#jude was the only light in the entire series

[bl00dst41ned]

*.·:·.✦ my little secret (jude bellingham ‘series’ pt.1) ✦.·:·.*

pairing: jude bellingham x female oc (Mariah)

summary: in which Jude chooses the wrong time to break up with Mariah

author's note: saw @mwahuniverse’s post. here it is. might be a three to four-part series so if you want to get tagged for the other ones, comment or drop it in my asks (part 2 is already ready and out Friday or Saturday hehe)

series masterlist

word count: 654

Two lines.

It felt like Mariah’s eyes could not get away from these two lines on the pink stick.

These two lines, as simple as they looked, were about to change the entire course of her life.

Not believing the sole test even after staring at it for minutes, she quickly picked up the other tests:

Two lines

“Pregnant”

“Pregnant, 2-3 weeks”

The young woman’s vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears that she tried to dry with her hands. But the overwhelming feeling took over, tears now strolling down her cheek.

Not tears of sadness, but of happiness. Happiness from growing life in her belly. Happy to start a family with the person she loved, Jude.

Speaking of him, Mariah checked her phone, seeing that her boyfriend should be back. She rushed to hide the tests and order some of their signature meal they only eat together.

Behind the door could be heard keys jiggling before it opens. Jude doesn’t have time to walk in that he is greeted with an overly cheerful Mariah. He gave her a quick kiss on the temple before heading to the living room with his girlfriend on his steps.

“I have something to tell you” Mariah started with a smile as they sat on the sofa.

Weirdly, Jude sat as far as possible for her, something he started to do for a few days now. Mariah had picked on his change of behaviour but decided to ignore it.

“Wait, let me start” Jude interrupted in a stern voice, which caused Mariah’s smile to slowly fade.

“I think we should stop this”

“Stop what?” Confusion laced her voice.

“Us”

His words hit her like a car crash. Nothing could have prepared her for this moment. Jude, the man that she loved, just broke up with her for no apparent reason. Broke her heart when she thought their love was sealed by the little seed that was about to grow in her belly.”

Her breathing got heavy and palms became sweaty but she tried to cover it.

“Wh-why ?” She managed to ask in the least shaky voice she could let out.

“I just don’t feel like doing it anymore, I kind of lost interest” He nonchalantly responded, breaking Mariah’s heart even more.

“Yeah, we should end it now, you go your way and I go mine”

The more he spoke the more it felt like he stamped on her heart. As much as she tried to keep face and not show anything, her body decided otherwise since her hands lightly shook from trying not to burst out crying.

As Jude kept on ranting as if he didn’t care how Mariah felt, her phone buzzed repeatedly.

She opened her phone seeing a DM from an unknown girl, named Leslie

missleslie

*sent one attachement*

tell my man I can’t wait to see him again 😘

Mariah opened the attachment seeing a mirror photo of her, Jude laying in the background on his phone. The same phone, set on the coffee table. With the same outfit he wore right in front of her. The same Jude that just broke her heart had spent the day with another girl.

“Who’s that?” She turned her phone around showing the picture to him.

He let a light smirk grow a bit before he just sat back unfazed

“What d’you want me to tell you?”

After all their time together, Jude had always cared for her, making sure nobody, not even him, hurt her feelings. But now it felt like all of it had gone away.

“Just go, bro”

To which he did. He walked out of her apartment without a word or even a look. He just left her.

Once the door closed, Mariah took out the test, looking at each of them intensively. She bursted in tears, not able to control them.

She cried and cried until there were no tears left to cry.

like and repost for support (hope you enjoyed it)

masterlist for more

#written by bl00dst41ned #my little secret series #football #football fic #football imagine #football x oc #jude bellingham #jude bellingham fic #jude bellingham imagine #jude bellingham x oc #hope you like it

[precious-little-scoundrel]

Johnny & Ella vibez

Engaged in just such a foil with Mrs. Roberts who started the fund for St. Jude’s, Ella spies a commotion out the corner of her eye. A flock of peacocks, or young men in varying stages of military fatigues, swagger through the open french doors and help themselves to the punch and ignore the water. She finds them intriguing only because they’re not in dress uniform and they’re under sixty years of age which makes them entirely unique besides herself at this venue. They also have broad shoulders under navy cloth and Ella has recently undergone a series of unpromising school dates that have ended in nothing but miserable dissatisfaction and Ella finds herself watching handsome, established, working age men with the resigned dreaminess of a soon to be nun.

Still, it’s bad manners to have shown up in fatigues. One tall one, blonde and with biceps untempered by his navy broadcloth is honest to god wearing boots at this venue. She wouldn’t consider herself a snob, but Ella is also keenly aware of the governor a few seats over from Mrs. Rubens.

With that stunning statement the man proceeds to dig in the inside pocket of his jacket, pulling it away from his body so that Ella can see a crisp dress shirt beneath molded to muscle by the damp of sweat. Finding what he was fishing for her withdraws his hand and without fuss presents a check to her with a startling amount of zeros.

“Oh, heavens.” Ella absorbs her miscalculation with sickened shame at letting her temper her the better of her manners, “I am, -Lieutenant, I am so very sorry. Mistake on my part, absolute prejudice I-I really do apologize sir, please don’t think-“

“Pretty rough night, hmm?” he waves her off with a shrug and an easy smile, smiles do come easy to his face and she enjoys watching them flit on and off in the glow of the inside lights, “My offer for the ice still stands.”

“Well don’t tell the people at Killeen Texas that.” John replies in sweet warning, leaning towards her just a tad as their elbows draw closer on the marble countertop, “They’ll be real sad to have their fame taken from them and -I don’t think those sorta folks could handle the notion of such a productive first night.”

It’s 1976 and the way his eyebrows waggle shouldn’t turn Ella’s pink cheeks positively crimson but they do. Only her mama’s instilled propriety keeps her capable of keeping eye contact with him, although her eyes burn from the heat of her own blush.

#elvis fanfiction #sarge: 2nd gen #ella vibes #ella presley

[ezziefae]

This was in my drafts and i forgot to post this during the entire submarine fiasco. enjoy my crazy talk about TFOTA and the sea!! (8/15/23)

all this stuff about the titanic has made me educated on water pressure and implosions. It makes me shocked on how Jude Duarte survived the Undersea physically and emotionally. Were it me, i would’ve had a full on panic attack and died on the spot.

Human bodies physically cannot survive the bottom of the sea, the water pressure is too strong that it can crush a body in miliseconds. This makes me believe that the Undersea palace Jude was kept in isn’t as deep as we thought.

In the wicked king, when Jude gets kidnapped she first describes the intensity of the pressure she feels on her chest.

“At first, I panic. I have water in my lungs and a terrible pressure on my chest.” (TWK, Chap 22, pg 221)

-

“I am not sure how long I float like that, how many times I panic and pull against the chains, how many times the weight of the water over me feels oppressive and I choke on it.” (TWK, Chap 22, page 225)

-

“The merfolk lead me into a banquet room without a ceiling, so that when I look up, I see schools of fish and even a shark above me, and above that, the glimmering light of what must be the surface”

“I guess it’s daytime” (TWK, Chap 22, page 226)

^^^

BINGO

I believe I remember Jude stating somewhere in the folk of the air series how Orlagh has one of many palaces and throne’s scattered around the bottom of the sea. Jude survived because she wasn’t at deeeeep bottom of the undersea.

-

Another thing I’d like to mention is how freaking scary the sea is. We humans have explored the galaxy more than we have our own earth, the sea. A lot of the sea has not been discovered yet. Only 5% has been explored, meaning the 95% of the sea is unknown. CRAZY.

-

Here are some other quotes from TFOTA series in Cardans POV about the sea!!

“He wanted to speak, but when he opened his mouth, water flowed in, shocking his lungs. The magic allowed him to breath, bus his chest felt heavy”

“And even though her enchantment protected him, he could still feel the oppressive cold and the stinging of salt in his eyes. Salt that curbed his own magic. And darkness, all around. It didn’t feel like the expansive of splashing through a pond. It felt like being trapped in a small room.

“He thought to warn her[Nicasia], but when he opened his mouth, he found that speech was impossible. Cardan fought down his panic. His thoughts scattered.”

“The weight of the sea seemed to press down on him. He no longer had a sense of up or down. One was always suspended, fighting against the current or giving in to it.“

“Then he spotted a glow, distant but sure. The sun. Cardan grabbed hold of Nicasia’s hand and made for it, kicking his way to the surface, gasping for air he didn’t need” (HTKOELTHS, pg 67)

-

The sea is a scary place, not for the weak!! Jude is strong for surviving it.

#jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #holly black #jurdan #the folk of the air #the stolen heir #oak greenbriar #elfhame #the cruel prince #the prisoners throne #the #undersea #is #SCARY #HELPP

[lestatslestits]

I am once again posting by the skin of my teeth, but it’s still Thursday here which means I’m not late for TOTA Takeover Day Four, dedicated to Fergus MacKinnon.

Fergus is a very special character to me, and his arc is devastating. I work in mental health and out of all of the characters in the show, Fergus is the one who hits closest to home for me.

And as a result it took me a long time to decide what I wanted to write. In the end, I’m pleased with the outcome and I hope y’all enjoy it too.

Note: this is a direct follow up to Rosalie’s ficlet from Day One, in the sense that they take place in the same day/night, and this fic makes reference to that one (although it’s brief and you can definitely still understand this one if you haven’t read it)

He can’t sleep, so he decides to go to the kitchen.

He likes kitchens, they’re filled with the kinds of things he understands: things powered with electricity, things alive with faint humming noises and barely-there vibrations that no one notices but him. This kitchen, massive and industrial, sounds nothing like his mam’s kitchen growing up, or even the kitchen in the flat he had occupied until he occupied a series of loony bins instead, but there’s still something he finds grounding about it, especially late at night when there are no staff members to chase him out because they are afraid he’ll learn where the knives are kept.

(He already knows where the knives are kept, and how to pick the lock on the cupboard door.)

(He once spent an entire afternoon hiding in an entirely different and thoroughly forgotten cupboard just to prove to himself that he could do it without being caught out. To this day, no one knows.)

There are two ways to get into the St. Jude’s Hospital kitchen when you’re not on staff. One involves abseiling down the side of the building from his fourth floor room and the other involves being able to walk silently, blend into the shadows, keep his head down, and be massively underestimated by everyone who sees him. He’s not in the mood to rig up a rope this late in the evening, so he chooses the latter option.

Stuart doesn’t typically work the graveyard shifts, and the aides who do are less inclined to act like big stupid guard dogs eager to slam patients into walls. The one occupying the nurse’s station nearest to the kitchen has brought a book to read and it must be a good one because he doesn’t even look up as Fergus slips past him.

He wishes he knew what the book was. He’s already read everything in the hospital’s single-shelf “library,” and money is always tight so hasn’t picked up any books on his last few outings. But as he can’t very well go up and ask, he puts the thought aside and focuses on picking the locks on the kitchen door. There are two, and he knows how to pick them both with paperclips.

(Technically speaking, he isn’t meant to have paperclips, but they are remarkably easy to nick from almost any desk in the hospital, so he’s always got plenty on hand.)

He slips into the kitchen and shuts the door behind him. He breathes easier in here, out of the line of sight. Even so, he turns one of the locks behind him, and navigates in the dark so that no light shines out under the crack in the door.

For a long moment he relishes his hard-won freedom, and loses himself in the sounds all around him.

In his younger days no one had believed or even had any interest in listening to his insistence that there were voices—whispers—in the electrical hum of the world around him. In fact, no one had cared about the voices he heard at all, until they started shouting abusive litanies and telling him to follow the hidden messages he heard in television and radio broadcasts.

(After that they had cared a lot.)

(To this day the voices he hears in the ambient noise of the modern world are the only ones he actually finds comforting—and the ones no one else seems interested in.)

He allows himself this moment of peace where these voices drown out the ones demanding self-hatred and paranoia.

