2023 reads / storygraph

Natural Outlaws and Fractured Sovereignty

NA darkish fantasy

A thief and her friend who steal from the rich to save her dying father are caught, and offered a deal by the Governor for her father’s life and their freedom, if they travel to another country to steal from the royal treasury

she has to impersonate a noble lady and compete to become the arrogant king’s new spouse, staying in the competition long enough to figure out a way to pull off their heist, with her friends as undercover servants and the Governor’s assassin watching over her as a handmaiden

Aro bi MC & he/they nonbinary MC who become a QPR, lesbian and ace trans man SCs

Picnic

식이오법에 최소한 약간의 야채가 필요해. You need at least some veggies in your diet. 

Description: Just going on a picnic with Mingyu because Mingyu deserves the fluff and love.  Warnings: None Genre: Fluff, BF!Mingyu x Fem!Reader Word Count: 1.9k

Seventeen Masterlist | Masterlists

"MINGYU!" You yell and his head pops into the doorway, eyes bright with excitement.

"Yes?" He coos at you with a silly smile.

"Did you grab the portable charger?" You ask, a hand still resting on the open drawer where the charger should've been.

Mingyu quickly nods his head, "Yeah, it was the first thing I packed."

You pout, "Could've told me." Closing the draw, you pick up your purse from the bed and walk towards the human embodiment of a puppy you get to call your boyfriend.

"I did." He pouts back when you reach him, "But I think you were busy wrestling with the blanket."

You search your brain for the memory of his voice telling you he packed the charger but your brain sits silent. "I definitely didn't hear you."

"Get better at hearing then." Mingyu jokes and wiggles the tip of your ear between his fingers.

You bat his hand away, "Maybe you need to get a louder voice." You joke back.

As you take a step towards the door, Mingyu sucks in a large breath, preparing to do just that. Quickly, you realize what he's doing and leap to cover his mouth with both your hands.

"No need for it right now, though." You say softly and Mingyu's shoulders shake with a muffled chuckle while his squinting eyes mirror the laughter.

Mingyu lowers your hands and reveals the smile on his lips. "We should probably get going so we can find a good spot." He reasons and walks past you to grab the picnic basket filled with your dinner, drinks, and some desserts for after.

You silently agree and grab the blanket, all zipped up in its built-in bag. As you walk out of your apartment, Mingyu's excitement grows steadily. You can see it in the way his hand opens and closes around the picnic basket's handle and in the way he takes a few tiny fluttering steps after every few steps. You can feel it in the way his hand holds yours tightly and how he swings your intertwined hands between the two of you.

"Do you think there'll be a lot of people?" You ask, watching as most of the people around you head in the opposite direction with similar accessories as you and Mingyu.

Mingyu shakes his head, his eyes following two children as they laugh happily, "It hardly ever is and I don't think the holiday is going to change that."

You nod, "Okay, if you say so."

"I know so." He sasses with a smirk.

Rolling your eyes, you let out an airy laugh, "Whatever."

"See, what did I tell you?" Mingyu lifts both of his hands, gesturing at the empty park in front of you.

You smile and nod in agreement, "You were right."

He skips ahead a couple steps, "Let's set up over here. We'll be able to see everything from here." Mingyu stops just before the hill breaks away and sets down the picnic basket.

Making your way over, you take in the view. The city is spread around the park and the river splits the city right down the middle. Along the river banks, people mill around while they spend the evening with their friends or family, enjoying a meal and waiting for the fireworks. From up here, you'd be able to see the whole show and your ears wouldn't be terrorized with the explosions.

"Ack!" Mingyu yelps in surprise. You break from your thoughts and look over at him. Somehow, he slipped the blanket out of your grasp and was attempting to lay it out but the slight breeze had other plans. The unfurled blanket is now sliding down his front side and an unimpressed expression paints his face.

You press your lips together to suppress a laugh but a smile still shows.

"Help please." He pouts holding out the crumpled blanket.

"Okay." You nod and pick up the two corners he's not holding. Within seconds, the two of you have got the blanket flat against the ground. Clambering onto the blanket, you use your shoes to hold down two of the corners while Mingyu copies your actions.

"I wonder why no one ever comes here to watch the show." You wonder as Mingyu begins pulling items out of the basket. "It's such a good spot."

Mingyu hands you a container of pasta and answers, "It's pretty far away and I guess most people like to be down there with all the other people." He holds out a fork and you pluck it out of his hands.

"Lucky for us that we don't mind being alone then." You smile happily.

"Very lucky for us." Mingyu repeats before taking a large bite of pasta. "Mmm," He hums happily, "This is so good. I'm such a good cook."

"I helped!" You retort, twirling red stained noodles around your fork.

Mingyu swallows and nods, "Right, and my sous chef did an amazing job of opening the noodle box and placing the noddles in the boiling water."

You roll your eyes but let the comment slide and bring a bite of pasta into your mouth. "Who's recipe is this?" You question, taking in the flavors as you chewed.

"Uh, I found it on the internet on a blog of some sorts. Though I tweaked it a little cause I know you don't like some of the things that were listed." Mingyu explains before taking another bite himself. "OH!" He mumbles with pasta hanging from his mouth. Quickly slurping up the noodles, he reaches back into the basket and pulls out two more containers of food.

One container holds garlic bread and the other a simple salad.

Picking up a piece of garlic bread, you hum happily, "I was starting to think we were forgetting a pivotal side dish."

"I would NEVER forget the garlic bread." Mingyu feigns offense that you would even think that about him, "Also make sure to eat some salad. You need the veggies."

"Mingyu." You state and straighten your back.

"(y/n)." He mimics you while righting back a smile.

"When eating pasta, the only thing needed to complete the meal is good bread to dip into the sauce." You argue, "Salads were never invited to the carb party and I don't know when they decided to show up but I'm not giving into their presence. And you can't make me." You point your fork at Mingyu, teasingly.

Mingyu's mouth twitches into a playful smirk and his eyes sparkle with the laughter he's holding back. "But eating all those carbs isn't really that good for your health. You need at least some veggies in your diet."

"I eat veggies!" You counter, spinning more pasta around your fork.

Mingyu chuckles, "Nibbling on a slice of cucumber every other day is not enough."

You pout while chewing and he can't help but smile adoringly at you. With another glance at you, he lifts a forkful of pasta up to his mouth.

"Garlic bread will always be the right hand man to pasta." You say while stabbing some lettuce pieces grudgingly.

Mingyu nods, letting you win the banter, but you don't notice the corners of his mouth tick up. He, honestly, can't help it. He loves you and whatever playful mood you're in whenever. Whether it's when you're so certain that you could do something better than him or when you're like this and know he's correct but will do everything in your power not to outright admit defeat.

"I made it with your favorite dressing so I'm sure you'll like it." He tells you and follows your actions of stabbing some salad onto his fork.

You chew in silence before sighing happily. The weather is perfect, the view is perfect, and the meal Mingyu prepared fits the mood perfectly.

"I can't wait to see what kinds of fireworks they have prepared for this year." Mingyu comments, looking up at the sky.

You nod in agreement, "Last year's show will be tough to beat."

"Especially the heart eyed emoji. That was the best." He nods and twirls his fork around.

"No, that wasn't the coolest." You shake your head, "The coolest was the one that exploded like three different times. The first was into three stars and then the points of those stars exploded into more stars and then those points exploded into hearts. That was the coolest."

Mingyu chews and glances at the sky in thought before swallowing. "You know," He says with a laugh, "I don't remember that one. Must've not been that impressive."

Your fork drops into your pasta container and your jaw drops as well. "What do you mean you don't remember that one? You weren't even there!" You nearly exclaim, remembering that he had to miss the fireworks last year, but then you see his squinted eyes and the wide smile on his face. "Kim Mingyu. Why do you do this to me?" You sigh and pick up your fork again.

"Because it's fun to see your reactions." Mingyu explains a little too happily.

"One of these days..." You let the threat dissipate and put another bite of pasta in your mouth before taking a bite of bread for completion.

Mingyu rolls his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, one of these days, I'll pay for all this." Then, he leans closer, "I am looking forward to it."

Nearly choking on your food, you push him away while he laughs giddily.

30 minutes later, when all the food has been finished and put away, Mingyu opens his arms and you scoot over to him. Resting your head against his shoulder, you sigh in content. The sun has just disappeared from the sky and the park lamps are slowly illuminating one by one giving the park a warm, artificially yellow glow.

"I'm glad you could come this year." You say, staring out at the city as it lights it while the sky darkens. "Last year was very boring without you."

A chuckle rolls through his chest, "I know, trust me, I was wishing I was with you watching fireworks every single moment. Stupid work." He says, playfully angry but in reality he loved his job. Though it did have its downfalls with having to miss attending some events with you.

"Promise me next year?" You ask, hopeful but knowing that it was a slim chance as a year is a long time to promise something.

"I promise I'll try to keep my schedule clear for next year." Mingyu says and places a kiss on the top of your head. "It would suck to miss another one."

"If you can't come next year, I don't know if I will go." You tell him, "It was weird doing it without you and I don't know if I want to go through that again."

Mingyu pulls back slightly, "Then who's going to show me blurry pictures of the fireworks and who's going to tell me about the coolest fireworks?" He asks, a touch of panic in his voice.

You shrug, "Someone else?"

"But you explain them the best." He shakes his shoulders making your head bounce up and down.

"Okay, fine. I'll go but know I won't enjoy it." You smile at the thought that Mingyu likes your explanations of fireworks.

"I love you, (y/n)." Mingyu says softly as the first firework is launched into the sky and explodes into shimmering flames.

"I love you, too, Mingyu." You reply, snuggle closer to him, and let your eyes wander up to the sky where another firework is exploding into specks of green and red.

How To Scrap Battledroids

(I have decided to make this its own post entirely, so here it is! Read it on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24424678)

Prompt:  Anakin and The Boys make a skillshare about how to scrap battledroids but about halfway through Tup makes a hair routine class, then other troopers post their hobbies and basically thats how they win the public over to support the clones

______________________________________________________________

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the first instalment of ‘Reasons Why the 501st is the Best Battalion in the GAR’, subtitled ‘How To Scrap Battledroids’, sponsored by the Hero With No Fear himself, General Anakin Skywalker!”

General Skywalker steps into frame with a cocky smirk. The camera trails from his face down his arm to where he’s holding his lightsaber with a sure grip. 

“Today we’ll be demonstrating some of the most effective ways to absolutely demolish the B1 battle droid,” the narrator continues. The camera turns slowly, revealing several clones all around the Jedi, armed to the teeth and waiting. “The B1 battle droid, also referred to as a standard battle droid or a clanker, is the most widely used battle droid manufactured by Baktoid Combat Automata and Baktoid Armor Workshop. They’re the successor to the OOM-series battle droids. Early versions of the model required the use of a—”

“Holy kriff no one cares, Echo!” one of the clones says loudly. The narrator lets out an offended huff. The camera jerks and spins so that General Skywalker comes back into frame. The Jedi looks amused.

“Some of our viewers might appreciate a little background, Fives, shut up!”

“Force, can we get to it already? All this waiting around is driving me crazy!”

“Hardcase, calm down, exposition is important—”

“So is getting my weekly dose of adrenaline, Jesse—!”

“Okay, alright,” another clone soothes. “General, we’re waiting for your signal.”

“Thank you, Tup,” General Skywalker says, and ignites his lightsaber. “For that, I think you deserve the honor of going first.” This spurs a cacophony of groans from the others, but Tup makes a delighted sound. “Alright, on my signal. Echo, you’re in charge of making sure it all gets on camera, understand?”

“Yessir,” Echo says smartly. He pivots so that the entire group is visible—one Jedi and four clones, tense and waiting behind some sort of structure. 

“Alright, let’s go!” General Skywalker shouts, and they charge around the corner and take the platoon of battle droids that had been approaching by complete surprise. 

It’s possibly the most unfair fight the GAR has ever seen. It’s impossible for Echo to keep up with all the action. Hardcase’s Z-6 whines as it tears the droids apart. Tup and Jesse are dodging enemy blaster bolts and returning fire with fluid ease. General Skywalker is a storm of blue light and sparking clanker parts. At one point the Jedi reaches out his hand and sends Fives and Tup flying through the air with the Force so that they can attack from above. 

The fight is over in less than two minutes. It had been pure chaos, and utter destruction. The clones regroup around Echo, riled up and excited as General Skywalker comes within earshot of the camera again.

“And that,” General Skywalker says, sheathing his lightsaber with a flourish, “is how to take down a battle droid, 501st style. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

______________________________________________________________

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ve constantly been wondering, “Boy, who could possibly be better than those 501st imbeciles that showed up on the holonet a few weeks ago?” like I have recently, look no further! What takes six of the 501st’s best only takes two of the 212th!” 

“Boil, less talking, more not-dying!” someone shouts, and there’s a large explosion. The camera shakes uncontrollably for a moment, and then suddenly it steadies, half of the camera obscured by the rock that the cameraman is crouched behind. Regardless, General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Cody are visible, back to back in the middle of a courtyard absolutely swarming with droids. 

“Kenobi deflects blasterbolts from every side, and oh there’s the Commander, headshots, every one of ‘em, look at the way they kriffin’ move! So in-sync, they turn together, no hesitation at all—!”

“Boil, quit the commentary and get down!”

There’s another explosion. Boil lets out a grunt of annoyance. The camera whirls. 

