I have NOT responsibly taken a dive into the tag yet, as I'm just catching up on the episode now, but I am VERY MUCH HERE FOR FLIRTY PAPANG ERA, thank you.

Maggie and Nina interview with Cheryl Eddy for Gizmodo au, 10 July 2023

Good Omens fans know what it means to pine for a couple to be together. Season two adds more shipping to the mix with Nina (Nina Sosanya) and Maggie (Maggie Service), shopkeeper neighbors of bookselling angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen). If their names and faces are familiar, that’s because you’ve seen them together before: as Satanic nuns in Good Omens season one.

This time around, of course, they are completely different characters who just happened to be named after the actors who play them. They were “beyond thrilled” to return to Good Omens, Service told io9 at a recent press day.

Sosanya agreed. “There was a sort of shock when we first heard that the second series was happening, a bigger one when we realized that we would be in it,” she said. “Then there was the adjustment that you have to make when you’re not going to be playing the previous characters. And then, just delight when you find out you’re going to be playing something new and named after our own selves, which is unprecedented, really.”

Without getting into plot spoilers, we can say that Good Omens season two acknowledges the queer subtext that fans read into Aziraphale and Crowley (David Tennant) in season one, and brings it out into the open with these new characters. Maggie, who runs a record shop, has a huge crush on Nina, who runs a coffee shop and is unfortunately already partnered up. They’re lesbians, but Good Omens doesn’t make a big deal out of that fact; that’s just who these characters happen to be.

“Season one [really] connected with people,” Service said. “The Good Omens universe, it’s a place where you can just be—you know, you’re welcome, whoever you are, however, whatever. If something makes you feel ‘other,’ you’re not. You’re fine. You’re welcome. That reaction from the fans has painted into what they wanted to write in season two, to just absolutely make that message more than 100% clear and tell some more stories. It’s not a big deal [that they’re gay] it’s just who they are.”

Added Sosanya, “I think that’s what Neil does with a lot of his writing and with a lot of the graphic novels as well. Those characters, they’re not explained particularly, they just are. It doesn’t have to be justified in any way.”

Maggie and Nina are unique in Good Omens season two because they’re both mortals—even if they don’t realize at first that they’re surrounded by characters who are actually angels and demons. “They didn’t really know particularly that there are ‘sides’ to be taken, so they’re sort of working their own moral compass,” Sosanya said. “Following instincts, and trying to do the best they can and look after the people who look like they might need help,” Service added.

Said Sosanya, “And then, [once they do realize what’s going on], it’s not actually clear which side they would be on. They’re well-rounded characters—they could go either way. They’re just sort of experiencing it in the moment and seeing what occurs because nothing is as it seems.”

Both actors agreed they’d love to return for a hypothetical Good Omens season three, either as Nina and Maggie again or as another set of new characters—“any chance to spend any time in the Good Omens universe will be a great day in the office,” Service said. And they both think the themes of Good Omens are important ones.

“In both seasons, the question of what makes a good person, what makes a bad person is prevalent. I think much more in season two, [also] something about authenticity. But lots of parties seem to be searching for something and it might be within themselves,” Service teased.

Added Sosanya, “I also think that perhaps as a theme about learning to trust another individual. You can’t operate as an island. No angel is an island, and no demon is an island.”

We Are Back!!! Everyone Please Help Me Welcome @snowbellewells Back to the CSSNS!!!

Your Tumblr and any other applicable names

snowbellewells

How long have you been in the CS/OUAT fandom?

Around 11 years

When did you start shipping Captain Swan?

About as soon as Season 3 got going

What drew you to this event?

Well, I was psyched to be part of something with so many other friends and fic writers I was just getting to know back when the first CSSNS happened, and I was also excited for the possibility of more werewolf CS stories!

What inspired your topic?

I have always loved the original Dracula novel (movie versions, not so much 🫣) and I am actually dumbfounded I never thought of trying it before. Thanks to @kmomof4 for planting the idea in my head, because I didn’t actually know what I was going to do this year before that moment!

If you would like to share a snippet/sneak peek/summary of your fic or artwork, please use the space below.

Emma craned her neck to peer out the small window of the carriage into the black darkness encroaching on all sides as the conveyance careened around sharp curves and stark cliff faces in a way that made her stomach pitch and put her heart in her throat. More than once, her mouth opened to call to the driver, to beg him to slow down, but each time a sudden jolt or swerve had her clenching her teeth and swallowing the words back as she gripped the seat. Pitching wildly from one side of the bench to the other, Emma nearly toppled to the floor repeatedly as they sped on.

The torches at the side of the carriage doors flickered wildly behind their glass sconces, but barely even made pinpricks in the heavily encroaching night all around them; deep blackness which had seemingly swallowed them ever since they left the small gypsy outpost where they had supped just an hour past. Realizing belatedly that she was only becoming more overwrought and anxious the longer they hurtled forward, she tried to lean her head back against the seat and close her eyes rather than staring blindly into nothing, resolutely forcing deep, calming breaths as she did.

Scant moments passed in such a manner before Emma felt her racing heartbeat slow, at least a bit. It was then that a different sort of thrill ran along her spine - different from the chill which had settled over her skin with the horrifying loss of Aurora’s sweet, innocent life and the eerie foreboding which had accompanied her since setting out on this final leg of her path toward the perpetrator of her younger friend’s downfall. This determined trek higher and higher into the isolated Carpathian range seemed weighed more heavily on her spirit with every mile they gained. But they were close now. She could feel it.

Still, regardless of the tightening pit in her stomach and the anxious flutter of her pulse, Emma would not fail to accomplish her part in Killian’s plan. None of them would. They had taken solemn vows. Each one of their number had a role to play. And she was the bait…

For our artists: What kind of art do you like to do? Picsets, painting, digital, etc?

I do Canva picsets.

For our betas: Who/what have you beta'd before, or is this your first time?

I have beta read for CSSNS the last couple summers, and I also occasionally beta for individuals when asked. I really enjoy being part of a story as it is being formed, and getting to talk with another author along the way about ideas, their process, etc.

What are you looking forward to most about participating in this event?

As always, I can’t wait to read the other stories and get to interact with all of those who are still keeping the CS love going strong!!

Welcome back, Marta!!! Your writing is always so descriptive and I have CHILLS reading the snippet above!!! I can't wait for it to drop on Aug 18, as well as your shifter OS on July 19!!

To that whiteknight that said my opinions are crappy and that I don't know what it takes to write or animate a single episode, here's the thing. I'm an actual animator and I'm a writer. Here's the thing, animation is like math. It's only HARD when you don't understand it's systems and methods and principles, otherwise it all just becomes tedious work, so even though you might have a fun little idea in your head, actually bringing to life is not fun at all. But the results from all your hard labour is what pays off, thats the true fun of animation. The results are worth it, not the actual animating part. So animation is not hard, its tedious as fuck.

Second of all, you don't really need to even have a script to write a good story. You see Hayao Miyazaki's films? No screenplays, its all in the storyboards. Generally, you can even improvise and still get good writing, for example an author named Steven James writes clever and thrilling books without any outlines, it's all organic. Miyazaki and James's ways of writing are organic, they just hop into the story and figure it all out as they go along. Even Shu Takumi, man behind Ace Attorney doesn't have any outlines, he just hops to it. So no, scripts are necessarily needed for writing episodes, besides these guys wrote entire games, novels and movies without scripts. So it isn't really needed, so sorry if you thought a good story requires a script, I don't need to be a qualified scriptwriter to write a good story, besides, a lot of people are qualified and yet they write dogshit and destory entire franchises. I don't need to demonstrate my ability to write a good script, I should demonstrate my ability to write a good story. Helluva Boss prioritizes a toxic ship rather than well-written characters, conflicts, arcs, drama, action, etc. This toxic ship therefore destroys the characters it has build up, for whatever reason the writer chooses to keep I don't know, but they are not a good writer if they can't see the effect this worthless ship has on it's characters. And in order to protect one of its characters who was clearly in a position of power to stop this affair, they blame it on the victim then villainize them for the rest of the season. I very well know Blitz has ruined many of his former loved ones' lives, and he is clearly at fault and must be punished, but his relationship with Stolas with it ruining Stolas's whole life and family is not one of them. Stolas is responsible for the destruction of his family and his reputation, it was of his own doing. Instead of making him get what he deserves and gets character development and becomes a better person, someone we can actually sympathize with for once, the writers especially Vivienne simply choose not to. Bad writing, dare I say garbage writing.