(The meds that they give him make those voices quieter, but they never silence them completely.)

Once he’s fully grounded in the space and his eyes have adjusted to the darkness, he reminds himself that he’s on mission and moves primarily by sound and touch in search of his prize.

The cocoa here is shit. It’s cheap powdered stuff bought in bulk and mixed with hot water, often without much effort at stirring out the clumps. He’s working with what he’s got, but he swaps water out in favor of milk, a small luxury. Once it’s boiling gently he stirs in the cocoa mix, using the light of the open refrigerator to determine when the clumps have been properly obliterated.

He does the washing up when he’s finished with the kitchen: puts everything back into order and escapes with one perfect cup of cocoa, locking the doors behind him. The aide at the desk has not looked up from his book.

~~~

“I’ve got something for you.”

The figure in the narrow bed shifts under a multitude of blankets. “Fergus? What time is it?” His voice sounds thoroughly wrecked.

“Late. You slept through the cocoa round. Figured you needed the rest, though.”

“So you’re waking me now instea—oh.” Campbell Bain has flopped onto his back and is now squinting up at him with bleary, watery eyes.

He extends the cup he’s holding. “Made it myself,” he explains, answering the unasked question of where he got cocoa at this hour.

“Do they no keep the kitchen locked up tae keep the loonies out of the knives and all?”

“They try,” he agrees amiably, with a subdued smile. Then, “It’s going cold.”

Campbell heaves himself into a sitting position and coughs mightily for his effort. Fergus waits until he’s done before he hands him the cocoa.

“Rosalie stopped by. Earlier.”

“Oh?”

“She couldn’t—“

“Right,” The boy’s head bobs in understanding. He sips the cocoa and declares, “That’s no bad. Different than what we get on the cocoa round, though.”

“I used real milk.” He’s actually properly proud of that, and feels the pride legitimized by Campbell’s appreciative smile. It drops when he asks, “How’s the throat?”

“Hurts.”

Fergus brushes Campbell’s absurd fringe from his face and presses a hand to his forehead. Still feverish.

“Thanks for the cocoa. I didnae know you could cook.”

“It’s just cocoa, Campbell.” He hesitates and adds, “I like kitchens, though. They whisper to me.”

It’s not a strange thing to say. Not here. And anyways, Campbell never seems to register strangeness. He looks unsurprised, and there’s sincerity in his voice when he asks, “What do they say?”

“Good things,” Fergus replies. He doesn’t elaborate. It’s too personal, anything beyond that. Campbell doesn’t press.

“That’s nice,” he says, drinking the cocoa to the dregs. “I’m glad. Thanks for the cocoa.”

“Don’t mention it.” He means that literally: this has to be a secret between the two of them.

Campbell nods in earnest understanding.

“And get some rest. You look like hell.”

Before any offense can be registered, Fergus slips out the door and back towards his room a floor above. He’s less restless now. Maybe he’ll even manage to get some sleep.

#takin over the asylum #TOTA Takeover #tota #fergus mackinnon #takin’ over the asylum #tota fandom #tota fanfic

[denimbex1986]

'...Andrew Scott (Fleabag, All of Us Strangers) leads this iteration as Tom Ripley, a duplicitous con man whom we first meet masquerading as a debt collector who, barely scraping by, in 1960s New York.

As in previous versions of the story, Tom needs little convincing when a wealthy man wants to pay him to travel to Italy and convince his rich and spoiled dilettante son Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to return to the US.

Tom is instantly enamoured by Dickie's life — consisting of lazily adding haphazard brushstrokes to mediocre paintings and relaxing on his Amalfi coast-moored boat with his girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning), who is trying and failing to write an Eat, Pray, Love-style book. Which is to say, "they do nothing".

Tom's desperation to cling to the life his proximity to Dickie affords him results in murder, deceit and fraud...

Ripley...subtracts key elements from the classic movie starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. And it confines itself to telling the story of only the first of the five Patricia Highsmith novels that comprise the Ripley series. (Perhaps because Zaillian doesn't plan for this limited series to remain limited? Not that we have any indication of this, beyond the fact the show was named after the series as opposed to its first book, The Talented Mr Ripley.)

The reason Ripley is so long despite its comparatively thin narrative is because it leans painstakingly into the conventions of the psychological thriller genre, drawing out the minutiae of Tom's every movement and experience — partly to create an intoxicating visual world, but mostly to foster a sense of unease.

In this way, something that would seem simple and mundane in another context, like the sound of an elevator ascending, becomes anxiety-inducing.

It's incredibly effective at building glorious tension...

As is Zaillian's decision to tell this story in black and white...

There are moments when Zaillian's decision feels so fitting. For one, it lends a beady quality to Scott's eyes, which helps emphasise that this version of Tom is less morally grey. He's older (Scott is 47), beaten down from a life of poverty, visibly slimy and set in his scheming ways. (Yet somehow still attractive, because Scott is out here giving Hot Priest in everything he does.)

And in Zaillian's monochrome world, the use of light can be equal-parts transfixing and anxiety inducing — whether it's dancing on the fur of a watchful cat or flashing across the eyes of a suspicious taxi driver...

...in Ripley, things start off dark and stay dark.

Colour is lacking in more than just the literal sense, too. While Fanning is perfectly suspicious as Marge, and Flynn makes for a brilliant choice as the charismatic Dickie, there's something missing in the chemistry of their relationship. Tom and Dickie's friendship doesn't feel genuine, either — Flynn isn't carefree enough and Scott isn't youthfully exuberant enough for it to be entirely plausible after the orchestration of their meeting is revealed.

And, somehow, all three characters are less rounded than they have been in previous versions of this story...

Maybe that's because Scott's version of Tom has even less to lose than the Tom Ripleys that came before him. Maybe it's because Ripley is trying to be cerebral and show, rather than tell, absolutely everything — from the chore that is mopping up blood, to what happens when you accidentally leave key evidence at a crime scene and have to double back for it.

That could also go some way to explaining the repeated visual parallels drawn between the Italian painter/murderer Caravaggio and Tom throughout the series, which was Zaillian's addition to the story...

Surprisingly, there are several moments of hilarity in Ripley; there are even darkly humorous moments in the wake of cold-blooded murders.

But each of these gags pale in comparison to the highly satisfying ending — which happens to be less wrenching than that of the 1999 film, and more exciting than the book.'

#Andrew Scott #Steven Zaillian #Dakota Fanning #Marge Sherwood #Johnny Flynn #Dickie Greenleaf #Caravaggio #Fleabag #All of Us Strangers #Patricia Highsmith #The Talented Mr Ripley #Jude Law #Matt Damon #Gwyneth Paltrow #Netflix

[immatrout]

14. Fred Weasley Harry Potter

15. Jude Never Fade

16. Regulus Black All The Young Dudes/Harry Potter

17. Peter Parker Infinity War

21. Peter P*tigrew All The Young Dudes/Harry Potter

Someone add more I’m running out of ideas.

#i found this on Pinterest #the graveyard of tumblr screenshots #this seemed like it was a good idea at first… #harry potter #all the young dudes #spiderman #infinity war #peter parker #peter pettigrew #regulus black #darkest minds #the darkest minds #I didn’t even like that book #jude was the only light in the entire series #ahh yes #fred weasley #💕💕💕

[ecto-stone]

So I don’t really know that much about that my blood au you created could you tell me a bit about it?

Ha hah I Hope this is Edible

So My Blood Au is just Me dumping all the cool stuff i can think of into a DP what if Vlad is Good ^For Starter MB Vlad or Vladimir Jude Masters is a Paranormal investigater/ hunter/exocist in a sense. He seemingly Perfect in People eye, Not Really on the inside as he have many problem stem from living so long and going though alots of thing that he prefer not to talk about that he hide from People , go so far as to adjust his own emotion to what he find fit to the situration making him really hard to read. (Not Jack and Danielle, those are close enough 2 peel him like an onion if they sense something off). -Vlad And Danny are not same kind of Halfa in this AU, Vlad is Two soul (Half Blue Demon Vampire Ghost, Half Human twisted together and blend into one) and Danny is Soul within soul (Going though the accident give him two identical soul that over lapped each other) -Ghost are nerf and ecto beam and ecto Base attack can harm ghost but they can't harm Physical thing in living world Unless they are infuse with Core element same with Human entering Purgatory. -The world have 5 Realm: LivingWorld, Purgatory (GhostZone), Elsewhereness, Fairy Land and Unworld. +Going with the idea that originaly Vlad is supposed to be a vampire and many ghost in the series feel like they are more supernature creature then Ghost. Living world now have many Human and other Creature living among each other , hidden in plain sight +Purgatory: Where Ghost go and heal before they move onto Elsewhereness (Heaven in this verse) or Rebirth back to the living cycle. There are many area in Purgatory that fit human decription of after life look like , this is due to collective faith and ideal of many Ghost focus with each other to created these Resting stop. Incidentally like the living world these area are also watch over by being call King and Queen of the Death (Caretaker and protector of the Death soul, a being with incredible power capable of bending reality). Most well known one are the King Dark, Prince Argon and Princess Dora of the Dark Age Zone. Queen Desire of the thousand and one night. ect.. newest King of the death is Ghost Writer (library of the forgotten) but he prefer not be refer to as king, just Ghost writer. +Elsewhereness: The final resting Places of enternal Bliss. Once the Soul is ready to let go of all earthly desire, they are send here. Not much is known about this realm or it location. When a Soul reach enlightment it will automatically know where to find it. The realm also House many god. +Fairy Land: Home to care taker of the childhood inocent and many god that work to keep the universe running. Most common creature that live here is Fairy with two side one silly colorful side that appear to children to granted what ever their heart desire. The other is the Blue fortune side that Weaved the fabric of Luck and fate. +Unworld: A Dark realm with one way in no way out. It house many dangerous creature, ancient outer god and unspeakable Evil that have been banish to through age by god and human. >the Origin Story: +Vlad and Jack are Friend from Childhood (Their Bond are really tight kinda like Sworn Brother ) unlike their canon counter part meet in college. They Hunt Ghost but in more of a Release soul from their earthly bound kind of way via the info they get from the Masters Family Grilmore. (There is one major inconvience is that You need to wait for the correct day and time to perform ritual sending ghost back to purgatory so they can Move on to Elsewhereness/heaven of this verse ) +They Meet Maddie in college (Maddie and Vlad almost alway in a total clash with each other with Maddie tech almost Hunter like way in dealing with ghost and Vlad more traditional Way of Handling them) Which end with Three of them forming the Original Ghost Trio. With Maddie accept Vlad and Jack Respect the Death ideal. And Vlad and Jack incorperate More Technology into their Asset. +Maddie point out the inconvinient of having to wait for the correct day for each ghost to send them back to Purgatory (Their room are fill with

Container for ghost), Which lead to them comming up with the idea of Making a Ghost Portal. <Note: MB Vlad is not into Romantic relationship, Platonic one Matter to him more> >The Accident: No diet soda the Accident is purely due to one miscalculation that cost Vlad life (his Head got Blash Clean off infront of Jack and Maddie) In that Split Second of His face getting disintigrating, Vlad get a Glim into UnWorld (the Realm where are Demon and evil of the four realm are banish to) and Got Latched on and Pushed Back to the living world by a Demon Vampire Ghost Both Soul are now inhabited Vlad headless lifeless body, in Which about 3 day after Vlad burial that Vlad Body got completely decontructed inside the coffin and recontructed into a body that is more fitting to host both . Vlad have a hard time remembering Who he is after kinda get rebirth and Wander the world until he Get Suck into a Natural Ghost Portal and got Flunk Back in time. >Journey of an Immortal Being: -Vlad Stuck in the Past, He recovered his memories, Going through existenal crisis, Evil phase, Evil make me feel bad, Not Evil anymore, Found out that he is immortal now, Existenal crisis part2, Acceptance, Travel the World and Start doing the what ever he like, learning old way of magic still helping ghost and other supernatural being. -Caused several Major Change to the past that Mythical Creature got un extinct. (Due to the Law of life and death this does not affect who get born or not, it just that the world got alots more races now and those used to be born human in the original timeline might get born as another races entirely) -Get Mistaken for Messiah.( Look You can't kill Vlad, He would just be gone for like 3 day then comeback) -Caused the legend of Dracula. -Vampire cult have a horrible obession with Vlad as a Whole. Look like vampire act like one, can walk in plain day light and more importantly the ability to Open a Portal to Unworld . ( Vlad don't use this ability much and can only open small one as it is very energy consuming) -Meet his own ancestor Which is the Fentonightingale that Later Splited into Fenton and Nightingale (later change to Masters) leading to revealation that Jack and Him might be very distant Related. -Bickering With Time God (Do not trust the Clock Man that work for the Eyes) -Get Caught in War far too many time. -Meet Phantom (an odd entity that is oddly clingy to him) in the Great War. -Meet Other Some of the DP ghost when they still alive -The Horrible Bar incident that reveal Phantom true nature, an evil being that wish to turn the world back to it original nature of nothiness and try to turn vlad to the his side, Kill, Seal in Rock Case covered with Sigil to prevent Phantom from escape, Chuck it into the ocean. - The Contruction of the Coffin Ghost Portal. (Havent actually went into the Purgatory caused the CCP is one Way Portal. -Forming of many Hidden town that home supernatural being. Amity Park is one of them. - And many more unseen story >Daddy Stolen Ribbone saga (MB Vlad is sterile, he want to have kid but can't.) -The Vampire cult that he have grudge with attemp to Clone or at least created a child that have Vlad Power through ritual and cult like method. Imagine Danny Clone but even more mess up . -Vlad end the life of most of them by his own hand (they are suffering, it is best to let them go) -Birth of Danielle: +Danielle Evelyn Masters or just Dani/Dee for short is the only Stable child come out of this whole odeal. She is Created From Vlad Ribone like a Twisted Eve. And like in the book it caused both of them to be very attached to each other in a Fatherly Daughterly Way. +Dee Have Vlad Ghost power and Demonic Power but No ghost form (Her default funtion as both and whether she is in ghost mode or Human mode is all Up to energy control) and no connection to Unworld there for she can't open portal to Unworld. Dual Soul nature Wind/Fire.