“Come on, I’m missing the best part!” There’s a flash of orange and white, and then Boil gets the camera back up. The droids are attempting to close in on the two combatants, but General Kenobi slashes and whirls with ethereal grace. Commander Cody lashes out with powerful kicks that shatter the droids at the joints. They’re absolutely surrounded by sparking droid parts, untouched in their little circle of safety. When there are only a few droids left, General Kenobi slashes his last opponent cleanly in half before tossing his lightsaber oh-so-casually to Commander Cody The Commander catches it out of midair without even glancing at it and beheads the very last droid with a lazy flick of his wrist. 

Boil whistles, long and low. He’s not the only one. 

“And that’s how to destroy a battle droid, 212th style,” Boil whispers gleefully as General Kenobi and Commander Cody motion for their troops to advance. “And it really doesn’t get any better than that. Suck it, 501st!”

______________________________________________________________

Captain Rex looks extremely annoyed. 

“Since the 212th really seems to think the galaxy of themselves, this is Captain Rex of the 501st, and I’m here to show you all what it really means to destroy a battle droid.”

Behind the camera, someone giggles. Commander Tano’s hand appears in the frame as she gives him a thumbs up. He shoves his helmet on and draws both DC-17s, checking them over briefly before stepping out of cover directly in front of the platoon of battle droids, determined and completely alone. He charges, pistols already releasing a steady hailfire at his opponents. 

The battle droids don’t even stand a chance. They scream and cower and attempt to escape, but it doesn’t do them any good. Commander Tano laughs so hard that the camera shakes in her hand. 

______________________________________________________________

“You know, I think that normal B1 battle droids are getting pretty old,” Commander Cody says, smirking at the camera—there’s something a bit dangerous in the expression, almost predatory. Daring their next challenger to try and top them. “So this time we’re upping our game. Super Battle Droids aren’t nearly as easy to take down as B1s, which means we have to get a bit creative.”

By ‘get creative’, Commander Cody means ‘use lots of explosives’. It’s very impressive.

______________________________________________________________

“Oh kriffing—are you serious, General?” Commander Bly makes an unamused face at the camera.

“Of course, Commander. We can’t let the 501st and the 212th have all the fun, can we?” General Secura says in amusement, the tip of one blue lek sliding into frame for an instant. “Besides, we’ve got something much better than battle droids to destroy today, don’t we?”

Bly snorts.

“The Armored Assault Tank does take a significantly larger amount of effort than any battle droid can. So are we skipping droidekas, then? I don’t think anyone’s done them yet. They seem like a more logical next step up from SBDs to me.”

“Someone else can do that,” another clone chimes in, sounding a bit excited. “Go big or go home, right General?”

“Very good,” General Secura praises. She sounds pleased. “Trooper, please explain the weak spots of the tank to our audience as Commander Bly and I take care of those two on the ridge. It shouldn’t take us long. It’s a bit far—you might have to zoom in, but it should still be plenty visible.”

“Yes sir,” a trooper agrees happily as she passes him the camera. “Don’t worry, sir. I’m sure this’ll blow the rest of the videos completely out of the water.”

General Secura grins at her Commander. She shrugs one shoulder at him and pulls her lightsaber from her belt as she turns to face the tanks. Bly’s expression softens into something that definitely isn’t meant to be seen by the camera. Then he shoves on his helmet and raises his weapon to stand at her side.

“Alright, General. Lead the way.”

______________________________________________________________

“You know, these videos aren’t just to show people how easy the Seppie droids are to blow up,” Tup says with a shrug. “You can do other stuff too, you know. Dogma, the comb please!”

Dogma dutifully passes him the comb. Tup releases his hair from the bun. It falls down around his face, far nicer than it should considering the amount of time it spends mashed underneath Tup’s bucket. Tup begins to run the comb through his hair, grimacing slightly as he carefully works out knots.

“Alright, everyone is always asking me how I keep my hair so well-maintained with the GAR’s very limited hair products. Today I’m gonna let everyone in on a couple of my most prized secrets…”

______________________________________________________________

“I absolutely will not.”

“But sir,” Comet says (his voice trembles because he’s trying to keep from laughing), “You’re the best at it! The rest of us don’t even come close!” He moves the camera a little closer to Wolffe’s face.

“I don’t give a kriff,” Wolffe deadpans. He goes back to scrolling through his datapad. Comet swipes it from his hand and passes it to Sinker as Wolffe lunges for it, who passes it back to Boost, who tucks it behind his back. Wolffe levels a ferocious glare at them. All three of them cower for a moment until Comet finds his voice again.

“Siiiirrrrr. Sir, please.”

“No.”

“Then you’re not getting your datapad back,” Boost attempts bravely. Wolffe rolls his eye. 

“What’s stopping me from just taking it from you, Sergeant?” he counters. Boost licks his lips nervously.

“I mean, it would still be just as good of a video if you did,” Sinker says, snickering. “How To Discipline your Unruly Sergeant.”

“Just once, sir!” Comet begs, focused on their original goal. “We’ll stop bothering you if you do!”

“For how long?” Wolffe asks gruffly. Comet considers. 

“Until the next deployment, sir?”

Wolffe sighs.

“Fine. But only once.”

He tips his head back and lets out a long, inhuman howl. It’s wild and fierce and absolutely terrifying. It calls warriors to the hunt, triggers something carnal in the blood of the pack. The sound echoes through the room. In the corner of the frame, Sinker bares his teeth in response. The reaction is seemingly instinctive. 

When it finally ends, Wolffe drops his chin and lifts one eyebrow at his audience. 

“Satisfied?” he huffs. Boost passes him back his datapad with a dazed grin.

“Sithspit, sir. That was… better than usual. Trying to… impress someone, maybe?”

“Get out of my office,” Wolffe growls, on the defensive. “Get that camera out of my face, or I’ll have you running laps in the gym until your brains melt out of your skulls.”

“But sir! Now you have to explain how you did it! That’s what these videos are technically for after all!”

Wolffe loses his patience. He lunges. The camera gets swung around until everything is a blur. There’s a flash of grey, a hint of white, a snarl. Comet lets out an embarrassing shriek. The video cuts to black a moment later.

______________________________________________________________

General Windu is weaponless and surrounded, but that doesn’t stop him from utterly decimating every clone that gets within five feet of him. No one can even touch him. He dodges their attacks like he already knows their every move. He probably does. He flows and shifts like water around their attempts to take him down, even when they team up and pull out all the stops. Commander Ponds, hands steady as he films, chuckles mercilessly whenever General Windu successfully tosses someone aside. 

“There’s not really anything to explain here, we just wanted to demonstrate how cool our Jedi is. Mace can take on half the battalion bare handed and he barely even breaks a sweat.”

“Commander, are you actually going to help us or are you just going to sit there and watch us suffer?” a shiny yelps, two seconds before he gets his feet swept out from under him and goes down with a curse. Ponds laughs again. 

“No thanks, kid. I learned the hard way that what you’re trying to do is impossible.”

“Maybe you just never tried hard enough, sir,” Stak grits out, shoving the staggering shiny towards the edge of the mat. He charges Windu head on. It looks foolish until Ponds spots Razor coming in from behind the Jedi. He’s moving as silently as possible. Ponds shifts the camera accordingly so that all three of them are in frame. 

For half a second, it looks like General Windu won’t be able to block both of them.

Well, it appears that way. General Windu ducks low, twists so that he gets right into Stak’s personal space. Stak tries to grab him, but General Windu just uses his momentum to whirl him around and send him crashing into Razor. Their helmets clunk together with a hollow sound. They go down hard.

The onlookers cheer in excitement. General Windu has the smallest of smirks on his face as he settles back into a fighting stance and waits for the rest of the clones to make a move. 

“And that’s why our Jedi is the best,” Ponds says smugly. The next ten minutes of the video is General Windu successfully incapacitating the rest of his challengers. 

(The video is well-received by the general public but poorly received by the rest of the GAR.)

(“Respectfully, the 212th would like to submit this video to demonstrate why General Kenobi is actually the best—”)

(”The entire 91st can go kriff themselves, watch General Skywalker hijack these STAPs  in midair and you’ll know that the 501st obviously has the best Jedi—”)

(“The 327th resents everything that the 91st’s most recent video claimed and declares that Ponds has no kriffing idea what he’s talking about, General Secura is obviously a better choice, here are ten reasons why—”)

(“General Plo Koon can fight in space. I don’t see General Windu doing that, here are the clips from the 104th’s most recent zero-grav drills—”)

______________________________________________________________

When Commander Fox steps into the room, the men have the decency to look sheepish. Fox takes everything in slowly—the camera in Byte’s hand, the way Thorn and Thire are standing together shoulder to shoulder, hiding the failed project behind them, the scattered nuts and bolts all over the floor. The multitool in Stone’s hand. He drags one hand down his face and takes a deep breath. 

“You told me it was an emergency, Thorn.”

“It is an emergency, Fox! Listen, we even brought you caf because we knew you’d be annoyed,” he holds the steaming cup up as he speaks in a desperate attempt to make peace, “and there’s no way we’re going to figure this out ourselves!”

Fox plucks the caf out of Thorn’s hand and sighs again.

“What is it, then?”

“Well…” Thire drawls slowly. Fox narrows his eyes impatiently. 

“What the kriff is so important and difficult that three of my fellow officers couldn’t figure it out on their own?”

“To be fair, sir,” Stone says good-naturedly, “it’s far more difficult than we thought it would be.”

Thire and Thorn step away to reveal… a piece of furniture. A bench, only halfway assembled, innocent looking enough. Fox stares at it blankly for a few moments. Byte zooms in on his face enthusiastically. 

“We were going to demonstrate how to make it, for the video thing that half the GAR seems to be doing right now,” Thorn explains weakly. “But… it’s confusing. There’s even instructions but they don’t really help.”

Fox drains the cup of caf. He squares his shoulders. 

“Force save me. Are you kidding? Give me the kriffing instructions. This is ridiculous.”

(It takes them two more hours to get the bench set up. Fox misses a meeting. Byte edits the final video to include the bulk of the angry tirades and all of the snark. Public relations improve to an all-time high almost overnight.)

______________________________________________________________

(“The clones are not people. They are soldiers created for a single purpose,” some of the Senate attempt to protest. This argument does not last long, mostly because the civilians who have been eagerly following the videos that the clones have been releasing over the course of several months start to riot in protest. 

Padme Amidala and Bail Organa take great pleasure in bringing the videos before the Senate to prove to them that the clones are indeed soldiers but also individuals who laugh and cry and live just as any other citizen of the Republic does.

In the wake of the unshakable evidence and the rioting, there is little the opposition can do to stop the Clone Rights Bill from being passed, and the entire Republic celebrates.)

4 stars

At first, the title of this book didn't really appeal to me and I wasn't very curious about it. However, someone said it was an adult fantasy with dragons, a secret society of women mages, and its Sapphic, and I immediately was in. The Nameless One is starting to wake and the world must come together and also figure out how to end him. Classic good vs evil story.

Priory is a very long book, about 805 pages with the text covering most of the page. I love a good long book and I've definitely read longer, but I think this book deserved to be split up. There is so much happening in this book, there's so many countries and people and their religions. I think it suffers a little from that because I would have loved to spend more time with certain characters during big moments. Huge plot moments and pivotal scenes are often over very quickly because everything needs to move along and connect. I think if this book was split into two or even three books with more character depth and not so much everything, it would have been a solid 5 stars.

I absolutely LOVED Priory, don't get me wrong. The pace is fast and the writing is an easy flow that is perfect. Just the right amount without making the slow moments feel like a slog or even the book to feel way too long. I really liked seeing strong women warriors, leaders, mages, dragon riders, etc. It's a fascinating world and I enjoyed mostly all the characters and plots, and I liked how things came together fairly nicely.

The book follows four main characters but the most important two are Ead and Tané. The other two are Niclays and Loth.

Ead was a really great character because she was smart and capable, and I really like how sure she was of her capabilities. I actually thought there would be more lesbians in the book, but there wasn't. I really enjoyed her relationship with Sabran, however it felt like it went physical and deep extremely fast. I knew Ead was feeling things but Sabran extremely recently lost her husband and her baby (and the ability to have children) like in a small amount of time and suddenly they are having sex?? It just felt extremely sudden especially on Sabran's part where she is supposedly quite devout and you know, the religion doesn't allow same sex relations. We don't see into Sabran's head which is shame. I still enjoyed their relationship though and Ead's story.

Tané was probably my favorite of the four. Orphan girl becomes a dragon rider, that's right up my alley! Tané goes through quite a lot throughout the book, dealing with insecurities, unworthiness, shame for the lies and also consequences of her past actions, and more. She gains a desired top position, her dream, to losing it and falling very far. I did wish more for Tané when it came to the end fight. Tané's ending was the most confusing part of the story. You read it and you're just like WHAT???? I think I have an idea but to have most of everything be fairly clear cut in this story, and then just write something that doesn't get answered considering this is a standalone, is rude.

Niclays was probably my second favorite of the four narrators. He's an old, gay, grumpy old man. A lot of good and bad things have happened in his life. I really enjoyed his grief and anger, and his resilience even though he likely wouldn't agree he has that. He's a bit of a coward too. Although he served a purpose, it did feel like it took too long in the book to get there.

Loth, the last narrator, was my least favorite of the bunch. I appreciated that Loth could be friends with women and it wasn't a he was secretly in love with them or sexual in any way. He just genuinely loved them as people and like they were his sisters. I found Loth to really just be the most passive character in the series, more letting things happen to him and going along with it. He mainly just brought things to people and had a negotiation scene that just fell extremely flat. He hardly had much of a personality either.

There is in general so much going on. Did I really have to have explained that an ancient witch fell in love with the man she raised as a baby, bewitched and glamored him so he'd think she was someone else, and marry and have a baby with him??? Why??? I understand you want to flesh out the world and make her even more monstrous and powerful, etc. But there is just more important things to focus on but yet you skip training Tané with magic or Ead with the jewels? Magic is explained to an extent but I don't quite understand Ead's kind of magic. It's fire but she's capable of doing things other than fire??