I agree make Bird boy face consequences for his own damn actions instead of throwing the blame everywhere but him.

As a non writer I’m curious about something. Do you decide to write a specific genre and then work an idea into the genre or do you write the idea/story you want and then look to decide which genre it is? I guess I’m curious if the story or genre comes first?

Great question!

For fic: I write whatever the fuck I want and don't worry about it! I mostly write things that end happily because that's what makes me happy, but as long as I tag things appropriately (AU, platonic, IN SPACE, whatever), I don't let any of that bother me. Fic is so fun because it can so easily slide between genres. And most fic is romance AND something else; romance and crime/mystery, romance and scifi, romance and fantasy, or simply contemporary romance. There's a big thing in the publishing world right now where people are like "omg, ROMANTASY, aka fantasy with a primary romance, HOW THRILLING" and I'm like...dude...this not new! Welcome! Have you heard of a lil fandom by the name of XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS??? Do not cite the Deep Magic to me Witch. I was there when it was written.

For novels that you're trying to get published: I had to learn what book genres were! I queried my first novel—which is when you send it out to agents like a job application, with a cover letter and writing sample, and hope they want to represent you, aka help you sell it—being like THIS HAS NO GENRE and it turns out the genre was romcom with speculative elements. Aka low key romantasy, lol. Anyway, that book was Revelations and it didn't sell, I think primarily because the genre conventions were not met and it was confusing. It worked great as a fic, but required several big overhauls and ground-up rewrites to get it to place where it meets genre expectations and is maybe sell-able.

Usually the idea that comes to me is clear what genre it is, now that I know what they are. I primarily write romcoms, some speculative and some not, and so the ideas that percolate for me most are romcoms. However, my agent said recently a new idea I have might be more on the line of romcom and women's fiction* which surprised me. But that's fine! It doesn't change the book I write; it might change how we talk about it in the pitch process and, if it gets sold, how the marketing team frames it. But that won't change the story structure from a drafting perspective, I don't think.

Some genres are very close to each other (upmarket vs. book club fiction vs. women's fiction), while others are quite distinct (if you want it set in space, that's probably going to be sci fi). I think the main questions are:

(a) Setting: Is it on a space ship? (sci-fi) Are there dragons? (fantasy) Can people use magic? (fantasy or speculative) Is it in our world, in our time? (contemporary) In our world but in 1250? (historical)

(b) Character motivations (what do they NEED): To repopulate their planet? Save their mother from the evil magician? Fall in love? Save her bookstore from capitalism?

(c) Obstacle (why don't they have it ALREADY): If the obstacle is primarily internal, like she can't fall in love because she hates herself, then we're looking at a straight romance or literary fiction. If the obstacle is world-building related, like the spaceship is broken or the magician is too powerful, that's going to be firmly sci-fi or fantasy or whatever.

There should always be at least 2 obstacles: one internal and one external, but you should know which one is paramount, or which would win in an epic battle. And that will help you figure out if you're writing, say, romance with speculative elements (soulmates) or fantasy with a strong romantic element (fourth wing, i think, i haven't read it because it seems bad). Whichever you list first is your primary genre, aka which section of the bookstore it'll be in. Are you shelving this in fantasy (fourth wing) or romance (Revelations) or "fiction," and then the rest gets more specific from there.

*also, just like, FUCK the name "women's fiction." Men's fiction is called "fiction."

More Lantern Hill posting! Will attempt to keep this brief as I also have to draft tomorrow's F&H readalong post lol.

CH. 17:

Dad had bought a dish-pan that day, but neither of them had thought about a dish-cloth or dish-towels. Jane got two new undervests out of her trunk and slit them open.

Obsessed by how Jane immediately repurposes one of the unnecessary clothes from Gay Street and uses it as a functional tool of her new life. Talk about reclamation of power.

Also a strange, soft far-away sound—the moaning call of the sea. The night seemed to be filled with it. Jane heard it and something deep down in her responded to it with a thrill that was between anguish and rapture. Why was the sea calling? What was its secret sorrow?

The sea runs through all of LMM's PEI books, yet this seems to be her most oceanic novel as far as I can tell. Only Anne's House of Dreams, and Leslie Moore's character from it in particular, uses the sea as a theme to this extent.

CH. 18:

Jane broiled [the codfish] and her face as well, and it was delicious.

Such an accurate description of cooking. If you're not physically altered by the act, did you really make a good meal?

Her foot was on her native heath and her name was Jane.

Names also define this book to a huge extent. Yes, we saw that with Valancy vs. Doss, but in TBC, Valancy never seemed to doubt she was Valancy. It was a mark of her otherness and used against her, but perhaps because she was older, it doesn't seem such a fundamental building block her identity the way Jane vs. Victoria is here. It's interesting how both Jane and Victoria are hereditary names, which may contribute to how fraught they are.

Dad brought home the ship clock with the dog. Jane found it useful to time meals by, but as far as anything else was concerned there was really no such thing as time at Lantern Hill.

LMM is really a master at creating enchantment. I would never have thought domesticity could be like fairyland, but Lantern Hill really is for Jane, and therefore for us.

CH. 19:

She had a sudden realization of the fact that this was not the first time dad had helped fix up a home…not the first time he had been nicely excited over choosing wallpaper and curtains and rugs. He must have had it all before with mother. Perhaps they had had just as much fun over it as dad and she were having now…more ... how could mother ever have left him?

This paragraph hurt me a little somewhere, and I think it lies in the fact that the moment when a child realizes that their parents were not always parents but once in fact had a life before your existence, something kind of shifts in your worldview. I can't quite remember if Jane has already pondered the circumstances of her parents' separation, but her actively thinking now of when they married seems to be a necessary--if perhaps painful--step forward in her maturity. And of course in the next chapter we begin to hear of Robin again.

CH. 20:

Aunt Irene was smiling, but there was an edge to her voice. Jane thought she would almost prefer grandmother's venom. You didn't have to look as if you liked that.

I would ALSO prefer Grandmother, Jane, which is saying something. God, this whole chapter makes me so mad. I hope Aunt Irene dances in red hot shoes by the end of this novel.

CH. 21:

Jane's letter to her mother is giving such Emily-writing-on-letter-bills-to-her-father: even down to having opinions on cows and including misspellings.

ooh baby we're back in business for sure

so after my rage-fuelled obsession with the movie had died down i kind of forgot about it for the most part. (that is a lie. i am lying.) but one day i somehow discovered that it was based on a BOOK and set out to read said book out of morbid curiosity. (i expected it to be just a novel version of the movie, and i wanted to see how an author could create something so empty using words. i was wrong of course, but that's not the point.) i figured it would be at the secondhand bookstore, but i looked there to no avail. i did, however, find another novel by the same author (walter tevis); the steps of the sun. i flipped to a random page and it appeared to show the protagonist whining about how his testicles don't work. this was unpromising.

i then read the man who fell to earth on internet archive, where it is available entirely for free. you just have to make an account and then while you're reading you have to click “renew” once every hour. it took me somewhere around 4-5 hours to read i think. and it was really good.

genuinely. it was a fantastic book. (i ended up later buying it from the regular bookstore because it turns out that walter tevis also happens to be the author of the queen's gambit, that book about chess which has a show based on it, so all his books got a new life thanks to one of them being adapted.)

the book, much like the film, follows an alien called thomas jerome newton who comes to earth to save the few remaining people on his planet, except that this planet has been ravaged by nuclear war. it's also got a name: anthea. a minor issue with the novel is that it contains a lot of info-dumps, even right from the start, but compared to the unexplained torrent of bullshit in the movie, this is a fucking relief. after the pawn-shop scene which plays out pretty similarly to the movie but with more fun, relatable anxiety about being an alien and having to talk to service workers, we get some fairly unimportant and rather strange information about the alien's biology, which is also very silly and kind of fun despite being unoriginal and making no sense. remember, the year was somewhere around 1963 and the man who wrote the book was an english professor at a university. for example, antheans don't have an appendix, or wisdom teeth, or fingernails. don't ask me why. they're basically just humans but taller and thinner and with a lot of parts missing. (i like it though, it's silly.)

