquisition; The Prodigal; Remnants; Brain Storm; Infection; Identity; Vegas; Enemy at the Gate; Ronon Dex; Teyla Emmagan; John Sheppard; Carson Beckett; Elizabeth Weir; Rodney McKay; Jennifer Keller; Samantha Carter; Aiden Ford; Radek Zelenka; Kate Heightmeyer; Evan Lorne; Laura Cadman; Kolya; Chuck; Peter Grodin; Steven Caldwell; Lantea; Ocean; Ancient(s); Richard Woolsey; Athosians; Daedalus; Wraith; Nanites; Asurans; Genii; DHD; SGC; Stargate; Earth; Antarctica; Ascension

Ugh, okay, so there's so many questions from the meta writers question thing that I want to ask, so you don't have to answer all of them lol but 1, 3, 4, 20, and/or 25?

I will say though, I'm very very interested in that band AU that I think you keep referencing working on, tbh idk what the acronym means, but I'm very excited about it 👀

writing asks!

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

I have a few so let me just chat about them all! one is, ofc, something bigger than the sky that I'm working on with Hali (@phantasmagoric-acquaintance)

it's a collaborative work between the two of us that is the content of balance from her perspective in the umbra staff! it's progressing well, we're nearly done and i can't believe it! i just love getting to work with my best friend on something tbh :3

the next one is RHAPAW, my beloved band au. (it stands for rode hard and put away wet and i promise there's a reason for that lsdkfjsdlf). Progress is pretty good! I've got about 5k words of it right now, I know some of the most major plot points, and I have a pretty clear idea of how it's going to end!! Honestly i love Barry in this more than life itself (but I do just love the idea of Lup, Kravitz, and Johann all in a band together too so don't make me choose <3)

(also extra bonus, I am working on extending about three prompt fills I did a while ago so keep an eye out for those)

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

OKAY I GOT IT i have been thinking about this for like. months. Basically i do have this au idea wherein Taako dies in Wonderland. A version of Arms Outstretched still happens but basically Taako is dead and in the Astral Plane, Magnus is in the mannequin body still, and Merle is still Merle. Barry is there as the red robe, of course. Edward still gets eaten by staff and Merle goes to grab it and tries to cast something and it just Doesn't work. And at this point, Merle is just over it. like "You magic piece of shit, you couldn't save my friend, you won't let me cast, what the hell is the use?" and he just SNAPS it. and it's like a bomb goes off. And Merle's head feels like it's going to explode because there's another red robe? but he can't hear it or see its face and the original red robe is...crying? And Magnus is trying to hug it? and he keeps saying "Merle, holy shit it's [redacted] how could Lucretia just [redacted] like that?"

and it obviously continues but that is the barest bones shit of it.

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

this is so hard because i feel like my content is better than the actual writing itself!! but i guess if i have to pick one i do love the ridiculously unhinged monologue Taako goes on in like, chapter two of flours? (part of it below)

And then your wonderful twin sister might annoyingly keep changing her mind on what flowers she wants on her cake. Mind you, your twin sister might also specifically request that the flowers on the cake be fresh, not made of pulled sugar or gum paste or fondant or frosting, no they just have to be fresh because gods forbid I ever get to do sugar work. And not that there’s anything wrong with fresh flowers, mind you, but it might happen to be something that is just out of your comfort zone. And while you would normally go to Fantasy Costco, you can’t anymore because they hired a really weird cashier who keeps offering to make you deals even though it’s fucking Fantasy Costco and the prices are literally marked so you have to begin to wonder to yourself if that cashier even actually works there.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

i just really like exploring friendships between characters that either just Wouldn't/Didn't/Couldn't happen in the show (AM Radio, Flours, and like, a million prompt fills have been examples of this)

also. I know I referenced this in the tags BUT both vampire twins pieces and the werewolf magnus piece all take place in the same universe (the magnus piece takes place a year or two prior to the vampire twins pieces)

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

okay i already answered this one BUT another really fun part is just finding inspiration in the weirdest of places. like actually now that i think about it, like five of my fics/wips have been inspired by me innocuously listening to music lskdfjsld

strange disease Fic Notes

strange disease is complete as of today! I have a bunch of notes, but I’ll be posting more meta in the days before I start my next fic, so check back with this post for links at the end.