+She like Frog and is interested in Marine biology (which Vlad have full support over, she have a room fill with Vlad hand made frog plusie that she all named. +He raise her teach her everything he know about how to deal with supernatural being and how to Snipe Vampire from a long distant with pin point accuracy.

+An kidnapped incident with the Vampire cult latter resulted in Dee Death at the age of 12 (1999), and Vlad becoming fully Merged into one Being with Plasmius. and wipe out the entire vampire cult in a horrible Vlad the impaler way). +After wiping out the remainder of the cult, vlad go into retirement and work as a wall Painter < he work supper fast on celling painting and no one know why> >The Boy Who Fly (2 year before the start of actual MB story) -Danny Gain his power at the age of 10, his parent know. The event of Portal acivation caused the whole town to have a black out. -They move House alots for 2 year. And Jack try his best to make his family as normal as they can be after accidenly k his friend all those year ago and now half eff his own son. -They finding out amity park their new home is on accident when the RV engine die mid way through the middle of no Where (The town shown it self to those in need) -Danny hide his abiltiy. But after a gym incident. and getting Praise by his peer for it instead of scold like with the adult Danny start getting bolder using Floating power around his new friend when no adult is watching. <Vlad who is Working on the Giant Raven paiting for the School Saw this and know imediately What Danny is> -They offically meet each other on the the roof top, when Danny mom ask him to go down the store and by some bread and he decided to try to Air Frog Swim to it. They become friend and Vlad even teach Danny how to fly properly before having to leave (they visit each other alots after the revealation, and vlad is a good adult friend that Danny can talk to) (Danno forgot about the bread and return home breadless) -Jack may stop with the whole Paranormal hunter/ghost scientist job but not Maddie. She keep doing it behind his back due to danny special need in ecto base consumtion (he havent grow abit since the accident and keep getting smaller and it concerning) -Jack found out and they have a Fight. which lead to Maddie go to his Sister house. -Danny Found out about why his dad was so stressed out about ghost thing now. When looking through his parent old stuff with his new friend tucker. (Dude why does your parent have a Picture of the wall painter in thier old junk). He show the image to Vlad. -Danny Get jack to tell the story about the inccident. Dad what if i tell you that Your friend who die 18 year ago survived and is on our front door right now. Reunion, Jack feeling guilty about making them both like this. Go Get Maddie. Happy reunion of the trio. -Fenton Parent become accepting to Danny condition, Danny have a good mentor that can teach him ho to control his power And they live happy ever after for now

#Q/A #good god how do you add read more on a QA #my blood AU #Danny Phantom #danny phantom au #god this is long #hachi text

[heaven-in-a-wild-flower]

Jurdan Headcanon (Jude Duarte and Cardan Greenbriar)

I’ve also published this on ao3 if you’d rather read it there, here’s the link. I’m making this a full series (Cardan in the Mortal World).

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 2.5

Chapter 3

Previous Chapter (Chapter 4)

Cardan in the Mortal World (Chapter 5)

Neon Explosions, Mole-hunting and Spontaneous Revolutions

Jude is annoyed at Cardan. Yes, as usual. He said he'd quickly change into an appropriate outfit for their arcade date today and it's been 45 minutes. The sound of her boots irritatedly tapping the floor sounds deafening in their quiet apartment. She's decided that she's giving him another thirty seconds, and if he's not here by then, she's dragging him out. Even if he doesn't have time to add glitter to his cheeks (this seems like a lose-lose situation to her, but one must make sacrifices).

Their door slams open. Jude is about to scold him for doing that, again, when she simply freezes. She has no words for his outfit and so, she responds by bursting out laughing. He raises his eyebrows confusedly and she simply laughs harder. His lips are starting to pout in his usual annoyed fashion.

"May I also be privy to whatever it is that amuses you so?" he asks, crossing his arms, full-on pouting now.

"It's just- your outfit- oh god," Jude tries to answer between laughs but is entirely unable to.

"What's wrong with my attire?" He looks down at the neon pink crop top he's wearing and the neon yellow pants to match. "You informed me that it would be dark in this are-kade of yours, hence I am attired in bright colours." He looks back up at her and furrows his eyebrows at her. "Is it not to your liking?"

Jude rolls her eyes and smiles (her usual reaction to Cardan. She'll call it irritation but Cardan knows it is fondness, and okay, maybe a little irritation too). She walks past him saying, "It's perfectly fine, let's go." He steals a kiss and looks so satisfied with himself, Jude has to smile condescendingly at his stupidity (it is certainly not loving or affectionate, whatever do those words even mean?).

She holds his hand the whole way there, because he'd get lost otherwise, of course. He swings their hands a little and stares at everyone on the Subway. He's getting a lot of stares himself. He's grinning because he can see Jude snarling at everyone that's staring a little too much at his exposed torso.

"This is it," Jude proclaims, standing with her hands on her hips, staring up at the arcade (it's not that easy to navigate a realm you don't even live in, even if you're born there).

The arcade is gorgeous on the inside. It is lit up with pink and blue and yellow lights from the screens and neon strips on the walls. There's laughter and shouts floating on the air. And Cardan is staring with his mouth open. His eyes are darting from the arcade around them to Jude as if he cannot quite decide what looks more interesting (Jude. Is. Not. Blushing.)

They walk up to the counter to get the coins. Cardan speaks to the person manning the counter before Jude can. "Are you the ruler of this kingdom? I must admit, from one ruler to another, it is a splendid kingdom. Do you have coloured suns to create the light?"

The person looks stunned. They say, "Are you a cospla-"

"No, we just need 50 tokens please," Jude interjects, glaring at Cardan, who looks entirely pleased with himself (he always does). The person gives them the tokens and takes the money, still staring confusedly as Cardan's outfit, wondering how one looks this distinguished in a neon crop top (it's the straight back and infuriatingly high tilt of his head) (Jude will never admit it out loud but she loves that she's the only one he'll bend his head for) (He bends and places a kiss on her cheek right then and Jude wonders if he's telepathic) (In reality, she was just squeezing the life out of his hand as she was lost in thought and he just wanted to get her to stop).

"Oh! They have hunting here too. I would like to attempt that sport first," Cardan decides. Jude sighs, internally resigning herself to all the ways Cardan is going to misunderstand everything.

"Cardan...those aren't real moles, so it isn't hunting. But yes, you can try Whack-A-Mole first."

"Jude, give that metal feed to me, I want to feed this beast myself, so it can form a bond with me. Perhaps that will help me win," he says, taking the tokens from her and dropping them in the game himself.

Cardan is fantastic at Whack-A-Mole. He looks delighted with himself. And Jude is so proud. She watches each of his savage whacks and forcibly restrains herself from swooning. His eyes are alight with adrenaline and excitement and the light from the game and when he finishes the game, Jude kisses him so strongly, he loses balance for a moment. He's wide-eyed and his lips are still holding onto the smile from winning the game and his lips are smeared with Jude's black lipstick.

"Come on, let's go to the next game," Jude says stalking off. Her heart isn't racing and her mind isn't fuzzy. Her heart isn't floating and her mind isn't exploding. Her heart isn't full of sunshine and her mind isn't full of fireworks. But even she cannot deny that she's smiling uncontrollably.

They try out a racing game next. This time, it's Jude against Cardan. "This mode of transport is unreliable! And it simply does not make sense! Why does it have a wheel instead of reins?! This- this is injustice!" Cardan is shouting as he crashes into everything and Jude is gleefully laughing at him. She's beating him by 2 laps or so.

By the end of it, Jude is flushed with adrenaline. Her eyes are bright and her cheeks are nearly pink. Cardan, on the other hand, is frowning and pouting, while trying not to look like he's pouting. She giggles at the expression on his face and he gets more and more pouty until, he simply cannot not smile at the sight of Jude laughing (even if it is at him). It is as rare as a calm pixie and as beautiful as...well, there is simply nothing worthy enough to compare it to. He basks in the sound, as one would bask in the light of a glorious sunset. It calms him in ways that nothing ever has. And it simultaneously makes his shabby, worm-eaten, and scabrous heart feel perfectly whole.

The next game they try, is a fighting game. Cardan is surprisingly good at it.

"I want this tiny metal weapon," Cardan chooses.

"[i]You're[/i] choosing a gun?" Jude asks, shocked.

"I am," he says, and he does. He also absolutely destroys all the monsters he is supposed to be fighting. He looks proud, and not in an overwhelmingly joyful way, but in a quiet, thoughtful way. And Jude...well, she understands. All his life he's been beaten and taunted and belittled for not being a good enough fighter and this one game, small though it may be, is probably his first time winning a fight.

Jude squeezes his hand and stares fiercely at him. He smiles softly at her and leans close, gently caressing her cheek. "Thank you, my darling god. I must confess, I am entirely charmed by this bizarrely lit are-kade of yours." Jude feels tears prick her eyes of frustration prick her eyes, because she loathes the people who hurt him, and she loves him so much, sometimes her heart cannot contain the feeling.

***

"I beg you, my sweet villain. I will offer you anything in return. Just accept my offer please," Cardan says, desperately trying to convince Jude to play Dance Dance Revolution with him.

"Okay, okay. I will cash in on that offer later, be prepared," she replies, threateningly.

"I await the day with pleasure. But now, let us dance up a revolution," he says, grinning.

Neither one of them are particularly good at this type of dancing and they keep whacking each other with elbows and hands and shoulders. But Cardan is laughing and Jude is unnecessarily focused on trying to win the game and everything is perfectly splendid with our favourite faerie-mortal couple.

Next Chapter (Chapter 6)

Tagging,@jurdanhell @nee-naw-nee-naw-beepbeep

Let me know if anyone wants to be added to the tagging list (or removed).

#jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #jude cardan #jurdan headcanons #jurdan hc #Cardan in the mortal world! #tcp #the cruel prince #tfota #the folk of the air

[girlinthepictureframe]

Writing Tag Game

I was tagged by @tightredpants and @elorianna.

How many works do you have on Ao3?

10

What's your total Ao3 word count?

961553

What're your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Trip Into A Dream, Miracle Aligner, Forever Young, Now We Know, The Briefest Kiss

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to. I appreciate every single comment and want my readers to know that their inputs and opinions and kind words and criticism are valued and welcome.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Milex-wise: Maybe Forever Young? There was an old Jude/Tommy Instant Star one a decade or so ago. Forgot the name.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

*scratches head* Miracle Aligner?

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

