#however it’s more I just consume a piece of media and go “hm how can I put Kateva in here”

[convexers]

I saw that in your anon you said you have thoughts about why you think Grian doesn’t fit the eye. I completely agree, I think most people are attributing him to the eye because of the watcher! Headcannons they have from the Evo days. I find that so interesting since isn’t the point of most watcher fics is that Grian doesn’t want to be/doesn’t fit as a watcher? It’s almost like defeating the point of that.

Anyways this is just a long winded way of asking why you think the eye doesn’t fit? -V

thank you for the ask! i am going to preface this by saying there might be some Light Shade when it comes to fanon and fanon characterizations. that being said, people are entitled to interpret canon however they want and i'm just a fool on the internet who has her own opinions.

most of what we consider "watcher lore" is majority fanon; the watchers are never stated to be outright malicious and yet we characterize the watchers as purely evil beings... hm. this is used for griangst which wouldn't be a problem if the watchers weren't very ooc and people didn't push watcher!grian onto everything. this kinda thing becomes annoying as hell when it's affecting how people interpret canon characterizations (think familial sbi type beat).

now before we get to the next part i'm going to explain what the eye is as a fear. it is the fear of being watched, of your secrets being known. but it also manifests as the need to know, to learn, even if it destroys you. notice how interference isn't mentioned? because they watch, they do not interfere.

mkay lets get to the actual tma part of this. because of the name "watchers" and their role as the audience your immediate reaction is to go "oh! they must be eye aligned then!" but really the case is that audience stand-ins are hardly ever eye aligned. i said once "i dont think ive ever consumed a piece of media where the audience stand-in has been strictly the eye. maybe the muppets." i've also said "if anything. audience stand-ins tend to be desolation imo. like. we LOVE causing chaos."

i believe that the watchers are more extinction aligned. if you want a more in-depth explanation of the watchers as a extension of the extinction my siblings, solar arc, made this wonderful post! [link]

before we get to why i think grian doesn't fit with the eye and does with the desolation i'm going to explain the desolation! the desolation is the fear of mindless destruction, of pain and loss. jude perry (an avatar of the desolation) describes it as "the light with the comfort of fire stripped from it, leaving nothing but the terror of its approach." my friend @rocnix says, "the fear of a change for the worse, but you don't see it's a change for the worse because it's destroying you and you're enjoying the destruction too much to notice it's yourself being destroyed" that's a bit paraphrased but it was on a vc and i can't remember their exact words.

okay now to the actual grian part (finally)! you're right when you say that fanon grian almost never wants to stay as a watcher! he's always in the middle of it all, spurring conflict on. that is not what avatars of the eye do. avatars of the eye watch and record what they see, they hardly ever interfere. (i do not count s5 of the eye, i feel like it is ooc for the rules established in earlier seasons for the eye. you can also ask me about this if you want.)

it makes much more sense for grian to be an avatar of the desolation, it fits with his canon characterization. he was there in the civil war, the s7 elections, the turf war, the shopping shenanigans of s8, even the diamond tower conflict from our current season! he does not watch, it's no fun to just watch!

this is super long winded my apologies, i really love this kind of analysis of fandom and then... fixing it LMAO. again i'd like to mention, absolutely no hate to people who enjoy watcher/eye!grian. i've been known to enjoy a good eye!grian from time to time :) <3

#hermitcraft #grian #tma x hc #convexers.ask #V anon #<- i assume you signed off b/c you'll be returning? if not that's alright!

[sapphic-theatre-fan]

Write a necromancy au. Then they can die and come back and it’s all good. -Patroc

Hcjdjjdjdjd

I mean-

I could do that

#however it’s more I just consume a piece of media and go “hm how can I put Kateva in here” #and then I fit the other characters in around that #so for tbhk I feel like they will actually perform necromancy to get Clark back or they will time travel #and then for plague tale I could just change the end so that they do necromancy #or straight up change it so that Clark and Reese don’t fucking die #also the person I had Kate as leaves in the end and that makes me sad #she left between chapters and they didn’t show it and I don’t appreciate it- #also writing is.... a thing- #*stares at the wip I started a week ago I probably could’ve finished by now* #and like I don’t write too much anyways #I have written three things maybe?? and that’s counting the wip #one was for the caos au which was... very sad #and then the Kateva lucky people fic I posted #anyways- #Jdjdjdjjdjf I’m sorry for getting so off topic in the tags- #z answers #patroc (techie dad) #death tw #ask to tag

[lorei-writes]

Abuse in Fiction

I think I spoke of a related issue once already, but well, I do not mind repeating myself. In a way, I even enjoy it, I suppose. It’s mildly personal this time too, hm.