Because the book has so much happening and moving quickly, things tend to work out really quickly and/or easily. I am absolutely more of a stickler to realism. Things don't work out perfectly. People fail. I like seeing that and I think that's why I liked Tané and Niclays more.

I know it feels like I'm bitching and being pedantic, but I ultimately really enjoyed the book! I liked that there were dragons of water instead of fire. It was altogether enjoyable and I'd definitely recommend it highly to fans of adult fantasy! And this actually makes me want to read her other books.

a different look into exile

what if exile is taylor talking to her fans, who she is afraid will leave her if she lived her truth, in this case, if she came out?

exile brings out a similar sound heard in a previous taylor swift collaboration the last time where there is a conversation being had between two people however one take on it that i haven’t seen yet (though correct me if i’m wrong) is that maybe exile is another song, similar to mirrorball, where she is talking to her fans (and her lover). i believe exile has more similar themes to the archer, another song where taylor brings up the idea of having something to tell us... but not being able to.

lets take this verse by verse

I can see you standing, honey With his arms around your body Laughin', but the joke's not funny at all And it took you five whole minutes To pack us up and leave me with it Holdin' all this love out here in the hall

I think this verse is definitely her lover (or ex lover) talking to her. There were clear signs that Taylor was going to come out during the Lover era, only to have to quickly pivot due to her masters issue (which is understandable). However, we all remember the build-up: Taylor was nervous the whole era, we all knew something was coming, the “friday calmness” selfie and then... nothing. Just like that the era ended. i feel this is her lover seeing taylor being forced to go back to the bearding and the lies. In a weekend, Taylor would have been free but instead she went back to “him” (her beard) and her coming out was cancelled. 

I think I've seen this film before And I didn't like the ending You're not my homeland anymore So what am I defending now? You were my town, now I'm in exile, seein' you out I think I've seen this film before 

Once the coming out plan had been cancelled, Taylor’s lover is now in exile. It is why I believe this song is about Karlie(whereas other songs may be about previous gfs). We see the way a good amount of swifties treat Karlie: they drag her through the mud, comment hate on her posts, and are often just downright mean. Taylor cancelling her coming out plans is the final nail in the coffin for Karlie (for now). Whereas if Taylor had come out, her connection to Karlie would be out in the open. Even if people believe they broke up, the connection to Taylor as someone who she clearly loved, would hopefully lessen the hate Karlie receives. Right now, we are still unsure if Taylor will ever come out. Maybe the lover era confirmed to Taylor that coming out will never be an option for her until she decides to slow down her music career. in that sense, “Karlie” is saying that she’s seen how this ends. she knows that this is a position she may always be in. 

I can see you starin', honey Like he's just your understudy Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me Second, third, and hundredth chances Balancin' on breaking branches Those eyes add insult to injury

It’s here where I believe the shift happens. No longer is this a conversation between Taylor and Karlie (who she left behind) but now it is a conversation with Taylor and her fans. Swifties are fiercely loyal to Taylor and would get their “knuckles bloody” for Taylor. Taylor did this through creating a bond of trust between her and her fans. However, if she comes out, she ultimately lied to her fans... something that may break this bond of trust. 

I think if Taylor comes out swifties will accept her, and they will support her, but i think they will wonder why it took so long or why Taylor was so afraid of their reaction. We know a lot of swifties see Taylor like a friend that they know in real life (even though they don’t). When Taylor refers to “second third and hundredth chances” she’s talking about how many times she debated coming out. This is similar to the theme in the archer that we see in the line I've got a hundred thrown-out speeches I almost said to you. 

She has wrestled with the idea of coming out for a long time, however she just couldn’t bring herself to do it because her career is in the balance. Seeing her fans trust her and be so loyal to her, hurts her, because in the end she cannot be truthful about something that truly makes her, her. It’s the eyes of her young fans who look up to her and the older fans who trust her adding insult to injury.

I think I've seen this film before And I didn't like the ending

Like I said before, if Taylor comes out, I think overall swifties will be accepting even if they were against the idea before. While some swifties will decide to leave, I think Taylor will receive an overall warm reaction to her coming out.

 However, this is a big decision and it is completely understandable that she is afraid. The film she is referring to, is similar to the “heroes” she refers to in the archer. She has seen what happens to people when they come out. 

She has seen the effects it has on their career and on their lives. She has seen others who can never come out (like she is afraid will happen to her) and must accept being alone forever. It’s why I think Ellen had a large role in the Lover era. Whatever your opinion of Ellen, many forget that she lost her career when she first came out as a lesbian. This is the “ending” Taylor doesn’t like. She doesn’t want to remain alone, but she doesn’t want to lose everything she worked for. 

I'm not your problem anymore So who am I offending now?

I think this might be referring to Big Machine and maybe her old fanbase?  We all know Big Machine most likely pushed her into hiding her sexuality in order to make it big. I’m sure she must have heard something along the lines that her coming out might “offend” people. Here she is talking to Big Machine telling them she is not their problem and therefore she can’t “offend” anyone anymore. Her old fanbase before she shifted to “pop” is often reported as feeling left behind by her. 

You were my crown, now I'm in exile, seein' you out I think I've seen this film before So I'm leaving out the side door

Taylor is extremely grateful to her fans as she always lets us know. But she is also grateful to her old fans. They are what put her here, and they are her “crown” so to speak. But if she comes out, there is still the chance that her career will take a hit and there is still the chance that people feel betrayed by her. Additionally she will once again be joining her lover that she left behind in exile. However, she’s “seen this film before” and takes the easy way out (the side door) and puts her coming out plans on hold. 

So step right out, there is no amount Of crying I can do for you

I’ve skipped ahead here, since I don’t want to go over things too much more than once. But here is where the “conversation” happens. I think these lines are Taylor’s lover again because you do not hear Taylor’s voice at all in the background. She’s urging Taylor to come out. To step into the daylight and let it go. It’s not that she can’t sympathize with Taylor but she’s tired of being in the dark too. The time for crying has passed, it’s time to take action. 

All this time We always walked a very thin line

If you listen closely, you hear Taylor’s voice again here, which is why I believe that this is addressed to the fans again. Taylor is referring to how fickle fans of any artist can be in general. She learned the hard way during reputation, when she felt that so many of her supporters dropped her. She knows success is fleeting, and that her relationship with her fans (especially her less hardcore fans that listen to her from time to time) can be lost in an instant. 

You didn't even hear me out (Didn't even hear me out) You never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs)

I think this is mostly self-explanatory, but I think this is referring to how there is a clear disconnect between some of her fans and Taylor. While there are people who believe Taylor isn’t straight (I’m here right now aren’t I?) the majority of her fans do not really think about these things (which is fine.) Maybe we as fans, aren’t really listening to her. But maybe we also feel that she isn’t listening to us. 

When she comes out, the first question everyone will ask is how “no one” knew. How was she able to hide this for so long considering she is known for “writing songs about her boyfriends”? Her fans are going to be surprised and she is saying that she gave so many signs we just chose not to see them.

All this time I never learned to read your mind (Never learned to read my mind)

I personally love this line because of the amount of layers it has. Taylor shares so much of herself in her music, that it is unsurprising that her fans feel a sense of kinship to her to the point that they feel they know her inner most thoughts. Taylor even released her diaries during the Lover era, furthering this idea that swifties know everything about her. However, despite the fact that Taylor revealed so much in her music, her fans never learned to read her mind or properly analyze her music. They never were able to crack the true meaning and muses behind her music. 

I couldn't turn things around (You never turned things around) 'Cause you never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs so many times)

Once again, he is emphasizing the point that she gave so many signs. She dropped so many hints, especially in the Lover era. The delicate speeches, rainbow dresses, You Need to Calm Down, Me! Out Now, the rainbow theme throughout Lover. Then there were the more “secretive” signs: the secret moments, dancing with her hands tied, the original gorgeous lyrics, and the fact that A Portrait of a Lady on Fire seems to be her inspiration for much of folklore. A movie about a woman being able to be free and honest about her love for another woman through.... her art, and her “muse” being “free” through her art as well. 

You never gave a warning sign (All this time) I never learned to read your mind (So many signs) I couldn't turn things around (I couldn't turn things around) 'Cause you never gave a warning sign (You never gave a warning sign) You never gave a warning sign Ah, ah

I think it’s interesting here how she changes from “you never turned things around” to “I couldn’t turn things around.” Maybe she blames herself somewhat for the way this secret kind of balled up and became so big over time. Maybe she is answering the question of whether or not she can just stay closeted forever. She’s saying no. She can’t turn things around and she can’t make things different. This is who she is. 

for zutaraang week day 6, ‘dancing’. Very Heartlines-related. read it on ao3! 🎶

"You, look, uh," is the first thing Zuko says to her when they meet each other on the floor, his arms dangling at his sides like he's forgotten how to greet a friend. Katara feels a smile pull at her lips before he has even finished the words.

For the record, friend is definitely not the right word anymore. She'll have to give that some thought. There's something frivolous about boyfriend, when one also has a husband.

Tonight is all deja vu, beginning with the presence of the Fire Lord. The decor, the music, and the food of this event are all stunningly reminiscent of the Daoshu Province. With the disaster's three month anniversary looming, both of them are guests of honour at this fundraising event organised by the Southeastern Earth Kingdom migrants.

A lot is familiar, but nothing shocks her back to those few months of the summer – the terror, the toil, the ultimate gift – than the startlingly smitten expression on Zuko's face (she lets her heart skip that beat, maybe even relishes it.)

It's been a few weeks since she saw him, and longer still since she has been with him alone in private, and the stark difference between his dignified presence at a city hall fundraiser and his presence at, well, her honeymoon is enough to make Katara blush upon sight.

Katara bends in a playful curtsey. There were a few speeches and a rousing folk theatre performance, but the night is winding down now. A local group whose name Katara can't quite recall is regaling the room with a pleasant melody over the chatter, classical Earth Kingdom strings fused with a livelier beat, a more recent Republic City invention. They were planning to meet tonight regardless, but Katara is still thrilled that her attempts to catch his eye across the large, crowded room were successful.

"And you, Your Highness. Eloquent as ever." She rises with a smirk.

She can see Zuko struggle with the effort to resist rolling his eyes in a highly public place. She gives another half a second's attempt at keeping up the pleasantries before throwing herself into his arms. Zuko returns the hug, both of them holding on long enough that it would probably send some downtown reporter into a frenzy.

"I missed you," she says into his shoulder, taking a long breath in. "There's so much I have to tell you."

"Me too," he says, stepping back with a conspicuous cough and a smile. The words themselves are gratifying in Katara's ears. Nothing reinvigorates her like a good catch up session with Zuko; it's been a busy week, but she can already feel the anticipation building in her chest, of renewing her strength with his presence.

"How's Aang?" Zuko asks. "Sokka? Toph?"

Katara takes each question in turn. "Still in the South, both of them. A lot of Avatar duties to keep busy with when the Northern and Southern tribes have their biannual reviews," she says with a deprecating laugh that she knows Zuko will understand. She herself has been spared any diplomatic duties in the gathering of the sister tribes, due to the sheer workload of codifying new healing practices. She has to catch Zuko up on those – particularly the pilot training courses in medical bloodbending. Though that particular topic between them might be better reserved for a more private setting. Her face flushes with the thought. That topic tends to stray pretty quickly from healthcare provision. "I could swear I saw Toph earlier tonight, though I think all the flouncy Earth Kingdom costumes in the play might have scared her away."

Zuko laughs. "I can't say I blame her." Katara scans her eyes around the room for her anyway. She can't spot Toph amongst the few remaining guests, but she notices that most who aren't sitting are swaying on their feet. The band really is good, and they've read the room well enough to switch to a calmer tune. A serene erhu melody wafts across the hall, the sound undulating in a way that makes it hard to stay still.

"She told me that you're here until next week?" Katara says, unable to keep the elation from her voice. "Does that mean things are settling down at home?"

"More or less," Zuko says, a middling grimace that tells her that there's more to elaborate on later. "Stable enough that Uncle returned to Ba Sing Se."

Katara hums her acknowledgement. "Well, you definitely look good," – she corrects herself at Zuko's mildy scandalised expression – "I mean, you look like things aren't too stressful in the Fire Nation."

"Right," Zuko says, with an endearing look of suspicion. "Well, I still have to plan–"

Under the daze of the mellifluous soundtrack in her ears and Zuko in front of her eyes, an irresistible thought occurs to her. "Tell you what," she interrupts him, leaning up. "Save the conversation for later. You still owe me a dance from the last ceremony."

"I–" Zuko says. "You know I don't really–"

"I seem to recall you did with Aang," Katara cuts in.

"Not of my own will."

"Come on."

Zuko looks like he wants to stomp his foot. "Are you keeping some bizarre score about who can embarrass me the most?" He eyes her with caution, like he thinks the two of them wouldn't be above such games. "And I really wouldn't call that dancing."

Katara pauses, recalling the brief minutes of drunken bobbing she had witnessed during the final ceremony in Daoshu. "No, me neither."

She finds that her memory is hazy enough that she can't remember whether she even tried to get Zuko to dance that night. In her defense, she had had bigger things on her mind.

Zuko coughs and tries to extract himself out of their loose embrace, making another valiant attempt to dissuade her, even though they're both swaying on the spot by now. "And anyway, messing around with Aang is one thing. You're– you're such a natural at dancing. I'd look like an idiot in comparison."