Nope.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes, and because of that, I've actually changed my own approach in a lot of ways. There's a historical romance series by Julie Anne Long that tells the adventures of two families in Pennyroyal Green. I love most of the books and throughout the entire series, you discover clues of what happened to the couple that connects two rivaling families. Their book is the final book of the series and every reader, I presume, had high hopes for their book. Me included. For me, that book missed the mark. And I left a bad review on Goodreads to vent my frustration. I was disappointed. In my imagination, their reunion would have played out much differently. I had envisioned the gentle and smart female lead to turn her nose at the male lead, kick his nuts, and tell him point blank that he's a mansplaining idiot for expecting her to pack up her life to serve him and his whims. (I still have strong emotions about that ending.😔) At any rate, after I got those bad comments on my own story I realized that the author doesn't owe me the ending I want. It's her story. Her work. Her characters. Maybe she reads her characters differently than I do. What do I know, right? It's one thing to tell somebody their grammar sucks, or even that there are holes in the plot, or inconsistencies. But to say 'your story sucks because I feel entitled to a different ending' – in a more profane language – I think, misses the mark of what comments should be about. Because, at the end of the day, it's the author's story. Their time. Their work.

Because, as writers, we feel passionately about your works, it's very easy to grab the sword and defend it. Commenting on hate, also, is very alluring. If somebody yells at you in capital letters and calls you names for me makes it's hard not to step into that trap. I read somewhere that replying to hate is an exercise in arrogance. You take your keyboard and you type away, demonstrating one keystroke at a time that your insults are punchier, your knowledge greater, and your opinion worth more. Honestly, what's the point? When I reply to hate I waste my time on somebody who doesn't give a shit about my opinion in the first place. Best solution? Delete the hate and don't waste a thought on it.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do. Although recently, I've written less. (Must change that. 😜)

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Don't think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I recall that somebody some time ago wanted to translate my work. Haven't checked up on that in a bit.

What's your all time favorite ship?

At the moment, Milex. (I have gotten into Mo Dao Zu Shi and Voltron, though.)

What's a WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

There's a story I wrote years ago on FF.net about Jude Harrison and Tommy Quincy of Instant Star. I don't even remember the name of that story. The only one I ever left unfinished.

What are your writing strengths?

I've been told it's comedy.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I want to write something dark and twisted and sad and tragic, something that ends with death and despair. I've started out many times. Got an entire Google document dedicated to plot ideas. Always ends up upbeat and cheerful. 😩

Here's a Milex spoiler for a story that might never see the light of day. Miles and Jamie, cops in a film-noir seedy LA haunt the killer of a handful of young women who end up dead on the side of various roads. Jamie, going undercover, gets murdered and the killer carves a message into his chest. Miles, vowing revenge, thinks it's connected to a gruesome group of drug-dealing gangsters. Alex is their drug-lord. Miles learns of Alex's identity and the LAPD tries and fails to get people into his inner circle. Until one night Miles screws the rules after a chance encounter with Alex and takes it upon himself to get his answers. By crawling into Alex's bed. There's a moment of dialogue in which Alex tells Miles that their story won't have a happy ending, to which Miles replies, the best part of every book is never the last line. It's the journey there and life is about the memories you make before you turn the last page. One of 'em dies in the end.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Love doing it and hope that Google translate is as good as I want it to be.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I wrote a Mulder/Scully fanfic in a journal when I was a young teen before I had a computer. The first fic I posted was Jude/Tommy from Instant Star.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

A really old Jude/Tommy fic that ended up being twisted and weird and dark until I wrote an uplifting ending that kinda ruined it in retrospect, but that's the darkest I ever managed.

Thank you for tagging me. I don't know whom to tag because I think most people have already been tagged. 🙈

#writing tag game #milex #jommy #i waffle a lot

[linkspooky]

Right now, people are speculating if tomura has lost his humanity which includes his attachment to the league now that he was awakened with his new quirk as a ‘transcendent being’. I wonder how he will interact with his team when he returns? Will he question how the heroes managed to get the jump on them? How will he react to twice’s death? To Dabi letting in a hero spy into their lair and causing this raid and twice’s death? Is the tomura we have seen grow disappeared or is he still the same?

SHIGARAKI TOMURA - A VERY HUMAN VILLAIN

People may question if Shigaraki Tomura has lost his humanity since acquiring AFO’s power, however I would like to point out that it’s a running theme in the manga for characters to frequently question the humanity of Shigaraki and see him as something less than human, or a force that only exists for evil and destruction. 

However, despite the fact that the heroes and Shigaraki’s enemies insist that Shigaraki has lost his humanity, the story shows the opposite. As much as Shigaraki has changed over the course of the story, he has also stayed the same. 

Shigaraki started out as a kid who wanted to be a hero who saved others, and specifically a kid who would go out of his way to play with the bullied kids. Everyone knows this by now, I would say however growing up in that household shaped Shigaraki to have core values that don’t really change no matter how much he changes as a person. 

Number one, the most important thing to Shigaraki is freedom. In a childish way he sees it as the freedom to do whatever he wants, because that is how All For One influenced him. 

All for One specifically told Shigaraki that being born with the power to destroy means that he should use it without restraint, and never try to hold himself back because in doing so he’ll only hurt himself. AFO tried to influence him to be an unstable manchild because that would make him more dangerous and fearsome to the general public.

However, Shigaraki’s destruction is always a response. He always destroys for a reason no matter how much he insists his destruction is completely random. One of the key themes of My Hero Academia is that in times of crisis you will remember your origin. Shigaraki’s origin is a household that oppressed him to the extent that he wasn’t allowed to become a hero. All he wanted was someone in that household to agree with him rather than deny him. He wanted people to stop telling him he was wrong. 

Shigaraki values freedom, specifically freedom from oppression. Oppression that specifically denies the needs of an individual just because they disrupt society. For example, the opppression that had Himiko’s parents turn abusive on her calling her a demon child because she was born with a strange quirk. 

In that way Shigaraki fights for a kind of true liberation, different from what the liberation force fights for. The Meta Liberation Army while wanting to overturn society also repeated several of society’s oppressive attitude, juding people’s worth based entirely on the strength of their quirk whereas Shigaraki is willing to accept people like Compress, and Spinner who do not have super powerful combat efficient quirks and value them just as much as all the other members from his team. 

Shigaraki also knows the feelings of someone who has not been saved. He’s reflected on this several times, even as early back as his conversation with Deku. He knows that the way the current society functions, it ignores the plights of victims like him that are either too inconvenient to save. 

It’s what Shigaraki says to Deku word for word: “I could hurt you right now and not a single person would come save you. They’ll all walk by and pretend it’s none of their business, because they all think a hero is going to come save them.”

Shigaraki is willing to give people like Twice a chance, even though he was insane and his quirk no longer worked as well as it once did. Not only that, but when people make mistakes Shigaraki never throws them away. Giran is captured and ratted them out, and Shigaraki went to go save them. Twice makes a mistake and because of that Magne is killed, but rather than get angry at Twice, Shigaraki simply asks Twice to do his best to make up for his mistake, and that he’ll be doing his best alongside him. 

Shigaraki understands the feelings of: “If only somebody had saved me” better than anyone else in the manga. This is something that even the kids don’t question. The kids in their complete and unwavering faith in the hero system can’t even respond to questions like “Who should you really be saving?” 

Shigaraki also goes out of his way to save people even after they’ve made mistakes, or betrayed the league. Giran ratted on them and got nearly every member killed, and yet not only did Shigaraki walk right into a trap to save him, he also took special care to make sure he was alive, and rescued safely when he was in the middle of getting pounded. 

The final is also somewhat of a paradox. Shigaraki has been manipulated to think that he hated his family, and  wanted to kill everyone. 

However, all of Shigaraki’s actions show the opposite. Not only does Shigaraki feel guilt for killing his family several years after the fact. Not only did he intentionally hold back his quirk at first because he was afraid of killing again. The words of his family stayed with him. Shigaraki only ever remembers his family in a mostly positive light. 

In his heart, Shigaraki holds himself accountable for what he did to his family even though it was an accident. At the same time, it’s revealed to us in his dream sequence that he already forgives his family for what transpired today, he remembers his grandparents being kind to him, he doesn’t resent his mom for just watching what his family did to him and even reassures her, he tells his sister he doesn’t care that she tattled on him anymore. 

His family is someone he can never forget in both senses of the word. He doesn’t forget the times his family household was kind to him, the genuine love his mother, grandparents, and sister all showed to him, and he hasn’t really stopped mourning them ever for a single moment. He even still keeps Nana’s hand, the last hand that wasn’t broken and wears it after his so called “liberation” from his past memories of them. Yet, at the same time he doesn’t allow his family to deny who he is. 

Shigaraki is someone who has been influenced by people all of ihs life, his abusive father, AFO, and then all of AFO’s constituents and the other villains he’s fought against so far. However, at the same time Shigaraki has remained the same kid throughout all of this. Always Shimura Tenko. Always the kid who wanted to play with the kids who got bullied. Always the kid resentful he didn’t get saved. 

2. Shigaraki is better than what created him

Eri is referred to as a cursed inhuman existence born only to destroy, simply because of the quirk she was born with, completely neglecting who Eri is as a person. Deku however says that just by slightly changing your perspective, you can see how kind and gentle Eri is. 

Shigaraki is a character much like this. The people around him, mostly heroes always insist that he’s inhuman and again and again that he can only want destruction because of his quirk. Yet, the people closest to Shigaraki know how kind, and gentle he can be. 

So we have characters like All Might, Mr. Completely Ignores Endeavor’s abuse of his own family, constantly saying that someone like Shigaraki can’t possibly have a cause for all of his destruction. Ignoring what Shigaraki says when he tells them that heroes can be violent too just like villains, their violence is just categorized differently. 

Shigaraki is continually told he has no reason for wanting to destroy things, that there could be no possible motivation behind his actions. This is something that even AFO himself said, that Shigaraki simply lusted for destruction because he was born that way.

Characters insist again, that Shigaraki isn’t capable of creating anything, or achieving anything because he can only destroy. This is an identity that’s forced on him by his environment ut it’s not who he is at the center of his being. Even when he’s getting the tar beaten out of him by Re-Destro what he thinks is not that he wants to destroy, but rather that he wanted his family to tell him it was okay for him to be a hero.

So we reach the most recent chapter with someone once again asserting that Shigaraki cannot possibly want anything other than to hurt the people around him, and destroy what he can.

Even ENDEAVOR (lol) of all people accuses Shigaraki of not fighting for the right ideals. Yet, Shigaraki has always shown to be fighting for something. 

People insist that Shigaraki was just born that way, that he just wants to destroy. Yet, there are very specific environmental factors that shaped him into who he is. Shigaraki who apparently has no reasons for doing the things he does, has the longest backstory in the series (four origin chapters in total if you count Shigaraki Tomura: Distortion). Shigaraki’s line against Endeavor also implies that Shigaraki has been fighting for the same thing from the start. That he’s always had a cause, something to fight for (or maybe even just fight against) and that he simply believed what other people constantly told him. 

So, no clearly the All For One quirk being given to Shigaraki has not changed who he is as a person at all. Shigaraki’s thoughts always rest with his friends and his family.  Shigaraki’s first literal action upon waking up is to call Machia to his side, and protect the league. Shigaraki’s actions also saved Himiko, because if Machia had not picked her up she likely would have gone on a suicide mission. 

