#this took so long.... but my magnum opus.... is complete
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obligatory hilson head/heart symbolism fanart im going insane and i want to die
#hilson..... i love you#this took so long.... but my magnum opus.... is complete#this is MY PERSONAL sistine chapel#house md#gregory house#greg house#james wilson#hilson#house md art#hilson art#occvltss art
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Do u think Danny would be okay with having his SO be his partner in crime. I feel like it really depends but I think he would be open to it as long as like he was still the one calling the shots you get me? Been thinking about this one all day 😭
An ask in my ask box! Oh boy! Thanks Anon :)
So this is actually a concept I've been toying with for a while in relation to the magnum opus fanfic I've had brewing in my head for five years. Gonna put a read more since this got long thanks to my rambling; warning for brief mention of partner murder.
Edit: changed some wording for clarity.
I don't think he would react well to an SO knowing his secret in a regular situation unless he was dead certain this person isn't going to betray him. So, obviously, becoming his partner in crime is going to involve blackmail. If his SO accidentally or purposefully kills somebody? Does some other crime or horrible thing they don't want revealed? That's going to be used.
I think there's also just the inherent threat of personal harm...
But I don't see him doing that unless pushed into the situation--I think if something did result in the death of the SO he would be sad about it... like very angry sad. Look what you made me do kinda.
Like somebody just took a toy away from him. I don't really subscribe to yandere style headcanons for him personally, but I definitely think he is possessive.
Anyways back to my point... I think Danny would enjoy having somebody know. I think it must be lonely and a little isolating the way he lives... and humans are social creatures.
I think when it comes to his SO acting as a partner in crime, doing murders... my personal headcanon on the matter is he's... rather into it? I don't think he would go out of his way to influence somebody into murder/violence (what is he? his old man? lol) but I think there's a kind of... appreciation for a display of strength like that. Even if it was an accident. He's gonna clean the blood of them and it's the most sensual experience he's ever had--his head is gonna SPIN! I actually think he would be completely caught by surprise, like discovering a kink you didn't know you had (I mean that's exactly what it is, let's be real)
He's been formed into this person to be okay with violence and it's not something he really gets to share/experience with people. He's not a veteran so he can't share "war stories" of his experiences, the closest he would get to this kind of thing for the average person is maybe hunting... but there's a keen difference in hunting a human than, say, a deer?
I think having an SO as a partner in crime would be... like toxic good for him... I'm assuming the SO is a willing partner in crime. I can see him really enjoying somebody gassing up his ego (totally tempted to make a Harley/Joker comparison here). HOWEVER, I do think he would be an absolute pain in the ass about his works, his stories... I don't see him sharing Ghost Face with somebody, so it would be convincing him to either change gears to something else, or putting up with that.
One change I could see happening is having the SO, if they have writing chops or come from a journalism background, taking over the paper-writing/reporting aspect. The original background in-game (not the tome) mentions that some of the articles he's kept were not written by him, so as much as I feel like this is still an imperative part of his modus operandi, it's clear he still takes a nice fat dopamine hit for the sake of his ego from other people writing about him too... and therefore I could see him being flexible with it, because if the SO is his partner in crime, he can still influence what they write--he just doesn't have to work double shifts anymore LOL
Is it too cracked up to make a joke about Danny and his partner-in-crime SO getting a house in some random town and posing as a totally normal man and his spouse by day but then murdering people by night? IDK you decide. I'm kinda just picturing that one song by the Mountain Goats.
#danny johnson#dbd ghostface#dead by daylight#ghostface#danny jed olsen johnson#headcanons#ghostface x reader#ghostface x oc#ghostface x you#partners in crime AU
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How to not motivate your favorite author to write
So recently this happened to a very dear friend of mine. And then this happened. I'm not tagging her deliberately, to not drag her name into any shitshow. I love her dearly and will fight with tooth and claw for this person.
I will be referring to my personal experience not because I want to make this 'a story about precious me', but because I can guarantee, that overall pattern of creative process will go along with these examples, and I don't want to torture others with interviews on their particular creative process examples.
I want to address that anon and talk a bit about how creative processes work. I am not a writer, but I have two art degrees, so I just happen to know a thing or two about creativity and its ways in human brains.
How creative process differs from creative outcome
Imagine a situation: you roam around your favorite network and find this one cool author, that seems to create something especially for you. I like their characters, their storyline, their ways with the language and overall scenery. You and them seems like a match made in heavens. There is only one 'but': you crave more.
You find your perfect fic, you read every chapter and end on a painful cliffhanger, poor you? But what if I tell you, that to complete this chapter, your favorite author had to process a ton of information, their own suggestions, 'what ifs', questions around every single detail, different dialogue and action options? What you see is a perfectly cut ice cube, but it took a freaking iceberg to make it. By the way, the same goes for illustrations. Remember this short comix?
Well, it took a day to create it, and actually drawing it took only 4 hours. Another 8 hours were spent on concept. Here are just 2 pages of my ideas, and I have like 8 pages of this.
And sometimes authors don't even write down their draft thoughts, but it doesn't mean, these thoughts doesn't exist. We are thinking about our stories while going for groceries, driving a car, doing laundry, taking shower and so on.
So if you read something, that is one-page long - it doesn't mean, that your favorite author spent an average 'fill one page with text' time interval to create it. You are reading an outcome, while the author went through the entire creative process!
How creating one thing may help you to create another thing
Sometimes you need to practice, just to get to know a new character/situation.
I had such difficulties, writing Nikto, that I wrote this and this just to bring this marvelous character to the latest part of my ongoing series. Yes, it took me a month to figure out this character, but it was worth it. So please, bear with an author, that makes little attempts, before going back to their magnum opus. Sketches and renders can and will help them evaluate the story, that you`ve fallen in love with in the first place!
Sometimes you need a break.
If you thought, reading some angst was not easy - just know, that writing it was also not easy. Sometimes authors speak on deeply personal topics, sometimes they express their negative emotions through hard and draining scenes and stories.
And before you say 'oh, but the author knew in advance what is yet to happen' - let me remind you, that the author relieves everything, their characters go through.
Creating something completely knew helps author to gain powers, to take a step further, to breathe and calm down.
Sometimes you just feel like shit.
You wake up, revisit, what you wrote yesterday, and you hate it. And you hate yourself for setting the bar so low. And a very right thing to do at this moment is to get yourself distracted by something completely new. Or even to force yourself to not go back to creating for a bit, so that your 'creativity muscles' get some rest.
So please don't be disappointed by your favorite creator for paying attention to other media/fandom/story/character. It may be their way (long and complicated) to go back to that very work, you liked so much.
What doesn't motivate authors
Punching them with 'hey, stop whatever you're doing and go back to that thing, I LIKED'. This will only make your fave creator freeze in a cycle of self-hate, diffidence, art blocks.
Comparison of their works. "Your Ghost fics are top, so stop writing about Gaz and turn into a full time Ghost praiser". Again, this won't motivate your fave to change their writing habits or preferences, this will make them fill guilty every single time they create something against your preferences. That 10-30-50 sketches with Gaz will eventually help them go back and write something for Ghost!
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Okay I’ve been reading more of your magnum opus fic (one chapter. help they keep destroying me emotionally) and I have highlighted a solid THIRTY SEVEN lines from the fic so far so I thought I should write a like. halfway(?) through comment for you so they don’t get too long! I’m really enjoying your characterization of everyone and the pacing is fantastic. The focus on the trials of the main six is amazing and really allows you to build all of their characters individually then together. Like for applejacks chapter it was focused on her but then now with this flashback in pinkie pie’s chapter it gives a lot of context for her and rainbow’s relationship and how they’ve grown which I love!!
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I’m pretty sure this textbook is older than me. A quick peek at the publication page under the cover confirmed her theory. It’s even older than Shining!
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Okay this was the first line I ever highlighted and it’s just because I was so… idk i really love how you show this dynamic between twilight and her family and how they all rely on each other. I’m very curious about twilights nightmare prophecy dream and if we’ll ever see Shining Armor or Cadence again and maybe how they’ll react to the events of the story!
