ex-assassin REACTS

so callum stole the primal stone from claudia, and then sacrificed it to soothe ezran and rayla and to hatch zym. and callum was given the pendant by rayla, but crushed it to see the truth and hopefully help her. and then callum received the staff from ibis, but relinquished it to rex igneous to help with their mission.

HMMM

👀

utilities included: the faq

ahead of the utilities included finale, i shared my retrospring on here & twitter, and i invited anyone to ask questions about the story. you can find the answers to those questions below the cut, and i'll be updating this post as any additional questions come in!

why did you choose an alpha/alpha pairing?

i think i was drawn to that dynamic specifically because it felt the most accurate to how i interpret their canon dynamic. it also gave me a vehicle to explore sanji's identity (and queerness), which was a lot of fun.

why did you choose sanji's limited POV?

limited POV in a romance story creates an interesting layer of narrative tension ("how does the other character feel?") that i love. i also knew early on that i wanted sanji to be a chronic overthinker in contrast to zoro's more simple, straightforward approach to life, and i knew that i wanted that contrast in their personalities to be the root of the story's "conflict." so it was easy to decide that i needed to plant myself in sanji's headspace for the story—that's where all the conflict is!

why did i decide to remove sanji's ability to sense pheromones?

when i was first outlining the story, sanji was actually going to move into the apartment as a favor to his friend luffy, who was begging him to take over his lease. but when i sat down to write this, it didn't really feel like luffy to me, so i pivoted to story so luffy has already run off and nami's trying to find a total stranger to take over his lease. this is what you see at the very beginning of chapter one. however, i quickly realized a plot hole in this: if sanji could sense pheromones, he'd immediately know the place wasn't nami's, and he might not even step foot in the apartment to begin with (because i was always going to write him not liking or trusting other alphas). so. uh. i nixed his ability to smell pheromones. and that spur of the moment decision ended up becoming the cornerstone of sanji's characterization and a major part of his internal conflict. i actually forgot until i sat down to answer this question why this became part of the story because it was a decision made so early in the process that it's funny to think there was ever a version of utilities included in my mind that didn't have it!

which part of utilities included did i enjoy creating the most?

chapter 10 is my favorite chapter overall, but the pool scene at the end of chapter 3 is really special to me. it's the first time sanji realizes these people are thinking of him as a friend, and it's also the strawhats (and friends) being petty criminals in a modern AU. honestly, any of the group scenes (with 4+ characters) i had a blast writing. i love the chaos and the silliness and also being able to push myself to make every character sound distinct from one another on the page. but the pool scene is just extra special for me.

while writing sanji POV, did i think of what zoro's POV would be each scene?

generally speaking: no. when i first started writing fanfiction, i had this compulsion to cram every detail i had thought about into my exposition instead of letting the details come up naturally through conversation or character observation. there are different ways you can get out of this trap as a writer (or lean into it, if you want to), but for me the most effective method was the most simple: if you don't need it, just don't think about it! so unless zoro's state of mind was directly contributing to the plot (because of what he was saying or how he was acting), i simply did not think about it. i like to think that gives sanji's spiraling thoughts some degree of authenticity because while sanji was thinking "how does zoro feel about this?" i was also thinking "hm. i wonder how zoro feels about all this." well. to an extent. i knew that zoro was going to be into sanji from the first moment they met (he likes blades. sanji threw a blade. simple.) and i knew that their first kiss was going to be zoro's "little garden" moment where he'd suddenly go from neutrally annoying sanji to actively stoking the fires of sanji's competitive spirit (and sexuality). and i knew that when the "define the relationship" conversation inevitably came to pass, zoro was going to be just as Not Bothered about it as sanji was Bothered. that's it, that's all i planned for zoro's perspective (with the obvious exception of the epilogue). i'm a big fan of working smarter, not harder with this stuff ☺️

what did sanji first smell like to zoro?

i kind of touch on this in the epilogue, but i'll expand a bit here. for sanji's pheromones, i wanted them to reflect the duality of his canon personality: both harsh and kind. so i wrote his pheromones as being both sweet and a little burnt. when i was thinking of how pheromones "work" i was loosely using the formula of "imagine you smelled a subtle scent ONCE, then ten years later your brain had to recreate that scent from memory." so zoro's brain does something like sweet + burned = caramel / sake, another character's brain might do something like sweet + burned = tobacco. it's less about a 1:1 scent and more about what their brain associates with that scent, if that makes sense? and if it doesn't make sense, you can see why i enjoyed writing a 100k story from the POV of the one character who can't understand this crap ☺️ as for their first impressions: when zoro first walked into the apartment, sanji had been contently cooking, so the room was probably very sweet at first. then there was a sudden, sharp burst of that burnt smell when sanji's anxiety kicked in.

was zoro into sanji from their first meeting? did he have an "oh" moment?