So, as some of you may know, I am of a strong belief that fiction should not be hopeless and that it is easy to write a story full of despair - and harder to undo all the harm that’s been done. However, I am also of belief that... My views never matter more than that of another person, and that we are all entitled to our own stances, morals and opinions, for at least as long as we do not enforce those on others. (For the record here, I do not consider hatred an opinion or standard of any type; another distinction that needs to be made: facts are not opinions).

As such, the following will be my opinions, and nothing more. Whether you agree with them or disagree - this is yours, not mine. I do not aim to convince anybody to see the world the way I do.

Well, where do I even start? One step at a time, I suppose.

Bad people do good things. & Good people do bad things.

You need knowledge to realise what is abusive.

Themes of abuse are not inherently harmful.

Gatekeeping requires proof.

What can I do?

A little bit personal something.

Bad people do good things & Good people do bad things

As alluring as it may be, the world cannot be split in neat categories of pure goodness and pure evil. What makes a person good? What makes them bad? Is the good one that who does not harm others? It is generally the definition of goodness I go by, and yet - it is not absolute.

What I’m trying to say is that, to try and split people into good-bad categories based on a single action is... Not really productive. It may be an error. It may be a result of something you are not aware of. And, yes, it may turn out they are indeed not a “good person”, whichever definition you go by - but it also may not.

We are talking about fiction here, however. Not killing, not abusing somebody yourself, but an act of writing about it. If it is tagged appropriately - then who is being hurt? If it is tagged, the person who read it consented to it in the first place. They could have withdrawn. If it is not tagged... Then, it brings me to my second point.

You need knowledge to realise what is abusive.

I would love to see a world in which every single person is educated and capable of recognising different forms of abuse. However, we do not live in such a world. We live in one where access to sex education is still limited in plenty places, where access to mental health services may be restricted, where mental illness is sometimes still a cultural taboo, where humans are being trafficked, abused in all form, dehumanised, enslaved, all to the benefit of rich countries. We do not live in an ideal world, so to require people to act in ideal ways? I consider it ludicrous.

Plenty cultures around the world glamourise abuse - or so it is at least in Europe. What books are best-sellers? 50 Shades of Grey. 365 Days was somewhat big too. If a person cannot get education from a reliable source, if the culture perpetuates the belief that a form of abuse is not in fact abusive, or what is arguably worse, is well-deserved, then how will they know it is in fact hurtful?

You must realise that, even for victims of abuse, it may take decades to learn why they were hurting, to realise that something was in fact wrong. You must realise those people may include themes of abuse in their work thinking that this is how it just is.

Is it perpetuating the harmful norm? It is.

But are they doing it consciously? Or is it the by-product of their culture? And if so, is it their fault?

Is ostracising them and calling them morally wrong doing anything to counter the hurtful norm? Do we need to abandon a topic completely, as some approaches to it may be hurtful? Or do we need to deconstruct it? To realise what beliefs linger behind the words?

Themes of abuse are not inherently harmful.

Abuse victims do not always get their feelings validated. Not only that, they may lack a safe space to share their experiences in any form at all. Fiction provides such an outlet.

Are all depictions of abuse good? Well, of course, no. Romanticising abuse justifies it. It normalises it. We should strive not to ever include such a thing in a work. Many hurtful beliefs can be transferred through fiction - “abuse made them stronger”, “abuse made them kinder”, “once abused will turn into the abuser”, “if you were abused, you do not have a choice but to abuse”, “a parent and child always have some magical bond tying them together”. The list goes on and on. Some people use it as a shock factor, something that does not have any lasting and realistic influence over the characters - and that, in my opinion, is disrespectful.

However, if one were to ban abuse from fiction, they would have to cut out all the scenes calling out abuse for what it is. They would have to cut out hopeful stories, to take away from what may lead somebody to realise they are not treated appropriately. People learn through stories too - and some use fiction to process the issues they faced.

Gatekeeping requires proof.

As you might have noticed, I spoke about how themes of abuse resonate with abuse survivors themselves. Of course, some will not need it. Some will avoid the topic completely.

But, the question is: so perhaps, only abuse survivors should be entitled to writing about abuse?

Well... No. First, it requires proof. Then, it would require some sort of grading system - and that by itself is so dehumanising and humiliating I do not think I have to explain it. Also, the fact that somebody survived abuse does not mean they worked through all the toxicity it brought upon them and that they are capable of not repeating the hurtful messages.

Some people survived abuse and they are not aware of it. Does it make them a bad, hideous person if they include themes of what they considered normal in their work? Or perhaps they do not view it as ordinary, but cannot see a reflection of that in their own situation? Are they morally detestable? Or are they a victim?

What can I do?

Does it mean you should approve all depictions of abuse in fiction? No. Absolutely not, never. It means you should be critical about it, and that stigmatising people does not solve the issue.

Be critical of what you read.

Educate yourself on what is and what is not abusive.