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“Hope I didn’t bother you much.”
Shoot shoot shoot, say something, Sparkle! You’re being weird again! “No, you weren’t bothering me.” Yes! Good! “No one really talks to me, so I guess it was kind of nice.” No!
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This scene was SUPER funny I really like how you’re able to write these quick, witty exchanges that feel like the characters from the show with a more mature feel to it
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Twilight hated being pitied. Being such a pitiful person.
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I really like this line here. You’ve mastered this style of like… having twilight think something then INSTANTLY switching what it means cause with the first sentence I’d imagine it was her disliking others and how they act when they pity her but the second sentence IMMEDIATELY recontextualizes it into her hating HERSELF. It’s brilliant
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It felt like Sunset—strong and steady and warm.
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I really love how you wrote Sunset and Twilight during the first act their friendship feels so easy and so difficult as well just because twilight doesn’t know how to deal with someone new that she hasn’t perfectly learned how to avoid from knowing them since grade school, like she doesn’t know her and it makes all of their interactions feel like they’re trying SO HARD to learn who the other is and it just feels like such a genuinely high school experience I love how you write this
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The ice was back, though not as blatant as before. It hid between Celestia’s words, biting at her consonants and the breaths she took between.
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This description took my breath away. You really have this way with words of describing characteristics and mannerisms in ways that manages to completely blindside me and it just makes reading your story so exhilarating. I never know what’s coming and I adore it for that!
I’m gonna cut this one off here cause it’s already fairly long and I am NOT sending a 5000 word ask on tumblr so I’ll probably send more later but holy shit I need to mention this. The way you end all the chapters of the story by focusing on how twilights outlook on science and magic and friendship is shifting slowly with every experience is amazing and it makes me feel so happy and excited everytime I get to the end of the chapter!!
Also you mentioned a 30k epilogue in my last ask and uh. oh my god. I’m very excited for that!! AND ANOTHER THING. Your art is absolutely STUNNING. I love reading a chapter and then looking at the art. The art for the applejack chapter is so amazing, the composition just blows me away and I love how you choose to do this black and white, almost sort of painting-esque look to all of them. AND I JUST SAW THE ONE FOR FLUTTERSHYS OH MY GOD. Twilights head coming out of its mouth… fluttershy with the stake… AND THE PINKIE PIE ONE? (Sorry I downloaded the fic so none of the images carried over so you’re getting my live “WHAT THE FUCKKKKK” reaction to all of these) THE BALLOONS??? COVERING TWILIGHT?? BECAUSE SHES ASHAMED AND HIDING HER PAIN BEHIND A SMILE? AND DOESNT WANT ANYONE TO FIND OUT?? AND PINKIE PIE WITH A SINGLE BALLOON WITHOUT A SMILE AND HER EYES HIDDEN AUGHHHHHH
Love this!!!
hi yes hello i think ive finally collected myself enough to figure out how to respond to this!! first of all: thank u so much again for ur indepth thoughts!!! like holy shit it rlly makes me so happy to get comments like this u will not believe ldksfjlksdfkff
focusing specifically on the ice line w celestia u highlighted, that's actually one of the ones im most proud of in the entire fic! it was rlly fun to work w some alliteration nd i think the flow/rhythm of it turned out rlly nice, and im glad that you liked it too :D
honestly, to me writing is pretty much the same as drawing, just instead of like colours and shit u gotta think of the shapes of letters and sounds of words and the rhythm of sentences blending together yknow? and if i had any advice to give, instead of "colour picking" like in art, i like to "word pick" or "concept pick" instead, basically take a phrase or idea from a previous sentence / para and reuse it in another context (like another part of the canvas almost). it's a bit of an abstract way to think but it works for my brain so maybe it can work for u too, or anyone else reading this xd
and im so glad u like the art!! i didn't realize that downloading the epub from fimfic removes the art, which i guess means anyone who read c12 + the epilogue in epub rather than on the site missed out on some key stuff dkfjsdlfjdkf not to mention all the chapter cards, oopsie. maybe ill update the authors note or smth if i remember too (she said, like a liar who definitely wont)
actually, i went with the bw style bc a) colour theory sucks but also b) it works well for printing physical copies lol. ik some other ponyfics have done physical runs, so maybe if i ever get time ill learn how to put all that together (and that way ppl definitely dont miss out on the art xd)
i guess to end it off, the point u made abt shining, it was rlly important to me to show his nd twilight's dynamic as smth supportive! im an older sibling (not by much tho), so i tried to write from the perspective of what an imaginary older brother might be like for me. since i imagine shining a lot older than twi (if she's ~17, i imagine he's mid-twenties), maybe he's a bit of an uncle-like figure / trusted adult too, rather than just an older brother. but im not rlly sure! have a doodle regardless, and i hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
#tte#lili talking#my art#mlp fanfic#also a bit of writing advice if u squint lol#twilight sparkle#scitwi#shining armor#mlp shining armor
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Enough of the suffering thru the asks abt all the other cartman ships, what abt your brain rot? 🥺 what *are* your thoughts on kyman?? Go ham dude
ooooh dear... where to begin with the kyman brainrot....... I guess I’ll start at the beginning. VERY LONG POST under the cut. this is basically my kyman meta magnum opus lmao
I’ve talked about this ad nauseam before, but I really, REALLY didn’t want to get into south park. I had only ever watched like 2 full episodes before 2021 and I simply did not understand the appeal. I just thought the draw to the show was the shock factors: gross-out humor, children swearing and committing violence, and blatant bigotry played for laughs. I didn’t understand how it could be so popular other than “well I guess there are lots of horrible people out there who like this horrible show.”
I grew up in a very WASP-y town and had peers in elementary/middle school who learned about the existence of antisemitism and other bigotries through south park. because kids are stupid and don’t understand satire, many of them took it at face value and were able to have shittons of words added to their vocabulary to put people down and insult them. it was horrible tbh. and I hated the show for that, even as a young kid. I personally wasn’t perfect by any means but even as a snot-nosed, extremely sheltered little white girl I knew that you just shouldn’t do that shit. our school system in particular lauded the “golden rule” constantly (we had to do a school-specific pledge after the pledge of allegiance every day... yeah I know, very american) and I was like “cmon, you guys can’t even follow that ONE RULE to be a semi-decent human being?? really??”
anyway at the end of 2021, my younger brother asked me to watch the post-covid specials with him and he was very excited about it. I was immediately hesitant, especially because in recent years he has become alarmingly incel-y and took a hard turn to the right while I became a leftist. I reluctantly agreed to sit through it to try to understand him more because, even though his political ideology sucks ass, he’s still my brother and I do love him.
so I watched the specials, and I came out the other side of it shell-shocked with how surprisingly good the writing was. THIS stupid show, the show that all this time I thought was bottom-of-the-barrel comedy, was... GOOD??? particularly regarding CARTMAN??
the only things I knew about cartman going into it were the following: he’s fat, he says the name “kyle” weird, and he’s a horrible antisemite. and they made him grow up to be a freaking RABBI. it completely caught me off guard and *gasp* actually made me laugh???? what????
there were plenty of other things I loved about the post-covid specials, like my depressed ass relating WAAAY too hard with stan, the extremely on-the-nose satire of the state of advertisement/capitalism with the stupid “denny’s applebee’s max” restaurant chain gag and all the old people being shoved into a giant prison retirement home once they aren’t productive anymore, kenny getting sick of the gang’s bullshit and writing “FUCK THESE HOES” on a beloved childhood photo, butters become a snake-oil salesman for NFTs, kyle being told to “think like a kid” and like 2 seconds later realizing they need to look up kenny’s ass. I could go on but you get the point.
