#and you know I’ll say this. in my personal headcanon Achilles likes to listen to what Patroclus thinks (at least later in life).

[persephoneflowerpetals]

Super new here so I hope this is ok to ask, but I was wondering how you think Hades would act at get togethers in either a hades/persephone relationship or a hades/anon relationship like with his brothers + other dieties. Stumbled on your page with your earlier hades/reader textposts and became OBSESSED so yeah :)

Hi!!! Omg you’re totally fine!!!

I’m so sorry this took me forever to answer lol! 😅

I can totally do headcanons for Hades x reader / s/o and Hades x Persephone lol! Honestly, pretty much all of the x reader headcanons will apply to the Hades x Persephone headcanons, so I’ll try not to double up on headcanons lol.

But I’m assuming you mean headcanons for how Hades reacts at parties with his brothers and other gods when he’s with his s/o? Hope I’m not misinterpreting that lmao. I’ve honestly never gotten a request before lol! This is my first one so thank you so much!!! I’m so glad you like my x reader headcanons!!! 🥰

Anyways, here ya go! Headcanons are under the cut (just so the post doesn’t get too long lol)! 😁

Hades x Reader at Deity Parties (Headcanons)

Hades loves parties! Too bad he doesn’t get invited to many these days.

He loves parties even more when he’s with you!

He will fight for you to get into the party if you’re a mortal or demigod.

If they refuse you then he just leaves with you to do something else.

“Forget about it, babe. Those losers don’t know how to party anyways. It’s probably a total snooze fest in there. Let’s just crash some Grecian festival, huh? Most the mortals down there know how to party better than the gods do up here.”

But if you guys do get in then he spends most of the time chatting and schmoozing with the other gods (or at least trying to anyways, they don’t really wanna talk to him). He may even try to scheme his way into getting something he wants from another god while he’s there.

If he’s not chatting with the other gods then he’s usually chatting with you.

Hades is a total gossip so he’s gonna dish the juicy deets and all the tea to you.

“Did you hear about Iris’ run in with some satyrs a couple months ago? Yeah, I heard she tried to crash their bacchanal or something and a big fight broke out. Crazy stuff.”

He also just loves to watch the other gods at the party with you and comment on what’s going on.

“Look, I think Apollo’s gonna make a move on one of the muses….oof! Shot down like Achilles in the Trojan war. Yikes.”

If you’re more of the shy type then Hades doesn’t mind you sticking around him the whole time and he won’t try to force you to talk to anyone. He’ll pretty much do all the talking for you lol.

If you do decide to chat with someone (whether you’re shy or not) while he’s around, he refuses to let anyone interrupt you when you’re talking.

He’s also gonna be listening and taking in every word you say when you talk because this god is just so enamored by you. He could listen to you talk for hours.

Hates when his brothers talk to you. It’s nothing against you. He just hates his brothers lol.

It drives Hades crazy when his brothers tell embarrassing stories about him to you. He thinks they do that deliberately to make you leave him and/or think poorly of him.

Absolutely 100% gets jealous if he thinks someone is trying to flirt with you, even if the other person is in a relationship already. Cue Hades getting all handsy with you and making snarky and passive aggressive comments towards the other deity “flirting” with you.

Also, whether Hades is jealous or not, he loves PDA and will love on you and kiss you during the whole party (as long as you’re okay with that, of course).

If you ever get uncomfortable at a party for any reason he’ll find any way for you to make you feel more at ease.

If you end up wanting to leave a party early, then he’s cool with that.

But Hades will stay as long as you want at the parties. Even if you’re nearly the last two left, he’ll stay until you’re ready to go.

Hades x Persephone at Deity Parties (Headcanons)

The only reason Hades is invited to parties nowadays is mainly because of Persephone.

The other gods can’t stand Hades, but they love Persephone and don’t want her to feel left out. They also know how much the two love each other and how inseparable they are, so they’re pretty much a dual package.

The other gods are pretty much forced to “play nice” with Hades since Persephone’s there lol.

Hades also has to “play nice” with his brothers and the gods he doesn’t like (which is most of them) for the sake of Persephone.

Hades isn’t usually much of a problem at the parties than he used to be since Persephone is there to sorta rein him in so he doesn’t cause trouble or mischief.

Persephone usually tries to talk to the deities she’s used to talking to (like her mother, Artemis, Aphrodite, Apollo, etc.).

She also tries to stick with Hades the whole time at parties just because she feels awkward when she ends up standing alone.

If Persephone ever gets stuck talking to someone she doesn’t want to talk to or just in an awkward situation, Hades (being the smooth talker he is) will always swoop in to “save the day” whether that’s redirecting the conversation or just pulling her away from whoever she’s talking to.

Hades LOVES to brag about his wife and the fact that he’s married to Persephone to EVERYONE lol. Like, it was kinda cute when they first got married, but now everyone’s just like “Yeah, we get it, Hades. You’re crazy in love with your wife. We can see that.”

They’ll both constantly try to avoid their relatives because their family drives them crazy (unless Hades’ mom is at the party lol, she’s the only family member he can stand).

Hades is constantly kissing and loving on his wife during parties. She gets all flustered about it, but she loves it.

Takes any chance he can get to call Persephone his wife because he’s so freaking proud and lucky to have her. Like, he just wants to show her off to everyone.

#ask #anon ask #disney #hercules #hades #hercules 1997 #disney’s hercules #disney hades #hades disney #persephone #persephone oc #hercules oc #disney oc #self insert oc #hades hercules #hercules movie & series au #persephone x hades #hades x persephone #persephades #disney hades x reader #x reader headcanons #hades x reader #headcanons

[twistedtummies2]

Headcanon Voices - My Twst OCs

(sighs) So, less than a month after I said I would NOT be doing this...I’m doing this. Go figure. :P People keep asking me what voices I headcanon for my OCs, especially for Twisted Wonderland. I decided, just for a lark, to finally provide a dreamcast of English voices for my major TW OCs. (I probably won’t bother with Japanese voices...at least, not right now.) I decided to go with voice actors who primarily work in video games and anime dubs, and I wanted to make sure they had done recent work that felt like it matched the age range of the characters. With help from various people, and a lot of research, I think I’ve finally figured out the voices. SO...here is the Dreamcast of headcanon voices for my Twisted Wonderland OCs.

Nakoda Spivak = Landon McDonald

Initially, I was going to give this to Daman Mills, but after I reminded myself of McDonald’s voice in “Bungo Stray Dogs,” and then listened to his work in “Demon Slayer” and a couple of other places, I chose him, instead. I don’t know if McDonald can sing, but in terms of his speaking voice, it is EXACTLY how I would imagine Nakoda to sound...provided you just give him those tell-tale hisses. ;) Billy Géant = Stephen Fu

I love Stephen Fu from a few roles, but it was specifically his work as Noe in “The Case Study of Vanitas” that made me choose him here. His voice in that role has a certain mixture of grit and resonant depth that I felt Billy needed, but it’s still light and young, which I also felt was needed. In that specific role, he also shows two different sides: Noe is one half gooberish cinnamon bun who can be insanely cute and sweet, and the other half is...well...a vampire. A very, VERY powerful, strong, and dangerous vampire. He can flip on a dime from downright TERRIFYING to just the cutest little guy in the world. That’s EXACTLY what Billy should be: one moment a big loveable dunderheaded child, the next a rage-fueled disaster machine who can be fiery or icy depending on the situation.