If your friend (or a person you feel comfortable pointing it out to) made something toxic seem romantic/normal - tell them. (It can be a rather emotional discussion, so really, make sure you can handle it).

Do your best not to romanticise abuse in your own work.

If you do choose to write about abuse, make sure to label it clearly.

If it is a NSFW type of content, and the characters are acting out a scenario - show that it is a scenario played out between two consenting adults, and that it can and it will end the moment one of them opts out. If it is not consensual and was not meant to be consensual, show it for what it is - abuse.

Educate yourself, and if possible others, on what is and is not appropriate.

And, if you interacted with a piece of media that bothered you personally:

Block the author of it. Do not interact with the rest of their work.

If it is not labelled appropriately, do tell your friends of it. Warn them.

If you enjoy other works by the author and still want to follow them - ask them to label abuse. They may do it, they may not do it. Decide whether you still want to follow them afterwards.

A little bit personal something.

Content Warnings: discussion of abuse, domestic abuse, suicide mentions, self-harm, rape

Well, I never hid the fact that I lived through domestic abuse. There are authors in our fandom whose works I avoid specifically because of their poor handling of themes of abuse at the hands of a parent.

It took me 15 years to find words to describe my pain. I did not know I was abused for the majority of the time it happened. It was my reality - it was just how the world functioned. Did it spill into my early writing? Yes. But not in the ways you would have expected. My characters were not abusive themselves. They idealised suicide. They would hurt themselves, although not with blades or anything of the like - and at the time, I did not know it was self-harm either. In the plot, they were being abused, and they would come out of it victorious.

I am comfortable saying this. But somebody may not be. They may not know yet.

This post was sparked by a person calling people who write rape “sick in the head” (ugh, stigmatisation of mentally ill people aside, at least this time, okay?). I do not condone romanticising rape. It is disgusting, as any form of abuse. I blocked authors who did not label it and thus exposed me to sensitive content without my consent. I did not go through it and I do not wish for anybody to go through it. However, the post lacked this sort of nuance. It was about the entirety of it, however it was handled.

I do not know why somebody writes it. I do not think I have the right to demand an answer to that. I do not have the right to decide who was hurt “bad enough” (as if something like so existed in the first place) to touch the subject.

I also do not want to stigmatise people who did not get proper education on the matter. How many of them were raped and did not know that lack of consent equals rape? How many of them realised or will realise it after years? How many were failed by their education system, were victims to the times they were born in, to the culture?

Because, remember, to plenty people rape is something that happens in the black alley, at hands of a stranger. Not something done by their partner, when they hope to just get done with the thing and move on - after all, it happened to them. And said partner is not a bad person, so how could he do something bad?

I cannot say whether a person is processing something. I cannot say whether a person consumed so much of modern popular media and lacks knowledge and experience necessary to understand that scenes depicted in it are in fact ABUSE. Sometimes I am near stating that media almost conditions us to accept some forms of abuse as normal.

What I can say is that, well, if you make writing about one type of abuse a taboo, another one may follow.

I do not think this approach answers the problem of why do multiple people, across different fandoms and countries, perceive something abusive as “not that bad”, even bordering appropriate. I do not think that stigmatising the people who write such things is going to change much. It will certainly not target the ones who need education.

And well, it removes the opportunities to critically approach the matter. I know it is hard. But people need to understand why certain narrative choices are harmful and hurtful, not just be presented with “writing about abuse is evil”. We still need spaces to safely discuss abuse.

People need to understand why something is bad, not just label it as bad and be done with it.

#lorei spoke

[kachinnate]

,,,,okay i know i just said i wasn’t going to talk about the deh movie but actually yeah imma talk about it for just a sec bc y’all actually make me legitimately distressed sajkfndsmjkgds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQ_A0H1otc i dont have the braincells to do a shot by shot analysis right now but here’s what we’re lookin at

under a readmore because ghhhhhhh

firstly, let me lead with this: yes, from what we know, there’s a lot of things wrong with this movie. 

the worst, in my humble opinion, being the bts treatment of the (very few) actors of color, and the lack altogether of any production team members of color. that’s something that should be acknowledged, talked about, and fucking dug into especially at the current fucking period of time we’re living in. it’s unsurprising, but disgusting nonetheless, and it set this movie up for failure from the very beginning. i’m a white person so by no means so i feel inclined or like i have any authority in saying what one should feel wrt all of that, however i will say if there’s to be a boycott in not watching this movie, that should 100% be the reason why. it’s fully poc’s choice whether or not to forgive the production team or give this movie a chance for the irredeemable shit it did in regards to handling the movie’s production. the movie imo definitely doesn’t deserve their forgiveness, but again, that is not for me to say. 

there’s some little things too that i can’t fully think of off the top of my head - like, the whole making larry connor’s stepdad thing fucking irks me, for example, but, like...... listen.

if you know me like at all, you know my favorite word is nuance.