Post-fic summary:

I kind of did this in the epilogue, but Adora officially proposed to Catra shortly before Glimbow’s wedding. I specifically didn’t include it in the fic because I didn’t want to spend the time explaining knotwork proposals again right there at the end for anyone who hasn’t read my fics before. They did a courthouse wedding a few weeks later.

Adora got steadily better at controlling her shifting as time went on, getting a job at Scorpia’s tea shop to ease her transition back into society before eventually becoming a member of the community outreach team at the coven. Catra continues to work at the bar, because she does rather like the work.

Catra steadily gets things like furniture and a will to live, both over the course of the story and continuing on afterwards.

Lonnie continued to see Catra in passing at the Moon Rituals. After several months they were able to really talk again, even if they never see each other outside of the rituals.

Scorpia and Perfuma had just started dating at the start of the fic, and Catra finally meets her a few weeks after the confrontation with Shadow Weaver.

Shadow Weaver and Hordak rot in prison.

DT has to occasionally put on a more “palatable”/marketable show than they want to in order to keep the theater running, but they do okay for themselves, and sometimes Scorpia and Perfuma go on dates to the shows. Catra and Adora went once and Catra swore never again (It was of M. Butterfly. You can guess who DT played. Also the Wikipedia summary of M. Butterfly is disgraceful).

Songs for this AU: 

25 - The Pretty Reckless, My Body is A Cage - Peter Gabriel, Decode - Paramore, Wolf Like Me - Lera Lynn, Supernatural - Legs Occult, And So It Went - The Pretty Reckless, Star Maps - Aly & AJ.

Chapter 1: A wolf at the door

This AU was supposed to be like 4 chapters and 20k.

Yes, I know, alright. Listen, it was supposed to be a thin veil of a set up and then smut. Somehow it grew a plot which then eclipsed the smut.

The quote from the fic description is from a scene that got cut in the initial draft of the fic with no backstory. I didn’t realize until after I started posting that the scene was cut and was like “well I can add the line back in later”.... I never did that.

Catra randomly remembered the encounter at the grocery story literal months later and sat bolt upright in bed, shouting WAIT A MINUTE. Adora was like babe, please, sleep? but Catra started interrogating her on whether that was her, the answer to which was of course yes. Catra fell back to the mattress, covering her face with her hands and groaning, because they were so close.

When I was writing this chapter, the fighting thing just popped up (originally it was street fighting) and then somehow that became the plot of the fic. This is why I have no answer to what my writing process is: there isn’t one. Every project is different.

I suppose I should admit the truth behind the broken mugs thing. Catra has mugs with letters and logos on them... Adora was stealing them out of the sink and trying to spell things out with them, but she is a big dog with powerful jaws, and also didn’t have nearly enough letters to spell out anything comprehensible. Melog kept looking at what Adora made, finding it incomprehensible, and putting the mugs back (broken or weakened so they subsequently broke in the wash) so Catra wouldn’t be bothered by the mess and get snappy with Princess.

Interlude I:

My concept with the interludes was to fill in gaps that were created by the limited perspective of telling the fic from only Catra’s point of view. Usually I accomplish this through communication, but seeing as Adora is a dog for parts of the fic, I decided interludes would help to cross the barrier. I also used them when it came to fights because I felt Adora’s wolf narration voice was best for them.

Adora picked up on the lingering scent of Catra by the deli, even in human form, but she didn’t really have sensitive enough senses to understand it, so it just hit her with a wave of terrible longing and caused her to shift back.

Chapter 2: Poltergeist

I’ll talk more about this in the original concept section below, but I wrote chapters 1 & 2, rewrote them, continued onto chapter 3 where the story grew more plot, and then had to rewind to heavily edit chapters 1 & 2 to reflect the new storylines. Chapter 2 was initially supposed to start with Adora changing back and then be about her explaining her situation to Catra and them beginning to date, with Chapter 3 pure smut, but obviously things changed.

I find the phrase “make love” cheesy usually (as does Catra, Adora doesn’t mind it though), but there was no other way to describe what they did on their first night together, much less what they would go on to do in chapter 4. Outside of that, they both usually just call it sex.

DT recognized Adora as a direwolf because they tend to be larger and have far more magic than the normal werewolf. They are extremely rare (in fact, Adora is one of the last), so few people know enough to recognize one, but DT is a shapeshifter and makes studying the various forms they could take a hobby. They had also played a direwolf in a play before. They weren’t 100% certain Adora was one in the first meeting, but the odds were in their favour. Catra just thought they were making a reference to movies (which direwolves show up in occasionally, usually inaccurately as a werewolf/sorcerer hybrid and played by a werewolf) when they said it.