Elias Inque = Brandon Johnson

I only just recently discovered Johnson for his work as the title role in “Skeleton Knight in Another World.” That role alone was all it took to convince me. In the part of Arc, the main character, he proves to be equal parts an over-the-top pseudo-villainous ham, a somewhat goofy and geeky sort, and a fairly down-to-Earth, rational person...AND, surprisingly, a massive glutton who is CONSTANTLY thinking of food. That’s basically Eli in a nutshell. I can even imagine him using his “normal voice” for Arc as Elias, while he transitions into his “bold knight” voice for when Eli becomes the Phantom Blot. Seems fitting.

Reno Rovar = Adam Gold

I really don’t know Adam Gold well at all. However, after @belliesandburps shared with me clips of him from “Cookie Run,” I was convinced. Case closed.

James Killian = Ricco Fajardo

Initially, I was going to cast Kieran Flitton here, even though I’ll confess I don’t know Flitton very well. Things changed when I discovered Fajardo’s work as Achilles in the game “Smite.” I knew Fajardo already from a few places, but it was Achilles in “Smite” that convinced me. Just like with McDonald as Nakoda, the instant I heard his work in that role, all I could think of was, “that’s James. That is EXACTLY how James should sound.” Heck, even some of his dialogue sounds like stuff James would say, in PRECISELY the way James WOULD say it! So that settled things in an instant.

Smitty McCarthy = Joshua Waters

Waters is a bit of an odd one here. This is a case where it’s less one or two specific ROLES that convinced me, and just the actor in general. I was most heavily influenced by his work as Miyano in “Sasaki & Miyano.” The soft, “smol” voice he uses for Miya in that show sounds very much like how I would imagine Smitty often sounding. The energy is different - Miyano’s personality is NOT the same as Smitty’s - but the specific SOUND, the QUALITY of the voice, is just about on the money. Knowing Waters’ other work, I think he’s a fine choice.

Maelstrom Baleno = Kellen Goff

I know Kellen Goff best for playing Sasaki in “Sasaki & Miyano” and Overhaul in “My Hero Academia.” Neither is  the voice I imagine for Maelstrom. XD Much like Joshua Waters as Smitty, this is a case where it’s less about a specific role, and more about the actor. Goff has an INCREDIBLE range, and can do a lot of really cool things with his voice that you wouldn’t guess just hearing his neutral, natural tones. It was a combination of hearing a few roles of his, including his characters in Cookie Run, Volke from Fire Emblem, Glamrock Freddy, and a few others that made me decide he could, very likely, handle Maelstrom. While his natural voice is quite light, he’s shown he can bring depth and danger to a voice with ease, so while he may be unconventional as a choice, he seems possible to me.

Theodore Hamilton = Jalen K. Cassell

Theodore was quite possibly the hardest character to cast. I kept changing the voice right up until the last minute with him. The problem is that Theo is different from my other OCs because he’s based on a female source. Not only that, but it’s a female source with a VERY iconic sort of voice: the Wicked Witch of the West. Whether you go with Mila Kunis or Margaret Hamilton, how does one turn that heckling, cackling, snarling, shrieking voice into the sound of a handsome anime boi? I considered several actors: Brandon McInnis, Chris Guerrero, even a few who ended up with other characters, like Goff and Fu. Jalen K. Cassell won out because he had the right balance of youthfulness and slickness, while also showing the ability to snarl and get vicious and even surprisingly gruff and dusky. And he can cackle with the best of them, as far as his laugh goes; a perfect match for any wicked warlock.

Grit Gravelle = Bryce Papenbrook

This was the easiest voice to choose. Simply put, Grit is a LOT like Shindo from “My Hero Academia.” So it seemed only natural to use Shindo’s voice for his own. Case dismissed. And there you have it, folks! I must admit, I’m slightly unsure about a couple of these voices (specifically Maelstrom and Theo), but the rest seem right on the money and are unlikely to change. Now please, everybody, stop asking. XD

#dreamcast #headcanon #voice actors #disney #twisted wonderland #ocs #billy #billy geant #nako #nakoda #nakoda spivak #eli #elias #elias inque #reno #reno rovar #james #james killian #smitty #smitty mccarthy #maelstrom #maelstrom baleno #theo #theodore #theodore hamilton #grit #grit gravelle

[dex-xe]

headcanon idea: a modern song that you think the ghosts would love or one you would be sure to show them if you were there that you think they'd love

I LOVE THIS!!

Also, would anyone be interested if I made full playlists for each of the ghosts?? Cause I’d really like to but idk if anyone would care?? I have some of them on my personal Spotify but obvs I can’t share those with y’all so it would involve making a different account so I can make them public. But yeah?? Let me know if you’re interested at all??? (Or maybe song recs for any of them??

(Answer under the cut)

Robin - Concert epics!! Like The Killers or Kings of Leon anything loud that he could shout along to. I think Spaceman would be a really great call for him cause he could jump along at the chorus and obvs space boy. He would also love to watch concerts as well or like festivals and would wish to be there so badly like in the crowd.

Humphrey - Body - Mother Mother…. Oh don’t look at me like that it’s a cheap shot but I had to take it XD But serious answer Sign of the Times. I feel like Humphrey probably has the most reasonable understanding of the passage of time of all the ghosts. He’s very down to earth compared to the rest of them. I know Robin has been there longer but I think he’s probably accepted the change of time without really considering it philosophically, whereas with Humphrey getting lost all the time he’s probably had more time to contemplate and I think he’d appreciate the song to listen to while he’s stuck various places. Also he’d like he piano, Humphrey’s a kinda piano man you can’t tell me otherwise (no Billy Joel fuck off)

Mary - The Moss - Cosmo Sheldrake. The combination of the mystical sounds and the weird and wonderful lyrics about like all the animals and mythical beings and the fairytales would just be *mwah*.

Kitty - Rex Orange County or something?? I’m not really sure, Kitty is kinda tricky cause I have no idea what she might like. But I feel like that’s a solid call,, like Best Friend??

Thomas - We all know Thomas love a lovey pop song so like old Taylor Swift. You Belogn With Me, he would dance to that over and over on repeat. He’d also appreciate the beauty of a modern love story like he does in Friends. Like the holding up the cards through the window in the music video would also remind him of Love Actually which he also loves XD

Fanny - WAP. Wet Ass Pussy. She’d hate it but it’d be fucking funny!! Nah but seriously something sad. Fanny really needs to cry like just for a bit, cause like her uptightness and whatever is like partially to do with her time period but also like her life was sadddddd and if she just let go and cried for a bit the world would be a better place for her. So yeah, fuck it Iris - Goo Goo Dolls. Just put it on repeat and lie down, cry just please.