so, i’m going to say it outright: the way you people are approaching this three minute trailer shows literally.... none?? no nuance ??? is it no-nuance november over here or ???? like i’m begging you i’m BEGGING YOU to put aside your pre-determined prejudices against this movie and like stop pretending to be a renowned film critic for ten seconds because it’s really not as outright fucking abysmal as you are saying!! and also it’s possible to have opinions that aren’t completely fucking polarized to one side because guess what, the deh movie? a piece of media! what is the shit y’all are constantly preaching about having the ability to consume media critically ? because you’re trying to cancel a fucking trailer based on the contents of the trailer alone !!!!! hello !!!!!!!!

media is bound to be problematic. if y’all were as quick to judge any movie as you did this one, guess what you wouldn’t be watching any movies like ever <3 

anyway lets get into the parts that are probably going to get me cancelled lmao 

ben platt - listen. LISTEN. listen i know he’s too old to be reprising evan we ALL know he’s too old to be reprising evan i’ve heard this same argument since the announcement was made we get it we all know. haha he’s a grandpa yes bestie ur so right ur so funny wow. i do agree that we should’ve maybe had a not-ben-platt evan moment but here’s some things to keep in mind: the arguments of “oooh ABF is right there !!!!!!” 1. who’s to say he was available? 2. the environment of a movie is so, SO much different than that of a musical -- as much as you wanna pretend you know everything from just a trailer, there’s no way of knowing what scenes were added that might’ve made the movie like.. idk possibly more intense story-wise not even COUNTING the fact that just inherently a movie set is different than a musical one? like yes ben platt might be just being used as a device but that’s probably not the sole and only reason. Also, if i see One (1) more comment about his FUCKING HAIR 😃 first of all it’s not that deep like... if you’re so distracted by an actor having their hair different that’s on you, but going as far as to call it bad or distracting or being like Vehemently a way about it? y’all i know it’s most likely not your intention but that is literally just ben platt’s natural fuckin ETHNICALLY JEWISH hair sajknfgkjds!!!! i’m not the first to make this point, but like dsjnfkjdsg!??! y’all are being so mean about it and for WHAT? again, maybe not intentional, but it reads as like high key Very antisemetic and you should.... maybe not 😳 be that way

connor. the thing about a trailer is that they don’t show you all the scenes because they want you to come see the movie. right? can we agree on that? all the connor scenes in the trailer had SEVERAL hard cuts, omitting a lot of the scene -- like the computer lab scene! we see the beginning of it, there’s a VERY obvious hard cut, and then he’s running out! in my opinion my first watch through of this trailer i had a very like “:// hmm all these actors feel a lil like dry”, but man oh man the comments ive seen about connor. holy shit guys. this boy gets 7 minutes of stage time in the actual musical, and the whole thing is we DON’T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT HIM. not to burst your bubble, and i by no means hate connor, i love me some good connor lives fics and stuff, but everything we write with connor being alive? that is !! speculation on our part !!!! those are headcanons and us using the little context we have!! connor doesn’t have any significant development IN THE SOURCE MATERIAL that is being adapted into a movie !!! you 1. can’t fully judge a character with already limited screentime in a 3 minute trailer, 2. can’t really call what connor has canonically in the musical as in depth character development !! what is his arc then !!!! he pushes evan, goes to the computer lab, has an outcast loner kid moment, gets upset, takes the letter, DIES. sorry stans, that’s just how it is !! and, AND, everything in between, all the idiosyncracies, that depends on the actor playing connor! speaking of, you know who the actor is playing connor in the movie? that’s right, colton ryan! so, i don’t know, maybe... have some trust in the process, in an actor who ALREADY has played connor on broadway???? and also trust that you will get more connor content then u are seeing from a 3 minute trailer!! dhgnijsdg and some of the comments on like his appearance specifically? like are you really made that he doesn’t have long hair?? they kept his nails and his rings but nahhh the hair was apparently a MUST HAVE (even though like.. not all connor actors on broadway always had/have long hair but w/e).. REGARDLESS. tldr on THAT , the movie would have to do a pretty shitty job if they want to take something from someone who doesn’t have much to begin with and i think y’all are being extremely harsh on this point 

jared. honestly i’m a bit worried too about the like... name change, because it does have the potential to be taking out some representation, but... they did change the name to fit the actor’s ethnicity? it’s a really [hmm] topic because, again, from a trailer and from what we have been told we don’t KNOW a lot of the context, but i think it’s important to remember that uh.. jewish people aren’t just? always white ?? there’s a possibility they changed the last name to fit with the [ethnicity] while keeping him jewish?? ofc there’s the possibility that they Didn’t and ... again hm that’s its own thing altogether but just reiterates the point that you can’t knock a whole movie just based on the trailer. you can’t talk about things you know nothing about. 