I liked it way more than I thought I ever would. and obviously, I often find south park funny for different reasons than my brother does because matt & trey are very good at toeing the line of appealing to both sides of the american political spectrum, but it’s become a point of bonding between us in the year since I started watching the show and I’m grateful for that.
of course, since i’m terminally on tumblr and ao3, I also started to dive into the fandom of south park. I had heard about the whole creek thing years ago and waved it off as a stupid gag but then I realized wait, holy shit, there’s actually a GIGANTIC shipping culture around south park??? at first I got into style because of the interesting concept of post-covid kyle and stan reconnecting after decades apart and not being the same people they used to be but trying to make it work anyway (I even wrote a fic about it ahahaa...)
but after a while I got tired of the ship because as I watched the rest of the show, I realized their relationship just wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be. like they’re best friends but... why? because they’ve known each other forever? they both like video games? they make fun of cartman together? the fact they’re “super-best-friends” is kind of taken for granted by the show and the audience, but imo matt and trey never really explore the intricacies of their relationship very much. y’all can disagree with me on this but idk, all I know is that I got bored with style as a ship after like 2 months.
while scrolling through ao3 and tumblr, I ran across kyman fics/fanart for the first time back in february or so. at first I was appalled because... why the everloving fuck would you ship the blatant antisemite with the jewish kid??? really???? isn’t style a much better choice??? but sheer curiosity got the better of me, so I did what I always do when I’m curious about a ship: select for fics with kyle broflovski/eric cartman, sort by kudos, and read the first result (or in this case the second because the first had creek as the main ship). y’all know which fic that is if you’ve even slightly gotten into kyman. it was interesting, but I personally didn’t see them as the actual characters from the show in that fic. they were fandom versions of kyle and cartman, with their personalities changed enough to fit the standard mlm shipping dynamic that’s popular in fandom spaces (particularly regarding dom/sub aspects). I’ve seen it happen in plenty of other fandoms so I wasn’t surprised, but I still couldn’t see how it could possibly work if one were to use their canon character depictions.
all the while I was making my way through episodes of the show cuz it’s long af, and over time I became more and more intrigued with kyle and cartman’s relationship. cartman quickly became my favorite character in the show because of how fucking complex and layered his personality is (see my tags on this post), and though kyle despises cartman in countless ways, he still is the only one who consistently tries to find goodness in him, tries to make him change for the better, saves him when no one else will, and remains his friend despite everything. it’s a remarkably complex dynamic.
little hints of kyman started creeping up on me: cartman being frequently queer-coded as a closeted gay kid. kyle getting extremely jealous of cartman and heidi’s relationship. both of them on separate occasions saving the other from death or injury without wanting any credit for it or lording it over each other. “we've been through a lot together, and... maybe that alone doesn't make us friends, but it makes us something”
needless to say, I started to get it. and then I encountered the straw that broke the camel’s back: “know your enemy” by elsen on ao3. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve read that fic probably over a dozen times. it was shockingly well-written and so in-tune with the style and tone of the show that I was like “is this person spirit-channelling trey parker or something wtf???” and all of a sudden, I could see how, in a different universe, kyman could actually be an endgame ship.
what sold me on it the most was how in-character it seemed for cartman to be a repressed, denial-ridden sub, especially regarding his desired relationship with kyle. there’s plenty of canon evidence that cartman has a secret crush on kyle (see this vid by johnny 2 cellos), but there’s no way that kyle could reciprocate those feelings, right?? imo kyle would probably rather die than enter a romantic relationship with cartman where he had to submit to him all the time, but if cartman would want kyle to be dominant over him??? where kyle has control and is able to curb cartman’s problematic behavior as he sees fit??? that opens up a whole other door of possibilities.
I think what kyle wants more than anything else in the world regarding cartman is for the goodness he sees deep down inside him to come to the surface, and for kyle to be the one to guide him (or force him when necessary) to becoming a better person through love and patience and inherent understanding of his fucked up little head??? I can definitely see kyle wanting that (especially since I see kyle as a repressed, denial-ridden sadist/dom lmao; see this post for my thoughts on that).
it was all downhill from there. I found tons of other cool kyman shippers on tumblr and twitter whose writing and fanart helped suck me in even more and I’ve been stuck in kyman hell ever since. special shoutout to the asker for her kyman analysis posts that inspired this fic I wrote! love u boo <3
ANYWAY that’s how I became a whore for kyman lolololol ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ have a nice day everybody
#if you read this whole thing i love u#i hope to god no one i know irl finds this blog 🙃🙃🙃#this also doubles as a personal fandom history for myself lol#kyman#ask#my post
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Weekend WIP Game
Thank you, @whimsymanaged, for the tag, I am sorry it's taken me so long to do this ha ha!
Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more).
1. WIP List:
Do I include Drabble series I haven't quite completed? Do I include unposted fics? Original works I write on the side?
Damn, this is hard!
I'm just going to start and see where this takes me...
Here we go:
Chapter Fics Currently Being Posted:
Petals (Dramione, Fae AU, Fated Mates) - Petals just kind of ... happened. It was meant to be a quick five-chapter fic, but the chapters kept getting longer and longer and all of a sudden I have a 90,000+ fic on my hands. Definitely the longest chapters I've written for a book/fic. I tend to like to keep chapters no more than 7k long, but Petal's average is something like 18k. I have no explanation other than it felt right.
Sacred Blood (Dramione, Mafia AU, Alchemy instead of magic) - I absolutely love Mafia Romance, and so it was natural for me to be inspired to write a DHr Mafia fic. This story took a back seat while I got Petals out of my system, unfortunately, it's been a hard year and Petals has taken an age to finish. But I can't wait to get back to my murder bbies.
Wings ... and Other Romantic Things (Charmione, Second Chance Love, Mystery) - A little romcom-esque romp. Hermione is forced to work with Charlie (an ex-fling during the war) when local Veelas are being attacked. Charlie and Hermione must solve the crime and catch the attacker, all while past feelings come back in full force.
Drabble Series In Progress:
Think Of Me (Dramione, Pierced C*ck Draco, Curious Hermione) - I have literally one more chapter to this raunchy, crack fic. I swear I will get to it soon!
Games (Dramione, Panville, Bluna, Theo/Padma, Cho/Dean, Ginny/Harry, Ginny/Seamus, Magical Sex Toys) - I get this one requested to finish a lot (you filthy heathens). I have five more pairings to do!
Ferrets and Fun (Dramione, Ferret Animagus Draco, Fluff/Humor) - I adore Ferret!Draco. Truly. There is no real plot in this drabble series. Just whatever inspires me. I should write another installment of his shenanigans soon ...
Lucius Malfoy and the Eternal Struggle of Being Him (Dramione, Lucius POV) - Same as above, no real plot, just dramatic Daddy Lucius watching his son be in love with Hermione. He's not bad in these, just extra!
Fics I am Currently Writing But Have Not Posted:
Magic Finds A Way (Dramione, Jurassic Park AU) - This fic is an absolute delight. I am actually really proud of it and all the parallels I've made to the original JP book and the films. But it will probably be a while before I post it :(. It's gotta be almost completed before I start to post and it's got to be absolutely perfect to me.
Demagogue (Second Gen, OG MCs but descendants of Dramione, Hinny, and Voldy) - This is my Magnum Opus. And like Magic Finds A Way, will not be posted until I feel it is perfect. But it's a twisty one, with lots of action, mystery, and pining romance. I can't wait to start posting about it.
The Perfect Alpha (Dramione, A/B/O) - I go feral for A/B/O, so while I'm surprised I haven't written more of it (only one little drabble), I am also not surprised. This fic is a lofty one, and my ambition for it has caused it to be put on the back burner. :(
Sad Eyes: The Expansion Series (Dramione, Theo/Padma, Blaise/Luna, Panville) I have three spin-off short chapter fics based in the world of my Sad Eyes fic. All feature a different pairing, tackling different types of trauma and how they heal after the war.
Curses of the Sand (Panville, Adventure through Egypt) - I started writing this fic for a Panville fest but fell behind due to school. I love the story and setting and pairing, so I will definitely be posting it at some point!
2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?
Petals at 92,642.
3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?
Demagogue. POSSIBLY Magic Finds A Way.
4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?