Adora had tried a few small and subtler ways to signal herself to Catra before the store window jersey attempt, but they were just as unsuccessful.

Yeah, we know it now, but Catra was waking up from a nightmare about killing Lonnie again. It’s one of those things where Catra doesn’t want to blame herself because she knows it was never her intention, but the trauma is still there.

The magicat memory thing comes from my longstanding headcannon that Catra has an eidetic memory, but I also was thinking that different species would probably encode memories in a different way, leading to their species as a whole handling recall differently.

Interlude II:

There wasn’t supposed to be an interlude here at all, but SOMEBODY had to start talking about wolfdora getting a puppochino, and then I couldn’t be stopped. Somehow plot still snuck in with Adora’s reaction to Darla hinting at her overall condition being issues with light and dark magic, but for the most part this was a bit of wolf fluff before Adora was human for a few chapters.

Catra licks (human) Adora for a variety of reasons, but she also has a cat tongue that is small and dry in comparison with wolfdora’s. Catra wants to have no part in her dog slobber and has no problem being a hypocrite.

Chapter 3: I loved you

God, this chapter. I wrote it back in December but was still editing it up until posting. I’m really proud of it, it has a few lines that I really like and showing Catra’s wild emotional responses was something I really wanted to do, but it took a lot to get there. It is my fav chapter in the fic though.

I was laughing when I put this chapter up and people were talking about love breaking the curse, meanwhile Catra had just gone to bed mostly naked.

Melog didn’t know who Adora was. What is in the fic is all they knew - someone lonely, searching for someone else to understand them. Melog’s psychic abilities are pretty limited just to their bonded partner, so the most they could pick up from Adora was her general aura, body language, and scent signals. The two of them can communicate pretty well, but complex ideas and exact words can’t get across.

People also jumped on Adora maybe getting an undercut, but that really was just a Chekhov’s gun for the consent check in the next chapter. I wanted Adora to have her half-down hair from Noelle’s fanart for this fic. Adora with long hair up top and an undercut is actually part of my post-series headcannon for her, but Adora with totally short hair baffles me given how much she cares about her and She-ra’s hair in canon. It is completely out of character in my opinion (also, you can be GNC and have long hair.... Adora having long hair doesn’t break that headcannon).

The reason Adora is so willing to work towards forgiveness/so understanding of Catra needing assurance is a) she’s a good egg and b) she feels guilty as shit about it. She thinks she has to do everything possible to work towards forgiveness and this whole thing is her fault, which feeds into her emotional imbalance and isn’t helping her control her shifting overall, as is explained a bit in chapter 7.

In the comments of this chapter, one person nailed the reason for Adora’s lycanthropy exactly, which was exciting because it meant even with false-positives being thrown out people were getting a handle on where I was heading with that.

Interlude III:

This was supposed to be a smut interlude, but writing first times is also a very special challenge that I Keep Having since I do so many AUs, and since I had already kind of “skipped” that problem in this AU, I decided to focus more on the entire day and their relationship/love than the sex itself. The point of the interlude was to show more of their backstory, as well as show Adora’s bursting emotions leading up to her shifting.

(There were also some False Clues in there with the several hours until the moment Adora actually turned 18, but I can’t make things too easy for you guys).

I joked a bit before that sex-activated lycanthropy was not a wrong theory, but what I was really referring to there was how Adora was bursting with light emotions after getting to pour out her love by making love to Catra, which helped to trigger the shift that night.

This interlude is also when I introduced the custom skin for the work that hid the chapter numbers because the interlude’s totally ruined the numbering. Depending on your settings you may need to manually turn it on for each chapter with the “Show Creator’s Style” button at the top of the page.

Alright, we gotta talk about comments. Never, in all my fics, have I ever been inundated with “MORE” and “You better be updating soon!” comments like I have with this fic. It was driving me crazy because I was coming off of some major burnout from the daily fic advent I had been doing leading up to New Years. It felt like people were demanding I do more work, for free, for them. I literally cannot write more than I do and still function as a person. I felt like I was being taken advantage of. Many of the comments were lovely, but when I saw someone comment saying something like “I hope you read all of these comments and see how amazing you are!”, meanwhile I was feeling utterly disregarded as a person by the comments and actually considering turning them off, I knew I had to change things. I have always read every comment and I always will, but between the demands and carefully reading every comment looking for something I could reply to, I felt like they were taking over my mental headspace and stressing/depressing me. I considered locking the fic, but considering I already limit comments to logged-in users, I didn’t think that would really help. Eventually I came to the conclusion of not replying and placing that author’s note explaining the situation as briefly as I could. Did I get way fewer comments on that chapter? Yes, but they didn’t make me feel like shit, so I don’t care.