i wouldn't call it love at first death threat, but zoro was definitely interested in sanji from their first meeting. nothing like a little adrenaline to jumpstart zoro's attraction. i don't think zoro had an "oh" moment in the traditional sense, just because i think he goes with the flow so well that he's less likely to get bowled over by a sudden surge of feeling? if that makes sense? i think he'd be much more like "damn, i was right all along" than "oh" but that's just my take on him 🙃 as for when he fell in love, i personally like to think it was watching sanji's ddr match against koby. but i'm open to all other interpretations too ☺️

how did zoro feel seeing sanji cuddling with his friends for the first time in chapter three?

this is an interesting question. i didn't really think about it much while writing the scene, but i think zoro would probably not have lingered on the moment very much. i think, to him, it's obvious that sanji would be integrated into (and loved by) the people closest to zoro. if sanji was the sort of person zoro's friends wouldn't love, zoro would never have pursued anything more with him to begin with, and they would have just stayed contentious roommates forever. but zoro knew from early on how much his friends liked sanji, so seeing them all cuddled up together like that was probably just confirming what he already assumed.

we know what happened to sanji, but what happened this siblings?

i haven't thought too much about this because, again, i don't think sanji thinks too much about what happened to them. he was isolated from his siblings as a child—at first for judge's fear that whatever was wrong with him might be communicable, then later as a sort of carrot-and-stick measure (if sanji got better, he could play with his siblings; as long as he didn't get better, they were allowed to bully him). if i had dug into the vinsmoke siblings more, i'd probably have characterized them as people still adhering to the same reductive beliefs judge tried to instill in sanji early in life. they wouldn't have been exposed to the same medical trauma, but they would have been fed a lot of misinformation about alpha dominance and what it means to be the "right kind" of alpha in this society.

are there any canon side ships in utilities included's universe? are luffy and law an item?

i think the only confirmed ships besides sanji & zoro are robin/franky, nami/vivi, and usopp/kaya. luffy and law definitely have something going on, but what that something is is never confirmed. i'm happy to leave everything about them open to interpretation!

Halbarry Fic Recommendation Masterpost

Yes, it's a list of lists. Since there's kind of a lot of these now (and I have plans for more when I get off my butt/am procrastinating my Halbarry Week stuff), let's get everything in one place!

Trope/Themed Lists

Domestic/Cozy/Slice of Life

Hurt/Protection

Angst with a Happy Ending

Fun/Quirky/Upbeat

Historical AU <- Longfic for people who already know the characters

Blue Lantern Barry (+1!)

POV Outsider

Halbarry Calendar

New Year’s

Valentine’s Day

Hal’s Birthday

Barry’s Birthday

Halloween: Horror/Cute/Sexy and Spooky Vibes

Winter/Christmas/Hanukkah

Even More Lists!

Halbarry Week Collections! 2023, 2022 and 2020

Halbarry Secret Santa Collection! 2023

@briarmoon1015's List!

@ceeloilights' List!

@finalfrontierpioneer’s Lists: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019

@dailygreenlantern Lists: Here and Here and Here 

11.11.2023, Christos Michalopoulos, a 17yo Greek Romani teenager, was shot dead by the police.

09.19.2023, a Molotov cocktail is thrown at a Sinti encampment in Prato, Italy.

08.07.2023, Muszunye Mircea Vișan, a 33yo Romanian Romani man, is beaten by the Romanian police until he went into cardiac arrest and died.

04.13.2023, Jani Rustemaj, a 27yo Albanian Romani man, is beaten to death by cops while in police custody.

12.05.2022, Kostas Frigoulis, a 16yo Greek Romani teenager, was shot dead by the police. They fired 30 times.

07.25.2022, Hasib Omerovic, a 36yo Italian Romani, disabled man was beat up by the police and pushed out of his bedroom window, falling from a height of nine meters. He has been in a coma ever since.

07.2021, Brasilian military police murders the Romani families living in Vitória da Conquista. At least six Romani people were shot dead and another 15 wounded on the 13th of July. The following day, a 14-year-old Romani boy was shot dead by the police.

10.23.2021, Nikos Sabanis, an 18yo Greek Romani teenager, is shot dead by the police.

06.19.2021, Czech police officers kneel on the neck of Stanislav Tomas, a Czech Romani man, until he stopped breathing.

05.2021, Pîtea Constantin Daniel (22) and Constantin Dănuț Aurel (45), two Romanian Romani men, were beaten up by the police and threatened with execution: "Wait and see for yourself. We will take you to the field and there you will see that we will kill you

05.25.2020, Gabriel Djordjevic, a 14yo French Romani boy had to undergo surgery and almost lost his eyesight after being beaten by the police. He suffered PTSD following the attack.

09.27.2018, Henri Lenfant, a 23yo French Romani man, was shot dead by the police.

04.13.2017, a Romani man and his son were beaten by Bulgarian police.

09.26.2014, Raymond Gurême, an 89yo French Romani man, Holocaust survivor, and former Resistance fighter who helped liberate France from the Nazis, was beaten up by French cops in his own trailer.