the rest of the book actually has a plot, similar to the vestiges of a plot in the film, wherein newton becomes fabulously wealthy, moves to the middle of nowhere with the main girl, builds a rocket-ship, hires nathan bryce who suspects him to be an alien, unrelated to this gets captured by the government, etcetera. these things are actually explained as they happen, and make sense without you having to read a guide alongside the book. in addition to the plot, there are also characters with distinctive personalities. i read the book partly aloud to my friend, and gave the characters actual voices (something i never do when reading aloud). the characters have noticeable changes throughout the novel, and each of the main trio forms a connection with the others. there is no romance plot whatsoever, which was lovely. the characters are very human, very relatable, and very ordinary, despite one of them literally being an alien. they have mundane struggles with life, work, relationships, and addiction, which are not, in my opinion, romanticized or used for spectacle. there are also themes, mainly those of isolation and alienation. it may not be the most thrilling book, there may not be a mystery or a romance or action, so if that's what you want, go read james bond. (the movies are even good, for the most part.) but while walter tevis may not have written an epic spy thriller, or a murder mystery, or an erotic romance, he did write a very beautiful little book about humanity. PLEASE READ IT IT'S SO GOOD PLEASE—

so the thing about the book is that while it is a fantastic, genuinely quite well-written (though dated) sci fi novel with a plot and honestly very likeable characters and themes that make you think instead of pretending to make you think, it does have one problem. it puts into high relief just how absolutely fucking awful the movie is, worse than i could have thought, worse than the world could have known. it is my sincere belief that the screenwriter HEARD of the book from a friend and then read it in it's entirety…during an acid-fuelled fever dream. (not as unlikely as you'd think honestly.)

but the problem with that theory is that that upon rewatching the film, there are several incredibly specific elements from the book which somehow ended up in the movie. this includes the painting of the fall of icarus and its accompanying poem, the hundreds of identical wedding rings which newton sells in the beginning to make enough money to meet with the lawyer, the shiny fingernails??? (sidenote i feel like bowie just kept putting on more nail polish as filming went on, his nails seem to get shinier every scene), the fucking oatmeal cookies (why), and probably others. this means that the filmmakers read the book and decided to replace all the themes and metaphors with surface-level spectacle, all of the plot-relevant internal monologue with shots of characters staring at one another or into space, and all of the dialogue with sex. (and everyone else was too high to argue, i suppose.)

this is such a tragedy that i can hardly comprehend it. there are even flashes, within the film, of what it could have been if nic roeg hadn't been entirely absorbed in making a cheap-looking, disjointed, “artsy” pile of garbage with an r rating slapped on to garner some kind of reaction. i would call it a porno, but that's an insult to porn directors. instead i will call it what it is, which is pathetic.

in one scene which appears to be entirely original wherein the two main characters (because nathan bryce is a sidenote of a sidenote in this movie and serves only to make bowie look prettier than he is in the ending scene) are hanging out in the hotel room and mary-lou (in the book she's called betty jo but they changed her name and aged her down about twenty years so that they could make her have sex with the main character) asks what newton does for a living and he replies, “oh, i'm just visiting,” and mary-lou, delighted, says “oh! a traveller!” and newton (bowie) gives this sweet smile and for a moment i could pretend that everything was going to be fine, except it wasn't, and the girl immediately begins blabbing again. i just wish that they had included more lines like these, more actual fucking dialogue, because it was the part of the book which i liked the best, along with the possibly-unintentional comedy.

one final thing to note before i close out this chapter is that in the book newton is constantly described as being incredibly fragile, with bones like a bird's, barely able to withstand earth's gravity (that being 3 times the gravity of his own planet, which actually checks out scientifically, and interestingly implies that anthea is slightly smaller than earth) to the point where even being bumped into would probably injure him. being bumped into. so like. if he had sex like he does in the movie he would genuinely probably just fucking die.

stay tuned for more, hopefully i don't lose this manic pixie dream bitch energy by tomorrow morning.

Hello! I'm new to the wrestling fandom which I was introduced to via your writing and I just wanted to know what fics (Of any genre) You would recomend to someone starting out!

This made me so happy!! Wrestling is such a wonderful thing and I’m thrilled that my writing was your introduction to it!! It makes me so happy to know that you saw something I made and wanted to see more related things. That’s such high praise!! As always, my dms on discord and tumblr are open for further tips, suggestions, and fic recs, or if you just want to make a friend :D

As I’m sure you’re aware, there are many promotions and eras in wrestling, and sometimes you need quite a bit of context to get an appreciation of the subtext, backstories and references, especially for some of the most popular ships. @mitchtheficus has a wonderful timeline that discusses the Golden Lovers and their story, and there are other guides on here for newer wrestling fans looking to get a better sense of a particular story or wrestling as a whole!!

My main tip for new wrestling fans is to Google the name of a wrestler you like and see if they’ve done anything dodgy. There’s a LOT of wrestlers out there that have done creepy and/or bigoted things both recently and in the past, and it’s easy for that to slip through the cracks. From there it’s your prerogative to assess for yourself whether that person is someone you want to support.

Another tip is, if you don’t enjoy a character/storyline, that’s completely fine. Wrestling is for everyone and has a range of stories and characters, so have fun watching what you enjoy! Even if a character or match is adored by the community and it’s not your thing, you don’t have bad taste for not liking that.

Finally, please show your appreciation for the fics you love!! We’re a small fandom so any praise, commentary or questions are always greatly appreciated, whether they are anonymous or not!

I know I’ve waffled on a bit, but here are some fic/author recs! Most of these will contain some NSFW content, as is the case with most wrestling fics.

The first place to look would be @old-no7 who goes by GrimmWork on AO3! They write a range of characters and tropes/genres, and if you’re looking for chaptered fics to get stuck into they’re a great starting point.

My top recommendation from them to get started would have to be The Botanical Significance of Daisies - A Hanahaki Disease fic filled with emotion and featuring multiple characters that are still easy to keep track of! It’s an amazing ride, and is long enough to dive into without being novel-length. It centres around Wheeler Yuta and the Blackpool Combat Club (BCC), a stable including Jon Moxley (formally known as Dean Ambrose), Bryan Danielson (formerly known as Daniel Bryan), and William Regal.

The only thing I know about your preferences regarding characters is that you enjoy The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt and Nick Jackson, Hangman Adam Page (formerly)) and the Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi). For these characters and the associated pairings, I’d recommend Wide Open Spaces, Rehabilitation of the Anxious Mind, and Boy Unwritten, also by GrimmWork on AO3. I don’t know how beginner friendly the elite-centric stories are, though!

@americandragonslayer is another mainstay here. They write chaptered fics, series, and some shorter fics. They write for the Blackpool Combat Club and some others! They’re amazing, check them out!

@saturatedsinset and @kennyanimega are incredible, wonderful writers! I’d say some of their fics are a little less beginner friendly as they tend to cover a broader range of dynamics and make reference to events and storylines you may not be aware of, but it’s definitely worth the extra effort.

@buhbenry has a wonderful Golden Lovers fic that doesn’t get nearly enough love, if you enjoy some of my stuff you’ll love it! It’s called i shine (only with the light you give me)

There are so many wonderful writers and stories in this fandom and I hope you have fun here!! If anyone I’ve tagged wants to provide their own suggestions, feel free to!!

BOOKS I READ JUNE (2022)

General thoughts of the books I read in June '22! I read 4 books in June. My top recommendations from this month are

The Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Golden Boys by Phil Stamper

Find synopsis and reviews under the cut!

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood fiction, contemporary, adult romance,

Summary: Olive suddenly kisses an extremely surprised (and rumoured, rather rude) Adam in the hallway of their shared lab late one night.  Which only goes one way, of course.  Into them both having to fake a relationship to keep up the ruse.  They both find the benefits in it might outweigh the cost, until the cost becomes falling in love for real.

Rating: 3/5 

This book had rave reviews on tiktok and thought I’d pick it up to see what the hype is about, and I’m sorry, I don’t see it.  It’s a really cute story, and I didn’t mind the characters.  I found the reason for them to be fake dating really well conceived and believable (something that can be quite hard in the fake dating trope).  I enjoyed Adam (the main love interest) and found him really likable, and I was entertained over all.  It’s an easy and fast read, the problems I have with it a rather small and trivial.