Katara cocks an eyebrow at him. "And remind me which one of us was raised in a royal court?"

Zuko grunts, unamused.

Katara continues, "I don't even know how you've managed to avoid dancing all these years, with all the events you must have to go to."

"I'm the Fire Lord. I can make it law that no one's allowed to make me dance."

Katara glances once around the floor before taking a step in, her hands cupped around his neck. She says into his ear, her voice lowered to the volume of a whisper, "Not in this country you can't."

Zuko takes a sharp breath in. It sort of makes Katara forget to take her own breath.

"I'll teach you," she says. "A basic one," she nods her head towards the band to the side of the stage, "anything a little on the softer side would go with these steps."

She expects a long suffering sigh – which, she does get, immediately. But after a moment Zuko mutters under his breath, "Okay."

"Great," Katara says, lifting her hand to rest it on his shoulder. "Alright, put one arm around me." Zuko simply presses closer the hand already hovering around her back.

He's warm, much warmer than the autumn breeze. "Higher," Katara says with only a little hiccup. She raises her other hand and grasps his in mid air so they're in a starting position. "Good. Now step forward when I step back, and come back into position again."

Zuko does, so quick that she almost sidesteps to get out of his way. Then he attempts it again, with a frown of concentration so severe that she struggles not to burst out laughing.

"You need to slow down," Katara says, and with a trace of guilt, she is laughing.

The look of disgruntlement on his face is enough to make her touch his cheek in apology. Eventually Zuko gets it, and they move back and forth, all of Katara focus on keeping him at the right pace. The simplicity of the movement, the repetition, lulls her into an easy trance of simply enjoying his presence, until she finds herself circling ever closer, close enough to rest her head against his chest.

The tempo changes.

Katara stands up straight. "Let's try a twirl."

She guides Zuko through the motions, narrating them as she does. Zuko is silent, content to learn, and it sends a wave of pleasure up her spine to have his attention so thoroughly, with nothing but her words and actions.

"Remember," she says, after a few attempts, "make it fluid." She turns, pivoting on the grip of his hand seamlessly to demonstrate the movement. Zuko is still stiff as a board, but there's a precision to his movements now.

"It's like sparring," she says. "Follow the steps until its muscle memory." She looks Zuko evenly in the eyes before twirling, "And be aware of your partner." The breeze catches her skirt when she spins out, and Zuko catches her firmly in the bend of his arm when she spins back in. Chill and heat. Katara returns to form a little breathlessly.

"It's like waterbending," Zuko amends, with a small smile. "Of course you're so good at it." The words are almost a whisper. For the first time, Katara feels self-conscious under his gaze. She clears her throat, looking up into his eyes instinctively to help her gain ground.

"And I mean both of you," Zuko says, matching her gaze. Katara has misstepped – she finds she can only hold it for a moment longer before she averts her eyes, slipping her hands down from his shoulders and loosely behind his back. They're close enough that she feels him swallow, and she tentatively lets him take her weight, like she had wanted to ten minutes ago. One peek behind his shoulder tells her they're not doing worse than the other pair on the floor right now.

"I watched you," Zuko says, somewhere near her temple. "Back in Daoshu. At-at the wedding." He gives a nervous bark of laughter, "A lot of times, actually. I love watching you guys dance."

Katara's stomach tightens at the plain admission. It's so unlike him, and the waver in his voice lets her know that he's aware of it, too. "And what's your verdict?" she says into his collar.

"Mesmerising," Zuko offers. "It's just–" but he's interrupted by a flash of light in the corner of the room. Katara and Zuko turn their heads towards the distraction in unison.

The presses should have left an hour ago. When Katara furrows her brow and looks up to gauge Zuko's reaction, he's already looking down at her. It's clear from his stunted expression: neither of them know how to react.

Katara cranes her neck to see if she can spot where one of the nosy rats from the Harmony Herald or whatever might be sitting, but decides within moments that it's not worth the effort, and leans her head back onto his collar. Finally, she says, curling her arms closer around him for emphasis,"I think… I think this might be more than they can handle."

"Don't worry about them," Zuko says.

"Really?" Katara's surprised. He's always been irritable about what the rags report - and with very good reason, it had to be admitted. There's a laidback attitude that she and Aang could always afford to have about the press, safe in their relationship. With hindsight, some of those accusations over the years must have been nerve-wracking for Zuko.

"What's the worst rumour they can spread?"

Katara smiles into his shoulder, considering this. He's right. What could they say, that would actually matter anymore? She doesn't hold back the mirth in her voice, mock-whispering, "They might publish that picture, and then the Avatar will find out."

"He'll come after me," Zuko says in a serious deadpan.

"Wouldn't that be a nice change of pace," Katara remarks.

Zuko's laughter rumbles against her ear, a worthwhile reward. Katara closes her eyes and focuses on the music again.

 *

 Aang squints at the paper stall. If you asked him, he would tell you that the front page of the Southern Enquirer today is distasteful. Well, more so than usual. At least that giant photograph of Katara and Zuko is taking attention away from the dubious text. The vendor leaning against the stall looks bored, and he probably couldn't care less what he's selling. Oh, well. He'll complain about it the minute he sees Hakoda, see if the Chief can scare some sense into the publishers.

For now, he's happy to fall for the distraction.

"Hi!" The vendor startles and stands upright. "Can I get a copy?" Aang gestures towards the paper.

"Sure you–" the kid stops in his tracks, his hand on the top of the stack. He looks at Aang, then back to the cover, and then back to Aang again, his eyes widening like saucers with each turn. Aang exchanges his coins for the paper, an even smile on his face throughout. "Here you go," the kid squeaks.

DANCING ON THIN ICE?

REPUBLIC CITY – After their summer together in the wake of the Southern Earth Kingdom's terrible earthquake, it looks like things are shaking up again for this star-crossed pair. With the Avatar all the way here in...

Kakashi Asks-Answer

Q: (From @thetoxicstrawberry) What are your thoughts on Sukea? Do you think this disguise existed prior to him messing with Team 7?

A: I know that you and I have congratulated each other on having the same brain before Berry, and this is another of those priceless occasions, haha! I’ve been hoping that someone would ask me about Sukea so that I could have an excuse opportunity to geek all over my favorite ninja dork’s alter ego. Thank you for reading my thoughts (your thoughts? Our thoughts?)!

*Cracks knuckles* My study of the development of Kakashi’s photogenic photographer not-so-secret identity starts below the cut.

It’s a beautiful coincidence that I answer this question so close to my first anniversary as an outed writer in the Naruto fanfiction community. I wrote my headcanon of the origin of Sukea in my very first (and very naughty) fic! Seriously, I can forgive Kishi for almost everything simply because he removed the mask from my favorite character and put a camera in his hands (for those that don’t know, I’m a photographer).

In my story Supplemental Training, I portray Kakashi just as I imagine him when he’s nearing the end of his ANBU career. While he claims to be a man of many hobbies, he is first and foremost a ninja. He goes to sleep and wakes up a shinobi. His ability to form plans and strategies makes him both a powerful ally and a formidable enemy, but beyond the scope of missions, I don’t believe him to be an especially imaginative person. At the very least, I mean to say that he doesn’t put much stock in his own latent creative ability, and that prevents him from attempting such. Further, at that stage in his life and career, Kakashi is wound tighter than a two-dollar watch.

In my fic, he is reluctantly thrust into a situation that he is suspicious of, and is determined to control. He plays along with another character when she asks what he would like to call her, and Kakashi dubs her with a name that is obvious and unimaginative. She, in turn, christens him with a name that is equally obvious and unimaginative: Sukea.

(Side note: sukea is the Japanese pronunciation of the English word scare. Kakashi means scarecrow in Japanese, so, his alter ego’s name is a play on his own.)

In the story, Kakashi accepts the offered moniker, and it’s not long before he realizes that he stands to gain new skills if he manages to successfully navigate his situation. I’d written that my quick-thinking bean likens this experience to being an actor that is assuming a role. In scrambling for a costume, he tugs his mask down; effectively removing the face that most have come to recognize as his. Then, he’s nervous af.

This leads to the pivotal moment of my story, and in the creation of Sukea. Konoha’s prodigy, for all of his brilliance, doesn’t shine in the social interactions arena. Kakashi, bless his heart, wants so badly to be in control of the situation. However, it’s only when he lets himself go in favor of becoming Sukea, that he finally does gain control of it.

Near the end of my story, I write that Kakashi considers, “… what he had gained, who he had escaped, what he had beaten back, and who he became.” It’s from this moment on that I believe Sukea is an important part of this character’s life.

This transition doesn’t have to play out the way I’d written it in that fic, but I think Kakashi would have to be pushed into stepping outside of himself. We don’t see him assuming different identities in his career. He’s not a role-playing kind of dude in his downtime. He lives in a mask and wears an additional one when he clocks in for his shifts. He insulates himself during missions and isolates himself between them. I sometimes wonder if, by this stage in his life, he’d hidden his identity so well that Kakashi had lost sight of himself.

So, the experience of being Sukea-however it comes about and for whatever reason-would be something between refreshing and liberating for the Copy Nin.

Now I’m going to pull a Kishi tactic and employ a time jump with minimal backstory. A couple of years go by in which bad things happen to the Uchiha clan, Konoha adopts yet another orphan, and Kakashi is released from ANBU.

I imagine that this is one of the most difficult stages of Kakashi’s life. Nothing could be more unsettling for this dork than idleness after the familiar, strict, comfortable routine of the decade he spent in ANBU. I honestly think Kakashi wouldn’t know what to do with himself in the years between Black Ops and Team Seven. As a result, he begins to have a greater appreciation of Gai and his challenges. Also, this is when Kakashi would flesh out his secret identity as Sukea.

Because escapism.

Kakashi can’t stand himself in the years between Team Minato and Team Seven, and after he’s out of ANBU, he’s got too much time on his hands to ruminate on it.

There’s no way in hell that he would just wake up one day and decide to skip along the streets of Konoha without his mask on though. Kakashi would approach this consciously and meticulously. It helps to occupy the extra time. It postpones the moment between deciding to go out as Sukea and actually doing it. He would need time to prepare for this, mentally and physically.

There’s more to my headcanon than loathing himself though. The Third Hokage decided that this traumatized soldier was grade A teacher material, and Kakashi takes his orders seriously. While I don’t think he would view his eccentric nature as odd, I think he would be aware that he is socially awkward (at least, he would be aware that he feels awkward in social situations). I think he would strive to improve at this, if only for the sake of being a sensei.

This is why Sukea is a photographer.

Being a photographer is similar to being a fly on the wall. In order to capture candid moments or gather pictorial evidence, a photographer needs to melt into the background. Kakashi, being a ninja, would know how to succeed at that. He’d come to terms with the fact that the mask that hides his face makes him stand out. He’d know to cover his luscious, outrageous silver cowlicks, his famous scar and borrowed eye.

I can almost hear a couple of you piping up in the back asking, “But Hima, he’s a ninja! He can just don a henge!” The answer to that is no, unfortunately. As long as that sharingan is in Kakashi’s eye socket, that shit never shuts off. Even though he’s wearing a contact lens, as long as both of his eyes are open, it’s a constant drain on this poor knucklehead’s chakra reserve. Also? I think he doesn’t want to.

Choosing photography as Sukea’s schtick was brilliant. Photographers are expected to focus on their subjects, affording Kakashi plenty of time and opportunity to study others. He would definitely learn a great deal about people this way. Relationships and their dynamics are captured by his lens. He gains some new social skills by watching and catches up on the lives of the folks of the Hidden Leaf at the same time. One of his many hobbies is born. The best photographers are careful in their observations, quick in their actions, and Kakashi is already carrying those tools around in his fanny pack.

Unrelated, but, only Kakashi could make a fanny pack look asjkfsd hot. Another trivial detail, but you know how I love those: I’m thinking of one of Berry’s delightful headcanons about his mask and drawing from it now in my imagination. I wonder if Sukea carries Kakashi’s mask in his coat pocket the first few times he goes out in public.

Whether he does or not, after a few field trips around Konoha, I think Kakashi would genuinely enjoy stepping out as Sukea. He would have to if he’s still doing it during his sensei days, and again in the next-gen era.

He delights in trolling Team Seven, that’s for sure. Sukea is his own private joke, and who among us tires of laughing at our own jokes? Kakashi’s no different, and that’s why we catch him smirking at his reflection when we finally got to see the goods in that special manga chapter and anime episode. It felt so good to have my anime crush validated, btw.

Every time Kakashi drifts undetected around the Leaf Village, there is one other jōnin that Sukea’s camera avoids. As much as he enjoys his joke, he wouldn’t push his luck when it comes to the possibility of Maito Gai recognizing him. I think it speaks volumes about their friendship when we see Sukea sweating it out as Gai’s eyebrows invade his personal space and he stares the other man down. I’m convinced that this is how Kakashi learns his eternal rival is hopelessly face blind, but that’s a headcanon for another day.

Sukea is still stalking the inhabitants of the Hidden Leaf when Boruto’s generation of ninja are preparing to graduate. However, we see Kakashi tugging his mask back up and pulling the wig off, transitioning in front of Iruka. In so doing, he proves how much he’s grown throughout his life. I imagine that being Sukea had a lot to do with that.

This alter ego of Kakashi’s-like so much about him-is enigmatic. It seems to me that he’s revealing himself rather than hiding himself; giving others a chance to get to know him underneath the underneath. The person aside from the elite ninja that he is.

I said earlier that I wondered if Kakashi had hidden his identity so well, that he had lost sight of himself. I like to think that in being Sukea, Kakashi reconnected with himself.