Hi, everyone! Shannon here, fka charmingmushroom, to tell you I've officially changed my blog name! Some of you may remember I was considering this a few weeks ago. I still like my old name, but it also felt a little too cutesy to properly represent me. This one is still a Henford-on-Bagley reference but more versatile, I think! I also changed my profile pic to make things even more confusing, but hopefully it won't throw people off too much. Who knows? I may decide I actually hate it and switch back. But hopefully it sticks!

Sixfanarts challenge! They were originally sketches into the template but I left the file without saving lost everything had a wobbly decided to just pencil sketch them individually and redraw them digitally instead and not even try to fight them into the template since my art methods are odd lmao, enjoy!

Ace belongs to @martysgachaworld, I won't lie I was confused for Ace in every drawing the scars on his other eye I'm pretty sure but on his ref it's on the eye I did it on and I used ref so sorry if incorrect and I know his eyes usually closed but he gets to have it open as treat I'm pretty sure he can still open it?? Idk, also made him cheeky cause he had like character development a lad cheeky and fun cause I read up on him on ur blog lmao

Riven belongs to @oogaboogaspookyman, I'm sure he's fine

Jota belongs to @the-arcade-doctor, I was also confused here on how to draw Jota seeing as ref he's all well shapes but while trying to find reference I saw human art so like?? Uhh lineart silhouette art upon yee ? Hope he looks okay! Also bestows upon Jota highest honor I can give, Maka Albarn Soul Eater inspired pose the original scythe girl I ever knew

Meau and Missingno belong to @phlurrii!! They encuddle!!! I couldn't only draw one I'm afraid gotta do them both together

Peach belongs to @pokemon-ash-aus, ngl I drew this after the Prof Peach questions which is probably why she came out annoyed, done with all us fuckers. Sorry I didn't also do King, Noe and Meau are just a package deal can't separate

And finally the baby boy Chrysanthemum!! Who belongs to @blues-sues, with Rigger kinda snuck in I just really didn't feel like drawing my own oc I'm sorry

while staring at fanart people have done for me (as i do cus it makes me really happy) i noticed a common thing people seem to forget/mistake and it's the fact that himawari has pigtails!

here's a lazy illustration to clear up the confusion HSKJGHKEGHG it was just really funny to me because it seemed like a common thing that happened, the bow that ties the hair is only partially visible because it's mostly covered by her untied hair

Flighteningverse Week Day 2: First Flight/Crash Landing

When I did this one I realized how it(and some of the other ones) kinda managed to fit either the same day's prompts or mixed two day's prompts together. That wasn't even intentional XD

Anyway, have FV!Horror having a rough landing on his first flight. He'll be fine, just gotta have bandages on his head(again) and a cast for his hand, as he fractured it by accident. Also he has those eyebrow feathers.

My gremlin children :D

Hi it says ask about Miku and other things. Miku, what's your favorite interest other than music-ing and miku-ing

Hehe, I meant I accept asks with links to miku fanart, but asking about me (or should I say me-ku!! ^-^) is just as fun!

When I'm not running this blog or on my computer, I'm usually outside gardening or drawing! I have a lot of interests, but if I had to choose just one to be my favorite, I'd say plants!! They're really fun to learn about, and very pretty <3

Working on a new project, a short story tentatively titled Narwhal & Orca. Started scripting this past week. I'm hoping to have some pages done by end of May, but that miiiiiight be too optimistic? Gonna do my best, though :)

The story centers around Nolan, a narwhal merman, trying to get back to his ship after being separated during a storm. Along the way he meets Salik, an orca merman on a hunting trip with his sister and her kids. Trouble ensues when they're cornered by a pair of whaling ships, and Nolan is forced to face a harsh reality from his past.

"Do you not realize it? Do you... truly not see what this means?"

The next Destiny Bond update is in progress! ❄️✨ –> Check out the latest part here 🔷 –> New to the series? Follow from the start! 💜

Brutal things that i have been shocked to see happen period, but also completely uncensored in trimax (so far)

legato forcing someone to hole punch his own chest then rip out his heart, arteries + veins in full view

the first of the gung-ho-guns basically crucified but on steroids

the cyclops chucking herself off a building

knives' BIRTH?????????? what ever happened to regenerating in the soup. what do you mean he's REBORN. he has ENOUGH MOMS. GIVE ONE TO VASH.

There are some specific rules to this blog that I figure I post here and on the pinned post just for clarity sake:

-I only ship with chemistry, and Sebastian will not default to being shipped with Astarion. He obviously has backstory with Astarion, but this can go in any direction, its up to the RP partner I have, and what they are comfortable with.

-There WILL be spiders. I'm sorry. Kar'niss makes that pretty much inevitable. I will tag Kar'niss pictures with 'spider cw'. Please keep this in mind.

-Cazador is request only. Even if you request, I may reject the request. He is very low activity and mood specific, I really need to be ready to write him.

-Everyone will accept the glory of Baeloth. Baeloth is the only character here from Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. He is canonically still alive in BG3 times, however. Hopefully he might make a return in 3! (Black Pits 3 Black Pits 3 Black Pits 3--)