alana. same thing as before, you can’t.... completely bash a character based on a 3 minute trailer. there was discussion about how she seemed ‘shy’ when talking to evan, which like.. maybe she is but also that scene was them talking in a library like if u actually take notice of what’s happening in the scene jdskngsd though i do share the general consensus with many others that she won’t get a lot of screen-time but that’s neither here nor there 😔 moving on

scenes and the setting. one of the things i was most like.. tentative about in regards to a switch from a musical to a movie was how they were like... going to do certain scenes? naturally, a lot has to be different when we’re going from a minimal stage set to an entire movie with like.. settings. there are going to be new scenes because a movie lends to have like, physical places that aren’t just [evan’s bedroom] and [murphy kitchen] and [implied school]. so new scenes, new conversations, slightly different pacing.. this is all to be expected right like are y’all geneuinely surprised here or ........

there’s a lot we aren’t seeing yet because this is a TRAILER. again i already mentioned this re: connor but like... again, y’all are making some Claims that just... fucking outlandish. there are so many moments in the trailer that are very obvious Hard Cuts. you don’t have all the information yet. you are angry at a tiny fragment of something that is confusing you because you don’t have all the context. is there a chance that some of this shit is just genuinely Bad? yeah but you really cannot 100000% say it with your chest and gauge it without seeing the movie and understanding what that scene is in context. lowkey uhhh saw some jokes about the zoe scene in the car and :’))) ? jesus? christ????

concluding thoughts because my brain hurts but like. you don’t have to like the movie. you don’t have to WATCH the movie. like all media if you choose to consume the movie you should do so with some CRITICAL THOUGHT. but, just like the novel (and i do not want to have any discussions about that i don’t care if you think it’s good Or bad that’s not what this is about) you guys are going in this WANTING to believe it’s bad and completely polarizing your thoughts on what this is going to be. yeah, maybe there shouldn’t be a movie. i genuinely think we could’ve gone without. but it’s just a piece of media, it’s not a progression like all your (musical is good, novel is bad, MOVIE IS WORSE OH NO) posts are suggesting. they are all just. different pieces of media stemming from a source. at the end of the day it’s just a fucking movie. if you already hate it so much, guess what? you don’t have to watch it! you don’t have to put so much needless fucking hate into a 3 MINUTE TRAILER. you can stop being performative and dissing it for its poor treatment of POC while then going on to make fun of ben platt’s hair and just targeting a different group like! please !!!

i’m not trying to be a fuckin’ advocate for this movie because there’s so much opportunity for it to suck, i do Not have high hopes for it, and i’m not even really sure i want to watch it (i bought the novel when it came out and have yet to read it, and i’m sure the movie will like.. elicit very similar vibes from me lsdngjkdsg like im just not uhhh feeling it) but y’know what? watching the trailer did not bring forth the fucking onslaught of hatred in me that apparently has fuckin posessed all of y’all and like djnsgjksdg plagued my dashboard for this whole evening. don’t come into my inbox trying to like.. argue with me about this (preemptively im turning off anon because i like i Can’t lmao) this is just like... a rant i needed to get out of me real quick. 

SO. tldr for now: have critical thought about shit you consume, there’s no ethical consumption under [the film industry], you can’t judge a movie entirely on its trailer, and y’all need to calm the fuck down 

#garbage.txt #deh movie #ask to tag #irrelevant #bc this is lowkey a vent bc jfc #this isn't @ anyone btw this is just [in general mostly just from my dash] bc.. sighs #anyway im gonna refrain from making any more comment on this its just. frustrating. #edit: ok to rb

[ambootyos]

Deception Pt. 1

Is There A Rule Book?

Adam x Reader x Finn

Plot-No strings attached always gets messy when new people get involved

Tags- @reigns420 @glittercupcakes-and-squats @capwasright @originalbish98

If you wanna be tagged, ask.

Warnings- language and sexual themes

A/N: I’m back! *return of the Mack plays*

“Y/N, come on. It’s been three years, if he’s not calling you his girlfriend by now, he’s never gonna.” Kyle sighs, Bobby nodding silently in agreement.

Roderick cocks his head.

“This is why you should’ve just hooked up with me, I’d have married you by now.” He teases.

I love these guys, I truly do, but they never could understand that my ‘love life’ was my concern, and my concern only.

“It’s called a fling for a reason.” I reply, trying once again to steer them straight and make it very clear that it’s not up for discussion.

“For three years?” Bobby judges. “Three years is not a fling.”

“I know this is Adam we’re talking about, but at some point you guys are just gonna have to use the word ‘dating’ and get the fuck over yourselves.” Kyle chuckles.

That’s the thing, did he know who we were talking about? Did he truly understand it? Adam wasn’t exactly who I saw fathering my future children. He was hot, and we’d known each other for a long time. It was exactly what we needed it to be.