Chapter 4: To be human

This is another of my fav chapters in the fic just because I’m really proud of how emotional the smut came out, and I find Adora’s praise situation hilarious.

The Arid Plains (where the Silver Raiders rose up) are the Fright Zone. It’s just my headcannon for what the scorpioni kindgom was called, as we were never given an official name to my knowledge.

I was holding onto the “Praise Kink as a Plot Point” tag for so long waiting for this chapter to go up. I was so excited for it.

Adora actually shifted back before Glimmer even texted Catra her first update, but Glimmer waited until she thought Catra was at work to tell her because she didn’t want Catra thinking they were hurting Adora. In reality, it was just the general distress of the whole situation and Adora’s lack of control over her shifting.

Adora telling Melog “I’m glad you still like me” is something the clung through from the very first draft of chapter 2, back when Catra and Adora didn’t know each other. Adora, upon waking up, said “Oh, you fixed me.” in that draft. Catra was wary of the hot stranger in her bed, but Melog had no problem with crawling into Adora’s lap and purring. In the final version, once Adora finally had hands again, Melog immediately wanted Adora to use them for pets. They also were bringing her toys to make sure she would still play with them even if she wasn’t a wolf anymore

I never wanted to know this much about how long people have sex, but I will say I did point out Scorpia was overreacting about the timeframe, and that she’s also a virgin and in shock lol. 

Chapter 5: The fight

Threading the needle between hinting at what happened with Lonnie (mentioning her several times, especially the nightmare Catra had about hurting her) and making it so that when she appeared and it was still a reveal that she was undead was one of the hardest parts about this fic.

I would be Highly Uncomfortable with killing off a POC, especially one that doesn’t die in canon, and figuring out when and how to post things while maintaining suspense and also not making it seem like I was doing that was a big challenge with this and the next chapter. I considered posting them back-to-back, but that also would have been a lot of editing to do at once, so we ended up with the gap. I was really worried how people would take Lonnie’s situation in this fic. I even considered switching it over to someone else, but I had already started posting the fic at that point, and with Lonnie being a shifter she was the only one that really made sense because she could be mentioned and name-dropped in relation to Adora’s shifting leading up to her actual debut.

Lonnie was supposed to appear more in the fic after becoming a lich and in fact be part of the final confrontation, but then in Chapter 6 she ended up putting her foot down on seeing Catra so she fell away from the story.

Interlude IV: The Fight

This was intended to be the last interlude in the fic, kind of capping off the uncontrollable wolfdora saga. I had this vision of them all collapsing around Scorpia’s shop (that was later changed to her backroom flat because wolves and health code violations) and Adora befriending Emily while the others did some exposition on what the hell was going on.

Catra is not the one who killed Octavia. She took out her eye in a fight, Octavia “recovered” (as much as one can), and then she died after getting in the ring again too soon to learn to accommodate her new blind spot.

Adora could immediately smell and recognize the necromancy, and Scorpia knew Lonnie was dead, but Glimmer was in the dark as to what was going on until Catra said it.

Yes, Emily does have a crush on Entrapta, but also she just wanted to be around her since she was highly connected to spirits as a Valkyrie.

Chapter 6: Immortality

This chapter was another really tough one to write, requiring a lot of editing. I had no intent of there being anything horny in it, I was going to give the fight some room to breathe on that one, Adora just got insecure and then Catra decided there was one solution to that. And then that insecurity transferred to Catra.

The deathmark was placed upon Lonnie by fate during her battle with Catra. She died and the mark was fulfilled, but upon being revived it flared back to life somewhat. She would have taken years to wake without its removal, though with the coven’s help they would have figured it out soon after.

Entrapta does give off ghostfucker vibes, and she is very happy with Darla and Emily now.

Scorpia absolutely saw them making out against the car and was Vaguely Concerned but also once she established Catra was enjoying it quickly looked away.

Chapter 7: Lycanthropy

Initially the explanation of Adora’s situation was supposed to be in Chapter 6, but Chapter 6 was also supposed to span over into Sunday before Catra got horny.