XOXO

Have an absurdly long review of The Starless Sea?? I usually don’t actually write reviews of books that I read, but my frustration and mixed feelings towards this one compelled me to. Spoilers ahead.

2.5 stars? It wasn't terrible, though it did make me almost throw it down several times in rage due to its execrable punctuation (learn how to use a semicolon, lady!! you're clearly addicted to writing sentences that require them!) It's like all the punctuation was downgraded one level - commas where semicolons were needed and nothing where commas were needed - and I'm baffled at how this book got past an editor. I think maybe a case of the author feeling like it's her "style" when in fact it's just poor writing - I’m all for playing with the ‘rules’ of grammar when writing stylistically, but this is NOT that (something about how you have to know the rules to break them). It’s clearly meant to be beautiful, dreamlike language, but it’s inconsistent and creates some of the flattest, clunkiest prose I’ve had the displeasure of reading in published fiction. It made it difficult to enjoy; I usually read quite fast, so without the punctuation marking pauses in the text for my brain I felt like I was just barreling over it and it was... unpleasant. The audiobook helped matters LOTS because the narrator actually put the pauses in where they needed to be, and ultimately listening to it versus reading the text actually made it tolerable for me to finish the book. It's not that she's a bad writer, exactly - she certainly does well with description/vivid settings/ creating an ~atmosphere, and while I wouldn't exactly say that her prose was beautiful/poetic as she clearly wants it to be, it was certainly pleasant when read by the audiobook narrator. I've seen criticism of her characters, which wasn't one of the low points for me - I liked them all and found them all interesting; I would have certainly liked to learn more about them, but it wasn't a huge issue for me. They were people, but they also were "metaphors" as she so kindly announced over and over again; archetypes meant to play certain roles. Zachary's passivity didn't bother me, exactly - American Gods was one of my favorite books for a while, and I saw shades of Shadow in him (though I would argue that Shadow's passivity and subsequent awakening in the final act plays more of a relevant plot role than Zachary's here). Could/should the love story have been more developed? 100%, but I also didn't feel like we're meant to believe they're madly in love with each other yet, just that they see that potential in the other and want to the opportunity to give it a go. I do wish she'd interwoven Kat's story a little more through the middle part of the book, as she's clearly far more pivotal at the end than the story sets her up to be. Mirabel seeks out Kat before the events of the book?? How did that not come up? She literally just tells her everything about the Harbor and the Starless Sea?? If Mirabel had sought out Zachary in the past but he only accidentally stumbled across Sweet Sorrows, why didn't she try to move that along a little more? I guess it wasn't necessarily an accident that the Keating Foundation donated Sweet Sorrows to the school the son of the fortuneteller would end up at - not too farfetched to think that they could have seen that coming I guess - but it seems weird to me that Mirabel needed both Kat and Zachary to accomplish her goal, but doesn't actually prod Kat into action, despite telling her everything else, and also doesn't seek out Zachary as an adult until he arrived at the party... and then basically tells him as little as possible! Possibly because she knew he needed to die, and she didn't think he would go through with it if he knew, which is too reminiscent of HP for my tastes - especially their talk in the bee-created ballroom at the end; SUPER reminiscent of the king's cross albus/harry convo. Obviously the book is full of allusions to literature, and of course stories have similarities (it's in their nature!!) - but this was too similar; it felt less allusive and more (maybe accidental) copy-cat. Plotwise: I don't necessarily mind that this isn't really a plot-driven book. Setting and atmosphere are definitely the primary point - like EM thought of a place and sort of vaguely designed a story around it to justify writing a novel about this place -and the world she creates is certainly compelling. I would have liked the logic of it to be fleshed out more - it reminded me of a dream where it makes total sense when you're in it but once you wake up, you realize that it didn't really make any sense at all. Maybe that was her intention, but it felt like lazy worldbuilding to me - there needs to be an internal logic, and I got the sense that she didn't actually put much effort into thinking it all through because she didn't want to or feel like she needed to. For example, Zachary was stabbed through the heart. Dorian had a beating heart in a box. Did he rip open Zachary's rib cage, remove his heart, and place the new heart inside?? and then he just magically healed? she clearly didn't want to think about the mechanics of that scene, so she just skipped over them. Same deal with the Harbor needing to end so it can be reborn - sure, that's plausible, but she doesn't bother explaining, even vaguely, why Zachary needs to go all the way down to where the sea has receded with the book that was lost in time and the bees and be the key and be dead and blah blah blah in order for that to happen. Like, she clearly thinks the pieces are there, but there's no reason for them! I did like all the frame stories that explained the history and stories of the place; some of them were quite compelling, and perhaps would have worked better as an actual collection of short stories. I think she's better at creating a coherent narrative for a short story than for a 500-page novel. But ultimately, this book fell flattest to me when it came down to its core concept: EM tried to write a novel-length love letter about stories and storytelling, and neither tells a coherent story herself nor makes any coherent statement on their importance, other than vague, pretty, quotable lines that don't really add up to anything. I think a book that's not particularly plot- or character-driven needs to be really clear on its theme, and this one is not. But it simultaneously gives you the strongest sense that it THINKS its telling this really coherent, compelling meta meditation on the importance of stories, which just struck me as unearned self-satisfaction from an author that thinks she's a better storyteller than she is. I feel like people want to argue that it's MEANT to be vague and for you to interpret how you wish, but there's literally the whole scene towards the end where Kat thinks about the story Mirabel is telling her and it's such an incredibly heavy-handed attempt at summing up the themes EM is trying to get at: "I remember the space more than the story that went with it" "endings are what give stories meaning... I think the whole story has meaning but I also think to have a whole story-shaped story it needs some sort of resolution... a goodbye. I think the best stories feel like they're still going, somewhere, out in story space. I remember wondering if this story was an analogy about people who stay in places or relationships or whatever situations longer than they should because they're afraid of letting go or moving or the unknown, or how people hold on to things because they miss what the thing was even if that isn't what the same thing is now... Or maybe that's just what I got out of it and someone else hearing the same story would see something different." "I don't remember the whole story... because the story didn't seem as important as the teller or the stars in that moment when it was being told. It seemed like something else. Not something you could hold on to." Well, there you have it! How cleverly did EM just lay out for you exactly what she is trying to accomplish with this whole book/her ~thesis! Lol. And despite her bit about the best stories feeling like they're still going on out in story space, I also think, with a novel like this, you really need to stick the landing, and this one didn't. I know she'll claim that she left it purposefully vague and up to interpretation, but again, it's the laziness of the worldbuilding - if you're going to weave this web of disparate threads, you need to really bring the together cohesively at the conclusion. I still had hope up until around page 470 that she was going to do that, but then I realized there simply weren't enough pages left and knew I would be disappointed. I know she wants us to imagine where the story goes next, but I was personally a little dissatisfied that we didn't at least get to see Kat and Zachary reuniting in the new Harbor, among other things. I also realize throughout this review that I've been referring heavily and disparagingly to the author, which I would argue that in a good book is hardly necessary, because the story and the characters speak for themselves. In this book, they did not, and the author and her own self-satisfaction were far too present throughout for my tastes. A couple more random things: Jesus these characters drink a lot! No judgement, but I swear alchohol was like the most prominent recurring thing in the book, more than bees or keys or swords or hearts or time or fate or anything else! I did really like the discussions of video games as storytelling and stories being told through different mediums, and how the player of a video game has a more active role in the story than the reader of a book does. I think the honey is more metaphorical than literal - like it's pollinated off of bits of stories and such - but thinking of of viscous, sticky, sweet-smelling honey everywhere made me gag a little - it was not the dreamy image for me that I think she wanted it to be. Though I did put honey in my tea this morning, so I guess it did make me want to eat some, lol. Also finishing the book randomly made me want to listen to the Panic! at the Disco album Vices & Virtues for the first time in YEARS - the vibes definitely match, so if you want a soundtrack for your reading, check it out. Sample lyrics: "I will come back to life/But only for you/Asleep in the hive/I guess all the buzzing got to me." ALSO lol at Dorian reading The Secret History and Zachary/Kat attending a college in Vermont. LOL. (personally amusing because I was a classics major at a college in VT - one with a Jterm - and my general meh-ness at Tartt's book, despite the fact that you'd like it was made for someone like me - too clearly written by a non-classics major imagining what studying classics would be like for my tastes, and also because I think EM fancies herself like DT after the success of The Night Circus when both of these authors NEED BETTER EDITORS who are actually willing to make them tighten up their books!) I listened to TNC on audiobook years ago and remember being dissatisfied with the ending after all the buildup as well, but little else. It certainly didn't linger with me, but I'd been hearing such good things about this one, and I wanted to give it a try. I'm not disappointed that I did, but I really, really wish that this book had lived up to its promise and had been told by a better storyteller.

@berrysphase replied to your post:                   berrysphase replied to your post:                ...                

   So, perhaps oddly, I agree with your statement about the wholesale stuff as concerns the greater legendarium, but not LOTR?  In LOTR, considered within its own boundaries, I come away with the deeply uncomfortable sense that the restoration of Gondor’s kingship, the mystic strength in the true line of Elendil, the high and fading virtues of Numenor (transmitted in the germline), are all unquestioned good.  

   but in the greater legendarium all these things are complicated and much more nuanced, especially the colonialism issue re Numenor.  

   eventually there are topics I just can’t think too hard about (especially in-world Valar-related morality questions and the infernal question of Numenor and how far its colonialism is ‘justified’) or it all falls apart and I have to go lie down – I mean, there’s a lot of quicksand    

   I guess what I am saying is *hands* it would be very illuminating and interesting to hear about one of your lines! because to me they are either not clear, or only clear if I carefully avoid looking at them    

OH YEAH THAT IS A REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE. I think that would definitely qualify as a line -- in my opinion, LOTR is undermined as a story if Aragorn’s reign is Actually A Bad Thing, because the alternative-subplot that springs into existence under that reading is....uh....I guess “boring pointlessness tacked onto to a story that’s actually about Frodo etc” is a good way of putting it. But otoh the, like, Actual Lines of Dialogue The Characters Say in support of said Aragorn subplot are also.....what’s a better way of saying ‘irredeemably racist’? So it’s not like just “ignore it! it’s fantasy!” or some shit, but it IS one of those things that for me (though other people might feel totally differently) is much more satisfying to reconcile, rather than wholesale resist or overturn.

Anyway this might be making a mountain out of a molehill-sized solution, but I’m too tired to edit myself down in length so:

(uh.....before the cut....heads up i wrote this at top speed without testing for argumentative rigorousness/accuracy so.....fair warning)

Actually I think this is a much more easily fanwankable problem than some? Mostly because, imo, Aragorn’s character arc and the moral worth of his arc already HAS two alternative justifications right in canon! One is prophetic, and essentially is a 90%-blind prediction of the sequence of events that makes up the plot of LOTR. “either you will become greater than any of your ancestors since Elendil or fall into darkness with all your kin,” says Ivorwen and Elrond and Gandalf. The other is the whole Heir of Isildur renewal of the ~pure bloodline of kings bullshit, which doesn’t lend a single whit to the legitimacy of Aragorn as a person or to the readers opinion of him -- but it matters a lot to the in-universe Dunedain characters of Arnor and Gondor, including Aragorn himself. It’s the whole justification for them ushering him through the loophole and onto the throne. So I’d say, if you want to read Aragorn’s reign and arc as worthwhile - which I do too, because otherwise that subplot of LOTR is a vastly inferior and duller story at best, if not a complete and utter waste of time at worst - one could always go for the idea that the reason it has worth doesn’t need to be the same reason - the True Numenorean King stuff - that the characters of LOTR think it has worth.

Like, the first step is, LOTR’s timespan is so short. REALLY short. Substantively, one could just..pick another 6 month timespan in the legendarium, any 6 month timespan that overlaps a major political shift. or a 120 year timespan too, if you’re thinking Aragorn’s whole reign, in the Silmarillion. in the Akallabeth. in the unfinished tales. LOTR is a blip, time-wise -- it’s a personal story that intersects with the Silm-tier stuff for a brief, if pivotal, skip of time, and incorporates the brief, hindsight-less impressions of the people alive at that moment of time right into the reader’s POV, in a way that the Silm doesn’t do.

So when taking into account how limited the timeline and POV of LOTR characters are, comparatively speaking, I think of Aragorn’s crowning and the restoration of the line as not “inherently good,” but good because it happened to be the right thing at that one period of time.

I definitely think that...even the text, not just my headcanon, very strongly implies that the reason Aragorn’s king bid turned out successfully is because he lived most of his adult life with that prophecy over his head, and therefore practiced all his life to become an actually genuinely good king -- the whole bloodline/heirship stuff is just kind of...justification, in terms of personal/family/numenorean honor, and political plausible deniability -- Aragorn’s sincerely-felt path and reasoning to get there that isn’t just “either you’ll become king or everyone is doomed, because the future says so!” + “here’s a legal loophole to become king!”

And, I think, the in-universe reason the people of Gondor supported Aragorn becoming king is partly because coincidentally Denethor and Boromir were dead and Faramir didn’t reject him; partly because he had the bloodline loophole excuse; and partly (mostly) because everyone was so impressed with how he helped save the world.

But the reason Aragorn managed to wind up in a position to help save the world, and make the right choices to help save the world, is mostly that he was the type of brave and selfless and sincere person who would sacrifice his dream in order to rescue Merry and Pippin, or sacrifice his life to get Sauron to attack him and disregard Frodo and Sam. The sort of person who understands how much worth his people have, who knows what is deckchair-rearranging and what is a beam of true hope be it ever so slender, who accepts the sheer smallness and simplicity of what he needs to do for the greater good, and who respects and can influence his people enough to insist that they accept and understand all of this as well. Which are, like, actually good qualities in a king!