So, there is one last point I want to make: The reason the plan is going so wrong right now is precisely because Shigaraki is someone who chooses again and again to put his trust in others. First, it went wrong because not only did he allow Dabi free reign to invite whoever he wanted to the league, but he also trusted Twice with his location. 

Shigaraki won’t throw Dabi out of the league for saying that he’s only here to use the league for his own benefit, because Shigaraki has always known this about Dabi and lets him work with the league anyway. Shigaraki is someone who puts his allies before themselves and gives them the freedom to be who they want to be. 

Shigaraki has said mutliple times the league can do whatever they want. He’s not really selfishly minded or motivated like AFO is. If anything, Shigaraki is much more likely to sacrifice himself, or put the group’s needs first. The Shigaraki that we’ve seen right now is the same progression of the Shigaraki we’ve always known: he fights on the front lines to draw the heroes away from his friends, he fights himself instead of needlessly risking his own allies, he needs his allies by his side. 

The raid happened because of Shigaraki’s trusting nature twice. Not only because he allowed Dabi to invite Hawks to the league, but also Kurogiri’s capture and betrayal someone Shigaraki was genuinely close to and listened to for counsel led to his location at the hospital being ratted out to both Eraserhead and Mic. So it’s not Shigaraki not trusting others that led to the Hospital Raid, but rather it’s because Shigaraki chose to trust others that this is all happening.

YET, when this happened last time with Overhaul Shigaraki didn’t stop trusting others. He didn’t throw Twice out. His choice back then was to take responsibility and trust Twice even more to fix the mistake he made. Which will likely be his response again. 

Shigaraki also fights against anyone who tries to control or oppress him the same way his father did once. When AFO tries to physically control his own body, he frees himself of the vestiges.

Shigaraki won’t lose his trust in other people, and won’t lose his close relationship with the league, because Shigaraki has already sustained this kind of loss before. Over and over again. He loses most of the Nomus, he loses Magne, he loses AFO. Yet, at those times when he loses these things Shigaraki’s response is always the same. 

Shigaraki is struggling to be better that the environment that created him. Shigaraki’s arc is not one of him losing his humanity, but rather Shigaraki keeping his humanity in the face of constant losses. 

His environment is really truly something that should have robbed him of his humanity. There are people like AFO who are out there to make him into a puppet, to rob him of all agency, and identity. Yet, Shigaraki always fights back against those trying to control him and tell him no.

Shigaraki won’t turn on the league, because his connections with the league are what make him human. It’s his connections with others he makes over and over again in the face of his extremely oppressive environment, first with Kurogiri, then with the league that allows him to stay the same at the core of who he is. 

While Shigaraki is constantly dehumanized by both the hero system and the villains he fights against, he’s actually one of the most human characters in the whole series. Not only is he very sympathetic and understandable where exactly he is coming from, but he’s also always, always, always, always, struggling against a set of very human flaws. 

#Anonymous #mha meta #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #shigaraki meta #lov meta #league of villains meta #league of villains #all for one

[kevin-day-is-bi]

Here are my fave scenes/sections from all my fave books cause I’m putting off doing schoolwork

ToG

TAB: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. perfect. glorious. Celaena is stunningly awesom as usual

ToG: Her being on her period and Dorian 

CoM: I honestly don’t think I have ever reread CoM but probably right after Nehemia’s death where Celaena lets loose and attacks Chaol. This is my least fave of the series soooo......

HoF: The bit where she is in the kitchens with Luca and Emrys. So pure. Such growth. 

QoS: The end where Manon attacks her grandmother OR Arobynn dying

EoS: The whole thing All the Elide chapters. All of them. If I had to pick one bit, them being in the circus

ToD: Haven’t reread it yet, but probably whenever someone mentioned a random girl that helped them and it was Aelin. That happened at least 3 times if I remember right. 

KoA: Now idk why this is my fave...but. When Aelin is trapped in the coffin and Fenrys stays with her and helps her

ACOTAR

ACOTAR: The trials

ACOMAF: Training with Cassian

ACOWAR: Her dismantling the Spring Court

ACOFAS: uhH-....The solstice dinner

ACOSF: Probs hiking, but I gotta reread it 

HOEAB

CC: The whole end bit; the vacuuming, ‘My friends are with me’, ‘Light it up’. the most stunning thing ever written

TFOTA

TCP: Like- The entire end. We stan Jude’s plots here

TWK: Oddly enough, I have to say the Undersea and the whole sneaking-into-the-palace-afterwards scene

TQON: Pick one???? I’m gonna say either Jude and Cardan going and talking with all the ppl or just hearing Taryn say she killed Locke

HTKOELTHS: AAAAAAAAAAA Cardan describing Jude. Also the entire end, where he’s negotiating and in the pit of iron like ‘when will my wife save me’

SoC

SoC: Breaking into the Ice Court. 100%

CK: Honestly.....when they’ve kidnapped Alys....loved it to pieces

AFTG

TFC: The Kathy Ferdinand Show

TRK: You know, I get it

TKM: how. do. i. pick. I gotta say probably the sleepover and the whole recuperation bit, but the Trojans and ‘you know I’ve never been skiing?’, as well as the epilogue really make it hard to choose

TRC

TRB: I gotta say....Gansy comparing Blue to a prostitute and that entire scene. Ronan imitating a car crash? Stunning. Adam’s reaction? stunning

TDT: This one is my least fave of the series and, as such, I’ve only reread it like twice, so i cant think of what my fave is

BLLB: The whole book. I mean it. I genuinely can’t pick, the book is just amazing and perfect. Maybe “Now she’d had this kind, she didn’t want the other”. maybe

TRK: Toga party

TID

CA: Six-Fingered Nigel

CP: Either them being at Starkweather’s or Tessa being brought before the Consul and Council

CP: The whole thing is pain so let me try to find something fun...... "What did Magnus mean by asking you if I knew you were in love with Tessa?”

TDA

LM: The shopping scene in Hidden Treasures

LOS: The TID guest appearances when they’re at the London Institute

TQOAAD: The camping scene right before the battle. Wholesome. Pure. Only bit without murder or emotionless Julian

TLC

Cinder: Just- every time her foot caused her problems. I have an injured ankle so reading those scenes was just amazing

Scarlet: Honestly like. When Cinder just popped up inside Thorne’s cell and he’s like....’tf??’ and just goes with it and tries to flirt

Cress: The whole bit where Kai is awkwardly on the Rampion, scared out of his mind of Wolf, who is moping over tomatoes

Winter: Jacin’s inner thoughts. He’s sad and abused and deserves to be loved by Winter so much

RWRB: Thanksgiving/Turkeys

This Savage Song: Them on the run from literally everyone, right after they left Colton

#tog #tab #com #hof #qos #eos #tod #koa #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #acosf #hoeab #tlc #cinder #cress #scarlet #winter #aftg #tfc #tkm #trk #trc #bllb #trb #tdt #rwrb #this savage song #lady midnight

[portmanteaurian]

So this year I, like a lot of people, was going through some stuff. And the way I coped, particularly over the summer, was by reading. I read between 275 and 300 books this year (final count pending), which is certainly the most I’ve done in at least a decade. And a lot of them were very good! I narrowed myself down to a list of forty recommendations, with short write-ups of ten, and made a point of not repeating authors. You can see everything else on my StoryGraph account though.

YA/MG:

The Beast Player - Nahoko Uehashi trans. Cathy Hirano

Death Sets Sail - Robin Stevens

Echo After Echo - A.R. Capetta

Half World - Hiromi Goto

A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope - ed. Patrice Caldwell

Shadow of the Batgirl - Sarah Kuhn & Nicole Goux

A Song Below Water - Bethany C. Morrow

The Scapegracers - Hannah Abigail Clarke

YA contemporary fantasy is obviously a well-trodden genre, but this felt like a really fresh take. Sharp prose, interesting magic system, and a really fantastic and original-feeling POV character. I can’t wait for the sequel.

We Are Not Free - Traci Chee

This is a historical novel about residents of Japanese-American internment compounds during WWII, so it is not a light read. But it was powerfully emotionally affecting, and really compelling from a craft perspective as well; each chapter is narrated by a different character, and seeing how all the perspectives intersect is really remarkable.

ADULT FICTION (mostly spec):

A Choir of Lies - Alexandra Rowland

The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin

The Empress of Salt and Fortune - Nghi Vo

The Four Profound Weaves - R.B. Lemberg

Homesick: Stories - Nino Cipri

Master of Poisons - Andrea Hairston

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water - Zen Cho

Phoenix Extravagant - Yoon Ha Lee

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke

The Seep - Chana Porter

Skin Deep Magic - Craig Laurance Gidney

Stormsong - C.L. Polk

Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi

One hell of a debut novel. Emezi has said it’s largely autobiographical, which makes it one of two really unique takes on autobiography and memoir that I’ve read this year. It’s about trauma, immigration, queerness, disability...I really just recommend you read it, though perhaps after checking a summary, as it deals very frankly with some potentially triggering subjects.

Not So Stories - ed. David Thomas Moore

This year I spent a lot of time with short stories and novellas, which is a little unusual for me. Several collections made a strong impression (there’s a few others on this list), but I adore the conceit of this one, which features a group of authors of colour responding to Kipling’s intensely colonial “Just So Stories” by writing new fables of their own. Some directly riff on Kipling’s tales, others go in entirely new directions, but all are really effective.

The Raven and the Reindeer - T Kingfisher

Kingfisher is one of those authors I discovered this year who I am shocked I had never read earlier. She’s prolific, works in genres I like, and is beloved by several of my friends. Consider this book a stand-in for her catalogue in general on this list, although of all the books by her I read it’s the only direct fairy-tale retelling. Really great take on Andersen’s Snow Queen

The Unspoken Name - A.K. Larkwood

This was just a ton of fun. Very queer, frequently hilarious, in a totally bizarre fantasy world (worlds, even!) and with a great protagonist. Another really confident debut novel, and another one where I can’t wait to check out where the series goes from here.

NONFIC:

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma - Bessel van der Kolk

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories From the 21st Century - ed. Alice Wong

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space - Amanda Leduc

Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity - Darryl Leroux

In the Dream House - Carmen Maria Machado

The other unique memoir I alluded to above, Machado non-linearly unpacks an abusive relationship she experienced with incredible clarity and artfulness. As someone who’s experienced abuse, parts were very familiar, and Machado’s writing is very effective at laying a situation bare (a skill she uses to great effect in her short fiction as well). This book also has some of the most memorable and narratively impactful citations I have ever seen. Read it to understand how that’s the case.

The North-West is our Mother - Jean Teillet

This is straight-up a history book but it’s a very clear and engaging one. For people who’ve ever wanted to know more about Métis people and our history, particularly in the 19th and early-20th century, this is going to be one of my go-to recs. It’s a little sparser with the more recent stuff, but there are other books to fill that gap.

ROMANCE:

Band Sinister - K.J. Charles

The Doctor’s Discretion - E.E. Ottoman

Invitation to the Dance - Tamara Allen

Two Rogues Make a Right - Cat Sebastian

Silver in the Wood - Emily Tesh

A Taste of Honey - Kai Ashante Wilson

Behind These Doors - Jude Lucens

This year is really the first I’ve read romance in any serious way, but I did read a lot of it and learned a fair amount about what I like. This ticks a lot of those boxes (historical [Edwardian, in this case]! Gay! Engages honestly with social issues of the period!) while also being a story about people negotiating polyamory, with much of the conflict being rooted in how one effectively communicates with the people they care about. Really different from anything else I read, and really well-done.

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows - Olivia Waite

This is probably my favourite romance novel of the year. It’s a slow-burn Regency story about the relationship between two middle-aged working women, a beekeeper and a bookseller. It’s also a story about prejudice, mob mentality, and the intense class divide in Regency England -- the Peterloo massacre is a significant element, and the way that opposition to it brought together a coalition of different social groups that ultimately could not hold due to other prejudices dividing them. It’s really nuanced, and really effective. Also, I am assured by a lesbian friend that the sex scenes are very hot.

SO ANYWAY. A lot of recommendations, and more detail about some of the ones I most encourage people to pick up. Really in my opinion you can’t go wrong with any of these, though, and I hope you take a look at some next time you’re searching for something to read!

What a year, huh?

#dorian reads 2k20

[wylanvnneck]

“On a scale of one to ten, how do you feel about nachos right now?” for Jurdan, please???? 🖤🖤🖤