Adora’s mother was a direwolf (and stay-at-home mom) while her father was human. Her mother’s eyes were unusual, and she wore sunglasses for her own safety at most times (This was the only way Catra remembered seeing her). As Glimmer explained, Marlena legally identified simply as human for her own safety in the hostile climate of the Silver Raids, and identified Adora the same way when she was born. She planned to homeschool Adora until Randor could find a job that allowed him to move out of their largely-human town and into a folk village in the Whispering Woods. They would stick out a lot as being human-passing, but there was nowhere else safe for Adora to grow up once her shifting began, and once they had a wild wolf child they would have been accepted by the community (and never faced physical violence from them at least, even if they would have dealt with derogatory comments beforehand).

This fic really is, at its core, about loneliness, isolation, acceptance, and balance/burnout (which is part of why those comments were bothering me). Adora generates a lot of light magic, true, but her inability to balance give with take (light with dark) is what really led to her difficulty shifting. Adora’s entire saga of learning to control her shifting is, at its core, about learning to be “selfish” and put yourself first sometimes.

Chapter 8: Moon Ritual

Adora was having some difficulty being verbal (the pathway between her brain to her mouth was struggling as her more animalistic side came out) during the morning/smut, but she was fully capable of consenting. She gets her brain’s wires a bit crossed after shifting/while holding back a shift, but she is still herself.

It took a long time for Bow to show up in this fic, but he is a researcher/kinda legal aid for the coven that helps them with research/finding precedent for their legal campaigns. He was initially present in the lab in chapter four, but it made that scene too crowded when there was already a lot of explanation going on there, and it would have been odd for him to be at the coven so late in the day, so I removed him until later.

The woman in the frilly pink dress was Spinnerella, and yes she is a necromancer in this AU. Oops.

There used to be “smaller” Moon Rituals insular to individual species (such as werewolves, as mentioned in relation to Adora’s den), but as the coven’s rose up as centralizing political and community entities, most of them got absorbed into their local coven’s Moon Ritual.

Liches’ bodies must be carefully maintained, or they either will a) remain in the exact same state as they were upon death (this takes a skillful transition, which Lonnie’s was not) or b) have their flesh and guts rot away even as their heart continues beating and they become living skeletons with an exposed heart. The ritual Glimmer, Castaspella, and Angella perform is three-fold: it “unlocks” Lonnie’s body from preservation, ages it slightly, and then “relocks” it so she doesn’t face any rotting issues. Lonnie will progress in her unlife until she is elderly, at which point another magical ritual can free her spirit and allow her to finally pass into a peaceful death.

Chapter 9: Echoes through time

Yeahhhhh Hordak was a Raider. He was trying to stake a vampire and the vampire bit him in self-defence. He tried to sell himself to Prime as being able to sneak into the folk villages because he appeared to be one of them - Prime returned that he was one of them, and then Hordak fled before he could be staked by his former comrades.

Catra fought Hordak when she and Scorpia were trying to get out. They started prodding about leaving, and he started giving them both vicious opponents trying to scare them off from leaving/kill them so SW could raise them as obedient ghouls but Catra could more than handle herself in the ring. It was when one of those violent matches injured Scorpia that she had enough and called a meeting with him in the ring. He basically told her no one ever walks away from him alive, to which she responded "We both know which one of us would die in a fight." They fought, she beat the shit out of him and told him they were done with all of this, warning him she would finish the job if he ever came after her or Scorpia. They weren't contacted again and they walked away from the underground.

Bringing my art history class in with this chapter, but I was envisioning something like a mini-Parthenon for the werewolf shrine. The shrine was never meant to be more than it was introduced as, an ancient gathering point for werewolves (also where the initial “cursed” willingly underwent the ritual to become a direwolf that didn’t go Quite as planed but shhhhh), and it merely acted as a memory trigger on wells of power for Catra.

Modern Etheria has "states" instead of countries, all under the national banner Etheria as a planet, though the national government doesn't actually do anything except coordinate between the individual states. Bright Moon started as a city-state. The Whispering Woods are legally part of Bright Moon, though they are in the in-between where a lot of people consider them their own folk state (kind of like Hong Kong is part of China, but people kinda acknowledge it as its own place) but everyone born in the Whispering Woods is a Bright Moon citizen.