Too difficult a question. I love all my fics for different reasons and it really depends on my current mood and place in life that decides what I want to work on. I'm going through a rough time right now, so I would have to say Petals because Hermione is also currently struggling and it's nice to not feel alone in that regard.
But, I daydream about Demagogue and the Sad Eyes Expansions the most, I would say.
5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?
Magic Finds A Way. I am worried no one will care about it since it isn't the typical Dramione fic. It's science that has been twisted by magic and dinosaurs ha ha. And if it "flops" I would be devastated because I have literally worked so hard on the parallels between it and the OG materials and media.
I guess the same could be said about Demagogue. It's my baby, my most precious creation, and if no one reads it because it's second-gen and OG characters, with the main pairings fandom likes just being sided characters ... I would probably leave fandom lol, I'm being dramatic but also not really. I am not sure how I would take it if no one gave it a chance.
6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?
Oh, well, read my answer to the question above!
7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?
Magic Finds A Way. I have two betas that have read the OG Jurassic Park, and also have a fandom friend helping me with the French Draco speaks.
I have the same betas for every chapter fic I write. They both encourage and rip apart my writing to help me flesh out every single aspect of my stories.
Drabbles? You get what you get 🤣 from me.
8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?
I don't really get writer's block. I know exactly what I want to happen in all of my story ideas, but I do have periods of time where I am physically unable to write whether that be irl drama, my health, or a busy work schedule that leaves me exhausted.
9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them?
Demagogue! Yes! So, In this fic, The Cursed Child does not exist and my MC is named Hallow and she is the abandoned daughter of Voldemort, adopted by Harry and Ginny after the war.
10. Which WIP is the sexiest?
Well, that depends on what you like ��
Creature fucking, particularly wing kink? Read Petals.
You into egregious smut? Read my Games series.
Sharp suits, hand kinks, and men who would literaly murder anyone who touches you---that does it for you? Sacred Blood is your jam.
When I finally post my A/B/O, I am sure it will take the cake for spice.
11. Which WIP is the angstiest?
Oh my gosh, Sad Eyes. Hand's down.
12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)?
Demagogue. But, for a fic I am currently posting/have posted? Sad Eyes.
13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?
Magic Finds A Way - Isla Nublar (dinosaur island, like come on!)
Curses of the Sand - Egypt
Petals - Faerie Realm
14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?
Magic Finds A Way
Demagogue
Petals
15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?
I've kind of already said why, but Demagogue and Magic Finds A Way.
16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?
Yes ha ha.
17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't?
They all have different complexities and characterizations of the characters we all know and love. I try to change things up with every fic!
18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour?
Lucius Malfoy and the Eternal Struggle of Being Him cracks me up. I love Lucius. And though Sad Eyes is about healing trauma and all that, I think there are some pretty funny moments and quips in that fic.
19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?
Lucius Malfoy and the Eternal Struggle of Being Him, Lucius' POV.
My Sad Eyes Expansion fics as well as my Games series are both diving into pairings I have never done before nor see often or at all!
Petals has POV parts from Narcissa's and it's a really cool way to create an even bigger picture in the aspect of court politics within the fae realm. It makes the stakes seem greater than just Draco and Hermione being mates, etc.
20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs.
I have a song for every scene of anything I write. Most of everything I come up with is inspired by music. If you ever ask me what song helped me write a scene/fic/drabble, I will definitely have one to share.
Tagging: Look, I have too many WIPs to tag, so I am not even going to try. I also think this challenge has already made the rounds since I am so behind on doing it. So I don't want to bother anyone by accidentally double-tagging them!
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20 Questions for fic writers!
Tagged by @ginbenci! Thank you! :)
How many works do you have on AO3?
12! All since last August
What’s your total A03 word count?
134,798
What fandoms do you write for?
So far just DCU, but I like a lot of things! I will branch out one day, when the brainrot loosens its grip.
What are your top five fics by kudos?
Padam Padam - superbat, E (7.5k)
Batman's heartbeat keeps speeding up whenever Clark is around. For instance: when Clark greets him, half-naked, on a Gotham rooftop. Or when he uses his superstrength to save a busload of schoolchildren. Or sometimes even just when he smiles.
Clearly the poor man is terrified of him.
By far my most popular fic! Probably because it found it's way to tiktok (this still feels wild to me). Despite the fact that borderline crack and I wrote it in about 3 days, it has twice the number of kudos as the fic below in this list. Or perhaps it's because I took the idea from a tumblr post rather than coming up with it myself? Hmmmmm.
2. An Honest Conversation - superbat, E (60k)
“So Bruce’s longtime best friend had suddenly decided to start eye-fucking him at random. So what? Bruce was used to being the object of this kind of attention. It didn’t bother him.
It was—should have been fine. The issue was that it was Clark, and Bruce had enough trouble remaining rational about him at the best of times.”
or
Bruce and Clark go from friends to lovers the long, long, long way round. Featuring a number of revelations, a well-meaning but nosy son (Dick) and, most prominently, two adult men being completely and utterly useless.
My first fic, and the closest one I have right now to a magnum opus! It started off as a silly oneshot and then got surprisingly angsty towards the end (although no less silly tbh, that's apparently just my whole vibe as a writer).
3. Hiding In Plain Sight - superbat, T (3.5k)
Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet, is clearly just Superman wearing glasses. For some reason, no-one but Bruce can see that.
There is a distinct possibility that Bruce has lost his mind.
Written for Bruce Wayne Week 2023, as are the rest on this list! Written because...well. He totally is just wearing glasses. I'll happily suspend my disbelief, but I'm still not letting it go, damn it.
4. Holding Onto A Hero - superbat, T (2.5k)
Clark squinted sleep-tired eyes and frowned. “B? Everything okay?”
And then Bruce shivered. In a fraction of a second he was beside the bed, and in another he was settling a knee onto the mattress and wrapping his arms around Clark’s waist, cowled face pressed into Clark’s chest.
“So,” Clark said conversationally. “I’m gonna go ahead and take that as a no.”
The prompt was cuddle pollen, and it really is just a short-n-sweet, soft, cuddly, getting together fic. Also, I got to insert a little vague allusion to neuroscience, which is always nice (although oxytocin doesn't actually work like that, the effect is sex-specific and increasing it can actually promote aggression in some- okay, okay, I'll shut up).
5. More Fun Than Counting Sheep - superbat, E (5.5k)
When Bruce can't sleep, Clark proposes an unconventional solution. (The solution is sex.)
The prompt I took was sleep-deprived Bruce. Nothing about that suggested it should be smut, and yet here we are. I wrote this because I thought it would be funny to have Clark try to seduce Bruce into sleeping (and for it to work), and honestly? I stand by that.
What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Hmm none of them really. Maybe A Stitch In Spacetime (Gen, 4.5k - in which Batman meets a version of himself whose parents never died so he became a surgeon like his dad). But only because the ending is more hopeful than actively happy. Batman has still lost Jason, but he's finally trying to heal; Doctor Bruce still wants kids he doesn't have, but maybe after this that will change. (Also, unrelated but I'm really proud of the title for this one lol. I love a pun, what can I say.)
What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Again, they're most all happy, but probably An Honest Conversation? Just because the finale was INCREDIBLY sappy, and there was a lot bullshit preceding it that they had to get through, which certainly made the ending cathartic to write!
Do you get hate on your fic?
Not yet! Apart from a couple of slightly iffy comments, everyone has been lovely. But then, I'm not writing anything particularly controversial lol. Hopefully the trend continues outside of genfic and superbat.
Do you write smut?
Yes, a lot lol, nearly half of my fics are E-rated. Look, if I write a romance in which the pairing solves some kind of relationship issue and grow closer as a result, some part of my brain is always gonna be thinking, "Hm. What if they banged about it?" Also, I love a sex comedy, so there's that too.
Do you write crossovers?
No. I don't think I'm into any fandoms right now that I would WANT to cross over tbh. I've read my fair share, though!
Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I know of?
Have you ever had a fic translated?