Humorous Prompt #6: “On a scale of one to ten, how do you feel about nachos right now?”

Fandom: TFOTA

Ship: Jurdan

Masterlist | Send me a prompt

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“He’s not really picturing a Pork Cutlet Bowl for inspiration is he?” Cardan’s wry question is more of a rhetorical one, considering the fact that they both knew the answer to it, but Jude still felt the need to reply.

“Nope.”

The two of them were lying across the couch, Jude’s head tucked under Cardan’s chin and his arm loosely slung over her denim-clad hip, both their gazes riveted to the laptop screen on the low table in front of them. Vivienne had browbeat them into promising that they would watch the anime that she’d recommended whilst she and Heather were gone for one of Oak’s school meetings and she’d even gone so far as to threaten them with locking away the mini marshmallows so they’d have to suffer through marshmallow-less hot chocolate if they didn’t comply.

Jude wouldn’t really have minded that, but Cardan had a weakness for them and she had a weakness for the adorable look that would appear on his face whenever she brought him a mug with the confections floating within it, so that’s how they’d found themselves spooning on the couch together, watching an anime about an awkward Japanese Ice Skater Yuri and his delectable Russian coach Viktor.

As much as she hated to admit it, Vivi had good taste. The animation was beautiful, almost as beautiful as Elfhame, and the storyline was adorable and interesting, with a fantastic soundtrack to go along with it. The day was warm and tranquil and it felt good to be snuggled cozily in her husband’s arms, his heartbeat pressed against her spine and their thousands of responsibilities as High King and Queen nowhere near their little bubble.

They watch Yuri skate in comfortable silence, the whole performance captivating, and in between episodes she can feel Cardan making the tiniest of shifts in his position behind her, little movements, lightly stroking her hip over the fabric of her t-shirt, leaning down to smell her hair or to place a gentle kiss on the curve of her ear that marked her mortality and each time there’s a little burst of something inside her.

They’d made it about halfway through the 12 episode long series before Cardan reaches over to pause it, reluctantly detaching his body from hers and sitting up, making her do the same, turning to face him as she sits cross-legged. He stretches his arms up in the air and her eyes follow the movement, admiring him. His dark gaze catches her doing it, his eyes glittering and a grin spreading over his face and she merely raises her eyebrows at him in response, unapologetic.

“On a scale of one to ten, how do you feel about nachos right now?” He asks, his voice light in a way that only happened when he was truly content.

She feels an answering smile curve her lips. “Eleven.”

He laughs, his raven locks flopping over his face messily and he leans forward to peck her lips before pushing himself off the couch and heading off to the kitchen. “Got it, two packets of Nachos coming right up.”

“Make sure they’re the spicy kind!” She calls out after him.

“Of course, only the best for My Queen,” comes his reply and it’s stupid, how sweet his words are.

Flopping back down on the sofa she distracts herself by studying the laptop screen, watching the seconds tick by on the clock at the bottom of the screen when silence is broken by an odd jingle, and a little square popping up at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Written on that square is a name that makes Jude sit up straight. Taryn Duarte.

The jingle is still playing in the background but it sounds blurry, as though it was playing from somewhere far far away instead of right in front of her. Taryn. She hadn't spoken to her heavily pregnant twin sister in quite a while, and the last that she’d heard of her was that she had gone to visit Madoc and Oriana in the place where they lived in the mortal world, somewhere quite far away, thankfully. The thought of Taryn makes the subsequent feelings of anger and hurt and betrayal rise up within her, ruthlessly chasing away the contentment that had filled her just minutes ago.

Frantically, she searches for the red decline button with the cursor and attempts to click on it but she can’t quite bring herself to do it. She hates that she can’t, but thoughts of Taryn in distress whilst carrying a child, Taryn in danger and needing help flood her mind and that old protective instinct that had been instilled in her for so long compels her to click on the green accept button instead.

“Jude?” Taryn’s voice sounds the same, mixed in with surprise at seeing her twin answer the call instead of Vivi.

“Taryn.” Her throat is dry.

“I- I called because Madoc and Oriana wanted to speak to Oak, and Vivi has said they could call on this thing” she gestures at the screen, “called Skype when they wished to and they needed help to set it up.” Taryn looks the same as ever, almost a mirror image of Jude herself, except for the huge swell in her belly where Jude’s unborn niece or nephew resided. Locke’s child. That reminds her of the first time Taryn had ever betrayed her, allowing Locke to mess with her, knowing full well that he had been seeing the both of them at the same time, playing them against each other and she had let it happen. The memory makes her shutter, closing her expression and making it cold.

“Oak is at school with Vivi. Tell them to call later.” She moves the cursor and it hovers over the red button to end the call.

“Jude, I-” Her twin starts to speak.

“Don’t, Taryn. Not now. Not yet.”

She catches a glimpse of Taryn pursing her lips together and nodding imperceptibly before the call ends. Jude wasn’t ready to try and mend the bridge between them yet and she wasn’t sure if she would ever be. Her emotions are all over the place, roiling inside of her like the waves of the Undersea during a storm.

She punches the couch beneath her, hard, and the force barely makes an impact and she longs for the adrenaline rush of battle, the feeling of focused control that she gets when holding Nightfell in her hand. But Nightfell wasn’t here to help her distract herself and she was powerless against the pain.

Cardan is inordinately pleased with himself for managing to salvage two packs of spicy Nachos. It had taken quite a while for him to root them out from the back of the cupboard behind jars of condiments and Oak’s Skittles stash but he’d eventually proved victorious. Eager to return to Jude and their Yuri on Ice binge he strides into the room, nachos clutched in hand, expecting his wife to be impatiently awaiting him. Instead, the expression she turns on him when she sees him standing in the doorway is one full of anguish and the sight tears at Cardan’s excuse of a heart.

“Jude? Jude what’s wrong?” He’s by her side and wrapping his arms around her in the next moment and concern tugs at him when she simply rests her head against his neck, her breathing heavy.

“Taryn called.” Her voice is muffled against the fabric of his hoodie.

Cardan’s gaze flicks to the laptop. He’s not entirely sure how mortal devices worked, but he thinks he’s safe in making the assumption that Taryn had somehow attempted to call Vivi on her laptop and Jude had ended up answering instead. He now understands Jude’s behaviour. She and her twin had never been able to mend the differences that had erupted between them in the past few months and he doubts that his wife had been ready to speak to her twin so soon after everything that had happened.

And he definitely couldn’t blame her. Just thinking about the twin that Jude had once fought so hard to protect, from him as well, only to have her loyalty thrown back in her face by her sister’s treachery made him clutch Jude a little tighter to him. If it hadn’t been for Jude’s insistence that her pregnant twin be left alone, she would have faced punishment for her actions long before now.

“She called on behalf of Madoc and Oriana. They wanted to speak to Oak. I should have known she’d go running back to him. After all, she is his most loyal daughter.” Her words are painted with both bitterness and resignation.

He thinks carefully before starting to speak. “I know you and your sister are far from the relationship you once had and I know that it hurts you, Jude. But I also know that you are strong, unbelievably strong, and when the time is right I know you’ll make the right decision. Whether you want to try and mend your bond or move onwards, know that I will support you in whatever you choose.” He moves to press a kiss to her temple.

“How do you always know what to say?” she lets out a slow breath, pulling back to meet his gaze. “Do you think I should try talking to her?”

“I do think that you two will need to talk at some point. However, that day is not today. Come, my love, let’s not let her ruin one of our few days away from the palace. Put her out of your mind for now and have some nachos.”

“Kiss me?” Her request reminds him of a time that seemed to have been eons ago, a moment on her bed, the sheets silky beneath his drunken form looking up at her and wanting distraction, a cure. Kiss me until I am sick of it.

He gives her the distraction she needs.

She meets him halfway when he leans down to connect their lips and he moves his mouth against hers slowly but thoroughly, his heart thumping the way it always did around her. Only ever her.

Everything around them melts and they are oblivious to their surroundings as Jude’s hands card through his hair and he strokes a light path along her waist, which is why they are caught by surprise when they hear Vivi’s grinning voice sounding from the doorway.

“Alright, playtime’s over children, Oak and Heather will be here any second now and we don’t need the poor boy to see that.” She wiggles her tawny eyebrows suggestively and Jude pulls away from him, her face flushing despite her best efforts at hiding it. Ignoring the slight pang of loss at his wife moving out of his arms, he turns to give his favorite sister-in-law a mischievous grin to which she responds by rolling her cat’s eyes.

Sure enough Oak comes charging into the room seconds later and jumps right up onto the couch, wiggling between Jude and Cardan and tucking himself in next to his sister and chatting in her ears about his day at school and how he’d scored a goal at soccer practice and Jude is laughing and ruffling his chocolate hair, her agitation from earlier forgotten for now.

He watches his wife and her brother talking as he reaches for the forgotten packets of nachos from the table knowing that soon the entire family would be squished together on the couch watching movies and making hilarious commentary over snacks, and the whole thing is so domestic and comforting and it feels better than alcohol, better than drugs, better than losing himself in debauchery the way he used to. It feels like family.

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@aelinfeyreeleven945tbln I hope you like this one, Clueless Penguin™, thanks for sending in a prompt ❤

The fact that Taryn’s crimes seemed to largely go unanswered for and that she and Jude never really got closure has always niggled at me, but I have yet to read HTKOELTHS so maybe there’s something about it in there? Either ways here is some Jurdan fluff with some Jude angst mixed in. Also, the fact that Jude and Cardan watching YOI is canon still makes me squeal and if you wanna fangirl over that anime with me feel free to✨

Okay, on to tagging the lovely people on my taglist: @cupcakesandkittens, @thewickedkings, @kittkatandbooboo, @annabethjackson0001 and @fangirlprincess09

As always, please let me know if you’d like to be added to or taken off of my TFOTA taglist.

#tfota #also pork cutlet bowl is the name they give for katsudon in the English dub #tfota taglist #the folk of the air #cardan greenbriar #jude duarte #jurdan #tfota fanfic #tfota fanfiction #dd writes #oak greenbriar #vivienne duarte #heather #taryn duarte #madoc #oriana

[cynwritess]

My Outlining Technique As A Pantser

I despise outlining with every fiber of my soul. I don’t care how much people persist you need an outline, I will put it off to the very last minute and do it very half-assed. Even in school, its straight to the first draft. Outlining requires a very precise skill of breaking things down as small as possible and my mind simply does not function that way. It’s literally all or nothing. Unfortunately while this may work for writing school essays, it’s not exactly a good idea when it comes to a book. Writing a book requires structure and precision because you need to carefully place information, have an idea where your characters are going, tedious yet necessary things. Fortunately, I’ve come up with a way to outline without completely frying my brain.

Characters. 

I almost always start with the characters first and build the world, other characters, and plot around them. If you have a name in mine, perfect! Go ahead and use it! If you don’t have a name, don’t dread scouring through dozens of baby name websites. Give them a place holder name or better yet, give them a role/title. I’m going to use one of my current characters (steal anything about her and I’ll send demons after you). When I first created Selina I only had a vague aesthetic and the idea that I wanted her to somehow be attached to spirits. Her name didn’t come to me until 25k into the story, but I had to refer to her as something so I used a conjunction of a place holder name and calling her “Reaper of Souls”. This way I know exactly who I’m referring to. Also, this helps me know what path my character needs to go down. Reaper of Souls is who she’ll become, but its definitely not who she is when the story begins. It makes me thing: What steps do I need to take to get her there? This is where you can start brainstorming character arcs and give them trauma. 