“Can you guys just stay out of it? Like for once?” I huff.

Kyle rolled his eyes, and Bobby shrugged me off. Roderick never really gave a shit, and was more or less just talking about it to get under my skin, so his reaction was a sly smirk of satisfaction.

“Let’s just, talk about work, mkay?” I suggest, rubbing my forehead.

“So Finn being back is odd, right?” Roderick states.

The group nods in agreement.

“I’m glad to have him, but yes, it’s odd to see him in our neck of the woods.” Bobby replies.

Finn was a nice change of scenery in my opinion. New competition, new storylines to be had, etc. However, Finn was different. We’d never really interacted. Not personally. Sure he’d had his moments with Adam, or with the other Undisputed Era guys, but I didn’t play any part in that. I didn’t know Finn from atom, and it wasn’t like he was dying to meet me either, so I just thought it best to steer clear.

“Y/N, what do you think?” Kyle asks pulling me from thought.

“I think he’s good for the brand.” I shrug, nothing else to say but that.

We carried on without conversation a while longer before they left to do media, or whatever else. Adam was busy resting up from the long week he’d had that ended at Survivor Series, which left me as a party of one, to drink alone at the bar for who could say how long.

“Well, it’s good ‘ta see a familiar face.”

I heard a voice I recognized say I glanced over to see the talk of the brand himself, Finn Balor, sitting not too far away from me. I smiled, and took his hello as an invitation to sit next to him, though maybe it wasn’t, because he seemed confused by it. He didn’t say anything about it though so it didn’t bother him too much.

“Y/N, right?” He asks, his face expressionless.

I nod.

“Yep, that’s me.” I shrug in response, before sitting my drink and phone on the bar close to his.

“How’s ‘ya boyfriend? He ‘ad a pretty rough week.”

It takes me a few seconds to realize he means Adam, and I breathe a laugh, it seems I can’t escape the assumption me and Adam are more than what we say we are.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I explain, ignoring the question. He cocks his brow.

“Oh?” He starts. “So ‘yer single ‘ven?” He asks.

I clear my throat, and tuck my hair behind my ear.

“Well..not exactly..we have a thing..we’re just not exclusive.”

He tilts his head, and gives me a cocky smirk, that tells me he either doesn’t believe me when I say we aren’t ‘exclusive’ or that he wouldn’t care if we were.

“So..single.” He states, not asking me this time, just declaring it to see if I’ll argue. I don’t. I am technically single. Though, I didn’t really want another fling with someone else either. I didn’t want my workplace getting too complicated.

“So, Adam, hm?” He chuckles.

“What’s funny?”

He shrugs.

“I coulda seen ‘ya dating ‘im. But, he doesn’t seem fuck buddy material.”

I can’t help but chuckle.

“And, why is that?”

“I dunno. He seems too..childish? Like I can’t imagine ‘im being any fun in bed. He seems too focused on making ‘imself look good.”

“He’s plenty fun.”

“Plenty?” He questions. “Are ‘ya suggesting there’s more fun ‘ta be ‘ad?”

I clear my throat and roll my eyes.

“Why? You have someone in mind?” I mock.

His smirk grows, and he looks me up and down, before biting his bottom lip.

“I might.” He flirts.

I feel heat creep up my face onto my cheeks, and I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Um..oh..I didn’t realize you wanted-”

He cuts me off.

“I said, might. I gotta know ‘wha ‘yer up for first.” He teases. “So, if ‘ya are interested,” He starts, before scribbling something on a piece of paper, and sliding it to me. “‘Dat’s my ‘numba.”

“Putting it off for another time?” I question, puzzled as to why he only made an agreement to make a move in the future and not just doing it now. He chuckled, and gave me a look that almost felt like a judgement.

“Darling, ‘ya aren’t ready ‘fer ‘wha I can do ‘ta you.” He winked, before taking his leave.

I cleared my throat and swallowed. I felt a strange sense of anxiety walking hand in hand with excitement. I didn’t know what to think about Finn’s offer outta nowhere. It was tempting. But would it be okay?

I know it’s not cheating. But, is it still wrong? Adam is my friend, and even if this is just sex is it wrong to have sex with someone else we work with? Isn’t it at least weird?

Who could I even talk to about this? Roderick never had solid advice, and certainly not Kyle or Bobby. They’d act like my cocerns for what might be considered an ‘unspoken rule’ is just repressed feelings for Adam. Or, they’d get mad at me for asking them because they-for some dumbass reason-probably think it’d hurt Adam’s feelings.

Would it?

It’s not like he and Finn were besties, but they didn’t hate each other. Was there any clear reason he’d be upset? One that doesn’t exist only in Kyle’s head, of course.

I pushed it from my mind for the time being. I decided it was best to just go to my hotel and sleep away the thoughts I had.