Captain - This has been said before but I’ll say it again: Achilles Come Down. Like it might actually kill his gay little soul but by good it would be worth it!! I’m gonna go off on a bit of a philosophy tangent but what were ya expecting from me honestly: the sample used in Achilles Come Down is an extract from a 1942 essay by Albert Camus who, alongside Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and the like, wrote about the concept of ‘the absurd’ which is a tricky concept but a reallyyyyyy simplified version of it is basically the idea that humans constantly search for a meaning and purpose for life and the universe but the universe does not provide answers to that which causes human distress. Basically, what I mean to say like isn’t that concept just so Captain?? Like he searches for meaning in war and can’t see life beyond the war because that provides him purpose, you know?? But yeah, it’s a banging song and I’m sorry about the tension.

Pat - You Make Me Feel from Jimmy Somerville or Dance With Me by Alphaville or Together in Electric Dreams, basically just any song he would’ve only just missed later in the decade. Man died just as his music taste was peakinggggg which is so sad - he would’ve loved the rest of the 80s so much. So yeah I would just sit him down and play him my 80s Anthems CD, boy would lose his mind.

Julian - Montero. He’d claim to hate it but he’d actually be obsessed XD But seriously like Arctic Monkeys or something. I think he’d like Arabella a lot, strikes me as the type you know. But he likes it in a straight boy football beer way rather than indie kid record player way, they give of drastically different vibes you know??

Anywhere, there we go!! Thanks so much for the question: it's a great one!!

#bbc ghosts #max's ghost post

[angstymarshmallow]

My Two First Loves - How Will it All End? - Part 1 Mason Jennings.

This isn’t necessarily a complaint. I’m genuinely curious as to how long this book will be, especially considering we’re 60+ chapters in. Is this going to end when MC graduates? Will it end when she finally choses between three people? I assume it’s the latter.

But here’s some of my thoughts of what I do know while we’re all waiting. The more I wrote about this series, the more I had to say and if I’ve caught your attention so far, indulge me with another few minutes of your time. 

Originally when I read the synopsis of the first chapter, I remembered thinking to myself ‘this looks like angstville and I am soooo ready’. I love angstville, hell I vacation there and if you’ve ever read any of my stories or have been in the choices fandom for a while; you may have stumbled across my blog. You’d notice I’m a complete sucker for this type of pain genre. And in terms of angst, the first few chapters didn’t disappoint. The writing, while it never always felt natural – this kind of style sometimes gave me a familiar heavy feeling in the chest I’ve come to associate as a local in angstville.

From the very beginning, the reader is under the impression that MC has a crush on Mason. It’s a crush that’s spun years and the book keeps up this narrative throughout the entire story. (I’m sure there are people who headcanon this differently, but I’m strictly speaking about the intention of the book and for plot-related reasons, I understand why this makes sense). Then we meet Noah cue bad to the bone song, a secondary character MC starts developing feelings for; soon after MC finds out Mason is dating her best friend Ava. The book basically revolves around these four people - MC, Mason Noah and Ava. It’s not a fair representation all around, but I will say this book does a fairly good job of portraying the woes of being a teenager. To MC and everything she goes through feeling larger than life. To Mason struggling to push himself out of his father’s shadow. To Noah proving he’s a good soul that was dealt a bad hand from the deck of cards we call life. To Ava who was trying desperately to be what she thought she had to be and hiding who she truly was.

First and foremost, I wanted to breakdown a list of all my thoughts, and coordinate them accordingly. I’ll be going through the pros and cons in a series of posts, a lot of which deals with identity and character development. Bare with me if you have the patience, I also wanted to make a TLDR version of everything for people who just want to get to the point.

In any case I wanted to cover the main characters and how they’ve changed over the course of the book through these specific topics.

Mason Jennings Character Development Noah Harris Character Development Ava Lawrence Poor Character Development MC’s Development and Family Dynamic

Since Mason is the first topic I’ve written down, let’s start there.

Mason Jennings: The Childhood Crush

Mason and Parents mostly Mr. Jennings

Mason and MC

Mason and Ava

Mason and Noah

Future Mason: Where Does this Leave Us?

The story does a good job of giving you background information about Mason Jennings almost from the very beginning. Although some of his deeper and more meaningful moments with MC are buried in diamonds scenes - you get a pretty good sense of his character.  Mason is popular, friendly, albeit the rich kid with undertones of short sightedness as well as father-son issues that hugely impact his character over the course of this book. Because of his upbringing, Mason sees himself as the ‘good guy’ and while we can certainly see moments of this in the story, we also see moments where he’s been insensitive and selfish. Ultimately, Mason’s short sightedness is his Achilles heel.

Growing up with a lot handed to you on a silver platter makes it a little difficult for Mason to be open minded. Like most of the students of (whatever the name of their high school is), he’s quick to write Noah off as a bad influence on MC. Granted, he knows more about Noah than MC at the start, his unwillingness to change his perspective is a hindrance to his growth. It is unclear if Mason was always well off - considering his exchange with MC about his house and the jacuzzi (if memory serves me correctly), however what the reader does know; in comparison to Noah Mason’s parents haven’t struggled to make ends meet. In public, it looks as if they are a happy family but behind closed doors, it doesn’t take much to assume Mason’s life in reality is far from perfect.

Regardless, this cookie-cutter presentation makes it hard for the reader to sympathize with him, especially when comparing him to Noah.

Mason’s Parents

It starts with his upbringing. A lot of his life, Mason was groomed to be like his father; he’s supposed to follow in his footsteps by scoring a football scholarship. He’s supposed to have a full ride into the air force academy. He’s supposed to breeze through school, listen to his parents and survive high school. Though his cookie-cutter life starts falling apart during dinner with his parents and MC. His parents make a lot of comparisons about MC and Ava, when they bring up his new relationship ( much to MC’s discomfort and Mason’s). Because of Ava’s accomplishments they think she’s a perfect match for Mason and uses this to discredit and sort of look down upon his friendship with MC. They think Ava is the best and most optimal choice because they’ve always given him the best and expect the same in return. It’s implied during as this happens that their relationship isn’t perfect, Mason’s uncomfortableness isn’t just on behalf of MC, he’s embarrassed despite a part of him thinking he owes them for everything they’ve ever done.

Another and more obvious example stem from the all-important football game everyone was looking forward to. Scouts are visiting and their school wants to showcase the best of the best. This spurs even more competition between Noah and Mason; not only for MC’s affection but to gain the scouts favour. Regardless of the outcome, Mr. Jennings influence as the principal allows him to pull the strings and guarantee approval for Mason over Noah.

Immediately after Noah confronts him about the entire scenario; Mason is quick to defend himself and his dad; saying it was his talent they cared about and not his father’s connections. Mason spends so much time thinking the best of his father that he doesn’t consider any alternative. Despite it being obvious to the reader that there is more going on here than just Mason’s ability to play football; he doesn’t entertain the thought. And from his perspective why should he? We’ve already established his parents try their absolute best to give him the best chance possible, which doesn’t necessarily mean playing by the same rules as everyone else.