Spoilers ahead.  I think A Clockwork Reader on YouTube said it best; this reads like a fanfiction.  In a fanfiction, you already have preconceived notions of the main characters, so are reading fanfic for the bare bones.  This ship you like getting together in different scenarios.  For a book, these characters need to have motives and lives outside of the tropes and relationship in the fanfic.  Olive and Adam don’t have much substance outside of either each other or their work, which makes them feel like rather flat characters.  I love published fanfic and think it’s definitely something that everyone should be proud to do, but this could have used some deeper bones to stretch out the narrative.

The smut was bad.

The villian was worse.  Tom revealed his hand so quickly. And so bluntly.  I know it was for the point of having a recording of him basically saying “I’m a bad guy and here’s why”, and it’s not that it was totally out of the blue, but it felt very sudden in a way that had my thoughts of the book shift dramatically.  I’m sure there are guys like that in any field that are just as cocky and speak just as disgustingly as he did to Olive, but it honestly reminded me of Dr. Draken from Kim Possible.  How he just blatantly reveals his plan every episode in a dramatic monologue.  And just as cheesy and childish writing.

However, Adam threatening him in Olive’s name is always a trope I’ll enjoy.  So at least that was hot.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao fiction, sci-fi fantasy, LGBTQ+

Summary: Wu Zetian is named a concubine; sold off to boy soldiers to use her qi as fuel to pilot giant, shape-shifting metal statues.  The only way to survive; be better than them.  Be better than all of them.  Which Wu Zetian is.  After murdering Yang Guang, one of the most powerful pilots in a generation, the army feels the need to keep a close eye on her.  It doesn’t help.  With the help of her new partner, Li Shimin, and her long-trusted friend, Yizhi, there’s a story that goes deeper down and conspiracy that stretches far beyond what Wu Zetian can offer.

Rating: 5/5

Had this book on my TBR for a while and I’m thrilled to have finally read it.  It’s incredible!  The action is well-paced.  The descriptions aren’t paragraphs long, but still described well enough I can picture it all perfectly.  I will say, it reads like a debut novel.  Some of the writing feels very bare bones, and doesn’t run deep, but the events it tells and the story it unravels is unbelievably entertaining.  I honestly love Wu Zetian’s disregard for human life; I think it’s a really refreshing take on a main character who is forced between the choices kill or be killed.  I love that Yizhi uses his place of privilege to help.  (”You can’t shoot me, I’m rich!” has got to be one of my favourite lines).

It’s a very basic and fast read, the pacing is well done and I’m so excited for the second book!   One of my only criticisms is the epilogue, which I feel revealed something extremely big that could have had more impact in the first pages of the second book.  Personally, I don’t think it needed that big of a cliff hanger to engage readers enough to want to read the sequel, but I’m still excited to see what Xiran does with the story after this.

Spoilers ahead.  I knew this book had a polyamorous relationship in it, but I thought it would be just Zetian with two boyfriends.  I didn’t realise Li Shimin and Yizhi would also fall for each other.  I am MORE than pleasantly surprised; I’m fucking ecstatic.  

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune fiction, fantasy, LGBTQ+

Summary: Extraordinaries, or superheroes, are just as a normal part of anyone’s lives in Nova City.  Maybe more of a part of Nick’s life than they should be.  He’s obsessed with Shadow Star, the frought hero who protects their streets, and uses this obsession to write self-insert fanfiction of he and his hero.  One day, fiction meets reality when Shadow Star saves him personally, and Nick is overwhelmed with the need to be closer to him.  How else is he meant to get close enough to an Extraordinary than become an Extraordinary himself?

Rating: 2.5/5

As endearing as the main character, Nick, is, this book was actually really hard for me to get through.  As much as I love cringe, tropes and a good cliche, this book is full of them, but they aren’t enjoyable.  I don’t think it’s a bad thing that the identities of the hero and villian are very easy to spot early on, but it does make it frustrating later when their actual reveal isn’t very climactic.  

I like the world building and the limits Klune put onto this universe he’s created, and most of the characters are quite lovable, but besides that, there’s nothing to keep me coming back for a second read.  I didn’t like the story progression and honestly felt like Nick got no character development, but still got what he wanted.

It also reads kind of pro-police, which might just be an unfortunate snag in timing, but doesn’t age well.

Spoiler ahead:  Slightly disappointed Nick will be an Extraordinary in the second book, as the whole point of this book is for Nick to learn to love who is without super powers.  it kind of negates that entire message if he has a super power waiting to be revealed later on.  It might have even made for a more interesting read if he figured it out in this book and the book became about discovering who he is with this added pressure of learning to control this new power, all the while balancing his family, school and love life.

Golden Boys by Phil Stamper fiction, young adult, contemporary, LGBTQ+

Summary: Heath, Sal, Gabe and Reese have never spent a summer apart, and now all that’s about to change as each find a reason to be drawn away from their small little town, and dumped out into the big, wide world.  With each going through family dramas, work dramas, friendship dramas (and the drama of wanting to be more than friends), they discover small parts of themselves they were thriving on, and set out to make those parts grow to be more.

Rating: 5/5

I enjoyed every page of this book to the very end.  It was so easy to find a part of each character to relate to, their struggles felt completely grounded in reality, and some of those struggles I remember experiencing myself when I was in high school.  Heath’s parents’ divorce, Sal the need for approval by overworking himself, Gabe’s anxiety and Reese putting all his value in his art.  Struggles most of us will go through as we grow up but I’ve rarely seen conveyed in contemporary fiction.  Especially not LGBTQ+ fiction.  

It was easy to route for each character; they were all flawed in their own ways but you still wanted to see them succeed, and I love the message of failing at one thing does not mean failing entirely.  That this will give you room to succeed in something else.  

I love the message of letting go, whether that be to old traditions, memories or friendships you no longer need, and how that’s not always a bad thing.  

Most of all, I loved the feeling of hope and change throughout this entire book.  It’s written with such language that has you burning to turn the page, wanting nothing but good things for these 4 boys just trying to figure themselves out outside of their small town and away from everything familiar.  This is a really brilliant coming of age story that has me keeping an eye on Phil Stamper as an author and has me eager to read his other works!

blog intro (but cooler)

hey there :) nice to meet you i've introduced myself before but now that i've decided to change up what i'm actually posting, i decided it's probably best to redo my introduction.

first off, how you should refer to me: - i'm not real set on a name, but you can call me bat. - pronouns are weird, but you can use he/him and it/its when talking about me. they/them is okay too. please avoid using she/her. i don't really get hurt by it, but i am very disconnected from she/her/feminine pronouns & words, so if you call me a girl or use she/her pronouns, i won't even realize you're referring to me.

as for other stuff - gender and orientation and all that jazz - i'm genderfluid, transmasc, aroace, and a minor. i'm american (insert eagle noises here) and agnostic. i like writing and reading (even though i can be a bit illiterate sometimes and can't define an adjective to save my life) and enjoy writing stories. if you've spent much time looking over my more recent posts, you know that i'm a part of the harry potter fandom and spend a lot of time thinking about it. (it's my roman empire, i won't lie.)

i haven't written any longer fics yet, but i do have a few ideas, which i tend to discuss on here. some of my favorite ships & headcanons are: ships: - nuna (neville longbottom x luna lovegood) - jegulus (james potter x regulus black) - perciver (percy weasley x oliver wood) - scorbus (scorpius malfoy x albus potter) - hedric (harry potter x cedric diggory) - wolfstar (remus lupin x sirius black) - rosekiller (barty crouch jr. x evan rosier) - bartylily (barty crouch jr. x lily evans) - jily (james potter x lily evans) headcanons: - luna & harry being siblings/best friends - luna/pandora being seers or just generally knowing everything - slytherin harry &/or slytherin percy - albus potter's middle name being literally anything other than severus - werewolf draco malfoy (i may or may not be working on a fic for this) - not really a hc but i love time travel fics

other than hp, i also consume other media! (and i actually take canon into account instead of doing whatever the hell i want with it.) some of this media is: - a series of unfortunate events (both the book series and netflix show) - percy jackson & the olympians and all the other riordianverse books (specficially trials of apollo !!!) - red white & royal blue (book; my favorite one) - this was our pact (graphic novel) - project nought (graphic novel) - vengeance (2022) (my favorite movie)

i also listen to music (shocker). mostly: - ajr (my favorite band) - tate mcrae - troye sivan - death cab for cutie - tears for fears

i like talking about random obscure things, and though i'm sure my friends are just thrilled to read all the spam i give them, i also have a tumblr account, so why not spam some of my BS here? this will mostly include hp-related stuff & reblogs of posts i find interesting, but also might include the occasional oc rant, character study, or original story excerpt, because why not.

thanks for reading :)

Hey, do you know some bl‘s who maybe aren‘t so popular to watch? Cause i almost watched all i ever heard of….😂 also i just watched the latest episode of my fav bl (about a love triangle) and my fav ship got destoyed…i need something for my pain 😔😔

Sure I can give it a shot! Idk what you've seen so far but these are some of the dramas I rarely hear talked about.