And the whole reason he became such a good person is....because he strove to be so, and because the people around him believed in him and helped him become so, and because of his and their own personal desire to restore the kingship and glory of his people. Uh. sorry. I already just said that.

It’s a circular thing. The myopic tribal hereditary reasons the characters/narrative assigns bloodline-related worth and authority to Aragorn have jack shit to do with the actual reasons he has real moral worth and earned authority, but his own priorities and desires that led to him developing that worth and authority are myopic and tribal and hereditary too.

So I think this specifically isn’t a case of “either Aragorn’s kingship is good because it is a restoration of the line of Elendil, or it isn’t good because the restoration of the line of Elendil is a morally vacuous cause.” It’s a case of causal connections that are really important but are far more circumstantial than the characters (or the narrative) acknowledges -- people interpret the restoration of the kingship as something Racially And Normatively Appropriate and Special And Right, which...is a) lmao plz, but also b) the Numenoreans and the line of Isildur specifically DO have evidence-based racially-based advantages. It’s just that those advantages don’t confer any inherent worth of any kind --- Aragorn’s bloodline just happened, in this case, to be SUPER USEFUL, because it’s ancient fairy-tale magic that lets him do SUPER USEFUL things in the context of weaponizing Middle Earth’s lingering scraps of fairy tale magic against Middle Earth’s lingering scrap of fairy tale horror. It lets him troll Sauron with a palantir that he could properly use -- due the fact that the Palantir DOES operate on ridiculous ancient morally vacuous bloodline-magic. Or lets him make the oathbreaker ghosts help him out with the corsairs, because the oathbreaker ghosts too, are ancient lingering equally morally vacuous Soulbinding Promise Magic. The whole concept of the Restoration of the Line of Elendil IS, of course, a morally vacuous cause on its own, as anything other than an in-universe stamp of political legitimacy -- but it appears to also have been an essential in-universe motivation and tool for getting the characters into the places they needed to be, in order for the intricately-woven web of events that make up LOTR to come out in the wash the way it did.

For the in-universe characters, saying that there’s something Inherently Good about the renewal of the line of kings and stuff is actually just....it’s only important to them. It’s this stopgap period, post-Ring-Destruction: re-righting the boat and kind of having this adjustment period of fairy-tale magic to kind of ease people from the pre-ring destruction world where there are dark lords and elves, to the post-ring-destruction world. Everyone in-universe goes “rah rah this isn’t just good because circumstances lined up in such a way so that it was good, as prophesied, it’s Totally Also Inherently Good independent of circumstances.” And it isn’t. At all. But it makes sense why they think that, and want to think that, and why the real explanation would not be sufficient for them. The idea that Aragorn’s one and only world-saving action was distracting Sauron from his destroyers, and that the only reason Sauron was destroyed was because of three hobbits and a mixed handful of coincidence and grace swirling together in an Augustinian whirlpool, is not a super crowdpleasing national myth.

And then, the period after he becomes king DOES imo involve like, a bunch of colonial-reminiscent shit that kind of plays into the people’s expectations and view of themselves -- the racial superiority and suggestions of imperialism-flavored actions regarding all the vague mentions throughout the early 4th age timeline of quelling rebellions in various corners of the world (though imo these are not as conclusive or devoid of wiggle-room as some people interpret them). And I REALLY DISLIKE THIS PART because I’m perennially like...yo, what a massive wasted opportunity there Tolkien...because the irony of Aragorn the hereditary king in exile being restored in such a roundabout way that has so little to do with his heirship is a plotline that would be SO MUCH BETTER to acknowledge and focus on than the bald OMG Heir Of Isildur The True King With Pure Ancestry Has Come!!! thing that happens in canon with only a tiny bit of wink-winking about how much dumb luck it actually was. It would have made a really wonderful story!

In fact, I occasionally do wonder -- from the Appendices and the Prologue of LOTR, the supposed “real” “historical” book which the in-universe character of “JRR Tolkien: Not An Author, Only A Translator” translated, is purported to be a copy of a copy of the Red Book of Westmarch that was edited and translated by the scribe Findegil of Gondor, as copied from Pippin’s copy, of Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam’s copy. And one can imagine it’s not too big a stretch that Frodo and Sam might have been more on-the-money regarding Aragorn and the whole kingship restoration plotline in their original story, but Findegil obscured their insights a bit -- even just from good-faith well-intended biased interpretation due to his understanding of Gondor’s renewal histories.

But still....even with all the undertones and overtones of the restoration of old colonial stuff -- does that mean restoration of old colonial shit in perpetuity? I don’t think THAT’S a necessary extrapolation. For one, imo there’s no testament of proportionality. Elements of recurrences of old colonial shit seem to have been present! -- but for how long, how impactful or destructive, compared to how much tables-turning revolutionary awesome genuine improvement stuff, given everything Sauron had been doing? I mean could be shittier than anything like is often is IRL, but this is as outsode of RL as you get. So. A drop amid a flood? Could be. Who knows? Not much is specified, but not much is precluded either. You can fill in that 120 year gap with almost anything. If someone wanted to fill it with some fantasy of a historical-fiction Realpolitik aesthetic, instead of actually making up something new from the unlimited amount of creative potential conferred by an ahistorical post-dark-lord fantasy setting, that’s legit, but it’s still just conjecture.

Going back up 5 paragraphs to when I thought this was going to be a short answer (LOL) -- 120 years is both very long AND very short -- i.e., 120 years is a nose-to-the-ground view vis-a-vis Silmarillion times, but otoh vis-a-vis RL timelines, there’s just so much TIME and room for....i mean 120 years ago today was 1897? Before World War I? How vastly has world and domestic policy has changed since then? Or like...pick from your choice of other 120 year periods in pre-modern history too, if that’s not a good comparison. Even if there isn’t much concrete reliable evidence, there’s still a lot of room, even before Aragorn’s death - but even more room after it! - for the people of the Reunited Kingdom to potentially, if you so choose, have their day in the sun comforting themselves about how great they are and how their ancestral royal line is restored, and then just slowly move on, change, grow, progress, decide some of their earlier ideas were dumb, reverse themselves in various political and foreign policy arenas (like they had already started to do in some cases during the LOTR timeline), quietly purge themselves of their racist bullshit  -- over the course of a few generations, as is the way of mortal realms. And most importantly, to finally let go of the past, because they’ve been able to taste the satisfaction of a fairy tale, and have come through it, and their children’s children have now lived to see a time where they don’t need it.

(This assumes that The New Shadow is non-canon. Which. HELL YES. It is  fucking non-canon, because it’s stupid and even Tolkien thought it was depressing and mean-spirited, which is seriously saying something.)

Boy it’s been a long week. That’s not a bad thing mind you! I’ve been staying out very late watching anime movies at festivals and surviving through my work days on a few hours sleep and next day buzzes. Yay successful adulting! If you happen to work with me, I have most definitely not been doing any of those things. I’m a serious and professional individual. Cough

How have you guys been? Good? Great???? Much like my Grancrest reviews, my Dr. Stone posts are getting less than stellar comments and few likes but crazy views. I’m assuming, people are at least trying to see it online or something. Instead they found this post…sorry. I do sort of describe the episode though. That’s pretty much the same!

c’mon – just give it a chance!

What I thought Would Happen

After last week’s cliffhanger, I figured Senku would talk himself out of confrontation or Taiju would save him last minute and they would all escape Tsukasa, then spend the rest of the episode hunting for the source of the smoke signals.

Maybe just finding out the truth, or an important clue, at the cliffhanger end of the episode.

What Did Happen

Senku died. I still think it was a toothless threat and useless cliffhanger cause obviously her can’t stay dead but he did stay dead way longer than I though he would. For a second I though they were gonna weekend at Bernie’s it (look it up kids!).

Anyways, Tsukasa kills Senku with a blow to the neck but Taiju manages to outsmart him (now that has got to hurt) and runs away with Yuzuriha and Senku’s body. After finding a seemingly safe spot, Taiju and Yuzu try to find a way to reanimate their friend and actually figure out that he had a small petrified patch on his neck that could regenerate him if the use the potion of life on it.

As he is slowly reviving (I assume) we see Senku have a flashback to when he first awoke alone in the new stone age and how he managed to survive before Taiju came to.

What About the Characters

The first half of the episode was mostly dedicated to action and tension building so we didn’t have much time to check in with the characters. Tsukasa remains a sort of Mary Tarzan (get it, it’s a me Tarzan you Jane joke… you know what, it’s not very good. Forget I said that) but we get a wistful fantasy flashback distorting last week’s showing of Senku’s childhood to include him and for a second, he seemed almost interesting. A painfully lonely boy who never quite managed to put his bountiful skills for any sort of personal satisfaction. Anyways, we leave him behind in act one.

Having Taiju and Yuzu alone together and in a stressful situation that can only be resolved by brains was unexpected. What’s more, it was pretty good. Both were forced to focus, work together and find a solution. This meant that for the most part there were none of those silly theatrics and explosions, and the series even managed to decently justify Taiju’s stroke of genius, making it believable that he would come up with the solution. Meanwhile, they gave Yuzu enough agency to actually be the action hero and created great teamwork between the two which may be the most romantic thing yet.

However, the episode was really a vehicle for Senku as was last week’s episode, really. He basically starred in a one-man show for the second half of the episode. We don’t learn that much more about his character as he has been decently developed already but he remains pretty interesting. This said, he is limited in range and although I quite enjoyed this solo adventure, I don’t think he can carry another episode (or half episode) by himself.

What I Liked

Separating out the characters and giving them all clear and immediate goals focused everyone. Although the episode itself had a lot of goofy, silly moments, the characters were more sombre and determined. It really toned down the aspects I enjoy less about them. In fact, if they were always like this, I would enjoy this cast.

The miracle of Senku’s survival had actually been properly set up a few weeks ago, in a way that made sense now that it comes up again. This almost never happens so I have to give credit where credit is due.

The second, fantasy flashback to all the characters as kids was just as cute as last week and possibly even more charming, even if it did have a slightly painful undercurrent. I wouldn’t have minded if it went on a little longer.

I had mentioned that the Robinson Crusoe desert island survival bit was my favourite part and I was disappointed we skipped it in episode 1. So there you go, me! It had some so so moments but also some really fun ones. The video game references made me giggle.

What I Liked Less

With all the emphasis on Science!, they sure seemed to skip over a few important details this week. For one, how did Senku break through the petrification? He was outside with no chance of bat guano dripping on him.

Also, did he actually understand the monkeys? Were they speaking Japanese? How did he know the term “shiny monkey” I get that it’s probably just a gag, but it still bugged me.

As much as I liked flashback Tsukasa, present Tsukasa remains way to unbalanced a character to provide proper contrast as a villain. I think scary weather would be more effective.

Closing Thoughts

Honestly, if this was a standard episode, I would be pretty happy. Some jokes didn’t really land and you had to gloss over some bits for it to make sense but on average, it was an enjoyable and fairly interesting episode. It ended way before I thought it would which is a good sign. This said, because it has the legacy of some pretty bad episode (and we’re just at ep 5 – it’s been a real roller coaster), I can’t quite let my guard down!

I figure introducing smoke signal girl will be pivotal. She’ll either be a breath of fresh air or a nail in the coffin!

Mood: Steady as she goes

Dr. Stone Episode 5 – The Legend of the Shiny Monkey Boy it's been a long week. That's not a bad thing mind you! I've been staying out very late watching anime movies at festivals and surviving through my work days on a few hours sleep and next day buzzes.

“Fanfic writer asks”: Skipping the “asks” and doing the answers!

I just saw this and I’m too excited to wait for someone to see this, decide what to ask, and I wanted to answer all of them, anyways.

Some of these are fill-in-the-blanks for askers, so I can’t answer them. But if anyone wants elaboration, or wants to know a specific something in regards to a particular story, or character: Absolutely, feel free to send me some!

Questions taken from here: http://criminal-minds-fanfiction.tumblr.com/post/172926526725

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1) How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction? Oh geez, we practically need a time machine for that. I was only 11 or 12! I started "writing" fanfics with my action figures (guest-starring other childhood toys) as far back as I can remember. Literally, from the time I was 5-8 and obsessed with Pokemon and Yoshi's Story and Powerpuff Girls, I was playing out stories and adventures, from beginning to end, imagining backstories for why they're there, what they were doing, what motivated them. They even came with continuity (from one play-session to the next)!

As for actually writing it down, though... That also started Very Early. I think I must've been 11 or 12? The earliest one I ever dated was 2005, anyway. They were descriptive, illustrating actions to display emotions, and characterization was... well, it Sure Existed (even if it varied from "So Wrong", to Definitely the Right Remark).

But ever since the moment I touched a pen to my first fanfic notebook, it was about my OCs (and Raven, because, surprise surprise, she was my favorite to write about). I've had plot since I first took those Crayola twistables to paper to illustrate the story in my head, the first story I ever Had a Solid Plot For (that is, Mystery Sickness-- which is being rewritten with Actual Explanations, re: Why Dove Made Her Feel So Shitty in the first place): that was also in 2005. (Fun fact: it was originally in Poorly-Drawn Comic Form). The actual "novelization" went through to 2007.