Not that I know of!
Have you ever co-written a fic?
No, but I'd theoretically be open to it! I think it would be tricky in practise though, unless you an your co-writer are really on the same wavelength. Even writers I really like don't necessarily write in the same style as me, so that could create difficulties.
What‘s your all-time favourite ship?
I mean. Superbat right now for sure. I'm usually a multishipper, but for whatever reason they have a death grip on me. I'm still basically an omnivore though!
What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Hmm, this feels like a very defeatist question since I do plan to finish everything I start. Probably the fic I started writing for a friend's birthday based on a premise we discussed nearly a decade ago. It's a wholesome romance between two of the sidest side characters in Haikyuu!! (Tanaka Saeko and Tsukiyama Akiteru, for the curious; they do interact, but barely), because my friend was there with her Charlie Kelly conspiracy board saying, "They're both in uni! They're in the same prefecture! They knew each other in high school! They're both older siblings of main characters on the same team, so they can go watch the matches together! There's so much to work with!!!" This has apparently been her lowkey white whale ever since, but she's never managed to write it, so I offered to have a go. Tragically, them being SUCH side characters means I have to all but invent a personality for one of them, which makes figuring out their dynamic a lot harder lol. But I still want to finish it one day, for her sake!
What’s your writing strengths?
Comedy I think, specifically deriving humour from awkward situations (that I have made up) - and often it's the quiet chuckle kind rather than the knee-slapping kind. But YMMV on whether anything I write is actually funny! I can only hope :')
What’s your writing weakness?
Well, I have lots of things I don't feel good enough to write (e.g. long, dramatic epics that I can't fill with jokes), but I mostly haven't wanted to try so I wouldn't say that's a weakness per se. And I have plenty of little things I feel like I need to work on, but none are an easy-to-identify kryptonite-style Weakness. Probably flow and pacing, as it's something I'm very particular about (especially for comedy, where imo it needs to be correct for it to work) but it doesn't always come naturally to me. I do a lot of rounds of editing trying to tweak things so they flow right. Hopefully that will come easier with experience! I'd be fascinated to know what other people thought my weakness was, though; it's often hard to judge yourself, since you're the audience you're writing for.
Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
In what sense? As in, for example, writing a French-speaking character in French in an otherwise English-language fic? I think that's appropriate when the POV character doesn't speak French, but perhaps can be avoided if they do, as then the average reader is understanding as much as the POV character is.
As to whether I personally would do it, I only really speak one non-English language at a decent level, and even then it's hard to convey nuance in any language you're not fully fluent in. So only sparsely, only if necessary, probably only if I could get a native speaker to check it.
First fandom you wrote for?
I think it was Free!, the anime about the swimmer boys. Back when I was a teenager in school, probably ~16, I anonymously posted a gen crackfic on the LJ kink meme based on an experience I had with some schoolfriends, where a few of us tried to give a less birds-and-the-bees version of The Talk to a sadly uneducated member of the group during a camping trip. (Our school did actually give proper sex education, with the putting expired condoms on dildos and everything, but didn't go into the specifics of, say, doggy style). ANYWAY, that was the only thing I'd ever posted until this year, but apparently my proclivity for writing sex-related comedy has remained unchanged lol.
Favourite fic you’ve ever written?
Man I don't know. I just did a similar tag thingy that asked this, and I wasn't sure then, and it feels boring to put the same answer twice? So I'll pick another that's my favourite for a different reason: Master of All Trades (Bruce & Hal, T, 4.5k). I think of all my fics, it has the highest ratio of good to not-that-deep, if that makes sense? Writing Hal's POV was incredibly fun, and I think it turned out really well! And it's definitely one of the few I can reread without cringing lol (reading your own writing after posting it is just embarrassing somehow).
Tagging: I nominate @burins and @unbreakabledawn, but literally 0 pressure at all!
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The ship bingo is very interesting... I would love to see KagaKuro done by the KagaKuro expert pretty please 🩵
The KagaKuro expert... My ego is very well fed.
It wasn't literally love at first sight... It was "koi no yokan" the feeling upon meeting someone that you will inevitably fall in love with them. If they had been able to listen to themselves carefully enough in the beginning, they would have known it, but they weren't, and in some paradoxical way that's what made their love possible, because they would have been too scared to know each other if the idea had been in their heads.
Bestest most OTP of my life second to nothing under or beyond the stars. No other pairing has punched me to the gut with the way they complement, not complete each other, to this extent, the way their story embodies the "I want to be with you even when I don't need to be with you" in other words, I've read so many love stories that never develop beyond co-dependency and their story explores what's beyond that and how much more a relationship can be when you need each other less. Or how much more love consists of looking together in the same direction than staring at each other. (Not that they don't do the latter as well, especially literally.) I have not exhausted my thoughts on them in over a decade, they are the deepest well to me.
The fandom hasn't ruined it as a whole, the fandom is mostly amazing and inspires me like nothing else I love you fandom. But because I get times I'm so desperate for new KagaKuro content I have sometimes read things I knew were not for me in any capacity and it took a lot of effort to erase the atrocities I saw from my mind. 🎶 "I know things now, many valuable things, that I hadn't known before... Isn't it nice to know a lot... And a little bit not".
Can we just call it canon... I literally sometimes forget that it's not canon and am surprised at the realisation that maybe the author doesn't see them together. A crazy thought. For real, I'm aware my reality is not other people's reality but I like mine very much. And you can too! I dare you! (That was said so gently and not at all demandingly.)
Yeah forget about three page essay it's a 900 000 word fic and my favourite joke with my translator friend right now is what will happen first... I hit million words or they finally have sex.
I... do want to smash them together like barbies. It took a long time to get to that mindset, but now that they're almost out of high school in my head, I'm going to challenge myself to writing sex eventually. It just seems like a natural progression.
Romeo and Juliet not really (and I have no clue what the rest of that even means) but there are definitely family members opposing their relationship, and some balconies, in various forms so I was just trying to get a bingo. (In vain.)
I want what they have in the sense that I never would have believed I would want my story centered around their relationship to become so huge for me that I would want it to be my magnum opus, my footprint in the world. But. Here we are. I don't so much want what they have as I want them to just keep doing whatever they do in my head because it gives me life.
Facebook status is complicated because it wasn't easy for them to tell their friends and family about their relationship. There were a lot of obstacles in the way before they ended up in a comfortable place.
I'm high just writing this.
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Hiiiii if you dont mind I would LOVE to hear more of your pearlina moms propaganda its so good thank u. ps your off the hook magnum opus series is AMAZING
!!!!!!!!!! hang on let me think up some REALLY GOOD HEADCANONS just for you anon im so sorry it took me so long to notice this ask and also answer it,,, (it has only been a few hours)
just like with all my moms posts (tm) this got super long it’s going under the cut. have a good meal anon
pearl and marina kept the fact that they were going to have a baby very much under wraps. tabloids spread rumors, but they just got shut down by off the hook personally. like, an article titled “off the hook spotted buying maternity wear- are they gaining another member?” gets posted on twitter or something and pearl reteweets it and she says “no, it’s for family.” or something
of course, the article was right. it was just a secret. until they very much couldn’t hide the twins anymore… when they were five years old and had to be enrolled in school. don’t ask me how they did it.
i think it would be super sweet if everything was planned out from the start, so that’s how i write my pearlina moms.
pearl and marina talked for a very long time about having a baby. it took three years to decide on yes and another two to get everything ready and for marina to get over her nerves…
but everything turned out okay! :]
when the twins are still super small, pearl likes to carry them in her sweatshirt pockets or her purse, cause they fit in there and it’s nice and comfy for good naps. if you think of her octo expansion outfit and look at her sweater she’s got a pocket there, that’s where she puts them. like a momma kangaroo!
even when they’re teenagers pearlie still has them go swim form and crawl into her pockets when they get sleepy in public.
even before haruko and marley were born, their moms sang to them. pearl used to press herself up to marina and sing into the light, super softly, just to make sure her babies got sleep too. it very quickly became their lullaby, not to mention it accidentally got marina to sleep too, oops…
pearl thought it was super super cute. she has videos.