Takumi-Kun the Series. It's an older Japanese BL so that's probably why no one talks about it. It's basically about a boy named Hayuma Takumi attending a private all boys high school somewhere in the mountains and he's got a phobia of people touching him that stems from past repeated s*xual ab*se from his older brother. He meet Saki Giichi a popular student in the same year who manages to help him get past his phobia and they become a couple. There's 5 movie installments and one of them features a side couple as the mains. I will give a trigger warning for bullying and s*xual ab*se though.

Behind Cut is a Korean BL. It's really cute and I never hear anyone talking about it. It follows up and coming fashion designer Ki Jin as he competes in a competition to launch his line and he enlists the help of a delivery boy named Yeong Woo to become his model during the competition. Naturally love blooms between them but someone else has his eye on Ki Jin as well.

Long Time No See is another Korean BL. It's a bit on the lower budget side but is amazing and thrilling. It follows assassin Chi Soo as he leads a double life taking people out and also writing a thrilling online romance novel. He meets a fan of his novel, Gi Tae, who he is instantly interested it and they fall in love. But can he keep his 2 worlds separate? And also may Gi Tae has his own secrets he's trying to cover up.

History 2: Right or Wrong. It's part of our beloved HIStory franchise. It follows uni student Sheng Zhe who somehow becomes a nanny for one of his professors, Shi Yi Jie. He takes care of YoYo and makes sure the professor is taken care of too and pretty soon they have a cute family dynamic going on BUT there's still an ex-wife trying to insert herself back into the picture.

Gameboys the Series is a Pinoy BL. It's focused around the height of the pandemic and features an interesting setup. Cai is an online gamer that meets a fan named Gav after losing a game to him on live. Watch as their romance blooms through constant video calls and Gav helps Cai deal with his father having COVID and Cai helps Gav feel less alone in the world after losing his beloved Granny.

His the Movie. It's a Japanese BL movie about a man named Shun who lives in seclusion after breaking up with the love of his life Nagisa. One day Nagisa shows up with his young daughter and basically moves in much to Shun's discomfort. Both men realize they of course still love each other but Nagisa has now dragged Shun into an ugly custody battle with his ex-wife. The movie is the followup to His the series where they both meet as 17 yr olds and have a summer beach romance.

17+32, Catherine and Henry (Northanger Abbey)?

War AU + Pregnancy fic

My anon, are you sure about this? Because this sounds hella angsty and if Catherine and Henry are anything, it's not angsty!

So I'm really sorry for completely ruining your desire for angst here.

*

Catherine goes to war in maternity leave.

Not literally, don't be ridiculous. She's an English teacher; what on earth would she be doing in a war zone? (She did once fancy herself a member of the Royal Navy but she had been 13 and mostly inspired by going on a high ropes adventure course on a school trip. The craze had not lasted.)

No, maternity leave is simultaneously boring and freeing. Since she started as a teacher, she's never had so much free time to just think. Henry's around some of the time, of course, but he has sermons to write and parishoners to see and tedious parish council meetings to chair. She flits in with cups of tea (waddles, really, at this point) and homemade cake that they at least pretend to like. (Sometimes she likes to give in to all the stereotypes of a vicar's wife. It makes her feel strangely cosy.) But when she isn't baking, she's at war.

At war on the internet. With the dog over her feet and a cup of tea at her side.

It started with a fun looking show on Netflix. Henry pointed it out to her one evening. "It's aimed at people who really loved Twilight when they were teengers and now lead depressingly generic lives in suburbia. People like you," he added pointedly.

Catherine narrowed her eyes and didn't let on that she'd already seen the trailer. "You're going to make fun of it."

"I mean... yes... obviously, but also, I really want to see whether the Dawn Angel gets together with the..." He squinted at the summary on his phone. "Immortal Night Demon or with her high school ex-boyfriend turned firefighter, Jordan. Golly, tough choice there, right? It's going to be compelling drama - breathtaking fight scenes, symbolic dark and light imagery, the epic highs and lows of high school football. You name it!"

They binged the whole thing in two days. Henry's next sermon, on the possibility of redemption even for demons and the devil himself, had been written in a fever dream by both of them at 2am after staying up far too late on Saturday arguing over the fate of the Night Demon and other related topics.

Old Mrs. Evans was heard to mutter sourly to her daughter Carys after the service, "That'll put the cat among the pigeons, that will alright. Too much Milton, not enough St Paul!"

"I always find Milton very inspiring!" Catherine replied bravely and loyally, as she helped them to a cup of tea in the church hall. She smiled at Carys, whom she'd taught Paradise Lost to at A Level a couple of years earlier. "St Paul too, of course," she added quickly, quailing under the mother's righteous glare. "Very inspiring."

But without marking or admin or driving to and from the high school in the large town half an hour away and without groups of teenagers to debate books with on a daily basis, Catherine found herself bored.

So she booted up her tumblr once again, abandoned since teaching had taken over her life and spending time with her wonderful, clever, funny, loving husband had seemed more interesting than scrolling aimlessly through social media, and discovered to her gleeful pleasure that fandom had not changed much and neither had she.

Or so she thought. Nowadays, she realises, everyone is moralising. The prevailing view seems to be that teenage girls in fandom aren't capable of distinguishing fact from fiction, that if they want a fictional heroine to rule hell with a sexy demon overlord at her side that must mean that that's what they want in real life. That the only moral thing to do here would be to marry the nice but boring guy who's been there for ever.

Catherine is an English teacher married to a vicar. If anyone knows anything about morality and fiction, it's her. This is all sounding very similar to the male critical outrage at women's novels in the 18th century. It seems nothing ever changes except that this time it's girls doing it to each other. Catherine writes several essays explaining all of this. She gets sent death threats and called an abuse apologist.

"It's so strange," she muses to Henry, as they eat homemade Thai curry in front of the aga.

"What is?" he replies. (She's told him everything, of course.) "The teenagers sending you anonymous death threats on tumblr? Because-"

"Nah, that's just standard for tumblr. I mean, it's so strange that anyone would want Griselda to be with Jordan. He's just so... normal and not in a good way. Just always going on about football and how great he was in high school. He really peaked then and he's a firefighter so that should make him brave but he never seems to actually do any fire fighting. He just talks about it as if we're meant to be impressed. We all know a Jordan and nobody wants to date him."

She'd know. Her first boyfriend had been a Jordan. They'd dated for five minutes. (Literally five minutes. Then she'd realised she'd been asked out and not to do a singing gig. Thorpy had been so subtle as to be unintelligible. Then she'd run for the hills, more disappointed in not having her vocal talents finally recognised than in being asked out by such a bore.)

"So a literal demon is a better bet?" Henry asks. "Just asking for clarification. Next year's Halloween costume depend on it."

"He's interesting and sexy and treats Griselda as an equal. What more do you want?"

"Well, speaking as a clergyman...." Henry begins with faux pomposity as he often does, his expression very fond.

She leaves him to do the washing up and lecture the dog. (She frequently hears him discussing doctrinal issues with the dog from the other room. It's adorable. She wonders if he'll be like this with the baby too. She can't wait.)

Back in her study, she boots the kitten off her chair and settles down for a long evening of defending a fictional relationship against antis, maybe reading a bit of a 52 chapter fanfiction where the Night Demon owns a tattoo parlour in New York City, and continuing to work a little on her new scheme of work for Year 9 when she eventually returns to work. It has the working title of "Sexy villains through history and why we should stan them".

She might need to edit that before she pitches it to her Head of Department.