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one? As my fanfiction.net profile will tell you: "Author has written 32 stories for Teen Titans, Pokémon, and Ruby Gloom." - The Ruby Gloom fanfic was abandoned, unfortunately. (It was a direct and shameless self-insert, that got abandoned because, quite frankly, I had no idea what to do with it. Maybe I should put it up for adoption at this point...) - A Work of Magic (my Pokemon fanfic, with related bios/etc) gets written for very rarely, because the inspiration to do so is rare and sporadic, and more tied to a Specific Scene I want to write, than where I left off in the story. @w@;; - A Steven Universe fanfic is in the works, though I'm struggling to flesh it out.. due to the Aforementioned Preoccupation with The FAVE MOMENTS, moreso than the backstory and movement through those moments. @D;;

And then, you have the Teen Titans stories. You know, the ones with Dove, and Kary, and Srentha, and Leyla will eventually be there. My most precious, dearly beloved, absolutely irreplaceable OCs. My TT story folder has about 100 files, which belong to about 30 full-length stories. (And that's not counting the oneshots, like Heart to Heart, which is still one of the best things I've ever written.) There are also a few poems here and there, particularly Dove's Prophecy (of self-fulfillment, really), and stories illustrating Dove's childhood, her mother/grandmother's past, Srentha's childhood... There's just Quite A Lot! I've been doing this, writing them, for 12+ years.~ And my fandomatic obsession for Teen Titans has never dulled, quieted, or been forgotten. So yes, I definitely do have a "particular" favorite. I may prefer exploring their world through my OCs, but damn, is it more FUN than any other world to explore!

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer. Ah, you can probably tell it's OCs by now. At least, MY OC's. Someone else's OCs, well, I tried that once, they were going to commission me. But I never got it finished. (I just didn't have quite the same connection. And I didn't know the canon; that can't have helped.) But character I *do* get to know, like my girlfriend's OCs in our collaborations (or characters I got to know so well through playing together that I just totally shamelessly adopted, specifically: Kary), I do enjoy writing for~ There's just something so incredibly special in knowing that you, solely, are responsible for their growth, their development, and their well-being. It's a bit like having kids, without the screaming. (At least, without them screaming in your ear. Dove and Kary have both done their fair share of screaming, come to think of it...)

( (( Although, to be fair: I've never tried writing a writer insert. I doubt anyone would actually WANT to endure the stories I put my characters through... ;P )) )

4) What is your favourite genre to write for? Fantasy? Action/Adventure? It's hard to say, because I actually write for a HUGE variety of Genres. But I guess my favorite, if I can encompass all of them under this one umbrella, would have to be Hurt/Comfort.

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why? DAMN IT, DON'T DO THIS TO ME.

Gods, that's hard! Basically ALL of my stories are multi-chaptered... Well, it's definitely one of my Teen Titans stories. DDD has definitely been the most challenging to write, the most fulfilling to finish chapters on, and the most pivotal point in Dove's life, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Writing for Azar in "The Final Journey" and Dove taking her first unintended steps into heroism has been so personally touching for me, and it does so much good for Dove, and especially her relationship with the team, that it's just so, so special to watch. Something Special About Srentha is probably my most epic multi-faceted story, and the narrative timeline (handling two very distinct and separate struggles in totally separate places) is really challenging me to grow as a writer. "Continuum Wars" is going to be the grandest scale of struggle and magic, so I'm really especially excited to start figuring it out. It is just so, so HARD to decide on ONE; they're all so special, and I love watching my style evolve with each story, and more than anything, watching my characters come out of these situations alive. lD;;

6) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why? you mean the Teen Titans and Pokemon crossover where Dove brings home a Misdreavus? been there, done that. Honestly though, every single one of my stories has its place in my characters' lives, and is important for continuity. And personal growth. And I've honestly never been ashamed of something I've written.

(If you travel far back enough in my fanfic archive, you WILL find a really old character bio for Dove, which I completely revamped, because I didn't learn until later how to frame her without comparing her to Raven, even though she's always been a very different and independently-extant character. Also, the bits I learned about Being Kept A Secret and her grandmother's exile were Nearly Learned around 2010, 2012...)

7) When is your preferred time to write? Whenever the inspiration bug bites! ASAP!! But as for general adding and editing, it's fairly late at night, usually~ Sometimes afternoons. Usually an hour or more after eating, and especially when it's cool and quiet in the room.

8) Where do you take your inspiration from? Canon, personal experience (my personal struggles, my search for my identity, and my struggle to define myself), and sometimes even my own spirituality. (Wild shit goes down when you get into astral exploration, let me TELL you!)

9) In your xxx fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote? Can I just... use my personal favorite? (If you have any questions about a particular fic, or universe, or point in a character's life that didn't happen in the fics, let me know and I'll gladly answer!)

- Holy GOD, the climax scene of Dove's Dark Discovery! It takes place entirely in Dove's mindscape, while Dove's power is maxed out, and you've got a very powerful telepath and a TREMENDOUSLY power empath battling within a mindscape that has been slowly devastated over the past few months, and it's just this absolute EPIC culmination of their powers and, to a degree, even the connection they'd been forging since Dove came. Dove seriously oversteps some boundaries, Raven nearly kills Dove by accident, it's seriously crazy stuff.

Bonus: Way back in, like, probably 2008 or 2009, when titansgo.net was still around: I had asked my all-time favorite fanfic author for critique on the climax. His advice, to make it "three times as long and nine times the punch", absolutely inspired me to reach WAY higher with their fight, and once I realized what kind of mind-bending maelstrom shenanigans can go down in a MINDSCAPE, the scene fairly EXPLODED with potential!

And I especially like the fact that, including the revisions after his (entirely justified) advice: This scene has gone through like nine different incarnations. And my favorite part: It was originally inspired by a battle in the Teen Titans videogame! I think my little sister was playing White Raven (who my mind always read as Being Dove, because White Cape and Magic Powers), I was playing Raven, and the battle took place in "Nevermore", Raven's mindscape. It was actually a good fight. And I was fucking AMPED... But also emotionally RAVAGED, because "holy shit, Raven fighting Dove... in a mindscape......" And the scene happened like two days later. (In middle school. Honors Spanish class. As a note in the margins of my assignment notebook!)

Gods, guys. That scene is just so incredibly important, and it has come oh, so very far~

10) In your xxx fic, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternative ending in mind? I'm gonna answer one that I really like the ending of, but feel free to ask for others. Like, maybe one I've actually published, that you've actually read? 8F But honestly: Spellbound pt. II. I haven't published it yet... but it ends in absolute tragedy. The reason is twofold: First off, I knew Dove and Srentha were end-game, so although Dove was falling pretty deep into love, I couldn't have him hanging around... 8F But also because I wanted to illustrate the strength of sacrificial redemption. (I don't want to give too much away, because... well, that's the ENDING. But it's heart-wrenching and I can only hope I've done it justice.)

Other faves include: Srentha having heart-issues at the end of Something Special (because it's the Very First Symptom that something is going to be Dreadfully Wrong with him in the sequel), DDD ending with Dove absolutely traumatized and seriously hurt (because the following story is going to be all about her learning to Take Action on her pain, instead of hiding herself away), and A Work of Magic ending with everyone thinking Mistress had died trying to save her family... but the ending is, and the epicness kind of speaks for itself in this: "You can't kill a ghost."

11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it? You mean like the way I completely rewrote Dove's character bio 6 years later, in response to all the accusations of her being a Mary Sue? Despite literally nothing (but more specific illustration) changing in the way I wrote her? 8F Other than that, absolutely not! I mean, if someone made a valid point I would. But nobody can tell me how to write my OCs, you know?

12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why? My OCs. But you probably mean canon characters... and that easily comes down to Raven. She's just so layered, working with very inward, introspective mechanics, before she takes her action, usually in a very well-thought out direction, or sometimes an INSANELY emotional outburst, and either way, it tends to be Very Important, Poignant, and Make a Difference in the scene. I relate to her; I idolized her for the longest time; I know exactly how to write the struggle between not being able to express your emotions, and being true to yourself, because I've lived it. I'm an empath, so writing her empathic powers is always sort of therapeutic, because outside of my mirrorbook, I'd never gotten to EXPLORE that aspect of myself before. Her wit is hard to capture sometimes, I'll admit, but, I mean, I was making the nurses at the hospital laugh all the way up to my procedure, armed with nothing but my dry remarks. I think I'm up to the challenge.

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why? Beast... Boy...... I'm sorry, I really am. I've just never been able to relate to him, or understand how his mind works (if it even works at all?), or write him into any of the plots-- outside of, like, trying to cheer Dove up, which is iconic and appreciated on Dove's end. But otherwise? What do I even DO with him? His sense of humor is just... so lowkey annoying that I sincerely cannot fathom why it's So Funny, let alone make it up for him. (Thankfully, at least the comics come in handy for exploring Why he's Like That, which has honestly helped a lot more than anything the show ever did. All but ONE of his episodes, were... pretty crack-tastic. And that just doesn't mesh well with my stories that are Trying to Deal with a Serious Issue Here.)

14) How did you come up with the title for the xxx? - You can ask about multiple stories. Mostly, they're descriptive of the Most Iconic Thing, or Most Pivotal Plot Point, in the story! "Something Special About Srentha". "Dove's Dark Discovery". "Growing Up Demon: Leyla's Story". "Mystery Sickness", being renamed "Soul Sickness" for poetic value, but still keeping that iconic "Sickness" thing, while also making it More Relevant to Raven Specifically. The exception is probably "Unforeseen and Unforesaken". Yes, it's misspelled, I did that on purpose for visual balance in the title. It's weird. I know. But it's Intentional. (Still highly important things though, because it illustrates both Dove's arrival, and what happens once she's there, being unforeseen. And Dove absolutely hardcore valuing the team because they don't Forsake her.)

15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names? Bold of you to assume I have this kind of CONTROL over them. Seriously, the way my writing works isn't so much "I get to decide what they do", and more like "huh, this Resonates. That must be a Thing... Let's try to seek out all the relevant details on why it happened, how they reacted, and how it ends!" It's like detective work. And this is absolutely best illustrated by trying to find Srentha's name. Because holy frick. What kinda name is that. (Turns out, it's literally in another language. 8F It means "flight", by the way! Onomatopoeia for the sound wings make.) Anyways, I literally found out one day that, "Dove tried to keep her pregnancy hidden... That must mean she had a kid. With someone." And thus began the Classic RHS Storytelling Search for "who's the guy?" And immediately I knew his name began with an "S". So I tried a bunch of names. I figured it was feminine-sounding, for some reason, thus I realized it ended in "-a". I knew it had two beats. Finding the "-ntha" was the easy part, it was figuring out how the heck to parse "Sren" into the right sounds and number of beats that was the REAL challenge. It wasn't until I remembered "Sri Lanka" exists that I figured out his entire name. (It's pronounced without the English "sh", though - it's just "Sren". As he says, "like Wren, with a Sss.")

16) How did you come up with the idea for xxx? Mostly, they came to me when I was thinking about my characters' lives. Except The Final Journey, that one was based on "the crystals" my girlfriend illustrated Dove having in her room, and I kinda just took that entire concept and made it Azarathean and RAN with it!~ (If you're curious about any particular story, let me know!)

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on. "I killed six people. Do I deserve to die?" hello, this is your daily reminder that DDD absolutely Destroys Dove's self-image. But because it's So IMPORTANT and uhh, it was too Dark for me to leave that there, I also want to quote Raven's responses, which include "We all have our dark days," and "I do know that pain, that guilt. I know it better than anyone...[but] Solitary confinement won't cure it...[and] we don't want to see you leave." And also, "You won't be able to help anyone if you destroy yourself first."

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them? Oh, stars. Let's see... The first "wip" I abandoned was a character I named "gayla", not knowing "gay" was actually a word, first of all, but her concept turned out to actually be part of Srentha's story, and honestly I should've figured out that "heh, same name as Raven's nursemaid" wasn't a thing. {lD (Whose name was actually Galya, by the way. I didn't realize that mistake for like, five years.)

I only so very RARELY abandon an actual story, though. I know there have been a couple of Moment Concepts I've lost, due to not writing them down; that honestly hurts much worse. ;; But there's the aforementioned Pokemon+TT crossover, where Dove brings home a Misdreavus by accident. That was purely self-indulgent, and it just didn't fit with the timeline, so I decided to stop writing that AU. It was really more that I wanted to focus on The Other Stories, and only had 3 short chapters planned. (The one where the little ghost gets herself stuck in Raven's mind had so much potential! But I didn't know how to write Raven's emoticlones in without Raven becoming aware of it. And now that I think about it, that could've been what got Dove to send her back.. But, eh, I've long lost the story file for it, and long LONG lost interest.)

If anyone tells you "A Work of Magic" is abandoned, they're wRONG, I'm just really, really caught up in Dove's struggle with DDD and Srentha and Steven Universe (even if I'm not really writing that fic most of the time), so my inspiration to write that story with As Much Lighthearted Fun Silliness as it deserves is seriously impaired. =w=;;

Oh, but I did kind of abandon the story from Sieara's point of view, because honestly, I'd rather just explore her through Dove. (That little bird gets plenty of epic spotlight moments; she even channels Azar's spirit at one point. Or two. ;P ) But mostly, I abandoned it because I didn't want to write about a bird being too old to reproduce, getting close to death, and then dying, anymore? (It was going to be about her noticing Dove spending more time with Srentha, Srentha's bird dying, and Sieara meeting Dove's daughter, and dying shortly after. But I... don't know, I didn't want to write that Angst without a Resolution.) I wrote that story for Exactly 1 Day, and then decided to stick to writing about her through Dove.

19) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to? I fully intend to do sequels to all of them, thank you very much.~ (At least for the TT fics, all of them are connected in some way. A Work of Magic has both a sequel and a prequel planned. And the Steven Universe fic is really only planned for One Conflict, I really don't want to explore it much beyond that singular unit of Canon Divergence.)

20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently? That would be akin to lying, with the way my stories and my characters go.