to marina holding and/or cuddling the twins is like a weighted blanket for her. it’s absolutely one of the most comforting things she’s ever experienced. she stims by scratching their backs, super gentle, and she’s very lucky that it makes both of them just melt and hug her and purr. they can’t reach their backs to scratch them, so marina doing it makes them very happy.
octolings like to play-fight and wrestle i think, so especially when they’re little marina fake-fights her twins with just her hands to keep from hurting them and to teach them to play. once haruko bit her and marley got very upset when she pretended to die…
pearl did a lot of googling throughout the whole thing. like, take the amount that popped into your head when i said “a lot of googling”, and maybe quadruple it. and then take that amount and triple it. that’s about how much googling she did. she wanted to take the absolute best care of her wife she could, so she decided she was going to learn everything she could- good places to take her, comfortable clothing options, the bestest softest blankets to get, homemade ice cream recipes. marina would have felt a little bad, but pearl didn’t let her.
haruko and marley are pretty much the spitting image of both their moms, so much so that once their aunt callie managed to genuinely mistake both of them for their moms at a glance more than once! they have never let her live this down <3
marina used to cradle the twins in her tentacles when she had her hands full. she owns a baby sling, she just never decided to use it. pearl gets more use out of it than she does.
one of the first things pearl says to marley when she meets him and is no longer completely shellshocked by him existing is “why didn’t you let us see you, little guy? were you too shy to say hello?”
(his response: rolling over and going to sleep.)
i could say so many more but im getting carried away.
#pearlina#splatoon#pearl houzuki#marina iida#pearlina moms propaganda#the pearlina twins#my trash sculptures#weheheh.
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yeah i think crochet is my hubris hobby in that it feeds my hubris to do other things that might be beyond my capabilities but like.
Mid crochet-attack I'm pretty sure i'm capable of crocheting just about anything. At one point I made a whole cardigan that was nearly large enough to be a mini blanket, just because i was like "You know what I bet I can do..." and then i did it and it looked amazing.
I have spent the past like week-ish in a fugue state of crochet, a large portion of which was spent on a bag i did completely from scratch using bits and pieces of techniques from actual patterns, and then me freestyling as i started to feel bored after a number of rows of the same thing
and the bag looks *incredible* - was received very warmly by the birthday person, and frankly i'm more proud of it than i was of the cardigan which up until this point has been my magnum opus (though i lost it in the Great Escape of 2019). I also have just. an absurd amount of the same thread/yarn I used for it so I will by all likelihoods be doing a similar one in the future because it was a fun project to work on.
but now i'm like "Yeah i finished a beautiful bag in a reasonable* amount of time, I'm capable of doing anything at all and definitely will not fail or miss a deadline or give up halfway through because i got bored!" despite all the evidence to the contrary from past experience.
*reasonable meaning in this context "it doesn't feel like it took that long even though the majority of 3 days was spent on it" and thus might not actually be "reasonable"
Like thankfully I am in too much pain to continue on rn because of the aforementioned "have spent the past week crocheting non-stop" so I physically cannot work on anything else right now, but my brain is like "Oh we could definitely keep working on/create a whole new project and still have motivation to work on the christmas presents you wanna do" and like. Nuh-uh no we cannot, I know better.
but the hubris, you see.
#crochet#crochet attack#i'm stupidly proud of the bag like i'm very very pleased with it and i was even before i was getting praise about it like#it's beautiful and it's meant for a beautiful person who appreciates the little details and the work i put in#and it's the most matched energy of how i feel about a project vs how the person receiving it feels i've ever had and it's just#it's very rewarding and i like rewards it's nice to get positive reinforcement that things i do are good and people like them#idk i'm gonna get all sappy if i continue on and what i need to do is lay back and get high and relax and also#eat a little lol
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Metron's Shirt: An Evolutionary Tree
So this is it. This is what I've spent way too many hours on. My most recent magnum opus, if you will. Without further ado, I am pleased to present... 130 thumbnails of Metron's costume across all appearances in comics!
Click here for a full size version of the image from archive.org
[Image: A tree diagram of 130 cropped images of the DC comics character Metron's costume. Each one depicts the design on his chest from a different comic issue. All images branch at some level from a single one, which is from Metron's first appearance. /End]
Keep reading to learn more about the process and findings...
But Why?
When I started going through Metron's reading list, I noticed that artists often took liberties with the design on his chest. Some made minor adjustments, while others really went off the deep end. But for each one it was still recognizable for the character. So I thought hmm, it'd be interesting to try to map this out and see if I can spot how these changes have evolved over the years. And that is precisely what I set out to do.
The Process
I first took screenshots from every single appearance using my reading list, which I like to tout as the MOST complete and comprehensive Metron reading list in existence (suck it fandom wiki). It took a long time, but eventually I had 202 thumbnails. Now, I should mention that he's been in more comics than that, but sometimes his chest is not shown, or he's depicted so small and far away that the design was not discernable. Of those that I captured, I removed any from the same run that were incredibly similar, leaving only significantly different designs.
Then I went oldest to newest, starting with Kirby's first published depiction, and for each tried to find which images seemed like the closest matches. This means a given image is only ever inspired by those that chronologically came before it. For runs that had multiple images, I tried to make the first occurrence the parent of the others. This wasn't a hard and fast rule I followed, but did help model some of the evolution.
When matching, I limited it so that a single image would have no more than two parents. Of course, it is incredibly likely that some of these depictions really have a large swath of influences, but I really didn't want to make a jumbled web, so for my own sanity we're sticking to only the two most prevalent influences. That said, there is no limit on number of children, so a single image may have inspired many others.
The Criteria
While matching, I did my best and went purely off of visuals after satisfying these other limitations. Here are the points on which I made these evaluations:
Neck lines - Presence, number
Horizontal bar (line crossing the big circle): Position
Vertical bar (line going through big circle and/or chest): Presence
Dongle (little circle in the big circle): Presence, position, thickness, orientation
Tab (little inverted T shape under the big circle): Present, shape
Tentacles (wavy lines from the bottom of the big circle to the bottom of the design): Presence, thickness, angle/shape, length
Vestigial tentacles (subcategory of tentacles but more like tiny claws): Presence, shape, orientation
Bulge (curved shape at the bottom of the design that meets the tentacles): Presence, shape
Side dots - Presence, number, size, orientation relative to the edge of the background, circle vs rectangle
Background (outer shape the design sits in): Presence, shape relative to the big circle, shape near the waist or hips, border lines
Overall line look: Thickness, business/extra designs, glowing effects
Various colors: lines, big circle background, little circles, chest background, etc.
Findings!
These are just a few interesting points I wanted to share, but there are many more connections to be made as you follow some of these evolutions.
It's no surprise that Kirby's original run inspired many other artists, but a surprising amount branched off of Metron's Hunger Dogs appearance specifically.
A surprising number of depictions don't have the bulge shape, creating sort of a family of designs.
Another family of designs has very angular tentacles, which to me seem to have been inspired by Kirby's Mister Miracle run.
I was very unsure where to put New Gods 1998 #1, but it really spawned a whole set of overly complicated designs.
My favorite discovery is the origins of the "vestigial tentacles" from my criteria list. They can be trace backed to two vertical lines coming off the big circle in Who's Who in the DC Universe 1992!
Naming Conventions
There is a file name under each thumbnail, which starts with the word "shirt", followed by the comic title, the year the run originated if needed for disambiguation, the issue number, and finally the page number. This was done to make referencing these easier, which I'm so glad I did.
And the reason I started each one with "shirt" is because guess what, his chest design was not the only thing I recorded. I just so happen to have a folder of 199 thumbnails of the Mobius Chair waiting to be processed.
Some Caveats
I admit there were some I still feel iffy about, so I'd be surprised if you don't find a few you disagree with. Part of the fun is trying to determine what might've actually inspired what, versus artists who by chance came to the same conclusion with the design. All of this is guess work, and without asking the artists directly, I don't think we will have definitive answers. But if you take a close look, I think there are definitely some we can feel fairly confident about!