There's a wonderful smell coming from downstairs: Henry is spontaneously baking apple cake. If she glances behind her computer monitor to the window, the graveyard looms dark and comforting in the autumn night, illuminated just by one of the outside lights on the old church. On a cushion by the bookcase, the kitten is lightly snoring and twitches in her sleep. She feels the baby shift slightly within her.

Shipping wars and the thrill of being so engaged in a fandom once more might fill a current space in her life, but goodness, she knows the difference between fact and fiction! Why would she want anything other than what she already has? Life is good.

Could you do books that the scps might read?

Books that the SCPs might read

SCP 035 Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins Anna is shipped off to boarding school in Paris where she meets the super-charming Etienne, and that's when things get interesting. I was a squealing, giggly, mush-fest all the while through reading this book. Stephanie Perkins knows just how to turn a seemingly ordinary love story into an unputdownable read. SCP 040 Your Brain Needs a Hug: Life, Love, Mental Health, and Sandwiches Just the title of this book by Rae Earl makes us feel a little lighter. And we don’t know about you, but our brains could definitely use a hug right now. While the book is geared towards teens, we found Earl’s advice to be relevant for all ages — particularly for anyone who struggles with depression, anxiety, social media addiction, and self-esteem issues. TBH, pretty much anyone can benefit from this book! SCP 049 And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini And the Mountains Echoed is such an amazing and heartwarming read. It's about a pair of siblings that fate cruelly separates and then finally reunites. A must-read for its simple yet gripping narration and amiable characters. SCP 049-j The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain This is a French romance novella, and basically a love letter to book lovers. There's mystery, romance, and some of the most beautifully crafted sentences and paragraphs I have ever read. The ending is so sweet, even though you wonder how you ever got there so soon. SCP 053 Lulu and the Rabbit Next Door by Hilary McKay Lulu and her cousin help their neighbor Arthur learn to love and care for his (neglected) rabbit. She doesn’t want her neighbor to feel bad so she writes the rabbit little notes with helpful gifts signed from her own pet rabbit named Thumper. It’s a kind way to show Arthur how to take care of his new pet SCP 073 HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time Looking for heart-warming stories of kindness and compassion? HumanKind by Brad Aronson was made for you. But the book isn’t only full of uplifting stories that will move you to happy tears, it’s also packed with practical and actionable tips for how to be kinder in your everyday. One thing is for sure: after you put this book down, you’ll feel inspired to do something nice for someone else. And because of that, we think this is one of the best books on the planet! SCP 076 Do Unto Animals We absolutely DEVOURED this book by Tracey Stewart. Whether you’re looking for tips on how to better understand skunks and squirrels or read your pet’s body language, every page is full of compassionate wisdom about to treat animals in a way that they deserve. Also, the illustrations are absolutely beautiful — we nearly wanted to pet the pages because the animal drawings were so lovable. SCP 079 Walden (Henry David Thoreau) With the outdoorsman renaissance happening as we speak, it is nice to look back at one of the books that probably started it. Walden isn’t the bore you read back in middle school, it takes time to appreciate like a nice bottle of red. Thoreau’s masterpiece tackles so much while quietly nudging your brain into activity. It also makes you want to build a cabin SCP 096 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell Told from the perspective of the horse, this story is so beautifully written that it's easy to get lost in it's pages. I laughed and cried, as did my daughter when she read it. SCP 105 Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury Warm and fuzzy the whole way through, Dandelion Wine is by far the best story to make you feel good. Though I'm not the correct age to directly relate to the young adult story, I still felt the warm summer days and the wonder of it all. SCP 106 Catch-22 – Joseph Heller “War is hell,” is the old adage we all know, but Catch-22 looks to modify that a bit. Instead, war becomes super goddamn weird. The book follows a bomber squadron in the Second World War whose collective sanity is slowly being eroded by whatever passes for power. Throughout it all, the main character keeps trying to prove himself insane enough to be kicked out of the Navy, which is precisely why he can’t

be kicked out. Which is a catch 22 and yes, this is where the phrase comes from. It’s a great extrapolation of quirks and idiosyncrasies we see in day to day life, only this time, they’re affecting war SCP 134 (I know she don't have eyes . But there is a books for blind people) A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass A Mango-Shaped Space is about a 13-year-old girl with synesthesia (she can see, taste, and hear colors) and her journey in getting a diagnosis and accepting herself and all her differences. It's sort of a coming-of-age story, too. As someone with multiple chronic illnesses who has gone through the same process at the same age, this really was an incredible reading experience. One of my favorite quotes is "We all do the best we can, trying to keep all the balls in the air at once." I recommend it to everyone. SCP 173 Rabbit, Run (John Updike) The greatest mid-life crisis novel of all time doesn’t actually deal with a mid-life crisis at all. Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom is 26 when he decides to leave his wife and son for a new life. Of course, what that new life is, and what exactly he wants out of it isn’t clear to the reader or to Rabbit himself. It will strike a cord with all men who struggle with the idea of settling down. SCP 239 The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling SCP 682 THE WOLF AND THE WATCHMAN BY NIKLAS NATT OCH DAG If you're the kind of person that can't get enough of Scandi noir films, TV shows and literature, then Niklas Natt och Dag's The Wolf And The Watchman should be next on your reading list. Set in 18th-century Stockholm, this tale is as dark as it gets, following the titular watchman and a detective as they hunt down the killer behind a dismembered corpse that appears in a local pond. As gruesome as it is gripping, it's the perfect literary companion as the nights get longer and increasingly eerie. SCP 847 The Case Against Satan by Ray Russell Two priests are called in to examine a girl who might be possessed by the devil. The Exorcist, right? Nope, it’s Ray Russell‘s The Case Against Satan, a novel of theological horror that beat William Peter Blatty’s book to print by eight years. The Case Against Satan is as much the story of a crisis of faith as it is a supernatural tale, and readers looking for a nuanced take on both should give it a try SCP 953 THE PILLOW BOOK BY SEI SHŌNAGON If you want to learn a bit more about the Japan of the past – and also, weirdly, all of us in the present – The Pillow Book is a cult classic you should absolutely try. Sei Shōnagon was a lady-in-waiting in the court of Empress Teishi in the year 1000 and here she collects her thoughts and musings about court life. To read a woman more than 1,000 years ago being as philosophical, neurotic and scandalous as anyone is today on social media is a thrill that lasts from the start to the end. SCP 1678 Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden Absolutely moving, the struggles Sayuri faces are painted so beautifully by Arthur Golden's masterful craft that you totally empathize with her as she grows and triumphs in a world designed to see her fail. The ultimate conclusion of the novel fills me with such warmth — it's both entirely unexpected and wholeheartedly appreciated.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION: KANTO

So this is a character description for the character Kanto that @precious-metal-girl and I created for AUs where he is in a loving and committed relationship with Toph Beifong. Part of this is to help me keep track of all of his features and personality traits, and if others are looking to write about Kanto but aren't sure about how to describe him, feel free to pick and choose characteristics that meet your AU needs! This will (hopefully) be a living document where characteristics are added and changed over time. If you are curious about our AUs or want to know about a particular trait/personality, feel free to ask us questions!

......

Born: ~88/89 AG (summer)

Residence: Republic City

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Green

Element: Earthbending/Metalbending

Occupation: Deputy for the Republic City Police Department, Metalbender Division

Nicknames: Hotshot, Dep (short for Deputy), Slick, Botany Boy, Pretty Boy, Metalbrain, Metalhead, Rockhead, K, My Rock

Relationship: Toph Beifong

Background:

Kanto grew up near one of the Fire Nation colonies close to what is Republic City today (part of the reason why his name has FN influence). His father took many different jobs and tried to avoid fighting in the war as long as possible so he could stay with his family, while his mother was a seamstress for the town. Often, he would help his mother sew clothes, and because of that he was pretty crafty and good with his hands. He lost his parents at age 7; old enough to remember them and his childhood, but all the memories are pretty blurry.

What he does remember is that his family was pretty poor, but they always had something to laugh about.

He loved learning new skills with his dad, and had his mom read the same two books they had every single night. And one thing he always remembers is eating together as a family.

His parents died either in an accident for rebelling against a FN rule (maybe the FN wanted to take Kanto away for being an earthbender), or from protecting Kanto in general.

Kanto was always pretty feisty as a boy, pushing people’s buttons and egging people on. It only got worse when his parents died because he pushed buttons out of anger now.