It’s these kinds of examples that shows Mason’s short sightedness. This makes him a lot less likable. His unwillingness to see other people’s perspectives outside of his own makes him fall a little short. He’s so averse to the idea that his father could be the reason why because it would undermine his own confidence in himself and ultimately change the way he sees his father.

Recognizing how important character growth is in young adult stories; this reoccurring issue has started to change. With the help of Noah and MC’s influence, Mason is finally staring to realize his father isn’t infallible after all. They get into a full blown argument over spending time with MC where they don’t see eye to eye, and haven’t for a long time. Ultimately, Mason starts questioning his own future. Does he genuinely want to go to air force academy? Or was that just an idea planted in his head from the very beginning? Is that his dream or his dad’s?

In a more recent chapter; it’s again implied how strained Mason’s relationship with not just his father but Mrs. Jennings as well. He makes a comparison between how his family celebrate the holidays different from the Price family. MC’s family has movie night and this time they’re watching Die Hard because Noah hasn’t seen it before and technically it is a Christmas movie. While this is the first time it’s specifically mentioned to the reader, we get the sense that movie night is a common occurrence around the holidays. Mason mentions how much this means to him; especially when his own parents do not celebrate the same way and he’s always invited over. It’s a special moment that feels a little less special when he sees Noah standing at the front door of their house.

Truth be told, I don’t think Mason has any idea what he really wants, since realizing air force academy isn’t as much his dream as it was his father’s. It is another part of his personality that spills over in other parts of his life. He didn’t know what his own feelings for Ava was, and how deep his feelings for MC truly is. This leads me to point number 2 -

Mason and MC

Whether you’re a fan of their friendship/relationship, the book gives you ample background information to outright say Mason is MC’s childhood crush and it’s the same the other way around.

If you’ve played some of the diamonds scenes like I have, their relationship seems a lot more natural than meets the eye. Although without these scenes, their dynamic feels a little more forced and a lot less like MC has any control over her decisions when it comes to him. I wished some of the diamond content was given for free because they show a lot of good Mason and MC moments. Their inside jokes, the little moments of childhood joy they experienced together like tarot readings with MC’s mother, and reminiscing over other old memories. You could argue its platonic, the small touching gestures; even their concern over each other’s behalf – it’s been this way since they’ve been kids. They’ve always been there for each other – no matter what. It’s that kind of friendship which allows them to be comfortable around each other. And it is that comfortableness that could lead to intimacy. It doesn’t take a lot for a reader to think then; they’ve been in love with each other since childhood.

MC’s influence on Mason has changed his behaviour. From the way he perceives Noah, to his relationship with his father – if it wasn’t for her, I daresay some of his growth would never have happened.

The more softer side MC sees when it comes to Noah, the more she implores that on MC. Noah can’t be all bad. That slowly becomes been her mantra and while Mason doesn’t agree outright; his opinion of him does change.

The trouble is, Mason has a secret about Noah that not even MC knows. He uses it as a reminder in justifying every harsh thing he’s ever said about him. Every harsh thing other people say about him in general. In Mason’s mind – Noah is fooling MC the way he fooled him last year when Noah tried robbing his house with his brother Elijah. Again, this is only half the story and it isn’t until later chapters that the reader starts getting the full picture.

Putting that aside for now and to paint an even clearer picture; during the scene where three of our major players were stuck in the gymnasium together; they’re in a situation where they’re forced to talk when they otherwise wouldn’t. As the reader you’re able to discern from their dialogue to their non-verbal cues; this dynamic is changing and for the first time - they were talking, laughing and being simply friends  which before now was unthinkable to Mason.

He did the unthinkable with his father in a much similar manner. Before MC started questioning her own perceptions of what it meant to be a good person and sharing pieces of this would Mason, he would never think to go against his father. At least, not publicly. I think it’s natural for teenagers to disagree and sometimes go against with their parents to some degree, but from MC’s perspective Mason never really did.  It wasn’t until MC and Mason were caught being out very late; Mr. Jennings for the second time tells his son MC is not a good influence on him. This is the nicest way I can put it, but with his growing animosity towards MC, this places a strain on their relationship that is too much for Mason to ignore.

This is a turning point in which Mason starts coming to his own conclusions about his dad. They aren’t in a good place; if Mr. Jennings can’t accept MC in his life, if he can’t accept the decision Mason makes – he’s going to lose him. This short sightedness is starting peel away with more and more layers of Mason realizing nothing is black and white, least of all people.

Even if you aren’t convinced of MC’s feelings about Mason, from Mason perspective he’s absolutely head over heels for her. And it is the same feelings which allows MC to influence him, to change him more than he probably realizes.

Mason and Ava

Oh, boy. This was a recipe for disaster, maybe from the very beginning.

When Mason tells MC they’ve started dating over the course of the summer; I’m sure there must have been some meaningful moments to convince themselves they were right for each other and it wasn’t solely because of MC. In part though, I think some of this had to do with MC, probably more than they both realized. Maybe there was an energy about each other that they’ve only felt when they’ve both been around MC. Maybe they were projecting those feelings onto each other because neither of them wanted to threaten their friendship with her. Regardless, by the time MC knew about it - things have started to become more than a little awkward. Ava was being a little heavy on PDA as if to convince them both that this is what she wants; while trying simultaneously telling MC to back off. Mason was being a little awkward in the sense of still being physically and emotionally connected with MC in ways which confused him. And MC was well, confused (and pinning for Mason secretly during their entire relationship).

From Mason’s perspective, I imagine he’s trying to figure out why it doesn’t feel right between them; why Ava is being more possessive than usual and why his feelings for MC are still there. Maybe in his mind, dating Ava meant getting over whatever feelings he might have had. And to his credit; he tried letting MC know over the summer - as if to ask, is this okay because some part of him must realize this could spell trouble for once the school year started. And MC’s answer was very much yes, even though inner MC’s dialogue never sold anyone on this idea.

In a nutshell, Ava and Mason weren’t a good fit because 1 - Ava was at the time trying to figure out her sexuality and 2 - Mason was trying to develop the same feelings he had for MC, onto her. Who is to say if Mason truly had deep feelings for Ava in the first place? 

A part of dating is figuring things out, especially at such a young age - you won’t have all the answer. As the reader, it never felt clear why Ava and Mason were dating other than being a plot device for MC’s repressed feelings.