Interlude V: Well of power

Basically, when I started posting this fic, I had it planned up to Chapter 5-6ish, and then everything was a blank road after that. When I reached chapter 6, what I had planned for that expanded out into Chapter 7, and then I was like well I need to show the moon ritual and full moon obvs, and how they found Shadow Weaver spun out from that moment. I had a rough vision of them finding out about Micah being taken/maybe raised in a dramatic graveyard scene, and then a rough sketch of the confrontation in the house afterwards with Micah landing the final blow.

Shadow Weaver didn’t know shit about direwolves aside from the very basics of what they were, so she never figured out that is what Adora was, but she anticipated her showing up after the fight between Hordak and Catra went bad. She knew Catra and Adora had broken up from word-of-mouth among the fighters, but she didn’t know the details and still assumed Adora would come to help her.

Hordak immediately let Catra into his cage fighters and threw her into the ring because as soon as Shadow Weaver found out the name of his new recruit, she wanted Catra under her control. Catra was supposed to die in a battle eventually, and Shadow could raise her as a ghoul and then use her to draw Adora into returning to her. She would have had to find Adora first, but that hurdle never came up considering Catra refused to die.

Chapter 10: Laid to rest

Alright, the truth about Melog: a few weeks after the end of the “continuous” part of the fic (the final Moon Ritual and smut), Catra finally asks Glimmer yo, what the fuck is up with my cat? Glimmer, like everyone else, doesn’t know, so she asks Angella and Castaspella. It turns out, Melog’s species adapts to their environment and mirrors their surroundings as they grow. No one recognized Melog because most of their kind are bipedal fae these days, mirroring humanity (roughly the same as the initial form we see them using in the show), but because Melog’s parents died early in the Silver Raids, they were raised by the forest and took on the form of a wild animal. Melog can affect their form somewhat, but they grew up quadruped and have no chance of becoming bipedal. Melog is happy as a cat, anyway.

Glimmer’s ritual, back when she did it, was performed after the moon ritual. The final step of the moon ritual would be Glimmer, Angella, and Castaspella drawing magic from the moon and gathering it in the crystals. Angella would give a brief explanation as to why each time in case there was someone new. Adora was well known at the rituals as the cursed wolf Glimmer was helping. Some people would hang back to talk with the coven leaders, but after the basin was mostly cleared out, Glimmer would take Adora behind the altar and perform the ritual to give her privacy. She provided Adora with clothes that were essentially scrubs - disposable and cheap, marketed towards new shifters as well as shifter and hybrid parents dealing with their children learning how to use their claws and not tear things.

This method preserved Adora’s privacy as much as possible, but any stragglers would see Adora walking with Glimmer, put together the blonde blue-eyed werewolf, and know it was Adora. Adora’s wolf form is far better known than her human one - at least before she started attending the ritual as a human occasionally - but her human form isn’t totally unknown.

Original Outline:

strange disease was supposed to be about 20k, 3-4 chapters, and have no backstory. Like my roommates AU, those plans changed. Originally, Catra was supposed to just be a bartender, and Adora was supposed to be a complete stranger. However, I’m never really a fan of AUs where they don’t at least know each other growing up in some way, and I lowkey swore I would never write one because they just don’t feel like Catradora to me. I wrote the first chapter of the fic with that lack of backstory (which at the time included some ideas/scenes from the final chapter 2 that later changed a lot), and - like always - it didn’t feel like Catradora to me once Adora shifted back (Adora’s situation was just that she got stuck shifting a lot and showed up at Catra’s place often, but she had her own apartment).

I went back to the drawing board, using the fighting backstory that had popped up to explain Catra’s home ownership while I was writing chapter one, and expanded it to the final fic’s backstory, although the details of why Adora had gotten stuck and everything to do with the necromancy didn’t come to me until later. I rewrote and edited the first 4~ chapters a lot as those ideas came to me, and didn’t start posting the fic until I already had those story elements in place.

Originally, Adora just befriended Melog and then fell for Catra, shifting back after staying the night because it was snowing. They started dating, there was some smut, and Adora got better control of her shifting when she became more stable from the relationship. That was supposed to be it. Oops. Additional meta:

Extra #1: Bestiary

Cut Content #1: Bar scene, Chapter 1

Ref #1 - Wolf shrine

What’s next?

I need fluff. After all that? It has to be fluff. Next is The Greys, my Area 51 AU about kid through young adult Catradora. I plan to start posting it in the next week on Tuesday.