Apologies that there's a lot more to see here than I'm going to be able to describe in the image description. If you have any questions about the details, feel free to ask.
#metron#new gods#fourth world#dc comics#metronmeta#katetakes#metron if i fits i sits#i am so normal about this character#i feel like i just wrote an article for a scientific peer reviewed journal
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7 (French), 26
For the movie rec ask meme!
7. Un film en français
Well, obviously I have to take the time to celebrate Portrait de la jeune fille en feu/Portrait of a Lady on Fire. It is a very visually beautiful movie (that green dress!), but also it's one of those movies that makes my blood feel carbonated. It's sooo strongly laced with longing in the way the two women look at each other, in the way they touch, and it just—ugh, that movie makes me want to scream. The final scene, the way the music crescendos is just so crushing. The whole thing is just a grand period epic and I cannot sing its praises highly enough. Céline Sciamma really just dropped one of the most achingly powerful queer movies ever!
26. A movie more than two and a half hours long.
For all the jokes I make about directors wanting their three hour long magnum opus these days (Batman, Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon), looking at my letterboxd, I don't have that many 2:30+ movies. Scrolling along, all of the movies I was considering talking about (The Devil's Advocate, Speed Racer) just fall short of the mark.
So I have to pick Tár for this one. I'm sure this tumblr circle remembers it well, it's not that old, but ugh. The movie opens with a long take of Cate Blanchett just addressing the camera about... something about music, who cares what the actual content is. It's the delivery that just gripped us. In one opening monologue, with her just sitting there, she exuded such magnetism. All it took was one cold paragraph for her to have me completely under her spell for that whole movie. The amount of technical power in that one moment is wildly impressive; I don't think I've seen very many other performances on that level ever.
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Have some Halloween movies in no particular order
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is a great time, if you can find it. It's a love letter to so-bad-it's-good horror movies from the 50's and 60's which were all ambition and no talent e.g. Plan 9 from Outer Space and Manos The Hands of Fate. One of the funniest and most quotable movies I've ever seen!
House is as gorgeous as it is spooky and goofy! If you've not seen it, you're missing out. It's made by a director who made advertisements and a lot of the special effects are what would have been common in Japanese ads at the time.
Martyrs goes on the list for that one asshole who needs something extreme. Not that it's a bad movie, of course. But if you're that asshole and have yet to see it, have fun! If you don't know what I'm talking about, this film is not for the faint of heart and I mean it! Look up "French extremism" if you're curious. Again, if you've not seen it and don't like lots of blood and gore and little left to the imagination, this is absolutely not for you.
Valerie and her Week of Wonders is a gorgeous example of Czech new-wave, about a girl becoming a woman in a village of vampires! Strongly recommend this one if you like House, it's super colorful and whimsical!
Tetsuo the Iron Man is my idea of a more fun kind of extreme film. This is one of those movies I've seen several times and can't seem to remember the story, but suffice to say it's a wild ride about a metal fetishist who becomes sort of a metal monster in a similar fashion to Tetsuo in Akira becoming a giant flesh monster. It's got a very goofy tone and is shockingly wet for a movie about rebar.
The Thing is never not fun. I'm sorry to say I don't know my Carpenter as well as I should, I'm just too stuck on how much I love The thing and may never move forward. Yes I've seen Halloween, just I like The Thing better.
The Devils is a movie you can't watch in your home in a legal capacity, Warner Bros is never releasing this one on home video. Rest assured you can find it. It's a Ken Russell film about a whole convent of nuns (the Mother Superior played by Vanessa Redgrave) are so in lust with this priest, played by Oliver Reed, that they all fein demon possession to evade persecution. The complete version of the movie includes a scene in which all the nuns bang a crucifix. It's one of those movies I say the production team went to "the cool face store", because wow there's a lot of cool looking faces!
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, because there will always be virgins
Young Frankenstein was Mel Brooks's only funny movie. Fight me! (men in tights was okay i guess)
Bram Stoker's Dracula. What more need I say?
I can't easily pick any one Jan Svankmajer film, so this is the Svankmajer portion of the list. For the uninitiated, he was a Czech stop-motion animator who made these hyper realistic claymation films, often with a dark context. My favorite feature length films of his are Alice (a telling of Alice in Wonderland), Faust, and Otesanek (his final film and magnum opus, aka Little Otik aka Greedy Guts, based on the fairy tale Otesanek about tree-root baby turned vore-monster). His films aren't necessarily scary, just very unsettling and disturbing.
Hellraiser 2 because I haven't seen it yet and people keep telling me it's the good one, as if the first one wasn't delightfully generous????
The Witches is a movie that upset my very Christian grandmother one time when I was a kid, watching it on TV at her house. I don't think she understood the point that the witches aren't the good guys. I know it's irrelevant, I just thought it was funny. I miss you, Nana.
The Worst Witch. Can someone tell me where to watch this? I never saw it before and I wanna see some tacky Tim Curry schlock
eXistenZ is a movie which I only saw for the first, second, third, and fourth time ever one week last year and I'm ashamed as a Cronenberg fan that it took me so long! Not necessarily his most Halloween-y movie (I'd argue that would be The Fly), it's just a lot of fun.
Think I'll stop there, that's a good sized list.
Add your own recs! What do you watch this time of year?
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hola tiff 👋
i was a frequent commenter on ao3 intending to come back and finish your magnum opus (tbaw) in one sitting bc the week to week format was stressing me out. i somehow spoiled myself on the ending before reading it and i’m lowkey disappointed our girl didn’t ride off into the sunset alone or with her friends, that would’ve been so subversive and unexpected.
a few questions:
- who/what inspired your versions of the aot characters? jean specifically, his personality and values seem completely opposite to his canon counterpart. as for eren, you probably wrote him with way more complexity and emotion than isayama did. if it wasn’t for the borderline revenge porn subplot, i’d say you almost made me love a character i previously hated. your writing is really that great 🤩
- how did you feel about how the mange/anime ended and would you have changed anything about it?
- are you still planning on writing the reiner spin-off?
you definitely earned yourself a break from all this. hope life’s been treating your well otherwise!
hello and welcome back!!! omg what a lovely question, thank you so much for asking!! literally, i saw your message in my inbox and i was like 🥺 and it gave me the energy to respond to a few other messages that i've been hoarding in my inbox for the past like......... month lol
i actually very seriously considered having her end up with nobody or have be it more open-ended but i figured that after all of the pain, the characters deserved a happy ending.
long response under cut
who/what inspired your versions of the aot characters?
jean was inspired by the school castes version of jean where he is a bully lol i've also seen readers describe him as "jean if he never met marco", which is very accurate. in my opinion, even canon jean is not a very good person, in the sense that being "good" or doing the "right thing" doesn't come naturally. we see him struggle through difficult decisions a lot in canon but he always CHOOSES to do the right thing because he doesn't want to disappoint the jean that marco thought he was. since there's nobody to disappoint in tbaw, it's easier for him to be selfish.
and you guys all know i love jean, so this isn't even a criticism of his canon character. i LOVE the fact that he's someone who actively works to be a better person because in real life, it's not that easy to always be the hero, so i think that's so cool and realistic and i could probably talk about this all day but I'll stop 🤚
eren i tried to mostly base off of canon, with the exception that his relationship with zeke is flipped. where zeke is desperate for family and eren is the manipulative one in canon, in tbaw it's the opposite.
au's are hard, because as much as i want to try to be faithful to canon, when you take away a major part of it (in tbaw's case, the literal TITANS), it can really impact the character. so, now that eren doesn't have his insane desire to kill titans after the death of his mom, in a modern au he has to channel that energy into something else. in tbaw's case it was holding that resentment for his father and trying to find the family that he missed out on, which turned him into this horrible person in hopes of getting validation from the child that his father chose over him.
but at the end of the day, he's still super passionate and caring about his friends and is willing to do almost anything for them... but he's honestly just a little stupid and could've definitely talked to his friends about what he was going through instead of going completely nuclear.
for the other characters, i tried to stick to what i thought their modern au!personality would be, but i also wanted to tell a certain story so i took some little liberties.
how did you feel about how the mange/anime ended and would you have changed anything about it?
i think it's really difficult to successfully nail the ending of anything. especially something that generates so much discussion, character study, and attention. i feel like we're going to see a similar thing happen with the jjk series.
while i don't think the ending to the manga/anime was perfect, i still liked it. i still love attack on titan and rewatch it and engage with the fandom pretty regularly, which is more than i can say about some other shows i liked that have ended.
i don't think i'd change anything about the ending if i had the power to do so
are you still planning on writing the reiner spin-off?
yes, hopefully 😭 i haven't been able to write anything for months because i think i'm just overthinking things. but i've been trying really hard these past few days to just get SOMETHING down, so i'm slowly getting back into the swing of things?? maybe?? fingers crossed for me.