I didn’t hear from the guys again that night, so I was able to sleep peacefully, though, Finn’s smirk when he said I wasn’t ready, was still fresh in memory.

---

The next day, I sped through my morning routine. Shower, hair up in a bun, little to no makeup, jeans and a t-shirt, and out the door to meet my friends at the arena.

Adam seemed to be in a better mood now that he’d had some, even if it was just a few days of it, healing time.

He smiled when he saw me.

“Good to see you’re alive, since you didn’t answer any of my texts last night.” He teased.

“Well Adam, to be fair, you can only answer that ‘u up?’ text so many times before it gets old.” Roderick chuckles earning an eye roll from Adam.

I cock my brow.

“You didn’t text me..” I trail off.

“Yeah I did! Like twenty times!”

I take my phone out of my pocket and realize it isn’t mine, meaning it must be Finn’s.

“Shit! I grabbed the wrong phone at the bar last night.” I facepalm. “Excuse me.” I walk out of ear shot almost like I have to hide who’s phone it is. I call my own number, only to hear it ring from down the hall.

Finn, shows me that he has it with a goofy smile on his face as he hands it back to me.

“For a not-boyfriend, pretty boy seems ‘ta blow ‘yer phone up a lot.” He says, not giving me a chance to grab my phone myself as he slides it into the back pocket of my jeans, letting his hand linger, for a second longer than he should.

My back stiffens, and he cocks his head, and hums like he’s making an assumption.

“Still not ready ‘fer me.” He shrugs. “Dat’s okay. I can wait..” He flirts.

I feel like he’s challenging me in a way, and it makes me wanna prove him wrong. He goes to take his phone and I pull it back causing him to raise his brows, and await what I’m gonna do next. I grab his belt loop and pull him closer, before using my other hand to put his phone in the waistline of the front of his jeans, and smiling up at him.

“Don’t wait too long.” I wink, causing him to bite his lip. I give him a devilish grin before walking away. Back to my friends. I feel the blush creep onto my cheeks, as my thoughts tell me I should’ve kissed him, or let my hands travel even further.

The guys are talking about something, I’m paying no mind to.

“This is what happens when you don’t answer your phone!” Roderick teases, pulling me into the conversation I was too distracted to of heard any of. Now I feel guilty for being elsewhere, like I’ve let Finn overshadow my friends, overshadow Adam.

“Huh?” I question, hoping they’ll repeat it without asking me what my thoughts were consumed with seconds earlier.

“He hooked up.” Kyle states rolling his eyes.

“Oh!” I reply, a little surprised by it.

Don’t get me wrong, Adam was allowed to fuck whoever he wanted, but since me and him started sleeping together, we barely slept around at all.

“I didn’t know you weren’t getting my texts or I would’ve just went and saw you. I thought you were asleep.” He explains, like he needs to justify it.

Kyle clears his throat.

“Why would she care? She’s not your girlfriend.” He says, waiting for my reaction.

I roll my eyes at him, something Adam doesn’t see because Kyle never bothers him with his ‘big brother bullshit’ talk.

“I didn’t think she’d care. But it would’ve been easier to see her, so I’m just trying to give her shit for grabbing someone else’s phone.” He laughs.

Like I assumed. We were nothing. So why the hell was I so worried about Finn? There aren’t any rules if you’re nothing but friends.

Kyle still has an ‘I told you so’ aura wrapped around him. Gosh, I just wanna fucking scream at him I was with someone else too.

“Sorry! I was busy, stealing some hot guys phone by accident.” I say, pretending to be embarrassed.

“Ooh, phone guy is hot?” Adam chuckles, while Kyle furrows his brows, still unconvinced as if he ever would be anyway. I shrug with a smile.

“Devilishly.”

#wwe imagine #finn balor imagine #adam cole imagine #nxt imagine

[solacefruit]

Writing advice meme, 1-10.

I saw this ask meme on this post and I love the concept, so I’m going to take a swing at it myself. The idea is to assess these common pieces of writing advice--i.e., what your interpretation of it, do you like/agree with it, etc.--and as someone who thinks and talks about writing a lot (and is perhaps guilty of giving a lot of advice myself), I have a ton of opinions on what good writing advice looks like and I’m so excited to go through this list with you all. I have to break it up into separate posts because I talk too much, so here’s the first ten! 

1. Nothing is perfect.  True! But I think this one sometimes feels disheartening to people, because they hear it as “your work won’t be perfect, therefore it’s not good enough and you shouldn’t bother”--which is extremely false. I think this piece of advice should feel liberating, because it’s giving you permission to make mistakes and be human! None of us make perfect work, because perfect isn’t a thing. Your work can (and will) be imperfect and valuable, and powerful, and gorgeous to read, and meaningful to others. 