As a reader, I do recognize  towards the end things were very bitter between Mason and Ava. After the whole kissing-MC-by-accident fiasco, the energy between them became more strained than ever. This is what I meant by Mason’s short sightedness; he couldn’t see why Ava was so hurt. He couldn’t see how Ava deserved better because from his perspective, he tried everything he could include distancing himself from MC (with mistakes along the way), only to hurt Ava and himself in the end. He doesn’t see himself as the bad guy in this scenario, but his actions had disastrous consequences. Was he the best boyfriend he could be to Ava? Absolutely not. He couldn’t be the person Ava needed him to be, he couldn’t even see how hard it was for her to be what she thought he needed for her to be. What she thought she needed to be to everyone else. Mason was consumed with his own well-being, his own feelings for someone else while juggling what could have been with her. Was he the worst boyfriend? No, he was figuring things out - sorting out his feelings like every other teenager. It was wrong for him to continue dating someone, when he had strong feelings for someone else. It was wrong for him to accidentally but quite publicly admit he had feelings for MC while the kiss was still fresh in everyone’s mind. But most importantly, it was wrong for him not to communicate his feelings with the person who he was with because that’s the number one thing everyone should do in their relationship. But it’s also human nature to not know what you want. 

Mason and Noah

During the most recent chapters, Noah’s and Mason’s relationship has become more and more complicated. I actually think this is one of the best relationships in this book. It shows the reader how difficult it is to define their relationship. Something on the surface that seems pretty straight-forward, when in reality it wasn’t.

Take for instance the beginning; it’s very clear they were painting Mason and Noah as total opposites. Mason is the ‘golden boy’ and Noah is ‘the bad boy’ and for MC to ‘choose one’ meant abandoning the other. Mason’s feelings for MC hindered his relationship with Noah, but before her - his father did that all on his own.

Mason and Noah were I daresay friends and even both admitted as much before it all went terribly wrong. They met and stuck together during football, hung out outside of school but Mr. Jennings influence on his son put a dent in their friendship even before things came to a head. During that night -you know the one I briefly mentioned earlier? Yeah, when Noah and Elijah trying to steal from Mason’s house it ruined whatever budding friendship there was between them. Since I’m talking about Mason’s perspective – despite his father’s hindrance, Mason allows his goading for him to make up his mind about Noah. Noah wasn’t his friend, he was just trying to get close to him to steal his stuff. This makes it difficult for Mason to see him as anything else other than a bad person.

In addition this, when you add MC into the mix – it just makes everything worse. Not only is Noah a bad influence – now he’s trying to take MC down with him. To Mason it makes him super protective of her; he has to protect her from how bad he is and even after her insistence – he still has to prove to her that Noah is bad news.

Even now, Mason is still struggling with the idea of Noah being a good person, but at least he is beginning to move past his short sightedness. He’s allowing doubt in his head, because as soon as he stopped placing his father on a pedestal he was able to realize nothing is black and white. People aren’t black and white. Nothing depicts this more than his relationship with Noah.

Future Mason TLDR

Mason Jennings has already started walking along a path of self-improvement. We see bits of this in the latest chapters that we haven’t seen at the start. From sticking up to his father and calling his ideas wrong, to (start) making amends with Noah and MC - he will undoubtedly continue to grow. This isn’t to excuse his past behaviour; (he still hasn’t apologized to Ava when he very much should and I’m still waiting on that ), but its addressing the very real notion that people change. People are always changing. High school is a lot of where that starts, at least it was for me - and at least for  all these characters in My Two First Loves. High school is where we start answering that question who am I and its a journey that continues after which really shapes who we are. Personally, I really can’t see future Mason making the same mistakes as past Mason and if I’m wrong - well pixelberry played me.

#playchoices #Mason Jennings #My Two First Loves #MTFL #k's thoughts #Noah Harris #Ava Lawrence #candid essay #PART 1 OF MY VERY LONG RANT #This isn't a super in depth into his character #it's more how his character is changing as the story changes #this is also coming from a Noah stan lmao #I've also decided to put mc's sexuality in the same topic of development since they're apart of each other #i had to really narrow down my list to be specific as I can be #I had way more topics before but keeping it to character development is a lot already tto take on

[theaspers]

Zara! I just got back from a short trip. In a perpetual state of i want to do fuck all 😑 but I really should focus n do things. How are u? Anything random u want to share? My face n upper body r quite sunburnt lol so I've been a hermit trying to recover 😂 thanks for the well wishes on the job hunting. My mood on that journey is like ⬆️↗️➡️↘️⬇️↙️⬅️↖️🤣

I revisited hades after u replied! N spoilers: I got past elysium n then died to the Chambers (items got so expensive n it's multiple pathways to find cerb's treat lol n the poison...) butttttt I came back like next run n got hades to like 1/3 of his health and then died!!!! I'm pretty chuffed tho. I know now heueueue. And I MET THAN! GORGEOUS SOFT DEATH BOI. His voice man 🥰 BTW r zag n than half brothers that share hades as their father? But he cute that ain't no lie. I um am assuming u finished at least one complete run so I hope I ain't spoiling anything? I'm really sorry if I did. Third fury sister met too heueu.

Lololol I'm not really shitting on luci's yukata haha. Tbh I've been into kpop n Korean shows for yearsssss so I feel like nothing really fazes me too much? It's funny seeing ppl shit on Satan so much but I'm like honestly it doesn't hurt my eyes that badly. N his Pepsi yukata looks pre good. Not the worst by a looooooongggg shot. I hope the devs fix up the wonkiness of obey me cuz otherwise they will keep losing players n awesome content creators. V understandable tho. That's also why I probably won't play om and genshin cuz gacha, too stressful n it's kinda nice just evolving the charas by headcanons n imagination alone. The lore is v noice tho. Have u read the genshin manga?

Hahaha it's a good thing I thought of u. The fic does have some grammatical errors (I went back to read it again hehe) but it's just so soft n realistic to me that I thought u might like it. Probably ooc for Thea tho sorry. It's alright if u never get to it or don't like it!

Aww my ask got ate up huh. I sent it in the morning after u recommended achilles to me. It just said that the song is so fucking good. So cathartic n would've been such a help several yrs ago when I was going thru some shit. I love the lyrics, the sound...it's very soothing n I love it a lot. I hope to find more English songs that have such beautiful n haunting lyrics. I'm trying not to make the ask too long so I've dumbed the original ask down a lot. It's going to be long anyways 🙃

I asked about any personal hcs u wanted to share? Mine were that I would call Lucifer: Luce Luce or Luci haha. N I would greet him by saying Luci....fer after making eye contact with his brothers above his shoulder but he would be glaring at me anyways. Ever perceptive Luci. I would like to mess around Belphie by calling him Moo Moo 🤭 I hc that once close, I would go around the dining table every morning n give each bro some individual loving. Some nuzzles, cheek kiss ya know n get to Belphie like wut up moo moo? Lplolol thanks for letting me ramble haha this is sort of embarrassing. Can u tell my love language is physical touch 💖

Haha no worries about ur messy blog tho. I love the stuff u reblog. Some legit quality content n it's so amusing seeing the juxtaposition between the sfw n the NSFW. Ur duality zara never fails to make me laugh. If u want u can guess my height. What vibes do I give off? I have a feeling my answer will make u v happy ☺️ ALSO DUDE UR FIRST LANG AIN'T ENGLISH? WAT IS THIS BLASPHEMY? THAT'S SO FUCKIN IMPRESSIVE. KUDOS TO U SON. Wow. damn. U. R. So. Cool. 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️ Ahem finally much love to Luci anon. Better reinstate their rightful emojis hehe. Thanks for letting me visit again 💙 - (not a) worker lurker

long answer so under a cut hehe.