Another essential part of creating characters in my opinion is giving them “role models”. Personally, if this is a brand new character I’m creating off the top of my head its hard to write them because I know nothing about them. I don’t know their sense of humor, who they would and wouldn’t get along with, their inner monologue, etc. Now you have to be careful with this and make sure to mold them into their own unique characters at the end of the day, but you can use other already existing characters to help begin the process. When creating Selina I knew vaguely she needed to be connected to spirits. What characters do I know like that? Jodie from Beyond Two Souls is a good one and Zelie is a bit of a different twist to it but still the same general idea. But wait! Selina’s vibe doesn’t match either of them. So in this case I might look at Jude Duarte for inspiration for her personality. Nitpick all your favorite things about different characters and use that to your advantage! It gives you the jolt you need to really begin to explore who your character is. 

Always do the main character first, then follow with the supporting character or villain. In my opinion, the main supporting character and villain should be foils of the main character in order to get the most out of each one, because you’ll be able to see different aspects and different arcs they could’ve/will have. Once you have those three characters you can create the others as you progress with your story.

Setting.

This can either be really simple or your worst fucking nightmare. For me, it’s a mixture of both. If your story is taking place in the real world then this can be relatively simple even if you’re creating your own town/city. If your town has a very specific location like a town square or maybe there’s a river running through it, then just google “towns with a river going through it” for a start. If you have a specific town in mind you can also google the map and start dissecting different aspects of the town and incorporating it into your own. You can even use your own town for inspiration! The town my story takes place in is made up, but my hometown actually resembles it quite a bit so I’ve been using it for references. So far, its been working out pretty good.

Now if you have a high fantasy setting... I wish you the best of luck. I’ve only written one high fantasy story when I was twelve and... well clearly its never seen the light of day for a reason (partially because I deleted it, partially because there was absolutely zero world-building). I’m sorry to say my skills have no improved much since then. I’ve dabbled with the idea of high fantasy worlds and honestly my only advice is to look at other fantasy maps and draw inspiration from that. Narnia, Ravka, the ACOTAR world, the shifting isles of Elfhame, the Avatar universe, Orisha, to name a few. You’ll also have to look at some basic geographical stuff like the climate, but overall you have pretty much free reign over how your world looks. This is the one part I feel like you can’t bullshit if you don’t want your story to seem halfway. Really go in with the details even if its just for you. The more fleshed out your world is, even if its set here in the normal world, the better.

The main issue. 

This is pretty much a given but you do need to have some sort of idea who the main antagonist is/what is the big issue your characters are fighting. If you’re writing a series then chances are book one will probably focus on an entirely different issue before the big one is revealed. There’s not really much advice I can give for this because it’ll be tailored specifically to your story. I don’t think your antagonist has to be fully fleshed out if you’re going to be introducing them very late, but do have a general idea who or what it is, their goal, and why your character feels the need to stop them.

Usually you’ll notice the problem in the beginning of the story isn’t the ultimate problem, its just a gateway to it. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a subplot but I guess technically that’s what it is. Think of Percy Jackson. The main issue of book one is him being accused of stealing the lightning bolt, but the ultimate issue was the war with the titans. Or The Cruel Prince. The main issue was Jude feeling helpless and wanting to create a place for herself in the faery world, but the ultimate issue was those attempting overthrowing the entire Greenbriar family from the thrown. 

This kind of goes without saying, but there has to be a strong motivation for the character to stop them or it just won’t work. You don’t see characters going after the antagonist because nothing in their life isn’t threatened. There’s always a motivation, something to fuel them even if done so reluctantly. For example, Zelie from Children of Blood and Bone was sick and tired of constantly fighting and being the hero, but she did it anyways because she was the only one who could truly help the maji. Or you can take a slightly antagonistic approach and look at Kaz from Six of Crows who did what he did out of greed for money, power, and revenge. Usually when I begin my stories, I only have a vague idea as to why my main character is joining the fight, which is perfectly fine. As long as you have some sort of idea and begin to build on it as you write, you’ll be probably be fine. 

Brainstorm.

I cannot for the life of me sit in front of my computer and write a bland summary of what it is that is going to happen in my book. Sorry, but I am simply not built that way but it also makes writing your books ten times harder as well. I’ve found a bit of a cheat. For one, brainstorm. Get a general idea what some of the main events you want to happen are. Do you want a character death? Does a specific location need to be mentioned? Is there subplots or character arcs you would like to explore? Is there any themes you’d like to explore? Jot them all down, along with your word count goal. You probably won’t be able to incorporate all of them in one book, but at least you’ll have an idea what path you’re going to head down in terms of your story.

And now onto my actual cheat. Because I’m a pantser who hates outlining, I usually jump into my stories without knowing what direction they are going. Recently I’ve discovered that I can outline the first five chapters, write them out, and give myself complete free reign. I’ll explore all sorts of character personalities, different beginnings, different writing styles, different scenarios, different relationships, anything I can realistically include in the first five chapters of my story. Then I’ll go back and edit it. Don’t completely delete anything, always save it in a separate file! I’ll go back and decide which characters are unnecessary at this point, what plot points can be introduced later on, what writing style suits this story, things like that. Then from there, I’ll go back to my outline and make any appropriate changes before proceeding to write the rest of the draft as normal (WITHOUT GOING BACK TO EDIT). The reason why I do this is because I need a solid base to begin my story, otherwise its so easy for me to go off track and begin to tell a completely different story. This way I’ll know exactly what I’m going after, I’ll be able to explore and get to know my characters and setting, and it’s enough chapters that I can even begin to incorporate the main issue at hand. 

#creative writing #creativewriters #author #writing inspiration #writing #writers on tumblr #writing prompt #fiction #fantasy #writing tips #storytelling #my writing #character inspiration

[natsubeatsrock]

The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Part 30 (Fairy Tail)

What is the purpose of the Fairy Tail guild?

This is another post that looks different from my very first draft. This was originally a collection of changes I would make regarding specific characters in the guild. However, I realized that would be useless. A lot of it would be more about how little I'd change characters. I've talked about nearly every character in the guild I would want to change already. Some of the posts I've made involving Fairy Tail characters focusing on defending them from fans.

This was going to be a much smaller focus than I originally intended. I've expanded it because I feel that this is the more interesting and important aspect of this post.  It will be helpful to have this post as we talk about other minor characters in the guild. It's also worth recognizing what the guild means to bigger characters. However, I have to talk about this from a more apologetic reason for this focus that we'll get to.

A few times in this series, I've referred to the Strongest Team (or Team Natsu) as "a team of five protagonists". I've meant that each member has an arc reminiscent of a different type of protagonist in a story. The story focuses, to varying degrees, on their progress through the different arcs. For example, Phantom Lord plays with Lucy's connection to the guild and touches on Erza's view of her strength and Natsu's search for Igneel. Of course, the focus of the series, most of the time, is on Lucy and Natsu serving as the sort of Watson and Holms for their series, respectively.

However, the series isn't about any of their individual goals. It's not about Lucy's acclamation to the guild, Natsu's search for Igneel, Erza's shift in perception of strength, Gray's acceptance of self, or Wendy's growth as a mage. It's not even about stuff like defeating the Balam Alliance guilds, stopping Zeref's followers and demons, or saving the world from either Zeref or Acnologia. As important as those things are to the series, they aren't what the series itself is about.

Though, this isn't anything new. I've already said that the focus of the series is the guild. That was in part 1 of this series. While it's been 2 years since then, that much is still the case, and I haven't lost sight of that. I compared this to Durarara!!, but Fairy Tail is different because it actually has a group its story focuses on within the guild, as opposed to the multiple groups in Ikebukuro.

Here's where I have to make a clarification of a point made by Mashima. He said that it's up to the reader to decide who the main characters are. I don't interpret that to mean that Mashima didn't write the series with any main characters in mind. Among the female characters, the focus is definitely on Lucy. That grows to include Erza and Wendy as the series continues. While we'll follow Mira or Cana every now and then, the series isn't focusing on them as the focus for the series. I feel a generous interpretation of this is that fans are free to focus on characters outside of the main cast.

But, now we're back to the main question: What is the purpose of the guild?

A few different YouTuber personalities have tried to get at an answer to this question.

Nux Taku made the case that Fairy Tail as a guild is the main character of the series. I think this is close to the right answer. The threats of the series are usually first and foremost threats to the guild first and others second. Even in a case like Tartarus, where they are trying to affect the world, Fairy Tail only gets involved when their own interests or members are at risk or have been hurt. As far as I know, the only exception is Oracion Seis. Fairy Tail works with other guilds to take them out. And even then, they get hit by the Oracion Seis first.

The issue I have with this view is that the series focus is clearly on Team Natsu. The series starts as Natsu and Lucy meet and ends in chapter 545 on the team's plans to take on the Century Quest. I can't say that the focus on them doesn't exist. However, this is a great look at what the guild means, in a positive light.

Naturally, there are more negative views of the guild's function. Craftsdwarf said that the idea that the guild is as big as it is was a mistake and detriment to the series. Mashima couldn't follow through with establishing the wishes and goals of all the characters in the guild. To be fair, no series is ever going to flesh out the desires of every single character. However, Fairy Tail is unique because it focuses on a large group of characters it portrays as a tight-knit group. This makes the fact that Mashima didn't do this worse.

Despite other sketchy statements (Lucy's treatment in the guild is apparently comparable to her treatment from Jude), there is an interesting question brought up. Why would Lucy want to join the guild? I could point to OVA 3 as an explanation for Lucy wanting to join Fairy Tail. 

However, I feel that there is a more interesting question to ask. Why would Lucy want to stay in Fairy Tail? To its critics, Fairy Tail is a hilariously rambunctious guild with a notoriously terrible reputation. What's so great about this guild? Why would anyone want to be a part of this guild?

I think Craftsdwarf has it wrong. (Shocking, I know.) I think we can identify as members of the guild because of its size. When I think of a group like the Black Bulls in Black Clover (a group another YouTuber contrasted to Fairy Tail), I think that they're cool as a group, but I don't know that I'd like to think of myself as someone who could be a potential member. Fairy Tail has a low bar for entry, doesn't care for its rambunctious members, and is still an elite guild, willing to go to war for its new members? Why wouldn't I want to join them? I could be a low-ranking member, fly under the council's radar, and get the same type of camaraderie that S-Class mages get.

"But what about the fact that only ten percent of the population can use magic?" (I ask this as if I didn’t already address this in talking about magic on the continent.)

Let's get one thing straight. Exclusivity, forced or otherwise, doesn't deny the possibility of camaraderie. Most colleges don't accept everyone that applies, and not everyone that gets in goes. That doesn't mean that you can't form serious lasting bonds on campuses, even among large groups of people. Even still, it's not as if there aren't examples of mages who use magic items as opposed to the magic in their bodies. People outside the ten percent capable of magic can still join magic guilds and work as members, even Fairy Tail. (Think Mystogan, and technically Porlyusica) You could be a part of Fairy Tail even if you can't use magic.

The function of the guild is to serve as a place for the audience to identify with. We ought to see the guild and rejoice as it rejoices, hurt when it hurts, and cry when it cries. At the very least, we should sympathize with the members of the Strongest Team as they seek to protect, save, and work on behalf of the guild.