2. Don’t use adverbs. Wrong! A foolish opinion held and shared by people who are silly. There are definitely writers who misuse adverbs--notoriously, Joke Rowling--but adverbs are not in and of themselves bad and I personally love a well-placed adverb. It can so dramatically alter a sentence and frankly I just love the -ly sound, it’s so sleek. Better advice for this one would be “use adverbs with precision.” Fun fact: I have a non-zero number of characters with adverbs as names. That’s how much I enjoy these little guys. 

3. Write what you know. This one’s interesting to me because I have a split answer. I think there’s a big truth to drawing on purpose from your personal experience and your unique pools of knowledge when creating, because you can bring so much to a work. You can ground the story in minute details and describe moments with such potency because they are familiar to you. There are so many stories in the world that are enriched by the fact the writer is a historian, or lived through a specific traumatic event that they now explore in their work, or has a love and passion for trains or botany or whatever their joys are. So on that side of things, I say true.

However, I think “write what you know” has a less wonderful underside, which is that writing what you know is often how certain hegemonic ideas and biased are recreated in works and then crystallised within genres. A passive imitation of your personal experience of the world and/or an unthinking loyalty to the tropes and traditions of your genre is not a neutral statement as a creator. I feel strongly that writers who belong to privileged groups--i.e., abled-bodied, white, straight, cisgender, Christian, male--and most especially writers who belong many of these categories simultaneously need to be aware of how writing what you know will produce a very specific, not-universal story. 

So short answer: definitely draw on your specific banks of knowledge and experiences, but be aware that you do not exist in a vacuum and neither do stories. 

4. Avoid repetition. Depends what you mean by that! A lot of writing is strengthened by repetition: motifs and themes necessitate repetition to be, well, anything. But if we’re talking about word choice, this is a safe general rule. That doesn’t mean grab a thesaurus, though! Just think about another word that you know that will get across the meaning you want--or move the sentence around until it achieves your goal. Swapping out a good word for a worse word with a different connotation is not better and definitely not a solution for repetition. 

5. Write every day. Counterargument: write whenever you want. I don’t believe there’s one true schedule that everyone should follow, because people are different and creative processes are different. I myself am someone who tends to sit down and write a lot (sometimes a few days in a row), and then not write anything for the next day or even week. Some people can do the disciplined get-up-and-write-every-morning thing and truly I’d love to be one of those people, but my instinct is that I never will be. My way of doing things is more chaotic and less predictable, but I think any writing is always a win. 

6. Good writers borrow from other writers, great writers steal from them outright. Hm. I definitely believe all good writers are discerning magpies who thieve everything that makes their hearts sing, and then spend their careers making nests of said things in different arrangements--but I don’t know if I’d call that “stealing outright.” I absolutely think a great writer needs a certain boldness in order to step out and confidently pilfer without shame or guilt, and then turn all those things into their things, so... I guess I agree?  Maybe that’s the teacher in me, but this has plagiaristic connotations to me that I don’t love and don’t approve of, so perhaps I’d say for this one: “great writers make what they take their own.” 7. Just write. Highly contextual advice that is almost never helpful. This is perhaps because, personally, I don’t believe in laziness. I don’t actually think it’s a thing. I think often people will believe themselves to be lazy but what they actually are is afraid or stuck, and with that in mind, saying “just write” to people who’re blocked is about as useful as saying “just walk” to someone with a sprained foot: you need to address the underlying issue before someone can get better. If someone can’t write, it’s not from lack of effort--it’s because either something is wrong and preventing them from writing (which could be fear of failure, or anxiety, or overly stressed, or any number of causes) or they have become creatively exhausted and need to rest and consume art to restore themselves. Sometimes both! 

I don’t like telling people to “just” anything, because that word has such a belittling effect. Writing is hard, especially if you’re going through a lot of stuff. I think better advice acknowledges that fact and responds more compassionately: “identify what is preventing you from writing.” Most writers--at least, that I know--thrive when they’re writing and write best when they’re thriving. Not writing isn’t a choice they make for no reason, so if you can’t write, look for the reasons. 8. There’s nothing new under the sun. Basically true! We are all (more or less, some cultural elements are relevant here) playing with the same toys in the same sandpit. However, we are the final component in the work and that makes all the difference. Each of us is the thing that is new under the sun and because of that, our sandcastles are wonderful and unique. I find that very neat. 

9. Read. Phenomenal advice. It’s the one I probably give out most often, because it’s true in a way that I personally don’t think can be understated. I think consuming media and viewing art in general falls under this bracket too. Besides being good for you and healthy for your creative brain, it’s going to polish your taste and teach you so much about writing without you even noticing, probably. Cannot recommend it enough. 

10. Don’t think! I have never found this relevant or useful. To me, it often comes across as a worse version of seven (see above). Thinking is my primary mode of existence and so far, my writing seems to benefit from that. 

#advice #advice meme