hey there!! sorry i took so long to reply shsjs but anw hope you’ve been doing well. i have been doing alright too? i guess? lol i have no idea. i’m simply just vibing. i hope the sunburn’s not bothering u as much anymore though! and still wishing you lots of luck on the job hunting front!

oooh, glad to hear that you’ve made some progress on hades! you’re not spoiling anything at all so don’t worry hehe. i wish you luck on your future runs, you can do it!! (side note: those stupid rats. i swear. i hate them so much 😭) AHH THAN!! isn’t he just so precious? 🥺 like i realise he is death but he’s so. soft 🥺 and no!! afaik they’re not related lol i think nyx might have just. made him and hypnos? they grew up together tho, i think. oooh, love the fury sisters. they’re very interesting hehe. definitely missed playing the game but i’m still not in the mood to play it unfortunately. i miss zag tho. and hypnos. ugh one day i’ll pick it back up again 🥺😭

shdjd same tho. and ur right. after seeing all the kpop idol outfits, nothing fazes me anymore. plus i don’t think their outfits are the worst thing ever tbh :’) ugh, i agree. the main route itself is getting harder to play and the non-stop events are tiring. i want to hope that they slow down a lil bit but idk. kinda doubt they will. and the obm gacha rate is terrible but at the end of the day, it is gacha, right? :’) genshin is horrible gacha wise but there’s always a lot to do, and places to explore. plus they’re still updating the game so i’m sure it’ll remain relevant for a little while longer. i haven’t read the manga fully but i have seen bits and pieces, and some screenshots. diluc and kaeya look amazing in them 😭

oof yeah, i still love listening to achilles come down. it’s so good!! definitely very cathartic. i’m glad you enjoy it too. 🥰

ahaha, ngl i just always call him luci tbh. i know he probably doesn’t like it. but like lucifer is just a mouthful to say sometimes hehe i just know he’ll get his revenge on u for calling him that tho. belphie moo moo shdjd that’s kinda cute?? hmm. i don’t think i have nicknames for them tbh? :0 just kinda. shorten their names lol. and there’s nothing wrong with having physical touch as ur love language!! hehe i think that’s cute. i’m sure they enjoy the show of affection anw. i think i would just be way too shy to do anything like that tho :’)

ik people tell me they enjoy the messiness but sometimes i scroll through and get so embarrassed 😭 like i would like to not be perceived, please and thank u. but i’m glad that u enjoy my blog, regardless 😭 your height? :0 oof that’s a bit tough. you don’t radiate short ppl energy. wanna say ur probably average height shdkd and no, that’s definitely not me projecting my own height onto other people :’)

yeah, english isn’t my first language shdjd 😭 but i have been speaking/learning it for a while now. doesn’t matter tho, i still makes mistakes occasionally ahdjd but i’ve stopped caring lolol luci anon has yet to pop up again but it’s okay hehe they’ll get back their rights eventually hehe oh, and thank you for dropping by!! much love 💖💖💖

#oof this was long shdjd #but thank u tho for the ask. always nice catching up w u #answered #lurker anon #long post

[alienqueequeg]

Motel Massage

Rating: PG-13

I have a headcanon that somewhere along the line Mulder started giving Scully massages after long days on her feet. I think we can all agree he would be very good at it. 

Tagging @today-in-fic

“Don’t even think about discussing this case with me until I have a hot shower,” she said as she arrived to the hotel room in a bluster of irritable energy that crackled in the air.

He was sitting at the desk, parsing through a sizable stack of criminal profiles. He took off his glasses and turned around to watch his partner as she tossed her heels across the room and dropped her blazer on the corner of the motel bed.

“I’m exhausted,” she went on, “my feet ache. Hell, my whole body aches. And that might take the award for most disgusting autopsy I’ve ever done. I know I need food but I would estimate my appetite is gone for the rest of the week.” Knowing her laudable lack of squeamishness, it must have been bad.

She shut the bathroom door behind her. Shut, not slammed, he noted with relief. When she emerged 15 minutes later, her hair was wrapped in a towel and she was bundled in her pajamas under a white terrycloth robe.

“Okay, so what did you find?” She seemed to be in better spirits now.

“Nothing yet,” he groaned, pushing the stack of profiles away. “Why don’t you take a breather for the evening? I’ll order in. Maybe your appetite will come back if you have a warm meal in front of you.”

“In a bit. Right now I just need to get off my feet.” She threw herself down on the bed with a heavy sigh.

“Want me to leave?”

“No, it’s okay.”

He didn’t want to leave back to his own room but he felt like he was intruding on her private time, even though she had invited him to stay. Sort of. When he glanced over at her again, she was bent over on the bed rubbing her foot.

“Need a, uh, hand?” he ventured.

She gave him a long look. “You could get my foot cream from my toiletries bag,” she finally answered, tilting her head to the bathroom.

He moved to the bathroom and unzipped the vinyl bag that held all her magic potions. He recognized the expensive makeup brands from past relationships and had a peculiar feeling in his stomach at this moment of intimacy. He smiled as he read the bottom of a lipstick—“Cinnamon Toast.”

He had always been fascinated by the mysterious rituals of womanhood. Diana kicked him out of the bathroom when he tried to watch her put on her makeup and do her hair in the morning. "A woman has to have her secrets, Fox," she had told him with a sly smile.

“You get lost in there, Mulder?” she called from the bed.

“Sorry,” he called back. “Is this it?” He held up a small green tube.

“That’s face cream. Look for the foot cream.”

He held up a larger tube.

“No, Mulder, that's regular lotion. It says foot cream on the package.”

He returned to the bag, pushing aside a variety of cosmetic tubes and a couple tampons.

"A-ha!" he exclaimed. "Soothing for extra-dry skin," he read from the label. "With shea butter and camomile."

She had an amused look on her face when he returned to the bed and handed it to her.

"Are you sure you don't want me to?" he ventured. "I've been told I'm good at that."

She froze and he wished he could take it back. But then she said, voice cracking just a little, "Okay."

"Okay then." He tried to sound flippant, paired it with a glib grin. His own voice sounded strange to him.

He unscrewed the cap on the cream and scooped out a dollop, rubbing it between his palms until it was warm. Her eyebrow was raised at him and he felt paralyzed by her gaze.

"Well, come on then." She waggled her bare foot at him, shiny pink toenails catching in the overhead light. He hitched up his slacks and sat cross-legged on the end of the bed, pulling her foot into his lap. He heard her breath hitch as he started with slow circles on her arch. He froze.

"It feels good, Mulder. Keep going." He pushed his thumbs up the ball of her foot, rubbing the little crooks under her toes in succession while she gave happy little moans. The callouses on her heel felt like leather and greedily soaked up the cream. When he reached her achilles tendon, she gave an "ow!" then asked him to go harder.