He also had a lot of friends, but after, he didn’t talk to anyone for a while because he ran away. Most of his fighting skills were learned while on the run, he never got any formal training until he went to the metalbending academy (maybe 17 or 18? Toph managed a different part of the academy so she didn’t know him. That or he went to a different academy branch entirely).

One thing he remembers is that he was happiest with his family, so he cherishes the idea of a happy family unit, and he constantly searched for something that made him feel close to that happiness.

Personality:

The first impression people get of Kanto is that he is a no-good, arrogant, bad boy. He acts as if he’s the coolest person in town and always has something sassy to say in response. More than half of the words that come out of Kanto’s mouth are flirtatious and sarcastic, a combination that initially drives Toph Beifong crazy.

But in reality, Kanto is an extremely loyal man who’s rather selfless, putting himself in harm’s way so no one else has to. His initial personality is a front to protect himself so that he doesn’t befriend anyone too much, because he knows what it’s like to love people and lose them. He hated how he felt when he was orphaned and never wanted to feel that way again.

When his facade finally cracks with Toph and she sees the real him, he’s actually… a dork.

He’s got a very goofy personality, he gets excited about little things, and his passions do not necessarily align with his looks and his first impression. When he loves people, he does so with his full heart, but again, he’s hesitant to do so with many… His family are essentially the only ones that see him this way.

Looks:

Kanto is most certainly a hunk. He’s got a similar skin complexion to Toph, thick and wavy (borderline curly) black hair (Toph loves playing with it), broad chest and shoulders (a fit and toned body overall), a mischievous, slightly crooked grin (left corner turns up higher than the right) that makes all the women of RC swoon, a crooked nose from being punched in the face one too many times, and classic earthbender green eyes. He’s also pretty tall, that’s where Lin gets her height from, well over a head taller than Toph And despite being an earthbender, his hands and fingers are actually rather long and nimble. Some popular fanart interpretations of Kanto can be found here and here and here and here and here.

Interests:

Kanto likes flowers, he often brings new ones home (especially when he’s with Toph) so he can teach her about its qualities and so they have a nice and natural floral scent in their home. He’s obsessed with pro bending like Toph, and often will attend matches with her. Astronomy and biology are also interests of his. Toph and Kanto also have a cool rock collection, both are trying to best each other to find the coolest one. Kanto reads science fiction novels to Toph in their downtime and he’ll play the guitar or pipa.

Fears:

Kanto is afraid of bugs, he doesn’t care for large fires that can get out of control, and big animals make him nervous at first contact. When Lin’s in the picture, he freaks out when there are too many sharp corners in one place. He’s always afraid she’s gonna fall and hit her head. Kanto also doesn’t like those rip tides or currents in oceans/large bodies of water.

Some of his deeper level fears include losing his family. He cannot stand the idea of losing Lin or Toph, especially if the reason they are missing or gone is because of him. He’s lost his family before, and he’ll be damned if he loses them again.

Flaws:

A lot of his flaws stem from his stubbornness and confidence. He’s arrogant, overconfident, prideful, and impatient. He knows he’s good at his job and he’s not afraid to talk about his skills and talents, and unless he’s working specifically with Toph, he assumes he’s the best for the job.

He’s flirty, sarcastic, reckless, and a bit of a slob (just his home, he keeps a clean appearance). Kanto’s constantly ragging on coworkers, has comments for days, and it’s rare for him to speak in a serious tone while on the job. Just doesn’t happen.

He’s protective, reckless, a troublemaker, skeptical, and vengeful. When he actually finds love and has a family, he is extremely protective, to the point where if criminals threaten his family, he’s not afraid to take the law into his own hands to eradicate the problem. One of these would be his fatal flaw, maybe vengeful? His vengeful tendency could be from a need to retaliate to protect his family from a threat, and that ultimately may take him down.

His flaws mainly seem to come from his overconfident front that he gives to the world. He doesn’t let too many in, or, he lets people in, but they don’t see the real him. Kanto doesn’t trust people right away, but it’s easy to get along with everyone if you just have this confident and charismatic face on. But his ‘face’ seeped into his actual personality, so there are times when he shouldn’t blurt out the first stupid comment in his head, but he does.

Gaang First Impressions:

Aang: He’s always extremely happy and excited to meet new partners, so he was thrilled to meet Kanto. They definitely don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but Aang is great at being friends with everyone despite the differences, so there’s no animosity.

Katara: She’s skeptical at first, because Kanto acts like a douche and has a bad boy persona. Katara just doesn’t want to see Toph get hurt, so she interrogates the man a bit (a lot), but even though the things he says concern her, he’s a gentleman to Toph, very attentive to her needs. So, maybe he’s not so bad… Later on, she knows the bad boy look was all a facade and that Kanto is a sweetheart, and she grows to really like Kanto.

Zuko: He gives Kanto a very cold shoulder at first. He’s very protective of Toph because he thinks of her as a little sister. So, he crosses his arms, glares a bit, and Kanto glares back because that’s what he does at first. But then, they start going on double dates, and Zuko and Kanto turn out to have a lot more in common than they realize. They’re buddies now!

Sokka: Sokka’s attitude really depends on ship preference with him, but in most HC’s, he’s Toph’s best friend, so he would also be distant with Kanto. He wouldn’t like how cocky he is, or that he’s super tall and talented at many things… he’s not a fan. However, Toph is always super happy around Kanto, he makes her laugh, and no one is allowed to insult Toph without an ass whooping from both Kanto and Toph, so, he warms up to the guy. He’s been seen buying Kanto a beer after a long day of work as a truce, and he often goes to Kanto if he needs police paper signed and expedited (Kanto does the same with Sokka, it evens out).

Suki: Suki is pretty chill about it all. She’s pretty perceptive about personalities and whatnot, and she can detect a bit of a bad boy mask. So, she treats the introduction casually and is super cordial with Kanto. They never become best friends or anything, but she was one of his first “allies” in the Gaang, and for that he is forever grateful.

Other Facts:

His mannerisms are that he walks with a slow swagger. Often the slowest of the group, he takes his time whenever he walks places. But don’t let that fool you—he can sprint really fast. He leans back in almost all of his chairs, sometimes he leans too far back. Kanto was a notorious manspreader when he would sit down, but since being with Toph, she put a stop to that instantly. When he’s restless, he bounces his leg a lot, and usually only stops if Toph reminds him (usually a hand to his leg to calm him down). Kanto also runs his hand through his hair a ton to either push it off his face, or just on instinct. He fidgets with his hands, too, Toph does as well. Usually, the two will hold hands or play with each other’s fingers to ‘remedy’ their nervous tick. In extremely stressful situations (like an AU where Lin is kidnapped), Kanto usually throws up and doesn’t sleep at all.

Kanto’s voice is a mix of a rural and city accent, once Republic City becomes prominent. He uses slang in his speech often and mainly uses city words (he picked up a lot of city lingo when interacting with criminals and undercover work back in the day). There are a few words and phrases from his childhood that he uses that scream ‘rural kid’ and that is mainly when the distinction in his accent and speech is picked up. His voice is smooth and deep when he casually talks. When he yells, it becomes a bit gravelly and husky sounding. Oddly enough, when he whispers, the same thing happens.

Kanto smells like the earth or something with a forestry scent (cedar comes to mind). He wears cologne, and the scents he usually goes for are ones that smell like earth, wood, or resin. Kanto likes wearing cologne, but he can’t put too much on, otherwise it bothers Toph’s nose, and he typically checks to see which ones Toph likes, and he’ll purchase that cologne again because he knows she likes the smell. He naturally smells a bit like metal and dirt and a bit of smoke (he was a casual smoker before he had Lin). All these scents are not prominent, but by the end of the day, these are the scents that can usually be detected.

Some of his pet peeves include fake apologies, when people kick or shake the chair he is sitting in, any slightly insulting remark toward Toph, close talkers, people that interrupt frequently, and those that correct his grammar.

Kanto canonically only has one daughter, Lin. In this AU, he’s a loving and committed father who emphasizes putting his family first and protecting them. He doted and hovered over Toph while she was pregnant, cried tears of joy when Lin was born, and is very attentive and caring toward Lin. He’s the one that soothes her when she cries out at night, he’ll get up in the morning with her so Toph can sleep in, and when he comes home from work, he smothers her in kisses and gives her raspberries on the belly (affectionate). Even as a baby, Lin was a Daddy’s girl and Kanto spoiled her as much as possible.