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire? thechroniclerjon, holy stars and envy batman. This is one writer who knows how to build a conflict, write magic in a way that's both Believable, and Relatable, and Awesome, and interweaves different plot threads into one rather EPIC confrontation. Obviously I couldn't take the element of religion into my stories, being so totally personally disconnected from it. (spirituality? ABSOLUTELY. Let me explore aLL the Azarathean feels!) But like. Those descriptions. The conversations. The build-up. The plot-twists. The raw emotion. I aspire, very much, to someday, in my own way, find a style that translates as much Excitement and Tension and Delight as his stories manage to convey.

Also, the author of Learning to Breathe Underwater, because that story had amazingly spot-on characterization, included so many canon elements (despite being Canon Divergent) while still having its own (very well escalated, incredibly well-executed!) plot! I write for the Teen Titans universe far more than Steven Universe, but I really admire their way of including basically every single character, giving them plenty of attention and growth, and giving a lot of them development in the process. I don't know if I could do that, but someday, I'd like to try.

22) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it? The old Mystery Sickness. Like, the first version. It was, ah... originally what I now call an "emvent", and if you know what that is, great; if not, I don't want to go into details, but it's a story that helps me process my phobia? Which, geez, poor Raven okay, but what's really "cringe" about it is the way I narrated it in first-person. XD Weird metaphors, she had a Detective Noir tone for some reason, and let's just say there's a reason I never shared any of the panels. (I kept it secret because of the phobia. Equally as horrifying, I kept it in words because of the pictures.)

23) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence? Silence, but I prefer gentle background noises I'm used to. (Like birds fluttering around, gentle aquarium filters and the water rippling, wind in the trees, etc. It's an ADD thing; lowkey background noise, if kept at a distance, helps me focus.)

24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes? Eh. I have the Occasional Mood for it... like, once a year. 8P But generally, I'm just Not Interested. Sure, Dove and Srentha have... done some things that would entertain fans of the genre. And actually, some things that get borderline supernatural. But mostly, I'd just really rather be writing other things.

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story? Oh, stars. Yes... Yes. Dove's Dark Discovery. (I drew on... an awful lot of personal experiences, and none of them were good.) Plus, her guilt and self-flagellating... let's just say it's a major Depression Mood. Also noteworthy: I cried writing the Death Sequence and farewell letter in Spellbound pt. II. I've cried for Dove's loss of Azarath, and her mother. I've cried for the things Dove and Srentha tell Leyla when she's really struggling (because, dear gods, if only I'd heard those words when I was a kid)... It doesn't happen often. But sometimes, it just... gets overwhelming.

26) Which part of your xxx fic was the hardest to write? ASK ABOUT ANY OF THEm, because DEAR GODS, there are PLENTY. But the hardest of all was DDD. I struggled with describing how/why an Extremely Gentle, Timid Pacifist was suddenly Losing Herself to Internal Evil, and doing Terrible Things. I struggled to capture the IMMENSITY of the mindscape battle, both in how these two Incredibly Powerful Demi-demons were unleashing their powers, and also in how much of a personal toll it takes on BOTH of them afterwards. And now, I'm struggling to find the words for Dove in the aftermath, because... Gods, there's just so much turmoil and emotion. It echoes an awful lot of Seriously Dangerous Depression Thoughts, right down to suicide ideation and lashing out at the people she loves because she doesn't think she deserves them, and aren't they all fools for loving her. All I can say is thank god Raven's such a realistic beacon of hope, because (much like she did for me, come to think of it) she's able to help Dove battle those thoughts with reminders, wisdom, and hope.

27) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow? This one depends entirely on the story. Generally, it's really quite sporadic and incidental. I write out the scenes as they come to me (usually WAY out of order), and then figure out how they all fit together. Sometimes I don't even realize two scenes are in the same story at first! Or how they're related. I tend to write the beginning, several scenes from When Things Are Very Serious, then go back to fill in the blanks. A lot of times the climax happens either before I know how to start the story, before I know what led up to it, or before I know how it ends. (DDD began with the climax scene. Heart to Heart began with realizing Srentha had a heart attack as a child.)

And then other times, it begins with a vague concept, and I start writing right at the beginning. (Something Special was first written at the beginning, with Srentha performing a spell. I didn't know what it was going to do, just that it was Relevant. A Work of Magic started with me in the Pokemon world wanting a Misdreavus, and developed into a full-team adventure from there. Unforeseen and Unforesaken, or rather "Unforeseen Surprises" in its original form, starting with the very moment Dove showed up, was written as I went along, knowing which points I wanted to hit before the story was over, but writing the scenes as they came to me.)

A Work of Magic has a lot of travel scenes, and moments that take place in specific areas, with Specific Species, so I had to plan out a timeline from region to region, to make sure they weren't in Sinnoh one day, then encountering a Unova legendary, and battling a psychic type in a Kanto forest the very next day, you know? Then there's DDD, which is such a gradually PROGRESSING story that I definitely had to outline some of the chapters, too. Making sure Dove's gradually growing powers were highlighted, and she wasn't going from Total Telekinetic Failure to Suddenly Really Strong and Breaking The Entire Gym Room in the next scene. That sort of thing.

Either way, it's usually As I'm Writing that I notice the connections, the causes rooted in previous stories or scenes, and the Effects These Incidents Have as I'm writing it out. I always start with An Incident and A Concept, because I wouldn't have a story to write without it. But where it becomes Actual Scenes, and what order I write them, depends entirely on the order I discover them.

28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction? What a Mary Sue was supposed to be, and that Dove isn't what they claimed. That criticism that so many reviewers threw onto her bio wasn't at all helpful, I didn't know what that meant, let alone how to fix it, and I didn't know how to demonstrate that Dove wasn't, in fact, "entirely like Raven", because she had her own powerset, her own history, and her own personality. To be fair, a lot of the Highlights on Their Differences happen in later stories, and it's the initial shock of "why the frick is wearing those clothes and using that mantra", so of course on first impression, it's like. "Raven? similarities???" But... I don't know, it's just so very OBVIOUS to me that, unless we're talking about Timid!Raven (the emoticlone), their differences are so VAST. And I spent a lot of time, WASTED a lot of time, trying to kill the assumption. It really wasn't worth it.

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like? DOVE'S! DARK! DISCOVERY!!! I nearly BROKE myself (both of time AND emotion) writing this thing! I understand that Some Friends can't Do Sadism, but like. This story is 250k words long, I've dumped a GREAT DEAL of my heart and soul into it, and Dove's plight seriously needs to be recognized to understand her growth moving forward. But! There! Are! So! Few! People! READING IT. The story has like 20 reviews on fanfic.net, BUT THE CLIMAX HASn'T GOTTEN ANY yet? ???? Please recognize the metaphorical blood, literal sweat, and literal tears I put into this. Gods. Yes I wish it got WAY more love.

30) In contrast to 29 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at? That poem from middle school, "The Raven and the Dove"? It's a neat poem, sure. Kind, of, a unique concept? But it's not very well explored, it just goes "here are their differences. They're opposites. But they get along." No explanation of how or why. (That's all in the fanfics.) It's not nearly as rhythmic as Dove's Prophecy, it's not clever, it's not plot-twisty, and as far as poetic cred goes, I don't think it's anything special. ? ?? I mean, somebody found it online, and contacted me via email, and it nearly got PUBLISHED. (But I would've had to pay them to include it in their book, which I wasn't down with.) I just don't understand, literally at all, why so many people really LIKE it.

31) Send me a fic recommendation and I’ll post it for my followers to see! (The asker is to send the rec not the answerer) SEND ME FICS, I WILL READ.

32) Are any of your characters based on real people? Nah, they're all based on themselves.

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten? My favorite fanfic author read, and then complimented, the (second or third version of?) the climax scene in DDD.~

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten? Mostly just comments on Dove's first bio that went, "She's such a Mary Sue, burn it and scrap her entirely to start fresh"? (Thank *all* the gods that I didn't take that advice, because she's incredible and deserves to exist in her own right.)

35) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest? Honestly? The first thing I do is WRITE about it. Unless I'm prompted to, or rambling about something that has me Inordinately Emotional, I don't really share them.

36) Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s? Don't worry, outside of Azarath's canonical demise, I only ever write somebody ACTUALLY dying once. But she comes back, because that's what she does, apparently.

37) What’s the funniest story you’ve written? Bold of you to assume I write comedy! But seriously, probably Srentha's debut story. When he discovers pizza, he assumes pepperoni isn't edible (a fair assumption, really, but he's vegetarian anyways). When he tries the cheese, his reaction is just so DELIGHTFUL and warm; he laughs so hard he's literally crying. The things he says and does when he's sugar-high are hysterical. He's just so exuberant and energetic, absolutely positive, he really brings a load of smiles to the table, and both I and Dove irrevocably love him for it.

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it. I don't know if I have an answer for this. I don't really read a lot of Tumblr fanfics. I've already collaborated with Pix in RPs, my girlfriend and I have already collaborated on stories for both Kary and Pokemon, and the author of The Chronicler Saga implemented one of my scenes into his stories. What more can I really ask for?

I mean, if anyone WANTs to collaborate, just let me know, and I'd love to work something out.

39) Do you prefer first, second or third person? Third person, multiple, and preferably omniscient (or damn close to it)! Exploring everyone's inner workings is Exactly My Style. (And just more fun for me to write.)

40) Do people know you write fanfiction? Well, I only talk about it, like, once every three hours or so. (/sarcasm)

41) What’s you favourite minor character you’ve written? Sieara? Alerina? As for actual Canon Characters, I'm having a righteously wonderful time characterizing Azar. Lapis is fun and interesting to work with, but she's so full of emotional "tides" that it's really hard for me to write for her.

42) Song fic - What made you decide to use the song xxx for xxx. (I have only ever done songfics on papers, and wound up not needing the songs after all. They were all Evanescence, of course.)

43) Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it? Not that I know of! Someone once guessed Dove was Raven's cousin, on Unforeseen+Unforesaken, and I haven't written the climax (when Raven realizes Dove is Trigon's child) yet. That's about the closest anyone has come.

44) What is the last line you wrote? Oh, stars, let me check. (This is where Tracking Changes comes in handy. ;P ) In Nothing Good Lasts Forever, the story that's (possibly going to be renamed "Even in Death", when Raven takes Dove back to Azarath for closure): This may or may not be polished before publishing. But this takes place immediately after Raven pulls Dove from a flashback.

"There's a lot you have to deal with. Your mind has been seriously damaged by what you've been through. I wonder..." And she trailed off there, hesitating, considering the concept before she dared give it voice.

Dove kept looking up at her, confused and seeming entirely absorbed in her analysis. It was so true. Tearing her apart, every time she remembered... The nightmares and flashbacks wouldn't let her forget it.

45) What spurs you on during the writing process? My own excitement, curiosity, and even desperation to learn what happens next! And a general sense of lowkey affectionate "tribute", like I'm the only person with these peoples' stories in my head, and they deserve to have their stories told. And also the hope that, maybe, someone, somewhere, will read the story, and if just ONE person feels their heart soothed or their struggle validated by my writings, then I've done a good thing, and that's all I really want.

46) I really loved your xxx fic. If you were ever to do a sequel, what do you think might happen in it? (Someone ask me, because EVERYTHING has sequels, and if you want to know about it, just Ask!)

47) Here’s a fic title - insert a made up title. What would this story be about? DO IT??

48) What’s your favourite trope to write? I'm... not sure, entirely, but probably "bullshit [insert genre here] magic".

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about? I remember one OF the first fics I ever read, because for about 7, 8 years, I was SCOURING fanfiction.net to find it again. It was about Raven having terrible visions, Azarath being destroyed, and Robin feeling her pain through their connection, but thinking it was heartburn. And then a group of people dropped in, took Raven away (on a spaceships? Though hyperspace???). And they were going to rebuild Azarath. And I think Robin had just discovered Raven was gone, before the story ended. Oh, and they spelled Azarath like "Azerath". That's all I can remember, but I really do wish I'd known what happened, because that story had me absolutely HOOKED. (But alas, I didn't have an account at the time, and I was reading it at the computer lab.)

50) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? Ohh, this one's hard. I'd drop smut like it's hot (haha, get it?). But seriously, I'm a 99%-sex-repulsed aroace, and I've only ever written like 5 half-done smut scenes. Imagined a Fair Few more, but they don't keep my interest for the long multi-hour process of editing that comprises my writing process.

This probably means "romantic fluff" though, right? I mean, I HAVE to write angst (because let's be real, without Angst I wouldn't have much of a story, since all of my stories are Driven By Characters Issues, WAY moreso than external events). But I really think the REAL beauty of my characters is how they go through that angst, and COME OUT with each others' support. I don't know how to write angst without someone being supported (i.e. "Hurt/Comfort", really), and I don't know how to write fluff without something Heavy bringing it on.

Secretshipping (Dove+Srentha) is equal parts angst and fluff, because honestly Angst is in Dove's Job Description, and Srentha is so light-hearted and goofy and silly that he balances it out (and Dove has some goof in her, and Srentha has some rare moments of angst, and it's how they interact and balance out and HELP each other through it that really brings them to LIFE together). Kary's whole characterization is because The Angst seriously fucked up her psyche, but scenes between her and Dove (and Yo-yo!), even her future husband, can get seriously silly and fluffy. Leyla's real growth and development comes from Realizing that the World is Not Like her Sheltered Life. (And how she doesn't want to expose her parents to Her Angst.) But it's also the fluffy deep softness and sincerity she and her parents share that gets her through these realizations. So like... Angst and fluff go hand-in-hand for me? I wouldn't be able to write one without the other.