He willed his blood to go anywhere but his crotch, thinking of anything he could to reverse the inevitable effects of those three words: "Go harder, Mulder." Flukemen, autopsies, Skinner naked and lounging in a "draw me like your French girls" pose. Crisis averted.

As he switched to the other foot, he noticed her rolling her head to stretch her neck.

"I can do your shoulders after," he offered.

"That would be nice." Her eyes were warm and alight with pleasure.

When he finished the other foot, she sat up and turned away from him, untying her robe and tugging it off her shoulders. His jaw dropped when he realized she had she started unbuttoning her pajama top.

"If you're going to do it, do it right," she chided.

"Um, should I get the non-foot lotion?"

She nodded.

He went back to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him to give her privacy. He splashed cold water on his face and scrubbed it with the hand towel, counting his breath to slow his heart rate. Five count on inhale, five count on exhale. He opened the door slowly, giving her plenty of time, before he realized he hadn't even remembered to grab the lotion.

When he returned, she was laying on her stomach with her back exposed and the robe bunched under her to hide the sides of her breasts. He settled on his knees to her side. He was used to straddling a partner when giving her a back rub but then again, it usually it ended up leading to something more.

He was timid at first, starting with giving her shoulder slow, deliberate squeezes.

"Jesus, you're tense."

"Does that surprise you?" She twisted her neck to peer at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Guess not."

Her bones felt delicate under his hands, which seemed much too rough to be touching her. Her skin was hot and softer than he could have imagined, her muscles taught.

"You are good with your hands," she mumbled into the pillow. Was she referring to what he said earlier? Or did she think about his hands? Touching her?

"So I've been told," he muttered. He could have sworn he saw her thighs clench in her pajama bottoms.

As he worked his way down her arm, she turned her head to face him, loosing her body from the robe just a bit so he could see the shadow of the side of one breast. He debated moving the robe back but didn't want to call attention to it. It wouldn't take much to make her shut down. And this...this was the best thing to happen to him in a long while.

"Mmm, yes, right there," she moaned as he worked his thumbs over her palms and down her fingers. Her hands were the roughest part of her body. Regular manicures couldn’t undo the damage of her job, all the tools she handled and the constant hand washing.

As he threaded his fingers through hers to push back her fingers, she closed her eyes with a smile.

"I can't believe I found a whole other use for you, Mulder. You've been holding out on me."

He chuckled and worked back through the tendons in her forearms. He forced himself to shut down a mad impulse to kiss the tender skin in her wrists.

They both jumped as her phone started ringing from the nightstand. It took them both a second to process that she had sat up. Even though he looked away immediately, he couldn't help but have seen her full breasts, the rosy pink of her aureolas, her nipples small and hard and exactly how he had pictured them. She scrambled to pull the robe over her chest and turned away from him to pick up the phone. 

"Scully," she snapped at the phone, tucking it between her her cheek and her shoulder as she fastened the robe around her.

She nodded as she listened to the person on the other line and moved over to the desk where she jotted down a couple hasty notes.

"There's been another body," she explained when she hung up. "We have to go."

She was all business now, disappearing into the bathroom and emerging fully dressed except for the blazer she picked up from the bed. As she slipped on her heels, she paused.

"Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"I feel better now. Thank you."

He would warm himself by the thought of those six words for weeks to come.

#msr #msr fanfic #txf fic #x-files fanfic #todayinfic

[the-100-meta-library]

Dear followers and meta fans!

Today, we present you the first segment of a series of interviews that will feature the brains and minds behind all those wonderful analyses floating around The 100’s tumblr tag.

For our first interview, we are pleased to welcome Elizabeth, also known as the lovely @hawthornewhisperer!

We connected with Elizabeth back in May, before Season 4, Episode 12. So this a little bit of a blast from the past. Read to see how right-- and wrong-- we were about some speculating. 

We’d like to thank Elizabeth again for her time, and the supporters of the Meta Library who encouraged us. Keep an eye out for the next interview!

The 100 Meta Library (bellamysfern):    The first questions are just about some background info. Anything you feel comfortable releasing to the internet. Who are you, what do you do, how does that affect how you write meta (if it has any effect at all), and your level of fandom experience.

Hawthornewhisperer: Okay, well, first of all, thanks for interviewing me! This is an honor and I appreciate you guys doing this.

You can call me Elizabeth, and I'm a writer-slash-historian living in Minnesota. I teach college courses on European history and write romance novels on the side (second one should be out this year!)

In terms of how that influences my meta, I've found that both of my jobs dovetail very well into analyzing the show.  

As a historian, my main lenses of analysis are gender and imperialism so I tend to apply those to the show as well-- in what ways do characters fulfill our expectations of femininity/masculinity, and in what ways do they challenge it? What does that tell us about the characters?  

My imperialist/colonialist focus also helps me sort out what the writers are saying (either intentionally or unintentionally) with regards to hegemonic cultures, etc.

As a writer, I try to think about the choices the writers room is making and what that tells us about the story

Oh, and fandom experience-- I wrote fic for The Hunger Games (Gale/Madge, mostly) but The 100 is probably the first fandom I've been very active in.  But my first true fandom is probably Star Wars.

BF: That's absolutely amazing. I feel like anything with fandom can be trivialized, but so much work goes into writing meta and thinking about the choices made on the show.

HW: Yes, definitely!  

I have very strong feelings about the importance of fandom, particularly transformative fandom (fics, headcanons, etc) as a primarily female space and how important that is to protect and take seriously.

BF: Right. And I know you write fanfic too (very good fanfic, btw).

Do you think writing meta influences how you think about fanfiction? They are two different ways of interacting with a show, but both require authors to really understand the material.

HW: Oh yeah, definitely!  

I see fic and meta as two sides of the same coin-- writing meta

helps me understand characters better, because if I can explain why Bellamy or Clarke would make a particular choice in a particular episode that helps me craft their characters in fics in a way that feels true (or I hope so, at any rate.)

And writing fic helps with meta, because I have a little insight into how writers make decisions.  In particular it makes me slightly more sympathetic to plot twists that seem to have no clear resolution because I frequently write ficlets with cliffhangers and then have *no idea* where it's going after that, because sometimes I just like to raise the stakes for myself.  Of course, there's a major difference in that my fics are only limited by my imagination and can go in any direction I choose, whereas the show has actor contracts, studio pressure, budgets, filming limitations, and a dozen writers working on one story, and they’re getting paid to do this so they should be really be better at it than me.

BF: Is there anything you've ever read (fic or meta) that surprised you? Any interpretation or theory that influenced the way you thought about the show?

HW: You know, most of my favorite metas and theories come from the Meta Station podcast, and I wouldn't say it's *surprising* but I do think my favorite theory this season is probably Erin's suggestion that Bellamy will be key to brokering peace between all the clans.  (I think we got the start of it in the most recent episode, actually, with his faith in Octavia).  It wasn't a direction I'd initially considered for his character, but it fits very well with the story they've been telling thus far this season and I hope we see it come to fruition.