This is why we get arcs like Edolas where the focus is returning the guild to normal. This is why one of the biggest arcs of the series involves members fighting to prove their worth after being ridiculed for seven years to almost absurd degrees. This is why the final war arc is framed, at least initially, as Fairy Tail vs Alvarez Empire and Acnologia. This is why the sequel found a way to involve the entire guild, even as our main focus ought to be on the Strongest Team.

What this means on a wider scale is keeping the guild's place as important. In arcs like Galuna Island or Daybreak, it's not as if that's a big concern. However, it's worth keeping in mind when arcs such as the Grand Magic Games and Tartarus come up. 

I personally feel this strongest in rewriting the x791 arc. That arc is where I get to play with the feelings of the various members of the guild. What really ties some members to the guild? Prestige? Money? Secure jobs? What happens when that's taken away but the guild is still around?

And on a smaller scale, I have a good framework to address those minor characters of Fairy Tail. I don't know that every character needs to have a serious in-depth reason for joining and staying in Fairy Tail. That's especially true considering a lot of characters will leave halfway through the series. But, it's definitely worth thinking through what even small role folks like Kinana and Warren get out of being in the guild. If not for any reason but to shut the critics up.

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19  | Part 20  | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29

#the rewrite of fairy tail #part 30 #this almost wasn't part 30 #i still have things to edit #read: finish writing #fairy tail month: seven of these?

[rosiethorns88]

Queen of Nothing Thoughts / Reflection on the Series

Many people are asking me, so I’m pooling them here. I’m not a writer or a reviewer, just a reader. :)

SPOILERS AHEAD:

First, an expectation summary:

- Overall, the book hit all of my high notes and succeeded in its story telling to me, personally. Holly has a pattern with climax building reflected in all three of her books that I really enjoy as a reader. There are shocking moments about two-thirds of the way in each book that feel like climaxes, but after the sudden burst and fall out, it slowly builds up again to another and greater peak. I find the early upsets and expanded conclusions of the final acts to be really satisfying to unfold, page by page. Cardan and Jude are two fascinating characters and the friction their personalities cause with one another make for some satisfying sparks. The whole cast of characters are colorful and the world building is rich, and I enjoyed the escapism the entire series brought to me with each visit.

- I was completely satisfied with the pacing, because it worked for the story at hand. Madoc was making his move and allies from all over Faerie were seeing Cardan’s control over his court wane in his wake. Both Jude and Cardan had to move and move fast to get themselves in a position of defense. In fact, the one act that I feared may have dragged on the longest, Jude’s ‘entrapment’ at the camp, actually moved forward quite quickly and kept my interest once Grimsen and the Ghost entered the mix. To spend time tying up every frayed thread with other non-player characters before the end would have lessened the urgency of story’s impending conflicts. Let’s get Jude and Cardan settled and to their honeymoon first before we chat about Nicasia’s love woes over tea.

- The Jurdan reunion was great, I love how it reflects the previous books with them having to first play act with each other again. Though I was hoping for it to last a bit longer with Cardan stringing Jude along in her disguise. I was really excited for Jude to play switch-a-roo as Taryn, but didn’t expect it to end so suddenly. It would have been a great call back to the circumstance of Cardan’s being tricked at the end of The Wicked King.

- The fact the Cardan was so involved with Jude’s runarounds: the rescue attempt from the palace, the actual rescue from the camp, his tag-alongs with her questing. It made all of their interactions very satisfying as it was expanding beyond the verbal throw-downs they only had before. I’ve seen many people complain there were not enough Jurdan scenes, but y’all. We barely had a breath of their interactions from the 1st and 2nd books compared to QoN. I was thoroughly pleased.

- The fact that Cardan indulges in Jude’s political nature and wears it proudly like a brooch when he’s addressing his court. He’s basically like, “I’m here to be my witty and sarcastic self; she’s here to be her just and vicious self. We complete each other.”

- CARDAN REUNITES WITH HIS DOOR! This was my favorite reunion scene as it was one of the many world building elements I enjoyed from the first book. Cardan’s playful and endearing greeting to his door at Hallow Hall was such a thought provoking element - I could only imagine as he grew up at the hall, he had little things or persons to befriend. And with the revelation of Cardan sneaking out human servants in the night, it makes sense he could get away with it with this unique friendship. I’m so glad this was a payoff.

- Madoc - I love Madoc. SO MUCH. He’s such a rich character, it’s so hard to call him morally grey when his character is so colorfully rich. Every chapter I either put an extra tick on his ‘I hate you so much’ or ‘I love you so much’ tally. He’s so true to his nature as a red cap, yet still so loving and caring for his family. He truly shows his hurt and conflict in his anger towards Jude after he finds she has betrayed or outwitted him. I reflect back to The Cruel Prince, when Jude was reminiscing how she and Madoc would play a board game of strategy (like chess) and have to interrupt it. All day, Jude would think about her possible moves and his possible moves, so when they returned to the game, the entire strategy had changed. This is how they interacted all through out the novel. Every thought and move was predicted, then challenged, then overturned before they could even meet face to face again. It’s amazing how there are no villains or heroes in this story; Jude and Madoc’s conflict were just an ever spinning tornado of their own morals and loyalties and ideals.

- Ghost & Taryn redeemed! I must admit, I was completely shaken by the Ghost’s betrayal in TWK, and did not expect him to be a redeemable character, though I did expect him to be involved somehow. I’m a little less satisfied with how quickly Taryn changed her spots back, especially with the build up from The Lost Sisters novella, and wish that Locke wasn’t killed off-screen. I can believe what she said happened, and that she was unhappy with the situation, but for it all to be delivered in one sitting as a monologue, it didn’t sink in for me for a while. I didn’t expect to have a redeeming arc for either of them, nor expect hints at their possible relationship, but it all fell into place nicely. At the end, I felt that the Ghost deserved to have his freedom, and that Taryn was appropriate to hold him to it.

- The Bomb and The Roach! I was happy for them to find their happily ever after, but Noooooo I didn’t want the Roach to be fridged! The Roach x The Bomb x Jude x Cardan interactions produce the best lines in the entire series and I was super sad to see the Roach exit so early. But from the little we received, it was a delight.

- Nicasia, Valerian (his curse), Locke - to me these three didn’t have the conclusions I was hoping for, but there may be open lore left to explore for Holly. I do understand why others insist that the last book be split into two and expanded upon, but the book was sharply focused on Jude and Cardan’s predicaments. Nicasia, Valerian and Locke all had unfinished stories and conflicts with both of them, but they were past issues that weren’t actively affecting the plot, and so I wasn’t troubled by their absence. But I’m hoping short stories or expanded lore in other Holly-verse novels may touch upon them.

- Vivi / Heather - This side plot got a little more attention than I expected, even though I didn’t appreciate the decisions both Vivi and Heather made (just as Jude didn’t).  I was actually expecting Heather to take the route that she did, but just a little bit further than where she ended up. I love that she went completely Hermione on the group, but really wasn’t helpful in the end (which is ok). However, I think the true recourse for Heather’s involvement was intended solely for Vivi. By Heather experiencing Faerie a second time with the expectations of the terrors it offered, she was able to see other facets of the world Vivi has ties too, which is why she gave Vivi the second chance to reintroduce it to her in a better light.

- Oak / Oriana -  I find Oriana such a delight as a character, but I don’t know why I always forget she exists until she appears on page. Which is appropriate, as she makes herself seen and be heard when she wants to. I love how helicopter parent she is with Jude even though she’s made it clear that she barely tolerates their familial ties. Still, her ability to parry Jude’s rebellious and un-lady-like behavior with her witty retorts gave us some of my favorite scenes from the previous books, and I enjoyed their brief reunion under the same circumstances at the camp. Oak, on the other hand I felt was underused as a character, and instead, justifiably used as a political object. Oak and Oriana’s relationship made for an interesting divisiveness between Team Madoc and Team Jude, that I think was an important factor, but ultimately Oak didn’t have much to do in decision makings in the QoN like he did in TCP. However, I feel this is because his character arc begins at the end of this novel with the new character ex-Queen Suren. And whether or not that story makes it onto a page, I can accept that his story was left open-ended to begin here.

Regarding Jude:

I think it’s important to highlight Jude’s development with her feelings toward Cardan - specifically with her reaction toward her exile. I wouldn’t say she’s an unreliable narrator, more so, she’s an unreliable romantic. Jude is the ‘DON’T Notice Me Senpai’ main character who throws red flags up for every action Cardan does.

A very popular theory about Cardan’s exile was that Jude would be able to pardon herself since she is part of the crown as queen. When that turned out to be true, I saw a lot of disappointment from readers with the obviousness of it - but that’s because it was obvious to ourselves, and it always has been. Cardan’s wordplay is a defining trait for his character and there have been several scenes where we the reader are completely in the know when he’s doing it and are charmed by it right along with Jude. During the exiling, Jude is not in the know and is blinded at first by her stupor as a newly wed and then later with her doubt in Cardan’s feelings for her as she flat out admits to herself that the crown pardon could be a loop hole.

This is what makes the rose garden scene such a great turning point - because they both realized they fooled each other without knowing it and are both distressed by each other’s reaction. Their trust in each other was becoming more brittle as it grew, until they realized they both could no longer play their old schemes against each other without risking that trust breaking.

All throughout, Jude has been judging and second guessing everything he does while she scrambles across this political chess board. Deny his feelings, manipulating her own feelings, pushing and pulling and advancing further to the top before her desire for power and her desire for Cardan meet at the peak. And here, between the possibility of losing the power she gained or condemning the feelings she found, is when she finally has to make that choice for herself, when she had viable reasons to go either way. With the way she struggled for both, she earned that right to choose.

Favorite moments / quotes:

- Cardan flinching at Jude’s indirect confession while she was disguised as Taryn - and Jude wholly unaware of the implications.

- Cardan relishing in his cleverness about the exile, while Jude is like WTF and they’re completely clueless about each other’s reaction until in the later rose garden scene. - Cardan’s ‘Jude, DON’T!’ - seriously, listen to the audiobook, you can hear the fear in his voice as his murder wife runs off to battle. And because we the readers can hear that fear, while Jude doesn’t, makes it more heart breaking.

- Madoc alluding to Jude (as Taryn) about Cardan’s berserk mode when he tried to prevent Jude’s capture at the palace. And of course, Jude denying it (psh)

- Cardan doing the grunt work in Jude’s camp rescue, and getting socked in the stomach for it - hah! And of course, The Roach preening he warned him.

- Cardan subconsciously protecting Jude from the arrow trap

- Jude scaring off a faerie guard with mortal menstruation.

- “Do not touch her. She is my wife.”

- How LONG have I waited for Cardan to finally witness how much Jude mutilates her body from her fights, and then for him care for her himself in his bed was just an extra mountain of whipped cream with sprinkles on top. (remember, she hid from him her hand stabbing, her self-poisoning, her leg injury from Locke’s attack, the details of Valerian’s attempt to murder her TWICE, the details of her torturous time in the undersea, etc. Let him know your WOES, woman! Y’all need to cash in some empathy points!)

- Jude having no choice but to wear Cardan’s clothes

- SLAP

- “Maybe he’d like to hear me scream.” exchange. And the hair touch!

- MY DOOR!

- The Ghost spider scrambling up the wall towards Cardan, and Taryn whiplashing him. Poor baby!

- Cardan intrigued by Slushies and Gummy Worms

- Cardan privately reprimanding Randalin about Jude and him scurrying out of the room in a panic. WHAT WAS SAID? CARDAN WAS SMILING.

- Freakin Cardan confessing and cutting her off at the door.

- Jude taking the time to panic, to mourn and to plan after the transformation. I felt giving too much haste toward a ‘Disney-true-love-spell-breaking ending’ would have ruined the direness of Cardan’s sacrifice.

- That fingers-digging-into-her-back hug.

- Tight pants, t-shirt and a Lopsided paper crown.

#queen of nothing #spoilers #queen of nothing spoilers #qon spoilers #qon #the queen of nothing #holly black #the folk of the air #cardan #tfota #jurdan