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Hi! Hope you're doing well :)
3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?
7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?
42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?
For the ask game! 💖 Hope you have/had a lovely day ✨
This took forever to get back to but I finally am! Thank you Kitty <3 I love these silly ask memes.
3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?
Tropes: *goes to AO3* Lmao, "Hurt Stephen Change" is at the top. Which yes, is definitely characteristic. Other common tags are Canon-Typical Violence, Whump, and equally "Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence" as well as "Canon Compliant". I like exploring both realms with the MCU (in LOTR, it was largely canon compliant as I love the LOTR canon). While I love comedy, I write more angst than comedy likely because it's easier. Doing comedy well is particularly tricky.
For details: I love parenthetical asides and you'll see those very often. Some sort of visual details are seen in all my works, even if the reader's likely aware of what the character looks like. It's good practice in learning how to give interesting descriptions of both characters and settings. You get a lot of internal monologue in my fics, too. Limited third person in past tense is my primary writing style.
7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?
I'm very pleased with the alternate reality I've built with Earth-197320 (and I'm so pleased I'm finally posting the final fic in that series to tie everything together).
I also can't believe I managed to pull off the Kamar-Taj world-building in Wong, Target Sales Associate as well as I did.
42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?
I imagine that for many writers, it's easy to forget the good reviews and have the bad reviews that shine through the fog of memory. So while 99% of my reviews through my 20 years of writing have been good, some of the ones that stand out are the bad ones, including the ones that made me leave writing LOTR fanfic back in 2011 when my attempt at a "magnum opus" got some less-than-stellar feedback. I stopped posting and migrated completely to RP for the next 7 years.
The funniest of my negative reviews, though, came about 2 years ago. When I got back into fanfic in 2017, I still cross-posted to fanfiction.net, which included my first DS fic, a DS/LOTR crossover. One of the later reviews I received treated the fic as if it were a Good Reads book review and it was so odd that it still makes me snicker in disbelief. You can't reply publicly to reviews on ff.net so I didn't bother, but if I could I would've told them that this isn't Good Reads and that this is not how this works.
There are some good reviews that stand out over time, too, though. One of them was yours from about 2 years ago! You complimented me on my Carol and that still makes me beam since it shows that I can write characters I don't like so well that people don't notice. It's one of the best compliments a writer can receive, IMO.
Other reviews that stand out are people who tell me they're rereading a fic, a long review that clearly took some time and thought, or anything that catches a detail that I just don't know will be seen by others.
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I figured out my trigger event: a Parahumans thought exercise
Background and inciting incident:
I’ve struggled with ADHD since I was very young. I’ve been in and out of residential therapy. It is the number one significant factor in how my day-to-day life turns out. Not to go into too much detail, but at the moment, things are good for me, and have been for the past two years.
But, let’s say they weren’t. I backslid. I let things go too far, and now I can’t bounce back. My school is trying to expel me, because I put off my student loan paperwork too long. My professors are tired of my excuses. My parents think not supporting me, this time, might actually be key to solving my issues instead of handholding me through therapy. My writing group is sick of me showing up as the only person who keeps not actually starting the works they promised to write.
Each of these problems, and more. I realize this all on the same day.
This is a long, long term stressor, that finally came to a head: a pretty clear Tinker power.
Also, I have gender dysphoria and social anxiety, especially related to how I present myself: I hate presenting masculine, but don’t want to be obviously different or ‘freakish’, so I put up a male persona and try to be as deniably androgynous as I can within that boundary. I reassure myself that one day, when I’m ‘correct’ enough, I’ll have earned the privilege to transition fully. These are always in the background, but don’t overlap (much, at all really) with my main issues.
So, I happen to have a friend with a shard; this buds off on me as well, giving a Changer power with Master undertones.
Power expression:
My shard is Agitated Auxiliary: a neoshard composed four Cycles ago from buds of an (A) precog shard, (B) efficiency Tinker shard, (C) behavior-modification shard which previously only expressed itself as a blaster power, and (D) an entropy-inertia shard. The Tinker power lets me build systems, specifically systems to automate tasks, mitigate future consequences, and shirk effort.
That paperwork? Scanned from the website, filled and submitted automatically. That sci-fi novel idea? I took my outline doc, writing sample, and summary and turned into into a magnum opus. I can develop a mnemonic system to take tests perfectly, I just don’t actually learn the material. My docket can anticipate what people want from me months in advance and prepare the right resources and actions, but at no point have I grown closer to them or understood others more. I can always avoid bad situations, as long as no-one is actually confronting me face-to-face.
Ultimately, this solves none of my problems, just puts a bandaid over them ... which is how a person with ADHD acts, so why am I complaining? (asks my shard). And yet, no matter how bad I feel that it’s not actually my effort being put forth, no matter how much I used to respect myself as an academically competent person, a strong person, no matter how low my self-esteem sinks ... I will keep using my power. The crutch is too great, the benefit is too strong, and if I was the kind of person to resolve my situation, to take the hard way out to permanent security, to sit back and act when I understand that I’ve fallen too far ... well then, I wouldn’t have triggered, would I have?
Also, you would think a transgender person would love having a Changer power right? The secondary power lets me grow or accentuate not just masculine features, but whichever physical features or social qualities are structurally dominant for the society I’m in; in exchange, people around me believe me and attribute positive qualities to me, usually in line with whatever that social identity I’m changing into. This is hell on a transgender person, especially since I’m trying to run away from ‘male privilege’.
Complicating factors & irony:
If I had these powers a month ago, I would be flying high: my paperwork would be complete, my novels would be written, my academic status wouldn’t be in question; I could sit back and program out the rest of my life. But I didn’t: I burned my bridges. People are sick of catering to me, institutions have already sent me through their second-chance policies, and I have no resources of my own. Perhaps if this had come in a year or two, I’d have marketable skills other than what my power provides me. I still need to eat, and more: I’m not idle, I have ambitions I want to fulfill, it’s just that I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. At times, I consider what money or other resources I’d need to risk the exposure and bargaining with a biotinker, like Bonesaw, Panacea, or Second Skin, to fix my awful body.
I reassure myself that one day, I’ll be in a stable position: I’ll settle down, I’ll work on my ADHD, I’ll develop my executive function, I’ll do the work and effort myself, I won’t have to rely so much on these powers any more. Good luck, me.
Because I would be fixated on the gender aspect, I never figure out my secondary power beyond ‘this makes me more masculine/reverses my transition for some social benefits’. I try not to use it, but the bud would not have occurred if I wasn’t going to use the power: eventually, when I’m in situations where I need resources or someone on my side, I break it out, then have to reassure myself that it’s okay, that I’m really who I am inside, that this is temporary.
Both of my powers let me continue in, and excel at, the same coping behaviors I’ve been engaging in for years. It’s just a shame that these are the parts of myself I hate the most.
Conclusion:
Tinker 5-7, Changer 1 (Sub: Master 4)
Thoughts? Feedback? If you triggered in the Parahumans setting, how would your power express itself?
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