In terms of influence, one thing I really enjoy about fandom is how *collective* it all is-- lots of people come up with complementary ideas that fit together and overlap in really intriguing ways, which makes narrowing down influence kind of difficult.  But on a personal level, I do toss ideas back and forth with @reblogginhood a lot, which probably shows in my writing.

BF: Haha, my fill of meta usually comes from Meta Station too. I just listened to the segment talking about fic and fandom with Chash and thought "Wow, this is great interview prep".

HW: I can't wait to listen to that!  Those are three of my favorite fandom people, talking about my favorite topics, so I'm excited.

BF: I know, I was so excited when I saw the announcement. It was super cute and funny. Anyway, back on topic.

So for you, meta is a more collective thing. Do you have a writing process and need to go through the same steps every time, or does it vary?

HW: It varies, for sure.  Sometimes I realize something and can just throw it all together very quickly, and sometimes my idea is very vague and I have to write and write and write (and talk it over with people) before I really figure out what I'm saying.  But after writing a dissertation I'm pretty used to writing six different versions of the same idea before I feel like I've found it.  I just edit those metas very heavily as no one needs to read four false starts. 😉

BF: So the amount of time it takes to write metas varies too.

Are there any characters/themes that come easier than others?

HW: Oh definitely.  

Bellamy is probably the easiest for me to understand, followed by Clarke. There are other characters that just don't *speak* to me/I have less interest in writing meta on, but that doesn't mean I dislike them.  

Roan, for instance-- he's probably my favorite minor character in the whole show but I don't have too much desire to get into his headspace for some reason.

The-100-Meta-Library (parapluiepliant): We could have had it all. Still in denial about Roan by the way.

HW: I'll always be in denial about Roan, but he will live eternal, shiny, and chrome in all of my fics so at least we have that.

PP: Yippieh! Something to look forward to!

BF: I am still in real actual denial because I thought I saw something about Zach coming back for season five.

HW: I would totally be fine with time travel becoming a thing on the show if it meant someone could go back in time and save Roan.

PP: Talking about time travel: let's go back in time.

I just scrolled a bit through your The 100 meta tag and came upon "Bellamy Blake, Clarke Griffin, and The Iliad". It was one of your first metas, or am I wrong? 

Even though that referred to season 3, would you say that some of it still holds true for season 4?

HW: It probably wasn't my first meta, just the first one I bothered tagging-- I'm terrible about that, and I apologize to everyone for my poor organizational skills.

BF: I'm right there with you with the tagging.

HW: You know, I'm not sure it does hold true for season 4?  The core of the Iliad is hubris, rage, and war between nations being manipulated by the gods, and that doesn't seem to be the story they're telling in season 4.

I will say, in retrospect I do think both Clarke and Bellamy were the Achilles in season 3 -- Clarke for separating herself from the fight, and Bellamy because it was his anger over Mount Weather 2.0 that incited a lot of the conflict.

(But I also doubt they were doing a straight parallel, so take that for what it's worth)

PP: Okay. Just a thought. I am not that familiar with the Grounders (and to the Arkadians to some extent) might still be an entertaining thought.

HW: Ooooh yes, that would work very well, especially since I suspect conflict between Becca and Cadogan is at the root of a lot of problems the societies are facing.

BF: I did find it interesting that the brought the Iliad in so explicitly. And there was a lot of speculation based on it, when maybe so much worth shouldn't have been placed on the Iliad/Odyssey.

But we won't know until the end, I guess.

HW: Yeah, it's tough to know what is meaningful and important and what's just a fun, throwaway moment until you've got a complete narrative to examine.  But I do enjoy how fandom can take something like "Bellamy gets a present that probably just means he's a Big Ol' Nerd" and turn it into a coherent, unifying gloss on the season.

PP: One of the most entertaining and enlightening things in the fandom for me.

HW: Yeah, me too.  

Fandom is such an enriching experience in so many ways.

PP: Another question in that regard: Is there a meta of yours of which you are most proud of? Or which you thought of as the most fun to read/the most clarifying in regard to certain aspects?

HW: I think the one I'm proudest of would be the one I wrote about Bellamy undercutting the Alpha Male trope, because I find "how we perform and understand gender" to be a really interesting topic, and I think Bellamy as a character really complicates our understanding of what it means to be an alpha male.  

And I think some of that is directly intended by the writers, but I also think some of it comes from the performances (Bob in particular, but also Ian, Eliza, and Mike Beach because he's not just reading what's on the page, he's reacting to their performances as well.)

It makes Bellamy into a really interesting and nuanced character in a way that draws me in.

PP: Absolutely! One of the reasons I love him so much.

BF: Do you have a lot of interaction with your meta? Do people mostly reblog or like it, or do you get some conversations going?

HW: I think mostly people just like and reblog posts, but every so often someone will add something to my meta that I hadn't considered/seen before and it'll just blow my mind. I love it when that happens.

And sometimes people send PMs to respond and I end up having long, in depth conversations about characters with people I've never met before, and I *also* love that. I've made some really great friends that way.

BF: Fandom friendships are so interesting that way.

HW: Yeah, definitely.  

I really treasure the friendships I've made in fandom, and I know they'll outlast the show itself, which is wonderful.

BF: Yeah, definitely contradicts everything people told you about everyone on the internet being dangerous. But I haven't met an axe murderer yet.

HW: Haha right?  *fingers crossed*

PP: Who says that I am not one?

HW: Oh no! Haha!

BF: You are on the other side of the ocean. I think I'm good. Well, that was all questioning that I had. Laura?

PP: I would have one last question.

Can we hope for another meta pretty soon and if so, can you already tease it a bit?

HW: You know, there's nothing that I'm currently writing, I think because most of the stuff I'm interested in from 411 (the Bellarke fallout) seems to be on hold until 412, but I also tend to work best in response to prompts/questions.

So is there something you'd like me to talk about/you're interested in discussing?

BF: What’s your Becca/Cadogan speculation?

HW: Oooh, good one!  

I think Cadogan's messed up childhood (Jaha mentioned an abusive father) is going to resurface, and I suspect it was a conflict between him and Becca that set things into motion. I have my fingers crossed for a flashback!

PP: Definitely. Oh, I missed that with Jaha because my stream didn't work properly. I really need to watch it so I can catch up!

HW: The Jaha-Cadogan mention was just a throwaway line, however, so I might be putting too much weight on it. And as for the Bellarke fallout, I do think Clarke holding a gun on him and then being unable to pull the trigger, even though she truly believed the human race might die if she didn't pull it, is going to carry a lot of weight in their relationship.

Clarke has consistently been shown as willing to put her own wants and needs and loves aside in order to save people, and this is one of the first times we see her make a heart choice instead of a head choice, if that makes sense.

But Clarke's decision to not shoot Bellamy was really big, and while I'm disappointed we didn't get the fallout immediately, I think 411 was a really busy episode and I have hopes that it will be addressed in some respect in 412.

BF: Thanks so much for taking so much time to talk to us!

HW: Of course!  Thank you for interviewing me-- this was really fun!

#author interviews #hawthornewhisperer #the 100 meta