In the relatively canon compliant AU, Kanto dies when Lin is about 6 months old. He left for work, had a run-in with a bloodbender (or an accident on the job), and never returned home. On the day of his death, Kanto planned on proposing to Toph, but never got the chance.

Lin knew about her father growing up, but he wasn’t talked about often because it is a touchy subject for Toph (and for most that knew him well). On her 13th birthday, Lin receives the engagement ring on a necklace, along with a handwritten letter from Kanto.

There are many AUs and headcanons related to where he lives, but those are very fluid and change all the time!

Final Confessional

Mentions: (by name) Thomas, Antony, Sebastián, Xavier, Frankie, Emmie, Chris, & Juniper Notes: Celeste’s final Ship-Wrecked confessional, held the afternoon of The Bye-Bye Ball

Celeste was all too familiar with how the confessionals went at this point. In truth, she was glad that this was the last obligatory one she’d be doing. And as she sat in the provided chair, she adjusted her microphone while the producer seated beside the camera began the session.

“So, Celeste! You’re one of our original ship-mates. How does it feel to be seeing the end of it all in sight?”

Celeste let her shoulders drop while sighing, “Almost too good to be true. It’s been a long handful of months out here.”

“So you’re ready to go home?”

“That’s an understatement. Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t regret coming on here. How could I? Meeting and falling in love with Thomas, experiencing this journey with some of my best friends--Antony and Sebastián--while making some new ones along the way? Yeah there’s no way I regret any of this. Frankie’s family to me now. I meant what I said during the Spill the Taa task about wanting to get to know Xavier more after all this is over since I could see him being a good friend. Hell, even Emmie and I smoothed out our rough patch. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind growing friendships with everyone here. I’m excited for Chris and Juni and their baby. I’m beyond thrilled I was here to witness Antony and Seb get married. And I’m happy for all of the other couples who’ve gotten together because of the show. I just really, really miss being at home.”

“Okay, let’s talk about that a little. The plane touches down at SFO. Your ride takes you home. Then what?”

“Then I make sure my cousin hasn’t killed my snake, and then I flop on my bed. And as soon as I feel like moving off of that again, I start my box hunt and contact my agent and editor before they come for me first.” She grinned a bit at that, “And not long after that, I’ll be between packing up my apartment and getting more work done on my book.”

“Is this absolutely the last in your Saturn’s Rings trilogy.”

Celeste sat back with a coy smile, “You know, I’ve always intended it to be trilogy but if I’m inspired to revisit the lore and world-building in the novels, then I absolutely will. Do I have plans for that right now though? No. Right now, the plan is to get the third book finished, edited and published. Fans have been really patient with me and I’m grateful.”

“Yeah, you’ve had a pretty rough time over the past few years and we notice you only recently spoke on camera about it.”

“That’s right,” Celeste said with a nod. “Losing a spouse suddenly and unexpectedly isn’t an easy thing to go through, let alone speak on. I needed time to heal, and while I did try to do some writing here and there after losing him, I really didn’t make my writing any sort of priority. It wasn’t therapeutic for me to lean on that while I was so deep in my grief. He was there with me through everything with the first two books--more than anyone else, so in a lot of ways, my work was intertwined with my grief too. Having those years off helped a lot, but just as I was ready to be open to new love again, I was finally ready to get back to the trilogy.”

The producer was silent for a moment and then said, “That makes a lot of sense. And I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Smiling lightly, she then added, “But, I don’t have the words to describe just how much meeting Thomas here means to me. Being able to experience a new love and seeing yourself build a life with them... that’s something I’ll never, ever take for granted.”

“Did you come to the island with any certain expectations or standards?”

“Expectations? No, not really. I’m a panromantic demisexual, so in lamest terms, what that means for me is that it was possible I could have found a romantic partner in just about anyone who’s partner preferences were compatible with mine. That’s the pan part. So I didn’t ‘expect’ much of anything--I just hoped that someone new to start a relationship with was here on the island. As for standards? Sure, but everyone has standards, whether they own to it or not.”

“That’s fair. One more thing and then I’ll let you go get ready for The Bye-Bye Ball. What would you say had been the worst parts about being on Ship-Wrecked?”

Almost immediately, Celeste rolled her eyes while blowing out a sigh, “You couldn’t have kept this on the lighter and feelsier side, could you?”

The producer chuckled but shrugged.

“Alright, worst parts... that’d be sleeping outside for however long I did. I’m thoroughly convinced now that I’m a city girl, thank you very much. Emmie’s campfire exposé was a low that I’m sure you guys were all too happy to air. The stupid comments from the host. For the most part, they seemed really unprofessional. And the lack of food. I really can’t believe you guys made us survive on the amount of fruit and fish that we did for so long when you could’ve been at least giving us some continental breakfasts to start our days out. Now that we are getting food on a regular, I feel ill, and I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t have been the case had this been a more constant thing months ago when my stomach and everyone else’s stomach could be adjusted.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Obviously we were catering to the ‘Survivor’ side of things but we’ve learned from our mistake for the next season.”

“Yeah, lucky them,” Celeste quipped with another eye roll. “But that’s pretty much all I’ve got for you as far as a last confessional goes.”

“That’s great. Thanks, Celeste. Have fun tonight at the Bye-Bye Ball.”

She gave a mock salute while sliding out of the high-rise chair and after handing back the mic equipment, made her way to the bungalow to get ready.

How are you doing? Ask game! 6, 8 and 12, please? Love you! ❣️

Aww, hey friend! Doing good!! I had a minor back injury about a week ago that’s finally starting to ease up on me, so I’m happy :> These are fun, thank you!! All my love to you!!

6. Describe what you do and your feelings after posting a chapter. (For example: When do you usually post a fic/chapter update? How do you celebrate a posting? Are you the type to refresh constantly?, etc.)

Hahaha oh man, okay, for the first like few hours I suddenly become convinced that this is it, this is the fic that everyone is going to hate, I’ve suddenly lost all of my writing capability and I just didn’t know it yet, it’s secretly terrible. And then I chill out because I’m just nervous about putting my work out into the world, same as always. I do tend to celebrate by just taking it easy in some way, I find I get so preoccupied with what I’ve posted that I can’t really focus on writing something else, so I try to post after I’ve written whatever else I needed to :> I do refresh my emails a lot, but that’s just a habit of mine TT_TT

8. Talk about any friends/connections you've made as a fic writer.

Aw, man, so many! Internet friendships are weird, there are a whole bunch of people I think of very fondly, but they’ve moved on from the social medias I knew them from. I don’t mind, but I do hope they’re doing well and think of them from time to time. Life is busy and hectic, but I’ve often described myself as an NPC with no relationship drain over time - if you’ve got me to a certain level, I sit there :P I have a lot of really lovely friends that I have ongoing conversations with - where we reply like every few weeks or even months. Y’all know who you are <3 It’s lovely. It’s like waiting for letters every now and then :> Probably the biggest/most obvious example of a friend I’ve met through SNS is my fellow void buddy. Looking at you Megan :D Forever thrilled that I randomly messaged you that one day!!! But honestly, I could list so many names. If you’re thinking “I dunno, is Kinomi talking about me…?”, yes, yes I am.

12. What is your favorite theme/subject matter/trope/ship to write about? Why?

Hahaha well it’s SNS! Still, after all these years, although my OCs in the forest have really come to steal my heart. I’m really fond of writing in canon nowadays, because I love that complexity. I love that the pining has been ongoing for years, and that they’ve gone through all of this character development to get to a place where they really understand each other. It’s got all the emotional impact of a long novel without having to write the rest of the novel, haha! But I do love writing the rest of the novel, too ;D

In general, though, I just love to write about love. I think a lot of my writing comes from emotion, and love has so much power in there - it’s so fun to play with that. Falling in love and confessions, especially the mutual pining bits - ah, that’s the good stuff. As far as other tropes go, I love me a coffee shop au and I’ve written “there’s only one bed” into so many stories, I cannot possibly not list it here. I love writing stuff that makes people smile. Of course, I love the angsty bits too, but only because it’s so much better when they’re healed :>

From this ask game!!